New Jersey Scholar Dr. James E. Johnson Studies the Lives of Black Civil War Veterans

James E. Johnson looks at a plaque placed off of Broad Street in Woodbury where the city’s African American cemetery once stood, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014. Johnson researched 10 African American Civil War soldiers and a sailor that were originally buried there. (Staff Photo by Calista Condo | South Jersey Times)

Thanks to local efforts led by the Woodbury African American Oral History Project, an historical marker honoring 11 Civil War veterans was recently unveiled in Woodbury. 

The 10 soldiers and a sailor were originally buried in the city’s Negro cemetery, established in 1832. Dozens of other black South Jerseyans, including Bishop William Dickerson of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, rested at the site now occupied by Inspira Medical Center’s parking garage. Placed along Red Bank Avenue at the site, the marker is engraved with each veteran’s name.

Below are individual profiles of these veterans whose military service helped destroy slavery.

Alexander Bailey was 21 years old when he volunteered at Camden during the final stage of the Civil War. He was born in Delaware and stood 5 feet 4 inches tall when he volunteered on March 20, 1865. In less than a month, the war ended when Lee surrendered his army to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9.

Bailey was assigned to Company A, 43rd U. S. Colored Infantry Regiment. At enlistment, the private received one third ($33.33) of a hundred dollar bounty. He received the remaining balance when discharged at Brownsville, Texas, on Oct. 20. After the war, Bailey lived in Woodbury with his wife, Ellen, and sons, John W. and Alexander Jr.

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Source: South Jersey Times