52 Ancestors Week 27: Solo

From Amy Johnson Crow:

Week 27's theme is "Solo." When I wrote this theme, I though first of an ancestor who was an only child, but don't limit yourself there! How about someone on a line where you feel like you're the only one researching them? (I have a couple of those!) Any musicians or singers in the family tree? How about a "solo" name, like Singletary?

The pop culture reference was practically gift wrapped this week.

Before I get started with this week's topic, I have some exciting news to share with everyone! A couple days ago, one of my aunts stopped by with some boxes from my grandfather's house. My grandfather saved a bunch of things over the years from golf balls to golf cards and more. Various things will be going to various relatives. Not a bad haul. However, there was a genealogical gold mine and my aunt knew that I had to take a look. Why not? She knew I'd be interested, right? So, the last couple of days I found many items including:

My great-grandfather Alfred Francis Hamel's glasses.
Documents pertaining to my grandfather's military career.
Photographs from my parents' wedding which had color photos of my great-grandparents, Austin and Henrietta.
Photos of Austin and Henrietta's wedding anniversary!
Photos of my great-grandmother, Clara Laplante.

That's just the tip of the old iceberg! Not only did I get two thirty pound boxes and a cart full of pictures, there's a satchel of documents and other things to sort through. Various pictures will be sent out to family members who want them. The golf stuff, for example, will be going to one of my uncles. Several pictures have been scanned. It took me a while to remember how to scan a picture. I hadn't scanned anything since my last comic review in 2019. And speaking of comics, my aunt tossed in a Captain America backpack. I think my family knows me all too well!!

For the Solo prompt this week, I've had to think about it for a while. I don't really have many people who are only children in my tree save for my father. Finding something to talk about this week was a bit of a challenge. Until now....

Allow me to introduce you to one of only a handful of American Civil War veterans I have in my tree. His name is John Sargent Fisher and he is one of my 4x great-grandfathers. He was born on April 12th, 1820 in the town of Malden, Massachusetts to Lewis Fisher and Sarah Sargent. His credentials are all listed in the article I uploaded. There is, however, an error here. His grandfathers were Joseph Fisher and Amos Sargent. Not Silas Sargent. Silas was his great-grandfather.

Bad newspaper editing aside, let's talk about this guy shall we? He enlisted in the Union army at the age of thirty when he was actually closer to forty-one. That was kind of odd don't you think? I'm sure it was more common than you'd like to believe. People lied about their ages all the time back then. Still do.

What does any of this have to do with "Solo", Well, here's the thing. John here enlisted with the Company Band of the Massachusetts 2nd Infantry on May 25th, 1861. He was listed as a musician!

Based on that, I'm not entirely sure what instrument he played. The article I posted really painted a great picture of him didn't it? He had some high honors and all kinds of accolades attributed to him. Apparently, he was also the man who took out the most books at the Malden library. I should go there and check things out for myself one of these days. Malden isn't that far away and I am sure they have more documents about him there if this article is anything to go by!

There's also a bit of family lore surrounding him and my 3x great-grandfather, Jeremiah Felker who also served the Union in the Civil War. Lore has it that either he or John played in the White House band for Lincoln or after Lincoln. I'm not sure if either case is true. Signs do point to John being the possible musician. However, there's a problem. He was discharged in June of 1862 due to injuries that left him disabled for the rest of his life.

Was he really in a band? It's hard to say. Family lore also says Jeremiah was ALSO in the White House band post Civil War. Is there a way to find out? It's hard to say. In the Reconstruction years, both men were living their lives in New England: FAR from Washington DC. Jeremiah was in Haverhill and John was in Malden.

In 1870, Jeremiah was living in Newton, NH as stated in the US Census for that year. I haven't been able to find John in the 1870 Census, yet. It should also be noted that Jerry was in the heavy artillery. Any music he'd be involved with would involve the 1812 Overture. =) Love that song by the way.

Signs seem to point to John being the musician. However, you'd think the tribute article would mention something about playing for Lincoln or something. More research is clearly needed. Was he really in the White House band? It's hard to say. It's the only bit of family lore I have yet to solve. Maybe the answer is buried in those boxes my aunt dropped off. I hope they are. So far all I've come across is recent history and unfortunate '90s haircuts. At least we weren't DRAWN like '90s comic characters.

In the mean time, I'll keep digging. Perhaps the truth is out there. It would be an interesting bit of family lore to try and solve. If I can't, it's no big deal. For now I'm glad to know that John was at least a musician. That part was true.

We'll see what else I can find. And maybe they'll be on the 19th Century version of "America's Got Talent." See ya next time!