Charles L. Stafford was born on June 10, 1842, in Providence, Rhode Island, to Robert and Anne Stafford. His father was a cotton merchant who owned $6,100 of real estate and $8,000 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Providence.
He enlisted in the Union army, and he mustered in as a sergeant in Company B of the 10th Rhode Island Infantry on May 26, 1862. The regiment spent the next few months defending Washington, D.C. He mustered out on September 1, 1862. In November 1863, he received a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in Company C of the 14th Rhode Island Colored Heavy Artillery. The regiment later became the 11th USCT Heavy Artillery. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant in May 1865, and he mustered out on October 2, 1865.
He returned to Providence after the war, and he worked as a cotton merchant. By 1870, he owned $10,000 of personal property. He married Ada A. Wayland on December 27, 1875, and they had at least five children: Ada, born around 1877; Elizabeth, born around 1878; Rebecca, born around 1881; Charlotte, born around 1884; and Charles, born around 1886. By 1900, he was working as a druggist. He applied for a federal pension in July 1904 and eventually received one. His wife died on January 16, 1908, and he died in Rhode Island on July 9, 1919.
Image: Charles L. Stafford (The Fourteenth Regiment Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (Colored) in the War to Preserve the Union)