Reuben Henry Wilbur was born on April 26, 1825, in Chatham, New York. He married Nancy Hitchcock on September 24, 1846, and they had at least eight children: Harriet, born around 1848; Ella, born around 1850; Mary, born around 1855; Grace, born around 1857; William, born around 1859; Lilian, born around 1861; Annie, born around 1866; and Edward, born around 1868. They lived in New Lebanon, New York, and Wilbur earned a living as a clerk. By 1850, he owned $2,000 of real estate. A decade later, he was working as a farmer, and he owned $5,000 of real estate and $900 of personal property.

 

On October 31, 1861, he received a commission as a 1^st lieutenant in Company I of the 102^nd New York Infantry. The regiment took part in the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Chattanooga campaign, the Atlanta campaign, the March to the Sea, and the Carolinas campaign. He served on General John W. Geary’s staff, and he was promoted to captain on March 30, 1863, and to major on June 5, 1865. He mustered out on December 1, 1865.

 

After the war, Wilbur worked for the Internal Revenue Department. He settled in Omaha, Nebraska, in the late 1860s, and he earned a living as a stationer there. By 1870, he owned $2,500 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property. He supported the Republican Party, and he was elected police judge in the 1870s. He served as mayor of Omaha from 1877 until 1879.

 

After leaving office, Wilbur worked as a railroad auditor. He moved to Colorado around 1890. He applied for a federal pension in November 1890 and eventually secured one. He died in Grand Junction, Colorado, on April 5, 1898.

 

Image: Reuben Henry Wilbur (Omaha World-Herald, 3 June 1945)

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