| Notes |
- Served in Civil War. 18 U. S. Infantry and 13 Ohio Infantry. Pension Record. Military Records indicate that his parents were W.P. and Margaret Guthery Stafford.
Otis S. Stafford was born January 31, 1838 in Washington County Pennsylvania (we think), near Pittsburgh. Source documents are inconsistent on that point. His parents were W.P. Stafford probably from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Margaret Guthery, from England. As a young adult, Otis lived at Fairview, Wayne County, Ohio. He was employed there by Samuel Morber, making railroad ties. He moved to Massillon, Stark County, Ohio a short time later where he worked for Seth McDonald getting “sawlogs out for him”. While living in Wayne County, Ohio, Otis married Angeline Nolan on August 19, 1858. That marriage was discontinued by divorce or her death and we know of no children from it.
In April of 1861, the Civil War began with the Confederate capture of Fort Sumter. Otis enlisted in the Union army on August 30, 1861 at age 23. He was a private in Company D, Second Battalion, 18th Regiment, U.S. Infantry. He was discharged for medical reasons on April 6, 1862. The problem was listed as double hernias and fistulas. The injury occurred near Mill Springs, Kentucky. He was carrying a heavy load on a march: knapsack, blankets, cartridge box, ammunition, waist belt, haversack, canteen and musket. “It rained nearly all the time and the roads were muddy and slippery.” That may have contributed to his injury. The discharge order was signed “at camp near Columbia, Tennessee”.
Otis reenlisted as a private on August 11, 1862, after four months of recuperation. He joined Company A,13 th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was described as 5’ 10 ½” tall with blue eyes and red hair. On December 31, 1862, during the battle of Stones River at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Otis and six others from his company were captured by rebels who had “flanked” his unit. The capture took place at about 11:00 in the morning. Otis was injured in the fighting, having been struck in the small of the back with an “instrument”, probably a gun butt. One of his fellow prisoners commented the rebels “treated us pretty rough, I thought one of them was going to stick me with his bayonet.”
Otis was placed in a rebel hospital for a few days at Lynchburg, Virginia. A short time later he was placed in Libby Prison, at Richmond, Virginia. “Some Michigan cavalry boys took care of me when I was sick at Libby Prison”, Otis commented. He was released from captivity on February 9, 1863 at City Point, Virginia after a term of 41 days. He reported to Camp Parole near Annapolis, Maryland on February 11, 1863, where he spent time in the hospital. When he was able to travel, he was sent to Camp Chase, Ohio on June 19, 1863, where he received a medical discharge.
The battle of Stones River was a major battle involving 42,000 Union soldiers and 34,000 Confederate troops. The difference was somewhat equalized by the fact that the Confederates had cavalry troops in addition to their infantry units. By the time the battle ended on January 3, 1863, the Yankees had lost 31% of their men and the Rebels had lost 33% as casualties – killed, wounded or captured, “making Stone’s River the most deadly of the war in proportion to numbers engaged.” (1).
Interestingly, Otis’ Muster Record initially listed him as “killed in action” at Stones River. Later, it listed him as “missing in action”, and finally indicated he was a prisoner at Richmond, Virginia. In terms of family history, it is imperative for our branch of the Stafford family that Otis was captured, not killed, during the battle of Stones River. Our branch would never have existed had he been killed that last day in December 1862.
Otis Stafford married Mary Hornsby, on April 11, 1864 in Stark County, Ohio. She was born March 28, 1846 in Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England. Her parents were William Hornsby and Mary Gynn. She had two sisters and three brothers. Otis and Mary had eight children, two daughters and six sons. Their names and dates of birth are as follows:
Mary A. Stafford 1866
Margaret Stafford 1868 (died young)
Otis William Alonzo Stafford 1870
Guy Otto Stafford 1873
Frank Wallace Stafford 1876
Benjamin V. Stafford 1878
Ernest G. Stafford 1884
Clifford F. Stafford 1890
By the time my grandfather, Frank Wallace Stafford, was a young adult, the family had moved to Lafayette, Indiana, which is where he met and married my grandmother, Catherine Elizabeth “Kate” Dorwin. Two of his brothers, Benjamin and Earnest, died early of tuberculosis in 1906 and 1907. Mary and Otis William Alonzo (Lon) moved to southern California. Mary A. Stafford married William T. Smith on December 26, 1888. Otis William Alonzo Stafford had a son, Gordon W. Stafford, who was killed at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. Frank and Catherine moved to San Diego. California in 1914 with their four boys. The first two, Dean and Willard Dorwin, were born in Lafayette and the other two were born in Peru, Indiana. The two girls were born in San Diego, California.
Otis died at Soldier’s Home in Lafayette, Indiana at age 69 on January 4, 1908 of a stroke, but had tuberculosis at the time. His residence at that time was 2310 Rogers Street in Lafayette. He is buried in Springvale Cemetery there next to his sons, Earnest and Benjamin. Benjamin died in Lafayette on January 22, 1906 and Earnest died in Whittier, California on January 28, 1907, and was returned to Lafayette for burial. Mary Hornsby Stafford died at Escondido, California on September 21, 1920 at age 74. She is buried in the San Marcos, California cemetery (near Escondido) in the Stafford plot.
Little is known of Mary Hornsby’s family in the United States. A Mary Hornsby is shown in the 1860 Ohio census (pg. 578) in Lima, Allen County, Ohio. The 1860 Ohio census lists in Licking County: George, Littleton and William Hornsby, which could be relatives. The Pension Records described below mention Mary’s younger brother, Benjamin F. Hornsby, who was age 59 in 1908 and lived at Malinta, Ohio. They also mention a nephew, William G. Hornsby, who lived at 8916 Birchdale, Cleveland, Ohio.
Much of the above information was obtained at the National Archives, Washington, D.C. in 1989. Two large envelopes filled with many records pertaining to pension applications and related affidavits are located there along with Otis’ Muster Record.
Compiled by Thomas James Stafford, great grandson of Otis and Mary Hornsby Stafford,May 1989, and updated periodically since.
(1) James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Ballantine Books, New York, 1988, page 582
Born:
The 1900 Census has him born Feb 1838.
Military Servic:
- U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914
Name: Otis S Stafford
Birthyear: abt 1838
Birthplace: Pennsylvania, United States
Enlistment Date: 30 Aug 1861
Enlistment Age: 23
Enlisted Men of the 18th Regiment, US Infantry (Regular Army)
Otis S. Stafford , Company D - Private
Census:
- Listed as Otis Stafford, a teamster, with wife Mary, daughter May and sons Otis W., Guy Otto, Frank and Benjamin. Parents born in England.
Died:
- Indiana Deaths, 1882-1920
about Otis Stafford
Name: Otis Stafford
Date: 4 Jan 1908
LOCATION: Soldiers Home
Age: 69 yr
Gender: Male
Race: W
Source Location: Sheriffs Office
Source Notes: The source of this record is the book S-14L on page 5 within the series produced by the Indiana Works Progress Administration.
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1838 - 1908 (69 years)
