Sarah Jane Troutman: "Keeping House"

My great-grandfather Daniel A. Troutman’s fourth and youngest sister, Sarah Jane, arrived 6 July 1843,[1] fourteen days before Daniel A.’s eighth birthday. She was 18 years old in April 1862 when her two brothers, Daniel and Adam, marched off to war, and 19 when John left in August. Perhaps after John left, she helped her sister-in-law, John's wife also named Sarah, with her chores and childcare. Perhaps she helped her sister Ester whose husband was also gone to war. Perhaps she helped with Ester’s children when Ester died in 1865.

The date Sarah Jane married Samuel Leander Tays is unknown, but it was possibly after the Civil War, for they were together in 1870 living in or near Statesville, and as yet had no children.[2] Whether they knew each other before the war is unknown.

Samuel had enlisted as a private in Co. E, 49^th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, Ransom’s Brigade, at Camp Magnum on 21 April 1862. He was 34 years old, stood 5’11”, occupation tanner.[3] Other records say farmer.[4]

 

The 49^th consisted mostly of farmers who had not dashed off to war early in the fray with the assurance that the war would last no more than 60 days. These were men who knew they were in for a long and hard fight. They participated in every major battle involving the Army of Northern Virginia, including Malvern Hill, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg, to name a few.[5] Later, in the spring of 1864, they were sent to keep the Federals from cutting supply lines along the Weldon Railroad into eastern North Carolina.[6] Then New Bern and later the capture of Suffolk,[7] but I cannot here begin to list all their battles or I become sidetracked from my purpose. 

After being promoted to 2^nd Sergeant on 27 May 1864,[8] Samuel L. Tays became a part of the siege of Petersburg in June. According to B. F. Dixon, Captain of Company B, the men of the 49th were the bravest of the brave. Regarding the difficult siege of Petersburg, he declares that no “soldier in any war . . . ever suffered more than the men who filled the ditches around Petersburg from June, 1864, until the last of March, 1865.”[9] Many barefoot and wearing little more than rags, they held their posts tenaciously. Samuel served among these men.

Only a few weeks into the siege, on 9 July, Samuel was shot in the right leg below the knee.[10] Injuries such as his, especially if a bone was shattered, usually resulted in amputation, which was the case for him. 

During his recuperation, he was hospitalized at Camp Winder, Richmond, Virginia.[11] On 31 December 1864, he was reported as “absent wounded . . . right leg amputated[,] at home,”[12] and the following February, he was retired from service.[13] For his service from 1 January 1864 through 31 August 1864, he was paid $155.13.[14]

Pay voucher, S. L. Tays.

Sgt. S. L. Tays' Certificate of Disability for Retiring Invalid Soldiers.

Amputation is enough of a shock for patients in today’s world, but the reality of a man having his leg amputated during the Civil War was horrendous. In case you haven’t seen the bloody hospital scenes from Gettysburg or the opening scene in Dances With Wolves, a man was held down without anesthetic while his limb was sawed off quickly in a circular motion. If the patient didn’t die of shock and pain, he might succumb to infection due to the surgeon’s lack of knowledge that he was spreading germs by working on patient after patient without washing his hands. 

Despite these horrific circumstances, many amputees survived. Samuel L. Tays was one of the lucky ones. Back home in North Carolina, his state government was the first of the former Confederate states to offer artificial limbs to its veteran amputees. In February 1866, the North Carolina legislature passed a resolution to provide prosthetic legs for veteran amputees, or a sum of $70.00 cash if the man could not use the limb.[15] Certainly, Samuel received one of these artificial limbs or the cash.

After the war, Samuel and Sarah lived near or in Statesville. In 1870, Samuel was farming property valued at $1500.00 with personal property valued at $2,000.00.[16] In 1880, Samuel’s occupation was “U. S. Storekeeper Guager[sic],” and Sarah was “keeping house.” The duties of a storekeeper-gauger consisted of making sure that distillers paid taxes accurately per gallon of product and of inspecting and marking or stamping the warehoused casks appropriately.[17] His job required considerable training on how to test the product, to stamp it correctly, and to keep records. He also traveled around to distilleries in the area and recorded his expenses.[18]

Samuel and Sarah Jane Tays, 1880 census, Statesville, Iredell Co. NC.

 Sarah and Samuel Tays had one known child, Bessie May, who was five months old in 1880. Also living with them at that time was Sarah’s 17-year-old nephew, Daniel L. Troutman, who was working at a gristmill.[19] He was a son of Jacob “Crazy Jake” Troutman, Daniel A.’s oldest brother.

Samuel died 17 June 1895 at age 67; Sarah died less than a year later on 11 May 1896 at age 52. They are resting together at the Oakwood Cemetery in Statesville, NC.[20]

Gravestone of Samuel L. Tays and Sarah Jane Troutman Tays. Photo courtesy of Find A Grave contributor "joan."

Samuel Tays must have been an admired and beloved brother-in-law to the Troutmans, as the name Tays can be found among several of their children and grandchildren. Also, my great-grandfather, Daniel A., named one of his daughters Sarah.

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[1] Troutman, Descending Jacob’s Ladder, 51, 66.

[2] 1870 U. S. census, Iredell County North Carolina, population schedule, Statesville Post Office, p. 3 (penned), dwelling 26, family 22, Samuel L. Tays; digital image, Ancesrty.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 October 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M593, roll 1144.

[3] Samuel L. Tays, Muster Rolls of Co. E, 49th North Carolina Infantry, 1861-1865, digital image, Fold3 (http://www.fold3.com/image/271/51682809/ : accessed 22 October 2014); NARA M270, roll 0472.

[4] 1870 U. S. census, Iredell Co., NC, pop. sch. Statesville P. O., p. 3, dwell. 26, fam. 22 Samuel L. Tays.

[5] Thomas R. Roulhac, “Forth-Ninth North Carolina,” Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina, in the Great War, 1861-’65, Vol. III, Walter Clark, ed., (Goldsboro, NC: Nash Brothers Book and Job Printers, 1901), 127-128; Archive Open Library (https://archive.org/stream/historiesofsever03clar#page/n189/mode/

2up/search/forty-ninth : accessed 28 October 2014). Full text online.

[6] Ibid, 129.

[7] Ibid, 132-134.

[8] S. L. Tays, Muster Rolls Co. E, 49^th NC Inf., 1861-1865 (http://www.fold3.com/image/

271/51682875/).

[9] B. F. Dixon, “Additional Sketch, 49^th Regiment,” Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina, in the Great War, 1861-’65, Vol. III, Walter Clark, ed., (Goldsboro, NC: Nash Brothers Book and Job Printers, 1901), 150-160; Archive Open Library (https://archive.org/stream/historiesofsever03clar#page/n189/mode/

2up/search/forty-ninth : accessed 28 October 2014).

[10] S. L. Tays, Muster Rolls Co. E, 49^th NC Inf., 1861-1865 (http://www.fold3.com/image/

271/51682875/).

[11] S. L. Tays, Muster Rolls Co. E, 49^th NC Inf., 1861-1865 (http://www.fold3.com/image/

271/51682926/).

[12] S. L. Tays, Muster Rolls Co. E, 49^th NC Inf., 1861-1865,  (http://www.fold3.com/image/

271/51682881/).

[13] S. L. Tays, Muster Rolls Co. E, 49^th NC Inf., 1861-1865, Certificate of Disability for Retiring Invalid Soldiers (http://www.fold3.com/image/271/51682875/).

[14] S. L. Tays, Muster Rolls Co. E, 49^th NC Inf., 1861-1865 (http://www.fold3.com/image/

271/51682964/).

[15] Ansley Herring Wegner, “Amputations in the Civil War,” reprinted from Tar Heel Junior Historian, Fall 2008; NCpedia (http://ncpedia.org/history/cw-1900/amputations#audio : accessed 10 October 2014).

[16] 1870 U. S. census, Iredell Co. NC, pop. sch., Statesville P. O., p. 3, dwell. 26, fam. 22, Samuel L. Tays.

[17] United States Internal Revenue, Extracts from The Gauger’s Manual, Gauger’s Weighing Manual, and Regulations No. 7, Revised, Regarding Duties of Internal Revenue Gaugers, Storekeepers, and Storekeeper-Gaugers (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1906), 4; Open Library
(https://archive.org/stream/cu31924030701837#page/n5/mode/2up : accessed 28 October 2014).

[18] U. S. Internal Revenue, Extracts from the Gauger’s Manual, p.7-8.

[19] 1880 U. S. census, Statesville Township, Iredell County, North Carolina, population schedule, enumeration district 139, p. 42 (penned), dwelling 367, family 378, Samuel L. Tays; digital image, Ancesrty.com ( http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 October 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication T9, roll 698.

[20] Find A Grave, database and images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 28 October 2014), photograph, memorial page for Samuel L. Tays (1828-1895), Find A Grave memorial no. # 68712820, citing Oakwood Cemetery, Statesville, North Carolina; photographs contributed by “joan.” Also, Find A Grave, photo., mem. page for Sarah Jane Tays (1843-1896), mem. no. # 68712941, citing Oakwood Cemetery, Statesville, NC; photograph contributed by “joan.”

© 2014, Z. T. Noble