Norman K. Culver

Name: Norman K. Culver Company: B Second Lieutenant March 2, 1862; First Lieutenant March 24, 1862; resigned.
Birth Date: March 25, 1817 Place: Dansville, Steuben County (or Springwater?), New York	Mustered In Date: March 2, 1862 Rank: Second Lieutenant Age: 44 Residence prior to military service: New York; Michigan; Chatfield, Fillmore County, Minnesota Vocation prior to military service: Millwright
Death Date: February 2, 1905 Place: Minnesota	Mustered Out Date: July 13, 1863 Rank: Captain Age: 46 Residence following military service: Chatfield, Fillmore County, Minnesota Vocation following military service: Millwright

Norman K. Culver Biography and Civil War Narrative

Norman Kellog Culver was born to Noble V. and Amy (Harris) Culver on March 25, 1817 in Dansville, Steuben County (or Springwater?), New York. He was the fourth of eleven children. On March 2, 1837, in Dansville, New York, he married Eliza Jane Lane, born November 14, 1819, in Queensbury, Warren County, New York.

Norman and Eliza had eight children, including two sons: Charles Marion (born October 1, 1849 in Dryden, Lapeer County, Michigan), and George Warren (born October 18, 1854; died August 18, 1856); and four daughters: Amy Jane (born September 6, 1838, and died July 14, 1840, probably in New York), Louisa Jane (born Feburary 14, 1842 in New York; married Solon A. Trescott, Sergeant in Company B of the 5th Minnesota; married Isaac Lindsey; died February 7, 1906 in Hammond, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana), Charlotte Maria (born August 20, 1843; died October 19, 1852), Harriet Eliza (born February 23, 1846, in Michigan; married Weldon J. Freeman; died August 13, 1933, in Fillmore County, Minnesota), Laura Minerva (born June 23, 1847; died September 27, 1852), and Hellen Augusta (born October 3, 1852, in Michigan; married Henry C. Jennings, a Minister; died February 5, 1933).

By 1846, Norman and Eliza had moved to Michigan with their daughters Louisa and Charlotte. Sometime before 1860, the family moved on to Chatfield, Fillmore County, Minnesota. At the time of the 1860 U.S. Census the household included N.(orman) K., working as a Millwright; "Mrs. Culver"; Harriet (student, age 15); Charles (age 12?); [Helen] Augusta (age 6); as well as Louisa (age 18 and married), her husband Salon (farmer, age 24), and their two daughters: Effie (age 2) and Ellie (age 1).

Norman K. Culver enlisted in Company B and was appointed Second Lieutenant on March 2, 1862. His 12-year-old son, Charles, had also enlisted as a drummer boy on January 17. His son-in-law, Solon A. Trescott, enlisted in the same company on February 10 and was made Sergeant. As Second Lieutenant, the senior Culver was designated to relieve the post quartermaster at Fort Ridgely, near the Minnesota River.

The first order of duty for Company B was to report to Fort Ridgely. They left Fort Snelling at noon on March 22, 1862, under the command of First Sergeant Thomas P. Gere. Through the snow they traveled up the Minnesota Valley, stopping at the Scott County court house at Shakopee the evening of the 22nd, passing throughBelle Plaine, and Le Sueur, Minnesota on the 23rd. They crossed the Minnesota River on the ice at Traverse de Sioux after dark and spent the night of the 23rd at the Nicollet County court house at St. Peter. The company reached La Fayette, Minnesota, on the 24th--18 miles from their destination. When Company Captain William B. Gere was promoted to Major of the Regiment on March 24, John S. Marsh was promoted from First Lieutenant to Captain, and Norman Culver was promoted to First Lieutenant. The Company arrived at Fort Ridgely at noon on March 25th, serving garrison duty and continuing their military instruction and drills. Norman Culver served as post quartermaster and commissary, supplying and provisioning the troops.

On August 17th, Captain John S. Marsh -- who had joined the Company at Fort Ridgely on April 16 -- instructed Lieutenant Timothy J. Sheehan and his detachment from Company C to return to Fort Ripley. Sheehan's detachment had come to Fort Ridgely to help maintain order during the disbursement of government annuities to the Sioux. On that same day, Culver and six men from Company B were sent to St. Peter to escort fifty new recruits to Fort Snelling for mustering.

The following morning word was received at Fort Ridgely that a massacre of whites was taking place at the Lower Sioux Agency. Company B's Captain John S. Marsh immediately led a rescue party of 46 soldiers (including Culver's son-in-law Sergeant Solon A. Trescott) and an interpreter to the Lower Sioux Agency. On their way they passed fleeing citizens, burning houses, and mutilated corpses. When the rescue party reached the Redwood ferry crossing on the Minnesota River, the Indians ambushed them from all sides. In the ensuing battle, 24 men died (including Captain Marsh and Sergeant Trescott) and five were wounded. In advance of the rest of the party, privates James Dunn and William B. Hutchinson were sent ahead to Fort Ridgely where they reported the battle to Lieutenant Thomas P. Gere in charge of the fort. Gere immediately sent Private William J. Sturgis with a dispatch to Governor Ramsey written at 8:30 P.M. detailing the situation. He also instructed Sturgis to report the situation to Lieutenant Culver in St. Peter and urge him to return to Fort Ridgely.

Lieutenant Culver and the people of St. Peter began hearing rumors of the Sioux outbreak at 6 P.M. on Monday, August 18th. Culver obtained fifty old Harper's Ferry muskets and a small supply of gunpowder and lead. Private Sturgis arrived at St. Peter shortly after 3:00 A.M. on Tuesday, August 16, and confirmed reports of the outbreak. He found Culver, Sergeant McGrew, Lieutenant Gorman, and Indian Agent Major Galbraith awake and -- with prominent St. Peter citizens -- anxiously awaiting more news about the raids. At 6:00 A.M. on Tuesday morning Culver's party left St. Peter for Fort Ridgely, reaching the fort about 6:00 P.M. that evening.

The Sioux attacked Fort Ridgely on Wednesday, August 20. About 1:00 pm, Sioux leader Little Crow appeared to the west of the Fort -- out of musket range but near enough to be recognized. With the attention of the soldiers drawn westward, Indians hidden in the wooded ravine to the northeast of the Fort attacked. When repelled on the north and east sides of the Fort, the Indians also attacked from another short wooded ravine to the southwest. Ordnance Sergeant Jones manned a six-pounder field-piece in the southwest area of the fort and was assisted by Lieutenant Culver and James Gorman (commanding the Renville Rangers). The position held by Jones, Culver, and Gorman was particularly exposed because of the southwest ravine, up which the attackers swarmed in large numbers.

The combined efforts of Companies B & C along with the Renville Rangers held off the attackers until nightfall. No attack was made on Thursday, August 21, but on Friday, August 22, the battle was started again with a still larger Indian contingency. The Indians finally withdrew at nightfall, and although Culver and the rest of the defenders of Fort Ridgely did not know it at the time, the battle was over.

With Captain Marsh's death at the Redwood ferry crossing, First Lieutenant Norman K. Culver was promoted to Captain of Company B. Although records of his promotion to Captain are dated August 20, accounts of the defense of Fort Ridgely on August 20 & 22 consistently refer to Culver as "Lieutenant." Replacing Culver at First Lieutenant was Thomas P. Gere, and James G. McGrew was promoted to Second Lieutenant.

On November 9, Captain Culver and Company B escorted captured Indians to Fort Snelling, and on December 12, they joined the rest of the 5th Minnesota near Oxford, Mississippi, to serve in the Civil War. With Norman K. Culver as Captain of Company B, the 5th Minnesota Regiment participated in the Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, from May 18 to July 4. On July 13, Captain Culver resigned his position.

Following the war, Norman Culver returned to Chatfield, Minnesota, where he continued working as a Millwright.

On March 9, 1869, Norman's widowed daughter Louisa Culver Trescott remarried. Her new husband was Isaac Lindsey, born January 29, 1816, in Scredington, Lincolnshire, England. The children of Solon and Louisa -- Effie (born about 1858 in Ohio), Ella (born about 1860 in Minnesota), and Maud (born about 1862 in Minnesota) -- would live with their grandparents, Norman and Eliza Culver, as they grew up. Isaac and Louisa Lindsey moved to Marshall, Lyon County, Minnesota, where they raised 8 or 9 other children, including Norman's namesake: Norman K. Lindsey (born March 10, 1878).

In 1870, the Culver household consisted of Norman, Eliza, Charles (age 20), Hellen A. (age 18), and granddaughter Ella (age 10). Ten years later Charles continued to live with his parents, as did three granddaughters: Effie (age 22), Ella (age 20), and Maud (age 18). Norman may have had a Millwright job in St. Paul, Ramsey County, that year, as he and granddaughter Ella were also listed in the household of Norman's daughter, Hellen (last name spelled "Jennin"). At the time of the 1900 U.S. Census, Norman (age 83 and retired) and Eliza continued to live in Chatfield close to their son, Charles, and their daughter, Harried Freeman.

On October 8, 1900, Eliza Jane Culver died in Chatfield, Fillmore County, Minnesota. Four and a half years later, Norman Kellog Culver died on February 2, 1905, also in Chatfield, Fillmore County, Minnesota.

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