5/3/1859 Enoch was appointed guardian of a Mary E Purvis(relationship u nknown).
8/20/1860 T14 R6E, PO Sullivan, Moultrie Co, IL. At census time andh aving lost the first wife, he had remarried, to the younger sister.He w as 27, Mary, 16. Living with them was john Purvis, 30, laborer.
8/19/1862 Enoch enlisted to fight the Civil War with Co C of 126thReg , IL Volunteers. When he left he entrusted his property andfamily to t he care of his father. During his term of service hesuffered much of t he time from various ailments, as did most of thetroops.
His activities were recorded in letters among the McPheeters family:
11/1862 "anything you wish to send me such as sockes etc can be sentb y Lieut Powell or Enoch Purvis who are both at home on sickfurlou gh."
12/3/1862, from Camp Lagrange, TN: "Enoch Purvis joined us yesterday.w e were all glad to see him, had heard time finding us, went toMemphis, e xpecting we were there. had to come back to Columbus, KY.came around b y rail road to this place (Lagrange, TN). Capt Smyserhas reduced En och to the ranks. him and Capt. had quite a roundabout it this mornin g. Capt said the Col did it. Enoch went to theCol, asked him if he h ad reduced him. Col said your Capt requestedme to reduce you, said yo u was incompetent to fill the office. Colsent for Cap. when Capt cam e Enoch told him that Col told him thatCapt recomended his removal. C apt denied it. Col sent for Adjutant,asked him about it. Adjutant si ded with Col. Capt still denied it.Col said Capt it is no used for y ou to deny it any more, said he, Inever have reduced an officer withou t it being recomended by hissuperior officer. here it ended for the p resent. Smyser hasappointed a fellow as sargent in Enoch place that i s as roten as heis himself."
1/5/1863, letter from Enoch at home to fellow soldiers: "when wecomme nced fighting I was siting on the left side of the train eatingmy dinn er. I could do nothing where I was and could hear no ordergiven until I h eard them hollow to jump off. well I supposed theywere going to get o ff to fight and in jumping off I broke my foot andbadly injured my bac k and as soon as I got up the cars started back.then I thought I would g et on the cars to keep from being takenprisoner. Then when you all st arted back you saw me left and heardthe captain tell me to stay there. I w as left all alone. I crawledinto that old stockade and by the time yo u was out of sight twothousand rebels came up behind you and took my f ort and me in it."(12/1/2003-from Richard Holt, Lakeland, FL: "I am re searching CivilWar related activity and engagements in Gibson Co., TN a nd thisletter refers to an engagement that occurred along the Mobile & O hioRailroad near Humboldt, TN.")
/7/1863 "Purvis and Stewart are both at home, paroledprisoners.....Pu rvis will return (to his own unit) as soon asexchanged."
3/4/1863 "What is Enoch Purvis doing. Col has ordered him to reportt o his Co. without delay."
4/5/1863 "Enoch Purvis was at St. Louis the last account. He haswrot e for his wife to come and visit him. I suppose she will startin a fe w days. Why is he not ordered back to his Company."
4/9/1863 "general opinion....is that Enoch Purvis has come to theconc lusion that he is going to share a deserters fate. He has sentfor his w ife to come and see him. That looks very suspicious for ithasent been b ut about six weeks since he left here."
5/1/1863 "Enoch Purvis is still at St. Louis his wife is there withhi m. Intends staying there until Enoch leaves there."
5/30/1863 "Ike Harness is going to buy the place that Enoch Purvisliv ed on when he enlisted." (Ike was Enoch's brother-in-law.)
6/4/1863 "I am told that Enoch Purvis will not be able to march incon sequent of the injury to his foot at or near Humboldt (TN), and isplac ed in the invalid corps, which is composed of all soldiers whoare una ble to travel, but are able to perform duty in forts."
6/4/1863 "Ike Harness has bought of Squire Purvis the place EnochPurv is was living on when he volunteered, and will move on it in afew days . It was rented to Mr. Philips....Ike bought out his timethis mornin g."
9/6/1863 "I am told that Enoch Purvis has not yet received hisdescrip tive roll. I wonder if it was sent to him? He is now at homeon furlo ugh."
11/1/1863 "Enoch Purvis is in the I.C. is at Columbus Ohio."
11/28/1863 "I received a letter from E.B. Purvis a few days ago. hei s in the 15th Regt. I.C. Co. They are stationed at Camp Chase,Ohio. E noch says he was put in the I.C. by reason of deseas of theheart."
Enoch is back with us.
12/19/1863 at Camp Douglas, Chicago: "I had a long talk with E.B.Purv is today, he looks well, & is doing well, has his Family withhim."
1/31/1864 "(Your) brother, Addison "stoped in Chicago a few hours,cal led on Enoch Purvis. He and his wife are still in Chicagoguarding pri soners. his wife is performing the duties of a companyLaundress."
4/4/1864 "I received an order from the War Depart. last week orderingm e to prefer charges against E.B. Purvis and have him tried by aGeneral C ourt Marshal for desertion. I am looking for Enoch on everyboat that l andes. Letters came in our mail to day directed to him.Capt Smyser di d it all he reported him on all our muster rolls as adeserter, refuse d to send Enoch his descriptive roll when ordered soto do. Smyser wro te to Enochs Co and Regimental Commander, stated toboth that he was a d eserter and asked that he be arrested and sentback to his Reg for tria l. The case was refered to the War Dept. andEnoch was transfered to h is Reg and Co for trial. I have no fears atall as to the result of En ochs trial as Smyser is out of the way. Ican in the position I now oc cupy do a great deal for Enoch. I shalluse every effort in my power t o have him honerebly acquited andrestored to pay and duty."
7/19/1864 "I saw on last evening a letter from E.B. Purvis of the 8thI nst to his friends here. He says that when he arrived at Cincinnation h is way to his regiment, that he was arrested and taken toVicksburgh, a nd on the 26th April was placed in prison, and is thereyet in confinem ent. He thinks he is bneing very badly treated-isquite unwell-can not g et such provision as he can eat, and has notreceived a single letter s ince he has been confined, and of courseknows nothin of you or any of h is friends here.....He knows of nocharge against him except the old on e mady by Smyser, of desertion,which he is anxious to have investigate d. He says you and yourColonel have both, as he learns, sent orders f or his return to hisregiment, but the Provost Marshall refuses to let h im go. He is veryanxious to be releaved."
7/27/1864 "Squire Purvis has gone to Vicksburgh to see Enoch."
Rankin McPheeters, now Capt McPheeters, was able to help Enoch and hew as eventually cleared of all charges.
10/17/1864 "Enoch Purvis is hearty and well, and enjoyes himselffinel y. Enoch is one of the most careless & knowing soldiers that Ihave ye t come across, he is not willing to take advice from any one.In fact h e knows entirely to much for an American soldier."
12/30/1864 "Enoch is fleshier than I ever saw him and is tickledabout t he news from home."
2/17/1865 "Purvis has been complaining for a week past but is againon d uty."
4/1/1865, "Purvis has played out again. I have sent him up the rivert o some Genl Hos(pital)-do not know where he will be stopped at.Would n ot be much surprised to hear of him at home in 10 days. he isperfectl y worthless as a soldier. I have done all I could to helphim retrieve h is character, but he may now go to the dogs if hechooses. I shall give m yself no more trouble about him."
5/22/1865 He was discharged from the service with the rank of Sgt.
4/7/1866 Enoch petitioned for the township and paid a school tax onhi s property at T13 R6.
1870 Where was the family at census time?
12/31/1870 He closed the year by buying 40 acres of railroad landloca ted at S8 T13N for $8.00/acre.
9/2/1871 He paid a school tax for the same property as before.
7/1873 Chariton Co, MO. Feeling the westward ho fever, he moved.
9/1874 Moultrie Co, IL. Returning home he turned to farming again.
1875 E Nelson Twp, Moultrie Co, IL. He was listed in the atlas amongt he 1021 residents of the township as a land owner but was probablystil l living in MO. Son Enoch was born there 1/1877.
10/1877 Cherokee Co, KS. Still having the itch, he tried going westa gain.
4/1880 Moultrie Co, IL. Back home again.
6/2/1880 Moultrie Co, IL. Apparently learning the trade from hisfath er, Enoch, 46, was listed as a brick mason in the census. WifeMary wa s 46 and in the family were Malden, 15, Carry, 9, Milla, 7,and Enoch A , 2. They lived between his father and the elder AddisonMcPheeters.
1883 Germantown, NE. Setting out again, he moved with brother,Ephrai m and John, that time.
1/16/1885 Germantown, Seward Co, NE. He was listed in the statecensu s as E.B, 51, with Mary, 41, and children M.E., 20, Cary, 13,Milly, 1 2, Arthur, 7, and Jane, 2. Living with them was an AnnMedn, houseke eper from Prussia and Berry Angerston, boarder fromItaly. Brother Eph raim was counted in Pct G while brother John livedin Pct H.
9/8/1887 Germantown. Enoch testified from there in the matter ofEval ine Powell's application for a widow's pension.
6/11/1900 City of Leavenworth , Leavenworth Co, KS. That censusrecor ded Enoch at age 66, married 43 years to Mary P, 46, who hadbirthed 6 c hildren, all still livng. Still at home were Enoch A, 21,Jane, 17, an d Josephine G, 15. Enoch's occupation was "Veteranarysurgeon," son En och was a printer pressman.
The 1900 census says Enoch was born 6/1833.
There may be a burial discrepancy and this may not be the Enoch Purvisw ho was buried there. If he died in KS, was he shipped back home tobe i nterred? Cemetery records state recorded only that Enoch "N"Purvis, S gt Co C 126th ILL Inf, was buried, no dates given. It isthe correct s ervice info but wrong middle initial.
