Hartwell, William H.

William Herman Hartwell was born in Keene, New Hampshire on August 28, 1844. His parents had both died by the time he graduated from school in 1862, when he decided to enlist in the Union Army to fight in the Civil War. He fought in numerous battles, advancing through the ranks to sergeant. He was captured by Confederate forces on September 30, 1864 and held as a prisoner-of-war for five months. He received an Honorable Discharge in June 1865. After the war, he and his brother headed out west to make a new life for themselves. His brother was killed by Indians in Kansas, but Hartwell settled in Kirkwood, Illinois, married Lila Pence, and started a family. They had two sons. He then took his family to Iowa in 1878, but three years later, his wife died. In 1890, he married again, to a widow named Mrs. Florence Ellis. She bore him two daughters. By 1915, the family had moved to Santa Barbara, California, where William Hartwell died on May 23, 1924 at the age of 79. In 1939, his daughter Ruth married Franklin W. Nordhoff, and she collected and transcribed her father's writings and reminiscences of the Civil War. She died in 1995.

Biography

William Herman Hartwell was born in Keene, New Hampshire on August 28, 1844. He was the seventh of eight children, though only four would live past early childhood. His parents had both died by the time he graduated from school in 1862, when he decided to enlist in the Union Army to fight in the Civil War. He was mustered into Company I of the 9th Regiment of the New Hampshire Infantry on August 15, 1862. He fought in numerous battles, including Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Cemetery Hill, rising through the ranks to sergeant by the spring of 1863. He was captured by Confederate forces on September 30, 1864 and held as a prisoner-of-war for five months. With the conclusion of the war, he received an Honorable Discharge in June 1865.

Rather than return to New Hampshire, Hartwell and his brother decided to head out west to make a new life for themselves. Although his brother was killed by Indians in Kansas only two years later, Hartwell eventually settled in Kirkwood, Illinois and started a family with his first wife, Lila Pence, whom he married in 1871. They had two sons, Albert and Robert. After working as a village clerk and tax collector, Hartwell took his family to Iowa in 1878. Three years later, however, his wife died. In 1890, he married again, to a widow named Mrs. Florence Ellis, née Chapin. She bore him two daughters, Marian and Ruth. By 1915, the family had moved to Santa Barbara, California, where William Hartwell died on May 23, 1924 at the age of 79.

In 1939, Ruth Hartwell married Franklin W. Nordhoff, and she diligently collected and transcribed her father's writings and reminiscences of the Civil War, even submitting one of his accounts to the editors of American Heritage magazine. A widow for some forty years, she died in 1995.