GEORGE B. WILTSIE

Main Cemetery -- Area C 
Lot 8 -- Westside

George Wiltsie was born in Perinton on the Wiltsie family homestead. He was the seventh of Thomas and Rachel Brownell Wiltsie’s eleven children. George’s older brother, James M. Wiltsie, was the proprietor of the Wiltsie & Crump store, located at the corner of Monroe Avenue and North Main Street. James’ son, Charles Hastings Wiltsie, grew up in the building at 21 North Main Street, which now houses the Pittsford Village Hall and the American Legion Rayson-Miller Post #899.

The Wiltsie family had traveled on the Erie Canal in 1834 from Duanesburg, New York, to settle in the Pittsford and Perinton area. The house Thomas Wiltsie built still stands on what is now Route 31, northwest of the bridge over the canal just west of Kreag Road.

In August, 1862, George B. Wiltsie enlisted as a private in the 4th New York Heavy Artillery during the Civil War. During the battle at Reams Station, Virginia, on August 25, 1864, George, along with more than 300 other members of the regiment, were taken prisoner. He spent time in several prison camps before ending up at Salisbury Prison in North Carolina. George’s transcribed war-time diary, now in the possession of the Perinton Historical Society, details his capture and time as a prisoner of war.

After five months in captivity, George was paroled. By then, he was very weak and suffering the effects of typhoid fever. He died on March 21, 1865 at the age of 28 and was laid to rest at Pittsford Cemetery beside his family members.