Private Co M, 1st California Cavalry
Enlisted in Company M, California 1st Cavalry Regiment on 13 Aug 1863. Mustered out on 27 Apr 1866 at Fort Yuma, CA.
John Alexander Rains was the son of John Rains (1822, KY - 1900, CA) and Eliza Louisa C. Pettyjohn (born 1821, MO). When John's father went to California and did not return, his mother filed for a divorce in Andrew County, Missouri, in 1854. She may have married Joseph F. Bennet in 1855. After his father married Sarah Jane Plummer in Oregon in August 1855, his mother sent John and his siblings west to live with their father and stepmother in Oregon. The Rains family later moved to northern California. John enlisted as a private at Sacramento August 4, 1863, and was mustered into Company M, 1st California Cavalry, August 13. Private Rains joined his company on the march to Los Angeles, where it remained until February 1864. He was posted first at Tucson and then Camp Goodwin, Arizona Territory, until March 31, 1864. His company was at Las Cruces, New Mexico Territory, from April to October 1864, then moved first to Hatch then Blue Water Creek in November 1864, where Private Rains participated in the Kiowa and Comanche Expedition from Fort Bascom in December 1864. He then returned to Las Cruces in January 1865, where he remained until May 1865. He then marched to Fort Selden. He may have been wounded or taken ill, for he was transferred to Fort Yuma, California, where he was mustered out April 27, 1866. After the war John married Amanda Shoemaker in Mendocino County February 24, 1879. They were divorced in 1883 and did not have any children. Amanda died sometime prior to 1894. John appears in the 1894 Great Register of Yolo County, California, and later that same year he was admitted to the Sawtelle Soldiers' Home at Los Angeles November 9. His Sawtelle Home record indicated he was a widower and his next-of-kin was his sister, Mrs. Mollie [Rains] Peck* of Ukiah, Mendocino County, California. John left the Sawtelle home for an extended absence April 23, 1895. He first went to San Bernardino County, where he appears in the 1896 Great Register. John had returned to northern California by 1903, where he filed his first application for a Civil War veteran's pension January 9, 1904, under the provisions of the Act of June 27, 1890, as amended by Act of May 9, 1900. He was living in Dixon, Solano County, at that time. He received application No. 1,307,677, but his application was rejected. On July, 17, 1909, John again applied for a veteran's pension, this time under the provisions of the Act of Feb 6, 1907. At the time of this application he was living in Hamilton City, Glenn County. This application was approved in August 1909 at a rate of $12 per month, and he was issued certificate No. 1,156,844. His pension file indicates that he was [re-]admitted to Pacific Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers at Sawtelle, Los Angeles County, April 23, 1910. John was in-and-out of the Sawtelle Home over the next ten years. During an absence from the Sawtelle Home in 1920, John spent a few months at the California Veterans' Home at Yountville in Napa County. John returned to the Sawtelle Home March 21, 1921, and remained in Santa Monica and Venice area until his death. At the time of his death he had listed his brother, George W. Rains of Lakeport, California, as his next-of-kin.
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* Phoebe Emma Mollie Rains was born in Missouri about 1849. She married Thomas Morris Peck (1844, WI - 1913, CA) at Sonoma County, California, July 11, 1869. She died at San Francisco August 11, 1897.
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Biography by Steve
Enlisted in Company M, California 1st Cavalry Regiment on 13 Aug 1863. Mustered out on 27 Apr 1866 at Fort Yuma, CA.
John Alexander Rains was the son of John Rains (1822, KY - 1900, CA) and Eliza Louisa C. Pettyjohn (born 1821, MO). When John's father went to California and did not return, his mother filed for a divorce in Andrew County, Missouri, in 1854. She may have married Joseph F. Bennet in 1855. After his father married Sarah Jane Plummer in Oregon in August 1855, his mother sent John and his siblings west to live with their father and stepmother in Oregon. The Rains family later moved to northern California. John enlisted as a private at Sacramento August 4, 1863, and was mustered into Company M, 1st California Cavalry, August 13. Private Rains joined his company on the march to Los Angeles, where it remained until February 1864. He was posted first at Tucson and then Camp Goodwin, Arizona Territory, until March 31, 1864. His company was at Las Cruces, New Mexico Territory, from April to October 1864, then moved first to Hatch then Blue Water Creek in November 1864, where Private Rains participated in the Kiowa and Comanche Expedition from Fort Bascom in December 1864. He then returned to Las Cruces in January 1865, where he remained until May 1865. He then marched to Fort Selden. He may have been wounded or taken ill, for he was transferred to Fort Yuma, California, where he was mustered out April 27, 1866. After the war John married Amanda Shoemaker in Mendocino County February 24, 1879. They were divorced in 1883 and did not have any children. Amanda died sometime prior to 1894. John appears in the 1894 Great Register of Yolo County, California, and later that same year he was admitted to the Sawtelle Soldiers' Home at Los Angeles November 9. His Sawtelle Home record indicated he was a widower and his next-of-kin was his sister, Mrs. Mollie [Rains] Peck* of Ukiah, Mendocino County, California. John left the Sawtelle home for an extended absence April 23, 1895. He first went to San Bernardino County, where he appears in the 1896 Great Register. John had returned to northern California by 1903, where he filed his first application for a Civil War veteran's pension January 9, 1904, under the provisions of the Act of June 27, 1890, as amended by Act of May 9, 1900. He was living in Dixon, Solano County, at that time. He received application No. 1,307,677, but his application was rejected. On July, 17, 1909, John again applied for a veteran's pension, this time under the provisions of the Act of Feb 6, 1907. At the time of this application he was living in Hamilton City, Glenn County. This application was approved in August 1909 at a rate of $12 per month, and he was issued certificate No. 1,156,844. His pension file indicates that he was [re-]admitted to Pacific Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers at Sawtelle, Los Angeles County, April 23, 1910. John was in-and-out of the Sawtelle Home over the next ten years. During an absence from the Sawtelle Home in 1920, John spent a few months at the California Veterans' Home at Yountville in Napa County. John returned to the Sawtelle Home March 21, 1921, and remained in Santa Monica and Venice area until his death. At the time of his death he had listed his brother, George W. Rains of Lakeport, California, as his next-of-kin.
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* Phoebe Emma Mollie Rains was born in Missouri about 1849. She married Thomas Morris Peck (1844, WI - 1913, CA) at Sonoma County, California, July 11, 1869. She died at San Francisco August 11, 1897.
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Biography by Steve
Private Co M, 1st California Cavalry
Enlisted in Company M, California 1st Cavalry Regiment on 13 Aug 1863. Mustered out on 27 Apr 1866 at Fort Yuma, CA.
John Alexander Rains was the son of John Rains (1822, KY - 1900, CA) and Eliza Louisa C. Pettyjohn (born 1821, MO). When John's father went to California and did not return, his mother filed for a divorce in Andrew County, Missouri, in 1854. She may have married Joseph F. Bennet in 1855. After his father married Sarah Jane Plummer in Oregon in August 1855, his mother sent John and his siblings west to live with their father and stepmother in Oregon. The Rains family later moved to northern California. John enlisted as a private at Sacramento August 4, 1863, and was mustered into Company M, 1st California Cavalry, August 13. Private Rains joined his company on the march to Los Angeles, where it remained until February 1864. He was posted first at Tucson and then Camp Goodwin, Arizona Territory, until March 31, 1864. His company was at Las Cruces, New Mexico Territory, from April to October 1864, then moved first to Hatch then Blue Water Creek in November 1864, where Private Rains participated in the Kiowa and Comanche Expedition from Fort Bascom in December 1864. He then returned to Las Cruces in January 1865, where he remained until May 1865. He then marched to Fort Selden. He may have been wounded or taken ill, for he was transferred to Fort Yuma, California, where he was mustered out April 27, 1866. After the war John married Amanda Shoemaker in Mendocino County February 24, 1879. They were divorced in 1883 and did not have any children. Amanda died sometime prior to 1894. John appears in the 1894 Great Register of Yolo County, California, and later that same year he was admitted to the Sawtelle Soldiers' Home at Los Angeles November 9. His Sawtelle Home record indicated he was a widower and his next-of-kin was his sister, Mrs. Mollie [Rains] Peck* of Ukiah, Mendocino County, California. John left the Sawtelle home for an extended absence April 23, 1895. He first went to San Bernardino County, where he appears in the 1896 Great Register. John had returned to northern California by 1903, where he filed his first application for a Civil War veteran's pension January 9, 1904, under the provisions of the Act of June 27, 1890, as amended by Act of May 9, 1900. He was living in Dixon, Solano County, at that time. He received application No. 1,307,677, but his application was rejected. On July, 17, 1909, John again applied for a veteran's pension, this time under the provisions of the Act of Feb 6, 1907. At the time of this application he was living in Hamilton City, Glenn County. This application was approved in August 1909 at a rate of $12 per month, and he was issued certificate No. 1,156,844. His pension file indicates that he was [re-]admitted to Pacific Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers at Sawtelle, Los Angeles County, April 23, 1910. John was in-and-out of the Sawtelle Home over the next ten years. During an absence from the Sawtelle Home in 1920, John spent a few months at the California Veterans' Home at Yountville in Napa County. John returned to the Sawtelle Home March 21, 1921, and remained in Santa Monica and Venice area until his death. At the time of his death he had listed his brother, George W. Rains of Lakeport, California, as his next-of-kin.
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* Phoebe Emma Mollie Rains was born in Missouri about 1849. She married Thomas Morris Peck (1844, WI - 1913, CA) at Sonoma County, California, July 11, 1869. She died at San Francisco August 11, 1897.
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Biography by Steve
Enlisted in Company M, California 1st Cavalry Regiment on 13 Aug 1863. Mustered out on 27 Apr 1866 at Fort Yuma, CA.
John Alexander Rains was the son of John Rains (1822, KY - 1900, CA) and Eliza Louisa C. Pettyjohn (born 1821, MO). When John's father went to California and did not return, his mother filed for a divorce in Andrew County, Missouri, in 1854. She may have married Joseph F. Bennet in 1855. After his father married Sarah Jane Plummer in Oregon in August 1855, his mother sent John and his siblings west to live with their father and stepmother in Oregon. The Rains family later moved to northern California. John enlisted as a private at Sacramento August 4, 1863, and was mustered into Company M, 1st California Cavalry, August 13. Private Rains joined his company on the march to Los Angeles, where it remained until February 1864. He was posted first at Tucson and then Camp Goodwin, Arizona Territory, until March 31, 1864. His company was at Las Cruces, New Mexico Territory, from April to October 1864, then moved first to Hatch then Blue Water Creek in November 1864, where Private Rains participated in the Kiowa and Comanche Expedition from Fort Bascom in December 1864. He then returned to Las Cruces in January 1865, where he remained until May 1865. He then marched to Fort Selden. He may have been wounded or taken ill, for he was transferred to Fort Yuma, California, where he was mustered out April 27, 1866. After the war John married Amanda Shoemaker in Mendocino County February 24, 1879. They were divorced in 1883 and did not have any children. Amanda died sometime prior to 1894. John appears in the 1894 Great Register of Yolo County, California, and later that same year he was admitted to the Sawtelle Soldiers' Home at Los Angeles November 9. His Sawtelle Home record indicated he was a widower and his next-of-kin was his sister, Mrs. Mollie [Rains] Peck* of Ukiah, Mendocino County, California. John left the Sawtelle home for an extended absence April 23, 1895. He first went to San Bernardino County, where he appears in the 1896 Great Register. John had returned to northern California by 1903, where he filed his first application for a Civil War veteran's pension January 9, 1904, under the provisions of the Act of June 27, 1890, as amended by Act of May 9, 1900. He was living in Dixon, Solano County, at that time. He received application No. 1,307,677, but his application was rejected. On July, 17, 1909, John again applied for a veteran's pension, this time under the provisions of the Act of Feb 6, 1907. At the time of this application he was living in Hamilton City, Glenn County. This application was approved in August 1909 at a rate of $12 per month, and he was issued certificate No. 1,156,844. His pension file indicates that he was [re-]admitted to Pacific Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers at Sawtelle, Los Angeles County, April 23, 1910. John was in-and-out of the Sawtelle Home over the next ten years. During an absence from the Sawtelle Home in 1920, John spent a few months at the California Veterans' Home at Yountville in Napa County. John returned to the Sawtelle Home March 21, 1921, and remained in Santa Monica and Venice area until his death. At the time of his death he had listed his brother, George W. Rains of Lakeport, California, as his next-of-kin.
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* Phoebe Emma Mollie Rains was born in Missouri about 1849. She married Thomas Morris Peck (1844, WI - 1913, CA) at Sonoma County, California, July 11, 1869. She died at San Francisco August 11, 1897.
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Biography by Steve
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