George Washington Pillsbury

George Washington Pillsbury, Louisiana, ca. 1863

Contributed by Scarborough Historical Society & Museum

George Washington Pillsbury, Louisiana, ca. 1863

George Washington Pillsbury, ca. 1863

George W. Pillsbury was stationed in Louisiana with the 12th Maine Infantry Regiment, Company C during the Civil War.

George Pillsbury was born in Scarborough on November 17, 1834. He was the second child of eight of Charles and Eunice Waterhouse Pillsbury. The Pillsbury farm was located on the Beech Ridge Road and bordered the Dunstan River. The Pillsbury family attended the West Scarborough Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1856, George Pillsbury married Statira Staples of Limington. She had come to Scarborough to teach school.

Pillsbury enlisted in the 12th Maine Infantry Regiment, Company C, which mustered in Portland on November 16, 1861. Enlisting along with him were his brother, Edward, and a neighbor, Melville Milliken, who would later become George Pillsbury’s brother-in-law. While the 12th Maine was stationed in Louisiana, George contracted malaria. In 1864, he was discharged due to illness and sent home.

While George Pillsbury served in the Civil War, his family lived in Dunstan. The family hired a young neighbor, Hiram Berry, to help around the home. One day, when sent for water, Berry met a Union recruiter and was enticed to enlist. Berry never returned with the water, but went to war instead as one of Scarborough’s volunteers.

After recuperating, George Pillsbury bought a farm on Mitchell Hill Road. He farmed and did carpentry work, making a comfortable living. He and his wife had eight children. George died of kidney failure on November 3, 1887. The malaria he contracted in the south was the leading contributor to his death, which at that time was called Bright’s Disease.

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Horace W. Moore

Horace W. Moore, Scarborough, 1863

Contributed by Scarborough Historical Society & Museum

Horace W. Moore, Scarborough, 1863

Horace W. Moore, 1863

Horace Moore was born in Biddeford, on October 17, 1844 to Jeremiah and Mary Ann Brown Moore. At the time of his enlistment to serve in the Civil War, he was five foot eleven inches tall with blue eyes and dark hair and worked as a shoemaker.

Moore originally enlisted on November 15, 1861 in the 12th Maine Infantry, Company C, at Cape Elizabeth. Both family and government records indicate that Moore deserted and reenlisted under several names during the Civil War. On October 22, 1868, he enlisted once more in the 3rd Artillery, Company M, at Fort Preble in Portland. He served until being mustered out on October 22, 1871 while stationed in Fort Jefferson, Florida.

Moore married Annie M. Davis on April 17, 1901. He died in Scarborough on March 19, 1909, age 64, of pulmonary tuberculosis, and is buried in the Veterans Cemetery in Togus.

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George Merrill

George Merrill, Scarborough, ca. 1863

Contributed by Scarborough Historical Society & Museum

George Merrill, Scarborough, ca. 1863

George Merrill, ca. 1863

George Merrill was born in Saco in 1844. In 1862, when he enlisted to fight in the Civil War, he was five-foot-ten-inches tall, with hazel eyes and light hair, was single, and worked as a farmer.

Merrill enlisted in Augusta, in the 16th Maine Infantry, Company F, for three years. This regiment saw action for the first time at Fredericksburg, Virginia, when General Ambrose Burnside and the Army of the Potomac attacked General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

The 16th Maine was part of General John Gibbon’s Division, which was on the Union left facing General Stonewall Jackson’s Corps. They crossed the Rappahannock River on Saturday, December 13, 1862. The 16th Maine acquitted itself well in their first battle, breaking through the outer defense line of the Confederate Army. However, they had to retire when no support was given them.

The regiment suffered high casualties during that charge. One of those killed was George Merrill.

 

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John H. Lord

John H. Lord, Scarborough, ca. 1864

Contributed by Maine State Archives

John H. Lord, Scarborough, ca. 1864

John H. Lord, ca. 1864

John H. Lord served in the Civil War as a Second Lieutenant in the 15th Maine Infantry, Company D. He enlisted on April 27, 1864.

Lord was a resident of Saco but signed up in Scarborough to receive the town’s bounty of $200, allowing Scarborough to count him in meeting its quota requirement. Quotas were orders issued to each state by President Lincoln, requesting a specific number of soldiers to serve in the war.

Lord was 24 years old and unmarried when he enlisted. He saw action with his regiment in the New Orleans and the Shenandoah Valley campaigns of 1864-1865.

After completing his service in the Civil War, Lord returned to the Biddeford-Saco area. Various US Censuses have him listed as a boot and shoe maker. In 1880, Lord was living with his aging parents in Saco, then moving to Biddeford before the 1890 census. The 1900 census indicates he was still single and living with his brother in Biddeford.

 

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Sumner Cummings Libby

Sumner Cummings Libby, Scarborough, 1863

Contributed by Scarborough Historical Society & Museum

Sumner Cummings Libby, Scarborough, 1863

Sumner Cummings Libby, 1863

Sumner Cummings Libby, on left, was born on November 18, 1844. Conflicting records show he was born in either Scarborough or Cape Elizabeth. His parents were Levi and Sarah Ann Libby. The 1860 US Census shows his family was living in Cape Elizabeth.

Sumner Libby enlisted in the 12th Maine Infantry, Company C, on November 15, 1861, three days shy of his 17th birthday. He served with his regiment during the Civil War in Louisiana and Virginia.

Libby was captured during one of the battles in Virginia and sent to Salisbury Prison in Rowan, North Carolina. Sumner died there on December 30, 1864. His body was shipped home to his parents and he was buried at Browns Hill Cemetery in South Portland.

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