William Wallace Shackford was born in Feb 1826 in New Hampshire to John and Susan (Gibson) Shackford. John was the son of Theodore and Dorothy (Kimball) Shackford of Chester, New Hampshire who died in March 1859 and mentions his grandchild Wallace to whom he leaves his house and land in Pembroke Village which was purchased of Lewis and Boardman. We're not sure why William was singled out as Theodore had many other living grandchildren.
William Wallace married Ann Marie Kelly of Montpelier, Vermont in Nashua on May 2, 1849. He worked as a blacksmith in Epsom, New Hampshire when the 1850 census was taken but by 1860 was living in Paterson, New Jersey with children Norman, Frank, and Estella. Originally we were unsure where his wife was when the census was taken and thought that perhaps she was ill as we believe she died later that year but after reviewing this census further, we believe that she is the Ann listed as age 12 born in Vermont and that her age should have been listed as 32 (fudged a bit as she was most likely 34).
The 1860s were busy for William. He remarried Pamelia, possibly in 1862, was included on a Class II Civil War draft list in June 1863, enrolled and mustered in the war as a private on Feb 23, 1865 in the New Jersey Volunteers, Company D, Fifteenth Regiment and was discharged at the U.S. Army General Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. on June 8, 1865. In 1870 we find him working as a blacksmith with Pamelia who was born in New York. The census lists children Norman, Estilla, William, Esther, and Edrick.
In 1879 William filed for a military pension, application 317, 814, certificate no 194, 980. We may find more information about him when the details of that pension request are digitized. In 1880 we find him in the census working as a blacksmith in Paterson, New Jersey with his wife Pamelia and children William, Esther, and Edrick. An 1887 directory lists them living at 26 Oak in Paterson. We believe that Pamelia died in 1891 and was buried at Laurel Grove Memorial Park in Totowa, New Jersey. Sometime thereafter William became a resident of the New Jersey Home for Disabled Soldiers in Kearny, New Jersey. He died in 1902 and was buried next to his wife in Totowa, New Jersey.
Over time we hope to learn more about William's military service, his life in Paterson, and more about the New Jersey Home for Disabled Soldiers. We'd love to also discover what brought him from New Hampshire to New Jersey in the 1850s.
SOURCES:
1850 United States Federal Census, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, population schedule, Epsom, Page No 454, dwelling 672, family 677, Wallace Shackford; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed ).
1860 United States Federal Census, Passaic County, New Jersey, population schedule, Paterson East Ward, Page no 82, household 491, family 640, Wm W Shackford; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 March 2014
1870 United States Federal Census, New Jersey, Passaic, Paterson, population schedule, Ward 5, p. 82 (penned), Dwelling 407, Family 709, Shackford Wm; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 May 2013).
1900 United States Federal Census, Passaic County, New Jersey, population schedule, Kearny Township, enumeration district (ED) Enumeration District No 180, Sheet No 1, New Jersey Home for Disabled Soldiers, Belgrove Dr, William Shackford; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 November 2015).
Find A Grave, Find A Grave, digital images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 30 May 2013), Pamela C Shackford
New Hampshire, New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973, Theodore Shackford; digital images, FamilySearch, http://www.familysearch.org (: accessed 24 February 2014); Merrimack, Probate Records 1839-1875 vol 16, page 219-220 (Image 114)
New Hampshire, New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947, , Wallace Shackford and Ann Maria Kelley, 2 May 1849; index and images, Family Search (http://familysearch.org : accessed 15 November 2015).
New Jersey Civil War Record (n.d.), page 712; transcribed pages, New Jersey State Library (http://slic.njstatelib.org/ : accessed 8 November 2013
"U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865," digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 November 2015), William W Shackford
"United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934," digital image, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : accessed 18 May 2014), William W Shackford