Robert Machin (1842 - 1884)

Born Mar 1842 in Dembleby, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Eugenia (Harvey) Machin — married 16 Aug 1864 in Baltimore, Maryland

Descendants

Died 2 Dec 1884 at age 42 in Baltimore, Maryland

Problems/Questions Profile manager: R Prior [send private message]

Biography

Sergeant Robert Machin served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: Aug 28, 1862
Mustered out: Jul 20, 1865
Side: USA
Regiment(s): 1st Del Cavalry

Robert was born in 1842. He passed away in 1884.

According to a description of Robert in his military service file, he was 5' 5" tall, of light complexion and had blue eyes and light hair^[1]. The same page states that Robert was born in England and lists his occupation as "farmer".

For decades, beginning with his grandchildren, the descendants of Robert Machin were unaware of his origins or much of his life story prior to his marriage to Eugenia. The FAG profile^[2] for his wife, states that Robert Machin served in the "Union Army during the U.S. Civil War" but provides no further details.

It was known that Robert was born in England, but the exact location had eluded even a professional genealogist doing research in the 1980s and '90s^[3]. This research however indicated that he was most likely from Lincolnshire, England as there were several Machin families in the area.

In 2019, a breakthrough occurred while reviewing the 1890 special schedule of surviving soldiers, sailors and Marines, and Widows, for the US Census^[4], in which Eugenia Machin is listed as widow of Robert Machin. The listing states that Robert enlisted August 28, 1862; was discharged July 20, 1865, after serving for 2 years, 10 months and 22 days; was a Private, in C Company, Regiment 1 Del Cavalry. Lastly, the footnotes on the page state that he was shot in the hand and was a prisoner at Libby for 3 months. (See Research Notes for further details on service records.)

The breakthrough came when the descendant of Robert Machin began to wonder why he would have served in the Delaware Cavalry when it was assumed by the family that he had always lived in Baltimore after arriving from England. This led to a concerted effort during the summer of 2019 to finally discover the origins of this branch of the Machin family.

First, an effort to review the 1841 and 1851 England Census records revealed the same problem run into by the professional genealogist decades earlier. There were simply too many Machin families to narrow it down when we had no known parents or siblings. Furthermore, to date no record has been found of Robert in the 1850 or 1860 US Census records, so his exact year of arrival had never been narrowed down sufficiently.

An effort was then launched to review immigration records and ship's manifests for the port of Philadelphia, as this would have been a more likely port of entry than Baltimore if the family settled in Delaware prior to Robert's enlistment in the Civil War. This led to the discovery of a Robert Machin, aged 9, aboard the Tuscarora^[5], page 7, line 36 of the passenger manifest dated July 16th, 1851. There was a Robert Mechan who arrived the following year but he was too old, aged 20, to be this Robert. Ironically, both of them had arrived aboard the Tuscarora and were listed as being from "Ireland", although there is no evidence that this Robert was ever in Ireland, as the ship had sailed from Liverpool.

The Robert Machin who arrived July 16th, 1851 was accompanied by a mother named Elleanor; four (4) siblings named Ann, Eliza, Richard and Ellen; along with a family of Warpole cousins misidentified as Waples. No father was listed and everyone was listed as being from "Ireland".

When this list of names was compared again to the 1841 and 1851 England Census records, it was discovered that this matched perfectly with a family located in Dembleby, Lincolnshire^[6] from the 1851 Census, which reflected residence on March 30th of that year, three and a half months before the family's arrival in Philadelphia.

Robert's Civil War enlistment on Aug 28th, 1862 and other service records state that he was aged 20 at the time. The Census records from England, as well as the age listed on the Tuscarora passenger manifest, match the age given, but ultimately England birth index records^[7] for Sleaford confirmed that Robert was born in March, 1842, although a precise date has yet to be found.

While recuperating in the hospital, Robert appears to have been reassigned to be a clerk for the hospital staff as he was unfit for active duty and his muster out roll was completed at the "Relay House B & O R.R."^[8], dated June 6th, 1865. No mention is made in the military records of his marriage, but it appears that he did in fact get married around 1864.

On 20th Sep, 1871, Robert was officially naturalized as a US Citizen^[9][10].

Civil War Service

The State of Delaware Civil War "Volunteer Service Record"^[11] file indicates that Machin was in the General Hospital, Baltimore beginning on June 29th, 1863. This was the date of Corbit's Charge^[12] in Westminster, MD. The Delaware records do not include a list of casualties from that date, but other records that are provided in the Research Notes section of this bio provide the evidence that this was the date and location, as well as the details of how Robert Machin was wounded during the Civil War.

Under the enlistment information in Robert's file it states that he enlisted on Aug. 29th, 1862 in "Del City", that Capt Corbit enlisted Robert for a term of 3 years and that Robert was paid a bounty of $25^[13]. Below that is written a paragraph about Robert's service record:

"Made Corp. Jan. 20, 63. Wounded in both breasts at Westminster Md. June 29, 63 while gallantly charging the enemy."

Page 10 of Robert's service file states that he was "wounded at the battle of Westminster too bad to be removed"^[14]. Subsequently, the file begins to list Robert on both the Company muster roll and the Newton Hospital muster roll, with multiple additional references to his wounds.

UNION DELAWARE VOLUNTEERS 1st Battalion, Delaware Cavalry

Overview: Organized at Wilmington, Del., January 20, 1863. Attached to 1st Separate Brigade, 8th Army Corps, Middle Dept, to June, 1863. Cavalry Reserve, Defences of Baltimore, 8th Army Corps, to October, 1863. 3rd Separate Brigade, 8th Army Corps, to December, 1863. Cavalry Reserve, Defences of Baltimore, 8th Army Corps, to March, 1864. 3rd Separate Brigade, 8th Army Corps, to May, 1864. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 6th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to July, 1864. 1st Separate Brigade, 8th Army Corps, to June, 1865.

Service: Duty at Wilmington, Del., till June, 1863, and in the Defences of Baltimore, Md. Engaged in provost duty at Baltimore City and in the surrounding country till June, 1864. Action at Westminster June 29, 1863. (Cos. "A" and "D" in District of Delaware to December, 1863. Cos. "D" and "E" in Delaware till March, 1864. Co. "E," at Havre de Grace April, 1864.) Regiment ordered to join Army of the Potomac in the field May 15, 1864. Reported and assigned to 6th Army Corps June 5. Operations about Cold Harbor June 5-12. Before Petersburg June 17-July 10. Jerusalem Plank Road June 22-23. Ream's Station June 29. Assigned as guard to Artillery Brigade, 6th Army Corps, in movement to Baltimore and Washington, D. C., July 10-12. Ordered to Baltimore July 14. (Co. "A" remained with Army of the Potomac as guard to Reserve Artillery, 6th Army Corps, till September, 1864, when relieved and ordered to rejoin Regiment in Middle Department.) Duty on line of the Baltimore & Ohio R. R. Picket and outpost duty and guarding fords of the Potomac from Georgetown to Point of Rocks till November, 1864. (In Delaware during election of 1864.) Duty on Upper Potomac and on line of the Baltimore & Ohio R. R. till June, 1865. Operations in Montgomery County October 7-11, 1864. Mustered out June 30, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 2 Enlisted men killed and 2 Officers and 47 Enlisted men by disease. Total 51.^[15]

Libby Prison Research Notes

The previously referenced 1890 special schedule of surviving soldiers, sailors and Marines, and Widows, for the US Census is the only source that claims Robert Machin spent time in Libby Prison, Richmond, VA.

Civil War service records from the NARA, National Park Service, Fold3 and other sources have multiple spellings for Robert's last name: Matchin^[16]; Machen^[17]; and Matchine^[18]

All the variations of spelling in the records has challenged research into Robert's service record but the most comprehensive information has come from 42 pages of records compiled under the last name Matchin^[19]. None of these records indicate POW status for Robert, either at Libby Prison or any other location.

Instead the records indicate that Robert spent nearly two (2) years in the general hospital in Baltimore, MD, beginning on June 29th, 1863, due to injuries sustained from a gunshot wound to the chest while participating in the skirmish known as Corbit's Charge in Westminster, MD. While recuperating, Robert was promoted from Corporal to Sergeant on Dec 16th, 1864 and mustered out on June 6, 1865.

Sources

1. ↑ NARA M1961. Compiled military service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to units organized for service from the State of Delaware. Fold3 publication year: 2010. Roll 0006. Page 2. Unit: 1st Battalion Delaware Cavalry, A-Web.
2. ↑ FindAGrave Memorial #167387838
3. ↑ Family records in the possession of R Prior.
4. ↑ "United States Census of Union Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, 1890," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8SN-52S : 11 March 2018), Robert Machin, 1890; citing NARA microfilm publication M123 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 338,167.
5. ↑ "Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1882," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8C4-F4V : 12 March 2018), Robert Machin, 1851; citing NARA microfilm publication M425 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm .
6. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGNL-2DR : 9 November 2019), Robert Machin in household of Eleanor Machin, Dembleby, Lincolnshire, England; citing Dembleby, Lincolnshire, England, p. 3, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
7. ↑ Free BMD Index entry|accessdate=18 March 2020|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS
8. ↑ Relay House Historical Marker [1]
9. ↑ "Maryland Naturalization Indexes, 1797-1951," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XGWV-SY2 : 6 December 2014), Robert Machin, 1877; from "Indexes to Naturalization Petitions to the U.S. Circuit and District Courts for Maryland, 1797-1951," database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing NARA microfilm publication M1168 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 10.
10. ↑ National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Indexes to Naturalization petitions to the U.S. Circuit and District Courts for Maryland, 1797-1951; Microfilm Serial: M1168; Microfilm Roll: 10
11. ↑ State of Delaware Civil War service records [2] [3] [4]
12. ↑ Wikipedia Corbit's Charge [5]
13. ↑ NARA M1961. Compiled military service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to units organized for service from the State of Delaware. Fold3 publication year: 2010. Roll 0006. Page 2. Unit: 1st Battalion Delaware Cavalry, A-Web.
14. ↑ NARA M1961. Compiled military service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to units organized for service from the State of Delaware. Fold3 publication year: 2010. Roll 0006. Page 10. Unit: 1st Battalion Delaware Cavalry, A-Web.
15. ↑ Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Delaware. Published 1999. [6]
16. ↑ Matchin
17. ↑ NPS Soldier ID [7]
18. ↑ Matchine
19. ↑ NARA M1961. Compiled military service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to units organized for service from the State of Delaware. Fold3 publication year: 2010. Roll 0006. Unit: 1st Battalion Delaware Cavalry, A-Web.

• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNS5-PN7 : 12 June 2019), Robert Machim, 1870.
• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNQ4-PX7 : 15 August 2017), Robt Machen, 1880; citing enumeration district ED 105, sheet 17B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d), roll 0501; FHL microfilm 1,254,501.
• Gravesite Details Burial Date: 12/03/1884, Permit # 10081 lists the spelling of his name as Robert Machen. Burial Mount Olivet Cemetery Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland, USA Plot I,034 Memorial ID 34432120
• Find A Grave: Memorial #34432120
• Wikipedia 1st Delaware Cavalry [8]
• 1st Delaware Cavalry roster
• Scharf, John Thomas. "History of Delaware: 1609-1888: General history." 1888. Page 346, 371-372.
• Dyer, Frederick H. "A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion." 1908. Page 1016.