Tag Archives: Af-Am Families

Maryland Magruders & the Civil War #3

This isn’t the story I had planned to post next, but I can’t help myself!

I knew that my great-great-grandfather, Fielder Montgomery Magruder, registered for the draft in Washington, D.C, in 1863 but never served–and that’s all I knew. Was he ever drafted? If he was, he must have procured or paid for a substitute, like his distant cousin Caleb Clarke Magruder Jr., who appears in Post #1 in this series. I didn’t know how to find out.

A few days ago, a full-text search on FamilySearch.org turned up a small batch of random records for Fielder, including the Certificate of a Substitute for Robert Johnson, of Virginia, who served in his place.

As you can see, as of 25 January 1865, Robert Johnson was twenty-two years old, five-foot-two, with skin color described as copper. African Americans (and, often, working-class whites) were routinely described as laborers, so that term doesn’t necessarily mean that Robert had no skills. Whether he was born free or had been formerly enslaved was not recorded: by 1865 in D.C. or Virginia, that question was officially moot.

At the top left of the first page you can see that his enlistment, in Washington, D.C., counted toward the draft quota of the recruiting district (sub district 11) where F.M. Magruder lived. The lower section of that page informs us that Fielder had been drafted just eleven days earlier, on 14 January.

This certificate is part of Johnson’s military record, now collected by the National Archives into what’s known as a Consolidated Military Service Record (CMSR). Elsewhere in his CMSR I learned that, even though he enlisted in Washington, Johnson was recruited at a recruitment depot “in the field” in Virginia. I can imagine various scenarios that brought these two men together–in life or merely in the paperwork–but so far I have no clues. You may also notice that the form calls for the standard three-year enlistment but Robert was enrolled for just one.

By March first, Johnson had been assigned to Company K of the 38th U.S. Colored Infantry. The 38th had been formed about a year before he enlisted and in 1864 had seen some hard fighting. Three men from the regiment received the Medal of Honor for their part in the Battle of Chaffin Farm, fought on the periphery of Richmond in September 1864.

Just weeks after Robert Johnson joined Company K, Richmond fell and Ulysses S. Grant accepted the surrender of Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse. In May, the 38th was transferred to Texas, where Confederate resistance lingered on. Soldiers who joined late in the war–and therefore still had a lot of time to serve–were prominent among those sent to Texas, and that included many of the USCT regiments.

By some measures, Robert Johnson was a lucky guy. Not only did he have a short enlistment, but immediately upon enrollment–on March 17 to be precise–he was detached from his company and assigned to duty in the Division Quartermaster Department. There he served until discharged, exactly one year after his enlistment. His Detachment Muster-out Roll summarizes his service and the last card, nearly blank, shows his easy passage through the tail-end of the war–never a casualty, never hospitalized, never deserted, never court-martialed or confined for disciplinary reasons. Whatever his sufferings or privations–and there must have been some–they fell into none of the army’s categories. On the other hand, in the Quartermaster Department it is likely he was assigned to the work of a laborer, rather than a soldier, a mark of disrespect that some African American servicemen deeply resented.

Leaving (per orders) with his knapsack, haversack, and canteen, and with $24.73 in his pocket, Johnson was provided with subsistence and transportation as far as Galveston. Where he went from there is an open question. Historians estimate that around a quarter of the first-generation “cowboys” of later fame were black, and some of those were USCT soldiers discharged in Texas. Was Robert Johnson one of them? Or did he head straight back to Virginia or D.C., to rejoin his family or find his sweetheart?

One more mystery. His discharge record states that he was paid no bounty–none paid, none due. If I ever find my way into that story–or other questions brought up by these records–I’ll post a follow-up.

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Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the United States Colored Troops: Infantry Organizations, 36th through 40th, Robert Johnson. NARA Microfilm Publications, M1993, Washington DC, 2006. Family Search, US Military Records 2006, image 51 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-L3J9-XXB5?view=fullText&lang=en&groupId=).

Passing of Lucille Osborne, Presiding Spirit of the Alabama Black McGruders

It has been a very sad year for McGruthers, McGruders, Magruders, and all who care about our history. In February, we lost Sue Emerson, author of the monumental genealogy project, Magruders in America. In October, Duncan (Don) McGruther left us. Back in the 1990s, Don’s thorough search of Scottish records disproved the American belief that Alexander the Immigrant was a member of Clan Gregor. He actually set out to prove the relationship, but found nothing to support it and much to suggest it was impossible. Along the way he uncovered the details of MacGrouther history–all 500 years of it.

(Both Don’s book, Wha’s Like Us? : MacGrouthers in Scotland before 1855 and Sue’s Magruders in America will soon be available through this site. Watch for an update.)

Now Lucille Osborne, matriarch and grand spirit of the Alabama McGruder tribe, has departed this earth.

If you don’t recall Miss Lucille, you can meet her in my 2021 post “Miss Lucille & the Alabama Black McGruders win an Emmy!” or read her profile in the pages of J.R. Rothstein’s 2022 book, The Alabama Black McGruders. Through decades of shared research by the family, Lucille’s memories and discoveries, her encouragement, her persistence, and her positive attitude helped keep the ball rolling and the work joyful.

A memorial mass will be celebrated on Saturday, January 3, 10:00 Eastern time, at the Church of the Holy Family in Grand Blanc, Michigan, and live streamed on the church’s YouTube channel.

I understand that Miss Lucille’s obituary will be published after the service. I will update here with a link.

The Alabama Black McGruders, published at last!

Thirteen months ago I announced that this greatly expanded book by and about the Alabama Black McGruders was nearing publication. Ha ha! But this time it’s happening–available for purchase today on Amazon.

The Alabama Black McGruders tells the story of Charles McGruder Sr. (1829-c.1900) and his parents, Ned and Mariah McGruder. The enslaved black grandson of Ninian Offutt Magruder (1744-1803), a white enslaver, Charles was born in Alabama on the plantation of his white aunt, Eleanor Magruder Wynne. Through a series of events, Charles came to be exploited as a breeding slave and, according to oral history, fathered 100 children.

During the Reconstruction era, Charles and his last wife, Rachel Hill (1845-1933), acquired ownership of land, possibly with help from his white cousin, Osmun Appling Wynne (1804-1877), and established a McGruder homestead where Charles gathered many of his children. They, in turn, established family and community networks of solidarity that allowed them to withstand the rigors of KKK terror and Jim Crow oppression. Now scattered throughout the U.S., and abroad, the Alabama Black McGruders have preserved their oral history, expanded it through research, and maintained their family identity.

In addition to the story of Ned, Mariah, Charles, and Charles’s children, you will meet numerous descendants and learn of their contributions to American arts, education, government, law, science, medicine, and business. The narrative is augmented by nearly 200 pages of archival records, photographs, and newspaper clippings.

J.R. Rothstein, a family member and the principal author, has worked with a team of family historians and genealogists, other researchers, and editors, to craft and document this narrative of the family through multiple generations. I am honored to have worked on the manuscript, in a role that evolved into lead editor and chief nag, taking hundreds of hours over the past year and a half.

The current price of $19.99 for this hardback book of more than 500 pages won’t last–J.R. will need to raise the price considerably to break even–so order your copy now (and maybe another for your local library or historical society). At the moment the shipping time is long, but that may improve as more copies are purchased.

A call-out to descendants

I’ve been trying to think of ways this site can do more to help people find each other–those who share ancestors, those who can share stories. I get a lot of interesting comments, but comments at the foot of a web page are often a dead-end, no follow-up. So let’s generate conversation in a different way.

If you are descended from people enslaved by white Magruders/McGruders & would be willing to share what you’ve learned, please get in touch by using the Contact page (which sends me an email). I would like to run some small features on your families & your research journey. You can write it, I can write it, or we can write it together.

I am particularly interested in Maryland and Washington DC stories, because that’s my area & I might be able to connect some dots; but I’m open to all. It was common for ties between families linked by slavery to endure after Emancipation, sometimes for generations. So even if your genealogical search hasn’t broken through the barrier into slavery times, please share what you know.

If you are descended from white Magruders/McGruders & have information about those your ancestors enslaved–from family sources or your own research–please join in. I can feature your work, as well, or perhaps you can connect some info from your family to someone else’s search.

I probably won’t be featuring families from the Sawyerville, Alabama, line, since those descendants are doing such outstanding work of their own, but as the new book takes shape I’ll try to post some teasers, so you know what to look forward to.

Once again, if you want to take part please use the Contact function (also linked at the top of every page). I can’t wait to hear from you!

The Dodson Family

From Magruder wills, census records, Registrations of Free Negroes, and other sources, I have been trying to construct relationships among various free, enslaved, and newly emancipated Dodsons in Prince George’s County and Washington DC. from the late 18th c to Emancipation. If you are an Af-Am Dodson or descendant and have information, questions, or theories, please get in touch. Even if you just want to say “Hey, I’m a descendant!” I’d like to hear from you. Please use the CONTACT tab or click here to contact me directly. This works much better for me that trying to follow up on comments.

The effects of small slaveholding in Maryland

From Barbara Jean Fields’ Slavery and Freedom on the Middle Ground: Maryland during the Nineteenth Century–some context on the problem of tracing African-American family members in Maryland.

Though almost anyone would select slave trading as the villain of almost any piece, small-scale slaveholding does not seem as obviously type-cast for the role of villainy. Nevertheless, much of the suffering incidental to slavery in Maryland resulted, directly or indirectly, from the small size of slaveholdings, a characteristic that had become steadily more marked over the years from the Revolution to the Civil War. Few holdings in Maryland would have rated the name “plantation” in the eyes of slaveholders from the lower South… (p 25)

Despite Fields’ claim that this was a growing phenomenon in the early years of the Republic, Russell Menard describes very similar patterns in the late 17th c. In the period 1658-1710, nearly half of all slaveholders owned only one or two people, and only 15 out of the 300 surveyed owned more than 20. “More than half of the slaves lived on plantations with ten or fewer blacks, nearly a third on estates with five or fewer…making isolation and loneliness a prominent fact of life for Africans in the Chesapeake colonies.” Evidence suggests that some slaves in this early period, especially those who were married, had more autonomy in their daily lives than was common in later periods. (Economy and Society in Early Colonial Maryland, pp 266-69)

Back to Fields:

The most common slaveholding in Maryland by 1860 was one slave; half the slaveholders owned fewer than three slaves, three-fourths fewer than eight, and 90 percent fewer than fifteen slaves. (p 24)

Small holdings divided family members among several owners, exacerbating the potential trauma of sale and attacking the integrity of family life even when the question of sale…did not arise. Husbands and wives might live apart…seeing each other only when granted permission… What went for husbands and wives also went for parents and children, and doubly so for  grandparents and grandchildren, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, and uncles. (p 26)

The desire to be reunited with family members figured prominently in escapes, as owners made clear when advertising…[For example], the purchaser of Barbary Williams, a fifty-year-old woman who escaped soon after being sold by her deceased owner’s estate, mentioned five different neighborhoods to which the fugitive might have gone seeking relatives, including her husband. (p 26)

The division of family members among a number of small slaveholders multiplied…the danger of a family’s disruption by the financial mischance or simple human mortality of an owner. Small slaveholders were more vulnerable than planters to the financial reverse that might require the liquidation of slave property. Slaves with families parceled out among several such owners must have lived in permanent apprehension of disaster, especially since the evidence of that disaster’s having befallen others lay constantly before them. From the death of an owner slaves had more to fear, furthermore, than the possibility of sale. For every slave sold upon the death of an owner, many others must have been simply sent elsewhere–to the residence of an heir, for example–where old attachments would be sundered as surely as if a sale had taken place. (p 26-27)

Here is one painful example from early Magruder history: in 1734, Sarah Beall Magruder (wife of Samuel Magruder, son of Alexander the immigrant) left her nine slaves to nine different heirs in eight households.