From Civil War Military records:

Michael Boyer age 30 of Lisbon,Iowa nativity Ohio enlisted Aug 11 1862 into Co H 24th Iowa Infantry.

Died of disease Apr 30 1863 St Louis,MO. Buried Jefferson Barracks Nat. Cemetery Sec 6
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Note: -- The merged duplicate entered his birth 24 May 1819 in Centre County, Pennsylvania.
----- His age was probably not given correctly when he enlisted. His pension index shows that he also served in the Navy, which would have probably been before the 1851 census in Canada, where he is recorded as a cooper.

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1851 census of Brant, Canada West (Ontario) Canada

Name: Michael Boyer
Gender: Male
Age Next Birthday: 31
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1820
Birthplace: Pennsylvania
Census Year: 1851
Enumeration District: Brant County
Enumeration District Number: 2
Sub-Enumeration District: Brantford
Sub-Enumeration District Number: 5
Residence Place: Brant, Canada West (Ontario), Canada
Profession, Trade, or Occupation: Cooper
Religion: Methodist
— recorded next to Jane, 32, b.Scotland, Jennet, abt age 4, & Abraham, abt. age 2

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1856 Iowa state census

Name: Michael Boyer
Age: 40
Birth Year: abt 1816
Birth Place: Pennsylvania
Residence Date: 1856
Residence Place: Monroe, Linn, Iowa, USA
Gender: Male
Marital status: Widowed
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Michael Boyer 40 (a cooper)
— states a resident of Iowa for 3 years —

& also

Name: Michad Bayer
Age: 37
Birth Year: abt 1819
Birth Place: Pennsylvania
Residence Date: 1856
Residence Place: Linn, Linn, Iowa, USA
Gender: Male
Marital status: Widowed
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Michad Bayer 37
Janett Bayer 7 - b. Canada
Abram Bayer 5 - b. Canada

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1860 census

Name: Michael Boyer
Age: 40
Birth Year: abt 1820
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Pennsylvania
Home in 1860: College, Linn, Iowa
Post Office: Western
Dwelling Number: 384
Family Number: 371
Occupation: Laborer
Personal Estate Value: 10
Household Members Age
Michael Boyer 40
Rachel E Boyer 25
Jeametta Boyer 12
Abraham Boyer 10
David M Boyer 1

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CIVIL WAR SOLDIER RECORDS AND PROFILES

Name: Michael Boyer
Enlistment Age: 30
Birth Date: abt 1832 -- [abt 1819]
Birth Place: Ohio, USA -- [Pennsylvania, USA]
Enlistment Date: 11 Aug 1862
Enlistment Rank: Private
Muster Date: 3 Sep 1862
Muster Place: Iowa
Muster Company: H
Muster Regiment: 24th Infantry
Muster Regiment Type: Infantry
Muster Information: Enlisted
Muster Out Date: 30 Apr 1863
Muster Out Place: St Louis, Missouri
Muster Out Information: died disease
Side of War: Union
Survived War?: No
Residence Place: Lisbon, Iowa
Burial Place: St Louis, Missouri
Cemetery Plot Number: 6-13
Title: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of Rebellion

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CIVIL WAR ROLL OF HONOR

Name: Michael Boyer
Death Date: 30 Apr 1863
Burial Place: Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, USA
Cemetery: Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
Rank: Private
Regiment: 24th Iowa inf
Company: H

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CIVIL WAR PENSION INDEX
—widow's pension granted in August, 1863
— minor's pension granted in 1868
Name: Michael Boyer
Gender: Male
Unit: H 24 Iowa Inf.; Navy-Pinala-Antona.
Relation to Head: Soldier
Spouse: Rachel E Boyer
Roll number: 46

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IOWA CIVIL WAR BURIAL RECORDS

Name: Michael Boyer
Rank: Private
Unit: IA 24 Inf H
Birth Information: OH
Death Information: 30 Apr 1863 St Louis MO
Cemetery: Jefferson Barracks National
Cemetery Location: Jefferson Barracks MO
Comments: 6-13 enl 11 Aug 1862 - res Lisbon died disease

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U. S. VETERANS' GRAVESITES

Name: Michael Boyer
Death Date: 30 Apr 1863
Interment Date: 30 Apr 1863
Interment Place: Missouri, USA
Cemetery Address: 2900 Sheridan Road St. Louis , MO 63125
Cemetery: Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery
Plot: Section 6 Site 7555
Notes: Pvt Us Army

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Contributor: Ann Gardner (47547734)

Jackson Boyer age 37, possibly a close relative, Springville,Iowa nativity Pennsylvania, enlisted same day into same company. Jackson was wounded May 16 1863 Battle of Champion Hill. Died of wounds May 19 1863 Champion Hill. See his entry in FindAGrave.∼Son of Abraham Boyer & Mary Ann Umberger.

Married Jane Thayne c. 1848, probably in Canada. Ended with her 1856 death in Linn Co., Iowa.
Children:
Jennette - 26 November 1848, Canada
Abraham - circa 1850, Canada
Mary Jane - circa 1852, probably Canada
Helen - circa 1854, Canada or Iowa
Infant - 1856, Iowa

Married Rachael Elizabeth Troup, 28 March 1858, Mount Vernon, Linn County, Iowa.
Children:
David Michael - 23 January 1859
Anna Margaret - 29 November 1860
Sarah Miranda - 1 February 1863
Lewis Miller - 1 February 1863

Michael accompanied his parents to Brant County, Ontario, where he is first found on his own in the 1851 census, a cooper, with his wife Jane and two young children.

At some point he and Jane came to Linn County, Iowa, where he is found in the 1860 College Township census, working as a laborer.

Michael enlisted in Company H, Iowa 24th Infantry Regiment on 03 Sep 1862. "Mustered out" on 30 Apr 1863 at St Louis, MO.

Service of 6 months. Trained in Muscatine, Iowa, went down the Mississippi to an encampment in Helena, Arkansas, a staging ground for the siege of Vicksburg, located on a flood plain and on a Confederate general's plantation. Becoming ill he was transported to an army hospital in St. Louis, where he died of typhoid.

The family has a set of about 35+ letters to his wife Rachel (copies with Jefferson Barracks Museum). Letters are from a "grunt's" point of view that begin with fervent patriotism, excitement of seeing new things and eagerness to lick the Rebs in short order. And then grim reality sets in....

- Boot camp about training & tending affairs back home
- Going down the Mississippi to Helena
- aspects of Helena camp life and the war
-- foraging trips & skirmishes with guerillas
-- camp politics, humor
-- meeting freed slaves
- food and local costs of things
-- deaths of fellow soldiers and friends from home, including returning from a foraging expedition to find his tent mate dead.
- the cold, wet, miserable and ineffective White River Expedition in January 1863 by steamboat.
- Miserable camp conditions and longing for a good drink of water just like at home.
- Getting sick
- concluding that he doesn't like being stuck in such "a hole"
- Letters from two nurses and company clerk about his death in army hospital and burial in St. Louis.

His wife was pregnant when he joined. He did not see but mentions in his letters the twins born before he died.

Barry Michie: G-G Grandson