Lyman Smith was born in Schaghticoke in 1845. His parents were Seldon and Mary Smith. Mary died in October of 1849. The 1850 US Census for town listed Seldon, a carpenter, aged 37, and his children Maria, 13, and future soldier Lyman, 6, living in the family of Mallory and Martha McNorton, elderly farmers. Seldon died in 1854. The 1855 NY Census listed Lyman in the family of his aunt, Margaret Thompson, a widow, and her two young children. The 10-year-old was the same age as his cousin Frances. Margaret’s husband William, an Irish carpenter, had died sometime between 1850 and the 1855 census.
By the 1860 US Census for Schaghticoke, Lyman was living with Samuel and Catherine Harwood. Samuel was a master cooper. The relationship of the Harwoods to Lyman is not given. Tantalizingly, the family next on the census was that of William and Josephine Smith. William, 28, was a master carpenter. Was he a relative of Lyman? The next man in this book, Seymour Smith, lived with the Harwoods in 1865. I will assume that Lyman and Seymour were cousins. How interesting that both served in the Navy.
I cannot find Lyman in the Soldiers and Sailors data base of Civil War soldiers. My proof of his service is that he got a federal tombstone, which states he was in the U.S. Navy, and the 1890 Veterans census, where his widow stated he had served on the “Princeton” from 1864-1865.
“Princeton” has been used as a name for at least seven U.S. Navy ships, up to today. The “Princeton” at the time of the Civil War was a steam ship with sails- built on the clipper ship model in Boston in 1851. As it was an antiquated design by the time of the war, it was berthed as a receiving ship in Philadelphia. Newly recruited sailors reported to receiving ships, which served as training ships and dormitories. When trained, they were sent to ships in various theaters of operation. Apparently Lyman was posted to serve on the receiving ship. The roster of men on the “Princeton” is not included in the Soldiers and Sailors database.
After the war, Lyman came back to Troy. The 1870 US Census listed him living in a boarding house there and working as a machinist. By the 1880 US Census, he was 35, a flagman on the railroad. He was married to “Ida”, 25, and they had a son named Edwin, 9. Lyman died in 1890, aged just 45, and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
As I said above, his widow, now called Inez, reported his service to the 1890 Veterans Schedule. This is odd, as she is buried in the same Elmwood plot as Lyman, with a death date of 1887- that must really be 1897. Also in the plot are Lyman’s parents, a brother Lewis who died aged 4 days in 1844, and their son Edwin, born in 1871, died in 1891. Also oddly, widow “Emma Inez” is not listed in the interment records of the cemetery, and Lyman is listed as “unmarried.” This history reminds us that any records can be in error.
very faint Lyman Smith tombstone at Elmwood Cemetery
History of the Town of Schaghticoke 