His immediate family consisted of his mother Luianna Smith, his father Sherman , 3 sisters and 4 brothers. He also had been married 6 years to Lydia Ann Hall of Wallingford and they had no children2
His father and brothers were quite industrious being mechanically inclined and involved in the clock making industry in Bristol 3 and silverware in Meriden.4
When we had returned from Florida this spring , I found Gideon’s grave in
the Forestville Cemetery in the Forestville section of Bristol. It was located adjacent to the very large family plot of his brother Rodney Barnes. Not knowing any other details of Gideon's life I thought it was great he was next to family. In the previously mentioned Barnes box there were extensive notes , narratives and correspondence of my wife’s grandfather C.H.Barnes, there was no other information on Gideon. Given the amount of information he had gathered (mostly early 1900’s) I thought it strange This is why today we are fortunate to have the internet and bloggers to help us to find clues and information. I had read a guest post on Bryna O’Sullivans blog Explorations in Connecticut Genealogy by John Banks. I went to John Banks’ Civil War Blog and found he had written information on Gideon. I contacted him and offered the above picture and some background on the family. John then did some further research and shared it with me. This is how I found out about Gideon's wife and where she was buried. John then wrote a wonderful post about Gideon with this information. I can’t say enough about his kindness and his wonderful project. John will be including a poster of Gideon at the 150 th anniversary reenactment of the Antietam battle to be held Sept 29-30 in Wickham Park, Manchester Ct
This is the home site of Sherman and his son Monroe, who had returned home from Meriden to help his father run the farm and machine shop4.Gideon returns home in early October. John Banks documents in the above mentioned post the following report : "Wounds and injuries received in the battle of Antietam by rifle ball through the thick portion of the thigh causing explosive separation with sloughing," Dr. T.W. Camp noted. "This in connection with an uncontrollable camp diarrhea accompanied with delirium and typhoid fever were more than sufficient to cause death."
One can only imagine what life was like in that small home, for now it contained, Sherman with a less than pleasant temperament, Lieuanna credited as having a pleasant demeanor. 4 and of course Gideon and his wife Lydia. Gideon died Nov.17 1862 exactly two months after the battle. The family also lost the 5 year old son of Rodney a few weeks earlier on Nov, 3 1862.
Again thanks to John Banks I found Gideon wife Lydia had remarried and
was buried in the same cemetery as Gideon 5. I returned to the cemetery and expected a long search, I got out of the car next to Gideon's marker and low and behold Lydia’s marker was right in front of me. It turns out Gideon lies next to her second husband and she is next in line. It seems Gideon was never forgotten by his wife. I wonder if he knew the new husband as they were about the same age , a clock maker and also a veteran. I’m so very glad that his story has been told.
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1 The Barnes Family Year Book, Trescott C. Barnes, Riverton Ct.
2 http://john-banks.blogspot.com
3 Bristol,Connecticut: “in Olden Time New Cambridge” which includes Forestville -By Eddy N. Smith, George Benton Smith, Allena J. Dates, Garret W. F. Blanchfield. Google Books copy
4 Family notes of C.H.Barnes
5 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=77378150
