Dempsey Wilson, (1823/1827-bef. 1893)
Headstone GPS Coordinates:
Birth: 2 February 1823 or 1827, Ohio
Death: Bef. 5 January 1893, Seabeck, Kitsap County, Washington
Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Margaret C. Selby née Wilson, Lloyd M. Selby, Margaret Wilson née Woodruff, Mary Bell Selby, Sarah C. Stillwell née Wilson, Margaret W. Stout née Stillwell , Alice Hite née Wilson, Joseph S. Selby
American Revolutionary War Patriots*: Unknown
Disclaimer: These lines have not been officially proven by NSDAR standard
Dempsey Wilson was born in Ohio in 1823 to Quaker parents, Edwin Wilson and Deborah Hunnicutt. On November 11, 1851, he married Margaret Woodruff in Fairview, Ohio. He worked in the leather trade, primarily as a saddler.
Dempsey and Margaret had five daughters, all born in Ohio: Alice (1853), Mary (1855), Sarah (1859), Margaret “Maggie” (1862), and Rose (1868).
On May 9, 1864, at the age of 42, Dempsey mustered into the Union Army at Zanesville, Ohio, serving in Company F of the 159th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He mustered out on August 24, 1864, serving just under four months.
On May 11, 1864, authorities dispatched the regiment to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. The unit remained encamped on Maryland Heights until May 17, when it was transferred to Camp Bradford in Baltimore, Maryland. Four companies performed guard duty at the camp; one company served as provost guards in Baltimore; one worked at Patterson Park Hospital; and the remaining four guarded locations along the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad.
During Confederate General Jubal Early’s advance on Washington, D.C., one hundred men from the 159th were mounted as infantry and fought at the Battle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864. On July 12, Companies B, E, G, and I advanced on Pikesville, Maryland, where Confederate forces were reportedly located, though the Southerners retreated before Union troops arrived. On July 28, four companies moved to Havre de Grace, Maryland, to guard the railroad. On August 13, 1864, the regiment was reunited and sent back to Zanesville, arriving on August 17 and mustering out of service on August 22 and 24, 1864. During its service, the regiment lost ten men, including one officer, to disease or accidents.
In the 1870 census, Dempsey is listed as living in Summerfield, Ohio, working as a saddler in the leather goods trade. He began receiving a service pension in 1885. In 1889, at age 66, Dempsey moved with his family to the Seabeck area, accompanied by his married daughters Alice and Mary, along with their husbands and children.
Dempsey died in 1893 while living at the Hite homestead and was buried in Seabeck Cemetery with a military-issued headstone. His wife Margaret, eldest daughter Alice Hite, and fourth daughter Maggie Selby are also buried there.