Joseph J. Cutrell, my 3rd Great uncle, was born in 1833 in Tennessee to Joseph Cutrell and Margaret Spring. He was their 5th child of eleven. Joseph soon moved north into Illinois with his parents. From his photograph, he may have had light blue eyes.
Joseph farmed his father's land with him. He is listed in the 1850 census as a farmer in his father's household. He married in 1853 to Amanda Newman, and they had four children, all girls. Martha J. and Mary M. were born April 11th, 1854 - twins. Next, they had Sarah A. in 1859 and last Amanda L. in 1862. This was probably about the time that Joseph joined the military and fought in the Civil War.
In 1865 on March 31st, Joseph is believed to have drowned. An eye-witness to the burning of the ship which would have returned him to IL to be mustered out of the army stated that he saw Joseph Cutrell on the ship, and that he was not one of the five to have survived the burning of the ship, the US Steamer General Lyons.