The close of 1864 found Edward T. Sandford in Waterville, Maine, about 40 miles north of his home town of Topsham, serving as a Provost Marshall, tending to local military matters and recovering from being wounded in Virginia.

The war was coming to an end, and President Lincoln was looking ahead to rebuilding the country. He and/or his Secretary of State William Seward noticed Edward and named him to the post of United Status Consul to CheeFoo China. His Civil War service record combined with his maritime experience and previous trip to China must have made him an ideal candidate in a time when men to fill any position were in short supply.

Lincoln nominated Sandford to the post on February 27, 1865, signing a simple statement on note paper, written-out by an aide.

Sandford’s nomination quickly moved through the United States Senate where perhaps there was some institutional memory of Senator Nathan Sanford from New York, who had retired 34 years earlier, a subject for a future post. Although Nathan had adopted a different spelling of the last name, Edward was his cousin (several times removed). The nomination moved quickly through the Senate, being confirmed within a week.

Lincoln’s formal letter appointing Edward to the post is dated March 3, 1865. The framed original of this letter used to hang in the home office of our grandfather Joe in Ontario, California.

The National Archives annex in College Park Maryland has records of Edward’s foreign service correspondence saved on microfilm. Most of the correspondence is addressed to Secretary of State William Seward.

A log of the correspondence (I believe this is an actual Government log from the 1860s, not something created later by an archivist) records over 50 entries (there are a few clerical mistakes in the numbering system so a few of the log entry numbers are used more than once) between March 11, 1865 and July 31, 1869. Separate columns record the date the correspondence was sent and the date it was received in Washington–for correspondence originating in China, these dates can be several months apart.

United States government interaction with China was in its infancy. From earlier parts of the log, it is clear that Edward was only the second person to be assigned to this particular post. 

Edward seems to get off to a shaky start with his new job–His nomination and appointment seem to take him off-guard, and it is not clear how he first learned of it. In his first letter, dated March 11, 1865 he proclaims to Seward, referring to CheeFoo, “I think that there is a mistake as I do not know of any such place.”  Even though he has already had a lifetime of experiences, Edward is only 24 years old at this time.  Seward, in his 60’s, if he ever saw this letter, must have rolled his eyes and turned to an aide and asked him to get this kid straightened out.

There is a series of letters in March dealing with administrative affairs, then on April 7 Edward sends a letter of resignation due to an illness in his family. He seems to regret this decision almost immediately–the same day he sends a telegram to Seward asking him to ignore the resignation. This is quickly followed by other awkward letters where he provides status of his trip back to his home in Warren to check on the situation with the illness, in each letter he has to reiterate his previous communications rescinding his resignation.

It is not clear who the family illness referred to. His wife, Sarah, was sick much of her later life, but this would be the earliest reference to her being ill, if it was her. Edward’s mother had died a in 1847 and his father would live to 1898.

Somehow Edward got his affairs in order quickly. In an April 10 letter he states that his possessions are loaded on a ship that is preparing to sail.

Lincoln was assassinated April 15, so Edward must have sailed just a few days before and received the news at a port along the way. Based on information from Edward’s previous trip to China, I assume he took the route around South America (the Suez Canal would not open until 1869), so there would have been ports along the U.S. east cost.   I found no correspondence that spoke of the assassination.  It seems that the norm of the time was that people stayed in their Government posts across administrations, more than would be the case today—both Edward and Seward stayed on the job under the new president Andrew Johnson.

The next correspondence from Edward is dated September 13, 1865 (received in Washington March 9 of the following year) and announces his arrival and start of duties in CheeFoo.  His handwriting is much improved in this short letter, so it may have dawned on him somewhere along the way that he was now in the big leagues. Edward’s handwriting slopes to the left, and can be difficult to decipher.

As Consul, Edward had a set of determined duties. Much of his correspondence over his tenure consisted of routine filings of required reports. Much of his initial correspondence, back in March 1865, dealt with him getting the instructions and sets of forms (referred to as ‘blanks’) needed to carry out his duties.

Edward’s submission of his annual report for the fourth quarter of 1866, submitted on January 1, 1867 provides examples of his day-to-day duties.

Not all of Edward’s duties in CheeFoo were dull and routine. We will continue the stories of Edward’s adventures in China in a future post.

After publishing the previous entry on this subject, I rediscovered an item that Claire and I found last summer in the Ontario Model Colony History Room, a page of handwritten notes which it appears to be notes taken by grandfather Joe for one of the speeches he liked to give about his father. A notation at the bottom 2/20 Rotary suggests a Rotary Club meeting speech.

The notes in the first paragraph point to a reference The Annals of Warren, in Knox County, Maine, by Cyrus Eaton, published in 1877, which was easy to find online as a digitized book.

The book is an exhaustive history of the town of Warren Maine, combining many historical sources down to the level of decades of records of detailed town council meetings. There is enough detail to keep a local historian busy for years. Since Edward spent relatively little time in Warren, I’ll leave that task to others. But the book does contain a few pages of references to Edward and other Sandford ancestors. Since the book was published in 1877, it can be viewed as a reliable source for details on things that were, at the time, relatively recent history.

Eaton confirms our Sandford (with the customary misspelling) ancestry as we previously understood it back through Topsham and Portland. He also affirms that the Sandfords came from Long Island, although he sheds no new light on the mystery of Captain Thomas Sandford’s father from Long Island.

I searched in the Willis book, which I already knew from my research, for the odd line about the fashionable women in Captain Thomas Sandford’s family contributing to Portland’s international reputation. I could not find it, so perhaps there is another Willis edition or Eaton confused it with another reference.

Eaton provides new detail on Edward Sandford’s maritime adventures prior to the Civil war. Edward’s first sea voyage began in 1859 when he was 18 years old. His uncle’s ship was named the Red Gauntlet. To return to America he sighed-on with the U.S.S. John Adams as a Master’s Mate in 1860, joining the ship in Siam, returning to America in early 1862. Edward then had about a year to get his affairs in order, marry Sarah Spear, and enlist in the army.

Both ships have interesting stories. The Red Gauntlet was built in Richmond, Maine and commissioned in 1853. There have been several ships by that name, which came from an 1824 novel by Sir Walter Scott entitled Redgauntlet. The ship had been to China prior to Edward’s voyage–a manuscript written by voyage’s Ship’s Carpenter describes the tribulations of that voyage, summarized here in an online sale notice of a rare manuscripts seller.

Journal of the Clipper Ship Red Gauntlet, Andrews, Master. Kept by Ship’s Carpenter William F. Harden. August 18, 1855 – December 14, 1856. New York, San Francisco, Sandwich Islands, Canton, Philippines, St. Helena.

Manuscript. Small 4to, Unpaginated. (167) pages of manuscript entries. Price: $5500

This is a remarkable journal, documenting the murder of an American seaman by a gang of Chinese in Canton. It was kept by ship’s carpenter William F. Harden of Chelsea, Mass. Journals kept by men before the mast are scarce, and tend to have a different perspective on events than journals and logs kept by officers. Such is the case with this manuscript. For example, as they were fighting their way around Cape Horn, Harden wrote, “A Ghost was seen last night twixt the hours of 11 & 12… in the shape of a man sitting on the rail.” The “Red Gauntlet” was a 1038 ton clipper ship built in Maine and launched in 1853. She was active until 1863, when she was captured and burned by the Confederate raider “Florida.” This was her second voyage. She departed New York for San Francisco, Hawaii, and Canton in August 18. In November, 1855, the ship nearly sank rounding the Horn, and had to put into Valparaiso for repairs. On their departure they discovered that a boy had stowed away in a bag of potatoes. It was a mostly happy ship, with occasional notations of “splicing the main brace” and such amusements as “A lecture on Woman’s Rights was delivered at the booby hatch… by Miss Jemima Snowflake.” Or, later in their voyage, on an evening when they were caught in a dead calm under a full moon, a boat was lowered. “Captain & Lady and two gentlemen passengers took a pull around the ship to look at her. When they returned, all hands had something to drink just for the fun of the thing.” King Neptune put in the obligatory visit when they crossed the line, and occasional sing-alongs were held. They reached San Francisco at the end of February, 1856 and promptly got stuck in a mud bank off Broadway Wharf. “Went with Johnny Loring to Rowe’s Cricus, which was a beautiful entertainment.” (Much detail about people and activities in San Francisco and Vallejo ensues.) They took on cargo for the Sandwich Islands and reached “Owyhee” on April 16, 1856. There they tied up at Market St. Wharf and Harden and his shipmates went on liberty in Honolulu. Predictably, 5 men deserted. A bounty of $25 was placed on each. Another man swam ashore. The 2nd and 3rd mates “assaulted” one of the crewmen and were discharged from the ship. (It is unlikely that an official account would have been as straightforward.) Similarly, at Canton, where they took on a cargo of tea and silk, Harden gave detailed and factual reports documenting the tensions that existed between foreign traders and the Chinese. On June 12 “a boat came alongside with 4 Chinamen to sell liquor.” They were put in irons and the liquor was confiscated. On June 14 the Chinese longshormen went on strike because of “hard usage.” On August 2 another “Chinaman” was severely beaten and thrown overboard. Four days after that the 3rd mate was set upon by a gang of 200 Chinese and severely beaten, barely escaping with his life. Two months later, at sea, the mate, George F. Wellman died. This potential international scandal was never reported or acted upon, but by this time American naval forces and marines had come into Canton to protect American interests. Harden’s journal goes on in this vein, reporting in considerable detail events on board and adventures ashore in the various ports at which the “Red Gauntlet” put in. In Canton a schooner was launched from “Mr. Cooper’s yard.” A ship’s boy named Bill was found guilty of stealing, given a dozen lashes, and sent off the ship to fend for himself. The Captain’s youngest son got sick and died. The old cook served rotten food. He was forced to eat it, was given 12 lashes, and subsequently was beaten by the Captain for minor offenses. He died a month later, and his possessions were sold at auction to the crew. In November 1856, after leaving St. Helena on the final leg of their circumnavigation, two ship’s boys, Mike and Harry, were made to have a “Prize Fight” for the amusement of the crew. The bout was called a draw after 35 minutes. Harden’s journal ends on December 14, in the mid-Atlantic, as the “Red Gauntlet” approached North America. The journal is bound in fabric over marbled boards. End sheets contain miscellaneous notes regarding money loaned and owed, items purchased, and the names of crewmen and several officers. The writing is clean and legible throughout.

Description of manuscript written by Ship’s Carpenter William harden, 1855 on the Red Gauntlet on its voyage to China prior to that of Edward Sandford. Manuscript sale notice by the Ten Pound Island Book Company.

It seems likely that the ship’s next voyage would have had its own set of adventures and tribulations. At the very least, Edward heard a lot of stories about the ship on his subsequent voyage to China.

Note that this manuscript answers the question about which route Edward would have taken to China–most likely around Cape Horn of South America, following the route taken by the ship on its previous voyage.

The U.S.S. John Adams, Edward’s transportation back to America, has an important history. Commissioned in 1799, it fought in numerous wars including the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War. Historical documentation of it’s 1860-1862 voyage from Siam to New York is consistent with Edward’s story. It was later in the Civil War that Harriet Tubman led a convoy of ships led by the John Adams on the famous raid into South Carolina that freed over 750 slaves.

We see also from Eaton’s book that Edward originally joined the Civil War as a private but was promoted to Captain about the time he transferred to the District of Columbia Cavalry. Somewhere along the line he must have quickly convinced someone that he was worthy of the higher rank.

Regarding Sarah Spear, Edward’s first wife, Eaton devotes six pages to the Spear family. Sarah was from a five generation Warren family, originally from Scotland and Londonderry Ireland. Her ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

Information in Eaton’s book on the later phases of Edward’s life will be incorporated into future posts.

One final note. Edward Sandford had a twin brother, James Head Sandford (named after their father; not to be confused with Edward and James’ younger half brother George who established a Sandford family branch in southern California parallel to that of Edward.) Eaton shows James in the Army, “early” ( in the war or early in his life or both) defending Washington. The two battles of Manassas (1861 and 1862), near Washington, suit this description, but I have no other evidence to support this theory. James’ early entry into the war might have been additional motivation for Edward to rush home to get involved.

Eaton does not mention it, which suggests that perhaps the family (who would have been Eaton’s primary source) did not know about it, but there is a record of James’ enlistment in the Navy in Brooklyn in 1864.

Aside from this, the modern record is in agreement with Eaton that James was not heard from after the War.

Great grandfather Edward Thomas Sandford was 20 years old, at sea near China, when the Civil War broke out.  We continue to follow his story as told by his son, our grandfather Joe Sandford, in his 1966 talk to the First Baptist Church of Corona, CA, where Edward would later preach.

His Uncle Thomas Sandford owned a fleet of Clipper Ships that sailed the Seven Seas.The opening of the Civil War in the United States found father in Chinese waters on one of these ships serving as First Officer. He was anxious to share a part in this War and became an officer on one of our Naval ships serving for one year.

Since the 1820 Missouri compromise, which resulted in statehood for Maine and Missouri on opposite sides of the slavery debate, Maine has always been proud of its anti-slavery roots. Edward would have been raised in this environment, and this may help explain his enthusiasm for joining the war.

The specific details of Edward’s return to America are unknown. He must have struck some sort of deal in a distant port to leave his uncle’s merchant ship and return serving on a Navy ship that was heading in the right direction. China was about as far from Maine as it was possible to go in 1861–from the far Pacific the trip would have taken the better part of a year, sailing either around Africa or South America.

By early 1863 Edward was back in Maine, and on March 12 at age 22 he married Sarah Spear of Warren, Maine. Sarah was 21 years old, the daughter of a farmer, the third of four children. Warren is 40 miles northeast of Topsham. Since 1851, the railroad had connected Topsham with Warren and other cities between Portland and Augusta. It seems likely, but is not clear, that Edward knew Sarah before his long first voyage to China.

It was June 1863 before Edward was able to enlist in the Army, doing so in Augusta Maine at the age of 22. Edward’s enlistment papers list Warren as his place of residence.

Returning to Maine he became Captain of the First Maine Cavalry.  Soon his Regiment was transferred to Washington, D. C. and became the First District of Columbia Cavalry.

Edward and his command were ordered from Washington, DC to Norfolk, Virginia on April 6, 1864.

I believe the “Camp Baker” cited in the letter is really Camp Barker, located in Northeast Washington DC near what today is the trendy U Street neighborhood. The camp was originally build to house Union soldiers but later in the war was converted to house escaped and freed slaves, giving root to one of Washington’s most historic original black neighborhoods. Howard University, founded in 1867, is a few blocks away. Today, a monument to the camp stands at the entrance to the playground of nearby Garrison Elementary School.

He saw much action to the South of the Capitol (sic).  We have many letters that he wrote to his wife from the battle fields and they are very personal, historic and valuable.

These letters remain the biggest missing piece in the puzzle of the Civil War story of Edward Sandford. I have no idea if they still exist–even a copy of the letters would indeed be valuable and it would be wonderful to find them. They would probably shed light on the specific actions undertaken by Edward and his command upon reaching Virginia.

By May, 1864 Edward was in Fort Monroe, Virginia, near Norfolk. Norfolk is about 50 miles from Richmond, and there were several battles around Richmond in May–in New Market, Drewry’s Bluff, and the North Anna River.

His regiment was one of the first to use the repeating rifle.  His men could fire sixteen times without reloading and his writings state that, ‘The Rebs could not understand how this was possible’.

His first hear (? sic) wound was through his coat sleeve and in letter informing his wife of the experience he mentions a fellow townsman that was yellow on the field of battle.

Another indication that Edward faced reckoning with fellow soldiers who struggled in the face of battle comes in this May 23 communication, ordering Edward back from his unit to serve on Court Martial duty…

During the Spring of 1864 his Regiment was active on the Wilson Raids into the South.  On one of these two week Raids they were successful in getting through the Reb Lines and rode day and night as far South as Weldon, N. C. destroying telegraph lines, depots, bridges and rail equipment.

The Wilson Raids reference does not seem completely accurate from today’s point of view. It specifically refer to actions taking place a little farther south (Georgia and Alabama). It seems that the term “Wilson Raids” has been generalized a bit to encompass a number of actions pushing toward Atlanta, and that Edward’s involvement fits within this larger context. The burning of Atlanta took place in July 1864, perhaps 4-6 weeks after Edward’s role in the war came to an abrupt end.

They found ample food in the South and he wrote his wife that she must not believe the news reports that the South was short of such.

Returning to their base camp in the North he was shot through the groin and felled from his mount.  This at Reams Station, Va.

Edward’s serious wound must have taken place around mid June. The routine muster records narrow this down to May and June, and the timing of his service on the court martial would eliminate most of the month of May.

Upon regaining consciousness he crawled through the field, was able to join his Regiment.  An order was received that they flee leaving all sick and wounded on the field.  He ordered a horse and was assisted thereon and rode ‘Ten miles through swamps, jumping fences and reached field hospital.’

In letter written by the Christian Commissioner he states that ‘Dr. Jamison has been very kind to me doing all that he can for me’.

Leaving the field hospital he was transported to City Point and then via ship to hospital in New York City.

I have no documentation of Edward’s stay at the field hospital, nor his transport to New York. The trail resumes on Davids’ Island at the end of July. Davids’ Island is located at the west end of Long Island Sound, north of City Island New York, offshore from New Rochelle. During the Civil War it was the site of a hospital and POW camp. It was later a staging area for troops going to World War I. Today it is abandoned.

By late July, Edward was apparently out of the woods in terms of his health but beyond any possibility of returning to the war, so there was a period of bureaucratic exchanges formally requesting a leave of absence which would eventually result in his return to Maine.

We should note that the type of wound Edward received in 1864 would be serious by today’s standards, even without the escape by horseback. His survival is nothing short of miraculous.

Upon recovery and while limping he was asked by the War Department to go to Waterville, Maine as Provost Marshal to straighten out a serious problem.

He accomplished this well and when completed his associates presented him with this Gold Headed Cane on Sept. 28 1864.

Joe Sandford, from his 1966 talk delivered to the First Baptist Church, Corona, CA

I believe the cane was left to Joe’s oldest grandson, Steve.

Edward was 24 years old when he returned to Maine. His son, our grandfather Joe, would not be born for another 28 years. There is much more to come in the story of Edward Sandford, including his return to China. His story will be continued in a future post.