Person:Joshua Dunbar (1)

Watchers
m. 24 Dec 1871
  1. Paul Laurence Dunbar1872 - 1906
  2. Elizabeth Florence Dunbar1874 - 1876
Facts and Events
Name Sergeant Joshua Dunbar
Gender Male
Birth[2][6] 1823 Garrett, Floyd, Kentucky, United Statesage 40 as of enlistment on 2 Jun 1863
Military[1][3][6] From 2 Jun 1863 to 16 Nov 1863 Readville Manor, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment Company F, mustered out on 16 Nov 1863 for disability received on 28 Oct 1863 at Folly Island, South Carolina
Marriage 24 Dec 1871 to Matilda Jane Burden
Separation Est 1874 from Matilda Jane Burden
Divorce 9 Jan 1879 from Matilda Jane Burden
Military[1][3] 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry Regiment Company F
Occupation[2] plasterer
Residence[2] Canada
Death[1][8] 16 Aug 1885 Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio, United States
Burial[8] Dayton National Cemetery, Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio, United States
Image Gallery
References
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wright State University Libraries. http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/dunbar/biography.php.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Dunbar, Paul Laurence. Lyrics of Lonely Life. Introduction by W. D. Howells.

    "his father and mother were slaves"

    "The father escaped from slavery in Kentucky to freedom in Canada, while there was still no hope of freedom otherwise"

    "He has told me that his father picked up the trade of a plasterer, and when he had taught himself to read, loved chiefly to read history".

  3. 3.0 3.1 .

    https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers.htm
    Dunbar, Joshua
    BATTLE UNIT NAME: 5th Regiment, Massachusetts Cavalry (Colored)
    SIDE: Union
    COMPANY: F
    SOLDIER'S RANK IN: Private
    SOLDIER'S RANK OUT: Sergeant
    ALTERNATE NAME: FILM NUMBER:
    M589 ROLL 25
    PLAQUE NUMBER:
    E-151
    NOTES: none
    Dunbar, Joshua
    BATTLE UNIT NAME: 55th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry (Colored)
    SIDE: Union
    COMPANY: F
    SOLDIER'S RANK IN: Private
    SOLDIER'S RANK OUT: Private
    ALTERNATE NAME: FILM NUMBER:
    M589 ROLL 25
    PLAQUE NUMBER: E-156
    NOTES: none

  4.   .

    Wesley, Charles H. Ohio Negroes in the Civil War 1962 Ohio State University Press - discusses the 54th + 55th MA Colored Troops recruited from Ohio (and other states).

  5.   .

    Pension Number: 1091416
    Pension Numerical Index
    Publication Title:Numerical Index to Pensions, 1860-1934
    Content Source:The National Archives
    Publication Number:A1158
    Content Source:NARA
    Content Partner:NARA
    Source Publication Year: N/A
    Fold3 Publication Year: 2012
    Fold3 Job: 12-049
    Nara Catalog Id: See NARA
    Nara Catalog Title: Pending
    Language: English
    Country: United States
    Record Group: 15
    Short Description: NARA A1158. Pensions indexed by number for Army or Navy service in the Civil War and later, 1860-1934.
    Roll: A1158_0240

  6. 6.0 6.1 .

    Civil War Soldiers - Union - Colored Troops 55th MA Infantry
    17 page file on Joshua Dunbar available on Fold 3
    Fold3, Civil War Soldiers - Union - Colored Troops 55th MA Infantry (/title/698/civil-war-soldiers-union-colored-troops-55th-ma-infantry :accessed August 1, 2020), database and images, https://www.fold3.com/title/698/civil-war-soldiers-union-colored-troops-55th-ma-infantry
    Publication Title Civil War Soldiers - Union - Colored Troops 55th MA Infantry
    Total Records Records: 2,321 · Complete: 100%
    Content Source The National Archives logoThe National Archives
    Publication Number: M1801
    Record Group: 94
    Published on Fold3 May 19, 2010
    Last Updated May 20, 2010
    Description NARA M1801. Compiled military service records of volunteer Union soldiers belonging to the 55th Massachusetts Infantry (Colored).

  7.   .

    A. W. Drury. History of the City of Dayton. volume 1, page 210.

  8. 8.0 8.1 National Parks Service https://www.nps.gov/people/joshua-dunbar.htm.

    PERSON
    Joshua Dunbar
    Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
    Plasterer and father of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Joshua was born enslaved in Kentucky, perhaps in Garrard County. Historians know little about his early life. Joshua trained as a plasterer while enslaved. His master allowed him to work away from his home plantation and keep some of his earnings. With the assistance of Quakers, he eventually fled Kentucky, venturing to Upper Canada through the Underground Railroad network. He returned to the United States after the creation of the United States Colored Troops in 1863. Joshua enlisted in the 55th Massachusetts Regiment (Colored) under Colonel Norwood P. Hallowell on June 5, 1863. Medical officials discharged him from the 55th Massachusetts on October 28, 1863 for varicose veins, but Joshua soon reenlisted in the 5thMassachusetts Cavalry Regiment (Colored). He served in this unit until the end of the war, rising to the rank of sergeant. He was discharged in Clarksville, Texas, on October 3, 1865. For the remainder of his life, Joshua drew a monthly pension of $25.00 for his service.
    With the end of the war, Joshua moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he met Matilda Burton Murphy sometime after 1866. They married on December 24, 1871. Matilda gave birth to Paul, their first son, that next June. Joshua and Matilda had one other child, Elizabeth (1874-1876). Joshua attempted to work as a plasterer but racism left him unemployed for extended periods of time. He and Matilda endured a tense, abusive relationship before she left him around 1873; this relationship set a poor example for Paul’s relationship with Alice Moore. Matilda petitioned for a divorce from Joshua and received one on January 9, 1876. Paul memorialized him and other African American soldiers in “The Colored Soldiers” (1895). Joshua died of pneumonia at the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Dayton on August 16, 1885 and is buried in Dayton National Cemetery.

  9.   .

    Joshua Dunbar
    Dayton Daily Journal
    August 25, 1885
    v. XXIII, iss. 24 : pg. 1, col. 4
    died August 16, age 69, National Home DVS, Co. F, 55th Massachusetts

  10.   .

    [The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was the subject of the movie Glory, not the 55th].
    Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)
    21 Mar 2002, Thu, Page B6 Discussion to focus on black soldiers in Civil War

  11.   .

    Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)
    25 Jan 2004, Sun
    Page B1
    Dunbar's dad may rest with dignity

  12.   .

    Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)
    24 Feb 2002, Sun
    Page B1
    Putting their hands on history

  13.   .

    Name: Joshua Dunbar
    Sex: Male
    Age: 68
    Death Date: 16 Aug 1885
    Death Place: Hanes, Montgomery, Ohio, United States
    Death Place (Original): HANES, Montgomery, Ohio [person who recorded this wrote "soldiers home" for a number of entries then started putting just "home" for the Disabled Volunteer Soldiers Home/Veteran Administration]
    Marital Status: Widowed
    Occupation: PLASTER
    Race: W
    Residence Place: SOLDIERS HOME, MONTGOMERY CO., OHIO
    Birth Year (Estimated): 1817
    Birthplace: KY
    Burial Place: MONTGOMERY CO., OHIO

    Source Details: v 3 p 34
    Indexing Batch: B07314-3
    GS Film Number: 1030827
    Digital Folder Number: 004260577
    Image Number: 465

    Citing this Record
    "Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6VY-1WB : 1 March 2021), Joshua Dunbar, 16 Aug 1885; citing Death, Hanes, Montgomery, Ohio, United States, source ID v 3 p 34, County courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 1,030,827.