Description
William Reese is listed on line 24 as having been a Private in the 83rd U. S. Colored Troops Infantry, Company C. Dates of enlistment, discharge, and length of service not recorded. Living in Weston, Missouri, and no disability noted. Easter (Esther) Reese is listed as the widow of William Reese.
(Researcher's note: Reese's service file indicates that when he enlisted he was 38 years old, 5 foot 7 inches tall, a dark complexion, brown eyes, and black hair. He had been born in Virginia and was a farmer. He enlisted in Leavenworth, Kansas, on September 23, 1863, for 3 years. He was mustered into the 2nd Regiment Kansas Colored Infantry, Company I (which later became the 83rd U.S.C.T. Infantry) on October 17 1863, at Fort Scott, Kansas. Reese died of "remittent fever" in the Regimental Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 8, 1865, and was formally mustered out in Camden, Arkansas, on October 9, 1865.
On November 7, 1866, Nancy Reese of Platte County, Missouri, signed claim for compensation #291 for enlisted slave William Reese and swore an oath of allegiance before Weston, Missouri, Court of Common Pleas Clerk William F. Yocum.
Reese claimed she had acquired title by “…that she owned and raised the said William Reese from infancy as a slave and owned him up to the time of his enlistment as aforesaid.” See Slave Compensation Claim Entry #SCC.0049.)Date(s) of Creation
6/1/1890
