Lyman Godfrey Aldrich was born on January 31, 1839, in Massachusetts to Lyman and Sarah Aldrich. His father earned a living as a merchant. According to an early biographer, he grew up and attended school in Natchez, Mississippi, and spent “many years before the [Civil] war…in the West.”

 

He joined the Confederate army in early 1861, serving as a sergeant in the Natchez Quitman Light Artillery. The unit eventually became part of the 36^th Georgia Infantry. He was promoted to 1^st lieutenant in July 1861, and he served as drillmaster at Fort McKee. In July 1862, he was assigned to the adjutant general’s department and assigned to Mobile, Alabama. He remained there until July 1863, when he joined the staff of General James E. Slaughter. He eventually earned a promotion to captain. He remained in the Confederate army until June 1865, and in the early 1900s, some writers credited him with issuing the “last official order of the Confederacy.”

 

He returned to Natchez after the war, and he married Bettie Buckner around 1866. They had at least two children: Lyman, born around 1869; and Sarah, born around 1874. He also helped raise Bettie’s three children from a previous marriage. He worked as a planter, and local writers described him as “one of the most prominent citizens of Natchez.” He died of paralysis in Natchez on July 29, 1901.

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