Birth JULY 20 1834 • Woodcock, Crawford, Pennsylvania, USA
Death 27 JANUARY 1902 • Bayonne, Hudson, New Jersey
Son of Juliana Cochran and William Perry McGill.
Husband of Charlotte Ross McGill.
Served in the Civil War, Co F 38th Pa as a Cpl. Wounded at the Battle of Drainsville, PA
findAgrave: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/9561649/person/-777351021/facts
Digital Civil War Pension File is possession of Kerri Corby Fawcett.

WILLIAM JOHNSTON MCGILL, By Kerri Fawcett. On this day in 1834, in Woodcock Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, our ancestor, William Johnston McGill was born. His parents were William Perry McGill and Juliana Cochran. He was the first son after four daughters and was 13 years old when his father died. He grew up on the family farm and was listed as a boatman in the 1860 census. The Civil War started and William and his brother John Patrick McGill both signed up for the Union Army. On May 11, 1861, William joined Company F of the 9th Pennsylvania Reserves in Meadville while John joined Company B of the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry on August 15, 1861.
William and his regiment were sent to fight at Dranesville, Virginia where he was wounded by a musket-ball entering the left side of his abdomen on December 20, 1861. He was taken to the Halls Hill field hospital to be operated on and they found that damage was done to the internal wall of his abdomen and, thankfully, he was able to heal but he suffered with severe bowel and constipation problems for the rest of his life.
His brother John and his regiment were fighting in Virginia in June of 1862 when John got sick with malaria. He was taken to the field hospital and sadly died on the 25th. William was alerted that his brother had died and was given leave so he was able to go to him and then escort his body back to their home town and family for burial.
William returned to his regiment and stayed with them until he was honorably discharged after three years of service on May 11, 1864. The 9th were involved in several battles during those three years and we can only assume that William was involved in them as well after he returned to service. Here is a link to the website that will tell you more about the movements of the regiment: [9th Pennsylvania Reserves in the American Civil War](https://civilwarintheeast.com/.../9th-pennsylvania-reserves/)
After the war, William returned home to Crawford County where he soon married Charlotte Ross on November 23, 1866 at the home of Samuel Beers in Sugar Lake, Wayne Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. William and Charlotte went on to have nine children, five daughters and four sons. Their second child was our ancestor, Anna Tina McGill.
Due to his wound and the trouble that it caused William, he was entitled to a Civil War pension. (I ordered his pension file over 20 years ago and it is under the album section on this website). We find quite a lot of information about William from this file including a description of him when he was 42 years old in 1877. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, 135 pounds with a light complexion, dark hair and gray eyes. We also have his medical records describing all of the problems he had with his bowels (probably more than we need to know!) and a personal account, in his own words, of the Battle of Dranesville and how the aftermath effected him. (I will attach that page below)
The family moved around a bit, living in various locations in Butler and Venango counties in Pennsylvania before moving to Bayonne, New Jersey in 1881 where he worked for the Standard Oil Company. Ten years later they were living on Denny Road, between 9th and 10th street when Charlotte died on July 18, 1891. She was only 45 years old. William was in poor health and could not raise his four youngest children that were still in the house so he brought them back to Crawford County to be raised by 'his people'.
William spent the last ten years of his life going back and forth between Bayonne and Crawford County. He also had some respite care at the New Jersey Home for Disabled Soldiers in Kearny, New Jersey. He was living here when the 1895 and 1900 censuses were taken. William was living at 43 1/2 West 21st Street in Bayonne when he died at the age of 67 on January 28, 1902. His cause of death was consumption of his lungs and bowels. His body was sent back home to Crawford County where he was buried in Saegertown Cemetery in section 3, lot 41. After serving his country and being wounded in battle, suffering for the last forty years of his life, I hope he finally found peace.

William Johnston McGill

ALTERNATE BIOGRAPHY

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