Thomas Smith Sturges (1829 - 1907)

Born 16 Nov 1829 in Melksham, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Selina (Middlebrook) Sturges — married 5 Mar 1862 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Died 28 Apr 1907 at age 77 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mick Tilley [send private message]

Biography

Thomas Smith Sturges was born in 1829 in Melksham, Wiltshire. He was the son of Thomas and Anne Sturges^[1].

In 1862 he married Selina Middlebrook in Leeds, Yorkshire,^[2][3][4] and they had a daughter Ann (b.1864, d.1864).

After Selina died in 1864 Thomas emigrated to the United States and settled in Jackson, Mississippi. He married Josephine Miazza sometime around 1875 and they had 3 children: Anna (b.1882), Josephine Elizabeth (b.1883) and Thomas Angelo (b.1891).

Thomas died aged 77 in 1907 in New Orleans, Louisiana,^[5] and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Jackson^[6][7].

Thomas's obituary^[6] stated that he'd fought in the Crimean War, the American Civil War and had been awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry. While the first claim may be true (when Thomas joined the Yorkshire police in 1860^[8] he stated that he'd served in the Bengal Artillery for 11 years and the time period matches with the duration of the Crimean War - 1853 to 1856). The second claim must be treated with caution (the Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865 and Thomas was still in England in 1864; also the Englishman Thomas Sturges who enlisted in the Army in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in May 1867 (aged 35) gave his birthplace as Cumberland and was dishonourably discharged in 1869^[9]. The third claim about the award of the Victoria Cross is patently untrue^[10].

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry: England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970
2. ↑ Marriage registered Leeds District, Q1 1862, Vol 9b Page 419
3. ↑ Parish Registers of Leeds, St Peter
4. ↑ Leeds Mercury, 6 March 1862
5. ↑ "Mississippi, State Archives, Various Records, 1820-1951," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJB7-JHPZ : 9 November 2020), Thomas Smith Sturgis, 27 Apr 1907; citing Death, Jackson, , Mississippi, United States; Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson; FamilySearch digital folder 004815582.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} "Mississippi, State Archives, Various Records, 1820-1951," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJB7-JHPC : 9 November 2020), Thomas Smith Sturgis, 27 Apr 1907; citing Death, Jackson, Hinds, Mississippi, United States; Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson; FamilySearch digital folder 004815582.
7. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #86720441
8. ↑ Ancestry: West Yorkshire, England, Police Records, 1833-1914
9. ↑ "United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJD5-1BKJ : 13 March 2018), Thomas Sturges, 04 May 1867; citing p. 134, volume 067, Vicksburg, , Mississippi, United States, NARA microfilm publication M233 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 34; FHL microfilm 350,340.)
10. ↑ see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Victoria_Cross_recipients_(N%E2%80%93Z) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Crimean_War_Victoria_Cross_recipients

See also:

• 1861 census: PRO Ref: RG9 Piece 3392 Folio 126 Page 30 Schedule 176
• US Census 1870
• US Census 1880: District ED 3 Sheet 45A
• US Census 1900: District 111 Sheet 12B