1861 Letter from William W. Bradbury, "Willie", in Machias, Maine, to his brother James True Bradbury, serving in Company A at Fort Sullivan, Maine; Effigy of Jefferson Davis

Reprinted, with permission, from the Heirlooms Reunited blog

June 7, 1861 letter from William Wyer Bradbury (1843-1901), "Willie", in Machias, Maine, to his brother James True Bradbury (1840-1863), serving in Company A at Fort Sullivan in Eastport, Maine.

The letter features a sketch by Willie of Jefferson Davis hanging in effigy. The letter was written after the attack of April 1861 on Fort Sumter in South Carolina, and contains the implication that James would be leaving Fort Sullivan, presumably for war. 

Sadly, James did not survive the war; he died in the Second Battle of Rappahannock Station in Virginia, in November of 1863.

Mentioned in the letter:

• James True Bradbury (1840-1863)
• William Wyer Bradbury (1843-1901), "Willie"
• Hen's cap - perhaps the brothers' infant brother Henry W. Bradbury (1860-1862) or a soldier serving with James
• Ike - perhaps Isaac Snow Bradbury (1840-1866), lost at sea while in the U.S. Navy
• George Allen - he may have been George H. Allen (abt 1842-1915), who also served in the Civil War and was wounded at Spotsylvania Court House in Virginia
• Mother - presumably Eliza (Webber) Bradbury (1810-1893)
• Father - Wyer Bradbury (1814-1882)

If you have information to share on the Bradbury and Webber families or information on a likely prospect for George Allen, please leave a comment for the benefit of fellow researchers.

Despite the map below, bear in mind that travel between Machias and Eastport was just as likely to have occurred by sea.

Payments made by Robbinston, Maine, to Families of Soldiers and Sailors Serving in the Civil War

Many pages in a ledger listing the payments made by the Town of Robbinston, Maine, to the families of about 50 soldiers and sailors serving in the Civil War.  

Note: Some of the servicemen were born in Maritime Canada and may have returned to Canada after the War.  

The ledger, measuring about 13" by 8", contains 178 pages in all, about half full, not only listing the payments to families but also tracking other municipal business, including expenses for building the Phelps Bridge, bridges at Nash's and Low's, town officers' accounts, etc., in the 1860s up to 1872.

Most pages tracking payments to the families of men serving in the Civil War show one family individually, as you see above, in the case of the family of unmarried Frederick Stanhope (1846-1898).  These pages usually include the serviceman's unit as well as his family members' names and ages, and, in a few cases, information about service, battles and death.  

Alphabetized List - Click on a name to see a separate blog post on each, showing an image of his page in the ledger, along with further information on his life, family and service, with links to primary sources, when available.  If you have information on any of the men listed below, please leave a comment.

The number in parentheses after a name indicates a specific page in the ledger.

• Sumner Anderson (page 12), age 22; 6th Regiment, Company D - reportedly killed in the Battle of Spotsylvania on May 10, 1864
• Philip H. Andrews (page 45); 11th Regiment, Company B.  
• Benjamin S. Apt (1846-1906), (page 44); age 18; 31st Regiment, Company B.  
• George E. Bean (page 6); age 19; 3rd Maine Battery
• John M. Bean (1832-1905), (page 15), age 32; 6th Regiment Company F.  
• Samuel Boyden (abt 1828-1891), (page 24), age 35; 6th Regiment; Company G.  
• Albert Gallatin Buck (1822-1901) (page 7); age 41; 1st Maine Heavy Artillery, Company D
• Daniel Bugbee (page 55) - perhaps not a serviceman but rather Daniel Bugbee (1810-1875, North Dakota ?)
• Philip Caffrey (page 9), age 20; on US Gunboat Ossipee.  Could he be the Navy veteran Philip Caffrey (-1887) buried in the Hampton National Cemetery at Hampton, Virginia?
• Hugh H. Cameron (page 2), age 28; 9th Maine Regiment, Company E; mustered in October 1, 1864
• William H. Campbell (page 8); 11th Maine, Company G
• Thomas Chester (page 10), age 32; 30th Regiment; Company F
• William Embleton, age 41 (page 16); 15th Regiment; Company E.  Presumably the William Henry Embleton (1823-1873) who died in a fall to the rocks when building the bridge at Grand Falls, New Brunswick
• Henry H. Frost (page 27), a3-18ge 21; 1st Regular Heavy Artillery, Company D
• John T. Garnett (1843-1933), (page 6); age 21; 15th Regiment
• Rufus Gates (page 49); State Aid Account with Town of Robbinston - perhaps not a soldier and perhaps Legislator Rufus Gates (1816-1887)
• Allen T. Gow (1846-1893), (page 11); 31st Regiment, Company A.  
• Ebenezer D. Harlow (page 18), age 28; 18th Regiment, Company D.  Ebenezer D. Harlow (1836-1921), son of Jirah Harlow and Lydia (Johnson) Harlow
• Madison B. Hayman (1842-1923), (page 32), age 21; 6th Regiment, Company K. 
• John R. Hickey (page 3); age 39; U.S. Navy; transferred from 18th Regt
• Joseph Hinton, Jr. (page 25), age 22; 15th Regiment, Company K 
• Frank E. Johnson (1843-1909), (page 34), age 21; 6th Regiment; Company K.  Frank Ernest Johnson.
• George E. Johnson (page 17), age 27; 18th Regiment, Company D
• William H. Johnson (page 38), age 21; 15th Regiment, Company A
• William Johnson (page 22); 1st Artillery, Company M.  Possibly the William P. Johnson who is shown as having deserted in March 1865 - though there may be another explanation
• Thomas N. Kerr (page 31), age 29; 6th Regiment, Company K; discharged for disability April 18, 1864 with rank of corporal
• George L. Laskey (page 39); 7th Regiment.  George L. Laskey (1844-possibly 1867), was "transferred to the Invalid Corps Sept. 7, 1863". This record, from Maine, Veterans Cemetery Records, 1676-1918, gives a birth year of 1844 but no death year.
• Frank R. Leach (page 26), age 23; 1st Maine Heavy Artillery, Company D.  Franklin Rodney Leach (1840-1912)
• Frederick Leighton (page 30), age 20; 15th Regiment, Company K; re-enlisted March 1864
• Samuel Leighton (page 29), age 24; 11th Regiment, Company D.; enlisted in October 21, 1864 at Belfast, Maine
• Henry P. Low (page 33), age 22; 1st Maine Battery
• James E. Merry (page 13), age 46; 6th Regiment, Company F; discharged for disability 18 Dec 1864
• Benjamin C. Morrell (page 23), age 24; 1st Regiment Cavalry; Company D; discharged November 20, 1864.  Presumably Benjamin Charles Morrell (1840-1911)
• James Morrell (page 20), age 25; 18th Regiment or 1st Heavy Artillery, Company D. Did not survive the war; Ebenezer D. Harlow named guardian of his child.  Presumably the James "Morrill" buried in the Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Dinwiddie County, Virginia
• John E. Morrell (page 40), age 21; 11th Regiment, Company F. "Enlisted Novr. 7 /64"
• Maine, State of (page 51); State Aid Account with Town of Robbinston
• Simon O'Brien (page 48); State Aid Account with Town of Robbinston - perhaps not a serviceman
• George Phelps (1840-1923) (page 1); 1864, First Maine Battery, 24 years of age.  George Nelson Phelps
• Q?  Name partially erased - James Qu?
• Curtis Robbinson [sic] (page 36); 31st Regiment, Company A.  He was Curtis Robinson (1846-1865)
• Samuel Ross (page 28), age 29; 11th Regiment, Company D, Mustered in 21 October 1864 at Belfast, Maine.  Samuel L. Ross (abt 1832-1914)
• Samuel S. Seeley 2d (page 14)
• Frederick Stanhope (page 35); 18th Regiment, Company M.  Presumably Frederick Stanhope (abt 1844-1898)
• George A. Stanhope (1839-1919), (page 19), age 24; 18th Regiment or 1st heavy artillery
• Levi Pierce Stanhope (1840-1922), (page 4); age 26; 9th Maine Regiment, Company A
• Edwin Stanton (page 41); 1st Artillery. "Joseph Stanton died 21 Feb. 1864 at home. Edwin S. was killed in front of Petersburg June 18 /64"
• Charles E. Taylor (page 37), age 25; 6th Regiment, Company G. "Wounded 7th Nov. 1863 at Rappahannock & soon died". 
• John Taylor (page 21); 6th Regiment, Company G.  "Nurse in a regimental hospital", in the book Maine at Gettysburg, published Lakeside Press in 1898.  Possibly this John Taylor (abt 1835/6-1904) 
• Thomas Trimble (1846-1914), (page 43); age 19; 31st Regiment, Company A. "enlisted Feb 26/64
• James William Tucker (page 5), age 19; 3rd Maine Battery
• Joseph E. Tucker (1846-1912), (page 42); 3rd Battery.  Joseph Edwin Tucker (1846-1912)  
• Elisha Vose (1841-1896), (page 9); age 22; Company E of First Maine Cavalry
• Lyman Vose (1839-1929), (page 9), age 24; Company E of First Maine Cavalry

Andrew Harrington Bibber, Civil War veteran, marine painter; Lubec, Maine; Eastport, Maine

Andrew Harrington Bibber, an officer in the First Maine Cavalry and Assistant Adjutant-General of Volunteers Infantry Regiment, and, later, a marine painter of some renown.

Bibber was presumably the Andrew J. Bibber born at Lubec, Maine, on 18 July 1837, the son of Charles H. and Adeline Ann (Harrington) Bibber. Perhaps he changed his middle name to honor his mother or maternal grandparents.  By 1860, the family had moved across Passamaquoddy Bay to Eastport, Maine.

Read more about Andrew Harrington Bibber in the Civil War Veterans Project database of the Orange County California Genealogical Society.

From online research, I found that the name Bibber likely goes back to the spelling Vibert, a European name that likely started out as a Christian name and over time became a surname. 

With President Lincoln's call to the states for 75,000 men, Maine responded, not with the one regiment requested, but with ten, fully armed and ready to serve for three years. 

According to a military record in the Maine State Archives. Bibber rose from 1st sergeant in the First Maine Cavalry to 2nd Lieutenant, Adjutant and Captain in Company F, First Maine Cavalry. After mustering out on 13 March 1865, he became a commissioned officer as Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers Infantry Regiment. 

 

Andrew first married Sarah Houghton, daughter of Hon. Partmon Houghton (1806-1887) and Orinda Ann (Prince) Houghton (1807-1885). Partmon Houghton was a member of the Maine state legislature, but is probably best known today for a fund he endowed, still extant, whereby many elderly women in Eastport are given a gift of money during the holiday season. It would be interesting to know what inspired him to set up this fund.

Andrew Bibber had a dry goods business in Eastport, Maine, and enjoyed painting marine scenes, for which he was receiving some acclaim. Andrew and Sarah had two daughters: Edith Prince Bibber (1870-1964) and Sarah Parker Houghton Bibber (1871-1876). Less than two weeks after little Sarah's birth, Sarah (Houghton) Bibber died, likely as the result of complications of childbirth. 

 On 27 September, 1876, Andrew Harrington Bibber married again, to Annie Louise Ansley (1854-1938), (also seen in the variation Annesley), who was born at Saint John, New Brunswick, and educated at Saint John Young Ladies Academy and at Vassar College. Her father, John, a mill owner and government official, was the son of Devonshire immigrant Daniel Ansley, who became a successful shipping merchant at Saint John. 

 Annie's mother, Sarah (Hayden) Ansley, a descendant of John Alden, was born on Beacon Hill in Boston. Andrew's daughter from his first marriage, Sarah Parker Houghton Bibber, died shortly after her father's marriage to Annie. Andrew and Annie had a daughter, Alice Alden Bibber (1883-1960), born 30 October 1883 at Eastport, Maine. She would marry her cousin Roy whose surname was Van Bibber.

In 1890, Andrew, Annie, Edith and Alice moved to Orange, California, where they purchased twenty acres to develop an orange orchard. Andrew later resumed the dry goods trade, and in his later years, took up his brush again and became known for his seascapes. 

 He died on 6 October 1913.  Annie, Edith and Alice remained in California after his death. Annie died at Los Angeles on 5 February 1938. Edith, a Vassar graduate like her stepmother, was a music teacher who gave private lessons at her home; she died in 1964, at Los Angeles.  Alice Alden Bibber graduated from the Girls' Collegiate School of Los Angeles and later married her first cousin, Roy Bibber, who had by then changed his name to Dion Ray O. Van Bibber. The marriage ended in divorce.  Alice died in 1960 at Los Angeles. 

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment.

Notice that Eastport, Maine, and Lubec, Maine, are close as the crow flies, but far apart by land, thanks to Cobscook Bay, the second largest estuary along the Atlantic seaboard.