OUT OF PLACE - GEORGE W. POGUE

My Pogue line presents a lot of brick walls. In 1850, James and Nancy Pogue were living in Franklin County, Illinois, with their four children: William R, George W., L.E. (Lydia?), and Josiah Pogue, my great-great-grandfather. [1] The family appears to have fallen apart after that, likely due to the death of Nancy. In 1860, William was living in Oregon, where he spent the rest of his life; L.E. is not found; George is not found; and Josiah is living with the John M. Foster family.[2]

George W. Pogue lived a wandering life, searching for something--sometimes literally searching for gold. Once he left home, he never returned and was never found where one would expect to find a farmer's son from southern Illinois.

Born in 1843, George enlisted in the Union army in 1861 as a private in Company A, 18th Illinois Infantry. He enlisted in Anna, Illinois, for a three-year term. [3] While he served his full time, it was not an uneventful war for George. 

In late July 1863, just a couple of weeks after the end of the siege of Vicksburg, George was court-martialed for "conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline." He had been absent from camp, procured whiskey, and then proceeded to "peddle and dispose of the same to soldiers of said 54th Regt" at Haines [Haynes] Bluff, Mississippi. Lastly, when caught, he promised to go quietly but broke away and escaped from custody. His punishment for these crimes was pay stoppage for August and September. [4]

Once George Pogue was discharged, he headed west. In 1870 he was living in a gold mining area of Colfax County, New Mexico territory.[5] By 1880, he had found his way to Lewis and Clark County, Montana, where he mined.[6] In 1900 he was in the Great Falls area mining quartz.[7] Life as a miner was likely hard. George never married. 

By 1908, George had moved to Los Angeles and was admitted to the Pacific Branch of the Old Soldiers Home in Sawtelle. In 1910, he was enumerated in this home, a 68-year-old single male born in Illinois. He discharged himself from the home in June of 1912.[8] He filed for a pension in 1913 while living in Salem, Oregon, likely with his brother's family. [9]

In June 1914, a small article appeared in the Evening Vanguard, a Venice, California newspaper. [10]

    

Two days later, a second article appeared in the Los Angeles Times. George had fallen on hard times.[11]

By July 1st, George was readmitted to the Soldier's home, where he stayed for almost three months before discharging himself again. By June of 1915, George Pogue moved east again, this time being admitted to the Leavenworth Kansas Soldier Home. For the next couple of years, George followed the same pattern - getting admitted to the home and discharging himself after a few months. 

His hospital record listed George W. Pogue as 6-foot tall, with a fair complexion, dark eyes, and grey hair. These records noted he was a Protestant miner who could not read or write and gave his nearest relative as his nephew, M.E. Pogue of Salem, Oregon. [12]

George W. Pogue died 10 March 1918 of Acute Cardiac dilatation. A notification was sent to his niece Laura Crossland [wife of John Thomas Crosslin] of Johnston City, Illinois. [13] His funeral was conducted in Leavenworth, and he was buried in the Leavenworth National Cemetery. 

Footnotes:

[1] 1850 U.S. census, Franklin County, Illinois, population schedule, p. 34b, dwelling 482, family 496, Jas Pouge household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 10 October 202); citing NARA microfilm publication m432, roll 106.

[2] For William, 1860 U.S. census, Lane County, Oregon, population schedule, Springfield Precinct, sheet 284, dwelling 544, family 544, W.R. Page living in Sarah Powers household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 January 2023); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 1055. For Josiah, 1860 U.S. census, Franklin County, Illinois, population schedule, Township 7S, Range 4E, p. 495, dwelling and family 977, Josiah Pogue in John M. Foster household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 10 October 2021); citing NARA microfilm publication M653.

[3]  Various records, including Enlistment, burial, and Soldier's home registry.

[4] Court-martial records from NARA.

[5] 1870 U.S. census, Colfax County, New Mexico Territory, population schedule, Precinct #1, p.14, dwelling 246, family 206, George Pogue household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 January 2023); citing NARA microfilm publication m593, roll 893.

[6] 1880 U.S. census, Lewis and Clark County, Montana, population schedule, Belmont, p. 36, e.d. 19, dwelling 362, family 365, George Pogue in R. Woolcox household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 January 2023); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 742.

[7] 1900 U.S. census, Cascade County, Montana, population schedule, Great Falls, p. 26a, e.d. 147, visit 161, family 170, George Pogue boarding in George Genier household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 January 2023); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 910.

[8] "U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938," digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 January 2023), Registers of members, Sawtelle California and Leavenworth Kansas, George W. Pogue. Various admissions, discharges, and readmissions.

[9] Civil War Pension file, copies received from NARA.

[10] "Tells the Police Officers What He thinks of Them," Evening Vanguard (Venice, CA), 15 June 1914, p.1, col. 3; digital image, newspapers.com.

[11] "Veterans Uncongenial," The Los Angeles Times, 16 June 1914, p.12, col.2; digital image, newspapers.com. 

[12] Soldiers Home Record and Death Notification.