Coins on a Grave

 

Picture created by Val (AI)

Have you ever been through a pioneer cemetery and seen coins on a Headstone?  What do coins have to do with a final resting place?  Unknown to some, this custom dates back to the stories in ancient Greece mythology of Charon the ferryman.  charon would bring souls across the river from the world of the living to the world of the dead. The trip would cost the family of the deceased an “obol” for passage into the afterlife.

Typically, the family placed the coin in the mouth of the deceased. Later, they were also placed over the eyes. The family buried their loved ones with this coin. Today, the coin symbolizes respect and remembrance, especially for those who have served. there is a meaning behind each type of coin:

• Penny - A penny at the gravesite means that someone visited the grave that is not related to the person but wants to pay honor to the person and their service in the military.  
• Nickel - A nickel is left by someone who trained at the same boot camp.  
• Dime - A dime means that someone served with the person at some point in the military
• Quarter - a quarter means that the person was there when the service man or woman died.  

John Porter (1873 - 1898) - Lieutenant

 Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930

John Singleton Porter was born 23 January 1873 in Blount County, Tennessee to Robert and Maggie Porter.  He had at least two brothers, Samuel and Robert S. Porter, and a sister Jennie. 

On 25 September 1888, he was appointed to the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, at the age of 15, the minimum age allowed.  He graduated in 1892, after which he embarked on the last requirement, a two-year cruise.  He served aboard the USS Baltimore and the USS San Francisco.  He returned to Annapolis in April of 1894 to take his final exams.  Following a two-month leave, he was commissioned an ensign on 1 July 1894 and was appointed assistant engineer. 

He was assigned to take additional instruction in marine engineering in Paris, France, on 3 October 1894.  While there, he contracted a respiratory ailment, probably tuberculosis.  Upon his return to the United States in June 1896, he took sick leave and travelled first to Denver in the hope that a warmer climate would aid his recovery.  

 Porter went back east for the funerals of his parents in 1896-1897, which only aggravated his condition. He was in the last stages of consumption when he came to Phoenix in December 1897.  After seeking care from army surgeon Dr. Alex S. Porter, his health improved marginally, but he suffered a relapse and died suddenly on 11 February 1898 at Sisters Hospital. - Donna Carr

James Braswell (1832 - 1898) - Civil War Soldier

Confederate Prisoners

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Washington, D.C., USA   //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.15835

James Belton Braswell is believed to have been born 7 September 1835 in South Carolina. He received training as a brickmason and later worked as a building contractor.

During the Civil War, James enlisted initially as a private in Company B, 26th Alabama Infantry (O’Neal’s Regiment), but in August 1862, he and his brother W. D. deserted. They were captured by the Union Army at Camp Davies, Mississippi, on 28 December 1863. Five months later, on 31 May 1864, they took a loyalty oath and enlisted in the U. S. Army. Braswell’s own account was much more colorful.

After a year or two of soldiering, he and a comrade named R. A. Crowley were fighting in Georgia when they deserted for the first time. They were soon captured by their Confederate fellows. The South, being by then desperate for soldiers, did not execute the pair, but confined them to the guardhouse. Braswell and Crowley escaped a second time by knocking a guard down. Recaptured and confined yet again, they made a third attempt to escape, but were foiled. Despairing of keeping the slippery pair in uniform, the commanding officer ordered them to be shot the next morning at sunrise.

As the condemned men sat in the guardhouse that night, Braswell persuaded Crowley to make one last break for it, saying “Let us try one more run. The chances are that we won’t make it wand will most likely get killed, but what of that? We’ll only shorten our years by five hours.”

The pair surprised and killed a guard, fleeing into the night. Before morning they reached a dense swamp and made their way to Sherman’s lines, where they surrendered.

James Braswell married his first wife, Mary Jane DuBose in Indiana in 1863. After the war, Braswell’s skills as a brickmason were undoubtedly in demand as new settlements sprang up out West. By 1870, the Braswells were living in Elk City, Kansas, and were the parents of three children, Sophronia Belle, George Belton, and James Elliot.

Around 1884, the Braswells moved to Arizona, accompanied by James’s old friend Crowley. Their last five children: Claude, John Wesley, Maude Pauline, Audrey and Joseph Franklin, were born in Phoenix. Although Braswell claimed to have been the father of 24 children, only 14 have been documented.

Although Braswell had been an industrious and skillful workman for most of his life, he took up drinking during his last years. When he expired on 13 January 1898, bottles of laudanum and paregoric were found in his pockets. Thinking that he might have committed suicide, Justice Johnstone ordered an inquest. The cause of death was cleared up when Mrs. Braswell testified that he habitually carried them to relieve a persistent ear ache.

James Braswell is buried in Porter Cemetery.  Come visit us, and learn more about this soldier at the PMMP! - adapted by a story from Sue Wilcox

James Broomell (1837 - 1896) - Soldier for a Cause

James Broomell - Porter Cemetery - PCA Files

James Henry Broomell was born August 2, 1837. The location of his birth was probably Upper Oxford Township in Chester County, PA. 

On the 1840 Census, James Broomell was listed as 12 years old along with his grandmother Lydia Broomell, father John Broomell, and mother Sarah Broomell, along with the following siblings: George, Latitia, Elizabeth, Seneca, and Samuel. 


At some point in 1860, he became a school teacher, and then later became soldier.  The 124th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was organized to meet the threat of the Confederate invasion of Maryland in August 1862. The length of service for the volunteers was to be 9 months. James Henry Broomell enlisted on August 6, 1862, at Oxford, PA. He was assigned the rank of Corporal in Company C and was mustered in on August 11, 1862. 

Corp. Broomell’s Regiment was ordered to Washington D.C. on August 12 and they went into camp at Fort Albany, two miles south-east of the Capital. The 124th was next ordered to Rockville, MD, on September 7. It was ordered to march to meet the enemy the afternoon of the 9th. Then, on September 17, it was in the thick of the fight in the infamous Miller’s corn field during the Battle of Antietam. This battle was the “bloodiest” day of fighting in the entire Civil War; in fact the “bloodiest” day in United States history. The 124th lost 50 men in killed and wounded that day. Total casualties were some 23,000 soldiers.


By December 10, the 124th Pennsylvania was camped in the neighborhood of Harper’s Ferry. It was ordered forward by a forced march in bad weather to participate in the looming battle at Fredericksburg, VA. By the time it arrived, the fighting was over.  

The next major assignment of Corp. Broomell’s Regiment was the Chancellorsville campaign. It formed a line of battle on the afternoon of April 30, 1863. The fight with the Confederate army began the next morning. The Union troops were gradually forced into a strictly defensive situation and all hostile action ceased by May 6. The 9-month term of service for this Regiment ended on May 9 and it was returned to Harrisburg, PA, where Broomell was mustered out on May 17.


One month later, the governor of Pennsylvania was informed that Confederate General Robert E. Lee was again intent on invading the North. Governor Curtin issued a proclamation on June
12 asking for men to volunteer into “emergency” militia regiments. President Lincoln also called for 100,000 men from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and West Virginia to serve for 6 months or as long as necessary during the emergency. Broomell again answered the call to serve and enrolled June 15, 1863, at Oxford, PA. He was mustered in on June 19 at Harrisburg as a Private in Company A of the 29th Pennsylvania Militia Infantry and immediately promoted to Sergeant. 

This regiment was organized by June 23 and immediately put to work building fortifications around Harrisburg. It experienced some combat when a mounted Confederate force raided some nearby Pennsylvania towns and threatened Harrisburg. Private Broomell’s regiment did not engage in fighting in the Gettysburg area. The main purpose of these “emergency” militia regiments was to guard railroads, bridges and fords over major rivers and to protect Federal property in Pennsylvania. Private Broomell was mustered out of service on August 1, 1863, at Harrisburg, PA. His soldiering days were over.


For more information on the life of James Broomell, and to see him in Porter Cemetery, come to the Pioneer Military and Memorial Park when it opens! - adapted from a story by Jan Huber

Civil War Food

Civil War Hard Tack
Hartford, Conn. : The War Photograph & Exhibition Co., No. 21 Linden Place, [1863 February]
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

The rations for the Civil War consisted of shelf stable products that were sometimes cherished or despised out on the field.  Here is a blogpost from the Library of Congress illustrating what the food was like for our soldier heroes........

Thanksgiving Food for the Civil War Soldiers