Marvin Bolton was born in 1840, the fifth of eight children in a large Michigan farming family. In 1860, at the age of twenty he was living on his parent’s farm and working as a servant. In 1861, he joined the Army as a part of the 1st Michigan Cavalry. On July 3rd, 1863, Marvin was wounded in the battle at Gettysburg. While engaging in hand to hand combat, he was struck over the head repeatedly by two soldiers with sabers, removing sizable pieces of his skull. The aftermath of these injuries would plague him for the rest of his life. After brief treatment in Pennsylvania, he was transferred to hospital in Washington and spent the remainder of his enlistment on furlough in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.
Presumably, he returned home to Michigan directly after his discharge (8/22/1864.) He was married to Addie Goodwin on November 10, 1867 and returned to farming, at some point taking control of his father-in-law’s farm. (I believe he held the deed in trust–possibly his father in law had no male heirs? I need to dig a little deeper into understanding the property documents) Marvin and Addie had four children–Melvin, Jr. born 5/25/1871; May, born 6/7/1873; Rosie, born 11/23/1876; and Fred born 3/22/1881.
Marvin applied repeatedly for an increase in his pension as his disabilities worsened over the course of many years. Medical professionals increased his disability from 1/4 disabled in 1877 to 1/2 disabled in 1878 and 3/4 disabled in 1886. In each case, his disabilities were directly linked to his injuries sustained at Gettysburg (it was frequently noted that there was no evidence of “vile habits”) His symptoms included frequent to near constant headaches, disorientation, forgetfulness, dizziness, numbness, and by 1902 occasional blindness. All of these difficulties must have made farming extremely challenging. He was also diagnosed in 1881 with dyspepsia, which the medical records seem to tie to poor diet during the war.
In April and July of 1903, Marvin began making some changes in his property holdings, establishing his land in the names of his wife, Addie and his younger son, Fred. In August of that year he died from a chest wound sustained when he was ran over by a grain binder.
After some difficulty, and the submission of several letters regarding the value of the farm property, his widow was able to establish her pension. She survived him for another 17 years, passing away January 4th, 1920.
Topics I anticipate researching further:
Since his injuries had a dramatic impact on the remainder of his life, and because he sustained such a dramatic injury at such an infamous battle, I definitely want to get the details of the 1st Michigan Cavalry participation in that battle. I also would like to look into what kind of treatments he may have received for those injuries. And maybe some medical perspective on what he may have been experiencing as a result of the injuries. Also need to look up dyspepsia, since I don’t really know what that is.
Also want to look into his property. The records I have contain really specific notes about where the land was located, so if I can figure out how to decipher those exactly it would be wonderful to be able to pinpoint his farm on a map. I would like to better understand the transfer of property rights as well.
And I want to know exactly what a grain binder is.
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