Soldier Information
Name: Henry Gaines
Alias:
Place of Birth: Green County KY Year of Birth: 1840
Occupation: Laborer
Eyes: Black Hair: Black Complexion: Black
Height in Feet: 5 Inches: 6
Enlistment Information
Enlistment Date: April 21, 1865
Enlistment Place: Lebanon
Enlistment State: KY
Compiled Military Service Record
Document: View
Congressional District: 4th
Company: F Regiment(s): 125th Regt USCI
Mustered Where: Lebanon, Kentucky
Mustered Out Date:
Rank at Muster Out:
Notes:
The Compiled Military Service Records for Henry Gaines state he enlisted on April 21, 1865, at Lebanon, Kentucky, and he mustered in the following day, April 22, at the same location. Henry was born in Green County, Kentucky. He was 25 years old, height of 5′ 6″, with black eyes, black hair, and a black complexion. Henry served in the 125th USCI, Company F.
Henry Gaines died of small pox in a post hospital in Cairo, Illinois, on February 26, 1866.
His muster-in records state the name of his enslaver was Dr. Thomas Gaines, and Henry enlisted without consent.
Soldier Death Information
Died in war? Yes
Military Death Date: February 26, 1866
Military Death Location: Cairo, Illinois
Military Cause of Death: Small pox
Death Date: February 26, 1866
Cause of Death: Small pox
Death Certificate
Soldier Pension Information
No pension card found
Widow Pension Information
Widow Pension Card: Pension Card
Widow Application Date: February 24, 1868
Application No.: 157990 Certificate No.: 114901
Other Family Pension Information
Pension Card Link: View
Application Date: January 6, 1872
Application No.: 201072 Certificate No.: 155815
Pension File Information
Pension File: Pension File
Pensioners: Martha Gaines
Mary Eliza Gaines
Pensioner County: Green Pensioner State: KY
Number of Pages:3 (widow) + 28 (minor)
Pension Notes:
There is a Widow’s Pension File for Henry Gaines who served in the 125th USCT, Company F. The certificate number is 114901, and the full pension file (3 pages) has been retrieved. Henry’s widow’s name was Martha Gaines, and she received a pension of $8 per month, commencing on February 27, 1866. Martha received an extra $2 per month for one child, Mary E., until she turned the age of 16 on April 30, 1881. There are no depositions or affidavits in this file.
A Minor’s Pension File was also retrieved (certificate no. 155815). The 28-page Minor’s Pension File states Henry Gaines who served in the 125th USCT, Company F, was married to Martha Gaines. Their date of marriage was Dec. 25, 1863. Witnesses Matt Wakefield and John Lile were present at this wedding, which took place at the house of James Blankenship in Green County. They were married by Abraham Gaines, a Black minister.
When Martha remarried (to Willis Taylor on May 15, 1869), a Minor’s Pension commenced the following day for her daughter, Mary Eliza. Per Louisa Blakeman, who was present at the birth, “said child is named Mary Eliza and was born at its mother’s home in Green County, Kentucky, on the 1st day of May 1865.”
Also in the Minor’s Pension File is information on Henry Gaines’ mother, Maria Gaines. Solomon Parker, who served with Henry Gaines in the 125th USCT said, “I know that he is the only child of Marie Gaines, and that she was a widow at the time of the death of her son and is still a widow, and is now blind, having lost her sight about two years ago.” Additional affidavits from Partha W. Atkinson and Philip W. Atkinson of Lafayette, Missouri (former enslavers of Maria) state they “well knew said Henry Gaines, his Father, Mother, and Family. His mother the above mentioned claimant Maria Gaines were at the time and ___ to the manumission of slaves in 186_ the property of Partha W. Atkinson and they know the above named claimant to be the mother of the said deceased soldier Henry Gaines. That the said Maria Gaines is now about the age of 70 years.”
Link to Minor’s Pension File: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bhKSoa6a-xXgtV552SXoNNhN1gNIcr-_/view?usp=drive_link
Freedman’s Bank/Freedmen’s Bureau Information
No Freedman’s Bank information found
No Freedmen’s Bureau Documents found
Family Information
Mother First Name: Maria Mother Maiden Name: Gaines
Father First Name: Father Last Name:
Siblings:
Wife #1 First Name: Martha Maiden Name: (Gaines) Taylor
Wife #2 First Name: Maiden Name:
Wife #3 First Name: Maiden Name:
Children: Mary Eliza Gaines May 1, 1865
Family Notes:
Henry Gaines died in service, leaving behind a wife, Martha Gaines, and a young daughter, Mary Eliza Gaines.
Henry was interred in Cairo, Illinois, where he had died of small pox. There is a military headstone at the Mound City National Cemetery. However, there is also a record that Henry Gaines had been disinterred. No information was retrieved as to where his body was reinterred.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11I3yTaUI_SO2lXi8qQCi9KWCtssEbRc1/view?usp=drive_link
Family Tree:
View Family Tree on Ancestry.com Please note: this requires a paid Ancestry.com account to view
1870 Census
1870 Census Link: View
1870 Profession: Keeping house
1870 Live with/near former enslaver? No
1870 Real Estate Value: 0 1870 Personal Estate Value: 0
1870 Ability to Read? Cannot read Ability to Write? Cannot write
1870 Census Notes:
A search was conducted for Martha and her new husband, Willis Taylor. They are found living in Green County, with Henry’s daughter Mary E., and another child, Laurence Taylor, son of Martha and her new husband.
A search of the surrounding neighbors of Martha and Willis Taylor found that the guardian named on the pension card, T.C. Stackhouse, lived in close proximity, possibly next door. Since T.C. Stackhouse was a minister, it is possible he rented this property to the Taylors.
1880 Census
1880 Census Link: View
1880 Profession: Second husband is an engineer
1880 Live with/near former enslaver? No
1880 Ability to Read? Can read Ability to Write? Can write
1880 Census Notes:
A search for Willis and Martha Taylor and/or Mary Gaines in the 1880 census finds them living in Fayette County (Lexington). Martha is now using the nickname “Mattie,” and her daughter Mary is still using her father’s surname, Gaines. Mary is listed as Willis Taylor’s step-daughter. Other children in the household include Lorenzo (age 10), Sallie (age 8), and William (age 6) Taylor.
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: Thomas Gaines (Dr.) Location: Green County, Kentucky
Previous Enslaver:
Enslaver Notes:
There were two men by the name of Thomas H. Gaines in Green County, Kentucky. One was the father of the other (Senior and Junior). A note in the Compiled Military Service Records of Henry Gaines stated he had been enslaved by Dr. Thomas Gaines, which would be the Senior. Henry Gaines had enlisted in the army without consent of his enslaver.
1850 Enslaver Census
1850 Census Link: View
1850 Slave Schedule Link: View
1850 Number of Enslaved: 21
1860 Enslaver Census
1860 Census Link: View
1860 Real Estate Value: 4000 1860 Personal Estate Value: 10000
1860 Slave Schedule Link: View
1860 Number of Enslaved: 10
1870 Enslaver Census
1870 Census Link: View
1870 Real Estate Value: 1400 1870 Personal Estate Value: 1600
1880 Enslaver Census
Compensation Information
Compensation Application not found