Thomas Wildman and Mary Totten

Thomas Wildman and Mary Totten are my great great great grandparents. Thomas was born in Ireland on April 29th, 1810 and died at a Civil War training Camp, Camp Randall, in Wisconsin in 1862. Mary Totten was born in Ireland in 1810 and died in Port Washington, Wisconsin on April 17th, 1877.

On May 4th, 1860 they arrived in America via the ship The City of Manchester. Click here for history on the ship.



Thomas and Mary had 6 children, all born in Ireland.

Thomas E. Wildman b. 1934 d. April 12th, 1873
Margerreta Wildman b. 1935 d. Feb 23rd, 1877
John Wildman b.1839 d.1911
Samuel Wildman b.1841 d. Jan 1862
William Joseph Wildman b.1842 d.1912
Susanna Mathilda Wildman b.Sep 4th, 1844 d.Jan 30th, 1914

I am still researching on the whereabouts in Ireland these ancestors are from. Due to records being destroyed in Ireland for this time, I am left with the Griffiths Valuation. The Griffiths Valuation does have a Thomas and a Mary Wildman, from Louth. But there is no birthdates or anything else to confirm this is my Thomas and Mary and not some other Thomas and Mary. I am merely using Louth as a lead. If research takes me further, I will be sure to post it.

The Family settled in Port Washington, Wisconsin. A very useful website for this family has been the Ozaukee County Website.

Noted with utmost importance I found an article written by Daniel E. Mcginley titled "Ozaukee County's War History"

From Chapter 2
"Among the members of the Rifles were Thomas Wildman and his two stalwart sons, Thomas E. and Samuel H., all natives of the Emerald Isle and later farmers near Port Washington, intelligent, patriotic men who were held in high esteem by their comrades. The youngest, Samuel H., who had just reached his majority, was the first member of the company to succumb to the rigors of the winter and the effects of the nightly vapor baths, dying January 15, 1862; and was followed a few days later by the father. The early deaths of these two patriots in the service of their adopted country were sincerely lamented by their surviving comrades."

From Chapter 4
"An interesting, intelligent family group was the Wildman family, Thomas, Thomas E. and Samuel H., father and sons respectively, all natives of Ireland. They were all stalwart, patriotic men, but unfortunately two of them soon succumbed to the exposures and hardships of camp life, and never lived to see Dixie. They were living comfortably and happily on a farm near Port Washington when the war began, and were uncompromising Unionists. The oldest son, Thomas E., enlisted in the rifles Sept. 30, and Samuel on Nov. 23, 1862. Their ages were twenty-five and twenty-one years respectively. A month or two after the company reached Camp Randall it was joined by the father, a man far past the meridian of life whose change of a comfortable home for a canvas tent in the snow, was too much for his constitution, and in a few weeks he returned home to the fond wife and mother in his coffin. Two or three weeks later Samuel surrendered to the dread reaper, and his body followed his father's to the shores of Lake Michigan, within sight of which they sleep side by side under the starry folds of the flag of their adopted country, for the preservation of which they gave their lives. Thomas E. made an excellent soldier, was wounded at Shiloh, returned to the regiment and participated in all the battles and campaigns in which it was engaged, returned home after the war, and a year or two later moved to Minnesota, where he married and settled upon a farm. But it was not many years before the effects of the exposures and hardships of his army life had their effect, and he went to join his father, brother and comrades in the eternal camp in the unknown regions beyond the grave."

Also in this article is all accounts of every single thing that happened to the surviving Thomas E. Wildman during the War. Although wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, he succesfully made it through  all battles he fought. The article is in great detail, and you can even pull up maps from the specific battle and look at where he was fighting. This article was a blessing of a find.

Here is a photo of the pension application from Mary for Thomas's death.

This document is where I got Mary's maiden name from, as well as her parents.
My source for this card is Carol, a researcher I contacted through the Ozaukee County Website. Here is what she wrote me pertaining to the card source:
"I found these for you.  There are photo copies of a marriage application index cards. On the sheet with Wildman names I hand wrote in info on Ole Johnson.  The info I recorded is not correct concerning spouse/parents.  I think the person writing things down goofed.  Along with the marriage applications there will be cards that will (*sometimes*) list a person with their birth, death dates plus marriage, spouse and parents - this info came from death certificates.  We believe this was a WPA project done during the 1930's.  It is not complete but does give some useful info.If you see cards with just a man and a woman listed, along with a number, it means they were listed as parents for a bride or groom and this card is cross referenced."

Sources
Ozaukee County Website
Griffiths Valuation
Castle Garden
New York passenger lists, 1820-1957 (ancestry.com database)
1860 US Federal Census
1870 US Federal Census
1880 US Federal Census
Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 (ancestry.com database)