Civil War Photos: Lewis Cashdollar

Lewis W. Cashdollar (New York State Military Museum)

It was face of the man in this picture that drew me in. He looks resolute, but slightly scared, and extremely young. His name was Lewis W. Cashdollar. Though he volunteered to go to war, he was really just a boy - a 19-year-old fisherman from Tivoli, New York. He paid a heavy price for his service, losing a leg in September of 1864 in Winchester, Virginia, but he lived to see Tivoli again, and his wife, Adelia A. McDonald, whom he married the same year that he enlisted.

Lewis was born in 1843 to Joseph S. Cashdollar and Margaret Laffman. He had a younger brother, Arthur.

1850 US Federal Census

In 1860, Joseph was working as a glass blower and Lewis as a fisherman. You have to love the dedication of the 1860 census enumerator. Margaret Laffman Cashdollar gets a whole letter to her name.

1860 US Federal Census

On August 12, 1862, Lewis enlisted as a private in Hudson, New York. Eight days later, he was mustered into Company C, 128th New York Infantry. He received the wound that would ultimately cost him his leg on September 19, 1864, but wasn't discharged until May 30, 1865.

128th New York Infantry Battle Flag (NYSMM)

After the war, Private Cashdollar returned to Tivoli and to fishing. It's here that I should note that Adelia had been the 24-year-old widow of Jerome McDonald when 19-year-old Lewis married her, and that Frank (shown in the census below) was her son with Jerome (I believe that Jerome died in the Civil War, but I've been unable to confirm this). Ultimately, Adelia would give birth to seven children in total, only one of whom was alive in 1900.

It's interesting to note that both Lewis Cashdollar and his father Joseph married women who were older than they were. Lewis's mother Margaret was a full 11 years older than her husband.

1870 US Federal Census

Ten years later, Lewis and Adelia lived with their two daughters, Lillian and Georgia, and Adelia's son Frank. Adelia was listed with a disability: "loss of speech." It's unclear from the census whether this was a temporary or chronic condition.

1880 US Federal Census

That same year, this snippet appeared in the Hudson Evening Register. I've been unable to locate the original article it refers to, but I expect it has something to do with hardships people faced, perhaps during the war.

Hudson NY Evening Register 1880

In 1891, the Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle announced Cashdollar's appointment to a "lucrative position under the superintendent of the Capital."

Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle August 23, 1891

In the 1892 New York State Census, Lewis was listed as an "orderly" - I expect this is the "lucrative position" described. He lived with his wife Adelia, their daughter Lillian, Lillian's husband Matthew DuBois, and Lillian and Matthew's daughter Pauline.

1892 New York State Census

Three years later, this article appeared in the Newtown Register describing the laying off of Democratic veterans by Republican politicians. According to the article, "Lewis Cashdollar of Tivoli, a one-legged veteran, was one of the first to be decapitated by the Republicans." The article then prints a letter Cashdollar wrote to a friend describing his poor financial situation: "I called o the Governor and laid my case before him, telling him that I was very poor and could do nothing in the labor line, or anything else to keep my family together, and could hardly get out of Albany." Apparently the Republicans had fired Cashdollar from his "lucrative position" on account of his party affiliation.

Newtown NY Register 1895

Cashdollar continues, "My war record is very plain. I enlisted in 1862, and was discharged in 1865, for the loss of my right leg. I was wounded on the 19th of September 1864, at Winchester. I belonged to the 128th N. Y. S. V., Co. C., and am a member of G. A. R. Post 215 of Saugerties.

"I will have to try to get to the soldiers home so I can let my family have my pension to keep them together, as I cannot do anything, for my health is failing.

"That is the consolation all of us old soldiers get from the 'Grand Old Party:' no matter what service you saw or how badly you were wounded if you are not of their political faith you can starve. I was discharged for being a Democrat.

"Yours truly, a one-legged soldier, LEWIS W. CASHDOLLAR."

Rhinebeck Gazette October 16, 1897

Though it may have happened, I found no evidence that Cashdollar was admitted to a soldiers' home at this time. He was living with his family in Tivoli in 1900.

In 1897, an amusing snippet (right) about Cashdollar appeared in the Rhinebeck Gazette. Apparently, even minus a leg, Cashdollar was "probably the largest man in Dutchess County."

 Here are the Cashdollars in 1900 with their daughter Lillian, son-in-law Matthew, and four grandchildren. Lillian was now the mother of five children, four of who were living. Lewis was working as a fisherman again, and Matthew DuBois was a railroad laborer.

1900 US Federal Census

Lewis Cashdollar died in 1903 and was buried in the Old Red Church Cemetery in Tivoli. Although one must surely exist (or did exist), I haven't found an obituary for him. Adelia McDonald Cashdollar died in 1908, and her last surviving child, Lillian Cashdollar DuBois, died in 1912. Lillian, like her mother, ultimately gave birth to seven children. Mother and daughter are buried in the Old Red Church Cemetery.

1. Joseph S. Cashdollar (1815-) m. Margaret Laffman (1804-)
1. Lewis W. Cashdollar (1843-1903) m. Adelia A. McDonald (1838-1908) in 1862
1. Frank W. McDonald (1861-before 1900) [Adelia's son by first husband Jerome McDonald]
2. Lillian P. Cashdollar (1868-1912) m. Matthew B. DuBois (1864-1931)
1. Pauline DuBois (1889-1952) m. Homer Moody
2. Sadie A. DuBois (1893-) m. LeRoy Moore (1881-)
1. Francis Moore (1917-)
2. Clifford Moore (1918-)
3. Lewis W. DuBois (1897-)
4. Emma R. DuBois (1899-1989) m. Harold Lasher (1898-)
1. Ethel Lasher (1920-)
5. Estelle M. DuBois (1903-1940)
6. Harriet C. DuBois (1906-)
3. Margaret Cashdollar (1870-before 1900)
4. Georgia B. Cashdollar (1871-before 1900)
2. Arthur J. Cashdollar (1845-1930) m. Eliza Jane Mink (1849-1918)