Samuel D Adjutant Sr (abt. 1802 - 1886)

Born about 1802 in Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States

Husband of Jerusha (Dore) Adjutant — married 10 Jul 1800 in Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States

Descendants

Died 21 Sep 1886 at about age 84 in Ossipee, Carroll, New Hampshire, United States

Biography

Samuel Adjutant Sr was born in New Hampshire.

Samuel Adjutant and Jerusha Dore probably met in Ossipee, Carroll County, New Hampshire and married about 1823, both in their late teens. No marriage record has been found.

Jerusha bore at least seven children in the next 20 years. A daughter, Sarah, is thought to have died young, before 1850.

In the 1830 U.S. Census, the "Adjudent" family with three young children, two sons and a daughter, lived in Ossipee, Strafford (now Carroll) County, New Hampshire. Four Dore families lived nearby: Jerusha's likely father Beniah (in his 60s), and her three brothers, Beniah, Jr., Ezekial and Samuel (all in their 30s).

By 1840, the "Adjatant" family had moved to a farm in Tuftonborough, Carroll County. They had five children at home, three sons and two daughters. Brother George Adjutant's family lives nearby.

The 1850 U.S. Census shows the Adjutant family still in Tuftonborough, Samuel, age 46, Jerusha, age 45, and all four children (Nancy, George, Samuel and Charles) show a New Hampshire birthplace. Son Parkman had married and lived nearby.^[1]

Jerusha died in April 1859 from consumption (tuberculosis). Her burial location is not known. In the 1860 U.S. Census, taken a year later, Samuel, a widower, and family still lived on their Tuftonborough farm.

Samuel, age 57, remarried to Hannah Welch in 1861, the 38-year-old recent widow of Stephen Eldridge. The marriage record shows Samuel's parents as "Samuel D. Adjutant" and "Jarusha Adjutant." In 1861, Hannah still had seven Eldridge children at home, so the combined household was now fourteen people. Apparently, Samuel and Hannah had no children together.

With the start of the Civil War, sons Samuel and Charles Adjutant enlisted together in K Company, 12th New Hampshire Infantry in August 1862. Tragically, Charles died nine months later, in May 1863, from smallpox, in the Marine Hospital in Baltimore. Samuel was wounded in early July 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. After his recovery, Samuel was discharged and returned home. In May 1867, father Samuel applied for a government pension as the surviving dependent father of a Civil War soldier.

The 1870 U.S. Census shows the Adjutant family on a farm in Ossipee. Four Eldridge children lived with them. By 1870, the five surviving Adjutant children had all married and started their own households.

In the 1880 Census, there were five Adjutant families living in Carroll County, NH: father Samuel with second wife Hannah, son John F. and wife Annaugusta, son George and wife Lydia, son Parkman with wife Priscilla, their sons Martin with wife Ella, and George F. with wife Lilla.

Samuel died in 1886 at age 82 after suffering from dropsy (edema). According to the Early Cemetery Records of Ossipee, NH (1976), a "Samuel Adjutant" is buried in the tiny White Cemetery (Joseph White and four relatives; all six graves are marked only by field stones, SE side of Blake Hill Road, SW of Dore's Corner, Ossipee).

Wife Hannah survived six more years. Her burial location is unknown.

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1850", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWZ8-WV1 : Thu Mar 07 11:22:41 UTC 2024), Entry for Samuel Adjutant and Jerusha Adjutant, 1850.

• Becky Gargan, firsthand knowledge. Click the Changes tab for the details of edits by Becky and others.