Saturday, May 9, 2020

1864/1865 Payments On Behalf of Wife and Mother in Robbinston, Maine, of Civil War Soldier Frederick Leighton; in 1860s/1870s Ledger of Financial Transactions of Robbinston


Frederick Leighton, age 20; then serving in Company K of the 15th Regiment; payments made in 1864 and 1865 on behalf of his wife and mother in Robbinston, Maine.  "Reenlisted March 1864"

Found on numbered page 30 in a ledger of Robbinston, Maine, financial transactions from the mid 1860s to the 1870s.

Payments were made on behalf of:
  • Mary Jane Leighton, age 18; wife - Mary Jane (Leighton) Leighton
  • Mary Leggan, age 50; mother - was she Frederick's mother, remarried, or a stepmother?
    • possibly the Mary Lagon, wife of Henry Lagon in the 1860 Census of Robbinston, Maine
    • possibly the Mary Legon in the 1870 Census of Robbinston, Maine

 There was more than one Frederick Leighton in the Robbinston, Maine, area before and after the war.  One or more of the references below may be for the wrong Frederick. Hopefully a reader will weigh in.

 Maine Marriages, 1771-1907: Intention to Marry: Frederick Leighton and Miss Mary Jane Leighton, both of Robbinston, signed by Town Clerk Cyrus Balkam on 24 August 1864.

1870 US Census of Robbinston, Maine - Frederick, Mary Jane and daughter Alice, with Frank, age 13, presumably Frederick's younger brother - or if the age is in error, perhaps Frederick's 3 year old son.

Maine, State Archives Collections, Military Records - Civil War:  Frederick Leighton
  • born in Robbinston, Maine; working as a laborer in Robbinston, Maine
  • age 18 at time of enlistment; 5' 7" tall, with light complexion, blue eyes, light hair
  • enlisted as a private in Company K of the 15th Infantry on 20 November 1861 for a period of 3 years; mustered in at Augusta, Maine on 16 December 1861
  • re-enlisted 8 February 1864
  • left service 5 July 1866 at Charleston, South Carolina - honorable discharge

Maine, Civil War Enlistment Papers, 1862-1865: Possibly this Frederick Leighton, although he stated he was born in Calais, Maine, not Robbinston, Maine, as the previous record. This would be for the re-enlistment.

If you have information on the family of Frederick Leighton, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

The ledger measures about 13" by 8" by 1/2" and contains entries for almost 50 families and many pages of other financial transactions. About half of the 178 numbered pages have entries. The ledger is missing its covers; the first page of what remains is shown below.


Soldiers and sailors listed in the ledger
  • The numbers in parentheses indicate specific pages in the ledger.
  • Many of the men listed below were born in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia and may have returned to Canada after the War.  See the map below to see how close New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were, particularly in the Age of Sail.
  • If you have information on any of the men listed below, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

The List, Alphabetized

Note: the map indicates that Robbinston, Maine, is in Saint Andrews Parish ME.  However, Saint Andrews Parish is across the mouth of the St. Croix River in Charlotte County, New Brunswick

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