William and Catherine Ferguson - Part 2

     In my last post, I introduced William and Catherine Ferguson, my husband's second great grandparents, and the trove of information about William that I found in his Civil War pension files.  Now to continue their story.

Affidavit of William Ferguson for Pension Jan 12, 1891

     William submitted his first pension application on Jan 12, 1891. Prior to 1890 the federal pension system for Union soldiers had evolved from something that provided for disabled soldiers and widows and children of those who died in service.  Pension laws established during the war were modified between 1861 and 1874 to provide for medical screenings and included disability that arose subsequent to the war.  Awards were first made up to $8 per month, and increased up to a maximum of $31.25 per month by 1874.  Partial disability resulted in partial pension payments, sometimes for a little as $1.  In 1890 the Disability Pension Act allowed veterans to make claims for pensions even if their disability was unrelated to military service.  This required the Pension Bureau to establish a system to verify claims for pensions through examination of doctors certificates, affidavits from employers, and neighbors, as well as statements from fellow veterans and service record reviews.  By 1891, the Pension Bureau employed over 2000 men and women in Washington to review and process claims. [1]
     When William submitted his first claim in 1891, he listed a disability due to a tumor on his left leg that he said was the result of an injury received during the Civil War battle at Hatcher's Run, VA[2].  This battle took place from Feb 5 to 7, 1865, and was part of the siege of Petersburg.  Over the next few months of 1891, the Pension Department received confirmation from the War Department that William had indeed been present during that battle[3], and an affidavit from a surgeon that he indeed had a disability due to a tumor on his leg.  The surgeon declared that he was eligible for 6/18 disability under the then existing pension law [4].
     In 1900 William and his family were living at 106 Neilson Street in New Brunswick, near the Raritan River.  William is described as a boatman.  Living with them were their sons Andrew and Charles.  Andrew was not employed and Charles was employed as a carriage painter.  Also living with them were William's nephew Phillip, a fish dealer, his wife Julia, their daughter Lizzie, and Clara Ferguson described as a daughter-in-law, but born in 1845 (making her older than William) and Clara's daughter Bertha May, aged 10[5].
     In 1902 William submitted another application related to  "ruptures" that he claimed were the result of an accident that had occurred in 1895 when he was working on repairs to a trolley line in Milltown, NJ, and a pole fell on him.  This was corroborated by several affidavits from those who were working with him at the time of the accident, as well as James H. Ferguson, his employer, who declared that due to the "ruptures" William was unable fully to perform manual labor[6].  The examining surgeon allowed a $10 pension[7].
     In 1907 Congress passed the Service and Pension Act, which granted pensions to all veterans over the age of 62.  Between 1908 and 1920 the rates were increased based on age and length of service[8]. In March 1907, William applied for the increased pension due to age, but as I explained in the last post, he couldn't prove that he was 62[9].  In May 1908, he was granted a pension of $12 based on his age at enlistment[10].
     By the May 1910 census William, Catherine, Andrew, and Charles were living at 20 Schurerman Street[11].  William is listed as a driver for a street cleaning company.  Andrew had not married and worked as a tire maker in a tire factory.  Charles worked as a coal shoveler in a coal yard.  Charles had married Julia McCann in about 1904, and fathered a daughter Sadie.  He listed himself as married for the past five years in the 1910 census, but had only lived with his wife and family for a short time.
     Catherine died on February 25, 1913 [12]  and was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in New Brunswick.  William's pension action record indicates that his pension was increased from $19 to $22.50 per month in May 1916, when he reached age 70, and again to $32 from June 10, 1918[13].  
     William died on March 21, 1919 of chronic nephritis and cardiac problems.  According to the statement for reimbursement provided to the Pension Bureau by his son Charles and his doctor, he was hospitalized at St Peters hospital for a week in early March, and after that he was cared for at home by his daughter, Mrs. Anne Vorhees.  He had no estate except for some clothes. He left two insurance policies, one for Charles in the amount of $72.72, and one for Anne in the amount of $36.60, which had cost $0.35 and $0.15 per week respectively[14].  He was buried at Elmwood Cemetery on March 27.  His funeral expenses were $248.00, to include the casket, embalming, the hearse with horses, and five limousines[15]. The Pension Bureau approved reimbursement of $57.60.[16]

1.  Peter David Blanck and Michael Millender "Before Disability Civil Rights: Civil War Pensions and the Politics of Disability in America" Alabama Law Review, Vol 52, No 1, Fall 2000. pp 1-9.
2.  Soldier's Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson, Private, Company I, 8th New Jersey Volunteers; Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Veterans Who Served in the Army and Navy Mainly in the Civil War and the War with Spain ("Civil War and Later Survivor's Certificates"), 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. Affidavit of claimant for Invalid Pension January 12, 1891.
3. War Department Record and Pension Division, Summary of service, March 11, 1891.  Soldier's Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson Private, company I 8th NJ Vol. Civil War and Later Survivor's  Certificates. RG 15, NAB.
4.  Surgeon's Certificate, Mar 25, 1891. Soldier's Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson Private, company I 8th NJ Vol. Civil War and Later Survivor's  Certificates. RG 15, NAB.
5.  Ancestry.com, 1900 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2004) www.ancesrty.com, Database online .Year: 1900; Census Place: New Brunswick Ward 3, Middlesex, New Jersey; Roll: T623_984; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 40.
6.  General Affidavit May 29 1902, W. Fredrick Stevens, Additional Evidence May 22, 1902, George Gamble, General Affidavit June 9 1902 James Chaplin, Affidavit Jan 14, 1902 James H. Ferguson.  Soldier's Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson Private, company I 8th NJ Vol. Civil War and Later Survivor's  Certificates. RG 15, NAB.
7.  Surgeon's Certificate Oct 17, 1906.  Soldier's Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson Private, company I 8th NJ Vol. Civil War and Later Survivor's  Certificates. RG 15, NAB.
8.  Blank and Millender. op.cit.
9.  Letter, Acting commissioner to William Ferguson. January 9, 1908. Soldier's Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson Private, company I 8th NJ Vol. Civil War and Later Survivor's  Certificates. RG 15, NAB.
10.  Pension Action Record. 1891-1912.  Soldier's Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson Private, company I 8th NJ Vol. Civil War and Later Survivor's  Certificates. RG 15, NAB..  
11.  Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2006) www.ancesrty.com, Database online .Year: 1910; Census Place: New Brunswick Ward 3, Middlesex, New Jersey; Roll: T624_898; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 137. Image 857.
12.  Application for Reimbursement. April 24, 1919. Soldier's Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson Private, company I 8th NJ Vol. Civil War and Later Survivor's  Certificates. RG 15, NAB.
13.  Invalid Pension Record card. Soldier's Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson Private, company I 8th NJ Vol. Civil War and Later Survivor's  Certificates. RG 15, NAB.
14.  Application for Reimbursement, April 24, 1919.  op. cit.
15.  Invoice.  W.H. Quackenboss, Dr. Furnishing Undertaker and Embalmer. Soldier's Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson Private, company I 8th NJ Vol. Civil War and Later Survivor's  Certificates. RG 15, NAB. Burial of William Ferguson, April 24, 1919. 
16.  Record of Reimbursement, May 17, 1919.  Soldier's Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson Private, company I 8th NJ Vol. Civil War and Later Survivor's  Certificates. RG 15, NAB. 17, 1919.  

William and Catherine Ferguson - Part 1

Grave of William and Catherine Ferguson
showing military service inscription

     For some time, my tree has included my husband's maternal second great grandparents, William and Catherine Ferguson.  I knew little about them except what his grandmother had told me; that they lived in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and that he and/or his brother had served in the Civil War.  I had been unable to find any record of them after the 1910 census, and my search of civil war record indexes had turned up several William Fergusons from New Jersey, but nothing to help me see which one might be him.  I was recently reviewing his records and found this new photo on FindAGrave.com[1].  It was from Elmwood Cemetery in New Brunswick, NJ, and although badly worn, it appeared to show a William and Catherine Ferguson.  The record said that William's date of death was 1919.  Catherine's date was unreadable.
     What really excited me was that the stone also appeared to show a partial inscription about military service.  I saw "Priv?? Co I", and "8 ?? Reg't???? Vol"  Further Civil War records search confirmed that there was a William Ferguson in Company I, 8th New Jersey Volunteers.  This was worth a follow-up.  I made a quick trip to the National Archives.  (I am so lucky to live nearby)  What I found was a treasure trove of information.  After a short wait, they handed me two folders, one small and one containing nearly sixty pages of original documents.  The details about his family allowed me to confirm that this was the right William Ferguson.
     William had both served in the Civil War and received a pension from the government as a result of his service.  The smaller folder was his service record, and the larger contained ten years worth of correspondence, affidavits, and records related to his pension.  Combined, these allowed me to document quite a bit about William's life and his family.  He was illiterate, but each of the documents carried his mark and a statement of the writer and witnesses where needed.
     William was born on February 14, sometime between 1841 and 1848, in New Brunswick, NJ.  The exact year of his birth was a matter of importance to the pension board and they documented no fewer than 22 documents that he had submitted showing different birth years between his enlistment and his death[2].  He submitted a letter [3] on the subject detailing his parents names ( Philip and Maria) and the names of his siblings (James, Edward, Mary Ann, Margaret, and Philip) so that the census bureau could search the 1850 and 1860 census for for Middlesex County to find the family and determine his age at that time.  They were unable to find the family in the census [4].
     On Sept. 1, 1864, declaring age 19, William, a fisherman, was mustered in as a private to the New Jersey Volunteers.  He was a substitute for a John Runyon of the 3rd Congressional District [5].  The Draft or Enrollment Act passed in 1863 allowed men who were drafted to hire a substitute to take their place in the Army.  The substitute could ask for substantial payment.  I have not found a record of what William received.  A history of the Regiment indicates that "At different times during the years 1864 and 1865 the strength of the regiment was augmented by the joining from Draft Rendezvous, Trenton, N.J., of large numbers of substitutes." Between his mustering-in date and his discharge, the regiment participated in at least nine engagements including the capture of Petersburg, and Lee's Surrender at Appomattox, VA.[6]  William's service record does not indicate that he was absent at any time during this period so one may assume he participated in those engagements[7].  [8]

William Ferguson's Muster-Out Roll 1865

Along with most of his comrades, William was mustered out of the service on June 4, 1865 near Alexandria, VA.  He made his way home to New Brunswick, presumably with the items for which the Army had withheld $63.82 from his pay: a knapsack, canteen, two greatcoat straps, a gun sling and wiper.
     According to the papers he submitted for his pension, on March 11, 1868, William married Catherine Cavalier in New Brunswick[9].  They quickly had several children.  In 1870 the census shows William and Catherine living in New Brunswick with a son John (age 5), and daughter Annie (age 8 mos)[10].  A son William, who had been born in 1867, had died in January of 1870[11].  William is listed as a laborer.  In the 1880 Federal census the family, now consisting of William, occupation fisherman, Catherine, no listed occupation, and three children, Annie (age 11), Andrew (age 10) and Charles (age 7) are still living in New Brunswick[12].  John is not listed and may have died as I have found no further record of him.  The 1890 Federal census was destroyed, but in the 1895 New Jersey Census, William and Catherine are found in New Brunswick with three children, Annie, Andrew, and Charles[13].

End of Part 1.

1.  Ancestry.com, U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2012) Ancestry.com. Record for William Ferguson
2. Handwritten List of documents, dates and ages. Soldiers Certificate File 725160, William Ferguson, Private Company I, 8th New Jersey Infantry; Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Veterans Who Served In the Army and Navy Mainly in the Civil War and the War with Spain ("Civil War and Later Survivors' Certificates"), 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives Building Washington, DC.
3.  Letter from William Ferguson to Civil War Division, 17 April, 1916. Soldiers Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson, Private, Co. I ,8th, NJ Inf, "Civil War and Later Survivors Certificates, RG 15 NAB.
4. Letter Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census to The Commissioner of Pensions, May 12, 1916.  Soldiers Certificate No. 725160, William Ferguson, Private, Co. I ,8th, NJ Inf, "Civil War and Later Survivors Certificates, RG 15 NAB.
5.   Certificate of Enrollment No. 473, Elizabeth, NJ. record for William Ferguson 1 Sept, 1864 . Company I, 8th New Jersey Infantry.  Civil War Compiled Records of Military Service in military units of Union volunteer organizations.  RG 109. NAB.
6. New Jersey State Library  New Jersey Civil War Record, p. 366 New Jersey Volunteers. Eighth Regiment- Infantry- Volunteers. Record on-line http://www.njstatelib.org/slic_files/searchable_publications/civilwar/NJCWn366.html.
7.  Civil War Compiled Records of Military Service. RG 109 NAB. Record for William Ferguson, Private, Co I, 8th  Reg't, NJ  Inf.  
8. Detachment Muster Out Roll. Record for William Ferguson, Private, Co I, 8th  Reg't, NJ  Inf.  Civil War Compiled Records of Military Service. RG 109 NAB.
9. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Pensions,  Questionnaire to William Ferguson Certificate No. 725160 Reply May 3, 1898. Soldiers Certificate 725160, William Ferguson, Private, Co I, 8th NJ Inf. " Civil War and Later Survivors Certificates" RG 15, NAB.
10. Ancestry.com 1870 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2003) record for William Ferguson.
11. Ancestry.com, U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010) Ancestry.com record for William Ferguson.
12. Database online. Year: 1880; Census Place: New Brunswick, Middlesex, New Jersey; Roll: T9_789; Family History Film: 1254789; Page: 30.4000; Enumeration District: 120; Image: 0487. Record for William Ferguson. 
13. Ancestry. com, New Jersey State Census, 1895 (Provo, UT, USA. The Generations Network, Inc., 2007) database online. Record for William Ferguson.   

Owen McGorman and Rachel Winslow

Marriage Record for Owen McGorman and Rachel Winslow
July 24, 1865, Castleblaney, Ireland

     The marriage record above is for my husband's great-great-grandparents, Owen Gorman (McGorman),  and Rachel Winslow.  This record was the first I found firmly putting his mother's family in a town in Ireland.   I had identified their names when I found the marriage record for his great-grandparents, Joseph Gorman and Julia Connolly, during a research trip to the New Jersey State Archives.  One of the difficulties of Irish research is that many of the names are common, John, Joseph, Mary, Bridget etc., and surnames often use or drop the prefixes "Mc" or "O'" at random, and his family was no different.  Here, however were two names that seemed more uncommon.  When I entered the two names into Ancestry.com, I at once came up with an index to marriage records showing these two names.  An index to birth records later showed children of this couple.  The names, although common, matched the known brothers of Joseph Gorman.  Later, when I was researching at the huge Family History Library in Salt Lake City, I was able to acquire this image of the actual marriage record, and the names of the bride and groom's parents..
     Owen Gorman, a laborer, son of Patrick Gorman, was born about 1845.  He married Rachel Winslow, daughter of Nilsen Winslow, on July 24, 1865, in the town of Castleblaney, county Monaghan[1], Ireland.  They had six sons and a daughter born in towns near Castleblaney,  John (Oct 23, 1865 in Kilmore)[2], Joseph W. (Jul 22, 1867 in Kilmore)[3], Owen (April 27 1870 in Ballyhay)[4], Thomas (Jul 10, 1872 in Ballyhay)[5],  Patrick (Apr 29, 1875 in Monaghan)[6], James D. (April 1877[7], and Mary (about 1878)[8].  Thomas died in 1874 in Castleblaney.[9]
       Owen, Rachel, John, Joseph, David, and James all seem to have emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1880s, according to various census records.  John Gorman appears in the 1885 census of Warwick, Rhode Island as a boarder[10].  According to his family, he married Mary Keenan there on November 15, 1887, and lived in Warwick until his death.   In 1895, the New Jersey State census[11] shows Owen, Rachel, David and James living in Somerville, Somerset county, New Jersey, along with Joseph and his wife Julia who had married on November 6, 1894[12].  

1.  Marriage Records 1845-1870 in the General Registry Office of Ireland.  Digital copy FHL film # 101479. Record page # 576 for Castleblaney District, County of Monaghan. Record for Rachel Winslow.
2 , 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.  Ancestry.com Ireland: Select Births and Baptisms 1620-1911. (Provo, UT. Ancestry.com Operations Inc,  2011) records for John McGorman, Joseph Gorman, Owen Gorman, Thomas Gorman, Patrick Gorman, James Gorman, and Mary Gorman.  Records online.
9. Ireland Civil Registrations Deaths Index 1864-1968 (Provo Ut Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2011) Record for Thomas Gorman. Record online.
10. Rhode Island State Censuses 1865-1935. (Provo UT. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2013) Ancestry.com record for 1885, John Gorman. Record online.
11. Ancestry.com New Jersey State Census 1895 (Provo UT. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2007) Ancestry.com record for Owen Gorman.
12.  State of New Jersey Marriage Return for Joseph Gorman and Julia Connolly Nov 6, 1894. New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, NJ.