Freeman, Theophillus D.

Theophillus D. Freeman (1823-1891)

Fitzwilliam, NH

Theophillus D. Freeman was born in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, in 1823, the son of Amos and Amy (Humphrey) Freeman.  He may have resided in town throughout her youth, in the 1820s and 1830s, but it is also likely that he lived in Worcester County, MA, with his mother and siblings at that time. Theophillus’ mother was from Barre, MA, and relocated to that area with her children, leaving Theophillus’ father.

As a young adult, Theophillus Freeman became a barber in Worcester County, MA, residing for much of his life in the town of North Brookfield.  At the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted for a three-year term, mustering in at Long Island, Boston Harbor as a private in December 1863.  By May 1864, Freeman was mustered into the 54th Colored Massachusetts Volunteers, Company F., where he became a laundryman.  Freeman was released from the military in August 1865.

Military records describe Theophillus Freeman as a man who was 40 years old at the outbreak of the war. He was 5’9” tall with black hair, black eyes, and a dark complexion. Following his service in the war, Freeman relocated to the city of Worcester, MA, where he continued his profession as a hairdresser/barber at 45 Millbury Street into the 1880s.  He died in Worcester in 1891 of heart disease.

SOURCE MATERIALS

Massachusetts Death Records, 1891

North Brookfield, Town of. A Historical Record of the Soldiers and Sailors of North Brookfield. North Brookfield (1886)- Ancestry.com

U.S. City Directories, Massachusetts, Worcester, 1879, 1880s

U.S. Civil War Registration, Massachusetts, 1863- Ancestry.com

U.S. Civil War Pension Records, Massachusetts, 1887- Ancestry.com

U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1863- Ancestry.com

U.S. Federal Census Records, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880- Ancestry.com

Worcester Daily Spy, May 26, 1871, p.1.- Library of Congress, ChroniclingAmerica.com

Worcester Daily Spy, March 21, 1872, p.1.- Library of Congress, ChroniclingAmerica.com

Worcester Daily Spy, January 27, 1875, p.1.- Library of Congress, ChroniclingAmerica.com

GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY

THEOPHILLUS D. FREEMAN was born in Fitzwilliam, NH, in 1823.  He died in Worcester, MA, in 1891.