John Hutchins alias Levin Wilmer, Company H

The soldier and his brother Barney Hutchins alias George Wilmer served in the same company. Born free men in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland, they worked as watermen on the Chesapeake Bay. The brothers were with a friend Alexander Hazleton alias William Fortney when a group of men attempted to kidnap and enslave them. The three men escaped and enlisted under assumed names. They returned to Maryland’s Eastern Shore at war’s end.

Invalid — 1,132,138 / 917,423

General Affidavit, Robert Scott and Frank Moore, 5 June 1893
[Scott] 57 years old; citizen of Wye Mills, Queenanes [sic], Md. … I have been knowing Levin Wilmer for forty years …
[Moore] 50 years old; citizen of Wye Mills, Queenanes [sic], Md. … have been knowing Levin Wilmer for the last twenty years …”

Questionnaire (Form 3-402), Louisa Wilmer, 4 June 1898
[married] yes, Louisa Wilmer Louisa Scott
[when, where, by whom] April 1864; Rev. M Smith; Centreville
[record?] had no children; consent of master
[previously married] no
[living children] no

Deposition, Barney Hutchins alias Geo. Wilmer, 8 September 1909
65 years old (July 4 last); post-office address, Wye Mills, Md.
“I served under the name of George Wilmer. My correct name is Barney Hutchins. My brother John H. Hutchins enlisted at the same time I did in the same co & regt under the name of Levin William … We served together – were discharged together – and came home together – and this has been our home ever since we changed our names because we were afraid the captain of the oyster boat would capture us.
“He is two years and four days older than I am – somewhat shorter than I am … my [enlistment] certificate is all right except as to place of birth”
[Note: Two witnesses were Effie Hutchins and Fannie Hutchins — Leslie]

Deposition, Laura Hutchins, 9 September 1909
“I don’t know my age” … post-office address, RFD Queenstown, Md. “I am the wife of John H. Hutchins … during the war I remember he left in fall of the year … and I never heard anything more of him until after the war had closed when he came back home wearing citizens clothes but had his army clothes with him.
“[He and his brother] had been wanting to go in the army before they left.”
[Note: A witness was Lorenzo Griffin — Leslie]

Deposition, Rachel F. Griffin, 9 September 1909
“I don’t know my age. I was about 12 years of age when the war commenced.
“P.O. RFD is Queenstown, Md.
“I have two brothers living, John H. Hutchins and Barney Hutchins. Both live near me. Both born and raised and always lived in this locality except when they were in the army.”
[Note: Two witnesses were Richard E. Stansberry and Larenzo Griffin — Leslie]

Deposition, John H. Hutchins, 9 September 1909
67 years old (July 4 last); post-office address, Wye Mills (or Queenstown, Md).
“I have not had my discharge certificate for years — some man came around here said he could get bounties for me and I gave him my discharge certificate and I have not seen it since.
“The man’s name was William B. Hill, W. Fayette St., Baltimore, Md. I do not know his number. He got my discharge just after I returned from the army.
“I never received any bounty, cannot say if Hill collected bounty for me or not. I wrote him several times, but could get no reply.”
“I was born near here in Queen Anne Co., Md. Lived here in this neck until just before I enlisted then I went to Baltimore, Md. where a man got us drunk and said he would take us to the “West Indies” but instead he got us in an oyster boat, and took us down the Chesapeake Bay to [illegible]
“We remained on the boat until Saturday night when we stole one of the [illegible] small boats and rowed ashore and went to Onancock, Va., then we met a recruiting office who offered us $200 to enlist.
“We thought the captain of the oyster boat was after us so we changed our names and enlisted.
“Q. Who do you mean by ‘we’?
A. My brother Barney Hutchins who enlisted as George Wilmer and another man who left here with us, got in the oyster boat and enlisted with us.
“This third man was Alex Hazleton he enlisted as William Fortney. My correct name is John H. Hutchins and I am known by that name by everybody in this locality.
“Q. Why did you choose the name Levin Wilmer as your alias instead of some other name.
A. Because I used to go with a boy named Levin Wilmer (dead) before I enlisted. He and I were chums and I thought of his name as a good one to go by when I enlisted

“The three of us — my brother and Alex Hazleton and I were sent to Norfolk, Va. where we were given our uniforms and then sent to Ft. Magruder, Va. We remained there until the spring, then we went somewhere “on the side” of a R.R. in Va.” and while there Lee surrendered, then we went to Richmond after the “vaccination [sic] of Petersburg” We then went to a place called “Camp Lincoln” and lay there until the “25th Corps” including my Regt. was sent to Texas.
“Our Rgt. was shipped from Ft. Monroe on the ship ‘Meteor‘ to Brazos Santiago, Texas the summer of 1865.
“This was headquarters until we were ordered home to be discharged.
“We came home on the ‘Evening Star’ to City P’t. ,Va. when we were discharged and paid off. I came directly back here by way of Baltimore, Md. and this has been my home ever since.
“My brother, and Alex Hazleton, were the only ones in my Regt. I had known before my enlistment.
“Alex Hazleton came back here with us, remained around here several years, and I have seen him a few times since he left here.
“The last I heard of him he was in Cecil Co., Md. somewhere about Sassafras.
Q. Have you seen any other membes of your co. since the war?
A. I met Bill White who was visiting in Baltimore, Md. but I do not know his address and I met another member of the Co. in Baltimore. but I cannot call his name, this was just after the war.
“Q. Who were the officers of your co?
A. We had no captains. Lt. ____ Waterman — he was promoted to Provost Marshall. Then Lt. ____ Whiteman took command of the Co. in Texas and was in command until our discharge.
I cannot recall the name of the other Lt. He was an Irishman.
The sgts. were. Odly Sgt. ____ Boyd [or Byrd?], Asst. Sgt. Bill White, Sgt. ____ Scott, Sgt. ____ Wright, Sgt. ____ Shorts.
The Crpls were Butts, Wright, Williams — I cannot give first names of these officers and do not know where any of them is.
“The others in the company I can think of ____ Winfield — he was my tentmate. My brother Barney Hutchins – alias George Wilmer also tented with me. I had another tent mate, his name I cannot recall.
A man name ____ Gordon was in the tent next to me.
A man named ____ Bush, and Bob Hughes drilled next to me.
There was a Sgt. Bill Reed who was reduced to the ranks.”
[Note: Two witnesses were Richard E. Stansbery and Lorenzo Griffin — Leslie]

“My mother and father are dead. I have but one brother living — have three full and two half-sisters living. My brother is Barney Hutchins. My sisters are Rachel S. Griffin, Anna Maria Curtis, 1135 W. Saratoga St., Baltimore, Md., Lizzie Salisbury, Balto., Md. My half sisters are Alphonzie Hand and Sarah Emory. …
“I never saw Fred Nichols in service. … The co. was made up almost entirely of natives of Va…. I was freeborn … … I was not quite 22 when I enlisted… I told the recruting office not to let “them dredge men” the oystermen catch us or they would kill us. .. I am married — have been married just once. My wife’s maiden name was Louisa Scott. She was not married before she married me.
“She and I were married in Wye Neck near here by a white preacher whose name I can not recall in Easter holidays 1864. I do not suppose there is any record of this marriage because colored people could not then get license to marry and I do not recall if there is a church record. I think the minister was Episcopalian.

“I made a mistake when I said my wife had not been married before I married her. My wife was the widow of Ben Hicks when I married her. They parted and he died some five or six years ago.”
“I have heard the testimony of my brother Barney Hutchins read — do not desire to cross-examine him.”
[Note: Two witnesses were Richard E. Stanbery and Lorenzo Griffin — Leslie]

Deposition, Frederick Nichols, 10 September 1909
63 years old; post-office address, Catonsville [?], Md. … “I knew [John H. Hutchins] well before his enlistment. We lived in the same section of the county…. I think I had seen him before that at Deep Bottom, Va. when John Ewing of the 39th, his brother-in-law, called my attention to him and his brother Barney.
“When I met them in service, they both had on a cavy uniform and were with the 4th U.S.C. Cav.”
[Note: The document reported that the brothes were with the 4th US Colored Cavalry. I don’t know if the witness misstated the fact or if the clerk recording the testimony made a mistake — Leslie]

Deposition, Alexander Hazleton, 16 September 1909
post-office, Balt, Md.; post-office address, Sassafras, Kent Co., Md.
“I gave my age when I enlistd as eighteen — but in fact was but fifteen. I was born and raised in Queen Anne, Md. near Wye Mills, Talbot Co., Md. … [John H. and Barney Hutchins and Hazleton] were ‘playboys’ together, raised together, enlisted at the same time … served together … discharged at the same time – and came home together and lived near neighbors for about four years after my discharge.
“Since I have been here I have occasionally visited them — have occasionally corresponded with them.
“Saw them last about four years ago. Here from them last, through correspondence, about one year ago. … Barney has had smallpox and his face is marked.”
“[After we deserted the oyster boat] we went with George Powell to Pungoteague where we were offered $300. We did enlist but we only got $200. From Pungoteague we were sent to Norfolk, via Cherrystone, Va.
“We enlisted at Norfolk … I enlisted and served as William Fortney. … I am not a pensioner. I never applied for a pension.”