John Wesley Munsell
Unit History
- 7th Michigan Infantry I
Source: https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/DigitalObject/Download/b95a3240-53d6-4829-b1c2-1e071a81f186
Source: https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/DigitalObject/Download/2c26cef6-78e6-439e-8340-17289e543163
Source: https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/DigitalObject/Download/cd57e6c0-16fb-4b62-a93d-8731f847279a
Seattle Daily Times Sunday, Dec 22, 1912 Seattle, WA Page: 5
Soldier History
- Problem 1:
-
I searched the entire cemetery and could not find the grave
- Details:
-
There is new signage at Retsil Cemetery listing all those interred there. He is not listed on that sign and after physically walking the cemetery I could not find any grave stone or marker for him. There are other cemeteries locally that could have been used for his burial.
- Reported By:
- Reported On:
-
6 Mar 2022
- Problem 2:
-
I searched the entire cemetery and could not find the grave
- Details:
-
The cemetery has erected signage listing those interred there. The name of John Wesley Munsell is not listed. There are several "Unknown" listed.
- Reported By:
- Reported On:
-
4 Sep 2021
Family History
Birth information from family Bible record. Death and burial information from the death certificate. His death certificate stated he was married (not widowed) to "Mrs. John Munsell"; he was married a number of times. Died of senile dementia at the Northern State Hospital, and was listed as a carriage mechanic. Enlisted 22 Aug 1861 at Galesburg, Kalamazoo county, Michigan, a Private in Co I, 7th Michigan Infantry. Discharged for disability on 1 Nov 1861 at Camp Benton, Maryland. No previous military record was noted on his 1863 draft registration in Kalamazoo county, Michigan, where he was listed as a married carriage maker.
John married Keziah Dickerson in Kalamazoo county in 1859, and they were listed in the 1860 census of Comstock, Kalamazoo, Michigan. They were later listed in the 1870 census of Des Moines, Iowa, and the 1880 census of Galesburg, Knox county, Illinois. Apparently divorced, he married Mrs. Mary A (Rounds) Weaver, also of Galesburg, on 14 March 1889 in Cambridge, Henry County, Illinois. Further records of Mary have not been found. He was granted a disability pension in 1890 and filed in Illinois.
He married Mrs. Sarah Jane (Bristol) Ellis on 31 October 1896 in Louisville, Kentucky under the name of Wesley Munsell. They were shown as married 16 years (about 1894) in the 1910 census of Flint, Michigan to Sarah Jane Bristol, who died less than 2 months later. He then married Elizabeth C Miller on 8 August 1910. Further information on Elizabeth has not yet been found. John was featured in a 1912 Seattle, Washington newspaper article, detailing how, at age 75, he was knitting doll mittens for a young girl's Christmas present, while living at the Port Orchard veterans' home. He was listed as "widowed", living with his son, Charles W Munsell, in Seattle, Washington for the 1920 census. As can be seen in the documents attached to his wife, Martha, John married again at the age of 97 in 1927
Cemetery
Buried at Veterans Home Cemetery in Retsil