THE CAPTAIN
By
James S. Compher
The day was cool, most of the crops have been
harvest and the trees were shedding their leaves. Small animals were scurrying
about in search of food they could store for the cold winter months ahead.
Farmers throughout the countryside were also preparing for the cold and snowy
months of winter and waiting for the birth of another season in the spring.
However, on one farm there was already the excitement of a new birth. The day
was October 19, 1820 and John and Eldon Compher, along with their five-year-old
daughter Mary, of Friend’s Cove, Pennsylvania celebrated the birth of their
first son, Alexander.
As
the years passed swiftly on the Compher farm Alexander, along with his younger
brother Philip, born in1824, grew strong and tall, 5’ 10 3/4”, while helping to
run the farm and becoming a blacksmith. Mary married George Stuckey in 1834.
Finally in 1842, Alexander decided that it was time for him to start a family
of his own. After much courting, Alexander married Mary Ann Whetstone.
With the excitement of Thanksgiving nearing
young Alexander and Mary were also preparing for the birth of their first
child. The blessed event finally arrived on the cold winter day of November 21,
1844. Alexander and Mary welcomed the birth of a daughter. They named her
Matilda. Matilda was a very weak child and on May 14, 1845, she accented into
the heavens. Still wanting a family, Mary gave birth to another child on June
24, 1846. This time they had a son and named him Samuel.
Soon after Samuel’s birth, tragedy would again
strike this household. On September 4, 1847, Mary passed away leaving Alexander
alone to care for young Samuel. After Mary’s death, Alexander continued working
on the family farm with his father and brother while raising his son. If the
passing of Matilda and Mary was not hard enough for young Alexander to handle,
grief again struck this young suffering family for on June 6, 1849 when young
Samuel, only 18 days short of his third birthday, died.
With great fortitude, Alexander pressed on with
his life and on November 5, 1849 Alexander again married. This time he took the
lovely Barbara A. Mills as his wife. For several years, Alexander and Barbara
continued living and working on the family farm while raising a family. First, there
was Mary A. (1851) next came Georgiana (1854), than the first son George Watson
Bouse in 1857. Another daughter arrived in 1859 and they named her Frances.
Emma Cornelia was born in 1860.
Coming from very religious families, Alexander
and Barbara were both strong supporters of individual freedom. With the
breaking out of the Civil War, the lives of Alexander and Barbara would change
drastically. For in the fall of 1861 Alexander recruited a company of
volunteers from the area around Rainsburg, Pennsylvania for the Union Army.
Soon Alexander left his wife and children to care for the family farm and went
to Camp Curtin.
On
February 13, 1862, at the age of 41, Alexander began three years of military
service as a captain in Company D of the 101st Pennsylvania
Volunteers. On February 27, 1862, Company D left Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
traveling to Baltimore, Maryland and then to Washington, D. C. Before long,
Captain Compher was in combat, participating in the battles on the Peninsula in
Virginia, Yorktown, Williamsburg and Seven Pines, just to name a few. On
December 4, 1862, Captain Compher and his men were sent to New Bern, North
Carolina and then onto Goldsboro, North Carolina. On July 7, 1863, while
protecting Plymouth, North Carolina, Captain Compher sustained an injury. He
was asleep on the deck of a gunboat when their 100-pounder gun was fire. The
concussion from this firing throw him up in the air and in falling back to the
deck struck his right elbow with such force as to pull the bones out of place
in the elbow joint. The elbow became very painful and swollen. During the siege
on Williamston, he had to have his right arm in a sling and carry his sword in
his left hand.
April 17,
1864, began the battle at Plymouth, North Carolina. Captain Compher and Company
D was located on the east side of Plymouth along the Columbia Road in an area
called Fort Comfort, also referred to as Fort Compher. On April 20, 1864 the Union troops were
defeated. The troops surrendered and became prisoners of war.
The prisoners were marched to Tarboro, North
Carolina where they were loaded into train boxcars heading for Andersonville,
Georgia prison. At Andersonville the
officers were separated the other prisoners and sent to other prisons. Captain
Compher, because he was an officer, was imprisoned in the stockade at Macon,
Georgia. After the fall of Atlanta, Georgia, Captain Compher and his fellow
prisoners were to be transported to Charleston, South Carolina but on the way
an escape plan to takeover the train by the prisoners was discovered. The men
were taken to Savannah, Georgia instead. After about six weeks, the men were
moved to Charleston, South Carolina and then they were marched to Columbia,
South Carolina. During the battle of Columbia the prisoners were hastily taken
to Charlotte, South Carolina and were kept under guard in a cotton field. While
in this field a fellow prisoner, hoping that the war would soon be over,
proposed that, a Civil War veteran’s society be form. Word went out among the
other prisoners and soon this new organization was born. Being highly respected
by his fellow prisoners, Captain Compher was elected the president and a
committee was appointed to prepare a constitution, which was then approved and
signed by the men. This organization became known as the “Grand Army of the
Republic”. After the war this organization was highly honored and revered
because of the patriotism of its members and will always have a place of honor
in the history of the United States. Captain Compher remained a prisoner of war
until the exchange of prisoners on March 12, 1865 at Wilmington, South
Carolina.
After receiving his freedom and discharge,
Captain Alexander Compher returned to a great celebration in Friend’s Cove and
was reunited with his wife and children after being away for over three years.
Soon after returning home and being reacquainted with his family, Alexander
tried to resume a normal life. But now with a crippled right arm, he could no
longer be a blacksmith and he and Barbara opened a boarding house and hotel in
Altoona. Another son was added to this family on February 22, 1866. William
Orlando was his name.
Several more years passed with the Compher
family remaining in Pennsylvania. George W. B. died in 1873 when he was 16.
Finally their daughters were married and moved to Nebraska. In 1879, Alexander
and Barbara sold their property, packed up and departed Pennsylvania for their
westward move to Nebraska.
It was a long and hard journey but finally they
arrived in Fairmont and settled on a farm. After spending about seven years
farming in Nebraska and the death of their daughter Emma Cornelia in 1885
another move west was calling. Their son William Orlando and his wife, Winnie,
along with their son Roy Watson had moved in 1887 to a ranch near Cheyenne
Wells, Colorado. Therefore, it was only natural for Alexander and Barbara to
follow. This was the last move for the Comphers.
On Monday night, February 3, 1902, Captain
Alexander Compher at the age of 81died at home. His daughter and wife, of 52
years, were at his side when he departed. His remains were returned to
Fairmont, Nebraska where the funeral service was held under the direction of
the Fairmont Post of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Captain Alexander Compher will always be a part
of United States history as a captain of Company D of the 101st
Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War. However, in the history of the
Compher family he will always have a very special and honorable place for
generations to know about.
Debbie
Schriver,
101st Pennsylvania Regimental Historian provided information from
articles written by her and others.
Article provided by Winifred “Winnie” Compher Murr. The author is unknown.