A lot of circumstantial evidence indicates that Sylvester Doremus of Westfield and Rahway, NJ was a Civil War sailor. His shipmates on the Albemarle and Minnesota include African Americans James Roberts, Hannibal Roberts, Robert A. Aaron, Joseph M. Freeman, and George Vreeland. Sylvester’s NJ neighbors and possible relatives include black Civil War soldiers Simon Aaron, John H. Edgar, and Thomas Vreeland. Most of these men were from NJ. James and Hannibal Roberts were from MD--birthplace of Sylvester's wife Elizabeth (1870-80 census) who might be a Roberts family member. Sylvester and Elizabeth Doremus resided in Westfield, NJ with Simon Aaron in 1860, in Rahway, NJ with John H. Edgar in 1880. Sylvester's possible relative Julia E. Doremus lived with seaman William H. Scott and wife Hannah in New Haven, CT in 1860. There's still the possibility that a different Sylvester Doremus served on the USS Agawam.