William B. Crisfield

William Crisfield was baptised on 1 March 1840 by the Rev. Walter A Vaughan in the 14th century parish church of St. Michael, Chart Sutton, a village with around 800 inhabitants, situated five miles southeast of Maidstone in the county of Kent. The entry in the Register of Baptisms states he was son of Richard Crisfield, a Blacksmith, and his wife, Sarah, but contains neither a date of birth nor a specific dwelling within the village. However, it was common practice in England during this period for a child to be baptised as soon after birth as possible and therefore it is most likely that the future cavalryman was born in January or February 1840, a supposition which is supported by the information in the census taken in June of the following year and his age on arrival in America.

William Crisfield was baptised on 1 March 1840 by the Rev. Walter A Vaughan in the 14th century parish church of St. Michael, Chart Sutton, a village with around 800 inhabitants, situated five miles southeast of Maidstone in the county of Kent. The entry in the Register of Baptisms states he was son of Richard Crisfield, a Blacksmith, and his wife, Sarah, but contains neither a date of birth nor a specific dwelling within the village. However, it was common practice in England during this period for a child to be baptised as soon after birth as possible and therefore it is most likely that the future cavalryman was born in January or February 1840, a supposition which is supported by the information in the census taken in June of the following year and his age on arrival in America.

  This statement does not take into account basic pay due for the period May 1 to June 25, 1876.

  This statement does not take into account basic pay due for the period May 1 to June 25, 1876.

His widow married Private Martin Personeus (aka Michael Conlan), also in Company L, on 23 November 1876. Mary’s life was not an easy one. Not only did she give birth to no less than ten children, of which only four survived childhood her second husband was admitted to the Jacksonville Hospital for the Insane, near Carlinville, Illinois in 1887. He died there on Christmas Eve 1889. He was buried in an unmarked grave the following day.

His widow married Private Martin Personeus (aka Michael Conlan), also in Company L, on 23 November 1876. Mary’s life was not an easy one. Not only did she give birth to no less than ten children, of which only four survived childhood her second husband was admitted to the Jacksonville Hospital for the Insane, near Carlinville, Illinois in 1887. He died there on Christmas Eve 1889. He was buried in an unmarked grave the following day.