Son of agricultural labourer James Gammage, and his wife, Elizabeth; James is shown, aged 12, residing with his parents and two siblings, aged 9 and 7, at Witney, England; the Gammage family, with the exception of mother, Elizabeth, arrived at the port of New York, aboard the vessel Samuel Hicks, from Liverpool, on October 20, 1845; it is not known why Elizabeth did not accompany her husband and children to America, as she may have passed away, or perhaps even deserted the family; after his arrival in the United States, Charles worked as a spinner, and is shown residing, with a large number of other workers, at the manufacturing property of Simeon B. Marsh, at Burrillville, Providence County, Rhode Island; his residence, in 1852, is shown as Blackstone, Massachusetts; naturalized as a United States citizen, at the United States Circuit Court of Boston, Massachusetts, on October 28, 1852; Charles' first marriage was to English born Hannah Barnes, on November 25, 1852, at Blackstone, their first child being Edwin Charles Gammage, born at Woonsockett, Rhode Island on August 4, 1857, and second child, named after the American President of that year, Lincoln Herbert Gammage, who was born in Massachusetts, in 1861; in 1860, Charles was shown as a loom fitter, residing with Hannah and Edwin, at Blackstone, Worcester County, Massachusetts; occupation, at the time of enlistment, shown as a weaver, residing at Blackstone; enlisted at the age of 32, on July 1, 1861, and mustered in as corporal in company K of the 15th Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, on July 15, 1861; missing in action, on October 21, 1861, at Ball's Bluff, Virginia; taken prisoner by the Confederates, and paroled in 1862; discharged from military service on May 15, 1862; Gammage left New York, aboard the vessel Bavaria, and arrived at the port of Melbourne on March 6, 1862; on board the same vessel was another Civil War veteran, Otto Hagen, who resided for a long period of time, in Australia, before leaving Queensland in the 1890's to return to his native Germany; Gammage resided, post war, in the Victorian country towns of Hurdle Flat, and, for many years, at Beechworth, where he was stated to have enjoyed the reputation of being a thoroughly upright and straight dealing citizen; "Prior to residing at Lake Kerferd, Mr. Gammage occupied a holding in the Bowman's Forest district, but on disposing of the property to his neighbour, Mr. Kneebone, he married the widow of the late Mr. Levi Lefoe, of Hurdle Flat, and settled on the place where he made a comfortable home......Having been slightly troubled with deafness, Mr. Gammage did not take a prominent part in public affairs, the only positions he filled being those of a member of the Board of Advice and treasurer of the Hurdle Flat sports committee. In both these bodies he showed considerable energy, and it was with much regret his resignation from them was received. In October of last year [1915] he and his wife removed to Wonthaggi, but, though the change proved advantageous at first, he contracted a malady which eventually caused his death"; there is an indication that Charles had deserted his first wife, Hannah, and two children, as Hannah and the children are shown, residing by themselves in Massachusetts, in 1870, years after Charles had sailed to Australia; received the United States pension; died at the residence of his son in law, Mr. Thomas Matheson, at Graham Street, Wonthaggi, Victoria, July 9, 1916; buried at the Wonthaggi Cemetery; survived by his wife, Jane, and sons, James, William, George and Charles.

SOURCES:

1841 United Kingdom Census;

1850 United States Census;

1860 United States Census; 1870 United States Census;

New York, Passenger Lists, 1820 – 1957, and Massachusetts, Marriage Records, 1840 – 1915, at Ancestry.com;

United States New England Naturalization Index, 1791 – 1906, at www.familysearch.org;

Civil War Veterans in Australia (Includes the original research of Roy Parker, Barry Crompton and Bob Simpson, and published by Roy's daughter, Mrs. Virginia Crocker);

Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the Civil War, volume 2, page 199;

passenger list of the vessel, Bavaria, dated 1863, held at the Public Records Office of Victoria;

Argus (Melbourne) dated Monday, 10 July, 1916, page 1;

Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth) dated Saturday, 15 July, 1916, page 2;

Rhode Island Deaths and Burials, 1802 – 1950, at www.familysearch.org