3rd great-grandfather of Norma Overton

Private    Co. I     1st MI Sharpshooters
Dates of Service:  Mar 1862 - Apr 1862

William Edlin was born on March 17, 1822, in Nottinghamshire County, England. He met his wife Hannah Marie “Anna” Mayfield also from England; they were married in 1844 in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England. A beautiful little girl named Sarah Ann was born to William and Anna in 1845. In England William made his living as a “Malter” which means he made that delicious brew and sold it to the pubs. By 1847 in the mist of the Irish Potato Famine, William made a decision to pack up his little family, leave his homeland, and come to the United States. He boarded an immigrant ship in Liverpool, England, bound for the United States along with his wife, Anna, and little daughter Sarah Ann. They arrived into the port of New York City and settled in a small town in upstate New York. William worked hard to support his family as a farm laborer. His second daughter, Mary Jane, was born in New York around 1850. By 1854 he packed up his family once again and moved by covered wagon to Michigan where he purchased 80 acres of prime farm land in Crystal Township, Montcalm County, MI. In the spring of 1856 his first son, S. William Edlin, was born. Another son followed in 1860 by the name of George H., but he died of pneumonia as a young toddler.

Although William had never become a naturalized citizen of the United States, he answered the patriotic call along with hundreds of fellow Americans. On February 22, 1862, at the age of 37, he enlisted at Matherton, Michigan, and qualified for the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters, Company I, under General Berdan. He stood 5’ 7” tall with blue eyes and light brown hair. 

At the beginning of the Civil War sniping or sharp shooting was a recognized psychological weapon to be used in the war. Champion marksman, Hiram C. Berdan, of New York was authorized by President Lincoln to raise a regiment of sharpshooters for Federal service. Qualified recruits had to place 10 shots in a 10-inch circle at 200 yards, firing any rifle they chose from any position they preferred. The sharpshooters would be attached to regular regiments for special deployment at a Field General's order. 

Shortly after my Great Great Great grandfather William enlisted into Company I, he contracted Typhoid Fever at their encampment near Detroit, MI. He was sent to Carver Hospital in Washington D.C. to recuperate. In May of 1862, by command of General Wadsworth, he was discharged from the army on disability. 

William returned to his farm in Bloomer Township and by 1864, another son Charles was born. On December 22, 1879, William suffered yet another loss when his daughter Sarah Ann died of inflammation of the womb. After their daughter’s death, William and Anna chose to raise their 12 year old grand daughter Caroline Irene. 

September 28, 1882, tragedy struck the Edlin home once again when his wife of 39 years passed away suddenly. William continued to work his farm in Bloomer Township with the help of his two sons until May of 1883 when failing health forced him to sell his farm. He moved in with his son Charles who lived on a farm in the rural town of Palo, Ionia County, MI. Here he remained until his death on March 17, 1899. William applied for his military pension at the sale of his farm based on disability from heart disease as a result of typhoid fever which he contracted while serving in Company I, 1st Michigan Sharpshooters. After several applications and rejections he finally was awarded $12.00 a month pension in 1888 for “disease of nervous system caused by the typhoid fever”. William Edlin died on his 77th birthday. According to his obituary in the Carson City Gazette…..“He was highly respected by all who knew him.” William was buried along side his wife and two children in Bloomer Cemetery, Carson City, MI. He was a member of the GAR, Julius T. Barrett Post 173 of Carson City, MI, which facilitated his funeral. 

GRAVESITE: Bloomer Cemetery, Carson City, MI
Written by Norma Overton, November 2004