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Pierce
Brown enlisted as a Private in Company F, 3rd Infantry
Regiment U.S. Colored Troops on July 11, 1863. The 3rd
Infantry organized at Camp William Penn, near Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania from August 3 through August 10, 1863. The regiment
was ordered to the Department of the South, and attached to
initially to 4th
Brigade, 10th Corps at Morris Island, S.C. 10th Corps, Dept. of the South, to
November, 1863. 3rd Brigade, Morris Island, S. C., 10th Corps, to
January, 1864. Montgomery's Brigade, District of Hilton Head, S.
C., 10th Corp , to February, 1864. The
regiment took part in the sieges at Fort Wagner and Fort Gregg,
South Carolina, engaging the enemy on August 22, August 26, August
27, and September 3, 1863, and took part in the final capture of
the two forts on September 7. The 3rd Regiment took part in
operations against Charleston, fighting ion October 2 and November
14, 1863. In
February of 1864 the regiment was attached to 2nd Brigade, Vodge's Division,
District of Florida, Dept. of the South. The regiment moved to Hilton
Head S. C., thence to Jacksonville, Florida, February 5-7, and
then took up duty at Jacksonville as Heavy Artillery till May,
1865; with one company stationed at Fernandina, Florida. The
regiment took part in an expedition from Jacksonville to Camp Milton,
May 31 through June 3, 1864, and fought at Front Creek on July 15
and at Bryan's Plantation on October 21, 1864. On March 10, 1865
the 3rd Regiment fought at Marion County, Florida. After May of
1865 the 3rd Regiment took up occupation duties at Tallahassee, Lake City and other points in Florida,
serving in this capacity until October,
1865. Private Brown was among those who mustered out of Mustered out
of Company F, 3rd Infantry Regiment U.S.
Colored Troops on October 31, 1865. The full summary of the 3rd Regiment
U.S. Colored Troops' actions during the Civil
War and the complete muster roll is available
through Google Books in
volume five of Samuel P. Bates, History
of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 (1871). Pierce
Brown returned to Camden after completing his military service.
Generally working as a laborer, he appears in Camden's 1872 City
Directory living at Kaighn's Point Avenue and
Ann
Street. Pierce
Brown was appointed to the Camden Fire Department as an extra man
with Engine Company 2 on April 8, 1877. He and Solomon
Clark were the first two black firefighters to be appointed to
the Camden Fire Department. Pierce Brown replaced William
Stanton. Pierce Brown was removed from service on November 26,
1877 and was replaced by John
Wesley Beckett. As stated above, Camden
Fire Department records do not have an address for Pierce Brown,
but they do indicate he was working as a laborer. The 1878-1879
City Directory confirms this, and gives an address of 822 Sycamore
Street. The 1880 Census has him at 809 Sycamore
Street. The
1881-1882 Directory shows an address of 807 Sycamore
Street. The
1882-1883, 1883-1884, and 1884-1885 editions show P.S. Brown,
brickmaker, at 807 Sycamore
Street. Pierce
Brown married around 1886. He and his wife Araminta were not.
however, blessed with children. Pierce Brown was living at 558
Mount Vernon Street in 1887 and 1888. The 1890 Camden City
Directory and the 1890 Veterans Census shows an address of 3
Philip Street. The 1893-1894 and 1894-1895 Directories have Pierce
Brown at 1745 Philip Street. 1896 and 1897 editions give an
address of 1721 Van Buren
Street. By 1898 Pierce Brown had moved
to 647-1/2 Van Hook
Street. He was still at this address when the
Census was taken on April 26, 1910. Pierce
Brown died on May 22, 1910 and was buried at Mt. Peace Cemetery in what is now
Lawnside, New Jersey. Araminta Brown is listed in the 1910-1911 Camden City Directory,
however, his wife Araminta was. She was not listed in the 1914 Camden City Directory.
Later in life Pierce Brown claimed to have been born in 1822, but
this is very doubtful, given previous documents..
Peirce
Brown was an active member and at one time Post Commander of the William
P. Robeson Post No. 51, Grand Army of the Republic.
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