A Historical Record of the Soldiers and Sailors of North Brookfield (Indexed)

Records of soldiers and sailors from the town of North Brookfield, Massachusetts who fought in the Civil War are in this database. The project was spear-headed by the town council who wished to memorialize the contribution of their town to the war effort. Published in 1886, 246 soldiers are listed alphabetically in the records along with information such as their age, occupation, muster date, marital status, residence, etc. Brief regimental descriptions, histories, and an excerpt from Schouler’s Civil and Military History of Massachusetts are also included along with building details of a Soldier’s Monument for the dead. The record notes that other histories credit the town with either a higher or lower soldier count than this compilation and that some individuals might be recorded elsewhere or missing from this collection.

Massachusetts strongly supported the war effort against The Rebellion, as the succession of the South was called. A strong-hold for abolitionist activists, Massachusetts organized 62 infantry regiments the most famous being the 54th, which was one of the first official African American units in the United States armed forces. A barber from North Brookfield named Theophilus D. Freeman served in this regiment for three years (the standard term). He also received a bounty (or bonus) on recruitment. The total amount of men sent by Massachusetts to serve in the war was 159,165.

Information in this database:

• Surname
• Age
• Marital status
• Residence
• Birthplace
• Parents’ names
• Regiment
• Discharge date
• Time enlisted
• Rank

Information that may be in this database:

• Muster date
• Occupation
• Death date
• Cause of death
• Bounty (monetary bonus upon recruitment)