John Charles Currier
John Charles Currier was born on September 19, 1842, in Auburn, New Hampshire, to David and Lydia Currier. His father was a farmer and bank cashier who owned $4,000 of personal property by 1860. The family lived in Auburn until the 1850s, when they moved to Derry, New Hampshire. He moved to Iowa around 1859, but he returned to New Hampshire two years later.
 
In August 1862, he received a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in Company I of the 11th New Hampshire Infantry. The regiment took part in the Battle of Fredericksburg, the siege of Vicksburg, the Overland Campaign, and the siege of Petersburg. He denounced Peace Democrats as “the most contemptible apology for…American Citizen[s] that this land ever produced. The name of coward, thief, robber, murderer is an angelic name” in comparison. “If I was ordered to suppress a copperhead riot,” he declared, “I should do as we do with these Guerillas now take no prisoners.”
 
He was “severely wounded in the face” in the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on May 11, 1864, and then to captain on June 28, 1864. He rejoined the regiment in early September 1864. He was wounded again at Poplar Springs on September 30, 1864, and “his jaw [was] completely shattered.” He supported Abraham Lincoln in the election of 1864. As he explained to his sister, "[George] McClellans nomination did not awaken much enthusiasm. Lincoln and Johnson have the inside track and they will keep it. the Army 'don't see' peace blowers at this stage." He was discharged for disability on January 18, 1865. 
 
Currier worked as a clerk in the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., after the war. In 1867, he received a commission as 2nd lieutenant in the 21st United States Infantry. The regiment travelled to California in 1869. He resigned his commission in 1870, but he remained in California. He married a woman named Nataline around 1869, and they had at least two children: Charles, born around 1870; and Nataline, born around 1875.
 
By 1870, he was working as a wool merchant in San Francisco, California, and he owned $6,000 of personal property. In 1874, he purchased a 9,000 acre ran near Salinas, California. He returned to San Francisco in 1890 after receiving an appointment as a pension agent. He served on the Board of Directors of the Veterans Home of California, and according to one writer, he “was instrumental in improving the general conditions of the home and the old war veterans.” His wife died on May 22, 1902, and he died in Brookline, Massachusetts, on December 14, 1923.
 
Image: John C. Currier (Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com)
4743
DATABASE CONTENT
(4743)Currier, John Charles1842-09-191923-12-14
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: 2nd Lieutenant
  • Rank out: Captain
  • Rank highest: Captain
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 20

  • (13247) [writer] ~ John C. Currier to David Currier et al., 22 April 1860
  • (13248) [writer] ~ John C. Currier to Sister, 7 October 1862
  • (13249) [associated with] ~ "Song of the Camp," Poem, February 1863
  • (13250) [writer] ~ John C. Currier to Mary R. Currier, 25 June 1863
  • (13251) [recipient] ~ Charles H. Morrill to John C. Currier, 29 September 1863
  • (13252) [writer] ~ John C. Currier to Sister, 25 October 1863
  • (13253) [recipient] ~ David Currier to John C. Currier, 27 January 1864
  • (13254) [writer] ~ John C. Currier to Sister, 31 January 1864
  • (13255) [writer] ~ John C. Currier to Mary R. Currier, 15 February 1864
  • (13256) [associated with] ~ Evarts W. Farr Statement, 25 June 1864
  • (13257) [writer] ~ John C. Currier to Mary R. Currier, 10 August 1864
  • (13258) [writer] ~ John C. Currier to Julia M. Currier, 26 August 1864
  • (13259) [writer] ~ John C. Currier to Sister, 19 September 1864
  • (13260) [writer] ~ John C. Currier to Sister, 7 February 1866
  • (13261) [recipient] ~ David Currier to John C. Currier, 19 February 1866
  • (13262) [recipient] ~ David Currier to John C. Currier, 21 January 1867
  • (13263) [associated with] ~ Manuscript Fragment, 1893
  • (13371) [associated with] ~ "The Heart of War," Poem, undated
  • (13377) [associated with] ~ Poem, undated
  • (13389) [associated with] ~ Manuscript Fragment, undated

People - Records: 4

  • (4754) Currier, David is the [parent of] (4743) Currier, John Charles
  • (4755) Currier, Lydia Richardson is the [parent of] (4743) Currier, John Charles
  • (4756) Currier, Mary Richardson is the [sibling of] (4743) Currier, John Charles
  • (4757) Currier, Julia M. is the [sibling of] (4743) Currier, John Charles

Places - Records: 2

  • (2953) [birth] ~ Auburn, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
  • (1583) [death] ~ Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts

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Regiments - Records: 1

  • (575) [officer] [I] ~ 11th New Hampshire Infantry
SOURCES

1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Leander W. Cogswell, A History of the Eleventh New Hampshire Regiment Volunteer Infantry in the Rebellion War, 1861-1865 (n.p., 1891); Oakland (CA) Tribune, 16 December 1923; John C. Currier to Sister, 10 October 1863, DL1865.006, Nau Collection; John C. Currier to Sister, 19 September 1864, DL1865.013, Nau Collection