Bellingar Family updates

This week I decided to post about some of the recent discoveries I've made. They all concern the Bellingar family.

First, we'll start with Loretta Foster Bellingar. Loretta was the wife of David Bellingar, and Mildred Bellingar Strand's grandmother. Before marrying David B. when he returned home from fighting in the Civil War, Loretta had been married to David Cummins. David C. passed away while being held prisoner at the infamous Andersonville prison camp in Andersonville, Georgia. If David C. hadn't died, Loretta wouldn't have been widowed, and David B. would have married someone else. None of us would be here. Looking into Loretta's past, I found another twist of fate that would have sent the family into another direction.

Loretta's father was Archibald Foster.  Archibald was born in New York or Vermont and made his way to Ohio where he married Eliza Ann Mann. They had 5 children together before Eliza unexpectedly died. After Eliza died, Archibald married Louisa "Lucy" Collier. They had 7 children together. Loretta was the second child of that union. If Eliza hadn't died, Archibald and Lucy wouldn't have married, and Loretta wouldn't have been born. What I didn't know, was how Eliza passed away.

Eliza had just given birth on May 19, 1837 to a baby girl. She died on August 21, 1837. Only about 3 months later. I figured her death was probably related to her giving birth somehow. Mothers often passed away while giving birth or just after. Eliza was also very young so maybe she had caught some disease. Well, while researching Archibald I found a newspaper article that detailed how Archibald's young wife tragically passed away. Eliza was sitting on a bed, holding a young child in her arms. I'm guessing the young child was her infant daughter. Lightning struck the home, passed through the house and struck the bed Eliza and the child were sitting on. Eliza was killed instantly but the child survived, marked by the lightning. 

Two twists of fate that if they hadn't occurred, we wouldn't be here today. Eliza being unexpectedly killed by lightning, while sitting inside her house, and David Cummins being held prisoner in one of the worst prison camps during the Civil War.

The next update is happier. Fred Strand recently sent me some old family photos. One was of a large family but he wasn't sure if it was the Bellingar's or not. I immediately recognized a young Charles Bellingar in the photo. I had been sent a photo of Charles and Elnora with their first born son Ray a few months ago so I was sure this was Charles. There was an older man and woman in the photo and the other men and women corresponded to the number of brothers and sisters that Charles had. Going from this, I conclude that it's a family photo of David and Loretta Bellingar with their 6 children. This is exciting because it lets us see a younger David Bellingar and we get to see his wife Loretta for the first time. We also get to see Charles's brothers and sisters. Mildred's aunts and uncles. Based on the clothing and ages I'm guessing the picture is from the 1890's.

Front row L-R: Loretta F. Bellingar, Estella, David Bellingar
Back row, L-R: Edward, Ellen, Charles, George, Jennie Bellingar

A lot had to happen for this family photo to take place. Loretta's mother was her father's second wife. David was Loretta's second husband. David had to survive the Civil War. Charles had to survive childhood diseases. It's amazing how many things had to happen for any of us to be here today. It's truly amazing.

Ps. In case you're wondering, the child being held when Eliza was killed by lightning was also named Eliza, after her mother. She lived until the age of 70, married, and gave birth to 10 children. She lived a full life.

Questions, comments, more information to add? Let me know down below or email me. Feel free to share with anyone who might be interested.

David Cummins

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day.  A day when people would decorate the graves of soldiers who died while fighting in the Civil War.  Mildred Strand's grandfather, David Bellinger, fought in the Civil War and was fortunate enough to return home. He was shot in the leg and taken prisoner, but he survived the war and returned home to marry Loretta Foster. What I've discovered recently is that Loretta Foster was married before marrying David B.. Also, that her first husband died while a prisoner of war at Andersonville prison in Georgia. I thought I'd write what little I know of David Cummins. 

I haven't been able to find out much about David Cummins, the first husband of Loretta Foster. According to the marriage record, David was born in 1842. He married Loretta August 3, 1861. A year later he enlisted to fight for the Union on August 22,1862. As far as I can tell, Loretta and David had no children. At least no surviving children. David signed up with the 5th Michigan Cavalry, Company I. It was organized in Detroit and mustered into service on August 30, 1862. In December of 1862 they left on a train to Washington, D.C. They were part of the Michigan Brigade and for awhile were under the command of Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer. 

After arriving in the East, they fought in many battles. They were involved in the Second Battle of Bull Run, and most notably they were involved in the Battle of Gettysburg. They were instrumental in repelling an attack on the rear of the Union's forces by Confederate General Jeb Stuart. The Michigan Brigade was able to hold him off and kept him from advancing, helping the Union to win the battle. 

On October 12, 1863 David Cummins was taken prisoner in Culpepper, Va. He was exchanged in a prisoner swap. He re-enlisted in the army on Nov. 2,1863. On June 11, 1864 David Cummins was once again taken prisoner in Trevillian Station, Va. This time he was sent to Camp Sumter, aka Andersonville. 

Fort Sumter had been built in early 1864 to more securely hold Union prisoners of war. The stockade was 16 1/2 acres. 400 prisoners of war arrived daily. It was built to house 10,000 men but by June, when David was sent there, it housed 26,000 prisoners. The stockade was enlarged in June to 26 1/2 acres but it still wasn't big enough for all the men being sent there. The Confederates were unable to properly take care of the men being housed there. They were unable to provide adequate food, housing, medical care, clothing or sanitary conditions. One prisoner who was housed there in the summer of 1864 referred to it as "this Hell-upon-earth prison." https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/hell-upon-earth/ By August 1864 33,000 prisoners were housed there. The largest number of the war. 

David Cummins died on August 15, 1864 of disease. Some of the diseases common at Andersonville were diphtheria, small pox, hepatitis, dysentery,  typhoid, measles. 

David Cummins is buried at Andersonville National Cemetery in Andersonville, Georgia. After the war, Clara Barton and Dorence Atwater, a former prisoner of war at Andersonville, came to the prison to record and mark soldier's graves. They turned it into Andersonville National Cemetery. Thanks to their efforts, and the records kept by Dorence, only 460 of the graves were marked as "Unknown U.S. Soldier."

Our David Bellinger mustered out of the Union Army on June 10, 1865 and returned to Allegan, Michigan. On August 20, 1865 he married the widow Loretta Cummins. Their first child, a girl, was born October 25, 1866. Charles Bellinger, father to Mildred, was born March 27, 1871.

While not a blood relative, David Cummins deserves to be honored and remembered for the sacrifice he gave to his country. His death also changed the course of our family. If he had survived, Loretta wouldn't have married David Bellinger and none of us would be here.