1st of 9 children of ENOS CHATFIELD & ROXY SPERRY

Beecher being his middle name; he used it as a given name for most of his life.

Military: Civil War, Union Army, Co. D, 11th Iowa Inf. (wounded in leg at Battle of Shiloh)

Occupation: Bricklayer & stone mason

Died: in the Soldiers Home in Marshalltown, Iowa; Bright's disease & dropsy

Married (1): Sep 14, 1851, MARY ELIZABETH SEYMOUR, Oxford, New Haven, Connecticut

Divorced: bef 1887

Twelve children:

1. Frederick Seymour "Fred" CHATFIELD

1853 - 1925

2. William Howard CHATFIELD

1854 - 1855

3. Lucy Ariail /Ariel CHATFIELD

1856 - 1935

4. Anna Augusta "Gussie" CHATFIELD

1859 - 1913

5. Clara Virginia CHATFIELD

1860 - 1860

6. Sarah Henrietta "Hattie/Nettie" CHATFIELD

1862 - 1888

7. Mary Elizabeth CHATFIELD

1864 - 1864

8. Edward Beecher CHATFIELD

1866 - 1906

9. Charles Stanley ROSS CHATFIELD

1871 - 1941

10. Nellie Maude CHATFIELD

1872 - 1956

11. Emma Gertrude CHATFIELD

1874 - 1926

12. Townsend CHATFIELD

1877 - 1878

Married (2) Dec 2, 1889, OLIVE MARIE "OLLI/OLLA" (CLEVELAND) CAMPBELL, Minneapolis, Hennepin Co., Minnesota

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ENOS BEECHER, son of Enos and Roxy (Sperry) Chatfield, md on Sep 14, 1852, Mary Elizabeth Seymour, daughter of William A. Seymour & Sarah Durham of Dubuque, Iowa. She was born in Massachusetts on Nov 14, 1831, and died in Dubuque on May 20, 1898. They were md in Seymour, CT and had their first child there in 1853. They removed to Iowa before the death of their 2nd child in 1855, as he is buried in the family plot at Asbury Cemetery in Dubuque.

Beecher, 40, as he was called throughout his lifetime, was a veteran of the Civil War. He enlisted in the Union Army on Sep 17, 1861, and on Nov 27, 1861 he wrote a letter to his father-in-law, William Seymour, of Dubuque. In this letter (now held by the Dubuque Historical Society), written from Camp Benton, St. Louis, Missouri, he states that there was talk of drafting and he dreaded that so he enlisted. He also states, "I am a soldier in defense of my country. Lib was rather opposed to my coming but I considered it my duty to come whether it was or not I am not able to say. Time will determine that." He was, at this time, Sgt. of Company A of the 11th regiment under Col. A.M. Hare. His company received their baptism of fire at the battles of Pittsburgh Landing and Shiloh. Beecher, 40, was wounded severely in the leg at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee which took place April 6 & 7, 1862. He returned home to Wilton, Iowa for recuperation and when healed he again joined in the fighting.

It is said by his descendants that his wife so opposed his going to war that she never forgave him. He like his father was a stone mason, and was well-liked and respected by his friends, family, and neighbors. Beecher was born Mar 5, 1828 in Oxford, CT. He died Jan 24, 1893 in the Soldiers Home in Marshalltown, Iowa, where he had been for about 2 months. The cause of his death was Bright's Disease, complicated by Dropsy. The term of his illness was 2 years.

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Obit: Mr. Beecher Chatfield, a member of Hyde Clark Post, G.A.R. of this city died yesterday at the Soldiers Home at Marshalltown. He was a member of Company D, 11th Iowa, during the war and was in several battles. This makes the 4th death in Hyde Clark Post within a week.

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CHATFIELD

B. Chatfield, aged 63 years, died of old age at the Soldiers Home at 2:40 o'clock this morning. The funeral will be held tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock. The deceased had been an inmate of the home since last December. He was a member of Company D, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, and came from Dubuque.

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Courtesy of Cheryl E. (Chatfield) Thompson