“Shortly after his marriage, Joseph’s occupation was listed as a fisherman.

I was able to pick up his trail in 1864, when on August 16, 1864, he enlisted as a Private in the 29th Regiment of the Michigan Infantry. The 29th was raised entirely in the Sixth Congressional District (organized in Saginaw, Michigan) by the Honorable John Driggs. The muster was completed on 3 October 1864, and they broke camp on 6 October, heading for Nashville, Tennessee, but were diverted to Decatur, Alabama under the command of Colonel Saylor. The Confederate Army under the command of General Hood was attacking Decatur, and the 29th Regiment aided in the defense until the 30th of October, at which time the southern forces retired from the city.

On the 24th of November, they marched to Murfreesboro, then moved out to Overall Creek, Tennessee, where they found the Confederate forces on the 7th of December. On 13 December, they were providing an escort for a railroad train, when they were attacked by a superior force of Confederates near Winstead Church, Tennessee and a fierce fight occurred. The Confederates were driven off, but not before they tore up sections of the track. The 29th re-laid the track, and succeeded in saving the train by hand pulling it into Murfreesboro. After this battle, they were in one more engagement while guarding another train near Alexandria on the Shelbyville Pike during 15-16 December. From then until July 1865, they guarded the Nashville & Chattanooga rail line. They were then moved to Murfreesboro until 6 September 1865, when they were mustered out of the service, returning to Michigan, arriving in Detroit on 8 September. They were paid off and disbanded on the 12th. The 29th had a total enrollment of 1,470. They had 71 deaths, 6 caused by battle and the rest from disease. Joseph was listed on the Regiment rolls as having 'Distinguished Service’.

While working on Joseph and Olive, I was contacted in 2004 by Richard and Jill Chape who live in England. They were tracing their Chape family line, when they happened on information about Irving and Joseph. They believe that our families were linked in the past, with common roots in Scotland. They had also hit a wall in trying to discover Joseph’s parents. Donald told his daughters that the family had a ‘Scottish connection’, but never elaborated” ®7003