Five Patrick Kelleys appeared before recruiting officers in Maine and enlisted in the army during the Civil War. Four likely exhibited an Irish brogue when speaking English. The fifth Patrick Kelley possibly spoke English with the developing Aroostook County dialect that added “r” to words lacking that letter (such as “Ka-tar-din”). Whatever his accent, this […]
Known as “Benn” or “Benj” (depending on the printed record), his full name was Benjamin P. Webb, and he unknowingly displayed perfect timing to miss his regiment’s Götterdämmerung at Antietam. According to Caribou historian George Whitneck, Benjamin P. Webb was born to Converse L. and Emily (French) Webb in St. Albans on February 4, 1834. […]
He was one of a kind, the soldier named Milo Keech. Born to Hazen and Abigail (Swan) Keech in St. Johnsbury, Vermont in 1833, Milo moved eastward to Bethel with his family about 10 years later. The town’s 1850 census indicated that he was 17, living with his parents (Hazen was a millwright) and four […]
Moses Davis rubs shoulders with Joseph Simpson, a comrade these past 160 years. They probably knew each other way back when; if not, they have certainly had time to introduce themselves. Joe’s from Waterville, by the way. Moses has probably made acquaintances with his other next-door neighbor, Samuel C. Brookings, a youngster from Pittston. He […]
A soldier named America sallied forth from northern Aroostook County to defend the United States in midsummer 1863. History also identified him as Americus, but America F. Bartlett he was — even if, given his patriotic first name, he possibly was less than enthusiastic about military service. America was a 22-year-old laborer from Forestville Plantation […]
If any 28th Maine Infantry Regiment soldier knew how to get himself shot, Charles H. Witham was the man. The son of dirt-poor Ira Witham (his wife’s name is illegible in the 1850 and 1860 censuses) of Surry, Charles was 17 and, like his older brothers Robert and Ira, a sailor in 1860. He was […]
Three white, albeit slightly weathered veterans’ headstones stand side by side by side in Hope Grove Cemetery, located on the Hatchet Mountain Road (Route 235) not far from Hope Village (the built-up area around the intersection of routes 105 and 235). These headstones belong to the Wentworth brothers. Two of them got here before the […]
The sunlight falling across the Thomaston Village Cemetery on a warm mid-August Saturday casts deep shadows beneath the trees and illuminates the Fales family monument, three sections of sculpted gray granite perched atop a slight grassy rise. The front inscription identifies Ebenezer Fales (1801 to 1872) and his wife, Mary Perkins (1814 to 1898). Each […]
Did what happen to Ariel Tolman Carver in death reflect something that happened in life? He may have been split in two, in more ways than one. Born in 1843 in Paris in Oxford County, Ariel is one of those mid-19th century people who’s simply “there,” whose background requires some digging. He was one of […]
While calling for more warm bodies to fill the Union army’s thinning ranks in summer 1863, the Lincoln Administration informed the city councilors and aldermen governing Gardiner in Kennebec County that their fair city must supply 72 men. Men who enlisted would receive a $300 bounty from Gardiner. But if not enough men enlisted to […]
