Saturday, November 13, 2010

The passing of a Civil War sailor

In genealogy research, it occasionally pays off to keep going back to the internet well. The Veterans’ Day holiday prompted me to do a quick search, again, for one of my 2nd great grand uncles, and Civil War navy officer, Joseph Watts. And, there he was. Or, rather, there was his gravesite.

Joseph fascinates me. As mentioned in previous blog entries, Joseph was a Second Assistant Engineer for the Union Navy. He served from 1863-1865. Joseph was part of the blockade, on board the USS Southfield, and then the West India Squadron. He returned home to Buffalo, and ultimately moved across the USA. I suspect that he had a fascinating story, and I would love to piece it together.

I had narrowed down the date of his death to the 1920’s, in northern California, but I had nothing more specific. Today, I was poking around in Ancestry.com, and found great-great-grand Uncle in the National Cemetery Administration’s U.S. Veterans Gravesites database. Now I know that Joseph died on 13 Nov, 1923, and rests in San Francisco National Cemetery.

Today is the anniversary of his passing.

Thanks for your service, Uncle Joseph. Rest in peace.