In late May of 1862 the war was coming back to Charleston. The Union Navy made aware that the Confederates had evacuated forts at the mouth of the Stono River by Robert Smalls, a slave who daringly stole a steamer called the Planter and piloted it to Federal warships blockading the city (previous post), were now moving up the Stono to verify his story. The very same Stono River, called the “Backdoor to Charleston”, that the British used to cutoff and isolate the city during the famous siege of 1780. General John C. Pemberton had decided to withdraw his men closer to the city further up James Island. As the Confederates abandoned Folly, Cole and Battery Islands the Federals established a presence on the river. Slaves in the area, aware of these events, now had an opportunity to escape to freedom, as so many did just down the coast in the Beaufort area after the battle of Port Royal on November 7th the year before. The wharf of the McLeod Plantation on James Island sat right on Wappoo Creek providing direct access to the Stono River.

On May 25th or 26th William Dawson and eight other slaves who we know only by their first names (Syphax-55, Beck-55, Tony-40, Ben-35, Rose-24, child-14 months, York-34, and Molly-25) would escape to freedom. Given all of the Confederate activity on land at this time and the size of their party it seems most likely that they escaped at night via Wappoo Creek and the Stono River. William enlisted in the Union Navy on May 26th aboard the USS Pembina. How exactly he got there is unclear. The log books of the Pembina for the second half of May, which are available online, make no mention of picking up any slaves or contrabands on the river during that time. The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies do report, however, that a contraband colony of about 400 people was present on Cole Island at about the time of their escape, this would have been their closest path to safety.

Mr. Dawson, born into slavery in 1829 on the McLeod Plantation, would serve in the Navy until the fall of 1865. After the war he would twice be a widower losing Charity his first wife in 1870, and Hettie his second wife in February of 1886. He would remarry Annie Gilliard later that same year. Together they would have five children (William, Lena, Venus, Jane, and Phillis). A sign, shown below, at the McLeod Plantation lists members of his family. I could find no evidence of a sixth child mentioned in the sign below named Rachel.

When William escaped to freedom, he initially took the last name of his owner. In enlistment records he appears as William McCloud in the Soldiers and Sailors Database. This is not unusual for slaves, who often took the last name of their previous owners. Upon enlisting those names would often be spelled phonetically.

Both he and his wife would apply for pensions after the war and those applications are in the National Archives and have been digitized by Fold3. These records are the chief primary source for this post. William would apply for a disability pension for rheumatism he felt he acquired as a result of his service. His application was denied stating that he had no rateable disability. This despite the fact that reports from five physicians indicated that he was disabled and sworn testimony from two individuals that he went into the Navy without rheumatism and came out with it. After his death his wife would apply for a widow’s pension. William’s death would have left her with no visible means of support and 5 children at ages 1, 3, 4, 6 and 10. Her request would be denied because she had a child out of wedlock 13 months after William died. She was denied the pension on the ground of “no title; the claimant has violated the provisions of the act of August 7, 1882, by being guilty of open and notorious adulterous cohabitation with one Andrew Monroe since the passage of the act and since sailor’s death, as shown by special examination.” As if that were not enough they go on to say that the Federal government will not recognize her as the guardian of her own children. She appeals the decision. Unlike her husband’s appeal years earlier, her appeal was carefully crafted and based on the law at the time. The Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior, who after reviewing all of the evidence rules “If then, the birth of an illegitimate child, the result of an illicit connection for two or three times only, and this in the most secret manner, can be considered as constituting a violation of the provisions of the act of August 7, 1882, there is no doubt of the claimant’s guilt. It is not believed, however, that this showing is sufficient to bar her title to pension. Certainly, there was nothing open and notorious in her conduct, no gossip or scandal was created by it, the community does not appear to have known about it at the time and only such persons as were told afterwards were apprised of the facts.” He reverses the Pension Board’s decision. A third pension request for his minor children is then granted.

There is a large file in the National Archives which has been digitized by Fold3. The three claims discussed above are in the file, for which we’ll show the key primary evidence. They also provide details about the family.

The claim that William Dawson filed on August 28, 1891, for a disability pension for rheumatism that was denied.

William McCloud’s (Dawson’s) service record is reported in a letter from the Treasury Department. He enlisted on the USS Pembina on May 26, 1862 and served there until August 21, 1862. He was then tranfered to the USS Wabash until November 29, 1863.

On the Pembina he was a landsman. He was 5 feet, 7 inches tall and his age here is listed as 23.

The affidavit below documents his transfer to the Navy yard on Hilton Head Island after his service on the Wabash.

This page in the file indicates he was discharged from the service in August of 1865.

In August of 1891 he applies for a disability pension for chronic rheumatism which he feels was due to exposure to the rain and cold while in the Navy. We learn he is 62 years old, and 5 feet 6 inches tall. He lists his discharge site from the Navy as Hilton Head Island where he was working in the Navy yard. William reports his discharge date as October 1865.

A lookback into his naval sick call records done to investigate the claim shows only the one visit below. He was seen on July 1, 1863, on the USS Wabash for a contusion and iodine was applied to his foot.

In the process of his claim he is seen by 4 different physicians whose testimony follows.

Dr. Joshua Lee on April 14, 1891, reported severe attacks of rheumatism with swollen ankles and knees that may be related to his service.

Dr. C.H. Brownley on May 14, 1893, described a past history of small pox and a 2/4 disability from rheumatism.

The two unnamed physician’s reports that appear next each have surgeons certificates that are also shown. This means that they are paid to specifically evaluate veterans claims for disability pensions. The first physician reports rheumatism of the right hip impairing locomotion. Mr Dawson is 5 feet, 6.5 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. Their report is shown along with the page in the file right before it.

The examination of a second unidentified physician does not show any diseases of the joints but does note several spinal and lower extremity skeletal deformities. He concludes that William is entitled to a pension rating for these findings equivalent to the loss of a hand and foot for manual labor.

Despite all this, the claim is rejected on April 9, 1894, stating he has no rateable disability despite ample evidence in the file that he does.

He files an appeal, shown below on February 25, 1897. For the appeal he provides testimony from Dr. James Thompson (February 25, 1897) and two men who will both swear under oath on February 27, 1897, that Mr. Dawson didn’t enter the navy with rheumatism but came out of it with the condition. They are Frederick Grant and Alexander Seimour. He would die less than 8 months later on September 16, 1897. I see no evidence that his appeal was ever acted upon before his death.

Dr. James Thompson states Mr. Dawson has severe lumbago and a feeble heart and is totally incapable of manual labor.

Sworn testimony is also provided from two men that he went into the Navy without rheumatism and left the service with it.

A second claim present in the file was submitted after William’s death by his widow Annie Dawson, which was initially rejected.

Annie Dawson filed the application on October 11, 1897, William died on September 16, 1897. An application was also filed for his minor children. During this process she is deposed. We learn she went to live on James Island in 1882, four years before the 1886 earthquake. At that time Mr. Dawson was married to Hettie. She died on February 1, 1886. Annie and William were married on October 12th that same year in her uncle’s house (Tennant Johnson), by Reverend James Rivers. It was her first marriage but William had been married twice before to Charity (died around 1870) and Hettie. She stated they had five children together. Lena was born on the last Friday in July of 1887, William was born on the third Tuesday of April in 1891, Venus was born on the first Monday in March of 1893, Jane was born on the first day in June of 1894 and Phillis was born on the last day in July of 1896. There is no mention of a daughter named Rachel as shown in the exhibit at the McLeod plantation, unless she was from the marriage of his first or second wife. We also learn that in October 1998, 13 months after William’s death she gave birth to an illegitimate child, Sarah Ann. The father was Andrew Monroe. She had not seen him since the baby was born and he had provided no support for the child.

We learn from Tennant Johnson’s testimony that William was born on the McLeod Plantation. He served as a field hand. His height was about 5 feet 5 inches. William had a defect in both feet that caused him to walk on the balls of his feet, and he had lighter skin than his wife.

The youngest child Phillis died on August 7, 1899.

Annie’s maiden name was Gilliard.

William’s second wife Hettie died on February 1, 1886

Her claim is initially rejected. She won’t be recognized as the children’s guardian.

She files an appeal.

The Secretary of the Department of the Interior, F.L. Campbell, reverses the decision concerning the widow’s pension.

The decision is formally reversed on June 30, 1902.

Interestingly, after all this, nearly a year later in a very hard to read document dated June 10, 1903 (shown below), Special Examiner E.H. Jennings, whose ruling was overturned, stated that he had the honor to submit a criminal report with respect to Annie’s case. He reports that prior to their testimony neither Annie nor identifying witnesses were sworn in and George McClay (Annie’s attorney) forged the mark of one of the witnesses. McClay was sentenced to six years in prison. Solomon Brown pleaded guilty to providing false jurats (the notary testifying to the authenticity of the signature). Jennings was submitting his report to the Chief of the Law Division for his consideration of the legality of the declarations referred to. This letter appears in the file right after the handwritten 5 page request for the appeal. Apparently Mr. Jennings didn’t take kindly to being overturned.

A claim filed on behalf of the minor children.

The four surviving children’s birth dates are listed. Lena- July 29, 1887, Willie- April 21, 1891, Venus- March 6, 1893, and Jane- June 1, 1894.

We learn that the children and their mother live at 212 Rutledge Avenue in Charleston.

212 Rutledge Avenue today. In a previous affidavit Annie stated they lived in a one room home.

A guardian Swinton H. Bennett is appointed for the children.

That’s as far as I’ve taken the story so far. At a future date I’ll try and track the children on Ancestry. It should be possible given that I have each of their birth dates. The death certificate for her son William is shown below. He died on November 13, 1942 of a cerebral hemorrhage.

William McLeod, the owner of the McLeod plantation, submitted a claim to be reimbursed by the state of South Carolina for the loss of his slaves. We can see they escaped on or about May 25. A total of 9 slaves escaped that day and William was listed as 28 years old.