SAMUEL JOHN CALLIS
Samuel John Callis was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, likely in the Birmingham workhouse, on Jan 11, 1860. His parents are Louisa Fitchett Hamilton and Samuel John Callis. Baby Samuel never appears in any census with his father, and his parents are believed to have been unmarried. At the British census taken in April of 1861, little baby Samuel and his mother are living in a lodging house in Witney, Oxfordshire, where mother Louisa is a hawker (street vendor.) At the census of 1871, we believe the boy to be in the Oxford workhouse with sister Agnes. The census form is torn and can’t be clearly read, but eight-year-old Agnes Callis’ name is clear. The children seem to have been abandoned at the workhouse by their mother Louisa, who is still alive. At the age of 21, Samuel Callis is a soldier in the 26th Brigade Regimental Depot at the Normanton Barracks according to the 1881 census. He is a Private in the Army Hospital Corps.
Just one year later, Samuel John is a Private in the Army Hospital Corps in the conflict then referred to as the Second Egyptian War, now called the Anglo-Egyptian War. Samuel is stationed on the hospital shipCarthage. Samuel was awarded a medal for his service, likely the Egypt Medal of 1882, which depicts Queen Victoria on one side and the Sphinx with “Egypt” and “1882” on the other.
Samuel John acquires an additional name while a young man. Records throughout the remainder of his life often find him styled as Samuel J. P. Callis, or S. J. P. Callis. The ‘P’ name is not on his record of birth. He declares later in life that he emigrated from Englandon the ship ‘Sardinian’ in 1888. I located a passenger list record for an S. Callis who sailed from Liverpool,England on the Sardinian, arriving in Quebec,Canada May 30, 1888. One way or another Samuel makes his way across the border into the United States.
Our first official record of Samuel in the United States is when he enlists in the U.S. Army at Buffalo,NY on Oct. 26, 1888. The enlistment record gives his birthplace as Birmingham,England. His age is recorded as 26, although he was actually 28. His height is 5’ 6 ¾”. He has brown eyes, dark hair, and a dark complexion. Samuel’s regiment is the Hospital Corps. During his service he is stationed at Fort Brown,Texas,Fort Clark,Texas,Fort Bliss,Texas, and Fort Mackinac,Michigan. At some time during his military career Samuel suffers from pulmonary tuberculosis, an infectious bacterial disease of the lungs that took down so many of our ancestors, and would take his own sister in 1895. Upon discharge from the army on Mar 21, 1891, Samuel’s character is described as ‘excellent’.
The regular pattern of Samuel’s professional military career seems to be one of enlisting, performing his period of service, being discharged, then re-enlisting at some point. Samuel’s first re- is on June 27, 1898 at New York City. It appears from a pension record of July 16, 1902 that some illness befell him. He has been placed in the category ‘Invalid.’
Whatever illness Samuel suffered during his last term, he was up for another enlistment onJune 26, 1899 at New York. The record puts Samuel’s age at 39 years and 5 months, which exactly corresponds with his birth record. He is again in the hospital corps. It seems that Samuel signed up for service in the Spanish-American war, a conflict that began in 1898. This is stated on a pension document from c1911 and from a record of his Military History when he entered a soldier’s home. After three years Samuel is discharged on June 23, 1902 with a character described as excellent.
The United States census for 1900 includes Samuel in its ‘Military and Naval Population.’ His military residence is Battery M Second Artillery,Washington,DC. The station is the General Hospital,
which would later be named Walter Reed Hospital. Occupation is Act. Hosp. Steward (Acting Hospital Steward.) His home address is given as 299 N Division St,Buffalo NY. Samuel’s race is that of White,
and he is listed as a widower. He says he has been in theUS since 1888, and is a naturalized citizen.
A publication from the US National Archives titled Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans indicates Samuel J. P. Callis completed a pension application for his service in the US Army. The application states he is a Private in the 71st Regiment, Company C, New York Infantry.
The next re-enlistment occurs on Sept 24, 1902 in WashingtonDC. The Register says he was born in Birmingham England, is age 42, with brown eyes, dark brown hair, a dark complexion, and is 5’ 7” tall. He is in the Hospital Corps. He completes his service and is discharged on Sept 23, 1905 from the Presidio in San Francisco,California. The Presidio is now a park and veteran’s cemetery but at one time was a Spanish fort. It was seized by the US during the Mexican-American war and became home to several army headquarters and units. Samuel may have worked at the Letterman Army Hospital at the Presidio. Samuel’s character at time of discharge was once again described as excellent.
There is another re-enlistment in the hospital corps for our career soldier great-great-uncle on Oct 11, 1905 at San Francisco. There are the usual remarks regarding physical appearance and birthplace. Samuel appears to have been stationed at the Presidio at the time of one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States, the San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906. If he were, he would have experienced some of the most intense shaking of the devastating, deadly quake. Civilians were admitted to Letterman Army Hospital in the aftermath of the earthquake and subsequent great fire. Medical officers
from the Presidio took charge of sanitation in the post-quake refugee camps built in city parks and on the Presidio. Samuel is discharged atSan Francisco onOct 21, 1907, with an excellent character.
After a few weeks Samuel is back in the army. He is now age 47, and signs up at San Francisco on Dec 11, 1907. In Jan 1910 there is a record for him at the US Army and Navy General Hospital in Hot Springs,Arkansas. He is discharged on Dec 10, 1910 at Walter Reed General Hospital,WashingtonDC with an excellent character.
The final re-enlistment I found for Samuel was on Dec 11, 1910, just one day after he was discharged from his last period of service. Samuel is 50 years 11 months old, which correlates perfectly to the birth record we have for him. He signed up for the hospital corps at Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington. In December of 1910, Feb and July of 1911 he is located at USAGeneralHospital,Fort Bayard,New Mexico. Samuel was discharged early from FortBayard due to disability, onJuly 2, 1911. He is described as ‘honest and faithful,’ with an excellent character.
The 1911 document showing Samuel’s Military History gives his height, hair colour, etc., and his religion, which is noted as ‘Prot.’ His occupation is ‘Clerk.’ His birthplace is England. His residence subsequent to discharge is WashingtonD.C. Besides the tuberculosis Samuel has also suffered from chronic malaria. His rate of pension is $30, but it does not give the frequency.
In an intrepid move, Samuel applies for a passport just three days after the sinking of the Titanic. The application is dated April 18, 1912. He has lived in the United States uninterruptedly for 24 years at ‘U.S. Army.’ He became a naturalized citizen before the Superior Court of San Francisco on May 23, 1905. He says his permanent residence is WashingtonDC where he follows the occupation of Soldier. Samuel, 52, takes an Oath of Allegiance for the passport and signs his name in a clear hand. The physical description given is of a man with brown eyes, prominent nose, square chin, dark hair and complexion, long oval face, and a moustache.
I did not find Samuel on a passenger list sailing for England, but I did find him on one for the return trip from England back to the US. The return trip occurs on Aug 24, 1912, so he would have spent under four months out of the US. Samuel sails from Liverpool back to North America on the Cunard steamer SS Campania. The manifest says he is a 52 year old Pensioner whose last residence was WashingtonDC. It lists his ‘Race or People’ to be Welsh. This is the first I heard of any of our Callis ancestors being Welsh, but when I was researching them I often came up with a 16C Welsh pirate named John Callis. In an astounding coincidence, our own grandmother sailed for Canada from the port of Liverpool just one day earlier, on Aug 23, 1912. Uncle and niece possibly passed each other in the street, unknown to one another.
Samuel is not long back in America when he enters one of the US National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Johnson City,Tennessee. He is admitted on Nov 02, 1912 and is discharged on Apr 25, 1913. There is no information on the particular ailment.
Although the date is unknown to us, Samuel J. P. Callis sets sail back toEngland. Perhaps he knew his time was drawing to a close, and wanted to return to the country of his birth. Samuel passes away at the age of 54 at 1 Park Terrace, Victoria Park, Newbury, Berkshire, on May 04, 1914. His occupation is listed as an American Army Pensioner. The cause of death is phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis) and tubercular meningitis. Present at the death is his aunt, ‘A.A.Lake.’ A.A.Lakeis the former Alice Hamilton, youngest sibling of our great-great-grandmother Louisa Hamilton. The probate record as well reveals Samuel’s mysterious ‘P’ name: Portlock. Samuel leaves his estate to his aunt Alice Lake, which amounts to 72£ 17s. 11d. (72 pounds, 17 shillings, 11 pence.) This was a handsome sum at the time; a year’s income to many. The bequest invites one to conclude that Samuel had no children. Samuel appears to have been an adventurous man dedicated to his station in life; a man able to overcome his meagre, fatherless infancy in the streets and his mother’s abandonment of him to the workhouse.
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