(1844 - 1906)
Home State: Maine
Branch of Service: Infantry
Unit: 7th Maine Infantry
Before Antietam
In 1860 he was a 17 year old farmer in Westbrook, ME. He enlisted on 9 August 1861 and mustered as a Private in Company G, 7th Maine Infantry on 21 August 1861. He was promoted to Corporal, date not given.
On the Campaign
He was slightly wounded in the leg in action at Antietam on 17 September 1862.
The rest of the War
He was transferred to Company F, date not given, and was listed as a deserter as of 10 January 1863.
After the War
He apparently took on the alias of William P Baker, possibly to avoid detection as a deserter, and used that name for the rest of his life.
By 1880 and to at least 1900 he was a stationary engineer in New York City.
References & notes
Casualty information from Hyde.1 His service from the Adjutant General2 and the Card File.3 Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860, 1880, and 1900; he's also seen variously as William Peet Nason, William P Baker, and William Handlen/Hanlon Baker. His gravesite is on Findagrave.
He married Mary Elizabeth Baker (1853-1925) in February 1871 in Manhattan and they had 9 children, all with surname Baker.
Birth
01/27/1844; Westbrook, ME
Death
04/15/1906; New York City, NY; burial in Evergreen Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY
1 Hyde, Thomas W., Casualties in the Seventh Maine Regiment in the Battle of Antietam, Lewiston Falls (Maine) Journal, 1862-10-02 [AotW citation 6662]
2 State of Maine, Adjutant General's Office, and John L. Hodsdon, AG, Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Maine for the Year ending December 31, 1862, Augusta: Stevens and Sayward, Printers to the State, 1863, Appendix D, pg. 270 [AotW citation 29321]
3 State of Maine, Maine State Archives, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Card Index, 1861-1865, Augusta (ME): Department of the Secretary of State, c. 2000 [AotW citation 29322]