William Wilson Blencowe
1839-1874
Father Nm: Robert Blencowe 1808–1853 Note: The first known Blencowe emigrant in the 19th C.
Birth 25 November 1808, Banbury, Oxfordshire
Death 5 December 1853, Randolph, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Mother Nm: Mehitabel Stiler 1814–1905
Birth 3 March 1814, Stratford, Coos County, New Hampshire.
Death 10 January 1905, Randolph, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Marriage Dt: 24 November 1867, Randolph, MA
K comments: Brother Richmond served alongside William with the 4th Mass Volunteers Infantry and was wounded, captured, hospitalised by the enemy and died in captivity, Brashear City La in 1863.
Spouse comments: Mary E.(Belcher) Burnham,1844–1914 Birth 29 October 1844 Stoughton
Death 2 March 1914 Stoughton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Mary, daughter of Story Burnham and Hannah French, and widow of Hiram Belcher.
Children.None
Born 1839
16 February, 1839, Braintree (Randolph), Norfolk, Mass.
1840 Census
Randolph, Norfolk, Mass.
Robert Blencowe 32 Bootmaker
Mehitable Blencowe, 26 wife
William Wilson Blencowe age 1
1850 Census
Randolph Mass.
Robert Blencoe, 42 Shoemaker
Mehitable Blencoe 37
William W Blencoe 12
John R Blencoe 8
1860 CENSUS
Randolph Mass.
Mehitable Blencoe 46, Widow
William W Blencoe 21, Bootmaker
John R Blencoe 18 Bootmaker
Civil War
Blencoe William Wilson 1839 Braintree, Mss, Private, Company D of the 4th Massachusetts Infantry, 1st Battalion Heavy Artillery, Massachusetts
The brothers both joined the 4th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, sometimes known as the 4th Massachusetts Infantry, which was a peacetime regiment of infantry that was activated for federal service in the Union Army for two separate tours during the American Civil War. Most of the companies were from Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The regiment had its headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts
1861
Enlisted on April 16, 1861, at the age of twenty-two. He mustered in as a Private in Company D of the 4th Massachusetts Infantry—a rapid-response 90-day regiment—on April 22, 1861. He spent his brief first term securing critical Union positioning at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Note Brother Ricmond enlisted in September.
Mustered out safely on July 22, 1861, at Long Island in Boston Harbour.
1862-63
On September 23, 1862, William mustered for a second tour of duty, days after his younger brother Richmond had enlisted for the first time. They both mustered together on the 23 Sept.
William rejoined his old unit, Company D of the 4th Massachusetts, which had reorganised for a nine-month term. This time, he marched shoulder-to-shoulder with his younger brother, John Richmond. The 4th Massachusetts reported to Camp Joe Hooker in Lakeville, Massachusetts, and was mustered in on September 23, 1862. The regiment at this time was composed of newly recruited companies and was, in terms of its roster, virtually a different regiment than the original 90-day incarnation. The unit did not leave Camp Hooker until December 27, 1862 when it headed for New York en route to Louisiana.
Together, the brothers endured the gruelling voyage to the Department of the Gulf and faced the oppressive, humid swamplands of Louisiana. On June 30, 1863, the unit continued to report unanimously on duty despite the term of enlistment expiring. They entered the captured Fort Hudson on July 9, 1863 .
Note: For reasons frequently linked to the confusing administrative tracking of re-enlisting soldiers, William’s records from this period occasionally carry the bracketed alias name: James Akars.
The summer of 1863 brought a devastating climax. While the main body of the 4th Massachusetts pressed the siege lines at Port Hudson, William and Richmond found themselves caught in a violent Confederate assault on the Union supply base at Brashear City on June 23, 1863. In the chaotic struggle, Richmond was mortally wounded, dying in a Rebel field hospital. On that very same day, William was taken Prisoner of War.
Fortunately, the Confederates—unwilling to encumber themselves with massive lines of captives—paroled William on the spot on June 25, 1863. Bound by his military oath not to fight until officially exchanged, William remained with his regiment as their nine-month contract reached its natural expiration. The unit returned north, and William officially mustered out on August 28, 1863, at Camp Hooker in Lakeville, Massachusetts. He returned to Randolph to support his widowed mother, Mehitabel, delivering the agonising news of Richmond’s lonely death in the bayous.
1864
A Third Call: The Heavy Artillery
Despite the harrowing trauma of his captivity and his brother’s death, William’s devotion to the Union remained unextinguished. On July 12, 1864, as the war entered its bloody final phase, William stepped forward for an incredible third time, enlisting as a Private in Company B of the 1st Battalion Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. Just before his arrival, elements of the battalion had suffered severe casualties at the Siege of Petersburg, losing 25 men killed and 132 wounded on June 16, 1864. After completing rigorous training in Boston, William was thrown directly into the crucible of Virginia.
As part of the relentless Union squeeze around Richmond and Petersburg, William’s unit was thrust into the brutal frontline combat of the Overland Campaign. Between August 18 and 21, 1864, he survived the fierce Battle of Globe Tavern (also known as the Second Battle of the Weldon Railroad), witnessing a devastating Confederate flank offensive that resulted in the capture of 185 of his comrades. In the dead of winter, from February 5 to 7, 1865, he battled through the frozen muck of the Battle of Hatcher’s Run in Dinwiddie County, helping to successfully sever the final Confederate supply lines.
1865
Following General Robert E. Lee’s historic surrender at Appomattox in April 1865, William’s battalion was transferred to Washington, D.C., to man the massive ring of defensive forts protecting the nation’s capital. He finally mustered out of the service on June 29, 1865, returning to Massachusetts, where he was paid and discharged at Gallop’s Island on August 25, 1865.
The Final Muster
Returning to Randolph, a seasoned veteran of three distinct enlistments, William sought to rebuild his life, resuming his trade as a boot cutter. On November 24, 1867, he married Mary E. (Belcher) Burnham, a young widow from Stoughton. The 1870 census shows William and Mary living quietly with his ageing mother, Mehitabel.
However, the severe exposures, winter campaigns, and toxic swamps of his military years had taken a permanent, silent toll on his health. On April 21, 1874, at the premature age of thirty-five years, two months, and eight days, William Wilson Blencowe died of consumption (tuberculosis)—a lingering casualty of the war he fought so hard to win. He was laid to rest alongside his brother Richmond and his parents in Central Cemetery in Randolph, leaving behind an immortal legacy of patriotism and resilience.
Medals
Sources
- Ancestry and BFA database
- Fold3 and National Archives
- Petersburg project
After the War
1870 Census
Randolph Mass.
Mehitable Blencowe 55
Wm Wilson Blencowe 30 Boot Maker
Mary E Blencowe 25
Death 1874
21 APRIL 1874, Randolph, Norfolk County, Massachusetts.Age: 35yrs 2mos 8dys
Cause of Death: Consumption
Central Cemetery Randolph, Norfolk County, Massachusetts