Pvt. Samuel Lippincott
Samuel Lippincott was born 28 Jan 1840 in Alexander Township, Hunterdon County, NJ. He was one of nine children of Tunis and Anne Lippincott. (Anne's maiden name is unknown at this time.) When still an infant, Samuel's family moved across the Delaware River to Nockamixon, Bucks County, PA, where his father settled as a farmer. His Height was 5'9", he had a dark complexion, dark eyes, and black hair.
Samuel enlisted as a private in Co C. of the 104th Reg't PA Inf. on 28 Aug 1861 at Nockamixon by Capt. Marple for a three year term. He received a gun shot wound to his left ankle at the battle of fair Oaks, VA on 31 May 1862. He was hospitalized in Yorktown Hospital, and then later in New Haven, Conn. for several months. Upon discharge, he returned to Bucks County.
In 1867, Samuel married Margaret Ross, aka, Maggie. They had eleven children, but at least five died as infants or young children. Samuel moved his family to Phillipsburg, NJ in 1876 and then to Omaha, Neb in 1877, taking advantage of the federal government's offer of inexpensive land to veterans. About 1885 he moved to Ashland, Neb.
Samuel was awarded a Civil War veteran's pension in 1875 because of being disabled from the gunshot wound to his left ankle, injury to his back, and a rectal fistula. The amount awarded in 1875 was $2.00/month. In 1891, it increased to $12/ month. By the time he died, he was receiving $40/month. His widow received $30/month.
Samuel was very active in veteran associations. He served as Senior Vice Commander of Bob McCook Post No. 31, Dept. Neb. and President of the Veterans Association, 104th Penna Vol and Durell's Battery. Upon hearing of the death of James Bissey, one of his Civil War comrades, Samuel wrote his "greetings and regrets" to the surviving brother, John Bissey (also a 104th PA veteran) in a letter to the Bucks County Intelligencer.
In this letter, Samuel tells of a small but powerful kindness he bestowed on a suffering comrade: "We had been marching and fighting for three days and nights with the rain falling incessantly and the mud indescribable, and entirely without food. When at night we had been massed for a charge on a battery at daylight, we were standing in the mud and rain when my attention was attracted by the groans and cries of a comrade in distress further down the line. Working my way past several companies through the darkness I found the sufferer to be John Bissey, suffering a most severe attack of cramp colic, and the exposure of his position was adding to his suffering. I could not give him food. We had none. But I had a good rubber and a woolen blanket taken that day from the knapsack of a dead soldier. These I wrapped around him, and the warmth and comfort soon brought him quiet and rest. I spent the balance of the night standing in the mud and rain, but glad to have helped a comrade in distress."
Samuel lived to be eighty years old and died in Memphis, Saunders County, Neb.