Tall, George F.
U.S. Navy
d. 5/8/1918
age; 80
Mr. Tall, the son of James E. Tall, died at his South St. home. Death certificate gives his birth year as 1840.
The following was provided by contributor Dennis Brandt:
Born into slavery the son of James E. Tall, he later claimed that in 1864 he had been a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, but did recall his slave life in Virginia. A laborer by occupation, he stood 5' 3" tall and had black hair, black eyes, and a dark complexion.
A Civil War veteran, his military records and subsequent pension records are full of contradictions. He enlisted at the stated age of twenty-one in Baltimore March 31, 1864, and mustered into federal service that day as a private with Co. I, 30th U.S. Colored Troops. However, he transferred to the U.S. Navy with one document claiming that occurred on April 15, 1864, while another says July 14. His army compiled military service records assert that the navy rejected him and that on April 15 he was admitted sick to McKim's Mansion U.S. Hospital in Baltimore, for which there is verification. Those records allege that he remained in that medical facility until as late as October 1865 but discharged the service to date April 25, 1864. That appears to be false as his navy pension records tell a different story. Tall recalled being hospitalized in Baltimore but then put aboard a receiving ship and transported to the naval base at Norfolk, Virginia. He served in the Potomac Flotilla at the rank of ordinary seaman aboard the U.S.S. Alleghany, Brandywine, and Cactus (a side-wheeler steamer). Although listed as a deserter to date July 21, 1865, on June 14, 1889, the War Department reversed the charge.
His army compiled military service records claim he was born in Baltimore. Maryland, but in his pension file he said entered the world near Martinsburg, Berkeley County, (West) Virginia, and recalled being a slave in Virginia. After the war, he lived for one or two years in Chambersburg, then six years in neighboring Frederick County, Maryland, before returning to Chambersburg for good. He married Pheba Jones, but she died "a few months after marriage," then married Ellen Chase June 2, 1873, in Frederick, Maryland, fathering James Easter (b. 04/17/76). On August 9, 1889, he applied for a disability pension for his army service but was denied, but he did receive one from the navy. He died at his South Street home from "chronic interstitial nephritis."
His birth year is a question mark. He was initially denied an age-related pension increase because he could not prove when he was born and admitted he did not know it. This begs the questions as to where he got the age he claimed to be when he enlisted and why in his pension records he several times listed March 1842 as his date of birth. Further muddying the temporal waters is the 1900 census that lists his birthday as having occurred sometime during February 1839, while both his death certificate and the 1910 census list 1840 as his birth year.
Contributor: Dennis Brandt (47232334) • [email protected]
U.S. Navy
d. 5/8/1918
age; 80
Mr. Tall, the son of James E. Tall, died at his South St. home. Death certificate gives his birth year as 1840.
The following was provided by contributor Dennis Brandt:
Born into slavery the son of James E. Tall, he later claimed that in 1864 he had been a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, but did recall his slave life in Virginia. A laborer by occupation, he stood 5' 3" tall and had black hair, black eyes, and a dark complexion.
A Civil War veteran, his military records and subsequent pension records are full of contradictions. He enlisted at the stated age of twenty-one in Baltimore March 31, 1864, and mustered into federal service that day as a private with Co. I, 30th U.S. Colored Troops. However, he transferred to the U.S. Navy with one document claiming that occurred on April 15, 1864, while another says July 14. His army compiled military service records assert that the navy rejected him and that on April 15 he was admitted sick to McKim's Mansion U.S. Hospital in Baltimore, for which there is verification. Those records allege that he remained in that medical facility until as late as October 1865 but discharged the service to date April 25, 1864. That appears to be false as his navy pension records tell a different story. Tall recalled being hospitalized in Baltimore but then put aboard a receiving ship and transported to the naval base at Norfolk, Virginia. He served in the Potomac Flotilla at the rank of ordinary seaman aboard the U.S.S. Alleghany, Brandywine, and Cactus (a side-wheeler steamer). Although listed as a deserter to date July 21, 1865, on June 14, 1889, the War Department reversed the charge.
His army compiled military service records claim he was born in Baltimore. Maryland, but in his pension file he said entered the world near Martinsburg, Berkeley County, (West) Virginia, and recalled being a slave in Virginia. After the war, he lived for one or two years in Chambersburg, then six years in neighboring Frederick County, Maryland, before returning to Chambersburg for good. He married Pheba Jones, but she died "a few months after marriage," then married Ellen Chase June 2, 1873, in Frederick, Maryland, fathering James Easter (b. 04/17/76). On August 9, 1889, he applied for a disability pension for his army service but was denied, but he did receive one from the navy. He died at his South Street home from "chronic interstitial nephritis."
His birth year is a question mark. He was initially denied an age-related pension increase because he could not prove when he was born and admitted he did not know it. This begs the questions as to where he got the age he claimed to be when he enlisted and why in his pension records he several times listed March 1842 as his date of birth. Further muddying the temporal waters is the 1900 census that lists his birthday as having occurred sometime during February 1839, while both his death certificate and the 1910 census list 1840 as his birth year.
Contributor: Dennis Brandt (47232334) • [email protected]
Tall, George F.
U.S. Navy
d. 5/8/1918
age; 80
Mr. Tall, the son of James E. Tall, died at his South St. home. Death certificate gives his birth year as 1840.
The following was provided by contributor Dennis Brandt:
Born into slavery the son of James E. Tall, he later claimed that in 1864 he had been a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, but did recall his slave life in Virginia. A laborer by occupation, he stood 5' 3" tall and had black hair, black eyes, and a dark complexion.
A Civil War veteran, his military records and subsequent pension records are full of contradictions. He enlisted at the stated age of twenty-one in Baltimore March 31, 1864, and mustered into federal service that day as a private with Co. I, 30th U.S. Colored Troops. However, he transferred to the U.S. Navy with one document claiming that occurred on April 15, 1864, while another says July 14. His army compiled military service records assert that the navy rejected him and that on April 15 he was admitted sick to McKim's Mansion U.S. Hospital in Baltimore, for which there is verification. Those records allege that he remained in that medical facility until as late as October 1865 but discharged the service to date April 25, 1864. That appears to be false as his navy pension records tell a different story. Tall recalled being hospitalized in Baltimore but then put aboard a receiving ship and transported to the naval base at Norfolk, Virginia. He served in the Potomac Flotilla at the rank of ordinary seaman aboard the U.S.S. Alleghany, Brandywine, and Cactus (a side-wheeler steamer). Although listed as a deserter to date July 21, 1865, on June 14, 1889, the War Department reversed the charge.
His army compiled military service records claim he was born in Baltimore. Maryland, but in his pension file he said entered the world near Martinsburg, Berkeley County, (West) Virginia, and recalled being a slave in Virginia. After the war, he lived for one or two years in Chambersburg, then six years in neighboring Frederick County, Maryland, before returning to Chambersburg for good. He married Pheba Jones, but she died "a few months after marriage," then married Ellen Chase June 2, 1873, in Frederick, Maryland, fathering James Easter (b. 04/17/76). On August 9, 1889, he applied for a disability pension for his army service but was denied, but he did receive one from the navy. He died at his South Street home from "chronic interstitial nephritis."
His birth year is a question mark. He was initially denied an age-related pension increase because he could not prove when he was born and admitted he did not know it. This begs the questions as to where he got the age he claimed to be when he enlisted and why in his pension records he several times listed March 1842 as his date of birth. Further muddying the temporal waters is the 1900 census that lists his birthday as having occurred sometime during February 1839, while both his death certificate and the 1910 census list 1840 as his birth year.
Contributor: Dennis Brandt (47232334) • [email protected]
U.S. Navy
d. 5/8/1918
age; 80
Mr. Tall, the son of James E. Tall, died at his South St. home. Death certificate gives his birth year as 1840.
The following was provided by contributor Dennis Brandt:
Born into slavery the son of James E. Tall, he later claimed that in 1864 he had been a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, but did recall his slave life in Virginia. A laborer by occupation, he stood 5' 3" tall and had black hair, black eyes, and a dark complexion.
A Civil War veteran, his military records and subsequent pension records are full of contradictions. He enlisted at the stated age of twenty-one in Baltimore March 31, 1864, and mustered into federal service that day as a private with Co. I, 30th U.S. Colored Troops. However, he transferred to the U.S. Navy with one document claiming that occurred on April 15, 1864, while another says July 14. His army compiled military service records assert that the navy rejected him and that on April 15 he was admitted sick to McKim's Mansion U.S. Hospital in Baltimore, for which there is verification. Those records allege that he remained in that medical facility until as late as October 1865 but discharged the service to date April 25, 1864. That appears to be false as his navy pension records tell a different story. Tall recalled being hospitalized in Baltimore but then put aboard a receiving ship and transported to the naval base at Norfolk, Virginia. He served in the Potomac Flotilla at the rank of ordinary seaman aboard the U.S.S. Alleghany, Brandywine, and Cactus (a side-wheeler steamer). Although listed as a deserter to date July 21, 1865, on June 14, 1889, the War Department reversed the charge.
His army compiled military service records claim he was born in Baltimore. Maryland, but in his pension file he said entered the world near Martinsburg, Berkeley County, (West) Virginia, and recalled being a slave in Virginia. After the war, he lived for one or two years in Chambersburg, then six years in neighboring Frederick County, Maryland, before returning to Chambersburg for good. He married Pheba Jones, but she died "a few months after marriage," then married Ellen Chase June 2, 1873, in Frederick, Maryland, fathering James Easter (b. 04/17/76). On August 9, 1889, he applied for a disability pension for his army service but was denied, but he did receive one from the navy. He died at his South Street home from "chronic interstitial nephritis."
His birth year is a question mark. He was initially denied an age-related pension increase because he could not prove when he was born and admitted he did not know it. This begs the questions as to where he got the age he claimed to be when he enlisted and why in his pension records he several times listed March 1842 as his date of birth. Further muddying the temporal waters is the 1900 census that lists his birthday as having occurred sometime during February 1839, while both his death certificate and the 1910 census list 1840 as his birth year.
Contributor: Dennis Brandt (47232334) • [email protected]
Gravesite Details
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Contributor: Mshet (49879611)
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