The Traveler

George Swinburne

My great-grandfather, George Washington Swinburne (1846-1928), during his lifetime, lived in six states and traveled through many.

When George was a teenager, he lived in a Shaker community; he then fought in the Civil War; after the Civil War, he traveled to the Midwest; and later in life, he moved to Florida.

George’s father, Samuel Swinburne (1813-1848), died when George was only two years old. According to the 1850 U.S. census, George was living with his mother, Mary R. Sargent Swinburne (1812-1864), in Norwich, Vermont. However, by the time of the 1860 U.S. census, when George was 14 years old, he was living as a member of the Shaker community in Enfield, New Hampshire; and his mother was living with the George Blaisdell family in Hartford, Vermont.

The Shaker community in Enfield consisted of three groups: The Church, the North family, and the South family. George lived with the “South family.” Each family had 30-90 people with their own set of communal buildings including dwellings and workshops.    

So, how did George end up with the Shakers?  It was a common practice that orphans and children of

Shaker Family Buildings in Enfield - Google Images

broken homes were taken to Shaker communities. George was not an orphan, as his mother was still living; and, he was not from a broken home – at least not in the traditional sense of parents being divorced. However, George’s mother is not only living in another state, but she is also listed as being “deaf.” Perhaps this condition forced her to separate from George. Her connection to the George Blaisdell family, as earlier mentioned, is unknown.

The Shakers would educate and take care of the children until they were 21 years old.  At the age of 21, the "children" would have to make a decision - stay with the Shaker community and become a Shaker or leave the community. George chose to leave in 1864 when he turned 18 years of age.

George went from living with the Shakers to enlisting in 1864 with the Vermont Volunteers, Companies F & G (part of the Army of the Potomac). During his career as a Union soldier, besides the usual battles and skirmishes, George managed to be a part of several major battles:

• He fought in the Battle of Cold Harbor near Mechanicsville, Virginia, which lasted from May 31, 1864, through June 12, 1864. The Battle of Cold Harbor was considered to be a Confederate victory. 
• After the Battle of Cold Harbor, George found himself involved with the Siege of Petersburg (Virginia). Though the siege lasted for nine months (June 1864-March 1865), he participated only from June 20, 1864, through June 23, 1864. This siege was ultimately a Union victory. 
• After his participation at the Siege of Petersburg, he is next involved with the Battle of Monocacy (aka Monocacy Junction) near Frederick, Maryland, on July 9, 1864. This battle was considered to be a tactical victory for the Confederates and strategic victory for the Union.

George was mustered out of the Union Army on June 19, 1865, over one month after the end of the Civil War. It is known that George was wounded during the Civil War; however, exactly when and where is unknown.

By 1870, George had traveled to southwest Wisconsin: He lived first in Lafayette, Wisconsin, just north of the Illinois/Wisconsin border and worked as a farm laborer. Then , he moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he worked as a fireman in a mill. Besides living in Wisconsin after the Civil War, he also lived in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Florida (where he was a citrus farmer). According to the History of Houston County (MN), George was also known as a carpenter and builder. 

George was married three times and had five children:   

• Mary France Perkins (1852-1881), married October 23, 1869, Sparta, Wisconsin, with whom he had four children: Harriet, John, Richard, and George.
• Effie Christina Clapp (1868-1921), married September 22, 1883, Augusta, Wisconsin, with whom he had two children: Victor and Ruth. They divorced in 1892. 
•  Amelia Jane “Jennie” House (1844-1930), married August 23, 1913, Pasco County, Florida.

George certainly was well-traveled: He lived in six states, fought in many during the Civil War, and traveled through many more. George and his last wife are buried in Zephyrhills, Florida (northeast of Tampa), where they lived. George is my adoptive mother's grandfather.

A Civil War POW

Originally known as Camp Sumter, Andersonville was a Civil War POW camp located in southwest Georgia from February 1864 to the end of the war in April 1865. Of the nearly 45,000 captives - soldiers and civilians, 30,000 died of starvation, scurvy, diarrhea, dysentery, and exposure to the elements – more than 30 a day during the time Andersonville was operational.1 William Chatfield was one of those unfortunate beings.

William was born 1842 in Quebec, Canada. In 1851, the Canadian census has him living in Dunham, Missisquoi County, Quebec, which is just north of the Vermont-Quebec border. In 1861, William ventured south to Vermont and volunteered for the Vermont Infantry. He was a corporal in Company F, Regiment 10. Whether it was for a sense of adventure, political ideology, having relatives in the “North,” or something else, it was not uncommon for young Canadian men to venture to the United States and volunteer to fight in the Civil War. 

William was captured in Virginia on October 11, 1863, by the Confederate Army. The Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by Generals Meade and Lee respectively, were involved in the “Bristoe Campaign” - a series of battles in Virginia. William was probably captured at Brandy Station, Virginia, as that is the location of Meade’s troops on October 11, 1963. Since Andersonville did not begin operation until February 1864, William obviously was kept elsewhere before ending up at Andersonville. 

Upon his arrival at Andersonville, he would have observed the scene as described by Robert H.

Kellogg, sergeant major, with the Connecticut Infantry:

"As we entered the place, a spectacle met our eyes that almost froze our blood with horror, and made our hearts fail within us. Before us were forms that had once been active and erect . . . now nothing but mere walking skeletons, covered with filth and vermin. . . . In the center of the whole was a swamp. . . and a part of this marsh. . .had been used by the prisoners as a sink and excrement covered the ground, the scent arising from which was suffocating."2

As soldiers and civilians died, they were buried in trenches without formality. On September 14, 2015, a funeral was held for 13,000 soldiers. Today, Andersonville is a National Cemetery. Andersonville has also become home to the National Prisoner of War Museum.

Corporal William Chatfield died on May 20, 1864. The official cause of death was diarrhea. He is buried in grave 1228. William Chatfield is my adoptive father's (Frank Newhouse) 4th cousin two times removed.

1 - Gast, P. (2015, September 18). Funeral for 13,000; Andersonville prison dead brings closure. Retrieved August 22, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com
2 - Kellogg, Robert H. Life and Death in Rebel Prisons. Hartford, CT: L. Stebbins, 1865.