;
Lewis Doutrich – 207th Pennsylvania Infantry
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on August 6, 2014
The name of Lewis Doutrich appears on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument as a veteran who joined the Heilner G.A.R. Post after its organization. Lewis served as a Private in the Civil War.
Lewis Doutrich‘s military records are found under several different spellings. At enrollment, he was registered as Lewis Dauterich. The most commonly used spelling, and the one he apparently preferred was “Doutrich.”
The Military reference card for another Doutrich who has not yet been connected to the Lewis W. Doutrich of this blog post, is shown above. Levi Doutrick (or Doutrich), of the 50th Pennsylvania Infantry, was also known as Levi Deitrick (or Dietrich), so it is possible that Lewis is a descendant of one of the early Dietrich settlers in Pennsylvania – and somewhere along the way, the family changed the spelling of the name.
Military Reference Cards are found at the Philadelphia Branch of the National Archives and on Fold3. A compiled database of these cards is found on Ancestry.com under the title, U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865. These cards are very helpful in determining the spelling variations under which the military records are filed.
In 1860, in Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a 51 year widowed Mary [Crouse] Doutrich lived next door to a 38 year old druggist named Lewis A. Crouse, possibly her brother. Also in Mary’s household were her three children: Franklin Doutrich, born about 1845; Lewis W. Doutrich; and Rebecca Doutrich, born about 1844, who was working as a milliner. Portion of 1860 Census (above) from Ancestry.com. This is the Lewis Doutrich of this blog post.
The Veterans’ Index Card from the Pennsylvania Archives (shown above) has no personal information about Lewis. From other sources, we learn that he enrolled on 5 September 1864 in Company G, 207th Pennsylvania Infantry, and was unaccounted for at the muster out of his company.
Click on document to enlarge.
From the Register of Pennsylvania Volunteers (above), also from the Pennsylvania Archives, we learn that Lewis claimed he was 18 years old when he enrolled in the 207th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company G, but from other information (death certificate below), he was actually 16. Also, not previously known, the brother of Lewis, Franklin Doutrich, also enrolled the same day in the same regiment and company. Further research into Franklin’s records may give some more insight into Lewis.
Lewis Doutrich applied for a pension on 2 April 1904. The Pension Index Card (above) from Fold3, notes that a widow also applied and that Lewis died in 1905. Also, the date of Lewis’s discharge from his company is given as 31 May 1865, which is not found in the other records.
Click on document to enlarge.
In 1880, Lewis was living in Lykens Borough, was married, and working as a laborer. His wife Elizabeth Doutrich, the former Elizabeth Radel (maiden name from other sources), was 31 years old and the mother of the couple’s three children: Ellen/Ellas Doutrich, born about 1872; Kate Doutrich, born about 1874; and Edward Doutrich, born January 1870. The Radel family was from the Lykens Valley, and it can be assumed from the dates of the birth of the children that Lewis moved to Lykens Borough some time between the end of his Civil War service and the early 1870s, although the family has not yet been located in an 1870 Census. The relevant portion of the 1880 Census (from Ancestry.com), is shown above. The family has also not yet been located in a 1900 Census.
In the 1890 Census, Lewis was living in Lykens Borough, Dauphin County, and he did not report any Civil War-related disabilities. This is consistent with the information on the Pension Index Card in that he did not first apply for a pension until 1904.
Elizabeth [Radel] Doutrich applied for widow’s benefits on 1 May 1909. Her name appears on the Pension Index Card from Ancestry.com which references the application files at the National Archives.
Click on document to enlarge.
The Pennsylvania Death Certificate for Lewis W. Doutrich gives his date of death as 16 February 1909, and the cause of death as tuberculosis. The informant was Mrs. George L. McSurdy (probably a married daughter), who was living in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. As for Lewis’ parents, the mother’s maiden name was Mary Crouse and the father’s name was Henry Doutrich. Lewis was born on 20 February 1848 in Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, and died in Lykens Borough. At the time of his death, Lewis was not quite 61 years old and working as a clerk. Pennsylvania Death Certificates for dates between 1906 and 1926 are now available on Ancestry.com.
The listing of the I. O. O. F. Cemetery at Lykens states that Lewis Doutrich is buried there in Row 8, but because of the condition of the cemetery, his headstone has not yet been located to be photographed.
Because of the minimum amount of information available on-line and the variant spellings of the Doutrich surname, help is sought from descendants to construct a more comprehensive biographical sketch of the Lewis W. Doutrich who was a veteran of the 207th Pennsylvania Infantry and who died in Lykens. Specifically, are there pictures available of Lewis and his family? Stories? Genealogies? Send info via e-mail or add comments to this post.
Comments