| Sources |
- [S61] 1860 Census, p. 213.
- [S1095] U.S., Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1863-1865.
- [S61] 1860 Census, p. 213. Age 15.
- [S782] Email: Richard Thomas, Samuel Drummond -- Should be removed from list; Email; 18 October 2014; John Deitz.
Samuel Drummond should be removed from the list, as it ishighly unlikely that the Samuel Drummond who lived in Fire Place in 1860 servedin the Civil War.
You will also need to correct your Hamlet People databaseentry for Samuel Drummond. The birth place and the two entries for CivilWar service should be removed.
Why These Corrections Should Be Made
It is true that a Samuel “Drummons,” age 15, servant, bornin New York, is listed in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census. He is shownliving with the George Burnett family on 15 Aug 1860. (See attached.)
It is also true that a Samuel Drummond of New York,who was black, enlisted in the U. S. Navy in May 1863 to serve as a cook.
And it is true that a Samuel Drummond who was born inMonmouth County, New Jersery, enlisted in Sep 1864 and served in the 41stU. S. Colored Infantry.
But these are three separate individuals.
How I Know There are Three Different Samuel Drummonds
It is easy to show that Samuel “Drummons” of the Burnettfarm isn’t the Samuel Drummond who joined the Navy.
On 09 Apr 1864, the Samuel Drummond, who joined the Navy forone year, although he was “Black,” was age 30. (He resided in theSixth Congressional District, was born in New York, and was 5’ 7 ½“tall.) (See attached.)
The “mulatto” Samuel Drummons of Fire Place would only havebeen 18 or 19 years old. Ages can be inexact in official records, but itis highly unlikely that an 18 or 19-year old would have been recorded as beingage 30, especially in a military record.
What about the other Samuel Drummond, who was the right agein 1864? He was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and enlisted in theU. S. C. T. for one year at Trenton at age 18 on 20 Sep1864. (See attached.)
We can’t exclude him on the basis that the 1860 Census saysthat the Samuel Drummons of the Burnett farm was born in New York, as the place-of-birth entries are often wrong.
So I looked to see whether I could exclude Samuel Drummondof Monmouth, NJ, by whether he was listed in the 1860 U.S. Federal Census asbeing in N. J.
He was.
He was living with his father, James, and mother, Hagar, andthe other members of the family in Middletown (New Monmouth) in MonmouthCounty, NJ, on 06 Jul 1860. In the 1860 census, the race of all membersof the family is given as “b.”
[I expect his mother was named for the Egyptian slave girl,“Hagar,” who Sarai (Sarah) offered to her husband Abram (Abraham), and who wasthe mother of Ishmael. “Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despisedSarai.” After Sarah herself had a child, Isaac, she had Hagar and Ishmaelthrown into the desert. “She went wandering aimlessly through thewilderness. When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved the childunder one of the shrubs. Then she went and sat down by herself acrossfrom him at quite a distance, about a bowshot away; for she thought, ‘I refuseto watch the child die.’ So she sat across from him and weptuncontrollably.”]
Of course, it is possible that he ended up on the Burnettfarm in Fire Place by 15 Aug 1860, but that seems highly improbable.
Also, this Samuel Drummond is again living with the family,which still resides in Middletown, in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census.
Moreover, this Samuel Drummond died at Shrewsbury, MonmouthCounty, NJ, on 04 Oct 1884, so the New Jersey Samuel Drummond is almostcertainly not the one listed as Samuel Drummons on the Burnett farm in 1860.
I only found one other record for a “black” or “mulatto”Samuel Drummond born in New York.
The New York Census of 1855 records a “Samuel Drummond,” age10, who was born on Long Island as a resident of the “Colored Orphan Asylum” inthe 19th Ward of the City of New York. This may verywell have been the person who was on the Burnett farm at age 15 in 1860.
There is no record of that “Samuel Drummond” every havingserved as a Union soldier.
There are a number of Samuel Drummonds who did serve in NewYork regiments, but none were “mulatto” or “black,” and the “black” New York“Samuel Drummond” who enlisted as a cook in the U. S. Navy was much too old tobe the person who resided in Fire Place in 1860.
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Abt 1845 - Yes, date unknown
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