George Washington Lawhead was born on 10 February 1845 in Westfield Township, in what later became Morrow County, Ohio.¹ He was the son of James Lawhead and Temperance Gilson. His childhood was brief and unsettled. James died in 1846, when George was just over a year old, and Temperance followed in 1851, leaving her children orphaned while still young.²
By 1860, George was living in Michigan, a move that placed him among relatives and, eventually, on the path to military service.³ The details of his early years survive only in fragments, but later records suggest a childhood shaped by loss, movement, and dependency on extended family.
Civil War Service
George enlisted in the Union Army on 9 September 1861 at Charlotte, Michigan.⁴ He served as a private in Company B of the 2nd Michigan Volunteer Cavalry, a regiment that spent much of the war in the Western Theater.
His service records document extended periods of duty and movement, including assignments associated with the regimental train and service in Tennessee.⁵ Like many cavalrymen, George endured long rides, exposure, and physical strain—conditions that would later be reflected in repeated pension medical examinations.
A photograph taken in Jackson, Michigan at the time of his discharge from service would later become one of the most important documents connected to his life, though its significance would not be fully realized until many years later.
Marriage to Mary King and Early Family Life
After the war, George married Mary King on 16 October 1865 in Eaton County, Michigan.⁶ They had two children together:
- James Loyd Lawhead, born 28 February 1867
- Charles Loyd Lawhead, born 4 April 1869
The marriage did not endure. George left Mary while she was pregnant with their second child and moved east into Saginaw County. No divorce was ever obtained. Mary would spend much of her adult life raising their children under difficult circumstances, a situation later documented extensively in federal pension records.
Marriage to Emma Mae Stiles and Children
On 31 January 1869, George married Emma Mae Stiles in Albee Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.⁷ This marriage produced three children:
- Margaret Jane Lawhead, born 2 July 1872
- Renaldo Lawhead, born 16 August 1877, who died in infancy on 14 October 1877
- Effie M. Lawhead, born 26 July 1879
Emma Mae Stiles died in April 1886. Her death marked the only point at which George Washington Lawhead was legally widowed. His earlier marriage to Mary King had ended through abandonment rather than death or divorce, a distinction that would later carry significant legal consequences.
Later Marriages and Life in Michigan
George married Helen Vorhees on 17 August 1884 in Saginaw County, Michigan.⁸ The surviving record of this marriage is brief, and little documentation remains regarding their life together.
By the early 1890s, George was living with Henrietta Savage. Census records, land transactions, and newspaper notices place him in Eaton, Iosco, Saginaw, Crawford, and Charlevoix counties over the course of his adult life.⁹ Real estate notices published in Saginaw County newspapers show both purchases and sales, suggesting frequent movement rather than long-term stability.¹⁰
Henrietta Savage and Children
Henrietta Savage was legally married to another man when she became involved with George Lawhead. In January 1892, a local newspaper reported that she had left her husband and children to go with George.¹¹ The matter was public and later became part of the documentary record surrounding George’s pension.
George and Henrietta had two daughters together:
- Ethel Mildred Lawhead, born 24 October 1892 in Frederic, Crawford County, Michigan
- Jessie Leuella Lawhead, born 22 April 1896 in East Jordan, Charlevoix County, Michigan
George lived with and supported Henrietta and their children for several years, forming the final family unit of his life.
Illness and Decline
By 1890, George’s health had begun to fail. Pension records and medical examinations document chronic sciatica, lumbago, rheumatism, kidney disease, impaired eyesight, and increasing difficulty with mobility.¹² Over the next fifteen years, he filed repeated requests for increases to his invalid pension as his condition worsened.
These medical records provide a rare longitudinal view of a Civil War veteran’s decline, tracing the progression from working laborer to physical dependency.
Death and Burial
George Washington Lawhead died on 20 January 1905 in East Jordan, Charlevoix County, Michigan, from heart disease.¹³ He was buried two days later in East Jordan Cemetery. Contemporary newspaper accounts note the participation of members of the Grand Army of the Republic in his funeral.¹⁴
Even after his burial, questions surrounding his marriages, identity, and family obligations remained unresolved, setting the stage for years of investigation and competing pension claims.
Conclusion
George Washington Lawhead’s life cannot be understood through a single record or a simple narrative. It survives instead through census entries, military documents, marriage records, newspaper notices, and—most notably—a Civil War pension file of extraordinary size.
This post traces the outline of his life: orphaned child, young soldier, husband, father, and aging veteran. The deeper questions—of identity, legality, and how the federal government ultimately judged his family—are stories of their own, explored in later posts.
Sources
- Family and census records indicating birth in Westfield Township, Ohio.
- Probate and death records for James Lawhead and Temperance Gilson.
- 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Roxand Township, Eaton County, Michigan.
- Compiled Service Records, Company B, 2nd Michigan Cavalry.
- Ibid.
- Eaton County, Michigan, marriage records, 16 October 1865.
- Saginaw County, Michigan, marriage records, 31 January 1869.
- Saginaw County marriage records, 17 August 1884.
- U.S. Federal Census records, 1870–1900.
- Saginaw Herald, real estate notices, 1878 and 1881.
- Grand Rapids Herald, January 1892.
- Invalid pension medical examinations, 1890–1904.
- Michigan death record, East Jordan, 1905.
- Charlevoix County Herald, January 1905.
The Tumbleweed 