John Pushee DeMeritt
John Pushee DeMeritt was born on May 21, 1836, in Montpelier, Vermont, to John and Amira DeMeritt. His father was a cutler who owned $300 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Montpelier before enrolling at the University of Vermont in 1857. He graduated four years later, in August 1861.
 
He moved to Aztalan, Wisconsin, after graduation. He enlisted in the Union army on August 15, 1862, and he mustered in as a quartermaster sergeant in the 29th Wisconsin Infantry. He expressed devotion to the Union cause. In October 1862, he declared that "I am enlisted for three years or during the war just as I wish to be for if the war is not to end I do not wish to cease aiding in putting down the Rebels." The regiment took part in the Vicksburg campaign and the Red River campaign. He was promoted to quartermaster on October 7, 1864. In March 1865, he decried war as an “old & barbarous way of settling dispute[s],” and he hoped for a “happy & long peace to our great nation.”
 
The following month, after Confederate surrender, he wrote that the “universal sentiment is let us push these Rebs into humble submission, and to a pleading for mercy if it takes a hundred years.” “God forbid,” he added, “a sort of patched up allegiance, a hypocritical peace be the end of this bloody strife. Let us have peace that rests upon the principles that have conquered, then we may expect a happy future.” He mustered out on June 22, 1865.
 
DeMeritt returned to Vermont after the war, and he earned a living as a minister. He married Lucy H. Bromley on December 10, 1872, and they had at least three children: John, born around 1874; Lucy, born around 1878; and William, born on January 11, 1884. They lived in Brookfield, Vermont, until the early 1880s, when they moved to Bath, New Hampshire. By 1900, they were living in Tamworth, New Hampshire.
 
In July 1921, he was admitted to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Chelsea, Maine. His admission records describe him as 5 feet, 6½ inches tall, with gray hair and hazel eyes. At the time, he was suffering from arteriosclerosis, cataracts in both eyes, and chronic constipation. He died of “senile dementia” in Augusta, Maine, on July 23, 1921.
 
Image: John P. DeMeritt (Nau Collection)
3976
DATABASE CONTENT
(3976)DeMeritt, John Pushee1836-05-211921-07-23
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Sergeant
  • Rank out: Quartermaster
  • Rank highest: Quartermaster
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 31

  • (11189) [associated with] ~ John P. DeMeritt Letter of Introduction, 25 November 1861
  • (11190) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 23 August 1862
  • (11222) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 30 September 1862
  • (11223) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 13 October 1862
  • (11224) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 18 October 1862
  • (11226) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 22 October 1862
  • (11229) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 1 December 1862
  • (11247) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Sister, 3 December 1862
  • (11256) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Julia A. DeMeritt, 8 December 1862
  • (11268) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 14 December 1862
  • (11274) [associated with] ~ William P. Benton Special Order, 11 June 1864
  • (11275) [associated with] ~ Joseph J. Reynolds Special Field Order, 21 October 1864
  • (11278) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Sibling, 20 January 1865
  • (11284) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Julia A. DeMeritt, 23 January 1865
  • (11286) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Julia A. DeMeritt, 1 February 1865
  • (11287) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Julia A. DeMeritt, 20 February 1865
  • (11340) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Sister, 15 March 1865
  • (11341) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Family, 18 March 1865
  • (11342) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 27 March 1865
  • (11343) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Sister, 31 March 1865
  • (11344) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 23 April 1865
  • (11345) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Friend, 29 April 1865
  • (11346) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 4 May 1865
  • (11347) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Lauraette DeMeritt, 13 May 1865
  • (11348) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 28 May 1865
  • (11349) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 29 May 1865
  • (11350) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 6 June 1865
  • (11351) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Friend, 12 June 1865
  • (11352) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 16 June 1865
  • (11353) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 17 July 1865
  • (11354) [writer] ~ John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 24 July 1865

People - Records: 3

  • (3977) DeMeritt, Martha is the [sibling of] (3976) DeMeritt, John Pushee
  • (4002) DeMeritt, Julia Arabelle is the [sibling of] (3976) DeMeritt, John Pushee
  • (4018) DeMeritt, Lauraette is the [sibling of] (3976) DeMeritt, John Pushee

Places - Records: 2

  • (2575) [birth] ~ Montpelier, Washington County, Vermont
  • (383) [death] ~ Augusta, Kennebec County, Maine

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Regiments - Records: 1

  • (474) [officer] [S] ~ 29th Wisconsin Infantry
SOURCES

1850, 1860, 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; College Student Lists, 1763-1924, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Vermont Vital Records, 1720-1908, available from Ancestry.com; New Hampshire Birth Records, 1631-1920, available from Ancestry.com; Maine Death Records, 1761-1922, available from Ancestry.com; National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938, available from Ancestry.com; Burlington (VT) Daily Times, 7 August 1861; John P. DeMeritt to Sister, 31 March 1865, DL1644.020, Nau Collection; John P. DeMeritt to Friend, 29 April 1865, DL1644.022, Nau Collection; John P. DeMeritt to Martha DeMeritt, 22 October 1862, DL1644.006, Nau Collection