The headstone at his grave is almost completely taken by the roots of an American elm tree, and soon it may be unrecognizable. He lies with thousands of military men, so many that it becomes overwhelming to try to process all of the faces and the stories this lie beneath each white headstone. This soldier was once one of these many faceless men lying in the Cave Hill Cemetery, in Louisville, Kentucky, but as fate would have it, his headstone would stand out and be noticed. The uniqueness of his grave grabbed our attention and curiosity caused us to research him. This video is his story and what we learned about him.

Our honored veteran is First Lieutenant Henry Clay Simpson. I personally did this research and found out a great deal about him and his family. I’m looking forward to sharing what I found out and as I do, I’ll show you some of the documents that I found to get that information. Like anyone that we research in genealogy, we have to set our limits of how much time we will dig into their story. What we have found is quite extensive, but I want to go on record and say that there are many mysteries about him still left out there to be solved. Now let’s honor Lieutenant Simpson and tell you his story!

Henry was born on January 29, 1830, in New Hampshire. He was no doubt named after the very popular Senator of the time, “The Great Compromiser” Henry Clay. Knowing that he was born in New England, and that he was named after a famous American that was anti-slavery, gives us tremendous clues about his upbringing.

Henry married Mary Elizabeth Carson, on November 8, 1850, in Burlington, Vermont. Mary was born in 1829, in Maine, and if related to me, would have to be back in Northern Ireland, or Scotland. At some point likely early in 1851, the family moved to LaGrange, Wyoming County, New York, where Mary gave birth to twins, on December 12, 1851. As you will learn later in this video, these twins were at least the third generation in a row with multiple baby births. One of the twins died and the other one was named Helen Minerva Clay, who will be referred to later.

Likely in 1856, Henry and the family moved to Minnesota. Henry’s son Ernest Henry Simpson was born in Watopa, Wabasha County, Minnesota on June 29, 1859. In 1860, the family lived in Wabasha County, Minnesota. Henry was listed as an editor, presumably at a newspaper.

At age thirty-one, Henry enlisted at Fort Snelling, in Saint Paul, Minnesota on June 29, 1861 into Company C, 2nd Infantry Division. His home of record was Lake City, Minnesota, and curiously on his enlistment record it states that he was born in Germany, which is clearly a mistake, however, we know that we have the correct person because the record later states when and where he died in Lebanon Junction, Kentucky. We did find that the unit had another Henry C. Simpson that served as a private, and was a butcher when he enlisted. Perhaps this explains the mistake.

Henry left with his unit and headed to Louisville, Kentucky on October 14, 1861 and arrived there on October 22. The next day they were sent to Lebanon Junction, and his unit was there until December 8th, a few days after his death. Lebanon Junction was a town that sprang up in 1858 and was an important switching point for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Henry’s unit’s occupation of the area was to protect this junction.

Upon Henry’s October departure to Kentucky, his wife Mary moved the children back to Rumney, Grafton County, New Hampshire, to stay with Henry’s parents. Henry sadly died of a typhoid fever on December 1, 1861 in Lebanon Junction, Bullitt County, Kentucky. It had only been a month and a half after he had said goodbye to his family before heading out with his unit.

On January 24, 1862, five days before she died, Mary applied for a widow’s pension. Her name is signed on it. Mary died on January 29, 1862. I searched but have not found a cause of death at this time.

Henry’s father Daniel Simpson was appointed guardian of the two children on February 18, 1862. On July 14, 1862, Congress approved pensions for minors under the age of sixteen, who had lost their fathers in the war, and had also lost their mothers. On February 1, 1864 a pension was filed on behalf of the two children by Dr. Daniel L. Simpson, Henry’s father, who had recently been made guardian of the two children. The pension application states that the children’s mother Mary died on January 29, 1862, just sixty days after their father.

Henry was first buried where he died, in Lebanon Junction but was later moved to Cave Hill National Cemetery, in Louisville, Kentucky. We did find that a replacement headstone was shipped February 13, 1958 to Cave Hill Cemetery.

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