James Pym
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Joseph and Sabina were destined to have eight children, the second eldest of which, James, was born at Southend, Garsington, on 7 November 1847. The infant was christened at the parish church of St. Mary by the Rev. James Ingram, President of Trinity College, Oxford, on 5 December; the same day that George Armstrong Custer was celebrating his eighth birthday. Nothing is known of James “Jim” Pym’s early life other than he attended school and at age 13 was working as a ploughboy, probably one of seven employed by Joseph Gale on his 420 acre farm in the same parish. | Joseph and Sabina were destined to have eight children, the second eldest of which, James, was born at Southend, Garsington, on 7 November 1847. The infant was christened at the parish church of St. Mary by the Rev. James Ingram, President of Trinity College, Oxford, on 5 December; the same day that George Armstrong Custer was celebrating his eighth birthday. Nothing is known of James “Jim” Pym’s early life other than he attended school and at age 13 was working as a ploughboy, probably one of seven employed by Joseph Gale on his 420 acre farm in the same parish. | ||
− | When he was 17, an incident that took place on 14 April 1865, just five days after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, resulting in a charge of “attempt to commit an unnatural crime with a mare”, based on the eye-witness account of John Quartermain, a 19 year-old farm labourer, and an initial confession of guilt by the defendant. Pym (under the name Pimm) duly appeared at the Court of Quarter Sessions in Oxford on Monday, 26 June 1865, and despite a plea of “All I wish to say is that I never did it,” was found guilty as charged and sentenced to a term of six months imprisonment. It is highly unlikely therefore that a disgraced Pym ever returned to live permanently in his native village. | + | When he was 17, an incident that took place on 14 [[April 1865]], just five days after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, resulting in a charge of “attempt to commit an unnatural crime with a mare”, based on the eye-witness account of John Quartermain, a 19 year-old farm labourer, and an initial confession of guilt by the defendant. Pym (under the name Pimm) duly appeared at the Court of Quarter Sessions in Oxford on Monday, 26 [[June 1865]], and despite a plea of “All I wish to say is that I never did it,” was found guilty as charged and sentenced to a term of six months imprisonment. It is highly unlikely therefore that a disgraced Pym ever returned to live permanently in his native village. |
− | + | It is possible that he was the person in a story that has been handed down through four generations of another branch of the Pym family. It tells of a James Pym calling at the home of Emanuel and Elizabeth Pym in Oakley, Buckinghamshire, a small farming village not more than 10 miles from Garsington, probably in the late 1860s. Apparently he was “dressed in funny clothes and high-heeled boots,” and left behind a reputation in the family as being a “nasty, crude piece of work.” The fact that this incident most likely took place during the late 1860s, the visitor having confessed to being “a deserter from the British Army,” and afterwards “he went away to London never to be heard of again.” If true, we can say that after release from (or instead of) prison, James joined the British Army, deserted, headed to London and eventually ended up in Boston, Massachusetts. | |
− | On enlistment Pym was described as being age 22, 5 feet 7 | + | On 11 [[December 1874]] he presented himself at the U.S. Army recruiting office in Boston. On enlistment Pym was described as being age 22, 5 feet 7, having blue eyes, light hair, and a fair complexion, previously employed as a laborer. His youthful appearance evidently deceived the recruiting officer, Lieutenant William Harper, into accepting that he was indeed five years younger than his actual age. Lying about his age may or may not add weight to the theory that he was a British Army deserter. |
− | From Boston Pym was sent to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri, where he completed his basic training on 29 January 1875 and was assigned to Company B, then stationed in Shreveport, Louisiana. He arrived at Shreveport on 10 February 1875 along with 27 other new recruits, among whom no less than ten hailed from the British Isles. Shreveport was in the District of the Red River under the command of Lewis Merrill, the Seventh | + | From Boston Pym was sent to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri, where he completed his basic training on 29 [[January 1875]] and was assigned to Company B, then stationed in Shreveport, Louisiana. He arrived at Shreveport on 10 [[February 1875]] along with 27 other new recruits, among whom no less than ten hailed from the British Isles. Shreveport was in the [[District of the Red River]] under the command of [[Lewis Merrill]], the [[Seventh Cavalry]]’s second major. Fourteen of the new recruits joined Pym in Company B, while the remaining 12 were assigned to Company G, which was garrisoned in the same city. In the absence of Captain [[William Thompson]], who was on leave, and First Lieutenant [[Thomas Custer]], who was on detached service at [[Fort Abraham Lincoln]], Second Lieutenant [[Benjamin Hodgson]] was commanding the company. The Regimental Return for [[February 1875]] shows that Company B numbered 68 enlisted men, of which two were sick, one was on leave and five under arrest or in confinement. |
− | + | The 7th Cavalry was engaged in what was known as ‘[[Reconstruction]],’ however, their time in the South proved to be relatively uneventful. | |
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On 19 April 1876 Companies B and G left Shreveport for Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory, via St. Paul, Minnesota, and arrived at Bismarck eleven days later. Again Hodgson was in command of Company B [see Appendix One] as 62 year-old Thompson had recently retired and his replacement, Captain Thomas McDougall, did not join the company until 11 May. In the meanwhile, Tom Custer, who had been promoted to the rank of captain and transferred to command Company C, was replaced by First Lieutenant William Craycroft but he, too, was absent due to being a member of a ‘Board of Officers’ charged with purchasing horses for the regiment at St. Paul. | On 19 April 1876 Companies B and G left Shreveport for Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota Territory, via St. Paul, Minnesota, and arrived at Bismarck eleven days later. Again Hodgson was in command of Company B [see Appendix One] as 62 year-old Thompson had recently retired and his replacement, Captain Thomas McDougall, did not join the company until 11 May. In the meanwhile, Tom Custer, who had been promoted to the rank of captain and transferred to command Company C, was replaced by First Lieutenant William Craycroft but he, too, was absent due to being a member of a ‘Board of Officers’ charged with purchasing horses for the regiment at St. Paul. |