War of 1812 veteran recognized by new grave marker, related ceremony

Sep. 6—CLAYTON — Samuel Linnell, War of 1812 veteran and prisoner of war, finally has a headstone.

It was installed this summer at Clayton Center Cemetery, an inactive and abandoned graveyard off of County Route 5 that no longer accept burials.

But Linnell's headstone, in contrast to the mossy, faded markers that surround it, stands out, calling fresh attention to an incredible life that has been researched by his descendants.

At an 11 a.m. ceremony on Saturday at the cemetery, that life will be recalled anew when Linnell's marker, provided by the U.S. government, is dedicated.

"So, 176 years later, we can finally put him to rest, giving him his true story, because most people don't know his true story," said Lori W. Linnell of Maricopa, Arizona, whose husband, Thomas C., is a direct descendant of Sam. "It was pretty awful."

Linnell was captured by the British at the Second Battle of Sackets Harbor and spent most of the war as a POW on a prison ship. After the war, he fought for a pension related to a war wound but it was never granted.

The wound he received was of sensitive nature and he didn't apply for the pension until later in life. Also, he had no eye-witness to confirm the matter. He could only provide his word.

"He went through a lot and suffered his whole life," Lori Linnell, also a genealogist, said. "He didn't even get a pension because there were no eye-witnesses. Isn't that the craziest thing ever? The witnesses were dead!"

Sam's wife, Eunice, died in November of 1852 and is buried at Clayton Center Cemetery, founded in 1817. Samuel died before her, in 1847, but there had been no memorial stone for him.

Representatives of the Linnelll Family Association contacted Cummings Funeral Service, established in 1919 and which has offices in Clayton and Watertown, about the possibility of getting one. There, funeral director Jean B. Davis was intrigued by the request and got to work.

"Jean Davis is the hero in all of this," Linnell said. "She arranged everything."

"Personally and professionally, every veteran should get the recognition that they deserve," Davis said. "This is long overdue and it needs to be done. I'm so happy that we were part of it."

A call to arms

Saturday's ceremony will feature an honors contingent from Fort Drum, organizers say. Why Sam Linnell deserves such honors begins on May 28, 1813, when he was called out to defend Sackets Harbor from an expected attack by British forces. The engagement would become known as the Second Battle of Sackets Harbor.

According to a family history compiled by Jason J. Quick, Colorado, another direct descendant of Linnell, Sam was 3rd Sergeant in Samuel Harger's Co. of Pamelia township. The unit was part of the 108th Infantry Regiment commanded by Jamor Calvin Britain.

"Samuel was probably training around the home of General Jacob Brown who resided in Brownsville (now Brownville) and was the commanding general of the Jefferson County militia," Quick wrote.

The Second Battle of Sackets Harbor in May of 1813 was among the 20 most significant battles of the War of 1812, according to the National Park Service. In it, Lt. Col. Electus Backus and Gen. Jacob Brown led a 750-man defense against an invading force double in strength.

That British-Canadian force attempted to destroy the Sackets Harbor shipyard but was repulsed by American regulars and militia.

The first Sackets Harbor battle was July 19, 1812. The United States was still moving troops into the area when the British caught wind of the soldiers amassing and decided to attack while they still had an advantage. According to information included in Franklin B. Hough's "History of Jefferson County," Harry F. Landon's "History of the North Country" and Times files, an American cruiser, the Oneida, spotted a fleet of five British frigates approaching on July 19 and returned to shore to sound an alarm. The Oneida anchored so that one broadside faced the lake while its guns on the opposite side were taken ashore. The ship and American batteries fought off the attack.

'Whispers in the Dark'

Linnell family historian Quick, of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, first discovered Sam Linnell's story in the book, "A War of 1812 Death Register — Whispers in the Dark," by history buff and genealogist Jack Bilow of Plattsburgh, published in 2011. There are more than 20,000 names in the book; the majority individuals whose names were forgotten until dug up and compiled by Bilow. It includes soldiers killed in action, missing in action, and in the case of Linnell, those wounded and captured in action.

"Wounded — hit with the breech of gun in back of head by an Indian — the Indians also tried to remove his testicles by tomahawk," Bilow recorded in his 520-page reference book.

Quick had known some of Linnell's story from a Linnell family book.

"That (Bilow's book) had a little more of an excerpt," Quick said. "From that, I ended up contacting the National Archives and the right person responded to my email."

That led Quick down a rabbit hole to dig up more information, discovering Linnell's records ranging from his POW records to a document dated 1853 in which his widow, Eunice, was granted 160 acres of bounty land for her late husband's service in the War of 1812. The land was located in Vermillion, Illinois, and was sold to land speculator Thomas Ellis.

Quick discovered that Linnell had sprained his ankle during the Second Battle of Sackets Harbor and could not retreat. Quick found correspondence dated 1832 written by Linnell in which he sought a pension related to his war injury as he described what happened on May 29, 1813:

"The ground where the action commenced partly cleared and obstructed by brushes and fallen timber, and troops were during the action compelled to retreat, this deponent sprained his ankle during the action and was unable to retreat with the rest of the militia. He was surrounded by enemies and Indians and was felled to the ground by a severe blow inflicted by an Indian with the breech of a gun on the back of this deponent's head, and while this deponent was down, an Indian seized this deponent by one of his testicles and pulled it with all his strength, while others held him down, which gave this deponent such pain as to deprive him of all strength."

Linnell was then taken prisoner with about two dozen others. He was taken by canoe to HMS Royal George, a 20-gun sloop. "The ship already had about 130 captured prisoners aboard from the previous night's battle at Henderson Bay," according to an 1832 report that Quick found, written by Abraham Graves of the New York Reformer, and discovered in the book "Links in the Chain" by Solon Massey, a writer who chronicled the lives of the area's earliest settlers.

The early history was recorded in his series of newspaper articles, "Links in a Chain," that was later compiled into the book by the same name. The articles appeared regularly in the New York Daily Reformer, which was renamed the Watertown Daily Times in 1870. Massey died in August 1871 at the age of 72.

POWs on the move

Records show that Linnell was processed on June 24 aboard the British ship Malabar, moored just south of Quebec on the St. Lawrence River. The prisoners faced deplorable conditions.

"We all became filthy emaciated and covered with vermin, great numbers died, this despondent became sick and feeble," Massey quoted Linnell as saying.

After setting sail for England, the Malabar dropped some prisoners off at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Linnell spent the next six months at a military prison on Melville "Island," a small peninsula on Nova Scotia. Linnell wrote that he was imprisoned with about 100 others, all suffering from "cold, famine, foul odor and the small pox."

On May 31, 1814, Linnell and at least one other prisoner were boarded on the privateer ship Matilda Cartel, which sailed to Salem, Massachusetts in a prisoner exchange. It arrived on June 7, 1814 and Linnell ended up at Fort Independence, Boston. Linnell arrived home in Jefferson County about a month afterward.

Quick noted that after Linnell returned home, he requested payment for 424 days, at about 36 cents per day, as well as $42 for clothing and $4 for the 20-day trip from Boston to home. The government paid for 409 days. "Samuel's incarceration as a POW and the injuries he received eventually took a toll on him," Quick wrote. "In December of 1832 with his attorney Justin Butterfield, Samuel petitioned the House of Representatives to receive a pension for injury in the war."

The letter notes that Linnell, at the age of 54 when he made the pension request, never recovered from his original war injury and as of late, had grown worse. Attorney Butterfield wrote on Linnell's behalf:

"This deponent has heretofore felt a delicacy about exposing to the public the injury which he received in his private parts as aforesaid , which has also had some influence on the mind of this deponent in delaying his application until this time and this deponent further saith, that he had a family and children, and is a farmer. ... There were no person belonging to our troops who witnessed it that this deponent is acquainted with or can find that our troops at the time 40 or 50 rods in observance of this deponent on the retreat, when the enemy overtook him and injured him as aforesaid."

Butterfield wrote that Linnell was paid by the paymaster of the New York Militia for his monthly pay accrued during his captivity "But this deponent has never received any other pay, nor has ever received any pension, and this name is not on the pension roll of any agency in any state nor has this deponent ever before applied for any pension."

Linnell's pension was eventually denied due to the lack of witnesses regarding his injury.

Quick said that when Linnell died in 1847, it was probably at his son's residence at Clayton Centre (now Depauville).

'Labor of love'

Quick said it was a "fascinating" process putting the pieces together in documenting Linnell's life.

"It was a labor of love. I love how I can put a story out there and how it can have a life of its own in a way, and grow," Quick said in a phone interview.

His research is also available online, for all to see. "His legacy is out there forever in putting that story online," Quick said. "In this time, it's nice to have a story that brings people together. It's just something that everyone can agree upon. He did something selfless and we got him a stone and he'll be honored and he can rest in peace now next to his wife."

Quick, along with Lori and Thomas Linnell, plan to be at Saturday's ceremony.

"And Fort Drum is going to be there, which is just absolutely amazing," Quick said. "Local people can pay their respects and honor him as well. It's just awesome to me."

Funeral director Davis will also be at the ceremony. She noted that Walter P. Cummings, owner of Cummings Funeral Service, has to be out of town on Saturday due to a previously scheduled engagement.

The Cummings family has a connection to the Linnell family, with Walter being a direct descendant of Samuel Linnell. Sam was Walter's great-great-great-great grandfather.

Lori Linnell explained that a child of Sam and Eunice, Sally, stayed in the area and married Thomas Cummings.

"They are the ones of Cummings Point on Grindstone Island," Lori said. "From there, the family descends.'

Logistics and documents

Davis said the process of getting a stone for Sam Linnell began a few years ago when she was contacted by the Linnell family, which provided documents related to Sam's service.

"How it started was us filing paperwork for it," she said. "It has snowballed since then. There was a lot of logistics."

With proper documentation, the Department of Veterans Affairs provides a government headstone or marker for eligible individuals.

"It's ordered the same way we order any government marker now," Davis said. "We always take our paperwork to the Jefferson County VA because they are really, really good. And then they order it for us through the government in Washington, D.C., and we have it delivered here."

She had additional assistance. "We have a wonderful Casualty Assistance Office at Fort Drum who we deal with when we ask for military honors. They're stellar."

Wilson Monument Co., Watertown, installed the marker, next to the grave of Sam's wife. Davis said the Linnell family paid for that project.

Davis is certain from research conducted that where the marker was placed is where Sam is buried and that perhaps his grave once had a wood marker that disintegrated over the years.

Davis said that because Linnell was a POW, he is entitled to a "firing squad" in which soldiers will shoot off honor rounds. Taps is also scheduled to be played.

The cemetery is in the town of Clayton, which is responsible for its upkeep. "They're doing the best they can," Davis said. "Unfortunately, a lot of cemeteries have gone bankrupt and a lot of towns have taken over these cemeteries." But Davis is thankful that the cemetery has a notable addition which will be dedicated on Saturday. "It's a stone dedication. It's not like a graveside service."

But, she added: "It's one more veteran who is recognized for their service. What he went through on that prison ship was horrible. For him to live so many years after going through that? He had to be an exceptionally strong man. I'm so happy he's getting this. They're taken so much away from veterans. To give him this is very deserving."