Winner!! Hard to believe that someone who is supposed to have been here since 2005 wasn't bright enough to even look at my profile, which only consists of my home state.
The 55th Massachusetts Infantry was the second black regiment authorized by Lincoln to organize in the north during the Civil War. The 54th Massachusetts was the first, and because there was a large response of men arriving to enlist, they organized the 55th afterward. There was also a black 5th Massachusetts Calvary (unmounted) unit formed after those two had already left for the south. Two of Frederick Douglass's sons enlisted...both initially in the 54th. They were his oldest, Lewis Henry Douglass, and youngest son Charles Remond Douglass. Charles became ill at the training camp in Readville, Mass., and couldn't deploy with the unit. He eventually joined the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry. His third son, Frederick Douglass Jr. was a recruiting Sergeant for the 25th U.S. Colored Infantry.
I spent many years researching all three units, and did my thesis on the 55th. Although my research days are long gone, I've continued to use the mass55th screen name ever since. Got to meet many fascinating people, and descendants of the men in both the 54th and 55th. Two were the elderly daughters of a Civil War veteran in the 55th. Their father had been born a slave in Kentucky.
I had not read your about page. Great and interesting history.
Thanks.