The enlistment record for Abraham Lancaster by the United States Colored Troops on January 12, 1863. The record provided individual information on soldiers including name, age, birthplace, occupation, date of enlistment, and location of enlistment.
Abraham Lancaster was born in Saint Augustine, Florida. On January 12, 1863, Lancaster enlisted into the Company F, First Regiment South Carolina Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. Lancaster rose up the ranks, serving as a Private, Corporal, and Sergeant in the Union Army. He was demoted back to Private on January 18, 1865. He fell ill around June 10, 1865, but recovered and continued his service in August. After the war, he settled in Saint Augustine with his wife, Hester, working as a stevedore and a carpenter. Lancaster passed away on July 20, 1904, and was later buried in the Saint Augustine National Cemetery in Saint Augustine, Florida, in Section A, Plot 193.
In 2017, the University of Central Florida was one of three universities selected to launch the National Cemetery Administration’s
Veterans Legacy Program Project. The program engaged a team of scholars to make the life stories of veterans buried in the Florida National Cemetery available to the public. The project engages UCF students in research and writing and fosters collaboration between students, faculty and local Central Florida schools to produce interactive curriculum for K-12 students. The corresponding website exhibit uses RICHES Mosaic Interface to create a digital archive of related data. The public can use the project-developed augmented-reality app at more than 100 gravesites at the Florida National Cemetery, where they can access the UCF student-authored biographies of veterans.