This week’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is At the Cemetery. A few years ago I encountered a bizarre cemetery issue with the grave of my second great grandmother Filomena Napolitano. There are two headstones for her in the same cemetery at separate locations. Her Find-a-Grave memorial is here-click me.
I must confess, I have not followed up with the cemetery about this after receiving an email from the caretaker in 2017 that they were looking into this.
For more reading on my immigrant ancestress please see the following posts:
According to his Civil War pension file, Private Ovington Harris was born on December 12, 1844 in Havre de Grace, Maryland. From census data, his parents were likely Robert Harris and Hannah born in Maryland.
The first record I found pertaining to Ovington was the 1850 Federal Census where he was living in Havre de Grace. His father Robert was working as a ship caulker. The Harrises were designated Mulatto. In 1902, when Ovington filed for a veteran’s pension he stated that he was never a slave.
I spent some time tracing Ovington’s parents. On the 1832 Census of Free Blacks of Harford County, there was a Robert Harris and a lady named Dinah listed by the Sheriff. Dinah could be a mistake and might be Hannah. Dinah could also be his first wife. Or Robert and Dinah could be other people altogether. However, since I found a Free Person of Color named Robert Harris on both the 1830 and 1840 Federal Censuses in Harford County, I don’t think the Robert Harris on the 1832 Census is a different man.
Ovington relayed on a document in his pension file that his father died in March 1865 and that his mother died in 1878.
On May 22, 1863, the United States War Department established the United States Bureau of Colored Troops. In July 1863, at age 20, Ovington was recorded as eligible for military duty in Harford County, while he was working as a laborer.
The following year, on March 22, 1864, Ovington enlisted for military service in Philadelphia for a period of three years and was mustered into service the same day. He was assigned to the 43rd Regiment, United States Colored Troops, Company H. According to the Department of the Interior document below from his pension record, he was a sailor and fisherman at the time of his enlistment. From the Company Descriptive Book, you can see his occupation was actually caulker – like his father Robert.
Ovington likely then spent time training at Camp William Penn, the African American training ground outside of Philadelphia. The camp was built on land owned by the family of Lucretia Mott, an abolitionist, and women’s right’s advocate.
In 1864, his regiment performed duty at the Siege of Petersburg. On July 30, 1864, Ovington’s regiment engaged in and fought gallantly at the doomed Battle of the Crater as part of the siege. Their regiment’s captain even captured a rebel flag in the process.
The quoted text below comes from the digitized “History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers 1861-5,” as part of online resources of Pennsylvania’s United States Colored Troops holdings through the Dickinson College Library. It briefly describes the aftermath of the Union’s long planned mine explosion and the 43rd’s participation in the battle.
“The consternation created by the horrors of the explosion, enabled Ledlie’s Division to advance to, and take shelter in, the crater without serious loss… Finally when the enemy had fully recovered from his fright, had brought supports to cover the threatened point, and was fully prepared to repel further assaults, the Colored Division (43rd Regiment) was ordered to advance. It was a forlorn hope; but the division moved gallantly forward, in the face of a decimating fire, and passing to the right of the crater, charged towards the crest beyond. Here so deadly was the fire of infantry and artillery which it met, that it was soon swept back in disorder amongst the debris of the demolished fort, though it succeeded in bringing in some prisoners, Captain Albert D. Wright taking, with his own hands, a rebel battle flag. Little protection was afforded even here, the enemy soon getting the range, and mercilessly slaughtering the helpless victims huddled together. A charge made upon them by the enemy, was bloodily repulsed; but it was madness to attempt to hold the position, and almost certain destruction to attempt to go back, every inch of the ground being raked by the enemy’s concentric fire.”
Following the Civil War, Ovington’s regiment was sent to the Rio Grande in Texas to patrol the border. However, while in Texas, Ovington was diagnosed with rheumatism and stayed in the military hospital in Brownsville. On his regiment’s return trip East at the conclusion of their service at the Rio Grande, their boat nearly sank.
Ovington’s brother Daniel Elias Harris enlisted in the United States Colored Troops in Havre de Grace on March 13, 1865 in the 2nd Regiment, Company G. Note his complexion description of Griffe which is something to consider if you are a descendant of either Ovington or Daniel Elias and show Native American ancestry. See Griffe definition. Following his military service, Daniel Elias became a minister in the C.M.E. church.
After Ovington’s military service, he relocated to Williamsport, Pennsylvania and married Charlotte Dedford in 1870.
Charlotte Dedford was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Anna Johnson and David E. Dedford, a Shippensburg, Pennsylvania barber, and a possible A.M.E. minister. While I have gotten nowhere on the origins of Anna Johnson, David Dedford’s family was living as Free People of Color in Mifflin Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania after 1820. That census counted only 45 People of Color in the township. New research, since the first time of this writing, shows that the Dedfords were enslaved by David Sterret and his wife Isabella Wilson in Mifflin Township as late as 1819, long after Pennsylvania outlawed slavery.
Three of Charlotte’s brothers enlisted in the United States Colored Troops. They are as follows:
Private Thomas H.W. Dedford, a barber, 54th Massachusetts, Company, Enlisted December 4, 1863. (This regiment is known for refusing pay since it was not equal.)
Sergeant Jacob Dedford, a sailor, 43rd Regiment, Company E, United States Colored Troops, enlisted April 2, 1864. He is listed on the African American Civil War Memorial.
Private Palm Dedford, a waitor, 55th Massachusetts, Company H, enlisted June 22, 1863. He is on the 1929 Illinois Honor Roll.
By the 1880 Census, Ovington and Charlotte were living on Maynard Street in Williamsport and he was working as a laborer, while in 1900 he was working as a shoemaker.
Ovington and Charlotte had the following children: Horace, Sarah, Marion, Henrietta, Bessie, Mable, James, Olive, Nancy, Ulysses, Pearl.
I found newspaper articles mentioning that Ovington participated in parades as part of his duties as an officer in the Fribley’s GAR Veteran’s Post near Williamsport in the early 1900s.
Ovington’s pension file was close to 200 pages. I learned that with the aid of an attorney, because of his eyesight, limb, and digestive issues he had experienced since the end of the war, Ovington petitioned for a pension increase and was denied. Ovington outlived his wife Charlotte, who passed in 1908. He died on August 27, 1916 and is buried in Wildwood Cemetery, Williamsport. Thank you to the Find-a-Grave volunteer Michelle Coons who fulfilled his photo request last month. See Link.
If you have any comments, edits, additions, or questions about the sources and records I used to research Ovington’s genealogy, please email me at cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net.
Private Ovington Harris is on one of my collateral lines. Unfortunately, his regiment’s colors are one of those few Pennsylvania regimental flags that are lost, or I would have included an image here. To the best of my knowledge, at the time of this post, the data regarding Ovington’s genealogy is accurate as of February 22, 2024. For a few years I have been researching his wife’s family the Dedfords and their ancestry in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Maybe in the future a post will be made about the Dedfords and their soldiers. Are you researching the Dedfords too? I would love to hear from you.
This week’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is Nature. My feature ancestor for this week is my 10th great grandfather Johann Andreas (Hanschen) Köppels.
For the past few weeks I have been discovering more and more ancestors in Thüringen, Germany. With actual images of church records my Ancestry subscription pays for, I have traced back 5 more generations in a branch of my 3rd great grandmother’s Marie Louise Köppel’s ancestry. I have previously written about my immigrant 3rd great grandmother in this prior post and the fact that her father owned mills. For further clarification, she was the mother of my 2nd great grandfather Frederick “Fritz” Eckebrecht.
So long story short, I found a bunch of new ancestors in the area around Sondershausen, Thüringen, Germany. And just on Friday, I found out that my 9th great grandfather on a connecting branch was the Schultheiss (magistrate) in a little town near Sondershausen called Berka in 1705.
Back to the featured ancestor ~ My 10th great grandfather Johann Andreas Köppels was born around 1639, possibly near Sondershausen, Germany. His father may have been named Hans Paul and could be the man with that name that worked at Sondershausen Palace as a smith. His mother’s name is unknown at the time of this writing.
Sondershausen location
Around 1662 Johann Andreas married my 10th great grandmother Susanna Margaretha. Her last name is unknown. Unfortunately, the marriage records for Sondershausen start on Ancestry after Johann Andreas and Susanna Margaretha started to baptize their children in the 1660s.
In early 1666, when Susanna Margaretha gave birth to my 9th great grandfather Hans Abraham, Johann Andreas was a harness-maker at Sondershausen Palace and a linen weaver. Harnesses require cowhide and linen comes from the flax plant. Both professions rely on nature, don’t they?
All in all, Johann Andreas had at least 15 children to at least 2 wives. I counted at least 12 of them to my 10th great grandmother Susanna Margaretha.
At the time of his death in 1726, while my 9th great grandfather Hans Abraham was working as a brewer at Sondershausen Palace, Johann Andreas was recorded in the church death records as being a Meister Leinenweber (master linenweaver.)
If you would like to read more about Sondershausen Palace in English, some history of the structure is featured by clicking here.
It has been enjoyable finding these revelations in Sondershausen in my ancestry. I look forward to digging deeper into these newly discovered branches and sharing more about them.
Do you have any comments, additions, or corrections? Please email me at cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net.
This week’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is Nurture. I am picking my second great grandmother Elisabetta Rossi, a mother in a blended family, and mother of my great grandfather Cesidio Marcella.
Elisabetta Rossi was born in Vallecerosa, Arsita, Teramo, Italy in 1866 to Giuseppe Antonio Rossi and Anna Antonia Ricci. Prior to 1893, her parents and Elisabetta moved to Farindola. In late 1893 she married my second great grandfather Filippo Marcella in Farindola.
Filippo was a widower, as his first wife, Maria Antonia Lacchetta had passed away 6 months earlier. Filippo’s first wife had had 11 children to Filippo. However, only 5 were alive at the time of his second marriage. The other 6 never saw their first birthday. Those he brought to his union with Elisabetta were Maria Grazia, Raffaele, Pasqua, Filomena, and Serafina.
Filippo was 23 years older than Elisabetta. A little over a year after their marriage, with her husband’s other children probably all still at home, Elisabetta gave birth to my great grandfather Cesidio Marcella. Maria Domenica, Antonia Vincenza, and little Antonio Andrea followed. All 4 of Elisabetta’s children survived to adulthood and raised families of their own as did the 5 surviving children of Filippo’s first wife.
Elisabetta outlived her husband, who passed away in 1916, and was able to see the births of her grandchildren, her husband’s grandchildren, and some of her own great grandchildren.
Elisabetta Rossi’s father and his family were from nearby Penne in Pescara. Her mother’s family is a bit more of a mystery because they tended to move around Abruzzo more than any other branch I have researched there. I would love to find out why.
Grazie e pace Elisabetta!
Do you have a question, comment, or correction? Please email me at cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net.
Cinziarosa's Descendants (c) 