Youngstown men served with black ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ in 19th century

By John w. Goodwin jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — A local historian says those looking for unique perspectives in black history can start with the story of two Youngstown brothers who served their country as Buffalo Soldiers.

Several black military regiments were raised during the Civil War to fight alongside the Union Army, including the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and the many United States Colored Troops Regiments.

The Buffalo Soldiers, however, were established by Congress as the first peacetime, all-black regiments in the regular Army.

By many accounts, the black soldiers combat prowess, bravery, tenaciousness, and appearance on the battlefield, inspired American Indians to call them “Buffalo Soldiers” — a term embraced by the black fighting men.

Steffon W. Jones, local historian, said Buffalo Soldier ties to the Youngstown area were discovered by chance.

Jones was doing research on the Boggess family, an early black family in the city, when he stumbled upon the story of Jesse and James Boggess.

“I had Jesse’s death certificate from a Dayton library and it said he was a soldier, but then it said he was a Civil War soldier. I said to myself that couldn’t be right because Jesse was born in 1870 and that is five years after the Civil War ended,” Jones said.

He continued digging into the lives of the Boggess brothers and found that they actually served as Buffalo Soldiers at various times between 1888 and 1896. Jones said he could find no other record of anyone from the Youngstown area serving in the ranks of the Buffalo Soldiers.