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Note: r the home of his uncle Salmon Brigham in Madison County, NY., working for his food and lodging along the way. He intended to prepare for the Methodist ministry, but after a brief expewrience as an exhorter, he abandoned the idea. He became state agent of an insurance company and later a retail shoe merchant in Elmira and Watkins, NY. After his second marriage he lived at Canton, PA, where he is interred. He enlisted in the Civil War in Company B of the 153rd Infantry at the age of 45 and served three years, the last months of his term in the Veteran Reserve Corps. Phineas Brigham (1815-1889) Phineas Brigham, son of Timothy and Patty (Damon) Brigham was born in Smithfield, PA on 22 Jan 1815. His parents dying early when a mere child, he was placed in the family of William Baldwin, proprietor of the "Old Fountain Inn " near Wellsburg, Pa., where he lived for several years. He ran away after a severe flogging, returned, and at last set out for the home of his uncle Salmon Brigham in Madison County, NY, working for his food and lodging on the way. Later he moved to Cazenovia, NY where he attended school. He intended to prepare for the Methodist ministry, but after a brief experience as an exhorter, he abandoned the idea. He met Eliza Johnson, daughter of Ezekiel Johnson and Hannah Sloan of Cherry Valley, and married her there on October 10, 1838 where they lived at least until the early 1850’s, with Eliza’s mother. They had five children, but three died young. One is unknown. Two sons, each named William, died young and are buried in the Cherry Valley Cemetery (William Brigham, born 1 June 1841, died 3 June 1842, and William Loomis Brigham, born 14 Feb 1851, died Jan 1853). The other 2 children were Mary Louise Brigham, born 11 Nov 1839 who became Mrs. Norris M. Compton, and (Dewitt Clinton) Johnson Brigham born 11 Mar 1846, who went on to become the State Librarian of Iowa (1898-1936). In 1857, Phineas is listed as a clerk (insurance) in Elmira, NY, and again in 1860 in Elmira, house on Gray Street. By June, 1860, they had moved to Dix (Watkins), NY where Phineas is listed as a retail shoe merchant and Eliza as a milliner. On September 6, 1862 Phineas (age 47) enlisted at Palatine, NY as a Private in the Union Army. His son, Johnson Brigham also enlisted, but he was too young (age 16) for combat, and he was transferred to Washington, D.C. where he worked for the Sanitation Dept. during the war. Phineas was mustered into service on October 17, 1862 in the 153rd Infantry Regiment, Company B at Fonda, NY. The next day, the troops left by railroad travelling to New York City, then Philadelphia, then Baltimore, and then Washington, D.C. A short steamer trip took them to Alexandria where they arrived at their camp on October 24. They encamped there for the next nine months. Alexandria Virginia was a vast depot of military stores. The Brigade was in charge of guard and police duty over these arms. They were often aroused from sleep forming in a line of battle across the different roads into the city remaining under arms until dawn to repel any attack from the Confederate forces, although none ever came. However, many of the men succumbed to disease, including typhoid, pneumonia, measles, and small pox. On July 20, 1863, the forces were commanded to march by General Martindale to the Capitol Hill Barracks in Washington, D.C. Here they stayed seven months with various duties including guarding the depot of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, patrolling the city, examining traveler’s passes, and guarding prisoners at several Washington, D.C. prisons. On February 18, 1863, the Brigade marched back to Alexandria, VA, and two days later boarded a steamer, arriving in New Orleans on February 28. They spent the next four months in Louisiana. They participated in the Red River Campaign March 10 - May 22. They advanced from Franklin, LA to Alexandria, LA March 14-26. Their first combat battle was at Sabine Crossroads on April 8. Other battles included Pleasant Hill April 9 and Cane River Crossing April 23. They returned to Alexandria April 26-May 13. They then moved to Morganza, LA May 13-20, engaging in the battle at Mansura on May 16. They stationed at Morganza until July 1. The Brigade left Morganza on July 1 for New Orleans, and thence by steamer back to Washington, D.C. They participated in the repulse of General Early on Washington July 12-13. They then transferred to their base at Charlestown, VA where they participated in General Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign, fighting a number of battles including Winchester, September 19 and Fisher’s Hill, September 22. Either due to injury or illness, Phineas was transferred to Company C of the U.S. Veteran Reserve Corps, 19th Infantry Regiment on October 1, 1864. He was on duty at the Confederate Prison at Elmira, NY for the remainder of the war, having charge of a hundred confederates there. He was honorably mustered out on July 13, 1865. After the war, he returned to Eliza, but financial and health stresses and struggles weighed on the marriage and they divorced soon thereafter. In 1870 he is listed as Assistant Marshall for the town of Watkins, NY and signed all of the census pages for that year. Eliza is not listed there at that time. In January, 1872 he married Myra Andrews and removed to Canton, Pennsylvania living at 46 Center Street. There they had 2 children, Sarah Elizabeth Brigham, born 28 May, 1873, and Anna Brigham, born 10 April, 1875. Phineas died on 20 May, 1889 in Canton and was buried in the Main Street Cemetery there. His obituary reads: “Broken in health and financially reduced by the change from active business to army life, the career of the deceased has since the war been one of hard struggle and more of what the world calls failure than success; but through all these years, as in the army and in the more successful period of his life, he was sustained by the Christian’s faith and hope. His last years were full of suffering, and death with him was a relief.” Sources: “History of the Brigham Family”, W.I. Tyler Brigham, Grafton Press, New York, 1907, pp. 450-451 Wilson’s Elmira Directory, 1857, 1860 Boyd’s Elmira Directory. US Census records !53rd New York Regiment Company B Muster Roll Records Report of the Adjutant General, 153rd Regiment New York, p. 954. US Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, online data base, Ancestry.com “History of the 153rd New York Volunteers”, The History of Montgomery and Fulton Counties, NY, 1878, pp. 178-180. 80th Birthday newspaper article of Eliza Johnson Stone, Des Moines, Iowa, 1902. Obituary of Phineas Brigham, The Canton Independent-Sentinel, May 23, 1889.
Note: His parents dying early, when a mere child was placed in the family of William Baldwin, proprieter of "Old Fountain Inn" near Wellsburg, PA, where he lived for several years. He ran away after a severe flogging, returned, and at last set out fo
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