Soldier Information
Name: Levi Hinkle
Alias:
Place of Birth: Nelson KY Year of Birth: 1840
Occupation: Farmer
Eyes: Brown Hair: Black Complexion: Black
Height in Feet: 5 Inches: 8
Enlistment Information
Enlistment Date: September 19, 1864
Enlistment Place: Lebanon
Enlistment State: KY
Compiled Military Service Record
Document: View
Congressional District: 4
Company: L Regiment(s): 12th USCHA
Mustered Where: Lebanon, Kentucky
Mustered Out Date:
Rank at Muster Out:
Notes:
There were two CMSRs for Levi Hinkle. The first one was 15 pages and contained details regarding Hinkle’s enlistment, and the circumstances of his death on January 14, 1865. Levi Hinkle was drafted, which indicates that he may have been a free man of color at the time of enlistment. Levi Hinkle was promoted from private to corporal on October 1, 1864. He was shot by Confederate guerillas at Big Spring (Hardin County) on January 8, 1864, and died in the Army hospital in Munfordville. More research is needed, but it is possible that Levi Hinkle was shot by a group of Confederate guerrillas that included the notorious Marcellus Jerome Clark (1844-1865) aka “Sue Mundy,” who was hanged in Louisville on March 15, 1865 for his murderous activities. There is some confusion in the CMSR with regard to the timing of shooting and his death but the January dates are correct. The second CMSR was a single miscellaneous document with the soldier’s name spelled as “Levy Hinkle.” The single-page CMSR consisted of one statement explaining that the soldier died in the hospital at Munfordville from the effects of a gunshot wound (same information as was found in the larger CMSR). The stray, one-page CMSR was likely due to the misspelling of the soldier’s given name.
Soldier Death Information
Died in war? Yes
Military Death Date: January 14, 1865
Military Death Location: Munfordville, KY
Military Cause of Death: Gunshot wound
Death Date: January 14, 1865
Cause of Death: Wounds from a gunshot
Death Certificate
Soldier Pension Information
No pension card found
Widow Pension Information
Widow Pension Card: Pension Card
Widow Application Date: January 12, 1866
Application No.: 119774 Certificate No.: 121040
No other family pension card found
Pension File Information
Pension File: Pension File
Pensioners: Jane McMakin Hinkle
Stephany Hinkle
Julia Hinkle
Amy Hinkle
Pensioner County: Nelson Pensioner State: KY
Number of Pages:23
Pension Notes:
Levi Hinkle’s pension file consists of 23 pages. The bulk of the document is devoted to establishing that Jane McMakin (maiden name spelled a variety of ways) was the wife of Levi Hinkle and that they had three minor children surviving at the time of the widow’s pension application. Also included in the pension file were documents related to the death of Levi Hinkle while he was serving in the USCHA. Several witnesses came forward with affidavits attesting to the fact that Jane McMakin was indeed married to Levi Hinkle and that they had three minor children. One of the witnesses was the enslaver’s family doctor who swore to the children’s birth dates and identities. But there are questions that arise concerning the stated ages of Levi Hinkle, Jane McMakin Hinkle, and those of their three children. If, as was stated in the pension file and his CMSR, Levi Hinkle was 24 years old when he enlisted in 1864, he would have been born around 1840. Jane McMakin Hinkle, in her widow’s pension affidavit, claimed that she was born in 1838, and that she first married Levi Hinkle (while enslaved) in 1851, and again in 1861 (if he was a free man of color). According to the pension file, their children were born in 1851, 1853, and 1855. If those dates are correct, Levi Hinkle was just 11years-old when he married a 13 year-old Jane McMakin. There is something wrong with that chronology. It is possible that the birth dates of Levi Hinkle and his family members were incorrectly recorded.
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: Jane Maiden Name: McMakin
Wife #2 First Name: Maiden Name:
Wife #3 First Name: Maiden Name:
Children: Stephany Hinkle 1852
Julie Hinkle 1853
Amy Hinkle 1855
Family Notes:
According to documents included in Jane McMakin Hinkle’s widow’s pension file, Levi Hinkle and Jane McMakin had three children: son Stepney/Stephney/Stephany (spelling varied) Hinkle, born July 15, 1851; daughter Julia Hinkle, born September 28, 1853; and Amy Hinkle, born January 2, 1855. None of their three children were found in any records after Jane McMakin’s widow’s pension was approved in 1868. Jane McMakin Hinkle vanished from the record after 1870.
Family Tree: View
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: Servant
1870 Live with/near former enslaver? Yes
1870 Real Estate Value: 0 1870 Personal Estate Value: 0
1870 Ability to Read? Cannot read Ability to Write? Cannot write
1870 Census Notes:
1880 Census
1880 Census information not found
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 Pearson Hinkle Location: Nelson County, Kentucky
Previous Enslaver:
Enslaver Notes:
Enslaver John P. Hinkle descended from Germans who settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Hinkletown, a small community in Lancaster County was named for one of the enslaver’s ancestors. Also of note, is that John P. Hinkle was a Confederate sympathizer and, in early 1865, may have given shelter to the same gang of Confederate guerrillas who shot and killed Levi Hinkle. It is also interesting to note that, in 1870, one of John P. Hinkle’s farm hands was John Linton (1844-abt. 1891) who served in Co. C 108th USCI.
1850 Enslaver Census
1850 Census Link: View
1850 Slave Schedule Link: View
1850 Number of Enslaved: 5
1860 Enslaver Census
1860 Census Link: View
1860 Real Estate Value: $27,000 1860 Personal Estate Value: $12,000
1860 Slave Schedule Link: View
1860 Number of Enslaved: 14
1870 Enslaver Census
1870 Census Link: View
1870 Real Estate Value: $30,040 1870 Personal Estate Value: $6,566
1880 Enslaver Census
Compensation Information
Compensation Application not found