records/article for William A Lavelle

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Permalink Reply by Kate Steere on August 14, 2009 at 1:12am

Also, I'm attaching his son's birth return from Nov 17, 1887, He was born Nov 11, 1887 as William Lavelle, but on all other records appears as John Henry Lavelle. My inlaws spent 30 years thinking John Henry was William A's name, so they didn't find much. :(

Attachments:

• William_Lavelle_aka_John_Henry_Lavelle.jpg, 601 KB

Permalink Reply by Kate Steere on August 14, 2009 at 1:45am

this is a transcription I typed up for my FIL of part of the interview he gave before he left for Australia, I got this from a nice guy who wrote a book on Bud Atkinson, the 'money' behind the failed Wild West Show: It was from the New York Clipper.

"Colonel William A. Lavelle was born in Butler, Pa on March 27, 1847,
of Irish parentage. His father, James Lavelle, and his mother Anna,
were both natives of Innishone, Donegal County, Ireland.....

Up to the breaking out of the Civil War, Lavelle lived on the farm at
Butler, and in 1861, at the first call for three year men, ran away
from home to be a soldier, but he was brought back by his father, as
he was underage.

However, at the last call for three-year men he succeeded in enlisting
in the Sixty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers, then serving with the
Army of the Potomac. After three months' active service at the front,
a call came from headquarters to deliver a message of great importance
and much danger. Young men were sent from various regiments to
Washington to be detailed for this important service, and from this
number, Lavelle was chosen by President Abraham Lincoln for the task
The mission was fraught with great danger, and necessitated the utmost
ingenuity and caution. President Lincoln gave Lavelle a message to be
delivered verbally(he could not carry any papers) to Gen. John Pope,
stationed then before Richmond. To deliver this message from the
commander-in-chief of the union armies, it was necessary for Lavelle
to pass through the Confederate lines. Lavelle delivered the message,
returned to Washington and received the congratulations of President
Lincoln upon the successful performance of his duty. Lincoln gave
Lavelle a medal of honor for this service."

A few weeks later Lavelle joined the Army of the Tennessee, and was
detailed under the command of General Sherman for secret service work.
Sent into the rebel lines to ascertain the condition of the
Confederate forces, previous to the battle of Chickamauga and Lookout
Mountain, Lavelle passed through the Union lines, swam the Tennessee
River at Chattanooga, the pickets on both sides firing on him, the
Union soldiers on one side, the Confederates on the other(the Union
pickets naturally were not acquainted with Lavelle's identity or his
mission). Lavelle was captured by the Confederate pickets and thrown
into prison at Chattanooga, which had a record of being nearly as bad
as either Libby or Andersonville. Thrust into a dirty cell, Lavelle
spent the night in his wet clothes, and in the morning at daybreak was
ordered into the prison yard for inspection. Lavelle confesses that
for once in his life he experienced the sensation of real fear. The
Union soldier prisoners were formed into line in the prison yard, and
Lavelle, under suspicion as a Union scout or spy, was marched along in
front of them. The Confederate commander in charge of the prison
figured that perhaps one or some of the Union prisoners might
recognize Lavelle. Such recognition would have meant his doom, for had
one of the Union soldiers smiled or spoken to Lavelle, or recognized
him in any way, it would have meant his being shot at once as a spy,
without even a hearing of a drumhead court martial. Lavelle passed
through the ordeal, none of the soldiers recognizing him. After a lot
pf questioning he was turned loose by the officer of the day, Capt.
Jim Sutton, a great big, good-hearted fellow, with whom, in after
years, the colonel was pleased to fraternize, and to whom he always
refers as his "rebel friend. " Captain Sutton died in 1909.

Turned loose by the Conferedate commander, Lavelle wandered about in
an apparently aimless manner through the outposts, in and about
Chattanooga, and succeeded in getting the exact situation and
condition of the Confederate forces stationed at that point. Working
his way through the Confederate lines, he succeeded in reaching the
Federal army and reported the condition of the rebel forces to General
Sherman, some days before the battle of Chickamauga and Lookout
Mountain. Lavelle remained with the Army of the Tennessee until after
Sherman's march from Atlanta to the sea. After reaching Savannah with
with General Sherman, Lavelle was detailed back to the Army of the
Southwest, where he remained until the end of the Civil War, being
discharged at Jefferson Barracks, Mo.

For about a year and a half Lavelle served as an outrider with wagon
trains between Springfield, Mo, and Abilene, Kan., the old Santa Fe Trail.

In 1867 Lavelle re-enlisted in the regular army, for service in the
West, serving three years in various capacities as soldier and in the
secret service. He was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, and he
performed several difficult missions and led scouting parties."


There is a bit more, mostly fluff, but I've tried to prove his Civil War Story and there was a 68th Pennsylvania, the places he describes were real, but the interview took place in 1911-1913, so he had years to practice his 'old scout/spy' routine. He's basically playing a character, as far as I can tell. I did find a William Lavelle(spelled Lavale I think) at Fort Buford, but he didn't pan out for our William. It just really bugs me that I can't find him in 1860. I can understand not finding him in 1870-1880, he was either working as a scout, or he was a young actor probably doing bit parts.

Permalink Reply by Kate Steere on August 14, 2009 at 11:06am

I'm also attaching an article from 1890 describing a change in the use of extras/supernumeries, and describing William Lavelle as a "Captain" who knew many of those actors who had been working since 1865.

Attachments:

• WmLawvelle_1890.pdf, 2.2 MB