Elbridge Howe
Elbridge Howe was born on April 4, 1839, in Brookfield, Massachusetts, to Alphonso Howe and Polly Slayton. His father was a farmer who owned $2,250 of real estate in 1850. His mother died around 1847. Howe attended school in Brookfield before beginning work as a trader.
 
He enlisted in the Union army on August 28, 1862, and mustered in as a private in Company I of the 24th Massachusetts Infantry later that day. According to his enlistment records, he was 5 feet, 10 1/2 inches tall, with light hair and gray eyes. The regiment took part in the Union army's expeditions along the North Carolina and South Carolina coasts. Howe reenlisted as a veteran volunteer in January 1864, and he took part in the siege of Petersburg later that year. In August 1864, he condemned “this cursed Rebellion,” observing, “How little our Folks at the North know of this war.” He had witnessed “pleasant Homes and firesides made desolate. Buildings, Gardens Orchards and fields destroyed and wasted…it is enough to make ones hart sicken to thick of it.” He was promoted to commissary sergeant on December 6, 1864, and he mustered out in Richmond, Virginia, on January 20, 1866.
 
Howe returned to Brookfield after leaving the army, and he married Harriet C. Stevens there on May 3, 1866. They had at least two children: Julia, born around 1868; and Harriet E., born around 1870. Howe worked as a provision dealer after the war, and he owned $3,100 of real estate and $2,200 of personal property in 1870. He died of cancer in Brookfield on November 7, 1894.
690
DATABASE CONTENT
(690)Howe, Elbridge1839-04-041894-11-07
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Private
  • Rank out: Sergeant
  • Rank highest: Sergeant
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 10

  • (2151) [recipient] ~ Albert S. Howe to Elbridge Howe, 6 April 1862
  • (2152) [writer] ~ Elbridge Howe to Harriet C. Stevens, 19 August 1862
  • (2226) [writer] ~ Elbridge Howe to Harriet C. Stevens, 26 December 1862
  • (2798) [writer] ~ Elbridge Howe to Harriet C. Stevens, 6 August 1864
  • (2800) [writer] ~ Elbridge Howe to Harriet C. Stevens, 15 June 1863
  • (2808) [writer] ~ Elbridge Howe to Harriet C. Stevens, 4 November 1863
  • (2841) [writer] ~ Elbridge Howe to Harriet C. Stevens, 25 October 1864
  • (2844) [writer] ~ Elbridge Howe to Harriet C. Stevens, 10 September 1864
  • (2889) [writer] ~ Elbridge Howe to Harriet C. Stevens, 15 January 1863
  • (3505) [writer] ~ Elbridge Howe to Harriet C. Stevens, 28 December 1864

People - Records: 4

  • (690) Howe, Elbridge is the [husband of] (691) Stevens, Harriet Converse
  • (792) Howe, Albert S. is the [sibling of] (690) Howe, Elbridge
  • (2688) Stevens, Sylvester H. is the [sibling-in-law of] (690) Howe, Elbridge
  • (2690) Stevens, Tammy W. is the [parent-in-law of] (690) Howe, Elbridge

Places - Records: 1

  • (634) [birth, death] ~ Brookfield, Worcester County, Massachusetts

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Regiments - Records: 1

  • (204) [enlisted] ~ 24th Massachusetts Infantry
SOURCES

1850 and 1870 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; 1855 Massachusetts State Census, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Military Service Record for Elbridge Howe, available from Fold3.com; Elbridge Howe to Harriet C. Stevens, 6 August 1864, DL0541, Nau Collection