James Luther Rea (1841 - 1911)

Born Nov 1841 in Washington, Beaufort, North Carolina, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Emma (Chalmers) Sammis — married about 1861 (to before 1874) in Brooklyn, New York, USA [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 6 Dec 1911 at age 70 in Togus, Kennebec County, Maine, USA

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Biography

Birth year varies in the census records from "abt 1839" to "abt. 1842", while the 1900 record shows Sep 1938. Since his parents were married in Aug 1840 and he is reported as nine in 1850, his birth year is set to 1841.

His family moved to NY from North Carolina in about 1854 (judging from the birthplaces of his younger siblings).

Military

• Enlisted in Company F, New York 52nd Infantry Regiment on 01 Sep 1863.
• Promoted to Full Corporal on 01 Nov 1863.
• Promoted to Full Sergeant on 05 Sep 1864.
• Promoted to Full 1st Sergeant on 21 Oct 1864.
• Promoted to Full 1st Lieutenant on 02 Mar 1865.
• Promoted to Full Qtr Master Serg on 01 May 1865.
• Mustered out on 01 Jul 1865 at Alexandria, VA

USMC - in 15 Nov 1872 he joined the Marines and in Dec 1874 he was serving on board the USS Plymouth. ^[1]

Marriages

He married Mary Emma Chalmers c. 1861 and they had two children. In 1865, he has mustered out of the military and was living with her and her parents in Brooklyn and working as a clerk. ^[2] The marriage presumably ended sometime by 1874, when Mary married someone else.

The 1880 US Census records show a James L. Rea (age 39, born in NC, occupation bookkeeper) living at 1077 Myrtle Ave in Brooklyn with Helen Rea (born c. 1854 in Ireland, both parents born in Ireland) and their two children Mary (born 1875) and James L. Rea (born 18 Jan 1880). The birth certificate for James L. lists his mother's birth name as Ellen Mullen. (This may not be the right James Rea, though birthdate and location both match.)

In 21 Sep 1881, he is admitted to a Soldiers' Home, (medical condition is chronic rheumatism) and he describes himself as widowed, so Ellen (and possibly their children?) may have died between Jun 1880 (when the census was taken) and Sep 1881.

He lives in Veterans housing from 1881 to 1894^[3]in Dayton, Ohio, and Hampton, VA.

In Brooklyn on 20 April 1899, he married Mary Frederica Jung. ^[4] By 1900, he is living in a Soldiers home in Maine, where he stays until his death in 1911.

Sources

1. ↑ U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958, T1118 - Roll 087, 1874
2. ↑ NY Census 1865
3. ↑ U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938
4. ↑ U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; NAI Number: 563268; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773 - 2007

• Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2869170

Veterans Records US Census