Private Robert Stokes

Pvt. Robert Stokes

Robert Stokes was born between 1821 and 1823 in Franklin County, Virginia, and enlisted in the Union Army on January 18, 1865, in Smithfield, Kentucky, during the final year of the Civil War. He served 10 months. Stokes was about 42 years old at the time of his enlistment, standing 5'8" tall, and was described as having a black complexion, black eyes, and black hair. He was a farmer his entire life and he lived to be nearly 100 years old.

Stokes was born into bondage and enslaved by Anthony Street in Franklin County. Street owned 25 enslaved people in 1830, just before his death in 1832. After his death, Robert moved to Kentucky as property of Street’s daughter, Mary Elizabeth (Street) Cook and her husband John W. Cook. Stokes said he was still a small boy at this time. He was likely around 9 or 10 years old.

Dr. William Stokes married Sarah Montford Cook, Mary and John’s daughter, which is how Robert came to be enslaved at Dr. Stoke’s farm in an area called Long Pond about 10 miles outside Princeton, Kentucky. Dr. Stokes owned 19 people according to the 1860 Slave Schedule.

Robert Stokes was a member of the 13th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, Company B, a regiment organized at Camp Nelson, Kentucky—a significant training center for African American troops during the war. His service was primarily focused on garrison duty, stationed at Camp Nelson, Smithland, and Lexington, Kentucky. These duties often involved the defense of forts, supply depots, and key strategic locations. Like Enos Stokes, a young man Robert raised, he was stationed at Smithland before moving to Caseyville and on to Camp Nelson. He was discharged on November 18, 1865, in Louisville, Kentucky.

During his service, Robert began experiencing rheumatism and heart trouble, which would cause him to pass out. He describes this ailment as a “smothering and fluttering of the heart and unconsciousness.” Near Caseyville in April 1865, Robert had a bad fainting spell and fell into a river unconscious, was rescued by his comrades, and remained unconscious for an hour and a half. Robert attended sick calls (a daily gathering of service members who need medical care) after this incident and was never put back on regular duty. He was instead assigned to help the cook. Corporal William Cantrall corroborated this incident of Stokes’ illness as one of many:

“I picked him up several times when he fell... He fell once during our army service in the water with one of those spells and if I hadn’t gotten him out of the water he would have drowned in the Branch.” Cantrall said Robert’s “smothering spells” have gotten worse with age. John Mallery, another comrade from the 13th USCT Company B, lived near Robert after the war and they attended the same church: “Sometimes he can’t get along when he has one of those spells. He was at church yesterday and took one of those smothering spells and had to be carried to the nearest house.”

Robert was approved for a $12 pension in 1891. His monthly rate was increased to $20 in 1908, $22.50 in 1913, and $32 in 1915.

After the war, Robert returned to Princeton, Kentucky, and to his wife, Kassiah (also spelled Kiziah and Kisiah). Robert and Kassiah had been together for a long time. In interviews for a pension application, a special examiner recorded Robert’s wife’s maiden name as Street. Her son Munford reported her maiden name as Cook on her death certificate, suggesting she and Robert may have traveled together from Franklin County, Virginia, as children, and she had gone by the name of their former enslavers at one time.

In the 1910 U.S. Census, Kassiah and Robert lived together in their son Munford’s household. Munford was also a farmer. Robert was 92 and Kassiah was 72. The census reports that Kassiah had given birth to 13 children, 4 of whom were living in 1914. Some of their children were Martha (1854), Bella (1857), Munford (1861-1942), Della (1869), Susie (1872-1949), and Annie (1877).

The 1910 Census also states that Robert and Kassiah had been married for 65 years, which suggested they may have created familial bonds when young while being inherited as property across three generations of enslavers.

Kassiah Stokes died of dysentery on September 22, 1914. Her death certificate stated she was 82 years-old and born in 1832, making her a bit older than reported on earlier censuses. A letter in Robert’s pension file dated Jan 9, 1915, indicated he was approved for his last pension increase because he “has been adjudged insane,” and L.B. Banks, of Princeton, Kentucky, was appointed his guardian. Robert died on August 7, 1917, and his age was noted as “about 100.”

Robert and Kassiah are both buried in Grooms Cemetery, also known as Grooms Chapel Cemetery, in Caldwell County, Kentucky.

Contributors: Sarah Plummer, Macie Alford and Toni Smith