William Brown, son of William Shackford, Mercy his wife born August 10th, 1812 (Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Image 297 of 4542, William Brown Shackford, Newburyport, 10 August 1812; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 May 2013).
WILLIAM BROWN SHACKFORD (1812-1865)
According to the Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the Civil war, Volume 1, William B Shackford, my second great grandfather, a Union Soldier in Massachusetts, 1st Infantry Regiment, Company E[i], was taken prisoner at Gettysburg in July 1863. He was transferred from the 1st Infantry Regiment to the Volunteer Reserve Corp on October 1863[ii] but it's unclear if that's where POWs were recorded until their return or if he was somehow released back to the North soon after his capture.
William Brown Shackford (1812-1865) was the third great grandson of WILLIAM SHACKFORD the immigrant ancestor: (William-5, Levi-4, Samuel-3, Joshua-2, WILLIAM-1). He was born on August 10, 1812 in Newburyport, Essex, Massachusetts, the oldest son of William Shackford and Mercy Rose. His father died before he was 24 and he became a tailor starting as a partner in the Boston area where he met and married Catherine T Mullett on November 27, 1837 at the age of 25[iii]. They must have had a tough life because they moved every 2-3 years living at Barre Place[iv], 62 Essex[v], 1 Cruft Pl[vi], 74 Atkinson[vii], 15 Ash[viii], 20 Ash[ix], and in 1855 he was living with his wife Catherine, daughter May K, age 9, son Joseph E, age 6, in the same dwelling as his brother Abner Shackford, a sash and blind maker[x]. Soon thereafter he changed his occupation listing in the Boston Directories from tailor to cutter, and moved to 136 Albany[xi] where he was during the 1860 census living in a property valued at $500 with wife Catherine, daughter Mary K, age 14, and son Joseph E, age 10[xii].
William continued to move frequently, living at 326 Bartlett[xiii], and 87 Broadway[xiv] before he enlisted as a private with the Massachusetts 1st Regiment, Company E[xv]. He may have lied about his age when he enlisted stating that he was 42 when he may have been just shy of 50. As mentioned above, a year after enlisting he was taken prisoner at Gettysburg and then transferred to the 3rd Regiment, Veteran Reserve Corp[xvi] before being mustered out on June 10, 1864[xvii].
In 1865, after returning from the war, William continued to work as a tailor/cutter in Boston and his family lived with Thomas Christian, a dry goods merchant. His wife Catherine was working as a tailoress, [xviii], possibly throughout the war just to keep food on the table. On November 19, 1866 they were living at the intersection of K and 5th street when William died from stomach cancer. According to his Massachusetts death record, he was buried at St Augustine's[xix].
William's wife Catherine filed for a civil war pension in December of 1866 and then moved north to Syracuse with her son Joseph around 1885. In 1889 the Syracuse Evening Herald published an article about her titled "Spry as a Girl" stating "she has more life and animation than many of the younger generation."[xx] She lived until the age of 89 and her body was transported via train back to Boston so she could be interred in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston.[xxi].
If you know more about this family or Gettysburg Union prisoner's of war, I'd love to hear from you! I am hoping to learn more about William and Catherine from the pension documents and maybe someday to learn about Catherine's Welch heritage which was mentioned in the Syracuse newspaper! Also in a future article I'll include a great photo of her that was published in the Syracuse newspaper.
CHILDREN:
May Kate Shackford - (1846-1885) - Singer with the Boston Ideal Opera Company for three years, married John Loughrin at the age of 38 and died in Boston in childbirth a year later.
Joseph Edward Shackford (1849-1920) - Commercial Traveler, married first Elizabeth A Myers in 1873 in Boston, moved to Syracuse, NY, granted divorce with custody of two children in 1886, then married Donna Lovilla Evans Oct 1887, had three more children. Remained in Syracuse until his death in 1920 at the age of
71.
Possible son Buchannan Shackford (1849-before 1850)
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SOURCES
[i] "American Civil War Soldiers," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 May 2013), William Shackford
[ii] Adjutant General, Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the Civil War (Name: Vol I, Norwood, Mass., Printed at the Norwood Press, 1931;).
[iii] Marriages Registered in Boston, "Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988," database, ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accesssed 16 April 2013), William Shackford married Catherine Mullett; Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records.
[iv] Stimson's Boston Directory: Containing the Names of the Inhabitants, Their Occupations, Places of Business, and Dwelling Houses, and the City Register, with Lists of the Streets, Lanes, and Wharves, the City Officers, Public Offices and Banks, and Other Useful Information (Boston: Charles Stimpson, Jr., 1839), p. 354, William B Shackford; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 May
2013).
[v] Stimpson's Boston Directory;: Containing the Names of the Inhabitants, their Occupations, Places of Business, and Dwelling Houses, and the City Register, with Lists of the Streets, Lanes and Wharves, the City Officers, Public Offices and Banks, and Other Useful Information (Boston: Charles Stimpson, Jr., 1840), p. 368, William B Shackford; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 May
2013).
[vi] Docema, "Damrell's Fire," database, Damrell's Fire (http://www.damrellsfire.com: accessed 13 May 2013), Boston Directories
[vii] The Boston Directory: Containing The City Record, A General Directory of the Citizens, Special Directory of Trades, Professions, &c. (Boston: George Adams 1849), p. 252, William B Shackford; digital image,
Google eBooks (http://books.google.com : accessed 13 May 2013).
[viii] The Boston Directory for the year 1851: Embracing The City Record, A General Directory of the Citizens, and A Special Directory of Trades, Professions, & c. (Boston: George Adams, 1851), p. 221, Shackford, Wm. B; digital images, Google eBooks (http://books.google.com : accessed 13 May
2013).
[ix] The Boston Director For the Year 1852: Embracing The City Record, A General Directory of the Citizens and a Business Directory (Boston: George Adams, 1852), p. 229, Wm B Shackford; digital image, Google
eBooks (http://books.google.com : accessed 13 May 2013
[x] 1855 Massachusetts State Census, Boston, Suffolk, Ward 10, p. 30, Dwelling 180, Family 209, William B Shackford; digital images, Family Search (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 13 May 2013).
[xi] Boston Directory For The Year 1856: Embracing the City Record, A General Directory of the Citizens, and A Business Directory (Boston: George Adams, 1 July 1856), p. 801, William Shackford; digital image,
Googe eBooks (http://books.google.com : accessed 13 May 2013)
[xii] Ancestry.com, 1860 United States Federal Census (Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Eighth Census of the United States, 1860. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860. M653, 1;), Year: 1860; Census Place: Boston Ward 12, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: M653_525; Page: 185; Image: 186
[xiii] The Boston Directory.: Embracing the City Record, General Directory of the Citizens, and a Business Directory For The Year Commencing July 1, 1861 (Boston: Adams, Sampson, & Company, 1861), , William Shackford; digital image, Google eBooks (http://books.google.com : accessed 13 May 2013
[xiv] The Boston Directory: Embracing the City Record, General Directory of the Citizens and a Business Directory For the Year Commencing July 1,1862 (Boston: Adams, Sampson & Company, 1862), p. 365, William B Shackford; digital image, Google eBooks (http://books.google.com : accessed 13 May
2013).
[xv] U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 May 2013), William B Shackford 1st Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry; citing M544 roll 36
[xvi] Adjutant General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Schouler, Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1864: with Reports from the Quartermaster General, Surgeon-General, and Master of Ordinance for the Year Ending December 31, 1864 (Boston: Wright & Potter, State Printers No 4 Spring Lane, 1865), p. 170; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 May 2013
[xvii] American Civil War Soldiers," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 May 2013), William Shackford
[xviii] 1865 Massachusetts State Census, Boston, Suffolk, Ward 12, City of Boston County of Suffolk, Dwelling 3324, Family 5397, William Shackford; digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 14 May 2013).
[xix] Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, , William Shackford, ;digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 May 2013)
[xx] Evening Herald, Oct 23, 1899
[xxi] "SHACKFORD," Boston Herald, ; Genealogy Bank (http://www.genealogybank.com/ :accessed 16 April 1916)
Copyright 2017 Joanne Shackford Parkes (sharing a link to this post is appreciated but please do not just copy this material and paste it elsewhere) (Updated in 2017 to correct error in ancestry of William Brown Shackford)