Full Unit History
53rd WISCONSIN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
Organized: Spring, 1865
Mustered In: 4/1/65
Mustered Out: 6/10/65
51st WISCONSIN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
Organized: February, March & April, 1865 Camp Washburn Milwaukee, WI
Mustered In: Inf. Not Avail.
Mustered Out: 8/30/65 Madison, WI
Regimental History
REGIMENTAL HISTORY: (53rd)
The 53rd was a one year, western theater infantry regiment. It was organized and mustered into Federal service during the closing weeks of The War. Only four companies had been federalized when the government ordered that all recruits not yet mustered be discharged.
The four mustered companies were first sent to Benton Barracks located near St. Louis, MO. From there they moved to Leavenworth, KS. At that location whey were transferred into the also incomplete 51st Wisconsin Infantry. Within the 51st Co. "A" became Co. "G", Co. "B" became Co. "H", Co. "C" became Co. "K" and Co. "D" became Co. "I".
Members of the 53rd were mustered out with the 51st in August, 1865.
REGIMENTAL LOSSES:
Officers Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 0; Officers Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 0; Enlisted Men Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 0; Enlisted Men Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 8.
REGIMENTAL HISTORY: (51st)
The 51st was a one year, western theater infantry regiment. In the spring of 1865 during the waning days of the American Civil War, the six companies that had received Federal muster were sent to Benton Barracks near St. Louis, MO.
Co. "B" was stationed on duty at St. Louis. The remaining five were ordered to Warrensburg, MO for railroad guard duty. They were joined by Co. "B" on 6/21/65. Co. "A" was stationed at Crawford's Run. The others were given duty at Pleasant Hill.
In June, 1865 four companies of the 53rd WI Infantry were consolidated into the 51st. Within the 51st they became companies "G", "H", "I" and "K" and did not leave the state prior to the regiment’s final muster in August.
REGIMENTAL LOSSES:
Officers Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 0; Officers Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 0; Enlisted Men Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 0; Enlist Men Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 16.
Soldier History
REGIMENTAL HISTORY: (53rd)
The 53rd was a one year, western theater infantry regiment. It was organized and mustered into Federal service during the closing weeks of The War. Only four companies had been federalized when the government ordered that all recruits not yet mustered be discharged.
The four mustered companies were first sent to Benton Barracks located near St. Louis, MO. From there they moved to Leavenworth, KS. At that location whey were transferred into the also incomplete 51st Wisconsin Infantry. Within the 51st Co. "A" became Co. "G", Co. "B" became Co. "H", Co. "C" became Co. "K" and Co. "D" became Co. "I".
Members of the 53rd were mustered out with the 51st in August, 1865.
REGIMENTAL LOSSES:
Officers Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 0; Officers Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 0; Enlisted Men Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 0; Enlisted Men Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 8.
REGIMENTAL HISTORY: (51st)
The 51st was a one year, western theater infantry regiment. In the spring of 1865 during the waning days of the American Civil War, the six companies that had received Federal muster were sent to Benton Barracks near St. Louis, MO.
Co. "B" was stationed on duty at St. Louis. The remaining five were ordered to Warrensburg, MO for railroad guard duty. They were joined by Co. "B" on 6/21/65. Co. "A" was stationed at Crawford's Run. The others were given duty at Pleasant Hill.
In June, 1865 four companies of the 53rd WI Infantry were consolidated into the 51st. Within the 51st they became companies "G", "H", "I" and "K" and did not leave the state prior to the regiment’s final muster in August.
REGIMENTAL LOSSES:
Officers Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 0; Officers Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 0; Enlisted Men Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 0; Enlist Men Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 16.
Family History
PERSONAL/FAMILY HISTORY:
NOTE: The birth - to - death biographical profile of John V. Tracy was created in November, 2020 during the Covid-19 medical pandemic. It contains less depth of detail than many other biographies within this website because military service, pension and other veteran-related files housed in Washington, D.C.'s National Archives were not available. At a later time those documents may be obtained and the data contained therein added to the narrative which follows.
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John V. Tracy was born circa 1833/'34. No specific birth year, month or date have been found in available documentation. The location of his birth was the state of New York.
Parenting John were Lucius (b. 8/26/1797 Brandon Rutland County, VT - d. 4/6/54 Buena Vista Richland County, WI) and Polly (nee McDowell; b/ b.2/26/03 Elmira Chemung County, NY - d. 1/13/78 Richland County, WI) Tracy. The Tracy family was a farming family.
The union of Lucius and Polly produced at least nine children. John was the fifth born of the nine. Older than he were: Andrew (b. 1821 Schuyler Co., NY d. 1846 Eire Co., PA), Arza C. (b. 9/3/24 Schuyler Co., NY), Alexander Dorman(b. 6/11/26 Schuyler Co., NY d. 1903 King Co. WA) and Jane C. (b. 11/5/28 Schuyler County, NY). Younger than he were: Lucius Swazey (b. 1836 Eire Co. PA), Mary A. (b. 1838 Schuyler Co. NY), Flora Almira (b. 3/22/42 Eire Co., PA) and Phlyance (b. 1846 Eire Co., PA).
As noted by the birth states of the Tracy children, during their childbearing/raising years Lucius and Polly moved from New York to Pennsylvania. They then removed from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin before returning to Pennsylvania.
The U.S. Census of 1840 listed the family's Pennsylvania address as Harbor Creek located in Erie County. A decade later, in 1850, it was still Harbor Creek, but by 1860 it was Buena Vista Richland County, WI. By this date Lucius had passed away and John was the male "head" of his mother's household. 1860 would be his last census in the home of his parents.
At some point in the early 1860s John married. His bride was Martha E. Jugumo (b. 10/29/38 IL).
During their years together John and Martha would produce two children: Josephine P. (b. 2/63 WI) and Lucius Glenn (b. 7/4/73 WI). Both were reported living as of 1910.
On 3/27/65, during the waning days of America's four year Civil War John, then residing Sumner, Barron Co., WI enlisted in the U.S. Army. With The War nearing its close Corporal Tracy was never fielded with his regiment. His big achievements were moving from second to first corporal and transferring from the 53rd Wisconsin Infantry to the 51st as regiments were collapsed and consolidated to save Federal dollars. Acquisition of Corporal Tracy's military service records would help clarify these matters.
Where John settled when he returned to civilian life is an unknown. As with many Civil War veterans, after leaving the service he “disappeared" for a time.
The first post-war sighting of John was in 1870. That U.S. Census found him employed as a laborer and residing in the Denver Arapahoe KS Territorial home of one J. F. Deberch and his wife. Interestingly, no mention is made of Martha or Josephine.
A decade later, 1880. At the time that census was tallied John was still in Kansas, but then married and employed as a hotel keeper in Phillipsburg, Phillips County. Under his roof that year were his wife Martha and their six year old son, Lucius.
1900. A new century. A new decade. A new census. That population tally found Lucius G. Tracy and his mother in McKinley King County, WA. What had drawn them to the Puget Sound area of the Pacific Northwest and when they may have arrived here are unknowns.
The census for 1900 did not show John under the same roof as his wife and son. Further, in that population tally Martha told census takers she was a widow. Had the two separated? If so, John came to the Northwest at some point in time because on 2/9/04 he died of heart disease in the McKinley Hill area of King County, WA. He was/is reportedly buried in the Riverton Crest Cemetery located in Tukwila King County, WA south of the city of Seattle, but no marker identifies his final resting place.
On 9/13/77 while in Kansas John had applied for a U.S. Government disability pension based on ailments or other conditions that traced back to his days of Civil War soldiering. A stipend was granted, but without access to pension files the basis for the pension and payout details are not available.
Almost immediately following John's death Martha petitioned the Government to keep receiving at least a portion of her late husband's stipend. The request was granted, but again, without pension files the details of the program remain unknown.
After John's passing Martha remained in the Puget Sound area. The census of 1910 found her in her McKinley King County home. Also in the residence was her farmer son, Lucius.
Martha Jugumo Tracy died on 2/5/17 in King County, WA. At passing she was aged. 78.3 years
Death records indicate Martha was/is she buried in the Riverton Crest Cemetery. If that is fact, her gravesite - like John’s - is not marked.
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- In the American Civil War Research Database John’s surname appears as Tracey.
Cemetery
Buried at Riverton Crest Cemetery