At 09:32 PM 1/1/2003 -0700, you wrote: >This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > >Classification: Query > >Message Board URL: > >http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/2FC.2ACI/73.149 > >Message Board Post: > >Mary, I am a great-great grandson of the Gerritt Van Liere in your >listing. He was drafted into the 34th Wisconsin on November 15, 1862 at >Madison, Wisconsin, at 40 years of age. He was in Camp Randall, Wisconsin >December 19 and in April was on the Mississippi River near Memphis as part >of a guard contingent guarding Union forts in the area. I do not believe >he and his unit saw much if any fighting. He was mustered out of the unit >September 8, 1863 at Milwaukee. I believe a second cousin of mine who >lives on the Eastern Shore of Virginia has his CW Musket. >I have copies of the muster roll, which I made here in Washington, DC at >the National Archives...most of those you are looking for should also be >available on Microfiche or Microfilm there for copying. His muster out >settlement says "drawn since enlistment: $35.48"...not sure what that >represented. The handwriting and signatures of the company clerks are >quite legible. It is interesting to note that his name appears on the >rosters as Gerhard, Gerritt and Gerard. My father's middle name was >Gerard, after him. The last name went from Van Lier to Vonleir, back to >Van Lier to Van Leir to Van Liere to Van Lier again. We have always >spelled it as Van Liere. >Gerard emigrated to the US in about 1852 with a wife and two children >after a harrowing sea voyage in which the mast snapped in a storm and >twins were born and died on the ship. He wrote a neat testimony to God's >Providence about these experiences, noting especially leaving his wife and >children in His Care on the 'frontier' while away to the Civil War. >Let me know if there is anything more that would help. > >Regards, >Dennis Van Liere