Moses Smith, Black Canadian Born Soldier in Civil War

Through a recent study of the birthplaces and enlistment locations of a select group of soldiers in Company B of USCT 1 Calvary, I discovered a black Canadian born soldier who enlisted in Buffalo, NY in October 1864 and was transferred to a Virginia Based United States Colored Troop Regiment a few days after his enlistment. This discovery is quite intriguing and the curious side of me wants to know more about this soldier. And so I start the research process of this soldier with a basic genealogy step which is to “WRITE DOWN WHAT I KNOW.” I hope that by posting this summary on my blog that others who are more knowledgeable of Canada, New York, and Civil War research can give me tips on further researching the life of this soldier. The information below was obtained from the Civil War Union Service Record for Moses Smith, USCT 1 Calvary.

===========================

Moses Smith was born in Canada around 1843. Although his record does not name a province in Canada, a strong possibility is “Ontario” since it borders Buffalo, NY the location where Moses enlisted. On his Union Civil War service record, his physical characteristics were noted as “5 foot, 3-1/2 inches tall, with black complexion, eyes, and hair”. His occupation was listed as a Laborer.

Moses Smith mustered into the military as a “Recruit” on October 3, 1864 in Buffalo, NY under Captain Ruggans. He was 21 at the time of his enlistment. Three days later on October 6, 1864, Moses was “forwarded or transferred to the “United States Color Troop 1 Calvary which had been organized in Camp Hamilton, VA in December 1863. Moses Smith received a bounty of $100 and $25.75 for clothing for his military service.

Remarks in the service records suggest that Moses Smith was a musician because it indicates transfers and duty in the “reglt band.” (I assume that the reference to “band” refers to a musical group and not some other type of military group.) There is also a remark about a special order 32 dated Jan 9, 1865.

Moses Smith was mustered out of the military on February 4, 1866 in Brazos Santiago, TX along with his regiment, USCT 1 Calvary.

The part of this story which sparks my interest the most is Moses' Canadian roots and I hope to discover more about this black Smith family living in Canada during the 1800s.

United States Colored Troops in Photos

Check out this short video of photos of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) 1863-1865. These African American men fought during the American Civil War.

Civil War Webinar

I look forward to the upcoming Civil War webinar with Michael O. Varhola, the author of the new book Life in Civil War America. For more information, click here.

Descendants Search for Ancestor David Carll

Apparently actress Vanessa Williams is not the only descendant of Civil War soldier David Carll who has been searching for information on him. The article “African American Civil War Museum Honors OB Civil War Vet David Carll” (Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot, August 20, 2010, written by Dagmar Fors Karppi) indicates other descendants have been researching his life. On August 7, 2010, a presentation was made by Frank Carl (great-great grandson) of New York, NY and Gilbert McDonald (great-great-great grandson) of Odenton, MD., at the African American Civil War Museum in Washington, D.C. about their ancestor David Carll. This article ironically does not mention Vanessa Williams’ quest to find information on her ancestor. Neither were there any other references to other descendants researching David Carll mentioned in Vanessa Williams’ Who Do You Think You Are episode last night.

The article further indicates that while doing research at the National Archives, great-great-great grandson, Gilford McDonald, viewed his ancestor’s pension record and discovered the tin-type” photograph of his ancestor. The article does not indicate a date when this discovery occurred. This article is a must read and it gives some details about David Carll’s 12-year struggle in collecting his rightful pension and the reason the photo was sent as part of the pension file.

Civil War Emancipation Blog

Today, I was sent the link to a Civil War blog by a genealogy friend. The Civil War Emancipation blog is designed "to commemorate important milestones in emancipation in the Civil War as their 150th anniversary arrives in the sesquicentennial." It is fantastic to see the creation of so many Civil War related blogs.

Enjoy!

Civil War Ancestor of Vanessa Williams on WDYTYA

I am extremely excited about the beginning of Season Two of the Who Do You Think You Are television series which airs on NBC this Friday night, February 4, 2011 at 8 p.m. I am especially excited about seeing what actress and former Miss America, Vanessa Williams, learns about her great great grandfather’s Civil War career during her visit to the National Archives in Washington, DC. How amazing it is that she found a photo of her ancestor in his pension file. I look forward to visiting the National Archives soon to read through the pension file of my newly adopted USCT soldier, Madison Lewis. To preview four video clips of Vanessa Williams' episode of the WDYTYA show, click here .

My Adopted USCT Soldier

Just like I never imagined becoming interested in researching the Civil War, I definitely had no interest in researching soldiers, regiments, and stuff like that. Read more about The Origins of My Civil War Research Interest.

Researching Others

I learned years ago from researching my own family to research others associated with the focus person or family. Those others may be kinfolks, neighbors, or friends. My research of James A. Fields began this interest in studying the Civil War era, but researching others in his family has taken me into whole new unintended direction.

United States Colored Troops

Much of what I know about the United States Colored Troops (USCT) comes from my friend and fellow genealogist, Angela Walton Raji. I communicate with her regularly through email and participation in the chats of the Afrigeneas website. One of Angela's genealogical passions is the USCT'S and every time I tell her that I’m going to visit a cemetery, she always says “Look for USCTs!” So far, I have not discovered any USCTs in the cemeteries I have visited.

Afrigeneas Chats

Angela and a few other Afrigeneas chatters have discovered several USCT ancestors and other African American kin who served in the American Civil War. "Adopt a USCT," Angela said to those of us in the chat who have not found a USCT ancestor. At the time of this conversation, I was contemplating starting a new blog focusing on my ancestors who were alive during the Civil War. I was also actively engaged in researching the Fields family who were former slaves who had escaped from slavery during the Civil War. At the time of this chat, I really was not interested in researching a USCT or anything military related. I’ll leave that type of research to Angela and others, I thought as this conversation was going on during one the Afrigeneas chat. Angela is so passionate about USCTs that she launched a new blog on January 1st of this year and in her first posting, she writes about her reasons for starting this blog, The USCT Chronicle --150 Years Later Getting the Story Right!.

My Adopted USCT Soldier

On another occasion, I did say to the chat group that if I found a USCT through my research of James A. Fields, then I would adopt him. Shortly after I make this declaration, I discovered a USCT named Madison Lewis who was a brother in law of James A. Fields and since that time (last weekend), I have been consumed with researching the military career and regiment of Madison Lewis who was born into slavery around 1835 in Spotsylvania County, VA . In March 1863, he escaped from slavery in Hanover County, VA with the mother and some of the siblings of James A. Fields. They arrived to Fort Monroe in early April 1863 and later that year in December, Madison Lewis enlisted in Company B of the 1st Regiment USCT Calvary which was organized at Camp Hamilton near Fort Monroe, VA and the campus of Hampton University.

To Be Continued . . .