Book Description

This book documents the life of the author’s great, great uncle who grew up during 1832-47 in Hull, Yorkshire, England where his family was in the shipping business. Samuel was the family ‘black sheep’ and virtually no record concerning him was passed down. Employing various online genealogy services, government websites and numerous email contacts, the author spent two years tracking Samuel from Hull to Glasgow, across the sea to Massachusetts and through two marriages (the first to a 15 year-old girl and the second possibly making him a bigamist) to Manchester, New Hampshire. Samuel enlisted in the Union Army as an artilleryman in 1861 and fought in all the major eastern theatre engagements until late 1864. He left behind a brief history of his unit, including some of his personal experiences. Samuel worked as a draughtsman, was unsuccessful in two business ventures and was active in the militia and the Grand Army (GAR). His story ended in Manchester with his death in 1891. The book describes what the author uncovered about his life and what things were like in general for people living during that time. A number of problems that the author had to surmount in accessing and interpreting genealogical sources are also addressed.