Unnamed brother in James K. Gardner 1908 obit.
Uncle named in James B. Gardner 1916 obit.
Crow Wing county death record for Civi(sic) C. Gardner:
  Father: Richard Gardner
  Mother: Rebeca ---------

[begin quote Brainerd Dispatch October 1, 1920 - Page 2 Col 1]

Levi C. Gardner, born August 3, 1830, died Sept. 22, 1920. Mr. Gardner was a soldier of the Civil War. His residence is in Crow Wing township. There are no known relatives of the deceased man. The funeral will be held at 2:30 Friday Sept. 24 from the D. E. Whitney chapel and internment will be made at Crow Wing.

[end quote]

The book "Cemetery Records of Crow Wing County", by Earl C. Leslie, 1982, correctly places him in Oak Land Cemetery 6.9 mi south of Brainerd and a tombstone inscription "Co. H 9 Vt. Inf. Civil War" with an addendum giving his birthyear as 1832. There is a Civil War veterans marker on his grave along with a GAR Post 30 marker (GAR = Grand Army of the Republic - the Civil War equivalent of today's American Legion).

The Civil War pension record (soldier's certificate #864058) from the NARA says he enlisted 30 Aug 1864 at age 32 years and 1 month at Craftsbury, Vermont, and was mustered out July 13, 1865 at Richmond, Virginia. According to Levi's own affadavit, he was born 03 Aug 1833 (sic) and was married twice. His first wife gave birth to four children, two named Elizabeth and mary, all of whom died young. They later divorced in Iowa. He married his second wife in Wisconsin, but she soon left him - no children, and no divorce mentioned. He moved to Crow Wing in 1902 and died of senility and apoplexy in 1920.

1850 census for Bartlett has him as a 19-year-old farmer who attended school within the past year. This makes more sense if he was 17, just about to turn 18, which would make his birth year match his Civil War enlistment record (1832). In two affadavits for pension increases during his declining years, he listed 1833 as his birth year but he was getting increasingly senile and probably mis-remembered his birth year. So I'm going with 1832 for his birth year based on his Civil War enrollment declaration and the presumed age of 17 in 1850 census.

1880 census for Benson, Swift County, Minnesota, June 5, page 4, Household 35 (a hotel): Levi Gardener (sic), 44, married, carpenter. No wife listed, so he appears to be separated from Lucy but the divorce is not yet final.

1885 State census for Chengwatana township in Pine County, Minnesota, Levi Gardner, age 52, no wife.

1905 State census for Crow Wing township in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, Levi C. Gardner, age 73, no wife.

• Married: 14 Dec 1862 in Jackson, New Hampshire
• Note: LDS film #1001260 "New Hampshire marriages to 1900" has their marriage date and place. Levi's Civil War pension application says they were divorced in 1880 at Osage, Iowa.

• Married: 19 Dec 1886 in Grantsburg, Wisconsin
• Note: Place of marriage from Levi's Civil War pension application. Date of marriage from Wisconsin pre-1907 marriage record. Levi states in the application that his wife (Rachel) left him about 1894.