Adella Grace Scott Scribner Part 2 of 8 -- 1870s

Adella Grace Scott Scribner 1860-1944

She is my husband's Paternal Great Great Aunt

1870, age 10

9 August 1870 Census ... Dwelling 49 (a farm) in Salisbury, Merrimack, NH
living with her mother and Step Father; brother Marshall and sister Silia; and half-sister Mertie Hamm.

Adella Grace Scott 1870 Census
Yellow star is her future husband's family

I suspect this is the farming land that Adella inherited? from her first husband.  Or, is this land from Amos' family?  Or, did they purchase this land together after they were married?

In other news 
1870: Hiram Revels is elected to serve as the First Black US Senator.  Black men all over the United States are allowed to vote for the first time.   (OurTimelines.com, 2018).
1871: The Great Fire destroys Chicago (OurTimelines.com, 2018).

1876 clip art Arnica Liniment

(Newspapers.com, 1876)

1873, age 13

half sister Myrtella Mae Hamm was born 22 March 1873

The only records I have is secondary sources -- death records, marriage records, censuses.


In other news
1873: Colour Photographs are developed, and the Great Depression starts as banks fail  (OurTimelines.com, 2018).

1876 clip art, medications
(Newspapers.com, 1876)

1876, age 17

Adella Grace Scott married Morrill D. Scribner in Franklin, Merrimack, NH on 23 December 1876.

He was her neighbor 6 years ago.  At this point, Morrill is 21 years old, Adella is 17.  Morrill is a farmer in Salisbury while Adella is a teacher in the same town.  This is a first marriage for them both.  They were married in Franklin Falls, New Hampshire, in the Baptist church

Adella Grace Scott Scribner 1876 marriage certificate A

Morrill's parents were Jeremiah and Eliabeth Stevens Scribner.  Her parents are listed as Harvey and Mary Jane Bacon Scott.  The record is not filled out fully, which is frustrating but is pretty typical, unfortunately.

Adella Grace Scott Scribner 1876 marriage certificate B

In other news
1876: America celebrates it's existance for 100 years!  Bell Telephone starts to ring a bell.  Little Big Horn battle is fought, resulting in many deaths.  Colorado becomes our 38th State (OurTimelines.com, 2018).

1878 clip art bird
Town of Salisbury NH report

1877, age 17

24 November 1877, her son Charles Herbert Scribner was born in Franklin NH

I don't have any records of the birth of her first born child.

1877-1880, age 17

Rutherford B. Hayes becomes the 19th Pesident of the United States

1877 Rutherford B. Hayes

(Wikipedia -- Hayes, 2018)

Quote

"Wars will remain while human nature remains.  I believe in my soul in cooperation, in arbitration; but the soldier’s occupation we cannot say is gone until human nature is gone" – Rutherford B. Hayes (Hayes, 2018)

1878 clip art books
Town of Salisbury NH report

In other news
1877: Wax Cylinder Musical recordings start to liven things up (OurTimelines.com, 2018).
1878:  The people start to talk on the First commercial telephone exchange in the United States (OurTimelines.com, 2018).

1879, age 19

8 November 1879, her daughter Gertrude M. Scribner was born in Franklin NH

Adella Grace Scott Scribner 1879 daughter Gertrude birth
from Ancestry.com

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________________________________
Resources

Hayes, R. B. (2018, December 13). Rutherford B. Hayes Quotes. Retrieved from BrainyQuote: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/rutherford_b_hayes

Newspapers.com. (1876, April 6). The Cincinnati Daily Star, Cincinnati Ohio. Retrieved from Newspapers.com: Newspapers.com

OurTimelines.com. (2018). TimeLines. (Timelines courtesy of www.ourtimelines.com. Timeline formatting and technology copyright © 2000-2018 ourtimelines.com, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED under the Pan-American Conventions.) Retrieved from OurTimeLines.com: http://ourtimelines.com/

Wikipedia -- Hayes. (2018, December 13). Rutherford B. Hayes. Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_B._Hayes

________________________________

Adella Grace Scott Scribner Part 1 of 8 -- 1860s

Adella Grace Scott Scribner 1860-1944

daughter of Harvey and Mary Jane Bacon Scott

1860s

Adella Grace Scott Scribner LifeStory from Ancestry

4 February 1860 

Birth

Adella Grace Scott was born in Salisbury, Merrimack County NH.  Below is her birth certificate.  The frustrating thing about New Hampshire vital records is that they rarely filled in anything more than the absolute necessities.  But at least it provides evidence of her date and place of birth, her father's name and place of birth, and her mother's maiden name.

Adella Grace Scott 1860 birth certificate

1860 Census 

19 July 1860, age 4 months, living with her parents, older brother Marshall, and her father's sister, Aunt Lucretia M. Scott.  They all lived in Salisbury NH.  This image is the second part, since Harvey's name starts on the previous page.  You can find the entire thing in a previous post.

Adella Grace Scott 1860 census

Screen shot from Google Maps showing Salisbury NH in relation to some other major areas, including Vermont, New York, Ontario.

Salisbury NH from Google Maps 2019

1861 age 1

Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

1861 Abraham Lincoln, 16th President

(Wikipedia -- Lincoln, 2018)

“Lincoln led the nation through the Civil War, its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis.”  In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the Federal government and modernized the economy (Wikipedia -- Lincoln, 2018).  

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."  -- Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln, 2018)

Historical Insight -- Northern Life in the Civil War

Adella Grace Scott was in the North as the United States was torn apart by the American Civil War.

1862. Credit: Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images  – Ancestry.com Historical Insight

"More than 360,000 Union soldiers lost their lives during the Civil War; a notification of death was usually delivered to families by telegram or a fellow soldier." – Ancestry.com Historical Insight

1862, age 1

sister Silia was born  -- it is difficult to find anything about her.  I'll have to blog about her later, if I can find anything.

(Newspapers.com -- A Mormon's Opinion, 1866)

1864 

Lincoln runs for President with Johnson

1864 Lincoln Johnson campaign poster
(Wikipedia -- Lincoln, 2018)

1865 age 4

Father Harvey Scott died, 30 January 1865 in Hampton Virginia at the age of 39.  You can find my research on his death here.  She was only 4 years old, but her father was gone fighting in the Civil War for much of her life.  How much did she know about him, or remember about him?  What was life like before he died, and how much did their life change afterwards?  She had an older brother and a younger sister.  Harvey had purchased a couple pieces of land before he died, I think the family lived and farmed there.

(Newspapers.com -- clip art, millstones, 1866)

President Lincoln was assasinated.

1865

Andrew Johnson becomes President of the United States

1865 - 1869 Andrew Johnson

(Wikipedia -- Andrew Johnson, 2018)

"Slavery exists.  It is black in the South, and white in the North" -- Andrew Johnson (Johnson, 2018).

1866 

Mitchell Walker was elected as the First Black US official in Massacheusetts.

1868 age 6

Mother marries second husband Amos L. Hamm II on 1 May 1868 at Franklin NH.  You can find my blog on this event here.  I still don't have much primary evidence on this event, and I still wonder how they met?  I surmise that, since Amos also fought in the Civil War, that Amos knew this family from that connection.  Or, perhaps it was because they lived in the same geographical area.  Amos had lost his wife, and had a daughter a couple of years older than Adella, so perhaps it was a marriage of convenience?  Hard to say.  You can find the first of my blogs on Amos Hamm here.  His life was pretty amazing.

(Newspapers.com -- clip art, politcal advertisements, 1866)

1869

Ulysses S. Grant becomes President of the United States

1869 Ulysses S. Grant

(Wikipedia -- Grant, 2018)

"In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins" – Ulysses S. Grant (Grant, 2018).

In other news -- this is the decade in which South Carolina cecedes from the Union, Kansas enters the Union as the 34th state, and Colorado, Nevada, and both Dakotas become territories;  Ku Klux Klan was founded by those who hated the idea of blacks living free in 1865;  Lister invents Disinfection (OurTimelines.com, 2018).

If you like what you see, be sure to subscribe, and consider supporting me on my patreon page

Become a Patron!



________________________________
Resources

Ancestry -- Adella Grace Scott Scribner. (2019, November 6). Adella Grace Scott Scribner 1860-1944. Retrieved from Ancestry.com: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/14582634/person/145967463/story

Ancestry Historical Insight. (2019). Northern Life in the Civil War. Retrieved from Ancestry.com: https://www.ancestry.com/contextux/historicalinsights/civil-war-life-in-the-north/persons/145967463:1030:14582634

Google Maps. (2019). Salisbury New Hampshire. Retrieved from Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Salisbury,+NH/@43.4694958,-74.9050557,7.31z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e20fe5e7b2da11:0x31fdd52843021743!8m2!3d43.3800768!4d-71.7170222

Grant, U. S. (2018, December 12). Ulysses S. Grant Quotes. Retrieved from BrainyQuotes: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/ulysses_s_grant

Johnson, A. (2018, December 13). Andrew Johnson Quotes. Retrieved from BrainyQuote: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/andrew_johnson

Lincoln, A. (2018). Abraham Lincoln Quotes. Retrieved from BrainyQuotes: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/abraham_lincoln

Newspapers.com -- A Mormon's Opinion. (1866, January 6). The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) ·  Sat, Jan 6, 1866 ·  Page 1. Retrieved March 18, 2017, from Newspapers.com: Newspapers.com

Newspapers.com -- clip art, millstones. (1866, June 29). The Courier-Journal. Retrieved from Newspapers.com: Newspapers.com

Newspapers.com -- clip art, politcal advertisements. (1866, April 7). The Louisville Daily Courier. Retrieved from Newspapers.com: Newspapers.com

OurTimelines.com. (2018). TimeLines. (Timelines courtesy of www.ourtimelines.com. Timeline formatting and technology copyright © 2000-2018 ourtimelines.com, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED under the Pan-American Conventions.) Retrieved from OurTimeLines.com: http://ourtimelines.com/

Scott, J. (2017, November 17). 1860s Mary Jane Bacon Scott Hamm part 3. Retrieved from Scott Family Research: https://scottfamilyresearch.blogspot.com/2017/11/1860s-mary-jane-bacon-scott-hamm-part-3.html

Scott, J. (2017, October 20). Harvey Scott Part 8 Death and Burial. Retrieved from Scott Family Research: https://scottfamilyresearch.blogspot.com/2017/10/harvey-scott-part-8-death-and-burial.html

Scott, J. (2018, February 11). Amos L. Hamm part 1. Retrieved from Scott Family Research: https://scottfamilyresearch.blogspot.com/2018/02/amos-l-hamm-part-1-husband-of-mary-jane.html

Wikipedia -- Andrew Johnson. (2018, December 13). Andrew Johnson. Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Johnson

Wikipedia -- Lincoln. (2018). Abraham Lincoln, 16th President. Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States

Wikipedia -- Grant. (2018, December 12). Ulysses S. Grant. Retrieved from Wikipedia.com: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_S._Grant

________________________________

Amos L. Hamm part 9, 1910s

• 1910 Census Salisbury NH
• 1910 City Directory
• 1911 Residence Salisbury NH
• 1913 City Directory Salisbury NH
• 1914 Salisbury NH
• 1915 Death Certificate, Will, Probate

1910 Census, Salisbury NH

1910 Census Salisbury NH
Amos Hamm

Amos Hamm, age 78, born 1832 in Vermont.  Once again, no street name nor house number for their home in Salisbury, Merrimack NH.  He is living with his wife Mary J, this is the second marriage for them both, and they have been married for 39 years.  Mary Jane has had 5 children, three of whom are still living.  In this census, both of his parents are born in Vermont, not Massachusetts as is recorded the previous census.  Amos owns his own farm.  In this census we find out that Amos fought in the Civil War for the Union Army.

Please note the family just next door is Frank and Mertie Hamm Forsaith, Amos' daughter.  So, this Augusta C. Forsaith is Amos and Mary's granddaughter.  That will teach me to look at everybody on the page.

1910 City Directory

1910 City Directory, Salisbury, Merrimack NH

Amos L. Hamm, farmer on Andover rfd 1, Salisbury, Merrimack County NH.  Again, note the Frank Forsaith farmer.

1913 City Directory

1913 City Directory, Salisbury Merrimack NH

Amos L. Hamm, farmer on Andover rfd 1, Salisbury, Merrimack County NH.  Again, note the Frank Forsaith farmer.

1914 Directory

Amos Ham 1914 Directory
Salisbury NH

1915 Death Certificate and Will and Probate

Amos Ham Death Certificate Front

He's lived here for 40 years, died 11 February 1915, just days before his 84th birthday.  Here is confirmation he was born in Sutton Vermont.  He is a widower by this time, he died of Arteriosclerosis, which is hardening of the arteries.  The informant did not know any information about his parents.

Amos Ham Death Certificate Back

Not much more information on the back, either.  It doesn't even mention the name of his wife.  The physician is named, as well as the undertaker in Franklin NH.  He was buried in Shaw's Corner, Franklin NH on 14 February 1915.

Amos Ham Will

This is his will.  Please note that he signed using his mark.

Amos Ham 1915 will Detail

Ham, Amos L.  Will.
     Be it known that I Amos L. Ham of Salisbury County of Merrimack and State of New Hampshire.  Being of a sound and disposing mind do make this my last will and testament.
1st -- That all my just debts and funeral expenses be paid
2nd -- I give and bequeath to my daughter Ella F. Sleeper the sum of one dollar
3d -- I give and bequeath to my daughter Myrtella M. Forsaith all the remainder of my estate wherever found
4th -- I appoint Myrtella M. Forsaith executrix of my will
Salisbury N.H. November 25.  I sign the above as my last will and testament
              his
Amos L [x] Ham
            mark
And we by his request and in his presence do sign as witnesses
George E. Fellows
Harold A. Prince
Mrs. Carrie J. Farnsworth

Some thoughts -- The person writing this had almost perfect penmanship.  It is a style easy to read, but I've been unable to identify the form of penmanship.  It isn't Spencerian which typically has elaborate calligraphy.  It may be Zaner-Bloser which was taught during this time frame, except this man's personal style is vertical.  Do you have an idea?

Amos Ham Probate

This is the probate, proving Amos' will.  He'd named Mertie as his executrix, leaving her his property, dated 23 February 1915.

Amos L. Hamm part 8 1900s

• 1900 Census, Salisbury NH
• 1900 City Directory
• 1902 City Directory
• 1904 City Directory Salisbury NH
• 1906 City Directory

1900 Census

1900 Census, Salisbury, Merrimack NH
Amos L. Hamm

Amos Hamm, age 69, born February 1831 in Vermont.  Again no street name nor house number, but living in Salisbury, Merrimack, New Hampshire.  He married Mary in 1868, and has been married for 32 years.  Both parents were born in Massachusetts, he is a farmer, owning his own farm.  He lives with his wife Mary J, and granddaughter Celia A. Forsaith age 5, born in April 1895 in New Hampshire.  Both of her parents were born in NH.  Celia must be the daughter of one of Amos' daughters who married a Forsaith.  What happened to the parents?  This is way before any world wars, and way too late for the Civil War.

Updated -- that daughter is, I think, Mertie Ham who married her neighbor Frank Forsaith.  This is what I suspect.

1900 City Directory

1900 City Directory, Salisbury NH

Amos L. Hamm, farmer on Warner Road in Salisbury, Merrimack County NH

1902 Directory

Amos Ham 1902 Directory
Salisbury New Hampshire

1904 Directory

Amos Ham 1904 Directory
Salisbury New Hampshire

Amos L. Hamm, farmer on Andover rfd 1, Salisbury, Merrimack County NH.  Of note is the Forsaith farming family with the same rural address.

1906 Directory

Amos Ham 1906 Directory
Salisbury New Hampshire

Okay, so I tried to Google this area.  I did find a South road, but nothing like Andover RFD1.  Do you know what this may be?  If so, give us a shout using the form on the right.  Thank you.

Amos L. Hamm part 7, 1890s

• 1890 Census Substitute, Salisbury NH
• 1890 Historical Insight -- Establishment of County Poorhouses
• 1897 Historical Insight -- Dr Barnum Brown, Fossil Hunter

1890 Census Substitute Index

No image.  Amos Ham, NH, Merrimack County, Salisbury, 1890, page 002 of the NH 1890 Veterans Schedule

Amos L. Ham II on Ancestry.com

1890 Census Substitute

Amos Ham 1890 Veterans Schedule

There are very very few censuses available for 1890.  That's because, in 1921, there was a fire in the Commerce Department Building, in which most of the population schedules were badly damaged.  Only fragments are available.  The list is found on this website.  

A newspaper photograph captured the scene after a
devastating fire and pointed out the need for safe
storage of national records.
Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

The Hollerith tabulator was used to tabulate the 1890 census—the first time a census was tabulated by machine. The illustration is of a Hollerith tabulator that has been modified for the first 1890 tabulation, the family, or rough, count -- the punched card reader has been removed, replaced by a simple keyboard. See: Truesdell, 1965, The Development of Punched Card Tabulation ..., US GPO, p.61
from Wikipedia, here

1895 Salisbury Town Report

In this town report for Salisbury for 1895, we find Amos Ham's name listed.  I'm not sure what this is for, exactly.

1897 Historical Insight -- Dr Barnum Brown, Fossil Hunter

Ancestry.com Historical Insight -- Dr Barnum Brown, Fossil Hunter

Credit: Getty Images

Dr. Barnum Brown came from humble beginnings, but his interest in archaeology would lead him to world-renowned success. After his outstanding work as a student at University of Kansas, Dr. Brown was offered a spot on a fossil dig that was operated by the American Museum of Natural History. He was soon hired as a field assistant for the museum, and eventually became the curator over a massive collection of dinosaur fossils that he had found himself. While participating in a dig in Hell Creek, Montana, in 1902, he located “bones of a large Carnivorous Dinosaur. . . .[He had] never seen anything like it from the Cretaceous." Dr. Brown had, in fact, discovered the first skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex. Over the next few decades he made several more significant discoveries. Dr. Brown’s work made him a kind of scientific celebrity, and people flocked to see both him and the fossils he had unearthed.

Resources

• 1890 Census information
• https://www.census.gov/history/www/genealogy/decennial_census_records/availability_of_1890_census.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1890_United_States_Census
• 
  

Amos L. Hamm part 6, 1880s

• 1880 Census, Salisbury NH
• 1884 Civil War Pension Filed
• 1888 Historical Insight -- Great Blizzard

1880 Census

1880 Census Salisbury, Merrimack NH
Amos L. Ham

Amos L Ham is 45 years old, living in Salisbury, Merrimack NH, no street nor house number. He is a farmer, and, according to this, he was born in Vermont, yet both parents were born in New Hampshire.

1884 Civil War Pension Index

1884 Civil War Pension Index

Amos Ham, soldier for Company E, 6th Vermont infantry.  Filed 21 February 1884, application number 506.664, certificate number 312.685.  I am unsure if this belongs to our Amos, as this one fights for Vermont, although he files from New Hampshrie.  It could be him, but both of these Pension indices cannot be the same person, right?

1888 Historical Insight -- Great Blizzard

1888 Ancestry.com Historical Insight -- Great Blizzard of 1888
Credit: Buyenlarge/Archive Photos/Getty Images

New England was buried under arctic drifts of snow during the “Great White Hurricane” in the spring of 1888.

March 11, 1888 began as a spring day with rain along the Eastern seaboard, but in a short time temperatures plummeted, three to five feet of snow fell, and gale-force winds up to 80 mph created 20- to 30-foot snowdrifts from New Jersey to Vermont, isolating nearly every city.

Telegraph, telephone, and electrical lines went down, stranded passenger trains littered railroad tracks, and people remained trapped in their homes or businesses without access to food or heat. More than 400 people died, including U.S. Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York, who died of exposure when he lost his way home.

In addition to the snow and freezing temperatures, citizens had to contend with fires that burned out of control and the floods that came when the snow melted. In the wake of “The Great White Hurricane,” Boston and New York City officials resolved to bury their cables and wires and run trains underground to prevent future disasters.

from Ancestry.com Historical Insight 

Amos L. Hamm part 5, 1870s

• 1870 Historical Insight -- 15th Amendment to the US Constitution
• 1870 Residence Salisbury NH age 36
• 1872 Civil War Pension Filed
• 1873 Daughter Mertie born, NH

1870 Census

1870 Census, Salisbury, Merrimack NH
Amos and Mary J. Ham

age 36, born 1834 in Vermont.  He is a farmer with $1850 personal estate value and $600 Real Estate Value.  His "inferred" spouse (as Ancestry.com calls it) is Mary J. Ham, and his daughter is age 13, Nellie, from a previous marriage.

of note is the Scribner family in close proximity, including George age 21 and Morrell K. age 14.  Morrell would later go on to marry Adella G. Scott.  Looks like they were childhood pals.

1870 Historical Insight -- 15th Amendment to the US Constitution

When the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in early February 1870, celebrations erupted in African American communities and abolitionist societies disbanded thinking their work was done. The amendment prohibited government at all levels from denying voting rights to men based on race.

The Republican Party gained an African American voting bloc in the North. However, African Americans who wanted to vote in the South were met with poll taxes they could not afford, literacy tests they could not pass, and threats of violence from the Ku Klux Klan they could not ignore. Voter registration among African American men in Mississippi decreased from 67 percent in 1867 to 4 percent in 1892.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1876 that poll taxes and literacy tests were legal, effectively nullifying the intent of the 15th Amendment and leading to the entrenchment of Jim Crow laws for another 90 years.

from Ancestry.com Historical Insight 

1872? Civil War Pension Index filing date

1872 Civil War Pension index

Amos L. Ham, soldier for Company B, 18th New Hampshire infantry.  filed 22 August 1872, invalid, application number 177317.  Does this belong to our Amos?

1873 Mertie born

Daughter Mertie is born 22 March 1873 in Salisbury, Merrimack NH.  The only source for this birth is the 1880 Census when she is age 7, and her Christmas marriage record of 1893 when she is documented as 21 years old.  These are both considered secondary sources.

Amos L. Hamm part 4, 1860s

• 1861 Historical Insight -- Medicine during the Civil War
• 1861 Historical Insight -- American Civil War -- Military Advancements
• 1864 Civil War Enlistment, NH, age 30
• 1868 Marriage to Mary Jane Bacon Scott age 34

Amos Ham must have farmed during most of the Civil War.  Must have been very stressful.  He volunteered late in the war.

1861 Medicine During the Civil War

Ancestry.com Historical Insight -- Medicine During the Civil War
Credit: Buyenlarge/Archive Photos/Getty Image

During the American Civil War, the sheer volume of wounded soldiers forced doctors and nurses to develop life-saving medical techniques.

The vast majority of deaths during the American Civil War were not on the battlefield; they were caused by disease. In 1861 germ theory did not exist, the root of infection remained a mystery, and medical training was crude. Little advancements had been made in the field since the American Revolution; some physicians still championed medieval methods of bloodletting, purging, and blistering to rebalance the body’s humors. However, development in weaponry, namely faster, more accurate rifles and shells killed hundreds of thousands and left many more badly wounded. Thus the war forced doctors and nurses to rethink medical treatments, as tens of thousands of soldiers flooded the ill-equipped field hospitals. The sheer volume of injured men prompted rapid amputations. By 1865, a surgeon could remove a limb in six minutes flat. Anesthetics were common—chloroform and ether were given to patients, along with morphine for the pain. Ambulance service also was born during the Civil War. The fallen were gathered from the field, their wounds wrapped up, and they were shuttled to battle-side hospitals. But for many, these advancements in techniques and sanitation came too little too late—upwards of 500,000 Americans died from disease and infection before the war’s end. from Ancestry.com

1861 Military Advancements

Ancestry.com Historical Insight -- Civil War, Military Advancements
Credit: Buyenlarge/Archive Photos/Getty Image

Advancements in military weapons made the American Civil War a conflict of unparalleled carnage.

During the American Civil War, new weaponry revolutionized battle. The repeating rifle with Minié balls that allowed soldiers to fire seven rounds in 30 seconds without reloading replaced the musket. The repeating rifle increased accuracy, extending the firing range from 80 yards to 1,000. Thus forces were spaced further apart on the battlefield and to protect themselves built extensive fortifications and trenches.

Hand grenades and land mines also came into use during the war. However, the new explosives were finicky—sometimes Confederate soldiers used blankets to catch the incoming explosives and simply tossed them back to Union lines, where they exploded.

From the skies, passenger balloons spied on enemy lines and from below, Confederate submarines attacked ironclad ships enforcing the Union blockade. Unfortunately, technological advancements outpaced medical innovation.

The wounds caused by these new weapons were often deadly. In battle, modernized weapons proved harrowing. The sheer scale of fatalities and injuries was unmatched and, today, the Civil War remains the deadliest conflict in American history.

from Ancestry.com

1864 Military

Amos Ham 1864 Military Service

This document is entitled "Dispersments in Aid of Families of Volunteers by the Town of __________________"  The town name is left blank.  More than halfway down, we have Amos L. Ham, 18th NH Regiment, Company B.  He started September 17 1864.  He has a wife Mary A and a Child under 10 (this would be the child Nellie).  This aid was from September 30 1864 through April 30 1865, seven months.  The family was paid 56$.  The notation says "supposed to be with Regiment" whatever that means.

WAIT a minute!  His wife is Amelia, not Mary.  What gives here?

1864 Civil War enlistment

I don't have an image of this information.  I found it on Ancestry.com here.  His name is Amos L. Ham, enlisted at age 29 on 13 September 1864.  He was a private when he enlisted in Company B, New Hamspire 18th Infantry Regiment.  He mustered out on 10 June 1865.  It says he was born about 1835.

How to Come Home Safe

I found this story when I entered Amos' name into the Google search field.  Several books were written which included this inspirational story, I chose Incidents of the United States Christian Commission by Edward Parmelee Smith 1871.  Published by J.B. Lippincott & Company, United States.  The information for the book is found here, and the story is found here 

Amos L. Ham, of Co. B, 18th N.H., told us how he was arrested by a message from his little daughter [ed note:  this would be Nellie].  he labored under deep emotion as he spoke.  His wife had written him a letter.  Before sealing it, she turned to her little daughter and asked -- "What shall I write Father for you?"  "Tell him," said little Nellie, "to look to God and trust Him, and then he will come home safe."  The message went to the father's heart, humbling him at the foot of the cross, as a "little child."

1861 Amelia Hart Ham died

I don't have proof of the date of death, yet.  Perhaps never.  However, she had to have died somewhere before 1868 when he marries Mary Jane Bacon Scott, whose husband died a few weeks or days before the end of the war.  Perhaps these two men knew each other?

I have in my files that she died 26 August 1861.  This doesn't jive with the story above, where Nellie's mother was writing to Amos.  Something is wrong, probably my records, since I don't have proof.

1868 Marriage to Mary Jane Bacon Scott

They were married in Franklin, Merrimack NH on 1 May 1868.  She was 30 years old, her father is listed as Henry Bacon.  Her spouse is Amos L. Ham, also 30 years old.  New information!  His father is also Amos L. Ham!  From Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, Marriage Records Index, 1637-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

I found another date of marriage as 20 May 1868, also from Ancestry.com.

But the definitive answer is 1 May as evidenced by the image of the actual marriage record.  

1868 Marriage record for Scott/Hamm front

1868 Marriage record for Scott/Hamm back

Both are aged 30, Amos is a Farmer, and he was born in St. Johnsbury Vermont.  This is a second marriage for both of them, as both spouses died leaving them both widowed.  

Well, here's another record only it is for 20 May.

So, there is evidence for both dates, however one of them is transcribed later and is written in error.  The second one is transcribed in 1906.  The first set has no transcription date.  I suspect the May 1st date is the correct one, and I think the one transcribed 38 years later is erroneous.  

These are just my thoughts on the subject of both dates, I am open to suggestions.  Is this your family?  If you have any clarifications or want to connect, I'm happy to entertain options.  Use the connextion form on the right.

Resources:

• Incidents of the Unites States Christian Commission book details

• https://books.google.com/books?id=cKk8AAAAYAAJ&dq=amos+L.+Ham&source=gbs_navlinks_s

• Story "How to Come Home Safely"

• https://books.google.com/books?id=cKk8AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA345&dq=amos+L.+Ham&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj15rSU6tnYAhVH3mMKHVRUAfcQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=amos%20L.%20Ham&f=false