James Martin Masters (1867 - 1894)

Born 3 May 1867 in Cavetown, Washington County, Maryland, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Jane (McClain) Walter — married 16 Oct 1890 in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland, United States

Descendants

Died 20 Oct 1894 at age 27 in Cavetown, Washington County, Maryland, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Dennis Barton [send private message]

Biography

Date of birth calculated from the date of death inscribed on James' tombstone ^[1] and the stated life span of 27 years, 5 months, 17 days.

Death Records

● Interred at Christ Church United Church of Christ Cemetery, Cavetown, Washington County, MD. ^[1]

● Washington County, MD, Cemetery Transcriptions, Cavetown District #7 (James M. Masters). Age 27 yr. 5 mo. 17 da., died Oct. 20, 1894. (Accessed 19 Aug 2022.) ^[2]

Marriage Records

● Application for Marriage License and Marriage License, James M. Masters and Mary J. McClain, married 16 Oct 1890 by Rev. Mr. Harry S. France, St. Paul's M.E. Church, Hagerstown, Washington County, MD. Man, age 23, white, single. Residence, Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. Woman, age 22, white, single. Residence, Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. (Accessed 16 Apr 2020. Documents shown as a .pdf file under Images.) ^[3]

● Data base, "Maryland Marriages, 1666 - 1970" (James M. Masters). Marriage of James M. Masters, male, to Mary J. McClain. Date, 16 Oct 1890. Place, Saint Pauls Methodist Episcopal, Hagerstown, Washington County, MD, United States. (Accessed 19 Mar 2020. Images available but not indexed.) ^[4]

Census Data

● U.S. 1880 Census (M. James Masters). Residence, Hauvers District (No. 10), Frederick County, MD. Age 13, single, born MD, father born Germany, mother born MD. Occupation, At Home. In household of parents William (36) and Matilda Masters (30), with sister A. Elizabeth (11), sister M. Ida (9), and sister G. Minnie Masters (4). (Enumerated 22 Jun 1880. Accessed 19 Dec 2016.) ^[5]

● U.S. 1870 Census (James Masters). Residence, Cavetown District, Washington County, MD, Post office Smithsburg. Age 3, born MD. Father of foreign birth. In household of William (26) and Matilda Masters (21), with Elizabeth Masters (1) and Lydia Gladhill (14). (Enumerated 02 Jul 1870. Accessed 19 Dec 2016.) ^[6]

Research Note

We have found no record to indicate the cause of James' untimely death at age 27, but we want to acknowledge an interesting newspaper article ^[7] that could bear some relationship. The article discusses a study ^[8] published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that examined the lives of children of survivors of Confederate prisoner of war camps in the U.S. Civil War. The authors concluded that severe paternal hardship as a prisoner of war led to high mortality among sons born after the war. That finding did not apply to daughters of ex-POWs or to sons who had been born before the war. But Source ^[7] cites other studies that support the conclusion that trauma in the life of a parent can affect his or her children many years later. That author also suggests that “no matter how poor or prosperous his background, a father's extreme hardship and privation alter the function of his genes in ways that can be passed on to his children.” The author also notes that “the life shortening effect of a father's POW status was magnified for the sons who were born in April, May, and June, when food supplies tended to be leanest” and that many of the premature deaths were attributable to cerebral hemorrhages or cancer.

There are a number of qualifiers to the PNAS study ^[8] that might preclude its applicability to any specific case, but James would seem to be an ideal candidate for consideration. He was the eldest son of an ex-POW who survived one of the most notorious Civil War prison camps, and he was born soon after the war, in May. His younger brother William Edward also died young at age 39, although several of his sisters lived to their 70s or 80s.

Acknowledgment

The Profile Manager sincerely thanks WikiTree member Susan Anderson for calling attention to the article published as Source ^[7] and posting a link to it.

Descendants Chart

[There is some additional private information, available to family members, regarding the lineage of James Martin Masters and Mary J. (McClain) Walter (aka Masters). That data is compiled in the family Descendants Charts that supplement these profiles.]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Find A Grave: Memorial #16757691. Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 19 March 2020), memorial page for James Martin Masters (3 May 1867–20 Oct 1894), Find A Grave Memorial no. 16757691, citing Christ Church United Church of Christ Cemetery, Cavetown, Washington County, Maryland, USA ; Maintained by Mike Hahn (contributor 46770538).
2. ↑ Washington County ((MD) cemetery transcriptions compiled by Samuel Webster Piper, 1936 - 1941, Christ Reformed Church, Cavetown, Western Maryland's Historical Library (WHILBR), Digital Whilbr, Washington County (MD) Cemeteries, search Cavetown 067 (online at <https://digital.whilbr.org/digital/collection/p16715coll31/id/856/rec/12>, accessed 19 Aug 2022).
3. ↑ Public-domain Marriage Records data base of the Washington County (MD) Free Library, Hagerstown, MD (online at <https://www.washcolibrary.org/marriages/Washington_County_MD_Marriages_1890_1421-1860.pdf>, accessed 16 Apr 2020.) Open the link for 1890 marriage records and scroll to License 1720, p. 324 of 464.
4. ↑ "Maryland Marriages, 1666-1970", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4NY-3BM : 16 January 2020), James M. Masters, 1890.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNQL-DV2 : 14 July 2016), M James Masters in household of William Masters, Hanvers, Frederick, Maryland, United States; citing enumeration district ED 82, sheet 351B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0510; FHL microfilm 1,254,510.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN3G-BVK : 17 October 2014), James Masters in household of William Masters, Maryland, United States; citing p. 24, family 176, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,096.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Healy, Melissa, “Long March of Civil War Trauma,” Los Angeles (California) Times, Science File, Saturday 20 Oct 2018, pg. B-2. (Online at <http://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=9cb2110a-cc2a-4ab6-a165-ea88ee573438>, accessed 21 Oct 2018.)
   [In the event this link is broken, note that the article is still available on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine at <https://web.archive.org/web/20220707181235/http://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=9cb2110a-cc2a-4ab6-a165-ea88ee573438>.]
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Costa, Dora L., Noelle Yetter, and Heather DeSomer, “Intergenerational Transmission of Paternal Trauma among US Civil War ex-POWs,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, October 2018. (Online at <http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/10/09/1803630115>, accessed 21 Oct 2018.)
   [In the event this link is broken, note that the article is still available on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine at <https://web.archive.org/web/20181017135410/http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/10/09/1803630115>.

• Barton Database of the Barton Historical and Genealogical Society Person ID I55512. (Accessed 28 Mar 2020.)