According to the "U.S. Find A Grave Index, 1600s to Current for Charles Slaughter", Charles Slaughter was born around 1841 in Fauquier County, Virginia.1 He was the son of Philip Slaughter and Mary Slaughter; his census records do not state where his parents were born.2 Before 1880, there are no census records stating his activities or residences.
William Henry Harrison Smith went by Harrison Smith for most of his life. He was born in Shepherdstown, Virginia (now West Virginia), and enlisted on February 17, 1864, in Hartford, Connecticut, as a private, with Company B of the 31st Connecticut Colored Infantry. He stood at five feet and five inches tall, with dark hair, eyes, and complexion, and was twenty-one years old at the time. He was sent to a division hospital on July 30th, 1864, during a charge near Petersburg, Virginia, when he suffered a gunshot wound through his left shoulder and jaw.
Joseph Swales date and location of birth is unknown. He may have served in Company G of the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry, although that is unconfirmed, and it may be a different soldier of the same name.1 Nothing is known about his life after service in the military, besides mentions of an Edward Swales, who could be his son, arrested in 1882 for stabbing another boy.2
Swales died sometime before 1884, the cause and exact date are unknown.3 He is buried in Lincoln Cemetery, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Jesse G. Thompson was born around 1844, in Carlisle Pennsylvania, to parents Benjamin and Mary Thompson. In 1850 he was the youngest child in his household at six years old, with three older siblings named William, Richard, and Jane.1 In 1860 he was sixteen years old and working as a laborer, with two younger siblings named George and Mary.2 Thompson enlisted into Company A of the 32nd U.S.C.T. as a private, on February 17, 1864, in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
Joseph Wilkinson served in the 41st United States Colored Troops with Company D from September 21, 1864 to September 30, 1865. He was born in Philadephia County, Pennsylvania on May 10, 1841 to Pennsylvania-born parents, David Wilkinson and Keziah Wilkinson.1 His census records and military records suggest that he stayed in the Philadelphia County area for most of his life until his discharge period.
John Wright was born around 1828, most likely in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He enlisted with Company G of the 22nd U.S.C.T. on December 30, 1863, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and was mustered in on the same date.1 Whether or not he survived the war is unknown. He is buried in Lincoln Cemetery, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.2
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Samuel Wright was born on October 5, 1836, in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, to parents Stephen and Catherine Wright. He was the oldest of eighteen children. At the time of the 1850 Federal Census, he was living with six of them, named Stephen, David, Daniel, Phillis, Mary, and Benjamin.1 He married his wife Louisa in 1862, and worked as a laborer until his time in the military. He enlisted on August 29, 1864, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, into Company E of the 121st U.S.C.T.