Hugh Linn (1808)
| Hugh Linn | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1808 |
| Died | February 17 1845 |
| Spouse | Mary Ann ___ (m. ?–) |
| Children |
John S. Linn (1838) Charles Linn (1839) Elizabeth Linn 1840 Lucinda V. Linn (1842) Riley Linn (1844) Samuel Linn (1845) William Linn (1847) Alfred Linn (1848) Catherine Linn (1850) Cambridge Linn (1853) Mary Linn (1855) Alexander Lee Linn (1858) |
| Parents |
John Linn Jane Van Scyoc |
Entry in Clan Linn[1]
'Written by Loretta Lynn-Layman and Pattie Lynn-Blevins
Hugh Linn was the second son and fourth child of John Linn and Jane Van Scyoc. Hugh was 5' 11" tall with grey eyes, dark hair, and fair complexion.
Before his father's will was written, Hugh and brothers Charles and John had moved to Fulton County. They already had received a share of their father's fortune and would inherit a portion of his personal property.
In the 1850's, Hugh moved again. He purchased 220 acres in Monroe township of Bedford County. There he and his wife Mary Saylor raised 13 children. There he lived a man of duty and courage, Christian faith and principle.
When the principles of the nation were so clearly and cruelly divided in its civil war, Hugh Linn responded. At the age of 52 he left the farm, his wife and little ones, and with two of the 'older' sons volunteered to serve. His son Riled was 17; William, only a boy of 14.) Hugh was less than perfect health--he was partially deaf and only as strong as a man of his age would be in the time in which he lived. Yet staunchly he offered himself and his own wagon and team of horses to further the cause of the Union. Together with his young sons he enlisted at Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania, on 20 September 1861. It was the third birthday of his youngest, Alexander. One can only imagine the scene as father and sons left their loved ones and the safety of home to enter the conflict of war.
On 2 December Hugh, Riley, and William were assigned to Company B of the Third Maryland Regiment, Potomac Home Brigade. Hugh performed the tasks of a teamster or wagoner. Since the Third was a regiment of infantry, his primary function was carrying supplies to the troops. He was in a very vulnerable position in an attack.
Because of his age and health, and perhaps the nature of his duties, Hugh was given considerable leave. By the end of December he had been granted seventeen days at home. In February of 1862, he was 'absent with leave.' Again, in May and June, he was 'at home with leave to recruit health.'
In the meantime, the regiment was assigned to the Upper Potomac River in Maryland and Virginia and engaged the enemy in several places. It is safe to assume that Hugh was involved in some of this action.
In September of 1862, he was with the regiment as it assisted the beleaguered garrison at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Then on the 13th, General Stonewall Jackson led the Confederates in an attack against them. The fighting continued until the 15th, when the garrison was forced to surrender. Hugh, Riley, and William were taken prisoners of war.
Soon, however, they were released and reported to Camp Parole, Maryland, for reassignment. With their regiment they were sent to guard the line of the B&O Railroad.
In January and February of 1863, Hugh was again absent with leave. Then, on 30 March 1863, his company commander referred him to an army surgeon for a disability discharge. Captain Cardiff cited poor health over the summer of 1862 and stated that since 'exposure at Harper's Ferry' his hearing and health had degenerated. On 14 May, Hugh Linn was discharged from the Army of the Potomac.
One by one the men of the Linn family returned from war. The father, worn and weary, found comfort at home in the spring of the year. Yet he certainly did not rest. There was the farm. And there were two sons still in conflict, for whom he must have daily prayed. The wait was long. Sixteen months passed before Riley returned. In three months more, another year came...it was 1865. Soon then, it was spring again, and William, who had marched off a boy, returned at man!
What a joyous reunion it must have been! More than one family had lost all its men in the long and bitter struggle. The family who had trusted God for His providential care saw three of its members go out to war and all three return.
As the head of that family, Hugh Linn had faithfully held to the principles by which his father and grandfather had lived. He strove to teach them to his children. They were to rely on hard work, sensibility, and the goodness of God, rather than trust their luck. In his will, written in 1879, Hugh gave portions of his farmland to sons Mason, Alfred, and Alexander, and the house and remaining land to sons Riley and Charles with the following stipulation: 'Believing that card playing is an evil, and has a tendency to corrupt the mind, and not wishing that either of my sons should take to this evil practice, or that this house should become a nuisance, I declare and direct that if either of my sons should take to this practice...their legacy revert to my other children.' The home he and his sons had worked so hard to build was not to be neglected nor lost entirely by the squandering of anyone. It was to be the home of his wife and their mother for as long as she lived, and it was to be cherished and honored.
Hugh Linn passed away while asleep in that home on 17 February 1881. He awoke in his heavenly abode as he departed the earthly.
Notes
- ↑ Clan Linn in the Twentieth Century, 215-16.