Mus Traverse C. Babcock
| Traverse C. Babcock_14th Rhode Island Regiment Babcock, Traverse C. (also spelled Travers or Travis) Born: January 14, 1845, Granby, Connecticut Died: April 10, 1910, Windsor, Connecticut Burial: Riverside Cemetery, Windsor, Connecticut Occupation: Farmer Enlisted: October 6, 1863, Providence, Rhode Island Unit: 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery Regiment (Colored) Company: F Rank: Private > Musician --------------------------- Traverse C. Babcock, a Civil War soldier from Windsor, Connecticut, carried forward a family tradition of military service that stretched back to the American Revolution. Born on January 14, 1845, in Granby, Connecticut, Traverse was the son of Benjamin Eldridge Babcock and Frances Daniels. By 1860, the Babcock family had moved to Windsor, where Traverse grew to adulthood. On October 6, 1863, Traverse enlisted in the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery Regiment (Colored), following in the footsteps of earlier generations in his family who had served in America’s wars. He was a Private, appointed as a musician, specifically a drummer in January or February 1864. Drummers supported military operations with duties such as announcing the daily camp schedule, relaying battlefield signals, and keeping troops marching in rhythm. In May 1864, the regiment was redesignated the 11th United States Colored Heavy Artillery (USCHA). Traverse served for two years before mustering out at the end of the war on October 2, 1865, and was discharged on October 8, 1865, from Camp Parapet in Louisiana. He then returned to civilian life in Windsor. Traverse’s military service echoed that of a man who may have been his great-grandfather. On June 9, 1777, a man named Primus Babcock enlisted in the 1st Rhode Island Regiment during the Revolutionary War. Often considered the first Black regiment in American military history, the 1st Rhode Island Regiment included many formerly enslaved men. Primus appears to have been enslaved by the family of George Babcock Jr. and his wife, Susanna Potter, of Hopkinton, Rhode Island. By 1790, Primus Babcock was living in Charlestown, Rhode Island. Many years later, Traverse Babcock’s grandfather—also named Primus Babcock—indicated in town records that he was born around 1789 in Charlestown, Rhode Island. This suggests that the elder Primus, who served during the Revolutionary War, was likely Traverse’s great-grandfather. Two other formerly enslaved men from Hopkinton also served in the regiment: Caesar Babcock and Asa Babcock. Caesar had been enslaved by Hezekiah Babcock and enlisted as his replacement. Primus, Caesar, and Asa later had children and grandchildren bearing similar names, suggesting the possibility that they were related. Primus Babcock served six years in the 1st Rhode Island Regiment and was discharged at the close of the war in 1783. His discharge papers were handwritten and signed by George Washington. After the war, Primus lived for a time in Washington County, Rhode Island. By 1818, however, he was living in New London County, Connecticut, where he applied for his Revolutionary War pension. As part of that process, he was required to submit his discharge papers. His disappointment upon learning that the document would not be returned was later noted in the New York Daily Tribune on July 25, 1862. Traverse Babcock’s grandfather, also named Primus, was living in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1840. He and his wife, Lucy Webster, had eight children: Benjamin Eldridge Babcock, Asa Eldridge Babcock, Frederick G. Babcock, Adeline L. Babcock, Antoinette Babcock, Louisa S. Babcock, Ellen Babcock, and Joseph C. Babcock. In 1843, Benjamin Eldridge Babcock married Francis Daniels in Hartford, and the couple soon moved to Granby, where their son Traverse was born two years later, on January 14, 1845. Following the Civil War, Traverse returned to Windsor and lived with his parents. By 1869 he had eleven siblings. Several members of the Babcock family attended Windsor’s First Congregational Church, however, some members of his family left this church to worship elsewhere, like his brother Gilbert Lines Babcock. Gilbert lived in the Windsor Hayden Station neighborhood with his wife, Mary and three children, just two doors from Alexander Archer and wife, Elizabeth (Thompson) Archer. Gilbert joined the First Congregational Church in March of 1881, then left in 1889 to continue his spiritual journey with the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church congregation near his home— the first Black Church in Windsor, formally organized in 1887. Gilbert was actively involved and he served as a trustee in the early 1900’s. Upon his death, Gilbert was buried in the A.M.E. Zion’s historic Mt. Zion Cemetery. Other members of Traverse Babcock’s family were also congregants of this church for several decades. Traverse’s muster roll file describes his eyes as grey, his hair as mouse colored, and his completion as Light Mulatto. In the 1870 census, the members of the Babcock household were recorded as “Mulatto,” a racial designation introduced in the federal census beginning in 1850. The classification reflected the racial theories of the period, particularly those promoted by racial scientist and southern enslaver Josiah Nott, who believed that people of African and European ancestry could provide evidence for his theories about racial hierarchy and biological difference. Nott’s claims were routed in flawed, unreliable, error-ridden 1840 U.S. Census data—intentionally skewed towards proslavery arguments. By 1880, Traverse was living in the Windsor household of his younger brother, Eldridge Babcock, along with Eldridge’s wife, Grace, and their daughter Anna. Traverse, then thirty-three years old, was listed as single and working as a laborer. Little is known about Traverse’s circumstances in 1890. Most of that year’s federal census was destroyed in a fire at the Commerce Department building in Washington, D.C., on January 10, 1921, leaving a gap in the record. However, in September of 1890 Travers appears to be in the Windsor Locks area and was quick-claimed three quarters acre of land in Windsor’s “Haydens” neighborhood. In the 1900 census, Traverse appears at the age of 56 as a boarder in the Windsor household of Wallace Peterson Sands, a former soldier of the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment. Wallace had been widowed five years earlier following the death of his wife, Susan Maria Elkey. Interestingly, Traverse was also listed as a widower in the census, though no record of a marriage has yet been identified, leaving open the possibility that the designation was an error. His occupation at the time was listed as a Carpenter. Traverse Babcock’s death came in a tragic and unusual accident. On April 10, 1910, he was walking along the railroad tracks in Windsor with two companions, Henry Addison and J. Johnson. As they reached the railroad bridge over the Farmington River, they noticed a southbound express approaching. When they stepped off that track, a northbound train suddenly appeared on the adjacent line. Addison and Johnson managed to climb onto the stonework of the bridge, but Traverse was struck and killed by the train. For several years before his death, Traverse had made his home at Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Elkey’s in the Cook Hill neighborhood of Windsor. He survived a war in the struggle for freedom and dignity, only to tragically lose his life at the age of 64 at home. Traverse Babcock was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Windsor, Connecticut. |