Grave #3306: Moses Humphrey/Umphrey

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Moses Humphrey (or listed as Moses Umphrey), Co. I, 135th USCT. Likely an enslaved male from Robeson County, NC. Enlisted at Goldsboro, NC at age 23 on March 27, 1865. Died of Typhoid Fever May 16, 1865 near the Po River, Virginia as General Sherman's army marched from the Carolinas north to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Grand Review.

Images

Grave #3306 Moses Humphrey

Compiled Service Record for Moses Umphrey

Company Descriptive Book -- Compiled Service Record, page 2

Company Muster-in and Descriptive Roll -- Compiled Service Record, page 3

Company Muster Roll for March/April 1865 -- Compiled Service Record, page 4

Handwriting, Font, Rectangle, Material property

Company Muster Roll for May/June 1865 -- Compiled Service Record, page 5

Handwriting, Font, Material property, Writing

Company Muster-out Roll -- Compiled Service Record, page 6

Compiled Service Record, page 7

Enlistment Papers for Moses Umphrey -- Compiled Service Record, page 8

Enlistment papers, page -- Compiled Service Record, page 9

Casualty sheet -- Compiled Service Record, page 10

Casualty sheet, back -- Compiled Service Record, page 11

Compiled Service Record, page 12

Compiled Service Record, page 13

Font, Material property, Paper, Paper product

Compiled Service Record, page 14

Return card for Moses Humphrey shows same Regiment, Company, and date/place of death as the record for Moses Umphrey

The Register of Deaths of Volunteers lists Moses Humphrey of Co. I, 135th USCT

Col. John Gurley, commanding 135th USC Infantry

Three slaveowners with the last name Humphrey are listed on the 1860 Census/Slave Schedule for Robeson County, North Carolina.

Part of the probate records for the division of property after William B. Humphrey's death lists the names of 12 slaves, but Moses is not a name listed.

The Humphrey-Williams Plantation House.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

For decades the grave of Moses Humphrey was a mystery. In the roster he was listed as a private in Co. I, 135^th USCT and died in May 1864. This information seemed incorrect, however, because the 135^th USCT was not formed until March of 1865 in North Carolina.

Recent research has uncovered a possible answer. The roster of the 135^th United States Colored Infantry lists a Moses Umphry in Co. I that died in Virginia in May 1865. In the Compiled Service Records and Register of Deaths of Volunteers Moses is listed as both Humphrey and Umphrey, with the same company and date of death. It is likely that this is the same soldier and his death date was incorrectly listed in the original cemetery roster. The 135^th USCT was mustered on March 28, 1865 in Goldsboro/Goldsborough, NC largely from the refugees and contrabands that had attached themselves to the Union Army of General William T. Sherman on his march through the Carolinas. Many of these Black men had been used as pioneers and laborers, navigating the Carolina countryside and helping build roads and bridges to move the army prior to their official enlistment in March. The regiment was only active for a few months, between March and October 1865, under the command of Colonel John Gurley. While the unit was mustered in North Carolina it marched with Sherman to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Grand Review May 23-24, 1865. This matches up with Moses Humphrey dying of Typhoid Fever in a 17^th Corp hospital in Virginia on May 16, 1865, as the army moved towards Washington. It is possible that because Humphrey died and was likely buried near the Po River near Spotsylvania he may have been mistaken by the reinternment crews for a May 1864 casualty when he was moved to the National Cemetery.

Because Moses Humphrey was an enslaved man who escaped in some way to be in Goldsboro, NC on March 27, 1865 when he enlisted into the 135^th USC Infantry, it is very difficult to glean more information about his past. Most of the time slaves were not listed by name in the census records and finding lists of slaves owned by each individual is like finding a needle in a haystack. In the case of Humphrey his enlistment and service records do offer some clues (although much of this is speculation based on connecting primary sources together). When Humphrey enlisted he stated he was 23 years old and born in Robeson County, North Carolina. It was common for slaves to take the last name of their owner; if Moses Humphrey followed that trend he might have been owned by someone named Humphrey in that county. On the 1860 U.S. Federal Census-Slave Schedules there are three slave owners with the last name of Humphrey in Robeson County, NC. Of the three, William B. Humphrey owned a male slave listed as 18 years old, which would make him 23 years old in 1865. The Humphrey plantation was located just outside of Lumberton, NC, putting it right near the path of Sherman’s army as it moved north towards Goldsboro, NC in February and March 1865. However, when William B. Humphrey died in 1862 at age 20 and his family divided his property Moses was not among the names of the twelve listed slaves. This means that either Moses was not owned by William, or he changed his name when he enlisted. While it is impossible to piece together Humphrey’s past with any certainty, his case illustrates the difficulty of tracing slaves through the historical record, as well as how enslaved people used the Civil War to change their situation by running away or enlisting in the Union Army.

Sources

Pfanz, Donald C. "Where Valor Proudly Sleeps: A History of Fredericksburg National Cemetery, 1866-1933." National Park Service, 2007. (Available at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP)

Cemetery Roster & Book File, Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP

Fold3 Civil War records -and- Ancestry (Census, Slave Schedule, and probate records)

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Photograph by Kathleen Thompson

Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War, compiled 1890 - 1912, documenting the period 1861 - 1866. NARA Record Group 94, ID 300398. Accessed through Fold3, May 20, 2021.

Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War, compiled 1890 - 1912, documenting the period 1861 - 1866. Record Group 94, ID 300398, Roll RG94-USCT-135-Bx35_misc. Accessed through Fold3, May 20, 2021.

Registers of Deaths of Volunteers, compiled 1861–1865. ARC ID: 656639. Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's–1917. Record Group 94. National Archives at Washington, D.C. Accessed through Ancestry, May 20, 2021.

"Col John Gurley." Find A Grave. Accessed May 21, 2021. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34024896/john-gurley.

1860 U.S. Federal Census – Slave Schedules (Robeson, North Carolina), June-August 1860 The National Archives in Washington DC; Washington DC, USA; Eighth Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29 (Accessed through Ancestry, May 21, 2021)

Wills, 1663-1978; Estate Papers, 1801-1935 (Robeson County); Author: North Carolina. Division of Archives and History (Raleigh, North Carolina); Probate Place: Robeson, North Carolina (Accessed through Ancestry, May 21, 2021)

"Humphrey-Williams-Smith House." North Carolina Digital Collections. Accessed May 21, 2021. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p16062coll8/id/7332/rec/1.