George Grant (abt. 1843 - 1873)

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Occupations 1.2 Residences 1.3 Military Service 1.3.1 Company Remarks 1.3.2 Prisoner of War 1.4 Murder Charge, Conviction and Death 1.5 Research Notes 2 Projects 3 Sources

Biography

George Grant was born about 1843^[1] in Pennsylvania^[2]. He served with the famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War.

Occupations

• 1870^[2]: Laborer
• 1863^[1]: Farmer

Residences

• 1870: West Chester, Pennsylvania with his wife Mary^[2]
• 1863: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (military enlistment)^[1]

Military Service

During the Civil War, he served as a Private in Company B of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the second^[3] regiment in the United States made up entirely of enlisted men of color. He was about 20 years old, single and working as a farmer when he enlisted on 3 March 1863 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was captured on 18 July 1863 at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner and imprisoned. He miraculously survived the prisoner of war camps and was finally exchanged on 4 March 1865 in Goldsboro, North Carolina and discharged 24 June 1865 from Annapolis, Maryland.^[1]

Company Remarks

See also Images.

15 August 1863

Privates Daniel States & George Grant reported to be wounded in Hospital are now found to be missing and lost in the attack on Fort Wagner July 18th

Prisoner of War

Of Charleston Jail, Captain Samuel C. Timson of the 95th NY had this to say:

There were twenty-one negro soldiers, most of them belonging to Colonel Shaw's Fifty-fourth Mass. regiment of immortal memory, among the number. They were never to be exchanged, but were to be reduced to slavery. They were all that were left of the colored troops captured at Wagner. The rest were bayoneted and shot after they surrendered. Their rations were bread and water; still they would sing Union songs, pouring their melody through their prison bars for the entertainment of the Union officers in the prison and below.^[4]

Murder Charge, Conviction and Death

He passed away in 1873 and is buried at the Almshouse Cemetery in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

He was hung for the murder of Mrs. Amanda Spence who was killed in 1871. She was 60 years old at the time, and she was shot and killed by an old musket which was discarded in her backyard. The original suspect was a man named James Burrell.

Mrs. Spence was George's aunt.

Unsurprisingly, given his history as a POW, he attempted to escape from the West Chester prison prior to his execution. We didn't know about PTSD back then.

Research Notes

There are three George Grants in the 1863 Philadelphia city directory:

• George Grant, gents' furnishing goods at 610 Chestnut, house at 244 N 10th
• George Grant, laborer, 132 Cottage
• George Grant, 929 S 6th

Possible census match?

Year: 1860; Census Place: Union, Fayette, Pennsylvania; Roll: M653_1110; Page: 324; Family History Library Film: 805110

George W. Grant / b. abt. 1848 Pennsylvania / Mulatto / Student / son of Emily and George Grant

Raymoure-1 22:53, 20 July 2019 (UTC): Possible records with Chester County, PA, including some indictment papers with the name "George Grant":

• 1869 Victim George Ehrenzeller Defendant George Grant Assault & Battery
• 1868 Victim George Grant Defendant Robert Smith Assault & Battery
• 1866 Victim Benjamin Galey Defendant George Grant Assault & Battery
• 1862 Victim Jacob Gilbough Defendant George Grant Larceny

Not yet certain how early he was in West Chester. Was there another George Grant? More research needed.

Projects

• 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
• African American Civil War veterans of Chester County, Pennsylvania

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Emilio, McKay Roster
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} 1870 federal census
3. ↑ and the first with federal recognition; the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry regiment was against the wishes of the Secretary of War and filled only six companies, but did see action a full year before the 54th
4. ↑ Emilio, p. 415

• 1870 United States Federal Census Year: 1870; Census Place: West Chester, Chester, Pennsylvania; Roll: M593_1325; Page: 189A; Family History Library Film: 552824
• The Cambria Freeman. (Ebensburg, Pa.), 14 Oct. 1871. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
• Emilio, Luis Fenollosa. History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1863-1865, Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Book Co., 1891 (1st ed.) and 1894 (2nd ed.)
• Find A Grave: Memorial #132272555
• Fold3.com. Free Access Civil War Records 1-15 April 2018. 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Company Remarks.
• The Jeffersonian. (Stroudsburg, Pa.), 12 Oct. 1871. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.