Alpheus Worcester & Matilda Taber

Alpheus Worcester, my 4th great grandfather and father of Ruhamma Worcester, was born on Feb 16, 1822 in Boston, the same year Boston was incorporated as a city (formerly it was a town).  He was one of 5 sons.  Among them were a paper manufacturer and a Deacon.  Alpheus was a Nail Cutter.  In 1845 he moved to Wareham, Mass which is south of Boston toward Cape Cod.

On May 12, 1850 he married Matilda Taber from Wareham.  Matilda was born there in 1822.  Together they had three children, Hannah, Alpheus, and Ruhamma (who got her name from her maternal grandmother).

Alpheus lived in Wareham for the rest of his life, passing away at only 44 y.o. in April of 1866.  Matilda lived until March of 1889 (67 y.o.)


Nail production was an important industry in New England at the time.  Here is a description of how a Nail Cutter does his job:

The machine used was propelled by one person using the right hand on one lever, and the right foot on another lever. The left hand was occupied in manipulating the iron from which the nails were cut. The iron was called "nail iron," and was of different widths according to the requisite sized size desired, such as shingle, clapboard, brads, lathing, etc. Two-inch shingle nails were sold for 37 1/2 cents per pound; clapboard do., 25 cents; brads, 18 cents; lathing, 31 cents, etc.

Before cutting, the iron was brought to a red heat in the common blacksmith fire. After the nails were cooled, they were taken to a place to be headed. This was done with a spring vise, which was closed by the pressure of the right foot. Only one nail was inserted at a time. One stroke of the hammer on the nail made a brad; two more made a clapboard or weather-boarding nail.

William S Manley & Mary Ann Lovell

William Manley, my 4th great grandfather and father of William Henry Manley, was born about 1825 in Belfast, Maine and moved to Sandwich, Massachusetts before he was 23.  It was there that he met and married Mary Ann Lovell born April 15, 1832 in that town.  Their marriage date was April 11, 1848.  She was 16.  By 1850 they had a child named Mary who was one year old.  By 1860 they had added William H., Almon, and Flora.  In 1870 they had moved to nearby Wareham, Mass and had added 3 more children, Laura, Reuben, and Florence.

William served in the 40th Massachusetts infantry during the civil war.  He was a private and worked as a machinist during the war (and after being discharged).  He enlisted June 8 1862 joining company I.  He was discharged June 16 1865 in Richman,VA.  

William was wounded March 1, 1864 near Cedar Run, VA.

William died about 1894 and Mary lived until May 30 1915.  She lived with Reuben in Wareham for most of the time after William died, and outlived all but one of her 8 children.

Here is a history of the 40th Massachusetts infantry:

Regimental History
FORTIETH REGIMENT
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
THREE YEARS

The 40th Regt. Mass. Vol. Inf. was recruited at Camp Edwin

M. Stanton, Lynnfield, in August, 1862, Lieut. Col. Joseph A.

Dalton being in command during the recruiting period. The 

companies were mustered in on various dates from August 22 to

September 5. Major Burr Porter, U. S. A., who had won 

distinction while serving on the staff of Gen. John C. Fremont,

was commissioned colonel, but did not join the regiment until

after its arrival in Washington, Sept. 11, 1862. Here the 40th

occupied Fort Ethan Allen near Chain Bridge, and during the 

fall and winter did guard and picket duty near Miner's Hill, 

Mills' Cross Roads, and Hunter's Chapel. During this period it

was attached to Cowdin's (2d) Brigade, Abercrombie's Division. 

About Mar. 4, Col. Porter succeeded Col. Cowdin in command of 

the 2d Brigade, and Lieut. Col. Dalton took command of the 

regiment.

On April 15, 1863, the 40th was ordered to Alexandria,
Va., and there took transport for Suffolk, which city was
menaced by a Confederate force under Gen. Longstreet. Here
as a part of Keyes' (4th) Corps it took part in several
reconnaissances prior to May 4, on which date, the siege having
been raised, the regiment was ordered to West Point, Va., where
it arrived May 7.

After various movements in the vicinity of Yorktown,
Williamsburg, Jamestown, and White House Landing, the regiment
proceeded to Baltimore Cross Roads. Near this place on the
night of July 2 it was engaged but without loss. Having
advanced to within 15 miles of Richmond the regiment returned
to Yorktown where it took transport for Washington. From here
it was sent immediately to Frederick, Md., arriving July 11.
Temporarily attached to the 11th Corps it joined in the pursuit
of Lee into Virginia.

Early in August it was again detached and ordered back to
Alexandria where on the 7th it embarked for Charleston, S. C.,
arriving on the 13th at Folly Island, and going into the
trenches in front of Fort Wagner. Here during the days
immediately following the regiment lost one officer, Lieut.
Webb, killed and five men wounded. On Nov. 10 Col. Guy V.
Henry took command, and immediately afterward the regiment took
part in an expedition to Kraivah and Seabrook Islands,
returning to Folly Island where it remained until Jany. 16,
1864, when it took transport for Hilton Head, S. C.

At Hilton Head it was reorganized as a regiment of mounted
infantry, and on Feb.4 embarked for Jacksonville, Fla. Here
the 40th became a part of the so-called Light Brigade, having
associated with it the Independent Battalion of Massachusetts
Cavalry (Co's. "I", "K", "L", and "M" 1st Regt. Mass. Cav.),
and Baty. "B" 1st U. S. Art. Col. Henry being in command as
acting brigadier.

The Florida campaign which followed lasted from Feb. 8,
when the advance began, until about Mar. 20, and was marked by
engagements at St. Mary's Creek, Feb. 10, Olustee, Feb. 20, and
Cedar Run, Mar. 1. The Light Brigade was then broken up and
the 40th became an infantry regiment again. It now proceeded
by transports to Hilton Head and thence to Gloucester Point,
Va. Here it was assigned to Henry's (1st) Brigade. On May 6,
it reached Bermuda Hundred, now being organized as a part of
Alford's (1st) Brigade, Turner's (2d) Division, Gillmore's
(lOth) Corps. May 9 the regiment proceeded with the 2d
Division to Chester Station, an important railroad junction
between Richmond and Petersburg, to assist in destroying the
station buildings and railroad at that place, but was ordered
to Swift Creek, near Arrowfield Church, in support of Heckman's
Brigade of the 18th Corps on the afternoon of the same day.
Three days later it joined in the advance of the Army of the
James toward Richmond and on the morning of May 16 participated
in the battle of Drury's Bluff, losing 10 killed, 42 wounded,
and 22 missing. The killed and most of the wounded were left
on the field. Four days later, May 20, the regiment was engaged
near Bermuda Hundred in repulsing a Confederate attack on the
Union picket line, losing six killed and 16 wounded.

On May 28 the regiment was sent by transport to White
House arriving on the 30th. Here it was attached to Smith's
(18th) Corps as a part of Henry's (3d) Brigade, Brooks' (1st)
Division. Joining the Army of the Potomac near Cold Harbor,
June 1, it was immediately ordered into action losing Lieut.
Col. Marshall and 11 men killed and a large number wounded.
It participated in the general assault on the Confederate lines
on the morning of June 3 losing 10 killed and many wounded. On
the 12th it was withdrawn from the Cold Harbor lines and
transferred via White House, Bermuda Hundred, and Point of
Rocks to the front of Petersburg. On the 15th in conjunction
with Wild's Division of colored troops it drove the
Confederates into the main line of fortifications at
Petersburg. Posted on the extreme Union right near the
Appomattox River, it assisted in the repulse of Hagood's
Confederate Brigade June 24, suffering slight loss. On the
east front of Petersburg, in the Bermuda Hundred lines, and in
the vicinity of Fort Harrison north of the James the regiment
was actively engaged during the summer, fall, and early winter
of 1864. In December the 40th became a part of Roberts' (3d)
Brigade, Devens' (3d) Division, Gibbon's (24th) Corps. In
March, 1865, the brigade was sent to Fredericksburg where it
did provost duty for a short time and assisted in destroying
the railroad to Richmond near Hamilton's Crossing. Another
expedition up the Yeocomico River to Kinsale Landing was made
later the same month. On March 26 the regiment returned to
Signal Hill on the Richmond front where it remained until after
the city fell. It was one of the first Union regiments to
enter the city on the morning of April 3 after the evacuation.
It now camped in various places near Richmond for about five
weeks-on Mayo's plantation, on the Benson estate near
Manchester, and elsewhere. On June 17 it was mustered out of
the service and started for Massachusetts. June 21 found the
regiment at Readville, Mass., where it remained in camp until
its final payment and discharge, June 30.

Source: Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors & Marines in the Civil War

William Henry Manley & Ruhama Worchester (& Martha Adelaide Johnson)

William Henry Manley, Father of Ruhammer Manley, and my 3rd great  grandfather was born in Sandwich, Mass. in October of 1851 and moved to the neighboring town of Wareham, Mass as a teenager.  He married Ruhama Worchester on Feb 18, 1874.  Ruhama lived less than a year after their marriage.  On Sept 27, 1875 he married his second wife, Martha Adelaide Johnson who was 14 years old at the time (although their marriage record states she is 16, all the other records have her at 14).  Martha was born in Feb 1861 in Massachusetts probably in Wareham.

William was a Nail Smith at the time of their marriage.  Here is a link to a video tour of the Tremont Nail Factory where William worked in the 1870's:

Tremont Nail Factory Video

They moved to Taunton and he worked as a laborer.  In 1910 he reports working in a stable.  They had four children in the house in 1900:  Ruhammer, Louis, Charles, and Effie.  Interestingly, their oldest child Ruhammer (my great great grandmother) was named for William's first wife.  Her mother is listed as Martha in a couple of censuses but on the 1900 census she is reported to have been born in Sept 1875.  That is the month that he married his second wife.  This leads me to believe that Ruhama Worchester is Ruhammer's mother and that she died in childbirth, and William married as much to have the child cared for as for anything else.  Also I highly doubt that a second wife would want her child named after her husband's first wife.  Martha is listed as having 5 children, 4 of whom are living in 1900.  So no matter how the children are counted, we are missing at least one of her children.

William Henry died in about 1926 in Taunton.  Martha lived with her daughter, Effie, in 1920.  Why William was residing at another home is an open question.  It is possible it was a nursing home.  Martha died around 1927.

I believe there is enough evidence to consider Ruhamer Worchester as our blood relative, specifically my 3rd great grandmother.