I thought very wrong about the time period and researched incorrectly. What was I thinking? I thought the Dedfords were freed slaves from a larger Pennsylvania city that moved out to the rural Township of Mifflin in the early 1800s to work as laborers on farms for the Scotch-Irish descendants that had settled in that area. I envisioned them living in a small hut type structure with not much money, trying to keep to themselves, and working the only trade they knew. Locals I discussed them with told me they were likely runaway slaves. Because after all, the early 1800s were well past the 1780 abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania. Boy did I have all of that out of context. I was VERY WRONG.
Looking at the 1820 Census again from a different viewpoint, I had a feeling that the fact there was no older female (mother/wife) living with Pom Dedford was because she was the older female Person of Color residing with David Sterrett(1767-1825; who laid some of the first stones for the historic First Presbyterian Church of Newville) and she was the wife of Pom Dedford, and mother of the children living with Pom. Another clue crept in – David Sterrett died in 1825 and that is when the Dedfords went to Harrisburg. I decided to start with him to see if he was the enslaver of the family.
Then after years of using the card catalog on Ancestry and Family Search with no luck, the 1810 Mifflin Township Census I had been hunting for every few months appeared on Ancestry! Ancestry Card Catalog – I can’t stand you!
There were 13 slaves in the township that year according to the census and this graphic:
David Sterrett was the only slaveholder in the township with more than 2 slaves. He had 6. I knew I had the smoking gun.
The latest clue I have is the 1825 will of David Sterrett. He states in it:
It is my will and I do order and direct that Charlotte Denford is to be supported and provided for out of my Estate during her natural life, provided she lives steady in the family and behaves herself well she is to live with any of my family she chooses and they support her.
Pom Dedford’s son David named one of his daughters Charlotte. Denford is too close to Dedford to discount too. I suspect David Sterrett’s heir or heirs FINALLY freed her!
Looking backwards, on the 1800 Census, David Sterrett has a Free Person of Color living with him. I speculate that is Nead who was willed to him by his father in 1790 but am not positive.
The Sterretts are well-known in Cumberland County. Sterretts Gap is named for other members of the family. David Sterrett’s house was on the National Register of Historic Places before it burned down. Photos of the structure exist. That property is where the Dedfords lived/worked/were enslaved. David Sterrett’s father was an original settler of this Western area of Cumberland County and was one of the bigger slaveholders and property owners. Those facts should aid in the hunt for slave transfers/sales, etc. I am also hunting for the marriage record of Charlotte and Pom and plan to take a fourth look at the Cumberland County slave records.
Unfortunately I was looking at the area’s history in the most favorable context.
Do you have any corrections, additions, or comments? Please feel free to email me – cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net.
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.
Cinziarosa's Descendants (c) 