Cyrus Ferris Rich
Cyrus Ferris Rich was born around 1826 in New York. He married Harriet Cooke, and they had at least five children: Waldo, born around 1854; Amos, born around 1856; Leigh, born around 1859; Cyrus, born around 1862; and Lynn, born around 1865. They lived in Schuylerville, New York, and he worked as a dentist.
 
In August 1862, he received a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in Company K of the 77th New York Infantry. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 11 inches tall, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. The regiment took part in the Battle of Antietam. In September 1862, he wrote that “the man who comes to the Army for a price of $300 town bounty sells himself very cheap. But when men are actuated by a higher principle [they] will find less to complain of.” His health quickly deteriorated, and in November 1862, he reported that his “back & legs would give out every time” he tried to walk. He resigned on November 30, 1862.
 
His wife worried that their neighbors would gossip about him returning home so soon, but he assured her that “I have acquited myself to meet the approbation of all there & all the surgeons & Col[onel] advise me to go home before the fall rains set in as they are sure I cannot endure the fall.” He settled in Saratoga Springs, New York, after leaving the army, and he resumed his work as a dentist. By 1870, he owned $5,000 of real estate and $2,000 of personal property. His wife died in 1872, and he married a woman named Elizabeth later that decade. By 1880, he was suffering from inflammation of the bowels. He died in Saratoga Springs on November 1, 1897.
3203
DATABASE CONTENT
(3203)Rich, Cyrus Ferris18261897-11-01
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: 2nd Lieutenant
  • Rank out: 2nd Lieutenant
  • Rank highest: 2nd Lieutenant
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 17

  • (8704) [writer] ~ Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 28 September 1862
  • (8705) [writer] ~ Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 19 November 1862
  • (8706) [recipient] ~ Harriet E. Rich to Cyrus F. Rich, 26 November 1862
  • (8707) [writer] ~ Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 27 November 1862
  • (8708) [writer] ~ Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 8 November 1862
  • (8709) [recipient] ~ Harriet E. Rich to Cyrus F. Rich, 5 December 186X
  • (8710) [recipient] ~ Harriet E. Rich to Cyrus F. Rich, undated
  • (8711) [writer] ~ Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, undated
  • (8712) [writer] ~ Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 25 October 1862
  • (8713) [writer] ~ Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 29 September 1862
  • (8714) [writer] ~ Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 8 October 1862
  • (8715) [writer] ~ Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 12 October 1862
  • (8716) [writer] ~ Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 20 October 1862
  • (8717) [recipient] ~ Harriet E. Rich to Cyrus F. Rich, 23 October 1862
  • (8718) [recipient] ~ Harriet E. Rich to Cyrus F. Rich, 29 October 1862
  • (8719) [writer] ~ Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 30 October 1862
  • (8720) [recipient] ~ Harriet E. Rich to Cyrus F. Rich, 16 November 1862

People - Records: 1

  • (3204) Rich, Harriet E. is the [wife of] (3203) Rich, Cyrus Ferris

Places - Records: 2

  • (67) [birth] ~ New York
  • (2221) [death] ~ Saratoga Springs, Saratoga County, New York

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Regiments - Records: 1

  • (903) [officer] [K] ~ 77th New York Infantry
SOURCES

1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; New York Death Index, 1852-1956, available from Ancestry.com; Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 28 September 1862, DL1441.001, Nau Collection; Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 19 November 1862, DL1441.010, Nau Collection; Cyrus F. Rich to Harriet E. Rich, 27 November 1862, DL1441.012, Nau Collection