1850 Census Marion County, (W)Va.
#84-84
John Williams, 37, Farmer, b Va
Eliza, 33, b Va
Sarah A., 12, b Va
Lucinda, 10, b Va
Mathilda, 8, b Va
Eli, 6, b Va
Joseph, 4, b Va
Eliza, 2, b Va
Maidora, 9 months, b Va

1860 Census, Nuzum's Mills, Marion County, (W)Va.
#346-332
John Williams, 41, Farmer, $1720, $497, b Maryland
Eliza, 43, b Pa
Sarah A., 22, b Va
Lucinda, 20, b Va
Mathilda, 19, b Va
Eli, 16, Laborer, b Va
Joseph, 14, b Va
Eliza Jane, 12, b Va
Mary, 7, b Va
Minerva, 5, Va
John, 3, Va
Clarissa, 6 months, Va
William C. 3, Va

Eli Williams married Sally Hayhurst 18 Nov 1866 in Marion County. Apparently "Sally" is Sarah in the following census records. Sarah was the daughter of James and Jane (Henderson) Hayhurst. James, born 1823, was the older brother of Eli Hayhurst, born 1837, who served in Company "F" of the 12th Infantry with Eli Williams.

1870 Census, Union Twp., Fairmont, Marion County, W.Va.
#139-140
Eli Williams, 25, Farmer, $225, b Pa
Sarah, 23, Keeping House, b Va
Sarah J., 1, At Home, b WVa

Note: Eli's parents are next door, #140-141

1880 Census, Fairmont District, Marion County, W.Va.
#122-128 (In the residence of Oliver Prickett, Farmer)
Eli Williams, 36, Farmer, Pa Pa Pa
Sarah, 34, Wife, Keeping House, Va Va Pa
Sarah Jane, 11, Dau, WVa, Pa Va
Harry, 9, Son, WVa, Pa Va
James H., 6, WVa, Pa, Va
John E., 4, WVa, Pa, Va
Eliza B, 1, Dau, WVa, Pa Va

1890 Census, Marion County, W.Va.
Eli Williams, Private, 12th WVa Infantry; 8/14/1862-6/16/1865; dyspepsia

1900 Census, Mannington District, Marion County, W.Va.
#273-276
Eli Williams, Head, b Nov 1843, 56, m-34 yrs, Farmer, WVa, WVa, WVa
Sarah, Wife, b Nov 1845, 8children/7 living, Pa Pa Pa
Howard, Son, 26, b Nov 1873, Single, Teamster, WVa WVa Pa
John E., Son, 24, b Apr 1876, Single, Teamster, WVa, WVa, Pa
Eliza B., Dau, b July 1878, 21, Single, WVa, WVa, Pa
Charles T., Son, b May 1883, 17, Single, Farm Laborer, WVa, WVa, Pa

In the 1910 Census, Sarah Williams, a widow, is residing in Mannington in the home of her daughter, Sarah J., wife of William E. Gump.

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    Jan Campbell, a descendant of Eli Williams, has a total of five letters, written by Eli from January to June 1865. She says, "The ink is fading, but they are remarkably preserved, considering the conditions under which they were written. In one letter, he apologises for his handwriting (beautiful, by today's standards!) since he is writing with a dry twig! He starts out by writing to the younger sister of the lady he has his eye on, but on finding that she is seeing someone else, changes his direction and winds up marrying Sally. The first letter is the most historically significant, since it details the last days of the war, from Richmond to Petersburg to Appamattox, and he is eyewitness to the surrender of General Lee."

Submitted by Jan Campbell.

LETTER #1

Camped the 12th, West Virginia Infantry, Army of the James, March the 24th, 1865. Brake came on March the 25 and marched to the Chickahomney Swamps the distance of 16 miles and on the 26, took up the line of march and marched back to the Army of the James, the distance of 16 miles and went in camp for 24 hours and then took up the line of march for the Potomac. Marched all night 15 miles. On the 26 took up the line of march and marched near Hatcher's Run, the distance of 15 miles and went in camp for the night. 29 took up the line of march and marched the distance of 3 miles and went in camp for the night. On the 30 took up the line of march for Hatcher's Run, the distance of 5 miles and skirmished. On the 31 skirmished all day and gained some ground on the enemy. On the 1 of April fought all day and gained some ground on the enemy. On the 2 we took up the line of march for Petersburg and charged Fort Gregg and took it with 300 prisoners the distance of 10 miles. On the 3 took up the line of march after General Lee's army the distance of 18 miles. On the 4 took up the line of march and marched the distance of 18 miles and went in camp for the night. On the 5 took up the line of march after Burksville, the distance of 20 miles and went in camp for the night. On the 6 took up the line of march and had some skirmishing. Then picketed that night the distance of 13 miles. On the 7 took up the line of march for Farmesville the distance of 8 miles. On the 8 took up the line of march and marched til 12 o'clock that night, the distance of 32 miles. On the 9 took up the line of march for General Lee's Army and double quicked 2 miles and formed line of battle and advanced on them and they histed the white flag and we was halted and went in camp the distance of 5 miles.

Letter from Eli Williams, private,
West Virginia Volunteers, Company F
12th Regiment
2nd Battalion
Army of the James

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