James Goldsmith (1817–1891), My Paternal 2nd Great Grandfather
Company D, 80th Indiana Volunteer Infantry
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 9: February 26 - March 4, 2026
Prompt: Conflicting Clues
Conflicting Clues
Two Civil War veterans.
Same name.
Same county.
Same cemetery.
One buried by the F. M. Stanton Post of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Another buried under the auspices of the Stone River Post.
For a time, I was convinced there were two James Goldsmiths buried in Peru Cemetery in Chautauqua County, Kansas.
There weren’t.
The Confusion
On 26 August 1891, a Sedan, Kansas newspaper reported:
“James Goldsmith, an old soldier, died near Peru on last Friday and was buried on Saturday under the auspices of the Stone River Post… He was a member of Co. D 80th Indiana Infantry.”
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| August 26, 1891 |
Two days later, on 28 August 1891, another notice read:
“Uncle Jimmy Goldsmith died last Friday. Another old soldier gone to his final muster. He was buried in the cemetery at Peru, on Saturday, by the comrades of F. M. Stanton Post, G.A.R., of which deceased was a member.”
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| August 28, 1891 |
Two different GAR posts.
Two slightly different presentations of the same burial.
The affectionate “Uncle Jimmy” in one.
The formal “James Goldsmith” in the other.
It felt like evidence of two separate veterans.
The Soldier
James Goldsmith was born 25 January 1817 in Hardin County, Kentucky, to Reuben Goldsmith and Anne Morrison. In 1844 he married Susannah Harding in Martin County, Indiana. By 1862 he was a forty-four-year-old farmer and father of seven children living near Alfordsville, Indiana.
On 12 August 1862 he enlisted in Company D, 80th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, commanded by John N. Tucker.
He mustered in at Princeton, Indiana, on 3 September 1862. Soon after, his regiment moved into Kentucky during one of the most volatile campaigns of the war.
On 8 October 1862, James was taken prisoner while his regiment was engaged at the Battle of Perryville.
That day, cannon fire shattered what had been a quiet rural landscape. Perryville became the site of the most destructive Civil War battle fought in Kentucky, leaving more than 7,600 killed, wounded, or missing. It marked the South’s last serious attempt to gain possession of the state.
James’s service was brief. On 9 April 1863 he received a Certificate of Disability for Discharge for “general disability in consequence of an attack of fever.”
The Long Road to Pension
The struggle did not end with discharge.
On 18 January 1886 — more than twenty years later — James filed a Declaration for Original Invalid Pension.
His pension was not approved until 21 January 1891, at the rate of $6 per month for “chronic diarrhea and age.”
In May 1891, only three months before his death, he filed a Declaration for Increase of an Invalid Pension, stating that because of chronic diarrhea and old age he was unable to perform manual labor and depended wholly upon his pension for his living. He believed the rate granted to him was too low and disproportionate to others.
There is no indication that an increase was granted.
He died on 21 August 1891.
From Kentucky to Kansas
James’s life followed a familiar westward pattern.
Born in Kentucky, he married and farmed in Indiana for decades. After the war, he remained there for several years before eventually moving west. By 1875 he was in what became Chautauqua County, Kansas. By 1880 he was living in Sedan Township.
He was a charter member of Stone River GAR Post #74.
And he was buried in Peru Cemetery.
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| James Goldsmith, Peru Cemetery, Chautauquah County, Kansas |
There is only one Civil War headstone there for a James Goldsmith.
It reads:
James Goldsmith
Co. D
80th Ind. Inf.
There is no second stone.
No second burial.
No second Civil War veteran by that name in Chautauqua County.
The Resolution
On 12 October 2024, I visited the Chautauqua County Historical & Genealogical Society in Sedan, Kansas.
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| Chautauqua County Historical and Genealogical Society, Sedan, KS |
There, staff consulted War Veterans in Chautauqua County, Volume 1. Under “Goldsmith, James,” the entry listed:
• Pvt Co D, 80th Indiana Infantry
• Peru / PO Sedan
• Born Kentucky
• Member E. M. Stanton GAR Post
• GAR Post 74 member #173
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| The book that held the answer. |
James Goldsmith was associated with both posts.
The newspapers were not describing two men.
They were describing one veteran whose affiliations were recorded differently in different contexts.
The conflicting clues were not contradictory.
They were incomplete.
The Lesson
Online research suggested duplication.
Local research provided resolution.
It is absolutely worthwhile to visit the historical or genealogical society in the place where your ancestors lived.
Sometimes a conflicting clue does not lead to a new person.
Sometimes it leads to a clearer understanding of the one you already have.
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