Simon Douglas

Simon Douglas (1843–1950) was a former slave who lived to become the last American Civil War soldier in the state of New Jersey.[1][2]

Douglas was born on January 25, 1843 as a slave on a plantation in Fairfield County, South Carolina. In 1862, during the US Civil War, he went to the front lines as a body servant for his masters' son, in the Confederate Army. Douglas became free by 1864 and moved north as a blacksmith and bummer (a nickname for foragers) of Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army.[3]

In 1866, Douglas settled in what was to become Fairview, Bergen County, New Jersey. He married a local resident, with whom he had a son and daughter. He ran his own blacksmithing business into his 90s. He lived there until he died on March 8, 1950.[4]

He is interred in Hackensack Cemetery (#4738, Sec 16, Row 12).

References

  1. ↑ "NJ Black History Month: Remembering state's last Civil War soldier". Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  2. ↑ "This Black History Month, Fairview remembers its last Civil War veteran". Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  3. ↑ J.H, Segars. "Black Confederates". Pelican Publishing. Retrieved 12 February 2018 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ "Simon Douglass (1843-1950) - Find A Grave..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  • "Letter: Some clarity needed on Simon Douglas story". North Jersey.com. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
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