Caleb J. Boss (1847 - 1907)

Born 14 Jul 1847 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Husband of Mary E (Brister) Boss — married 7 Dec 1870 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Died 12 Aug 1907 at age 60 in Kansas, United States

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Biography

Caleb Boss is a part of US Black heritage.

Caleb J. Boss was born 14^[1] July^[2] about 1846 in Boston^[3], Massachusetts. He was the child^[4] of Polly and James Boss. He served with the famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War.

He stood about 5 feet and 4 inches (1.63m) tall with a "colored"^[5] complexion, black eyes, and black hair when he enlisted in 1865.^[3]

Occupations

• 1900^[2]: Railroad porter
• 1891-1895^[6]: Porter
• 1880^[7]: Servant
• 1870^[8]: Hostler
• 1865: Union Army soldier of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry^[9][1]
• 1865^[9]: Sailor
• 1862-1864: US Navy^[1]
  • 1864: USS New London
  • 1864: USS Calhoun
  • 1863: USS Colorado
  • 1862: USS Ohio

Residences

• 1907: Topeka, Kansas^[1]
• 1901: Roodhouse, Illinois^[1]
• 1900: 1927 St. Charles Street, St. Louis, Missouri with his wife Corah and daughter Delfina Reed^[2]
• 1897: Peoria, Illinois^[1]
• 1895: 115 24th, Louisville, Kentucky^[6]
• 1891-1893: 1229 Grayson, Louisville, Kentucky^[6]
• 1880: 11 Concord Square, Boston, Massachusetts working as a servant in the household of 59-year-old white tailor John K. Dean. Others in the household include daughter Lois S. Dean keeping house, lawyer Foster J. Briscoe, and Caleb's fellow servant, 23-year-old Canadian immigrant Jennie Kenedy.^[7]
• 1870: Boston, Massachusetts with Frances Delaney & her daughter Fanny, 28-year-old domestic servant and future wife Mary E. Palmer, 24-year-old hostler Edward Williams, 30-year-old hostler James Henry, 28-year-old tailor Ulyses Ridley, and 31-year-old seamstress Victoria Gilbert. His 54th comrade-at-arms, Reverend Eli George Biddle, lived next door.^[8]
• 1865: Boston, Massachusetts (military enlistment)^[9]
• 1862-1864: At sea^[1]

Military Service

During the Civil War, he served as a Private in Company D of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the second^[10] regiment in the United States made up entirely of enlisted men of color. He was 19 years old and working as a sailor when he enlisted on 18 February 1865 in Boston, Massachusetts. Discharged June 1865 from Georgetown, South Carolina.^[9]

Military Pension Application No. 1089505 Certificate No. 1039268 (4 February 1892)

Military Pension Minor's Application No. 880930^[11]

Projects

• 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} military pension files
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} 1900 federal census
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} regimental descriptive book
4. ↑ married record
5. ↑ white commissioned officers were the describers, so complexion descriptions varied widely with little consistency of vocabulary
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Louisville, Kentucky city directories
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} 1880 federal census
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} 1870 federal census
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} Emilio, McKay Roster p. 354
10. ↑ 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
11. ↑ military pension index

• 1870 United States Federal Census Year: 1870; Census Place: Boston Ward 6, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: M593_643; Page: 91A; Family History Library Film: 552142
• 1880 United States Federal Census Year: 1880; Census Place: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: 558; Page: 170B; Enumeration District: 721
• 1891, 1893, 1895 Louisville, Kentucky city directory
• 1900 United States Federal Census Year: 1900; Census Place: St Louis Ward 15, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri; Page: 7; Enumeration District: 0234; FHL microfilm: 1240895
• 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, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13484110/caleb-j-boss: accessed 07 April 2023), memorial page for PVT Caleb J Boss (14 Jul 1847–19 Aug 1907), Find a Grave Memorial ID 13484110, citing Leavenworth National Cemetery, Leavenworth, Leavenworth County, Kansas, USA; Maintained by D M C (contributor 46817953).
• Fold3.com "Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900." National Archives Catalog #2588825. "Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, compiled 1949 - 1949, documenting the period 1861 - 1942." Free Access Black History Collection Records 5-28 February 2019.
• Fold3.com. "Records of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (Colored), 1863-1865." National Archives, Catalog #577134. "Regimental and Company Books of Civil War Volunteer Union Organizations, compiled 1861 - 1865."
• National Archives Catalog #300020. "Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Widows and Other Veterans of the Army and Navy Who Served Mainly in the Civil War and the War With Spain, compiled 1861 - 1934."
• New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911.