William Henry Tubbs was born around September 1838 in Connecticut, possibly to William and Lucy Tubbs. He married Frances Bingham around 1860, and they had at least three children: Julian, born around 1861; George, born around 1868; and Edward, born around 1870. In 1860, he was living in his father-in-law’s household in Norwich, and he was working as a bookkeeper. He owned $2,000 of real estate and $500 of personal property.

 

In the summer of 1862, he received a commission as captain of Company E of the 14^th Connecticut Infantry. He was wounded in the neck at Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, and he was discharged for disability on February 20, 1863. According to an early biographer, he later “secured a position as commissary clerk in the Michigan brigade. He was in this position up to the time of the close of the war.” He was promoted to major in April 1866, and he mustered out on May 11, 1866.

 

He settled in New London, Connecticut, after the war. He worked as an assistant postmaster for several years, and he was appointed postmaster in July 1878. He held the position until April 1885. He moved to Hartford, Connecticut, in the late 1800s, and he worked as assistant general auditor of the Aetna Life Insurance Company. He retired around 1902. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and he served as a colonel in the Connecticut National Guard. His health deteriorated in the early 1900s; a local writer described it as a “general breaking down.” He died in New London on September 15, 1908.

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