An Albany African American in a “White” Civil War Regiment

William Topp Lattimore was an African American, born in Albany in 1844.

His grandfather Ben Lattimore Sr. had been one of the few Black men who served in the Revolutionary War.

His father Ben Jr. was a key player in the Underground Railroad (UGRR) in Albany, working as early as 1828 to keep 2 Black children in the city from being sold into slavery in the South. William was named after his father’s good friend, William Topp, another Black man in Albany who was part of the UGRR.

By 1847 he moved the family from Albany to Moreau NY, just south of Glens Falls, where he bought an orchard and established an UGRR station. It was a family affair – and included the oldest of the 11 Lattimore children.

In late Summer 1861, when the call went out for volunteers for the Union Army William, known as Billy, enlisted in the 77th NY, the Saratoga regiment. (He lied about his age.) He served alongside his friends and neighbors who clearly knew he was African Anerican.

Billy’s service was extraordinarily rare. We’ve yet to find another story like his. At that time Black men were prohibited from serving in the Union Army. Yet it appears no one cared that he was African American.

Billy was one of the first men wounded at the Battle of Fort Stevens, in defense of Washington D.C. (President Lincoln and his wife Mary went to observe battle and were told to take cover.) Billy recovered from his severe wound and re-joined his Regiment in late 1864. He mustered out at the end of the War.

(Had he been captured wethink the Confederates would have treated him brutally; they loathed Black Union soldiers.)

After the War Billy went to live in NYC, working as a waiter. But on the death of his father in 1871 returned to take care of the orchard and Mother and sisters.

He joined the GAR (Union Veterans Organization. – Grand Army of the Republic) in Saratoga Springs in the mid 1880s. The entire family moved to that city about 1888. For the rest of his life Billy was a proud member of the GAR, attending all re-unions and serving as an officer on a number of occasions until his death in 1915. He’s indicated in the photo below by the blue arrow.

Billy buried in Greenridge Cemetery in Saratoga Springs with his mother, father and other family members.

Copyright 2021 Julie O’Connor

William Henry Johnson; Albany’s Forgotten Black Civil War Soldier

If you research Black soldiers from the North in the Civil War you will mostly find references to what were known as the “Colored Troop” (CT) regiments formed in 1864. (Black men weren’t permitted to serve in the Union Army until late 1863. ) The most well-known of these regiments is the 54th Massachusetts memorialized in the movie “Glory”. In New York State 3 CT regiments were raised. About 100 men from Albany served in 54th Massachusetts and the New York colored regiments

If you dig deeper you will find stories of Black men who served in white units, like William Lattimore, born in Albany in 1844, who enlisted with the 78th NY (known as the “Saratoga Regiment”) in late summer 1861. He was severely wounded at the battle of Fort Stevens defending Washington D.C., but served until the War was over. Today the number of men who were allowed into these white regiments (for a variety of reasons) is estimated to be between 5,000 – 6,000, but new stories are found all the time, and it’s quite possible there were many more.

Finally, there are men who served in an extraordinary capacity. One of those was William Henry Johnson. Johnson was born in Alexandria, Va. In 1833, but raised in Philadelphia. In 1850/51 he came to Albany; it appears that he quickly became associated with Stephen Myers, who was by then the supervising agent for Albany’s Underground Railroad (UGRR) helping enslaved Blacks from the south find freedom.

In 1852 he married Sarah Stewart.

Her father, John G. Stewart, had been born a free man in Albany, and became a barber. He was active in the Black community and in anti-slavery activities. In 1831 he started publication of “The African Sentinel”, the second Black newspaper in the U.S. He went on to attend some of the first National Colored Conventions (the only forum for free Black men to discuss political issues of the day- since most of them were denied the right to vote, even in the North). Stewart is linked to Stephen Myers and the UGRR as early as 1831 – it seems quite possible that Stewart’s wife Leah was related to Myers’ wife Harriet.

But in 1855 the couple left Albany and re-located to Philadelphia. There Johnson continued to be active in UGRR activities, and assumed a large and outspoken role in the Black community. He was part of a group of known as “The Leaders” who formed the “Frank Johnson Guard”, a militia organization associated with the Black members of the UGRR. (There were similar militias in Harrisburg, Cincinnati, New York City and Binghamton.) Local white militias would not permit Black men to join, and the Black militias were left mostly not bothered by the white community, because it thought Black men would not fight, couldn’t fight and it was all show.

In August 1859, on the eve of a parade by the Guards, who should appear but John Brown, in the company of Frederick Douglass.

Brown urged the Guard members to tone it down at the parade, to not us use intemperate language, for fear they would rouse suspicions about the Harper’s Ferry Raid, planned for later in the year. Johnson, who had been prepared to deliver a thundering incendiary speech, agreed. In October Brown returned to Philadelphia in an effort to recruit Black men to serve with him. Since Johnson was expecting his first child Brown refused to let him volunteer.

In December 1859 after the failed raid Douglass and some members of the Guard in Philadelphia scrambled. Douglass, who had been discussing plans with Brown and helping him raise money for several years, wired his son in Rochester to destroy documents and fled to New York City. We think the Johnsons returned to Albany.

In April, 1861 shots were fired at Fort Sumter and the War began. Initially Johnson applied to the local Albany militia, but was refused the opportunity to enlist. So, Johnson and other Black men made their way to Connecticut, and associated themselves with the 2nd Connecticut Volunteer Infantry formed in May 1861. Their status is not clear; there are sparse military records for these men during the first years of the War, when Black men were prohibited from fighting. They existed in a sort of limbo, although Johnson does refer to his “enlistment”.

But Johnson sent dispatches from the War front to the Boston newspaper “ The Pine and Palm” (published by James Redpath*, who would become John Brown’s first biographer.)In the dispatches it appears the Johnson and the others MAY have been allowed to participate in all activities of the the Regiment, but he refers to himself as an “independent.” They traveled with the Regiment to bivouac at Camp Mansfield in Washington D.C., and were part of the encampment. Johnson and the other fought in the bloody first Battle of Bull Run in July 1861 (a huge Union loss).

After the 2nd infantry was disbanded ( there was 3 month enlistment duration because the Union was confident it would lick Johnny Reb in no time), Johnson and his group attached themselves to the 8th Connecticut Regiment, calling themselves the “8th Colored Volunteers”. While with this regiment he fought at the Battle of Roanoke Island in North Carolina under General Burnside in February 1862. Johnson became ill and returned to Albany, but military records appear to indicate that some of the other Black men with whom he volunteered remained in military service until the end of the War**

Johnson was in Albany when the prohibition against Black soldiers in the Union Army was lifted. He then became the chief recruiting officer in the Albany area for the 54th Massachusetts Regiment and the NYS Colored Troop Regiments.

1864

After the War Johnson went back to barbering (his shop was on Maiden Lane), and established himself as a major force in Black politics in the Albany and New York State. He’s credited with being a prime mover behind the first New York State equal rights legislation, enacted in 1873 and the successful effort to de-segregate Albany public schools in 1873.

He became so well known that in August 1875 the now famous Black sculptor Edmonia Lewis (from East Greenbush and Albany) presented him with a bust of Charles Sumner at the A.M. E. Church on Hamilton St.

Throughout the late 1800s Johnson continued to work on behalf of equal rights for the African American community, culminating in the Elsberg Bill, signed by Governor Theodore Roosevelt, that officially de-segregated New York State Public Schools.

Circa 1900

Sadly, Johnson died almost a pauper at the Little Sisters of the Poor on Central Ave., six months after his beloved Sarah, in October, 1918. They are buried at Albany Rural Cemetery in unmarked graves. (We only know because Paula Lemire, Cemetery historian, has found plot maps.)

*Redpath is credited as being one of the group of Blacks and whites who created the first Memorial Day in Charleston in 1865, by honoring the graves of Union soldiers who died in a Confederate POW camp.

**More research needs to be done on the role Johnson and other Black men played in military combat in the early days of the War. Juanita Patience Moss in Forgotten Black Soldiers Who Served in White Regiments During the Civil War makes a good start. Johnson’s autobiography includes tantalizing references – the Black men may have trained together, rather than with the main regiment, but he also refers to a large number of Black men in the 8th Connecticut camp. About 30 years later a local newspaper makes a point that it’s a shame that Johnson is not eligible to collect a pension.

Copyright 2021 Julie O’Connor

African American Men from Albany in the Civil War; the 54th Massachusetts, NYS “Colored Regiments” and an African American serves in the 77th “Saratoga Regiment”

By the end of the Civil War roughly 175,000 black men (10% of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army, and another 19,000 served in the Navy. About 4,500 men from New York State served in the War. So far we’ve found the names about 90 men with links to Albany.

Black men were not allowed to serve in the Union Army until 1863 when Massachusetts raised the 54th regiment of “colored troops” in spring 1863. These are the men whose gallantry and courage are portrayed in the movie “Glory”. By early 1864 New York State finally raised 3 regiments of colored troops – the 20th, the 26th and the 31st. About 3,000 men from New York and elsewhere enlisted in this regiments, and in similar regiments mustered in the other Union states. Other Black men served in the Navy before 1863, scattered on various Union ship as cooks and stewards.

The 54th Massachusetts

We’ve identified 10 men from Albany County (mostly from Albany city) who served in the 54th Massachusetts.

• Charles Bell – age 20, waiter, private
• William Briggs – age 21, waiter, private
• William Everson – age 19, laborer, private
• William Francis – age 30, waiter, private
• Benjamin Helmus – age 21, waiter, private
• James Jones – age 33, waiter, mustered out as Sargent
• Edgar Morgan – age 20, laborer, private
• Alexander Thompson – age 25 laborer, private
• John Titus age 21, laborer, private
• George Alfred Wilson – 23, laborer, private

Bell, Briggs, Everson, Francis, Helmus, Jones, Morgan, Thompson, and Titus went to Massachusetts, and enlisted as a group on March 29, 1863, and became part of Company E. All but two of the of the men, Bell and Wilson, are identified as being present at the attack of the 54th on Fort Wagner in Charleston, South Carolina. Although the attack was unsuccessful it proved to the nation that Black men could fight with courage, bravery and skill. The Confederate soldiers buried the dead Union soldiers in a mass grave, and in a gesture of utter contempt, threw the body of their white commander Col. Robert Gould Shaw in the same pit. Later Shaw’s father wrote, “We would not have his body removed from where it lies surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers. … We can imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor wish for him better company. – what a body-guard he has.”

While some of the men from Albany were wounded, all but one survived – William Briggs died from his wounds a number of days after the battle. Some of the wounds were horrendous, and left many of the men serious disabilities from gunshot and bayonet wounds.

Alexander Hill from Hudson died in Albany in 1876; his death was attributed to the wounds received at Fort Wagner.

NYS Colored Regiments

The 20th, the 26th and the 31st regiments were raised in in New York City in Spring 1864. While many people were not totally on board with NY establishing African American regiments the State was having difficulty meeting its enrollment quotas, and the draft was despised. We’ve identified about 50 men who were born or lived in Albany County who served in these regiments.

Most of the Albany men were members of the 20th and 26th regiments, the first two established. Many of the volunteers were from outside of the city; farmers and laborers from Bethlehem, Coxsackie, Rennselaerville, etc. Most were in their late teens or early 20s. We need to do more research to find out more, but we can tell you some about two of the men.

William Latour was an older man, age 38, and a barber when he enlisted in the 26th NY (CT). His father Henry was born enslaved on the farm owned by the French aristocrat émigré the Marquis de La tour du Pin who fled to this area in the 1790s after escaping the guillotine in the French Revolution. When they purchased their farm in Watervliet Madame La Tour was shocked that General Schuyler and others advised that they would be unable to sustain the farm without slaves. It appears that when the family sold the farm before their return to France in 1798 they freed those they had enslaved. (There is no mention of slaves in the description of the farm used for the sale.) Most of the those previously enslaved made their way to Albany city, and appear as free people in the very early city directories. Henry was one of the Black men who attended the first New York State Colored Convention held in Albany in 1840, and played a pivotal role in aiding the escape of the fugitive Charles Nalle in Troy NY in 1859. (In the nick of time Henry arrived with a wagon and whisked him away, with the help of Harriet Tubman.)

Sylvester Dorsey was born in Ithaca and enlisted in the 26th in 1864. He was also 38. After the War he settled in Albany (we think that there was a family relationship with the family of John Titus who served with the 54th Massachusetts). In Albany he married Frances Johnson, a member of a leading Black Albany family. He was a blacksmith by trade, and in 1879 he was the armorer for the Albany Zouave Cadet Company (which would become part of the 10th NYS National Guard). In 1910 the history of the Company was published and this description of Sylvester Dorsey in 1879 appears:

“Many of the exempts (note: this means members of the Company) will remember the faithful old servitor, and will the dispute the truth of the present day saying about all “coons” looking alike. Dorsey has an individuality all his own, and as the members of the old Guard conjure up his shining ebony face there will come trooping many recollections of happy days gone…”

(By 1879 many members of the Company were young and merely “playing” at being a soldier, yet Sylvester Dorsey had actually served in the War.)

Other Colored Troop Regiments

Based on information from various data bases we found another 40 or so additional African American men born in Albany who served in the other “colored” regiments across the North and in the Union navy who enlisted in places as diverse as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maine.

Black Men Who Served in White Units

No one really knows how many African American soldiers served with white regiments in the Civil War. A low estimate is about a 1,000, and they are thought to have been mostly “contrabands”, enslaved men who made it to Union positions, and served as cooks and officer valets and stewards in white regiments.

But what we found turns that theory on its head. In late summer 1861, at the very start of the War, William Topp Lattimore , an African American born in Albany enlisted in the 77th NY (the “Saratoga Regiment”). Their grandfather, Benjamin Lattimore, who had been one of the few Black Revolutionary War soldiers, settled in Albany in the late 1790s. He had been instrumental in creating the first African school in the city and had been a major mover and shaker in the Black community. His son, Benjamin Lattimore, Jr., followed in his father’s footsteps. He was an active member of Albany’s African American political and social community, an ardent abolitionist and a member of Albany’s Underground Railroad (UGRR). In 1847 he pulled up stakes and moved his large family to a farm he purchased in Moreau N.Y. in Saratoga County just south of Glens Falls. There he continued his UGRR activities.

he time the War started both William (Billy as he was called) had lived in Moreau for 14 years. He enlisted and fought side by side with the white men with whom he had attended school and church.

Billy re-enlisted (he may have been the only African American soldier, or one of a few who served at Gettysburg), and was seriously wounded at Fort Stevens in 1864. After the War Ben became a rolling stone, traveling across the country, finally ending up as a porter at a San Francisco Hotel for several decades. Billy first went to New York City and then came back to the farm after his father died in 1873. For the rest of his life he would remain proud of his military service and was an active member of the 77th NY GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Association for Union Army veterans. He attended every encampment and reunion, and often served as an officer of the Association.

We aren’t sure if the enlistment of the William Lattimore is a complete anomaly or similar enlistments happened across the North. We do know, based on picture of Billy in a large GAR re-union he was very light skinned (the family is listed variously as Black or Mulatto in different census data.) There is no indication in any military active service or pension records that either brother was not white. It’s a mystery that’s worth pursuing.

Here is the list we have so far of Albany men who served in colored regiments or the U.S. Navy,

• Alexander, John – U.S. Navy
• Anthony, Andrew 8th US CT
• Anthony, Fleetwood – 29th NY CT
• Baker, Charles – 26th NY CT
• Becker, John Henry – 20th NY CT
• Brent, William – 2nd Cav CT
• Brown, Jackson – 20th NY CT
• Bulah, Joseph – 11th Heavy Artillery CT
• Burns, William – 26th NY CT
• Cain, Andrew – 26th NY CT
• Cambridge, Samuel – U.S. Navy – “Grand Gulf”
• Cane, David – 26th NY CT
• Ceasar, John – 31st CT – KIA in Petersburg
• Champion, Theodore – 26th NY CT
• Cisco, John 20th – NY CT (also listed as 31st CT)
• Crummel (Cromwell?), James – 5th Heavy Artillery CT
• Curtis, Milo – 20th NY CT
• Darby, George = 26th NY CT
• Dickson, Albert – 26th NY CT
• Dickson, Peter – 20th NY CT
• Dickson, Richard – 26th NY CT
• Dickson, William – 26th NY CT
• Diffenderf, Henry – regiment unknown
• Dixon, Robert – 26th NY CT
• Dorcey, Abraham – 20th NY CT
• Fletcher, Harvey – 26th NY CT
• Green, Zebulon – 11th Heavy Artillery CT (also appears to be listed as sailor and 24th CT)
• Groomer, Solomon – 26th NY CT
• Habbard, Luther – 26th NY CT
• Hallenbeck, William – regiment unknown
• Harden, Steven – U.S. Navy “Mohongo”
• Harding, George – 8th US CT
• Holland, George – 20th NY CT
• Harding, Morris – 26th NY CT
• Holland, George – 20th NY CT
• Hollin, Samuel – 26th NY CT
• Holmes, Poliver – 26th NY CT
• Houzer, Richard – 3rd CT
• Ingold, George – 29th NY CT
• Jackson, Abram – 26th NY CT
• Jackson, Anthony – 36th NY CT
• Jackson, Charles – 11th Heavy artillery CT
• Jackson, Jacob – 26th NY CT
• Jackson, Jerod – 26th NY CT
• Jackson, John – 31st CT
• Jackson, Joseph – 26th NY CT
• Jackson, Prime – 31st CT
• Jackson, Robert – 26th NY CT
• Jackson, Samuel – 26th NY CT
• Jackson, William – 26th NY CT
• Jackson, William Henry – 11th heavy artillery CT
• Jarris, Henry – 26th NY CT
• Johnson, Daniel – 26th NY CT
• Johnson, David – 26th NY CT
• Johnson, Henry – 20th NY CT
• Johnson, Nicholas – U.S. Navy
• Johnson, William – 44th NY (may be in accurate)
• Johnston, Henry – 24th CT
• Jones, Davis – 20th NY CT
• Jones, Solomon – 1st CT and 1st CT Cavalry
• Keyser, Zacariah – 26th NY CT
• Kniskern, Harrison – 61st NY (may be inaccurate)
• Lavendar, Benjamin – 11th Heavy Artillery CT
• Lawyer, George – 20th NY CT
• Lewis, Peter – 26th NY CT
• London, George – 26th NY CT
• London, Michael Thomas – 26th NY CT
• Manuel, Charles – 26th NY CT
• Marco – 30th NY – probably inaccurate
• Moore, John – 41sr CT (New Hampshire)
• Morgan, George – 14th Rhode Island CT
• Morgan, Henry – 11th Heavy Artillery CT and 14th Rhode Island CT
• Morgan, Luther- 20th NY CT
• Murphy, Charles – 20th NY CT
• Nash, James -26th NY CT
• Nash, Samuel – 26th NY CT
• O’Neil, William – 26th NY (also listed with 31st CT)
• Panton, Charles – no regiment listed CT
• Raymond, J.S – 5th CT Cavalry (Mass) CT
• Richard, Hart – 26th NY CT
• Richard, Scott – 26th NY CT
• Rix, Ambrose – 144th NY (probably inaccurate)
• Rondout, John – no regiment listed
• Saulter (Salter), Isaac – 26th NY CT
• Sawyer, George – 30th CT
• Scott, Richard – 30th CT (also listed as 26th NY CT)
• Smith, William – 8th CT
• Smoke, Josiah – 20th NY CT
• Smoke, William – 31st CT
• Snyder, Thomas – 18th NY (probably inaccurate)
• Spanberg (Speanbergh), Henry – 91st NY (probably inaccurate)
• Sternbergh, Lorenzo – 26th NY CT
• Sternberg, William – 26th CT
• Stewart, John – 26th NY CT
• Stewart, William – 29th NY CT
• Sutphen, James – 31st CT
• Swailes, Thomas – U.S. Navy – U.S. Saratoga
• Swan, Elisha – 26th NY CT
• Sylix, Andrew – 20th NY CT
• Teabout, Joseph Henry – 11th heavy artillery CT
• Ten Eyck, Anthony – 20th NY CT
• Thompson, John – 20th NY CT
• Thompson, Prime – 26th NY CT
• Thompson, Lysander – 26th NY CT
• Tilson, John – 26th NY CT
• Titus, George – regiment unknown
• Van Cruren, Peter – 6th cavalry CT
• Van Slyke, John – 26th NY CT
• Van Slyke , Samuel – 20th NY CT
• Vroman, Daniel – 26th NY CT
• Ward, Phillip – 31st CT
• Weddington, George – 20th NY CT
• White, John – 11th Heavy Artillery CT
• Wilbur, Noruse – 26th NY CT
• Williams, Edward – U.S. Navy “Sebago”
• Williams, Henry – 20th NY CT
• Williams, James – 20th NY CT
• Wilson, Frank – 8th CT
• Wright, Major – 26th NY CT

Copyright 2021 Julie O’Connor

John Swinburne, MD – Quarantine Pioneer

John Swinburne is mostly forgotten today, except for the Albany park named after him.

But he was medical pioneer whose worked had major impact on our city, New York State and our country.

An 1888 biography, “A Typical American,” made it clear that he was anything but — it calls him an eminent patriot, surgeon and philanthropist, “The Fighting Doctor,” and “one of Nature’s noblemen.”

John Swinburne was born in Lewis County in 1820; his father died when he was but 12. Despite having to work to support his mother and sisters, Swinburne was educated in local public schools and attended Albany Medical College, where he was first in his class (1846) and was appointed “demonstrator” in anatomy after graduation. He even started a private anatomy school, but soon entered private practice.

When the Civil War came he was made a commander in the New York National Guard, and as chief medical officer was put in charge of the sick at the Albany recruiting depot. He offered his services to Gen. McClellan as a volunteer battlefield surgeon, and was soon sent to Savage’s Station in Virginia .

As the Army of the Potomac retreated from that post on June 29, 1862, Swinburne was one of the few surgeons who remained behind to care for the sick and wounded, and he was noted for treating Union and Confederate soldiers alike. It was a month before all the wounded were removed to other hospitals, and Swinburne applied to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson for permission to visit the wounded Federal prisoners. Jackson’s pass made it clear that Swinburne was not to be treated as a prisoner of war.

He returned to New York, and remained in New York City, where his work on use of quarantines in a cholera epidemic brought him to the attention of the Mayor and the Governor. In 1864, he was made health officer of the Port of New York and immediately put to the task of establishing an effective quarantine facility, which he placed on islands, one of which, Swinburne Island, bears his name to this day. (It’s now part of the Gateway National Recreation Area.)

As we find today with other infectious diseases the cholera epidemic was spread through international travel. In 1865 he was credited with stopping a major outbreak in New York City from the ship “Virginia” from Liverpool and on another ship, “The England” through the use of quarantine.

“Doctor Swinburne … visited the steamers and hospitals at quarantine yesterday and reports them in excellent condition. There have been no cases of cholera on the Virginia for the past week. On the England none of the passenger have been attacked. There are ninety-eight in hospital, of which fifty-eight are convalescent”.

He retired from the Port and went to France, just in time for the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. With the support of the American expatriate community, he created the first ambulance corps in Paris to tend to the wounded, and for his efforts he was decorated as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, and  worked with the Red Cross of Geneva.

Swinburne returned to Albany, where he re-established his private practice and, in 1876, became Professor of Fractures and Clinical Surgery at Albany Medical College, and became one of the first to provide forensic testimony at trials involving medical evidence. He also found time to be elected Mayor (1880) and then to Congress (1884). While doing that he established the Swinburne Dispensary (clinic), which provided free medical services to as many as 10,000 patients a year.

His anonymous biographer wrote:

“His quiet benevolence, yet bold aggressiveness in fighting error and corruption in high places, both in professional and official stations, has given his life a charm unequaled in the past, and has won for him the admiration of the masses of the people.”

He died in Albany on March 28, 1889, and is buried at Albany Rural Cemetery, Section 30, Lot 11.

Carl Johnson from his blog Hoxsie.org .

Albany’s Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Memorial

Sometimes we take for granted the things we see every day. The Monument honoring Albany men who served in the Civil War probably falls into that category. It sits at the entrance to Washington Park at Henry Johnson Blvd.

Estimates vary, but we think about 7,000 -8,000 Albany soldiers and sailors served in the Civil War (Keep in mind the population of the city was about 62,000 in 1860.) They were old and young, married and single, and they were white and African American.

Yes, there were Black troops from Albany in the War. Most served in “Colored” regiments, but some served in “regular” regiments. (Much more research needs to be done to identify these men.)

Some of the men enlisted in regiments mustered in Albany, like the 44th New York. Others had moved out of the Albany by the time the War started, and enlisted in the towns and cities where they lived across the North.

They fought in almost every battle and naval action, from the first Battle of Bull Run, to the siege of Vicksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the clash of the Merrimack and the Monitor, and were there at the surrender at Appomattox Court House.

And those who returned formed Veteran’s organizations.*In Albany there were about 5 – my GGG Charles Zeilman, who fought at Little Round Top helped found the Lew Benedict Post. Quickly these individual posts banded together in a great association called the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR).

And so the local chapters of the GAR across the country raised funds and lobbied governments for memorials to those who served and died. These monuments can be found in big cities and small towns all across the North.

Most were built in the latter part of the 19th century, but in the early part of the 1900s it became clear that the Vets were growing old and passing away. So there was a re-newed push for monuments to commemorate their heroic efforts. In Albany that began about 1906.

The NYS Legislature appropriated $100,000 and additional funds were raised. The original location selected was Capitol Park, but that changed. There was a competition to select the design; the commission was awarded to Harmon MacNeil and represents “The Nation of Peace Won Through Victorious War”.

The monument is 22 ft. high and 21 ft. wide; it’s built from Tennessee marble and granite from Stoney Creek.

The inscription reads:

“In commemoration of the men of Albany who gave their lives to save the Union, and in grateful recognition of all whose patriotism aided to giving to this nation under God a new birth of freedom, in making love of country a national virtue and endowing our land with peace and prosperity. “

A bronze figure represents the country. She holds palms of victory and peace, and a sheathed sword of war. Etched in marble behind her are soldiers and sailors marching to her defense. On the other side is a Civil War battery in action. One end shows a wounded drummer boy; the other a soldier returning to his wife and child. There are about 60 life size figures cut into the monument.

The memorial was dedicated with a grand ceremony and parade in October, 1912.

Until  the Great War (World War I) and the creation of Memorial Grove and the Gold Star Mothers Monument in the Grove, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument was the focus of all Decoration (Memorial) Day activities.

*Sadly the Veterans posts mostly excluded African American soldiers who fought in the colored regiments. But in Saratoga County Billy Lattimore, (identified in the 1860 census as mulatto) fought with the 77th NY, and was an active member of the GAR for 50 years. (His grandfather Ben Lattimore Sr., a Revolutionary War soldier, is buried in Albany Rural Cemetery. )

However, the GAR national organization did include a number of African American members and officers who fought in regular and colored regiments, including a number of men who were born enslaved in the South.

Copyright 2021 Julie O’Connor

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Albany at Little Round Top -July 2 and 3, 1863

On July 2nd in 1863 the 44th NY regiment moved into place on the battlefield at Gettysburg.

Officers of the 44th NY

The 44th was mustered in Albany in August 1861. By 1862 the regiment had lost about 80% of its men, down to 200 from its original complement of about 1,000. Two companies of new recruits were added from the State Normal School, and another company from Yates County.

After a march of about 20 miles (following its last battle in Aldie, Va. in late June) it reached Gettysburg. The 44th was part of 3rd brigade of 5th Corps. It had seen brutal fighting at Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. It was moved into position on the southern end of the field, south of the small town of Gettysburg.

The Fight

Under the brigade commander Col. Strong Vincent, the 44th, part of the 12th NY, along with the 20th Maine, the 16th Michigan and the 83rd Pennsylvania, was moved into position on an undefended strategically important hill that would become known as Little Round Top.

The 44th was in the middle of the line. Down below were rebel troops from Alabama and Texas. Farther off were Confederate sharpshooters who had been forced into Devil’s Den by the 40th NY (another battle tested unit of veteran fighters) in Plum Run, trying to pick off Union soldiers one at a time.

The fighting began late in the afternoon of the the 2nd when the Union forces began to take fire from Confederate batteries once Union forces reached the top of the hill.

Col. Strong Vincent (83rd PA) was soon mortally wounded. Command was assumed by Col. James Clay Rice of the 44th NY, who left Col. Freeman Conner in charge of the of the 44th.

The fighting continued for hours. It was blazing hot. Water and rations were in short supply. The men of the 44th and the rest of brigade had slight cover from small rocks and scattered boulders

Initially part of the force tried advancing down the hill under the command of Capt. Lucius Larrabee (Company B, 44th). They made it about 200 yards down the slope; Larrabee was killed and the group retreated back up the hill.

The fighting would come in waves, as the Confederates launched several assaults, charging like “demons from Hell.”. Off to the side of the hill was a company of Maine Sharpshooters, whose skill tried to keep the Reb troops at bay, but they were not deterred. (Confederate casualties would be massive.)

The Union men held the line at great cost. 1/3 of the 44th was killed or wounded. Ammunition was in short supply. The contents of cartridge boxes of those no longer to able to fight provided ammunition for the living. The noise was fierce-some; the smoke haze caused by men to choke. It continued for hours. At one point Confederate soldiers came so close to the Union position there was a hand to hand skirmish near a hastily built stone wall.

As both forces grew weary the Confederate commander tried to out flank the Union line, held by the 20th Maine, commanded by Joshua Chamberlain. As the men from Albany, Michigan and Pennsylvania and the Sharpshooters provided cover with the little ammunition left, Chamberlain’s men tried a daring move that has become the stuff of legend. Short on ammunition, his men “wheeled” down the slope with bayonets fixed as the Confederates charged towards the end of the Union line held by the men from Maine.

At the same time Union reinforcements arrived, including the 140th and the 146th NY and 2 Pennsylvania regiments, on the other end of the line. The center line on the hill – still the men from Albany, Michigan and Pennsylvania – held, as the Confederate troop were descended upon from both Union flanks. The Rebels were vanquished.

On July 3rd the men defending the hill were relieved. When the fight for Little Round Top was over 106 men of the 313 from the 44th were dead or wounded.

Pickett’s Charge

General Lee would try one more time on July 3rd to break the Union forces when he ordered Pickett’s forces to launch an assault on Cemetery Ridge. There were 1,500 Union casualties. Rebel forces met with disaster; over 5,000 casualties and close to 4,000 men taken prisoner. The North had won; the tide of the War had begun to turn. But as Lincoln asked 5 months later, could the Nation tested as it had been, endure?

44th Monument

The 44th Regiment monument is one of the largest on the historic Gettysburg battlefield. There’s a plaque that details the service of the 44th in the War.

Daughter of the Regiment

It also contains the name of a woman from the Albany area, Lora Hudson Bissell, who served as the nurse with the 44th. Her acknowledgement is remarkable. We know little about her early life. She appears to have been the daughter of a Baptist clergyman, orphaned at an early age, who became a school teacher.

When the Regiment was mustered in Albany she wrote a poem in its honor. She captured the hearts of the men, and became the “Daughter of the Regiment”. She traveled with the 44th NY as a nurse, serving with a regimental surgeon, Elias Bissell, whom she married in 1864, at about the time the Regiment mustered out.

Although the 44th would go on to fight in some of the most brutal battles as the War dragged on, Little Round Top was the defining moment for the men who survived and for the families of those who died. It exemplified the tenacity, grit, courage and ingenuity of the Union soldiers and captured imagination of the North. It’s a dramatic point in time that encapsulates and symbolizes the War, and was a turning point in the Battle of Gettysburg and in War. Had Little Round Top not been held by Union forces we might live in a completely different country.

Copyright 2021 Julie O’Connor

Dr. Mary Walker, Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor and her time in Albany

I came across this picture, taken on State St. in 1911. It’s photo of Dr. Mary E. Walker.

I had one of those lightbulb moments. My Gram used to tell me about a nice old lady in Albany who wore men’s clothing. who often lived at the YWCA on Steuben St. Gram said her brothers and male cousins used to try to knock off her silk top hat with snowballs. And then her uncle would “thrash” them.

To be honest, I filed it under “whatever”. Just another Gram story (there were hundreds – oft repeated) and the reference to men’s clothing meant nothing to me. (I wore jeans.. so what?) Yadda Yadda Yadda. Now I wish I paid more attention.

Dr. Mary Walker is the only female recipient of the Medal of Honor. Her story is remarkable.

She was born in Oswego in 1832 into a family of devoted Christian non–sectarian “free thinkers”. By 1855 she’d earned a medical degree from Syracuse Medical College (only the second women in the U.S. to do so). She set up practice in Rome NY, but volunteered with the Union Army when the Civil War started.

Her initial petition to serve as a physician in the Army Medical Corps was rejected. Yet she waded in, tending the wounded with selfless devotion (and performing surgery when necessary). Finally in 1864 President Lincoln approved her petition, providing the male physicians agreed. Again, she didn’t wait for permission and traveled to the join the Army of the Cumberland. Walker was met with hostility. She compounded her sin of gender by her eccentric dress – she wore bloomers and treated Confederate civilians. Wild rumors circulated. She was a lesbian, she had a high ranking officer lover, she was a spy. In spring 1864 she was captured by Confederate troops and served as a POW for a number of months until released in a prisoner exchange.

In 1865 President Andrew Johnson awarded her the Medal of Honor (she was also awarded a military disability pension for injuries suffered). When a review of recipients was performed in 1917, her name, with about 900 others (including Buffalo Bill Cody), was deleted from the list, thought to have not sufficiently met the standard for the award. In 1977 President Carter’s Administration restored the Medal.

After the War Walker became involved in a variety of social and political reforms including temperance, women’s suffrage and dress reform. In her early days she wore trousers underneath shortish skirts. Later she settled on a traditional Prince Albert coat, necktie and trousers. She was arrested for her “costume” on several occasions as she traveled across the country lecturing and fund raising for her causes.*

It was the issue of women’s rights that consumed most of her attention in later years. Consequently, she spent much time in Washington D.C. lobbying Congress and attempting to sway the New York State Legislature. In the decade or so leading up to the first NYS referendum on a woman’s right to vote in 1915 (which was defeated) she was a constant fixture in Albany. Sadly it seems that her eccentricities deflected from her lobbying efforts.

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(Dr. Walker suffered an injury in 1915 and retired to her home in Oswego where she died in 1917. )

As I dimly recall from Gram stories the uncle who would “thrash” the boys for taunting Dr. Walker was a prominent figure in Albany Civil War veterans’ organizations. Thinking back, it seems he expressed no special warmth for Dr. Walker, but did demand the young men of Albany treat her with deference and respect for the role she’d played in the War.

*In 1982 the U.S. Postal Service issued a 20 cent stamp that featured a curiously feminine “very girly” image of Dr. Walker. She probably would not have approved.

Copyright 2021  Julie O’Connor

Albany’s 44th NY and the Battle of Gettysburg

On July 2, 1863 the Battle of Gettysburg was raging in its second day. Men from Albany were dug in on a boulder strewn hill, fighting for their lives and for the hill that would come to be known as Little Round Top.

Gettysburg was a defining moment in the lives of the men who fought on both sides, including men from Albany. We estimate that about 8,000 men from the city of Albany and environs served in the Civil War. (Pretty amazing considering the entire population of the City was about 62,000 when the War broke out). Of those, about 4,000 were probably at Gettysburg. (Most of the men from Albany who fought at Gettysburg served in 4 regiments, but there were Albany men scattered throughout the Union Army, taking part in the battle that sprawled over 10 miles – in the infantry, artillery, cavalry and men from Albany County hill towns who were among some of the best sharpshooters in the Army.

We spend a lot of time discussing the Battle of Saratoga and how it changed the outcome of the Revolution. About 90 years later the Battle of Gettysburg was no less fateful in preserving the nation created by the Revolutionary War. Men of the 44th NY Regiment, mustered from Albany in August and September 1861, were in the thick of it on Little Round Top. The fight for that hill is considered by many historians to be the key point in the Union Army’s defensive line that day and perhaps of the entire Battle. The Union Army’s victory at Little Round Top prevented Meade’s Army from being outflanked by General Lee.

The 44th NY Regiment was known by 2 names – “Ellsworth’s Avengers” after Col. Elmer Ellsworth from Mechanicville (who was killed while removing a Confederate flag from the roof of the Marshall House Inn of Alexandria, Virginia at the request of Abraham Lincoln) and the “People’s Ellsworth Regiment”. Several of the initial companies of the 44th were recruited from the city of Albany. (About a year later, another company was added, drawn mostly from students at the State Normal School.)

The expenses of the 44th Regiment were borne in large part by the city fathers. There were requirements for enlistment; at least 18 years of age and no older than 30, a minimum of 5’ 8”, single, of good moral character; previous military experience a plus. The men who joined were an eclectic mix – they represented all trades and professions and some were college graduates. My GGG uncles, Charlie and George Zeilman, joined up. Because Charlie had served in the local guard he was immediately promoted to sergeant of Company F, known as the “Albany Company”.

Much has been made about the men from the State Normal School who enlisted with the 44th the following year, so I thought I would tell you about 2 ordinary guys from Albany, since they’re more representative of most of the 44th and rest of the men from Albany who fought for the Union. The Zeilman brothers were the grandsons of a Hessian soldier who fought for the British in the Revolutionary War, and a German immigrant who settled in the Mohawk Valley and fought in Tryon County militia. The extended family ended up in the Albany in the late 1700s in what is now Arbor Hill. We know the family had a tradition of public service – some were captains and constables of the watch (what we would call police), others were strong proponents of public education as early as the 1830s and they were all staunch Republicans. For the most part they were tradesmen. Charlie was carpenter and George a paper hanger when they enlisted. Much of the Zeilman extended clan, which included relations by marriage, lived in small area of two blocks on Lumber St. (now Livingston Ave.) between N. Hawk St. and Lark St. So far we’ve found 5 cousins from the area who enlisted in other NYS regiments. There were millions of men who joined the Union army just like them. They were the heart and soul of the Northern forces.

The 44th recruits were housed in barracks in what that city had planned to be an Industrial school in the general area we call University Heights today, off New Scotland Ave. The barracks were near the Almshouse and far from the urban core.

The 44th NY were “Zouaves”. Their uniform was modeled after Col. Ellsworth’s unit, based on the Zouave Algerian regiment in the French Army – known for their “dash” and bravery. It consisted of a dark blue bolero type jacket, with red piping on the cuffs, dark blue trousers with a red stripe, a red billowy shirt, a dark blue forage cap, and a pair of leather gaiters.

And thus began the romantic phase of the War, before anyone could comprehend the brutality and death that was to come. It would be a glorious war. Officers were presented with gifts and feted at teas and receptions. The men and women of Albany drove up Madison Ave. in their carriages to watch drills; the recruits paraded through the streets to the cheers of city residents, accompanied by a regimental band of some of the best musicians in the city who had enlisted. The 44th was presented with a flag by the Mayor’s wife. The commander, Colonel Stryker, turned to the men and asked, “Boys, shall this flag ever fall?” The men responded in unison, “Never”. They left Albany in a great pageant of patriotism- flags waved and the crowd cheered – they were off to whup Johnny Reb in a matter of months and return as heroes.

The regiment, about 1,100 strong, left in October 1861; it was deployed in Virginia as part of V Corps of the Union Army and saw little action. That changed in late May 1862 at the Battle of Hanover Court House, north of Richmond. Then came the Seven Days’ Battle and the battles of Gaines Mill and Malvern Hill. The Second Battle of Bull Run in August followed. By October, 1862 only slightly more than 200 men from the original regiment remained – the rest has been killed, wounded, taken prisoner or were missing. After each battle, their families, like those across the country, frantically searched the action reports in the “Albany Argus” and the “Albany Evening Journal” praying they would not see the words “dead’, “killed in action”, “mortally wounded”.

Life in Albany continued against a back drop of sadness and anxiety. Dry goods stores stocked vast quantities of black crepe and other mourning goods. The Rural Cemetery which had rung the chapel bell for every internment stopped; the bell was now only rung in the morning and in the evening – the incessant din had become unbearable. Stone carvers and monument makers didn’t want for work.

By now the men of the 44th were battle tested veterans and war weary. It was no longer a glorious war. Uncle Charlie was commissioned a Second Lt. in October 1862 and First Lt. in January 1863. While we’re sure he was a fine soldier, officers who had fallen needed to be replaced. The Regiment served at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and the debacle at Chancellorsville. By June, 1863 the 44th was matching north towards Gettysburg, along with thousands of soldiers from the North and South.

On the afternoon of July 2, after a double time march that lasted over 12 hours, part of the 44th NY, including Company F, with Uncle Charlie and Uncle George, found itself on a strategic hill in the southern part of the battlefield. They were part of Strong Vincent’s brigade, and joined remnants of the 12th NY, and men from Pennsylvania in the center of the line. They were flanked by Michigan and Maine regiments. The fight that ensued is the stuff of legend. Waves of Texas and Alabama soldiers hurled themselves towards the boulder strewn hill; they were pushed back, only to advance again. The furious struggle lasted hours without a break, into the evening. The men from Albany grew weary, tired and thirsty. Fire was thick and relentless from both sides. Gun smoke enveloped the hill like a cloud. At times the Confederates broke through the line and hand to hand fighting pushed them back.

The Union men on the hill, including Company F, ran low on ammunition – they rifled the cartridge boxes of their dead and wounded. Finally reserve forces from the 140th NY arrived, just as the 44th was being flanked. The famous Col. Paddy O’Rorke, from Rochester, lead his men headlong into the battle,. O’Rorke was killed, but his men pushed through. On the other flank, Joshua Chamberlain, commander of the 20th Maine, ordered his men, now out of ammunition, to fix bayonets and drive into the rebel onslaught.

The Confederate soldiers retreated. There were 300 men from the 44th on the Little Round Top when the fighting started; when it was over 100 men were dead, wounded or missing – including Uncle Charlie who suffered a chest wound. The entire Brigade suffered 34% casualties, including 26 year old Strong Vincent who was mortally wounded.

Little Round Top was only one of several brutal battles across Gettysburg, The 2nd New Hampshire lost almost half its men in the Peach Orchard; men were mowed down in the Wheatfield and on Cemetery Hill. Over 3 days 160,000 men faced one another in an epic struggle. At the end of the Battle there were over 7,000 men dead, another 35,000 wounded and 10,000 missing. On the morning of the 4th of July 1863, with a third of his Army dead, Lee withdrew to the south. The Southern invasion into the North had been halted, Northern critics of the War were silenced and it became clear to the Confederacy that Lee’s juggernaut could be stopped, and for the first time, the South had to consider it might not prevail.

The War would continue for almost another 2 years and the men from Albany in the 44th would continue for much of that time. They fought at Rappahannock Station in Fall 1863, In the Spring campaign of 1864 the remnants of the 44th fought in the Battle of the Wilderness – Uncle Charlie was wounded again. The regiment went on to fight at Spotsylvania and Bethesda Church; he returned just in time to join the 44th at the Battle of Cold Harbor and the siege of Petersburg that lasted most of the summer 1864. Finally, after the Battle of Popular Grove in Fall 1864 what was left of the Regiment limped home and were mustered out in Albany in October 1864. Uncle Charlie was done soldiering, but Uncle George and several other men from the “Albany Company” who had managed to survive 3 years of horror transferred to other regiments, serving until the end of the War.

About 1500 men served in the 44th NY over the course of 3 years; 750 were killed or severely wounded or went missing.

A monument to the 44th NY, one of the largest on the Gettysburg Battlefield, stands on the ridge of Little Round Top where the men from Albany may have turned the tide of the War and saved the Union.

Of course the monument was designed by Uncle Charlie. After his meritorius service (and I think because he actually managed to survive, he was breveted to Captain after he mustered out of the 44th). The brevet rank was honorary, but he was rewarded by a grateful nation, as were many Union soldiers, through the Federal government patronage system. After the War he became one of the first 5 letter carriers, when mail delivery started in Albany in 1865. By the mid-1880s he was Deputy Postmaster of the City.

The other Zeilman cousins’ War experience is like many of the millions of men who served in the Union Army – 1 was promoted from corporal to captain, 1 died of disease, 1 deserted (and re-appeared in Albany years after the War was over), 1 was captured and released, and another just served his 4 years as a private – as they say, he was either lucky or kept his head down.

Copyright 2021 Julie O’Connor

LINCOLN’S ASSASSINATION AND THE ALBANY LEGACY

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln stunned the entire nation, but the events of that tragic night of April 14^th had particular meaning for Albany, with repercussions for decades. When Lincoln’s funeral train made its stop in Albany and his coffin was carried to the State Capitol on April 26, many Albany residents were also consumed by other horrific events still unfolding in Washington D.C. as a result of that horrific night.

THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF WILLIAM SEWARD

Often overlooked in history was the attempted assassination of William Seward, Secretary of State, that same April 14 evening when Lincoln was killed. Seward had deep connections in the Albany; he’d been a member of the NYS Assembly, 2 term NYS governor (he lived in the Kane Mansion  – the Schuyler Condos are located in that spot today), was elected U.S. Senator serving   over a decade until  he was appointed to Lincoln’s cabinet in 1861. Seward’s wife, Frances, attended the Troy Female Academy (Emma Willard) and had close ties with Albany Quakers and anti-slavery and women’s rights activists in Albany. His son Frederick attended high school in Albany and married Anna Wharton, daughter of a local druggist; for several years the couple live with the Wharton family on Hudson Ave in the 1850s while Frederick was the associate editor of the “Albany Evening Journal”.

John Wilkes Booth originally wanted to kidnap Lincoln. Having found no opportunity to abduct the President, Booth assigned conspirators to assassinate Seward and VP Andrew Johnson on the same night he intending on killing Lincoln.   Lewis Powell was dispatched to kill Seward in his bed (he was recuperating from an accident). Powell entered the Seward home on the pretext of delivering medicine, but was stopped by Frederick Seward.  Powell tried to shoot Frederick, but the gun misfired and Powell beat him severely around the head with the weapon. Powell then burst into the bedroom, jumped on the bed, and repeatedly stabbed William Seward in the face and neck..  A soldier guarding Seward wrestled Powell, but he was able to escape. The scene of the attempt was awash in blood.

(The plot to kill Vice President Johnson was abandoned.)

In total 4 members of the Seward family were injured.  His son Augustus and daughter Fanny suffered minor wounds.  Seward himself revived, but was significantly unwell for many months; he never fully recovered.  Frederick was severely injured, unconscious for days and lingered on the brink for at least a month – his wife Anna was distraught.  William Seward’s wife, Frances, disposed towards ill-health, died 2 months later of a heart attack, consumed by anxiety from the tragedies of that night. In Frederick’s 1915 biography he indicates that the physical and emotional wounds never healed for his family.

CLARA HARRIS AND HENRY RATHBONE AND THE LINCOLN ASSASSINATION

On April 14, 1865 Major. Henry Rathbone and his fiancée Clara Harris were in the presidential box in Ford’s Theatre when John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln. The Major grappled with Booth, who stabbed him with a knife and escaped.

Rathbone and Harris were both from Albany (step brother and stepsister). Rathbone’s father, Jared, an enormously wealthy businessman and former mayor of Albany, died in the mid-1840s.  (Jared built the estate Kenwood which became the site of the Convent of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart.).  Within a month, Louisa, the wife of Assemblyman, Ira Harris, died.    Harris courted Pauline Rathbone and they were married 3 years later.  The families blended and moved into the Harris home at 28 Eagle St, just south of State St.  In  1861 Harris was elected   U.S. Senator, succeeding William H. Seward.  Upon his arrival in Washington D.C.   Harris became the ultimate nudge. Lincoln biographer Benjamin Thomas wrote that Harris  was among Lincoln’s “most frequent evening visitors”   The President once claimed that he looked underneath his bed each night to check if Senator Harris was there, seeking another patronage favor.  Harris was often accompanied on these visits by his daughter Clara, who became a close friend of May Lincoln.  Mary also was also partial to Clara’s fiancée, Henry Rathbone (despite being step brother and sister, love had come their way.)

After he was shot Lincoln was carried across the street to Petersen’s boarding house. Harris and Rathbone escorted a distraught and dazed Mary Lincoln to the house.  While Rathbone went into the room in which Lincoln lay dying, Mary was kept outside, with Clara at her side.  Rathbone finally passed out from loss of blood from his wound; Harris held Rathbone’s head in her lap. A surgeon realized Rathbone’s wound was more serious than initially thought. And he was taken home while Harris remained with Mrs. Lincoln.  Harris later stated:

“Poor Mrs. Lincoln, all through that dreadful night would look at me with horror & scream, ‘oh! my husband’s blood, my dear husband’s blood’ ..It was Henry’s blood (on Clara’s dress) not the president’s, but explanations were pointless.”

Rathbone and Harris married two years later and had three children. But the events of April 14 had effected Rathbone in terrible ways for the rest of his life. He had contracted several illness during the War that left him sick for months at a time, and a “debilitated constitution”. He continued have mysterious illnesses, as well as emotional outbursts and horrific headaches after the marriage. Clara became increasing fearful for herself and her children.  In 1882 he took his family and sister-in-law Louise on a trip to Germany. In December 1883, he killed Clara; attacking her with a pistol and dagger and then slashed himself, just as Booth had done to Lincoln and Rathbone. Rathbone barely survived and afterward contended there had been an intruder.  He was committed to an insane asylum until his death in 1911.   The children returned to America to the care of their uncle, William Harris in the wake of the horrific event which made international tabloid headlines.

WHAT ABOUT THE DRESS?

At some point upon Clara’s return to Albany she took the blood soaked dress to her family’s summer house “Loudon Cottage” in Loudonville, an Albany suburb, and buried it in the back of her closet. But when was asleep at night she insisted Lincoln’s voice emanated from the closet. Anniversaries of Lincoln’s death supposedly triggered spectral events for both Clara and others.  Clara bricked up the closet, but people in later years still claimed to have heard gunshots, seen a blood soaked young woman standing with Lincoln, and manifestations of the paranormal.

In 1910 the eldest son of Henry and Clara, Henry Riggs Rathbone, had the bricks removed and the burned the dress an attempt to rid the family of what he perceived as the dreaded curse.

Copyright 2021 Julie O’Connor

The Albany Army Relief Bazaar for Civil War Aid and the Emancipation Proclamation -1864.

In February and March 1864, as the Civil War raged on, the Albany Army Relief Bazaar opened to raise money for the U.S. Sanitary Commission to aid sick and wounded Union soldiers. Stationary and field hospitals were nightmares; understaffed and with limited medical supplies and decent food.

While the leadership of the Commission was largely male, it was the women across the Union who did much of the work and fundraising. Fairs and bazaars were one way for the women on the home front to play a role. The first fair opened in Chicago in late 1863; others followed shortly thereafter.

The Albany Bazaar was held in a large temporary structure in Academy Park (about the size of a football field). There were such crowds each day, that although it was intended to close at February’s end, it continued into early March. It raised over $100,000 for the Sanitation Commission, a huge sum at the time. Everyone in Albany and surrounding towns (Kinderhook, Troy and Saratoga) pitched in, donating their time, services or goods. Behind the scenes there were carpentry, housekeeping, laundry and dish washing committees, comprised of people of little means who wanted to help. Before the Bazaar started, these committees raised nearly $500 out of their own pockets. In the lead up to opening there was a frenzy among the women of community- knitting, crocheting, quilting, lace making and basket weaving; no Victorian craft was left behind if it could sell at the Bazaar. Almost every merchant in Albany donated good and services; items ranged from hams to pianofortes.

On opening day there was a wide array of booths – including English, Irish, Japanese, Swiss (each competing to raise the most money), exhibits and services, a dining room and even a post office selling special Bazaar stamps. These were staffed by volunteers, ranging from society women, to members of the Afro-American community to the Shakers. If there was any way possible to make money, the Bazaar did.. Local photographers took pictures that were sold to attendees. There were concerts, raffles and an art exhibit. The Bazaar even had its own newspaper, “The Canteen” (for sale, of course).

Offsite there were balls, banquets, and, my favorite, a “Grand Billiard Soiree”. And when the Bazaar closed even the decorations and the building were sold to raise more money.

But the high point of the Bazaar was a lottery for the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln in his own hand. William Seward, then Secretary of State and former NYS governor and U.S. senator, persuaded Lincoln to donate. 5,000 tickets were sold at $1 each. The winner was Gerrit Smith, a well-known abolitionist and member of the lottery organizing committee, who donated it back to the U.S. Sanitary Commission. After a series of protracted high stakes negotiations following Lincoln’s death, the Proclamation was purchased for $1,000 by the NYS Legislature, with the proviso it remain in Albany. As a result of a fire in Chicago in 1871, the Albany Emancipation Proclamation is the only surviving Lincoln original. (Thankfully, it was rescued in the great Capitol fire of 1911.)

Copyright 2021 Julie O’Connor