Harbinger of Death: A Tin of Black Currants

First Story:
"My grandfather served in the Civil War. He was underage. He was a drummer boy."
Relative of Patsy: "According to X, underaged soldiers would put 21 on a piece of a paper in their shoe so they could be over 21..."
"After the war, he was in Chicago when Lincoln came through (assuming his funeral procession). At the end of the war, grandfather destroyed the drum because he never wanted to see it again."

Later in the tour:

Relative: "Tell him about the tin, Aunt Patsy."
"One afternoon my grandmother was carrying this tin full of black currants to the cellar to keep cool. As she was heading down the stairs, a man appeared and asked her 'are you Widow Chandler?'"
" My grandmother said no, 'I'm Mrs. Chandler'"
"He said, 'well are about to be Widow Chandler. Your husband was nearly killed at the mill today.'"
"My grandmother would always say in a dramatic, breathless fashion, 'It was like my corset was being tightened and I couldn't breathe.'"
"What happened was my grandfather and the crew were cleaning up. One of his co-workers hit a switch with his broom. The switch turned on the saw. The carriage knocked him over and carried him into the blade. He lost his hand and leg."
"They brought him home, and the neighbors put up sheets in his room and threw buckets of water on them to keep the house cool."
"They thought he was going to die, but he lived. He became the City Treasurer eventually. As he was a Civil War veteran, my grandmother didn't have to pay property taxes. He was the drummer boy.She could never look at that tin or smell black currants without recalling all of this."

Recorded later in the tour:

"My grandfather had a hook as his hand. He would cut his meat using the hook to hold down the plate. The table they ate on had his hook marks on it. Another time he was walking home in the winter and got his peg leg stuck in a hole. So he decided to not walk in the winter anymore. As he walked to the barber, my grandfather went all winter without getting his hair cut. He let the girls braid his long hair and put yellow ribbon in his hair. His barber was on 4th street, and everyone turned out to laugh at his ribbons and braids before he got his hair cut."

"Grandpa always described William Young like this, "After every dinner, he would get a pencil and sign the
tablecloth with large script to make sure that the staff properly washed the tablecloth."

Patsy wrote her family a letter as the ghost of E.B. Chandler. In the letter, she mentioned that he went from Sherman's March to the Sea to a Clinton Iowa Sawmill Worker to the City Treasurer.

Transcribed by Patsy X on November 15, 2013 at 2:30pm

Notes:

According to the local and therefore usual historical books:
The grandfather was Esek B. Chandler. He was born in Perry County, Illinois in 1844. Chandler's family lived in Whiteside County and Albany, Illinois. At 17, he joined the army supposedly. Perhaps sometime in the 1870s, E.B. started to work as a sawyer. In 1881, his accident happened. He was elected as treasurer in 1908 and 1910.
Grandmother's name is most likely Emma.