Nathan M. Killmar was born in January of 1827 in Dekalb, New York to Henry Dekalb Killmar and Elmina Morgan. He was married to Aurilla Morry in 1850, at the age of 23. The couple had one son (Garwine) who died in South Dakota circa 1883. They also had three daughters in New York, Ida (b. ci. 1854), Mary (Minnie), and Ruth. Nathan was a farmer who stood 5’6″, with blue eyes, black hair, and a light complexion. He fought as a Union soldier in the Civil War, and was appointed Sergeant on August 21, 1862, at he age of 33.
NATHAN KILLMAR CIVIL WAR MUSTER ABSTRACT
After Nathan completed his duty in the war the family moved to Almont, Michigan in the mid-1860s. Aurilla gave birth to two more daughters in Michigan: Mary “Minne” Elmina (b. October 11, 1865), and Ruth Anna (b. ci. 1869). The records regarding the family become a bit confusing after this… Mysteriously, the 1880 Federal Census has Aurilla and her daughters Mary and Ruth living with her oldest daughter Ida and Ida’s husband (William Huldbert) in Marlette, Sanilac, Michigan, but Nathan’s name is not listed.
Elm River
At some point, the Killmars must have moved west because Ralph (Dean) Johnson remembers his grandmother Mary “Minnie” Killmar telling him that her parents homesteaded near the Elm River in Brown County, South Dakota. She remembered sleeping under a covered wagon with her sister while her parents slept inside. She and her sister were frightened by the coyotes howling. The Killmars did not remain in Brown County, but their whereabouts after their departure are unknown. At some point, Nathan may have made his way out west…a “Nathaniel Killmer” (born in New York state) death certificate was issued in Whatcom, Washington in 1900.
His brother Lucius Whitebec’s full memoirs:
Recollections and Anecdotes of Lucius Killmar
