Samuel B. Humphries, Company K

Samuel and his brother Frederick Humphries enlisted in Company K on the same day. Frederick did not come home. Sam’s Compiled Military Service Record (not included here) reported that he “guarded cattle on the James River.” After the war, Samuel acquired several properties in Norfolk. His widow and siblings divided the value of his estate when he died.

Invalid — 653, 349 / 489,730
Widow — 852,930 / 630,872, Virginia Humphries

Marriage License [copy], Samuel B. Humphries & Virginia White, 6 November 1877
Husband’s and wife’s ages, 32 and 24; Husband’s and wife’s birthplaces, Currituck Co, NC and Princess Anne Co., Va.; Husband’s and wife’s residence. Norfolk; Husband’s and wife’s parents, Sampson and Margaret Humphries and China White; husband’s occupation, drayman

 

Death Certificate [copy], Sampson Humphries, [date?]
85 years old, born Currituck Co., NC, parents were Margaret & Thomas Humphries, worked as wood-sawyer, died at 42 Moseley St, Norfolk; informant was Nap Rainey, Undertaker; pneumonia and old age; buried at Calvary Cemetery, Norfolk, on April 6th, 1881

 

Questionnaire, Samuel Humphries, 4 June 1898
[married] Yes, Jennie Humphries – Jennie White
[when, where, by whom] Oct 1877, Norfolk, Va., Rev. Lewis Tucker
[record] Marriage Register, Norfolk City Clerk’s Office
[previously married] No
[living children] None

 

Transcript from the Record of Deaths in the City of Norfolk, Health Department, Norfolk, Va., 11 July 1906
Samuel B. Humphries died May 11th, 1906. Colored, male, married, laborer. Born in Virginia. Lived in Norfolk for 40 years. Died of nephritis and advanced age. Died at 72 Mosely St., Norfolk, Va. Sick for 16 days. Buried at Calvary Cemetery, Norfolk, Va. Medical attendant was P.L. Barber, MD. Undertaker was Jas. W. Jones.

 

General Affidavit, W.W. Dey, Commissioner of Revenue, July 1906
The soldier owned several properties: 72 Moseley St, assessed at $550.00, 42 Pulaski St, assessed at $450.00; 36 Pulaski St, assessed at $900.00; vacant lot at Pulaski St, assessed at $390.00.

 

Declaration for Widow’s Pension, 24 July 1906
“The said soldier died May 11th, 1906, from results of heart disease.”

 

General Affidavit, Phillip Cornick, 24 July 1906
63 years old, residence 296 Princess Anne Ave., Norfolk, Va. … “He has been acquainted with the claimant ever since she was a girl; that when he came back from the army in 1866 she was a girl of 12 or 13 years of age and lived three or four doors from him; that he has known her ever since then intimately; that she was never married before she married Sam Humphries; that they were never divorced or separated but lived together as man and wife until he died. That she has not re-married since his death; that he knew Sam for about five years before his marriage and he was not married then and to the best of his knowledge and belief he had not been previously married.

“That he knows that claimant has some interest in some property that Sam left on Mosely St. and Pulaski St. but he does not know the value of it; that no one is legally bound to support her and she is dependent upon her manual labor for a support.”

 

General Affidavit, Virginia Humphries, 24 July 1906
53 years old, residence 72 Mosely St., Norfolk, Va. … “That she was married to her husband on Nov. 6th, 1877… That her husband had no life insurance. That her husband left no will but died seized and possessed of two pieces of real estate, one the small house where she lives on Mosely St., and a house and lot on Pulaski St. That by an agreement with his heirs she was allowed to retain the house in which she lives valued at about $500 or $600, and has a half interest in the other house which rents for $10 per month, of which she receives $5. That she has no other income, no stocks, bonds nor investments; no one is legally bound to support her and she is dependent upon her manual labor for a support, except for the $5 per month out of which she has to pay her share of the taxes, insurance, and repairs.

“That she believes her husband died from heart disease for which he was pensioned. That he had been ailing for about two weeks but was not confined to his bed. That he was taken suddenly ill with an attack of shortness of breath on Thursday night and died Friday afternoon.”

 

General Affidavit, Patsey Williams, 24 July 1906
66 years old, residence 36 Pulaski St., Norfolk, Va. … “That she is a sister of Samuel B. Humphries and has known him all his life. … That Sam left no children living and his heirs were herself, her sister Margaret and his wife, and they divided his property by an agreement; the wife got the house 72 Moseley St and a half interest in the house 42 Pulaski St. which rents for $10 per month, affiant got the house in which she lives No. 36 Pulaski St., and her sister Margaret got the other half interest in the house 42 Pulaski St. That Sam left no other property than that mentioned except a vacant lot which they are trying to sell, no personal property, except a small lot of household furniture, no stocks, bonds nor investments and claimant has nothing except the house in which she lives.”

 

General Affidavit, Tamer Portlock, 30 July 1906
100 years old, residence 68 Lincoln St., Norfolk, Va. …“That she was well and intimately acquainted with Samuel B. Humphries, the late husband of the plaintiff, having known him since he was a child, they having belonged at one time to the same family; that from such long and intimate acquaintance she knows that said Samuel B. Humphries was never married prior to his marriage to the plaintiff.

 

General Affidavit, Phillip Cornick & Francis Keeling, 7 February 1907
[Cornick] 64 years old, residence 296 Princess Anne Ave., Norfolk and [Keeling] 40 years old, residence 257 Goff St., Norfolk, respectively … “[The couple] married in Phillip Cornick’s house and that Francis Keeling lived upstairs in the same house; that they were well acquainted with them until the time of the death of Samuel B. Humphries.”