Charles Torrey Beman (1845 - 1875)

Born 1845 in New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Ancestors

Died 9 May 1875 at about age 30 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: J Grohsmeyer [send private message]

Biography

Charles Beman is a part of US Black heritage.

Charles Torrey Beman was born in New Haven in 1845, the son of Amos Beman and Eunice Jeffrey. Charles may have been named in honor of the Rev. Charles Turner Torrey, who (like Amos) was an abolitionist and Congregationalist minister.

Charles's mother and brother died during a typhoid epidemic in 1856, and his sister Fanny died in 1857. His older sister Mary married Richard Mason Hancock in July 1856, and Charles lived with them in Lockport, NY, where he attended Lockport Union School in 1861.^[1]

He served in the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry, US Army, from January 1864 until November 1865. He sent his father a letter on 20 June 1864 about a battle in Virginia. ^[2]

Marriages

Possible Wife and Child- Mary from Massachusetts There is an 1865 Massachusetts census record in the town of Plymouth with three Bemans:

• Mary E. Beman (b. 1845 in Massachusetts, mulatto, married female)
• Charles Beman (b. 1844 in Connecticut, mulatto, married male) Laborer
• Mary E. S. Beman (b 1864 in Massachusetts, mulatto, single female)

Charles may have married soon after his arrival in Massachusetts, and his wife gave the report to the census taker, since Charles was in the army in 1865.

Wife - Kate from New Jersey In the 1870 census, Charles Beman and Kate R. Beman (age 33, mulatto, dressmaker, born in NJ) are living in the Beman household on Howe Street. ^[3]

In the 1871 City Directory for New Haven, Charles Beman (waiter) and Mrs. Kate Beman (dressmaker) are both living at 230 Crown Street.^[4]

A Mrs. Kate Beman appears in the City Directories for Torrington CT from 1889-1893.

Elizabeth Paul - not his wife The book Tapestry by Rose&Brown says Charles T. Beman married Elizabeth Paul in 1871; however, she married his first cousin, Charles A. Beman, and census records show them living together after Charles T Beman died in 1875.

Appearance

From Military records: Hazel or black eyes, black hair, 5'7" tall, complexion: colored

Military

Details from the Fold 3 website

• 11 Jan 1864 Enlisted in the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry during the US Civil War.^[5]
• 29 Jan 1864 - Stationed at Readville, Massachusetts
• 30 Jan 1864 - sent to Boston to serve as recruiter.^[6]
• 29 Feb 1864 - returned to Readville MA
• 1 March 1864 rank of corporal
• 12 May 1864 - the unit dismounted and served as infantry
• 31 May 1864 - reduced to the ranks by special order No 111, dated 31 May 1864.
• Jun 1864 through May 1865 with regiment
• 15-18 Jun 1864: fought at Baylor's Farm during the Second Battle of Petersburg
• Jun 1864 - March 1865 - Siege of Petersburg.
• May 1865 - detached duty at HQ
• 31 August 1865 - Brownsville TX
• 18 Sep 1865 - returned to regimental duty to serve as clerk and handle paperwork
• 31 Oct 1865 Mustered out in in Clarksville, Texas. Due $275 in back pay and bonuses

Rank: private

A. H. Newton's Account In Alexander Heritage Newton's autobiography "Out of the Briars" (published 1910), Newton writes:

"This [at Richmond VA] was a disastrous battle, probably the most disastrous I had ever witnessed. I should probably make exception of the Fort Pillow Massacre, in which my brother, Steven Newton, was killed. He was a member of the Fourteenth, Rhode Island Battery. Charles Beeman, [son of] Rev. Amos G. Beeman, and Corporal W. W. Wilkins were with him to the end and were able to make the report of his death to me."

However, A. H. Newton seems to be confused on the details of events from fifty years before. Steven Newton was killed on 18 July 1863 at Fort Wagner, South Carolina, and was a member of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Charles Beman joined the military six months after Steven died. It's possible Charles was the one to tell Alexander of Steven's death, and a lot of units were reorganized, so the 14th RI Battery may have been incorporated into the 54th Massachusetts.

Census Records

1850 The Beman Family lived in New Haven.^[7]

• Hannah Watkins Age 70
• Eunice S Beman Age 41
• Amos G Beman Age 38
• Mary E Beman Age 13
• Amos S Beman Age 10
• Frances H S Beman Age 7
• Charles S Beman Age 5
• Emma J E Beman Age 2

1860 - Charles was living with his older sister and her husband, Richard Mason Hancock, and their daughter in Lockport, Niagara County, New York.^[8]

• R M Hantock Age 28
• Mary Hantock Age 24
• Charles Hantock Age 15 last name is actually Beman, he's Mary's brother (see Research Notes below)
• Fanny Hantock Age 2 (daughter of Mary and Richard)

1865 Massachusetts census record in the town of Plymouth with three Bemans:

• Mary E. Beman (b. 1845 in Massachusetts, mulatto, married female)
• Charles Beman (b. 1844 in Connecticut, mulatto, married male) Laborer
• Mary E. S. Beman (b 1864 in Massachusetts, mulatto, single female)
• Ellen Talbot (b. 1795 in Massachusetts, black, widowed female) - his wife Mary's grandmother's sister

1870 The Bemans lived in Ward 1, New Haven CT.^[9]

• Amos G Beman Age 56 - born in CT, occupation clergyman, race mulatto, personal estate value $300, real estate value $5000
• Kate R Beman Age 33 born in NJ, occupation dressmaker, race mulatto
• Charles T Beman Age 26 (son of Amos) born in CT, occupation waiter, race mulatto
• Emma Beman Age 22 born in CT, occupation dressmaker, race mulatto
• Alonzo Bartlette Age 22, born in GA, occupation waiter, race mulatto

Death

He died 8 May 1875 in St. Louis, Missouri.^[10] He was buried in Grave 5 of Plot 74, Myrtle Avenue section in Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven CT on 12 May 1875. HIs name appears on his father's tombstone, who had died the year before and is buried in Grave 8 ^[11]

Research Notes

Wrong Name in 1860 Census In the 1860 Census for Lockport NY, a "Charles Hantock" (a single, mulatto male born 1845 in Connecticut) is listed in the household of Mary Hantock and R[ichard] M Hantock. In her book And They Were Related, Too, Vicki Welch suggests that Charles was Richard's younger brother; however, the Hancocks were living in North Carolina in 1845 and Richard's brother Charles was born in 1853. Also, Charles Beman is listed in the directory for the Lockport Union School in 1861^[12] Therefore, the census record labeled Charles Hantock has been assigned to Charles Beman, the younger brother of Mary.

Sources

1. ↑ U.S., High School Student Lists, 1821-1923
2. ↑ Housley, Kathleen. “‘Yours for the Oppressed’: The Life of Jehiel C. Beman.” The Journal of Negro History, vol. 77, no. 1, 1992, pp. 17–29. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3031524. Accessed 5 Aug. 2021.
3. ↑ Year: 1870; Census Place: New Haven Ward 1, New Haven, Connecticut; Roll: M593_109; Page: 54B
4. ↑ Benham's City Directory, New Haven, CT 1871, page 166
5. ↑ The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the United States Colored Troops: 1st through 5th United States Colored Cavalry, 5th Massachusetts Cavalry (Colored),
6. ↑ https://www.fold3.com/image/265227700
7. ↑ Year: 1850; Census Place: New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut; Roll: 47; Page: 250b
8. ↑ Year: 1860; Census Place: Lockport, Niagara, New York; Page: 983
9. ↑ Year: 1870; Census Place: New Haven Ward 1, New Haven, Connecticut; Roll: M593_109; Page: 54B
10. ↑ "New York, Church and Civil Deaths, 1824-1962", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F69R-TQQ : 3 November 2020), Chas. J. Beman, 1875.
11. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/147366132/charles-t.-beman
12. ↑ U.S., High School Student Lists, 1821-1923