Newly discovered Civil War photos of my Great Great Grandfather

 Over Christmas break my distant cousin contacted me with some genealogy questions.  One was a question about a photo she saw on Find A Grave for my great great grandfather Abijah Franklin Hitchings (1841 - 1910).  I had never seen this photo before!

I contacted the gentleman who contributed this photo to Frank Hitchings memorial at Find A Grave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15836442/abijah-franklin-hitchings  His name was Peter Maugle, and according to his profile at Find A Grave, he is a staff member at Fredericksburg National Military Park. He has added photos to over one thousand memorials while attempting to establish the identities of the marked graves at Fredericksbury National Cemetery.  Frank Hitchings was wounded at Fredricksburg, but did not die there.  He died in 1910 at his home in Salem, Massachusetts. 

According to Peter Maugle, he found this photo at the Library of Congress digital collection.  You can see the information at this link identifies Frank Hitchings as the soldier seated in the photograph.  https://www.loc.gov/item/2022630776/    This photo was donated to the Library of Congress in September 2020.  It pays to keep looking at those Find A Grave memorials every year to see if new information has been added! 

I have previously blogged about Great great grandpa Hitchings at several blog posts.  I'll add those links to the end of this post, and if you are interested you can read those stories.  He had served twice in the Civil War, first in the "Minute Men of '61" (Co. I, 8th Reg. Mass. Vol. Infantry) which rescued Old Ironsides (the USS Constitution) from Annapolis, and then again in Co. H, 19th Reg. Vol. Infantry, and was in the Battle of Fredericksburg.  Here is the digital version of his carte de viste- the original hangs on my mother's living room wall. This would have been his colorful Zouave uniform from the "Minute Men". 

Frank Hitchings served in the invalid corps during the end of the Civil War.  He had been a sailmaker before his military service, and after the war he began working at the Salem Custom House.  Eventually he became the Deputy Customs Collector.  His office is preserved in the Salem National Historic Park at the old Custom House on the waterfront. 

My grandmother was born in 1905. She remembers her "Dada Hitchings" walked with a limp.  He had his leg examined many times by the doctors at the Boston Veterans Hospital in Charlestown, and those records are preserved in his pension file.  His wife Hanna Eliza Lewis Hitchings (1844 - 1921) received a widow's pension when Frank died in 1910.  His obituaries are full of testimonies and information about his military service and his participation in many GAR events.  I wasn't surprised to see at the Library of Congress website many links to mentions of his name including the book History and Complete Roster of the Massachusetts Regiments: Minute Men of '61 who responded to the first call of President Abraham Lincoln, April 15, 1861, to defend the Flag and Constitution of the United States, by George W. Nason, 1910.  

This book at the LOC included this page about A. Frank Hitchings (page 265) 

Just when you think you've found all the existing material (ephemera, photos, information) on an ancestor, something new pops up!  Never stop looking and communicating with your cousins. 

For the Truly Curious:

Abijah Franklin Hitchings Find A Grave Memorial   https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15836442/abijah-franklin-hitchings  

Photograph at the Library of Congress    https://www.loc.gov/item/2022630776/  

"How to find your American Veteran Ancestors (A. Frank Hitchings" November 10, 2009   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-find-your-american-veteran.html   

"My Great Great Grandfather, the Deputy Customs Collector, June 26, 2015   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/06/my-great-great-grandfather-deputy.html   

My Hitchings Surname Saturday post, October 4, 2014    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/10/surname-saturday-hitchings-of-lynn.html  

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To Cite/Link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Newly discovered Civil War photos of my Great Great Grandfather", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 10, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/01/newly-discovered-civil-war-photos-of-my.html: accessed [access date]).