Soldier Information
Name: Lyman Booker
Alias: Symon, Simon
Place of Birth: Shelby KY Year of Birth: 1830
Occupation: Laborer
Eyes: Dark Hair: Dark Complexion: Dark
Height in Feet: 5 Inches: 7
View Ledger
Enlistment Information
Enlistment Date: September 9, 1864
Enlistment Place: Louisville
Enlistment State: KY
Compiled Military Service Record
Document: View
Congressional District: 4th
Company: A Regiment(s): 5th USCC
Mustered Where: Louisville, Kentucky
Mustered Out Date: March 16, 1866
Rank at Muster Out: Corporal
Notes:
On September 9, 1864, Simon Booker was mustered into Co. A 5th USCC at Camp Nelson in Louisville, Kentucky. He was 34-year-old laborer, born in Shelby County. His enlistment papers recorded his name as “Symon Booker.” Throughout his CMSR, his given name frequently appeared also as “Lyman.” His given name was actually, “Simon.” About a month after he was mustered in, he was sick in the hospital at Camp Nelson, and he remained in the hospital until December 1864. In November/December 1864, Private Booker was owed the first installment of his Bounty payment. That payment was still due by June 1865. On July 1, 1865, Simon Booker was promoted from Private to Corporal. In November/December 1865, he owed the Government 52 cents for ordinance. Corporal Simon (aka Lyman) Booker was mustered out of Co. A. 5th USCC at Helena, Arkansas on March 16, 1866. Since his enlistment, he drew $89.69 from his clothing account and he owed 90 cents for ordinance. At the time of mustering out, he had been paid $100 in Bounty money, but was still owed $100.
Soldier Death Information
Died in war? No
Military Death Date:
Military Death Location:
Military Cause of Death:
Death Date:
Cause of Death:
Soldier Pension Information
Pension Card Link: Pension Card
Pension Application Date: June 6, 1884
Application No.: 514804 Certificate No.:
Alternate First Name: Simon Alternate Last Name: Booker
Widow Pension Information
Widow Pension Card: Pension Card
Widow Application Date: September 17, 1890
Application No.: 455835 Certificate No.: 295869
No other family pension card found
Pension File Information
Pension File:
Pensioners:
Pensioner County: Pensioner State:
Number of Pages:
Pension Notes:
On June 6, 1884, Simon Booker applied for an invalid pension but it was not approved. It is likely that Simon Booker died before the pension process was completed. On September 17, 1890, Mary B. Booker, Simon Booker’s widow applied for, and was later granted a widow’s pension. She received her pension benefits for at nearly 30 years after her application was submitted. Mary B. Booker died in Shelbyville, Kentucky on January 1, 1920.
Freedman’s Bank/Freedmen’s Bureau Information
No Freedman’s Bank information found
No Freedmen’s Bureau Documents found
Family Information
Mother First Name: Mother Maiden Name:
Father First Name: Father Last Name:
Siblings:
Wife #1 First Name: Louisa M. Maiden Name:
Wife #2 First Name: Mary B. Maiden Name: Stone
Wife #3 First Name: Maiden Name:
Children: Julia A. Booker 1867
Louisa B. Booker 1868
Family Notes:
No marriage records were discovered for either of Simon Booker’s two known marriages: first wife, Louisa M. Booker (1838-1885); second wife, Mary B. Booker (1835-1920). Sometime between 1870 and 1880, Louisa M. Booker left Simon Booker and relocated herself and her two young daughters from Shelbyville to Louisville. Louisa M. Booker was described in the Census as mulatto, and as “colored” in Louisville city directories. She died on September 8, 1885 in Louisville, from “Paralysis.” Her death notice in the Louisville “Courier-Journal” and her death record noted her race as “White.” After the 1880 Census was conducted, and their mother’s death in 1885, both Julia Booker and Louisa Booker vanished from the record. No death records were discovered for Simon Booker, however, given that his second wife Mary B. Booker applied for a widow’s pension on September 17, 1890, it can be assumed that he died sometime prior to that date, but not before 1884 (when Simon Booker applied for his invalid pension).
Family Tree:
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1870 Census
1870 Census Link: View
1870 Profession: Carpenter
1870 Live with/near former enslaver? No
1870 Real Estate Value: 0 1870 Personal Estate Value: 100
1870 Ability to Read? Unknown Ability to Write? Cannot write
1870 Census Notes:
In 1870, Simon Booker, age 40, was a carpenter with $100 in personal property. His wife Louisa M. Booker, 32, owned $700 real estate, an unusual division of assets that requires more research. They lived in Shelbyville, Kentucky with their two daughters, Julia Booker, age 3 (incorrectly identified in the Census as “Julia Steel”), and Louisa B. Booker, age 2. Also in the household were two persons whose relationships to Simon Booker are unclear: Lucinda Booker, age 70; and John H. Steel, age 8. All were born in Kentucky, and all were described as mulatto.
1880 Census
1880 Census Link: View
1880 Profession: Carpenter
1880 Live with/near former enslaver? No
1880 Ability to Read? Cannot read Ability to Write? Cannot write
1880 Census Notes:
In 1880, Simon Booker, age 50, worked as a carpenter in Shelbyville, Kentucky. His marital status was given as “single,” which is interesting since he was married to Louisa M. Booker as of the 1870 Census, and at the time, she was very much alive and living in Louisville, Kentucky with their two daughters, Julia and Louisa B. Booker. Louisa M. Booker supported her family by working as a dressmaker. Louisa’s marital status was noted as widow, perhaps the couple had divorced. The only other person in Simon Booker’s household was a boarder named George Crittenden, age 48, who was Black, single, and worked as a farm laborer. Simon Booker lived on Clay Street in Shelbyville.
1890 Census
1890 Census information not found
1900 Census
1900 Census information not found
1910 Census
1910 Census information not found
1920 Census
1920 Census information not found
Enslaver Information
Name: John Allen Horsnby Location: Shelby County, Kentucky
Previous Enslaver:
Enslaver Notes:
Enslaver John Allen Hornsby (1811-1887) was born and died in Shelby County, but was buried in Eminence, Kentucky (Henry County). His spouse was Julia Ann Booker Hornsby (1815-1869). Given this Hornsby-Booker family connection, it is possible that Simon Booker was previously enslaved by a member of Julia Ann Booker’s family. Additional research is needed to establish that connection. In 1850, “J. E. Hornsby” (enumerated as “J. A. Hornsby”) enslaved 17 persons, at least two of whom fit the description of Simon Booker. In 1860, John A. Hornsby enslaved 20 persons, at least three Black males fit Simon Booker’s description. John A. Hornsby was a well-known livestock breeder in Shelby County and was credited with introducing purebred Hereford cattle to Kentucky. He was also a Morgan Horse breeder and introduced influential bloodlines to Shelby County that later contributed to the development of the American Saddlebred. Shelbyville is considered the birthplace of the American Saddlebred horse. Hornsby’s son won prizes for his Morgan Horses at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. John A. Hornsby’s original farm, known as “Booker Brook Farm,” still exists today. The name of the farm was derived from John Allen Hornsby’s wife’s family. The property is on the National Register of Historic Places and in recent years, has been used as a wedding venue.
1850 Enslaver Census
1850 Census Link: View
1850 Slave Schedule Link: View
1850 Number of Enslaved: 17
1860 Enslaver Census
1860 Census Link: View
1860 Real Estate Value: $26,000 1860 Personal Estate Value: $20,000
1860 Slave Schedule Link: View
1860 Number of Enslaved: 20
1870 Enslaver Census
1870 Census information not found
1880 Enslaver Census
1880 Census information not found
Compensation Information
Compensation Application not found