Bio: Higgins, Erastus M. & Ethie
Louise
(Wilcox)
Contact: Stan
----Source: Connit,
Crystal Wendt &
The Clark Co., WI History Buffs, Side served: Union; State served:
Wisconsin; Enlistment date: 20 Aug 1862.
Surnames:
Erastus M. & Ethie
Louise
(Wilcox) Higgins Levis Township, Clark
Co., Wisconsin Please
contact us if you can supply a photo
or additional information about this soldier. Erastus M. Higgins was born in 1840-46 in New York, the son of Thomas and
Julia Ann Higgins. August 20, 1862, "Rastus" joined the Union Army and
fought in the Civil War as a private with Company C, 29th Wisconsin
Infantry. His regiment left the state by rail for Cairo,
September 2, 1862, under Colonel Charles R. Gill. Company C
was commanded by Captain Horace E. Connit, with James O. Pearce
serving as its First Lieutenant and Lovell F. Willard as its Second
Lieutenant. By November 7th, they had arrived at Helena,
Arkansas and
were camping on the east side of the river, opposite the town.
On the 16th of November, General Hovey, commanding the Department of
Eastern Arkansas, organized a force of about 7,000 soldiers for an
expedition against Arkansas Post, of which 400 picked men, of the
Twenty-ninth Wisconsin, under Colonel Gill, formed a part. The
force was to move up White River to a point twelve miles distant
from the Post, on the Arkansas, which distance it was proposed to
march. The water in the river was so low as to prevent the
passage of the transports over the bar at the mouth of that stream,
and, after repeated efforts, the whole expedition was abandoned, and
returned to Helena. April 6, 1863, Erastus received a
disability discharge and resumed family life in dense woodlands of
Levis Township, Clark County, Wisconsin.
Theodore Davis' Illustration (above) depicts the "jumping-off"
place for the Union troops at Cairo, Illinois where the
Mississippi and Ohio Rivers meet. Delilah Higgins, the first
wife of Erastus who was born August 20, 1854, died October 2, 1877
when she was just 23 years old. She was the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. J. W. Colburn. At the time of her death, her youngest
child was just one month old where his aging parents were farming.
She was buried in the
Levis Township Cemetery, Clark Co., Wisconsin. The five year old daughter of Erastus and Delilah, Corrah J. Higgins,
who was born June 23, 1872, died September 11, 1877 of brain fever. Their son, Perry Lee Higgins, who was born August 4,
1877 and died November 3, 1877. Timothy Higgins was born during the heat
of August in 1870 and died in the fall of 1885 (Oct. 15th). In 1899, he married Ethie Louise
(Wilcox) Harvey who was born October 27, 1863 and had previously
married to Samuel Howard Harvey September 28, 1879 in Clark County, Wisconsin.
She was the daughter of David A. and Hulda Ethie (Jones) Wilcox. Samuel died
July 2, 1896 in Cleveland, Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Erastus died May 21, 1911.
Levis
Township, Clark Co., Wisconsin Military
Research Notes
Wisconsin Marriages, 1835-1900 © Every submission is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
of 1998. Show your appreciation of this freely provided information by not
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Census Records
1870 Federal Census - Levis, Clark County, Wisconsin
Name
Age
Sex
Race
Occupation
Value of Real Estate
Value of Personal Estate
Birth Place
Higgins, Thomas
69
m
w
Farmer
100
New Jersey
Higgins, Julia Ann
61
f
w
keeping house
New Jersey
Higgins, Noah
20
m
w
works on farm
New Jersey
Higgins, Sarah Jane
16
f
w
at home
New Jersey
Coburn, Joseph W.*
49
m
w
Farmer
800
200
Vermont
Coburn, Elizabeth
42
f
w
Keeping house
Ohio
Coburn, Miles M.
17
m
w
works on farm
Wisconsin
Higgins, Delila P.
15
f
w
at home
Wisconsin
Higgins, Erastus M.
27
m
w
works on farm
New Jersey
Coburn Jaynes W.
13
m
w
at home
Wisconsin
Coburn, Josiah L.
10
m
w
at home
Wisconsin
*Coburn - should be Colburn
Name
Males
Females
Higgins,
Erastis
2
2
1880 Federal Census - Irving, Jackson Co.,
Wisconsin
Name
Relation
Marital
Sex
Race
Age
Nativity
Occupation
Father's Nativity
Mother's Nativity
John Higgins
Self
M
Male
W
48
NJ
Farmer
NJ
NJ
Sophronia Higgins
Wife
M
Female
W
40
VT
House Keeper
VT
VT
Marion Higgins
Dau
S
Female
W
13
WI
At School
NJ
VT
Charles Higgins
Son
S
Male
W
11
WI
At School
NJ
VT
Velmore Higgins
Son
S
Male
W
7
WI
At School
NJ
VT
Fayette Higgins
Son
S
Male
W
5
WI
At School
NJ
VT
Thomas Higgins*
Father
Male
W
80
NJ
Farmer
NJ
NJ
Julia Ann Higgins*
Mother
Female
W
70
NJ
NJ
NJ
*Parents
of Erastus Higgins
1880 Federal Census - Levis, Clark County, Wisconsin
Name
Race
Sex
Age
Relation
Occupation
Birth Place
Father Birth Place
Mother birth place
Philips, Nancy
w
f
58
keeping house
New York
New York
New York
Woodford, William
w
m
38
son-n-law
farming
Iowa
New York
New York
Woodford, Alitha
w
f
20
wife
keeping house
Wisconsin
New York
Wisconsin
Woodford, Henry
w
m
11
son
Wisconsin
New York
Wisconsin
Woodford, Robert
w
m
2
son
Wisconsin
New York
Wisconsin
Woodford, Cakey
w
m
9 months
son
Wisconsin
New York
Wisconsin
Higings, Rastus*
w
m
35
boarder
farming
New York
New York
New York
* Believe this should be Erastus Higgins,
with incorrect Nativity given by the
Woodford or Philips Family.
1880 Federal Census - Spencer, Marathon County, Wisconsin
Name
Race
Sex
Age
Relation
Occupation
Birth Place
Father Birth Place
Mother birth place
Samuel Harvey
w
m
26
Head
Works in Saw Mill
Canada
Canada
Canada
Ethie Harvey*
w
f
16
Wife
farming
Illinois
Canada
Unknown
1900 Federal Census - Cleveland, Jackson County, Wisconsin
Name
Relation
Race
Sex
Birth Month
Birth Year
Age
Martial Status
Marital Years
Kids Born
Kids Living
Birth Place
Father birth place
Mother birth place
Occupation
Higgins, Erastus
head
w
m
Aug.
1846
53
m
1
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
farmer
Higgins, Ettie
wife
w
f
Oct.
1863
36
m
1
7
5
Illinois
Canada
Kentucky
Harvey, Samuel
step-son
w
m
Feb.
1882
18
s
Wisconsin
Canada
Illinois
farm laborer
Harvey, Freddie
step-son
w
m
Feb.
1890
10
s
Wisconsin
Canada
Illinois
at school
Harvey, Jane
step-son
w
m
Jan.
1893
7
s
Wisconsin
Canada
Illinois
at school
Harvey, Mamie
step-daug
w
f
July
1895
4
s
Wisconsin
Canada
Illinois
1910 Federal Census - Brockway, Jackson County, Wisconsin
Name
Relation
Sex
Race
Age
Marital Status
Marital Years
Kids Born
Kids Living
Birth Place
Father Birth Place
Mother Birth Place
Occupation
Higgins, Rastus
head
m
w
70
m2
11
New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey
Ours Income
Higgins, Ethie
wife
f
w
46
m2
11
9
5
Illinois
Virginia
Virginia
Higgins, John W.
son
m
w
17
s
Wisconsin
Canada
Illinois
Higgins, Mamie
daug.
f
w
14
s
Wisconsin
Canada
Illinois
Higgins, Lyda
daug.
f
w
7
s
Wisconsin
New Jersey
Illinois
Higgins, Donald
son
m
w
2
s
Wisconsin
New Jersey
Illinois
U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865
Name: Erastus Higgins
Side: Union
Regiment State/Origin: Wisconsin
Regiment Name: 29th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry
Company: C
Rank In: Private
Rank Out: Private
Film Number: M559 roll 13
American Civil War Soldiers
Name: Erastus Higgins,
Residence: Hubbard, Wisconsin
Enlistment Date: 20 Aug 1862
Side Served: Union
State Served: Wisconsin
Service Record: Enlisted as a Private on 20 August 1862.
Enlisted in Company C, 29th Infantry Regiment Wisconsin on 20 Aug 1862.
Received a disability discharge from Company C, 29th Infantry Regiment Wisconsin
on 6 Apr 1863.
Sources: Side served: Union; State served: Wisconsin;
Enlistment date: 20 Aug 1862.
Name: ERASTUS R. HIGGINS
Spouse: ETHIE [Mrs] HARVEY
Marriage Date: 22 Sep 1898
County: Jackson
State: WI
Wisconsin Marriages, pre-1907
Name: Erastus R Higgins
Marriage Date: 22 Sep 1898
County: Jackson
Volume: 02
Page: 0231
Name: Ethie Harvey
Marriage Date: 22 Sep 1898
County: Jackson
Volume: 02
Page: 0231
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