Week 26: Legend #52Ancestors

We all have family legends. Some turn out to be true, some not so much. I’ve already written about my maiden name being the full-on stuff of legend (Week 3). I like looking into family legends because they give you a clear target to shoot at. Proving, or even disproving, can give you a real sense of accomplishment (even if your family doesn’t believe you).

Here’s another one from my side of the Glacy-Baty Family Tree: Charles Edward Spencer. Charles was my great-grandfather and at the end of his life he lived with his daughter’s family, including my mother. My mom’s remembered was that he was, frankly, a SOB. Apparently, he usually wore a red “union suit” and with his flowing grey hair and bushy mustache he was intimidating to her. He died in 1934 when my mom was eleven.

My mom told me some of the information that she’d been told about Charles: that he served in the Civil War as a “drummer boy” and was born in England in 1836. She also knew that he had a marriage prior to marrying my great-grandmother, but other than it allegedly occurring in Connecticut, she knew little else.

Like any good family historian, I trotted off to Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, etc., armed with what I thought I knew. At least I had a place or places to start. So I thought.

First thing I tried to tackle was his Civil War service. I searched for any and all Charles Spencers who served the state of New Jersey in the Civil War. Gosh, you’d be surprised to know how many of those there were. I was able to eliminate those that had died during the war, but there were several candidates still remaining and I couldn’t eliminate them.

Fortunately, my grandmother (Charles’ daughter) inherited a medal awarded to New Jersey Civil War veterans which she gave to me many moons ago.

And so, I thought: Proof! 

I started to research this medal and was buoyed by the fact that there is a number on the back of the medal. Perhaps that would verify my great-grandfather was the brave drummer boy he claimed to be. I found only a few references to the medal and then, miraculously, I stumbled on an actual book called New Jersey’s Civil War Medals Including Rolls. Yes!

Oof. Not so fast, buster.

The number on the back of the medal is 5256 and it was presented to Thomas Kelly.[1]

Who?

Thomas Kelly, who was a private in the 1st N.J. Volunteer Infantry and then in the 2nd N.J. Cavalry.

Oh, THAT Thomas Kelly.

Who?

Okay, great-grandpa, what gives? I know my mom was not making this up but maybe he was making it up.

Now what do I do? Do I just give up and forget this legend? If I keep going, where? If not N.J., where? I tried Connecticut, but no luck there.

In genealogy, there are many avenues to pursue to get to the facts.  Through my research into my great-grandfather, I find my great-uncle, Everett Linwood Spencer. Everett was born in 1867 in Rhode Island. Ok, so let’s look there. I find the family in the 1870 U.S. census in Scituate, Providence, Rhode Island. There is Charles born in 1845 in England, with his first wife and two sons. Did you catch that? – 1845, not 1836. 

Since I figured that Charles was likely married before Everett was born, I check the marriages in Scituate and there they were, married in 1865: “Edward” Spencer and S. Jennie Farr. She from North Scituate and he from Millville, Massachusetts.[2] This record again shows that my great-grandfather was born in 1845.

Millville is in Worchester County, MA, so my next stop was there. I found the Massachusetts state census for 1865 and, lo and behold, there was Charles E. Spencer – a 20 year-old man, born in England and currently in the U.S. Navy.[3] Not only that, this census recorded his mother, step-father, two step-brothers and his grandmother, all living at the same address. Hot dog!

I don’t want you to think that my research was as smooth as I portray. Trust me that there were many more fits and starts than I describe (actually, more fits than starts). But this was essentially the progression. It was a really fun challenge for me and I accomplished at least two important goals: I disproved my great-grandfather’s “drummer boy” claim (while also proving his military service) and, most importantly, I sharpened my research skills and analytical thinking.[4]

As for my great-grandfather’s birthdate, that “legend” even made it to his tombstone.

BTW, I am still searching for the family of Thomas Kelly so I can return to them the medal awarded to their ancestor.

[1]Brandon T. Wiegand and Peter J. Eisert, Brandon T. Wiegand, ed., New Jersey’s Civil War Medals Including Rolls, 1st ed. (Creighton, Pennsylvania: D-D Militaria, 2006), 213. I can’t recall how I found this book, but I do have the 94th copy published (so it says).

[2]Town Clerk, Scituate, Providence, Rhode Island, Marriage Records, 1850-1901, Spencer-Farr (20 July 1865), p. 35; digital image, Family Search, FHL microfilm 941154, image 421 of 674 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-67V7-JR9 : accessed 13 April 2018).

[3]1865 Massachusetts census, Worcester county, Blackstone Township, village of Millville, household 787, line number 15 for Charles E Spencer, in Ezekiel Mortimer household; image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 11 June 2019); citing Massachusetts State Census, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. 

[4]This one census would no way “prove” his service, but it did lead me to other sources, including his service file that I obtained from the National Archives.

My great-grandparents, Charles E. Spencer and Mary Josephine McGann.

Medal awarded by the State of New Jersey to Thomas Kelly

Headstone for Herbert J. Spencer (my great-uncle) and Charles E. Spencer atHoly Sepulchre Cemetery, East Orange, New Jersey.