Ezekiel
Gaulbert Tomlinson 1841 – 1885
SERVICE TO HIS COUNTRY
Ezekiel was the 9th of the 11 children of John and Catherine Tomlinson, Quakers from Radnor County, Pennsylvania. His exact birth date is recorded in the Union Army history of his Regiment.[1] His age in the 1860[2] Census is 18 and in 1870[3] is declared as 30, so the declarations vary slightly. There is an 1858 U.S. Citizenship Declaration[4] of a Seaman for Ezekiel G. Tomlinson age 17, born in Radnor County. The close dates, the initial G. (for Gaulbert, his Mother’s maiden name) and references to birthplace as Radnor County bolster the case that these records are all for the same person.
Ezekiel was the 9th of the 11 children of John and Catherine Tomlinson, Quakers from Radnor County, Pennsylvania. His exact birth date is recorded in the Union Army history of his Regiment.[1] His age in the 1860[2] Census is 18 and in 1870[3] is declared as 30, so the declarations vary slightly. There is an 1858 U.S. Citizenship Declaration[4] of a Seaman for Ezekiel G. Tomlinson age 17, born in Radnor County. The close dates, the initial G. (for Gaulbert, his Mother’s maiden name) and references to birthplace as Radnor County bolster the case that these records are all for the same person.
Even with a Quaker background, Ezekiel kept a tradition of other siblings and volunteered in the Union Army early. His military record shows enlistment on June 9, 1861 in the 29th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry as a Sergeant.[5] The Regiment saw early action at Harper’s Ferry and Susquehanna. The 29th was involved in several major campaigns including Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Ezekiel transferred out from the 29th as Sergeant Major to the 54th Massachusetts (Colored) Regiment as a 2nd Lieutenant on July 19, 1863, and soon after as 1st Lieutenant on August 11, 1863.
The 54th history and several campaigns were dramatized in the 1989 movie “Glory” starring Denzel Washington and Mathew Broderick. Ezekiel’s superior officer, Captain Luis Emilio wrote a detailed history[6] of the 54th in which there are several references to Ezekiel. Also in the book, Ezekiel’s brother Reuben is mentioned as supplier of food and other goods to the Regiment. The 54th Regiment is primarily renowned for the costly battle for Fort Wagner, South Carolina in July 1863. Ezekiel may have been mustered into the Regiment as a replacement officer after this battle, as most officers were casualties. Ezekiel did see action in Florida, specifically the Battle of Olustee where in February 1864 he was critically wounded and mustered out of service as disabled in June.[7]
It is
fortunate that an official photo was taken of Ezekiel, Louis Emilio and a third
officer which is in the records of the Library of Congress, Prints and
Photographs Division. It is dated October 12, 1863.
Ezekiel
settled back in Philadelphia before 1868 where he is listed as E.G. Tomlinson in a
City Directory as an “Agent”. The 1870 Census[8]
finds him married to Margaret with a son, Richard G. being 1 year old. A marriage
record has not been located, but the 1910 Census for his wife states they were
married circa 1864. The 1880[9]
Census has Margaret as Anna M. with three
children: Richard as 9, Cecelia J. As 8, and Ralph as 4 years old. Gaulbert
Tomlinson is now a “dealer in furniture”. While most genealogists accept that
Ezekiel married Anna Margaret James no marriage record has been
found. That an Anna Margaret and the three children are his family is supported
by the two censuses.
Ezekiel must
have had a difficult time adjusting to peacetime after the Civil War. He is
listed in several Philadelphia Directories up to 1883 with different
occupations including Advertising agent. The last in 1883 has an occupation as
‘Publisher’. He does use the Gaulbert middle name in many of these listings. Ezekiel’s
death certificate[10]
is dated December 7th 1885 at age 45 years with place of burial as
the Blockley Baptist Church. The actual grave site remains to be found, since
most graves were re-interned in 1924 at Mount Zion.[11]
Date of death is also recorded in the military archives, and his wife Margaret
filed for his military pension on June 21, 1887.
Based on the
association of Margaret and the children’s names, Ezekiel’s wife and two
children are traced to Oregon after his death in 1885.
EZEKIEL’S FAMILY
Anna
Margaret James, born circa 1838, is thought to be the daughter of Eli James and
Margaret Clark, both of Philadelphia. Margaret stayed in Philadelphia at least
until 1910[12] where
she was living with her daughter Cecelia and granddaughter Margaret. Cecelia
(Caroline?) is shown as widowed from her husband Charles E. Aull. But in 1920,
Ezekiel’s widow had moved to Portland and was living with her son Ralph and his
wife Mary.[13]
Margaret died May 27 1924 in Portland and her cremated remains interred at
Wilhelm’s Memorial Mausoleum, Portland.[14]
Richard
Gaulbert Tomlinson was the first born of Ezekiel and Margaret Oct 8, 1870. He
is listed in the 1880 Census, but no further records have located him, his marriage
or death. There is another Richard G. Tomlinson in Pittsburgh for that time,
but verified that it is not Ezekiel’s son. It is probable that he died young
and was buried without a good record.
Cecelia
James Tomlinson married Charles Edward Aull September 17, 1891 in Atlantic City[15]
and a daughter Margaret Mildred was born in 1893 but died the same year. However in
1897 a second girl was born also named Margaret (middle name Gaulbert). Fortunately I was
able to contact a great-granddaughter of Cecelia who related that Cecelia had
separated from Charles Aull about 1910, yet this is the same year she declares
herself as a widow in the Census. No death record or burial site for Charles
has yet been found. Curiously there is a 1916 will for Charles E. Aull which
does not mention Cecelia, but leaves the residue of his estate to his daughter
Margaret and her heirs.
Ralph, the second son, was born October 12, 1875 and living
in Portland Oregon in 1910 as a boarder but working in a sales capacity
representing building supplies. He married Mary Essie Martin on May 29, 1915 who
was born into an Oregon pioneer family. Ralph built his business into a sizable
operation specializing in insulation, asbestos and other materials. The couple
were members of several community and business associations and promoted golf
in tournaments and country clubs. His biography fills a chapter in the “History
of the Columbia River Valley” published 1928 by the S.J Clark Publishing
Company. Mary passed away in 1931 leaving Ralph but no children. Ralph
remarried in the 1930’s to Emilie Bihn from San Francisco[16].
They resided in Portland until Ralph’s death in 1948. Emilie died in 1984.
Cecelia was the only one of Ezekiel’s
three children to have continued his line (pending additional research for Richard).
Ralph had no children. Of Cecilia’s two daughters: Mildred Elizabeth (1920-2003) did not marry and enjoyed travel
as she shows up on several trans-Atlantic passenger listings; Margaret Gaynor
(1924-2006) married Francis Moore Richards in 1948 and had one boy and one girl,
the latter whom supplied some hints for this family story.
This is a story where different
generations were close. Margaret James Tomlinson and the two children, Cecilia and
Ralph, were interred together at Portland’s Wilhelm Memorial. Ralph’s first wife
is close by. Since Cecelia broke from her husband Charles at some point about
1910, they are not buried together, and his grave is unknown.
Cecelia’s daughter
Margaret Aull Wynne is buried with her husband, Thomas with her daughter,
Mildred Elizabeth Wynne in the Wynne family plot at West Laurel Hill Cemetery.[17]
The other daughter, Margaret Gaynor (and husband Francis Richards) are also in West Laurel
in a different plot.
[1]
Original data: Emilio, Luis F.. History of the Fifty-fourth regiment of
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1863-1865. Boston: Boston Book Co., 1891.
[2]
Year: 1860; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 1 Precincts 6, 7, and 9,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M653_1151; Page: 604; Image: 610; Family
History Library Film: 80515
[3]
Year: 1870; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 23 Dist 10 (2nd Enum),
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M593_1438; Page: 500A; Image: 7; Family
History Library Film: 552937
[4]
The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Proofs of
Citizenship Used to Apply for Seamen's Certificates for the Port of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1792-1917
[6] Captain Luis F. Emilio, A Brave Black Regiment. The
History of the 54th Massachusetts, 1863-1865, New Introduction by J.W.
Urwin. Da Capo Press, Cambridge, MA, 1995; paperback, 452 pages. ISBN 0-306-80623-1
[7] The
National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Compiled Military
Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the U.S. Colored
Troops, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (Colored); Microfilm Serial:
M1898; Microfilm Roll: 20
[8]
Year: 1870; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 23 Dist 10 (2nd Enum),
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M593_1438; Page: 500A; Image: 7; Family
History Library Film: 552937
[9]
Year: 1880; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1183;
Family History Film: 1255183; Page: 459A; Enumeration District: 515; Image:
0747
[10]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Death Certificates Index, 1803-1915
[11] https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=159773612
[12] Year:
1910; Census Place: Lower Merion, Montgomery, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1378;
Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 0095; FHL microfilm: 1375391
[13]
Year: 1920; Census Place: Portland, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: T625_1501; Page:
6A; Enumeration District: 103; Image: 466
[14] https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=130749746&ref=acom
[15] New
Jersey, Marriage Records, 1670-1965
[16] Year:
1940; Census Place: Portland, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: T627_3391; Page: 3A;
Enumeration District: 37-358
[17] https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=91323163
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