Tuesday, May 5, 2020

1864/1865 Payments on Behalf of Family in Robbinston, Maine, of Civil War James Morrell; in 1860s/1870s Ledger of Financial Transactions of Robbinston


James Morrell, age  25; then serving in Company D of the 18th Regiment; payments made in 1864 and 1865 to his wife and child in Robbinston, Maine.

Not noted on the page: James was killed in the waning days of the Civil War, on 25 March 1865:
  • in the Battle of Fort Stedman at Petersburg, Virginia, according to the Eastport Sentinel
  • at Hatcher's Run according to his presumed FindaGrave memorial, which notes that he was originally buried at Armstrong's farm and then reinterred in the Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Dinwiddie County, Virginia.

Found on numbered page 20 in a ledger of Robbinston, Maine, financial transactions from the mid 1860s to the 1870s.

Payments were on behalf of :

James Morrell was born in Robbinston, Maine, about 1839, the son of James Morrell (1792-1853) and Eleanor (Clarke) Morrell (1803-1870).

Maine Marriages, 1771-1907: Robbinston, Maine, 4 August 1862, Intention of Marriage: James Morrell and Barbara A. Raifus [Rafus] - certificate given 9 August 1862 at Robbinston, Maine by town clerk A. G. Buck - Albert Gallatin Buck (1822-1901), who would also serve in the Civil War.

Maine, State Archives Collection, 1718-1957:
  • born in Robbinston; dark complexion, blue eyes, light hair, 6' 2-1/2" tall
  • farmer, married at time of enlistment
  • enlisted on 24 July 1862
  • killed in action 25 March 1865 

U.S., Registers of Deaths of Volunteers, 1861-1865: James Morrell died at Hatchers Run, Virginia, on 25 March 1865.  Per information on the FindaGrave memorial of James' daughter Addie N. (Morrell) Morrill Spearin (about 1863-1938): The Eastport Sentinel issue of April 5, 1865 contained the notice of James Morrell's death in the Battle of Fort Stedman in Petersburg, Virginia.

Presumably the James Morrell who died on 25 March 1865, and whose FindaGrave memorial notes that he was originally buried at Armstrong's farm and then reinterred in Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Dinwiddie County, Virginia.

U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934: date of filing: 17 May 1865 on behalf of widow and child of James Morrell; with Harlow, E.D. "Gdn".  See another post that features the payments made on behalf of the parents of then single Ebenezer D. Harlow (1836-1921), who would marry Barbara (Rafus) Morrell in 1866.

If you have information on the family of James Morrell, 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: ignore the text stating that Robbinston, Maine, is in Saint Andrews Parish - that is across the border in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, as you can see on the map.


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