WALLACE JOSEPH WILCOX -- 16th and 91st INFANTRY BLACK BROOK MAN IN TWO REGIMENTS - The first of Wallace Joseph Wilcox's ancestors to come to New England settled in Middletown, CT, in the 1640s. In the late 1830s, Wallace's parents moved from Vermont to settle in Black Brook and he was born in 1840. Wallace enlisted in the 16th Infantry in May 1861 in Redford and was mustered in to serve for two years. He was on the regimental roll until October 1862, when he was dropped in accordance with Special Order 162 of the Army of the Potomac. Two years later, in September 1864, he enlisted in the 91st Infantry in Plattsburgh with over 100 other men. For this enlistment he received a town bounty of $500. The men met up with the regiment in Baltimore to bolster its defenses and, in February 1865, were ordered to join the Army of the Potomac near Petersburg. They joined the siege of the city and were there when the city fell. During the week before the fall, they suffered 230 casualties. On the Appomattox Campaign that followed, they suffered no casualties. After their return to Washington, the regiment mustered out on June 10th. By 1870, Wallace had married Laura Keniston, and the couple had two children. And were living in Clayburg, NY. The couple moved to Saranac Lake in later life, and he died there in 1890 at 49 years of age. His wife lived until 1920 and was buried beside him in the Pine Ridge Cemetery.
