52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 17

Week 17:

The theme for Week 17 is "DNA." DNA has helped countless people make discoveries in their family history – some good and some not. Has DNA helped you solve a genealogical question? 

No, DNA has not helped me... YET. 

When I took my Ancestry.com DNA test a few years back I was certain that I'd find a sibling I never knew about (joking, but not really). Alas, my DNA test didn't reveal anything new; it just reinforced familial ties that I already knew about. 

This is where the YET part kicks in.

I'm sure most of you are sick of hearing about this, but I am hoping to uncover the identity of the Newberrytown Unknown Civil War Soldier using genetic genealogy.

In the past few years, there has been a tremendous amount of crimes solved and unknown persons identified through genetic genealogy.

The Newberrytown Unknown Civil War Soldier was buried way back in the late 1800s, probably between 1890 - 1900. He is buried in Paddletown Cemetery. The cemetery does not have any records available dating back to the time of his burial. 

He was hit by a train in Goldsboro and discovered lying by the tracks. The locals didn't recognize him. Multiple police officers investigated, dispatched to multiple states, and put out numerous newspaper articles, but no one ever came forward. The only details about the Unknown Soldier that survive are his cause of death (being hit by a train) and his forearm tattoo (Co. K. N.Y.V.).

We know from his tattoo that he was a Civil War veteran, most likely from a regiment in New York, and was in Company K. 

Dog tags were not government-issued during the American Civil War. Soldiers would hire someone to make them an identification tag, sew their name into their uniform, or get tattoos that would aid in their identification if they were to die in battle. It's possible that the Unknown Soldier's tattoo was his version of a dog tag, or it was a post-war tribute to his regiment. 

I am on a personal mission to get the Newberrytown Unknown Civil War Soldier exhumed and have his DNA extracted. If the soldier's DNA hasn't disintegrated to the point of no return, it might be possible to build a profile around him and locate a distant relative. Through that relative, I could trace his genealogy and learn his name and possibly why he was alone in Goldsboro, Pennsylvania.

I find it incredibly sad that this man died alone and unknown. He's spent over one hundred years buried in a cemetery where no family visits. I imagine that someone had to have missed him or wondered where he went. At the very least, he is a United States veteran and deserves the recognition of having his name restored and his wartime record acknowledged. 

To be continued...






https://youtu.be/rOHCtOnRYE8?si=vE0XO1-jJ7hrwplM


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