Rebecca Melissa Shackford, daughter of Samuel and Susanah (Hobb) Shackford was born April 5, 1817 probably in Carlisle, New York. She was the third child in a family that moved to Duxbury, Vermont and raised eight girls to adulthood (one boy died within a few months of his birth). Rebecca was 13 when her father died and most likely worked hard on the farm to support the family.
When Rebecca was 21 she married William Foster in 1839, and moved to Williamstown, Vermont where he worked as a farmer and they raised six children. The family seems to have been missed in the 1850 census but was recorded in Williamstown in the 1860 census where William’s property is valued at $6,000 and his personal property valued at $7500.
William and Rebecca’s eldest son registered for the draft on July 1, 1863, mustered in the military on June 10, 1863 where he served with the 1st Regiment, Vermont Heavy Artillery as a Corporal. Sadly he was captured at Weldon Road in Virginia, imprisoned on 23 June 1864 at Andersonville Prison and died there on Sept 8, 1864. He was 24 years old.
In 1866, William purchased land in Moretown, Vermont where we believe they moved as this was where Rebecca died at the age of 50 on October 16, 1867.
Rebecca was buried in the Williamstown Town Cemetery in Williamstown, Vermont. Her gravestone has the following inscription: REBECCA M. wife of Wm Foster DIED Oct 16, 1867 AE 50 Yrs. (Photograph from Find A Grave shared with permission of photographer kwhitco.)
William who was left with younger children, married Orilla (Peck) Nelson, a widow with five children — together they had two more children. He died on April 17, 1890 at his daughter Adeline’s home and was buried next to his first wife, Rebecca in Williamstown.
CHILDREN:
Horace B Foster (1839-1864) – served in the Civil War, captured and held prisoner at Andersonville, Georgia where he died. Image of gravestone credit to Kevin Frye, Andersonville historian.
Samuel Shackford Foster (1841-1927) – married Annie D Nesbitt. Cooresponded with Samuel Burnham Shackford who compiled the Shackford Genealogy Manuscript
Olive Maud Foster (1843-1893) – married Josiah Holden Warren
Vienna Malinda Foster (1849-1935) – married William M Deavitt and Jerome Hart
Adeline Foster (1852-1893) – married Lorenzo H Warren
Tina A Foster (1855-1883) – married George Warren Kibby
Note: Some individuals on Ancestry have Rebecca Shackford’s last name listed as Stafford. We weren’t sure why until a fellow researcher of this family pointed out that Rebecca’s daughter Olive’s marriage record has Rebecca with the last name Stafford. We’ve looked at these written records and perhaps this was the best spelling they had of a grandfather who was deceased before Olive was born. We do know that the source for the Samuel Burnham Shackford’s Shackford Genealogy Manuscript for Rebecca Melissa was Samuel S Foster, one of Rebecca’s children and are hoping someday to see what he sent to Samuel Burnham Shackford regarding this family line. Samuel Shackford’s 1927 death record shows his mother’s name as unknown and she is not mentioned in his obituary. Neither Vienna Malinda’s marriage or death record record her mother’s name. Adeline’s death record does not record her mother’s name. The youngest child Tina’s marriage record shows her mother as Melissa Shackford and her death record lists Rebecca Shackford. I will write to those using Stafford to see if they might agree to update the spelling to Shackford so that any descendents can discover their ancestors.
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SOURCES:
1860 United States Federal Census, Orange County, Vermont, population schedule, Williamston, Page No 1, Dwelling 3, Household 3, Wm Foster; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 March 2024).
“Hardwick. William Foster,” Orleans County Monitor (Barton, Vermont), 19 March 2024; digital images, Newspaper Archives (NewspaperArchive.com : accessed 19 March 2024).
“Our Boys in Prison–Deaths, &c,” Independent Standard (Irasburgh, Vermont), 6 January 1865, Horace B Foster; digital images, Chronicling America (ChroniclingAmerica.loc.gov : accessed 23 March 2024).
“Shackford Genealogy Manuscript,” 13 October 1925, reviewed summer 2016; typed manuscript, SG SHA, Folder (56) William Shackford; Shackford collection by Samuel Burnham Shackford; New England Historical and Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. # 247 Rebecca Melissa Shackford, source Samuel S Foster.
“U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865,” digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 March 2024), Horace B Foster;
Vermont, Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954, , Rebecca M Foster, 16 October 1867; digital images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : accessed 7 October 2018).
“Waterbury. Deeds 1864–1884,” digital images, FamilySearch (FamilySearch.org : accessed 20 March 2024), John Hunter and wife sell land to William Foster of Moretown.
Copyright 2024 — Joanne Shackford Parkes (sharing a link to this post which may be updated in the future is appreciated but please do not copy this material and paste it elsewhere.
SHACKFORD Family History 