Frank Tyler
(1850-1920)
MSA SC 3520-16847
U.S.C.T. Soldier, Howard County, Maryland
Frank Tyler was born a slave of James Mathews in Glenwood, Howard County, around the year 1850.1 On June 14th, 1863, Tyler enlisted into Co. D of the 1st USCT under Captain Henry C. Ward.2 The 1st USCT was organized in Virginia on December 22, 1863.3
The regiment served in the Capture of Bermuda Hundred and City Point,
Fort Powhatan and Harrison’s Landing, and attended to duties along the
Rio Grande until discharge on February 4th 1866.4 The unit also notably served in the the First Battle of Deep Bottom during the Siege of Petersburg.5
The Siege of Petersburg was a nine month embroilment from June of 1864
to March of 1865 to cut off supplies from Petersburg to the capital of
the Confederacy, Richmond.6 Tyler “was wounded in the road
going into Petersburg from City Point on [the] left hand side of [the]
road[; the unit was] throwing up entrenchments at night. [Tyler] was
taken to [Base Hospital] on [the] other side of the River by the high
signal station [on August 30th, 1864], where [he] remained…[for] at
least three months...until [being] sent back.”7 Fellow 1st USCT private Jonas Blanham verified that Tyler’s “wound was received in the left shoulder...I
saw the hole in his coat and the blood running from said wound. I am
positive that [Tyler] was wounded in the line of duty and by the enemy.”8
Tyler recollected being “carried in [the] Hospital wagon and [getting
to the] Hospital [at the break of] daylight as near as I can remember,
being in great agony at the time…”9 Tyler returned from the
Hospital to his regular duties on September 24th 1864 until being
discharged on September 29th, 1865 at Roanoke Island, South Carolina.10
After the war, Tyler moved back to Howard County, living in Longwood, Glenwood, and Florence.11 Tyler worked as a farm laborer for the rest of his life.12 On October 1st, 1887, Reverend Robert Hawkins married Tyler to Eliza Coursey in Ellicott City.13 Coursey bore one child to Tyler named Maria before passing away in February of 1910.14 Tyler married Fannie D. Gant on December 20th, 1914.15 Gant’s first husband, James Callie, died in Pennsylvania approximately during the year 1900.16
Unfortunately, Tyler was imparied by his gunshot wound for the rest of his life. Tyler suffered from “a misery and pain across the small of his back, which [had] become almost constant and... further [incapacitated] him from earning a livelihood.”17 In February of 1900, Charles A. King explained the he had “often seen...Tyler walking with a cane, almost double, with this pain in the small of his back. [He had] often seen...Tyler at work...he always complained of a lame back.”18
On February 22nd, 1881, Tyler filed for an invalid pension and received
his original invalid claim at $6 per month on March 7th, 1881.19
Tyler’s application for an increase was rejected twice, once in
November of 1897 and again in 1904. The courts determined that “in
claim under Act of June 27th, 1890, evidence of contrivance of pain in
small of back...from date of filing to date of medical exam…[was]
required,” but not adequately provided.20
Under the Act of May 11th, 1912, Tyler received four more invalid pension increases. Tyler successfully applied for an increase on April 7th, 1908 to $12 per month, on April 24th, 1913 to $ 17, on June 14th, 1915 to $23, and on June 14th, 1920 to $30.21 Tyler died on July 2nd, 1920.22
Endnotes:
1. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (U.S. Colored Troops Pension File Collection) [MSA SC 3520] Frank Tyler, Box 33, Folder 29. Page 2.Written and Researched by Daniel Ingham, 2013.
|
Tell Us What You Think About the Maryland State Archives Website!
|