Dennis Line
| In years past, my favorite
past time was metal detecting Civil War relics. Over the years, I have
dug up a good collection of relics. Maybe, 35 years ago, I found the
plate in the picture above in a civil war camp site in Loudon County.
The name on the plate is Dennis Line. I tucked the plate away for all
these years intending some day to see if I could find any information on
Dennis Line. Some months ago, I met the Loudon Liberian, Kate Brewster. Ms. Brewster is an incredible researcher on everything. She's even written a couple of books on our local history. Last week, Ms. Brewster and her husband dropped by to look at my relics. In the course of conversation, I mentioned the plate with Dennis Line's name. Days later, Kate had found all kinds of information on Dennis Line. Dennis was born June 12, 1830, in Ohio. He married Leannah Jane Smith on September 22, 1858, in Franklin, Indiana. 1860 Census, Butler, Franklin County, Indiana. He served in Company G, 68th Indiana Infantry. He was also in Company A, 19th US (Indiana) Infantry. He is listed as an invalid. In 1870, the family was still living in Butler, Indiana where Denis was a carpenter. On the 1880 census, he is still living in Indiana. The 1890 census burned but he is listed on the 1890 Veterans Schedules. By then he was living in Wood River, Nebraska. The record said he suffered from a gunshot wound. No details as to where. He died September 12, 1903, and is buried in Park Valley Cemetery, Sumner, Dawson County, Nebraska at the age of 73. Dennis and Jane had a daughter named Martha Jane (Line) Loar. The 68th Indiana Infantry was in fact stationed at Lenoir's Station in late 1863 and went on to be involved in the battle of Fort Sanders. Apparently, while 33 year old Dennis Line was in Lenoirs, he lost his brass identification tag and some 130 years later, I was fortunate enough to dig it out of the ground. I want to say a big thank you to Kate for her research in bring Dennis Line back to life for a few minutes. |