Knox during the Civil War

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letter home from Jesse Denison
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In the war of the rebellion, from her somewhat remote situation, this little town responded patriotically to the call of the government for volunteers. Seventy-seven volunteers went to fight in the battles of the Union. Many of them never came back to receive the great honors that awaited them.[1]


A very large number of men from Knox were in the 7th Regiment of the New York Heavy Infantry. In Carnival of Blood Keating discusses the "enlistment bounty" these men got for enlisting and passing the physical, $50 from the state and $50 from Albany County, more money than they had ever seen before.

On page 3, Keating wrote:

In the rural hamlet of Knox, in farm country ten miles west of Albany, young Michael Barkley gained a commission as first lieutenant in Company K, primarily because he was a recent college graduate, but he had also managed to convince twenty-one men from the small community to enlist in the Regiment. His recruiting efforts were then a cause for admiration and celebration, during the patriotic euphoria which gripped the Northern States in the summer of 1862. Three years later, Barkley and sixteen of the twenty-one were dead, and the mood would be far different.

Draft List

179 signed up for the draft listing their residence as Knox.

Regiments in which men from Knox served

7th Regiment, New York Heavy Artillery

There were at least 16 men from Knox who served in the 7th Regiment. Some of the Regiments major battle were at Petersburg, Cold Harbor, Weldon Station, Spotsylvania. Three of the men from Knox were killed in battle, or died of their wounds. Five were captured, four of whom died in prison of starvation or disease. One was missing in action. Click here for more about the 7th Regiment and a listing of the men from the Hilltowns who served in it.

Knox Men who joined the Union Army

We are trying to collect information for a book on Hilltown men who were in the Civil War. The information is being posted here in their biographies in preparation for writing the book. While we have volunteers adding information little by little, it will still only be what information they can glean from public records. We are encouraging family researchers to post additional information on each of these men: photographs, obituaries, copies of letters home, pictures of headstones, memorabilia, etc. We hope to publish the book in 2011, the 150th anniversary of the start for the war.

Most of theses biographies are quite basic. We hope that if you know something more about one of these men, you will take an active interest in this project and update his biography to better reflect his life and death. <br.>

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Additional Media

Civil War Soldiers from Knox from History of Albany County, by Howell and Tenney (Photos by Allen Deitz. There is no image 4).

People who were in the book but are not in the images:

  • Miner Ecker, private, Sixty-first Regiment, Company I; enlisted in August, 1862; mustered September 19, 1862; discharged by reason of disability and died in Knox, and is buried in Berne.
  • Amos Gideon Hanes, private, Ninety-first Regiment, Company D; enlisted in August, 1861; mustered in November, 1861; served nearly three years; died of chronic diarrhoea, and was buried in Knox Cemetery.
  • Arthur Haswell, private, 177th Regiment, Company B; enlisted October 22, 1862; mustered November 18, 1862; after serving six months, died at Bonnet Carre, La.; buried in Rural Cemetery, Albany.
  • Newton Ketcham, private, Ninth Artillery, Company A; enlisted September 6, 1864; mustered September 12, 1864; was in service ten months, participating in the fight at Cedar Creek and the battle of Petersburg, Va.
  • George Riter, private, Sixty-first Regiment, Company I; enlisted August 30, 1862; mustered September 19, 1862; killed May, 10, 1864, at Po River, Va.
  • Lewis Washington Quay, private, Seventh Artillery, Company K; enlisted August 4, 1862; mustered August 14, 1862; served nearly a year and died at Washington, D.C., of typhus fever.
  • John Simon Secor, private, Ninth Artillery, Company A; enlisted September 6, and mustered September 12, 1864; after serving a little more than a month, he was wounded in the right leg at Cedar Creek, rendering amputation necessary, and was discharged for disability.
  • Henry W. Stalker, private, Sixty-first Regiment. Company J; enlisted in August, and mustered September 19, 1862; died at Washington, D. C.. May 5, 1863, from wounds, and was buried at Washington.
  • Chauncey Groat Townsend, private, Sixty-first Regiment, Company I; enlisted in August, and mustered September 19, 1862.
  • Henry Crary Williams, enlisted August 30, 1862, and mustered September 19, 1962, as first sergeant, Company H, Sixty-first Regiment; promoted to second lieutenant February 20, 1863, and to captain, January 12, 1864.
  • Stiner, Daniel Henry, private, Tenth Regiment, Company G; enlisted October 1, 1862; mustered October 13, 1862.
  • George W. Stiner, private, Tenth Regiment [Listed under Berne]


Soldiers associated with Knox

Soldiers possibly born in Knox according to their Muster Roll Abstract as found on Ancestry.com, or lived or buried in Knox.

Additional Names from Knox Sesquicentennial list:

  • Joseph Drum (2/27/1835- /7/9/1906) - Knox Cemetery
  • Philip FUllerton Post 198 (2/14/1840 - 6/13/1903) - Knox Cemetery
  • Alvah S Wilday Post 198
  • George H. Williams (1836-1883) died at Berkeley, CA - Knox Cemtery
  • Jesse Wood Died Aug 14, 1863 Buried in Berne in Wood Cemetery
  • Albert Simons Pvt. 11 Reg Co. G
  • Lewis Quay died 1895 - Knox Cemetery
  • Henry W. Stalker Pvt 61 Rg Co J Buried at Washington
  • Orville Merrihew Pvt 113 Rg Co D Died Miller Prison
  • John Michael Stines Pvt 11 Bat
  • William Havens Pvt 7 Art Co K Buried Petersburg, VA
  • William Dariues Fairlee 10th Reg
  • James D. Covert Pvt 156th Reg
  • Myron L. Ham 10th Reg
  • Spencer Levie 10th Reg
  • Francis Courtney 10 Reg
  • Uriah Hallenbeck 10th Reg Co G Died in Service Buried in Cairo
  • Samuel W. Kelley 10th Inf.
  • George Ronert O'Donald 44 th
  • George Todd 10th Reg
  • Maddison Settle 10th Reg Co. G Buried at Fort Pillow
  • Daniel W. Foley 10th Reg
  • Henry Crounse 91th
  • Daniel Henry Stiner Pvt. 10th Reg
  • George W. Stiner Pvt 10th Reg
  • Kleber Burlingame Corp 61th Reg. Co. I
  • Albert Bell Pvt 10th Reg Co G
  • John Henry Carroll &th Art. Co A Pvt Buried Petersburg, VA
  • John Hurst Pvt 7th Art. Co. K died Baltimore, MD
  • John S. Simons Pvt 9th Art. Co. A Discharged on Disability
  • Charles H. Hochstrasser Pvt. 10th Co g Hon. discharge
  • Alonzo Luddens Jr. Corp 187 Reg CO I at Port Hudson, LA buried Gallupville
  • Hiram Clift Captain Navy (1803 - 1874)

Found on Ancestry.com

  1. Altamont Enterprise, 12 Oct. 1934, article by Margaret E. Burke on the history of Knox.