![]() ![]() The soldiers jokingly referred to it as the initials of the troops' meat supplier, Samuel Wilson of Troy, New York. Later, anything marked with the same initials (as much Army property was) also became linked with Sam Wilson via his coincidental initials.Ĭommon folklore holds origins trace back to soldiers stationed in upstate New York, who would receive barrels of meat stamped with the initials U.S. The barrels, being government property, were branded "U.S." the teamsters and soldiers joked that the barrels were the initials of Uncle Sam himself. ![]() He obtained a contract to supply beef to the Army in its campaign farther north, and he shipped the meat salted in barrels. Samuel Wilson died in 1854 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Troy.Īt the time of the War of 1812, Samuel Wilson was a prosperous middle-aged meat-packer in Troy. They lived in a house on Ferry Street and had four children. In 1797, Samuel married Betsey Mann of Mason and brought her back to Troy with him. ![]() Samuel and his brother Ebeneezer moved to Troy in 1789 and went into business there. Wilson's parents came from Greenock in Scotland and when Samuel was a boy, his family moved to Mason, New Hampshire, and another monument exists there. Wilson was born in historic Menotomy, now Arlington, Massachusetts, where the Uncle Sam Memorial Statue marks his birthplace. ![]()
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