FROM SLAVE TO SOLDIER: The Story of Isaac Adams (1847-1902)

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(Published in SEEKING 'n SEARCHING ANCESTORS, 1984)
​(Printed in THE MILLER COUNTY AUTOGRAM-SENTINEL in the column, 'WINDOW TO THE PAST', Oct. 14, 2004)

While researching Civil War discharge records at the Miller County courthouse, I came across the record of a young black man named Isaac Adams who had served as a Missouri Colored Infantry Volunteer. My curiosity took over and I decided to learn more of this young man who was black and served in the Union Army. What I learned, after receiving his war records from Washington, D.C., unfolded into an interesting story. The one mystery of this story is why he was discharged in Miller County and his records found there, because it appears he never lived in the county.

His story began in Callaway County, MO in 1847, the year of his birth to a slave woman. I could find no record of his mother’s name, but his owner was a man named John B. Adams. In a “Claim for Compensation for Enlisted Slaves”, John B. Adams made claim for compensation from the United States government for Isaac’s years of military service stating...”this claimant obtained his title to him in the following manner---to wit: the said Isaac was born my slave.”

Isaac Adams enlisted in Company D, 68th Regiment, U.S. Colored Infantry on March 1, 1864 at Jefferson City. He was 17 years old, stood 5 feet 3 inches tall and was listed as a mulatto. He was mustered into service at Benton Barracks, Missouri and spent the next two years fighting with this unit. During the months of May and June, 1864, Isaac was in the Camp Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. According to his military records, this was the only time he was absent from his regiment. On February 5, 1866, he was discharged from service at Camp Parapet, Louisiana near New Orleans.

Evidently he returned to the home of his former owner, John B. Adams, in Calloway County and lived for awhile. From 1866 until 1875, there is no record of Isaac’s whereabouts. On December 24, 1875, he married Harriet Henderson of Cedar City, MO (Callaway County). She was born in Callaway County in 1846. Isaac and Harriet were parents of seven children, Virgie born 1877; William b. 1879; Florence b. 1881; Ora b. 1883; Dona b. 1885; Nellie b. 1887; and Zepher b. 1889. Isaac and Harriet reared their children at Cedar City across the river from Jefferson City. In 1894, Isaac made application for a pension, due to a disability he acquired while in military service in 1864. There was an injury to his left hand with the middle finger bent to the palm. This may have been the reason he was in the camp hospital for two months in 1864. He also complained of rheumatism, lumbago, and stiffness to his right leg and both arms.

Isaac died in Jefferson City where they were living in June 1902. He left Harriet with the younger children to rear alone. She made application for a widow’s pension after Isaac’s death. Her friends, William and Millie Wilson of Cedar City, wrote an affidavit on her behalf stating she possessed no property except a few household goods and had no income except her daily labor of taking in washings for others. After much red tape, Harriet finally acquired a small widow’s pension. She was receiving $30 monthly at her death in June 1927 at the age of 81 years. Harriet was a resident of Kansas City at her death and was probably living with one of her children since she had reached an advanced age.

I have the Civil War records and pension records of Isaac Adams and the file contains 27 pages. This is quite a large file compared to military records I have seen of other Civil War soldiers. Often very important and pertinent information can be learned from these old war records. The story of Isaac Adams, a young slave of Callaway County, MO, who served in the Union Army in the Great Rebellion and was discharged in Miller County, is one of those interesting stories from our past history that can be found in records, if only you take the time to research them.