Greenberry Stanton

Greenberry Stanton served in the 5^th Massachusetts U.S.C.T with Company M from March 18, 1864, to October 31, 1865. He was born in 1819 in Frederick, Maryland.¹ It is possible that before his enlistment he spent time in the Pennsylvania State Eastern Penitentiary, starting September 24, 1847, and listed as prisoner number 2266, but there is no recorded date of release, and no other information regarding his time there.² According to the 1860 Census, he was living in Buckeystown, Maryland as a laborer, and he is recorded as a part of the household of Daniel and Catherine Baker.³ He enlisted in Dorchester, Norfolk County, Massachusetts on March 18, 1864, as a private, and was mustered out in Readville, Massachusetts, as a member of the cavalry on May 5 of the same year. According to his military records, he could not read or write, he was five feet and eight inches tall, had dark hair, eyes, and complexion, and was employed as a farmer. He was honorably discharged with the rest of his company on October 31, 1865, in Clarksville, Texas, due to the end of the war.⁴

Whether he was married when he enlisted is unknown, but by the 1870 Census he was living in Mount Pleasant, Maryland, and married to Guilminar Stanton, formerly Guilminar Cox, who also appears as Mary Cox on her own 1860 census, and their son’s marriage certificate.⁵ He also had two children by that point, by the names of John and Otho.⁶ In 1880, he lived at 564 Middle Alleys and Wahakens Court Street in Frederick, Maryland. The census for that year states that he had only one eye, but there are no records, military or otherwise, of when or how that occurred. By that time, he had also become a widower, and had four children: sons John, Otho, Perry, and a daughter named Sadie.⁷ There are multiple reports in Frederick newspapers from 1884 to 1886 of a John Stanton being arrested for fights, larceny and drunk and disorderly conduct, and if it is Greenberry’s son, he would have been about eighteen to twenty years old at the time, according to census records.⁸ Otho married Mary Irvin on September 20, 1913, and had been married once before that and widowed.⁹

Greenberry Stanton died on September 1, 1886. He was originally buried on private property in Penn Township, Pennsylvania, but in November of 2016, his body and the bodies of two other members of the Massachusetts U.S.C.T were exhumed and were buried again with full honors and a 21-gun salute in the Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Annville, Pennsylvania, plot section 34, site 543.¹⁰ His name is also on the African American Civil War Memorial, plaque number E-153.

1. PVT Greenberry Stanton. Find a Grave Memorial ID 172855422.
2. Pennsylvania, U.S. Prison, Reformatory, and Workhouse Records, 1829-1971.
3. 1860 United States Federal Census for Green Stanton, 839.
4. U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865; U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865.
5. 1860 United States Federal Census for Mary Cox, 906; 1850 United States Federal Census for Guillmira Cox, 420A.
6. 1870 United States Federal Census for Greenbury Stanton, 510A.
7. 1880 United States Federal Census for Greenberry Stanton, 84A.
8. “Arrested”, The News, 3; “John Stanton”, The News, 3; “A Midnight Fight”, The News, 4; “Second Week of Court” The News, 4.
9. Ohio, U.S. County Marriage Records, 1774-1993.
10. PVT Greenberry Stanton. Find a Grave Memorial ID 172855422; “Remains of 3 black Civil War veterans buried in Pa.”, Standard Speaker, A11; “Belated honors”, LNP Always Lancaster, 15.

Bibliography:

1860 United States Federal Census for Green Stanton. Ancestry.com. 839. NARA: Washington, n.d. 1860 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com

1870 United States Federal Census for Greenbury Stanton. Ancestry.com. 510A. NARA: Washington, n.d. 1870 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com

1880 United States Federal Census for Greenberry Stanton. Ancestry.com. 84A. NARA: Washington, n.d. 1880 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com

Greenbury Stanton. U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865. Ancestry.com. Kingston, Massachusetts: Historical Data Systems. U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 - AncestryLibrary.com

Greenberry Stanton. U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865. Ancestry.com. National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. U.S., Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 - AncestryLibrary.com

Greenbury Staunton. Pennsylvania U.S. Prison, Reformatory, and Workhouse Records, 1829-1971. Ancestry.com. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Pennsylvania, U.S., Prison, Reformatory, and Workhouse Records, 1829-1971 - AncestryLibrary.com

PVT Greenberry Stanton, Find a Grave Memorial ID 172855422. Maintained by Patrick, added 17 Nov 2016. www.findagrave.com/memorial/172855422/greenberry-stanton

1860 United States Federal Census for Mary Cox. Ancestry.com. 906. NARA: Washington, n.d. 1860 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com

1850 United States Federal Census for Guillmira Cox. Ancestry.com. 420A. NARA: Washington, n.d. 1850 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com

Otho Staunton. Ohio, U.S. County Marriage Records, 1774-1993. Ancestry.com. AncestryLibrary.com - Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993

The News. Aug 9, 1886. Page 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/7364829

The News. Apr 19, 1886. Page 3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/7348341

The News. Dec. 8, 1884. Page 4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/8730689

The News. Dec. 17, 1884. Page 4. https://www.newspapers.com/image/8731885

LNP Always Lancaster. Nov 17, 2016. Page 15. https://www.newspapers.com/image/569329049

Standard-Speaker. Nov. 18, 2016. Page A11. https://www.newspapers.com/image/526811228