This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Casner, Russell, Stebbins Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/xBI.2ACIB/60.2 Message Board Post: This sounds like my great-great-grandfather William H. Casner born 13 Feb 1847? (confusion about year because he was either uncertain about when he was born or lied to get into the army) in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Joseph Casner and Rachel Vanderveer -- who moved to Chester, MA apparently around 1860 (and some evidence suggests after a stop in Granby, Connecticut). William m. (1) Mary Stebbins who d. 1869 in Chester and m. (2) Ellen M. Russell in either Thurman or Warrinsburg, New York. Children by first marriage, Fred; Children by second marriage: Samuel, Edward, Joseph, Frank. William served in the Civil War. In his enlistment papers he's listed as 5'7-1/2" tall, blue eyes, light hair. He served initial in the 2nd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, then in Company E, 17th Regt of the Massachusetts Infantry. I've got lots more info on the family -- though I've been continuously frustrated in trying to work back from Joseph and Rachel [I do have a lot of information about them, however] Note that I'm not sure that the Fred Casner in New Haven is William's son -- he was raised by his grandmother, Arlina Stebbins, after his mother died and then by a guardian -- he may have adopted the surname Stebbins. One of many confusing details that need clearing up.