(The Freeman family was the 8th family to settle in present-day Lawrence County, OH)
(The following is a list of only a few of the family members who fought in the Civil War.)
Submitted by Kay Brown
Moses Alfred Freeman, Sr. – Moses A. Freeman was born in 1817 in Franklin County, VA. On October 29, 1861, at 44, he enlisted as a private in Captain J.S. Barber’s Company H, 6th. Reg., Ohio Cavalry Volunteers for three years of service.
He was 5 feet 11 ½ inches tall and a farmer from Fayette Township, Lawrence County, OH. The son of William and Sarah Parker Freeman.
On June 21, 1863, at Upperville, VA, he received a gunshot wound to the left face. On Jan. 23, 1864, he died of these wounds at Camp Stoneman Military Hospital, Washington D.C. (Death certificate signed by John Higgins, Surgeon U.S. Army Volunteers & Surgeon in Chief, Cavalry Division, Dept. of Washington.) His body was returned to Lawrence County for burial on Jan. 26, 1864.
Moses Alfred Freeman, Jr. – Moses A. Freeman was 19 years old when he enlisted on Nov. 2, 1861, into Company H, 6th. Reg. Ohio Cavalry Volunteers. He was mustered out on Nov. 3, 1864.
William Fuston Freeman – William Fuston Freeman (born March 3, 1847; died Jan. 19, 1931—birth & death –Lawrence County, OH) was 19 years old when he enlisted on Feb. 16, 1865, in Company A, 188th. Reg. Ohio Inf at Camp Chase, OH. He was mustered out at Murfreesboro, TN, on May 22, 1865, due to disability.
William Fuston is the son of George Parker and Rebecca Brubaker Freeman and the grandson of William and Sarah Parker Freeman. On Aug. 30, 1866, at South Point, Lawrence County, OH, he married Margaret Ann Stanley (born 1848-Cabell County, VA; died Aug. 10, 1892, Lawrence County, OH ), and they had the following children:
William Harrison (born May 30, 1867; died April 29, 1950), Louisiana Missouri (born April 30, 1869; died July 22, 1965), Amos (born Feb. 16, 1871-?), Cynthia Ann (born April 19, 1872-?), Kyle (born Jan. 21, 1875; died March 24, 1969), Rebecca (born 1876; died 1960), Ada Helen (born 1880; died 1974), Mary Catherine (born: 1882; died 1901), Sally Beatrice (born 1884; died 1974) and Blanche Freeman (born 1888; died 1983)
James N. Freeman – James Freeman (born Oct. 25, 1834; died Feb. 28, 1904—birth & death-Lawrence County, OH) was 30 years old when he enlisted on March 2, 1865, as a private in Company A, 188th. Reg. Ohio Inf at Camp Chase, OH. He was mustered out on Sept. 21, 1865, in Nashville, TN, due to disability.
“That while in the service and in the line of duty at Nashville, in the State of Tenn., on or about the 1st of Sept. 1865, he contracted a severe cold and camp fever. As a consequence of which, he had hemorrhaging of the lungs. Afterward, he had jaundice and was mustered out of the service—not being able for duty—his sickness caused by exposure, principally in hot weather.” According to the Pension Act of June 27, 1890, James was eligible for a pension.
On July 23, 1890, at age 56, while living at Brush Creek, Scioto County, OH, James requested a pension, stating, “weak heart due to illness during service time.” On Feb. 28, 1904, when James died, his physician, Dr. J.H. Ramey, stated, “The cause of death was a disease of lungs with complications.”
James was 70 years, four months, and three days of age at the time of his death. His pension amounted to $10.00 per quarter (of a year). He owned 47 acres of land in Aid Township, Lawrence County, OH, valued at $300.00. Upon his death, his wife, Margaret Sumpter Freeman, applied for a widow’s pension and was granted $8.00 per quarter (of a year). However, Margaret died four months later, on June 20, 1904, at age 65.
When James entered the service, he was described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a light complexion, light hair, and gray eyes. James was the son of David Parker and Nancy Martin Freeman and the grandson of William and Sarah Parker Freeman. On Oct. 21, 1855, at South Point, Lawrence County, OH, he married Margaret Ann Sumpter (born 1839-died June 20, 1904), and they had the following children:
Nancy E. born Oct. 22, 1956; died 1904), George (born Dec. 20, 1858-?), Thomas (born Jan.7, 1861; died Dec. 5, 1922), John Simmons (born July 15, 1865; died Dec. 30, 1906), Mary E.M.( born Sept. 16, 189-?), David Parker (born: Feb. 2, 1872-?), Hattie Ann (born May 13, 1877; died July 4, 1959), Mattie (aka Martha) ( born May 13, 1877; died Feb. 16, 1958), Jesse Norm (born: March 3, 1882-?)and Charles Edward (born: Sept. 3, 1884-?) Freeman.
Freeman, William Dickerson
Submitted by Bobbi Mann
William Dickerson Freeman, Co. B, 112th. Volunteer Infantry, Stark County, Illinois. Enlisted at Bradford on Aug. 12, 1862
William was born April 8, 1839, in Lawrence County, Ohio, and died July 17, 1918, in Janesville, Greenwood County, Kansas. (He left Lawrence County when he was 18 to settle in Bradford, Stark County, Illinois.) He was the son of David Parker and Nancy Martin Freeman and the grandson of William and Sarah Parker Freeman, who settled in Lawrence County in the late 1820s. He was a brother of James Freeman, who served with Company A in 188th. Ohio Volunteer Infantry and Moses Alfred Freeman, who served with Company H, 6th. Reg. Ohio Cavalry Volunteers.
William was 23 years of age, 6’1 1/2″ high, fair complexion, hazel eyes, and auburn hair, and a farmer when he enlisted.
Nov. 17th. 1892 – Personally appeared before me, Lynis Brocock, a Notary Public for said Stark County, State of Illinois, Francis J.Liggett, aged 48 years of Bradford, Stark County, Illinois, who first being sworn on his oath deposes and says:
I was a Private in Company B, 112th. Regiment Illinois Volunteers was well acquainted with William D. Freeman, the above-named claimant who was a Private in the same company. I was well acquainted with the claimant William D. Freeman for five years before the breaking out of the late Civil War. Freeman and I enlisted together and at the same time in the said Company B, 112th. Illinois Volunteers.
On the morning of the 18th. In Sept. 1863, William D. Freeman, myself, and two other boys of the same Company were captured by the enemy while in the line of duty at Cleveland, Tennessee. After our capture, we were taken by the enemy to Dalton, GA. Thence to Atlanta, Richmond, VA, and on the 27th of September 1863, we were imprisoned on Belle Island. Remaining there until the 10th. Day of March 1864. During our stay on the Island, all through the hard winter, we were compelled to sleep on the bare sand with no straw under us or a blanket, overcoat, or anything else to cover ourselves with. To keep from freezing, eighteen of us slept together, huddled together in “spoon fashion” to increase the animal heat we might live in.
William D. Freeman, during all my acquaintance with him up to that time, William D. Freeman had been a hearty, robust man with no ailments whatever. During January of our stay on the Island, he complained heavily of Rheumatism in his back and hips, brought on as unvarying behavior by the extreme exposure we had to undergo in sleeping on the ground in a more than half frozen condition. We were taken from the Island to Andersonville in Georgia, arriving on the 18th.Day of March 1864. Here again, we were compelled to sleep on the bare cold ground. Freeman continued to suffer much with the Rheumatism contracted on the Island.
Soon after our imprisonment in Andersonville, Freeman, myself, and another prisoner named Stacy plotted to make our escape. On the 24th. Day of May 1864, we put our plot into execution and escaped. We hid in swamps, were chased by bloodhounds, and hunted down like wild beasts. Stacy was recaptured in about 3 or 4 days and returned to Andersonville. Freeman and I kept in hiding the best we could and kept on traveling toward the Union lines-meeting with many discouragements and hair-breath escapes.
After about twenty days of suffering, untold hunger, and fatigue, we reached Sherman’s Army and the Etowah River in Georgia. We were delayed much during the day of our escape because Freeman could not travel, having Rheumatism so severe in his back and hips. We were each given a furlough for 30 days when we got into our lines. We went home together, returned to the service together, remained together when discharged at the same time, went home together, and lived until 1878, when Freeman went to Kansas to live.
We are still here.