Albert ‘Abel’ Marsh
[Family Page]
Biography
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Date of Birth July 6, 1809
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Place of Birth Salisbury, Herkimer County, New York
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Date of Death November 28, 1893
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Place of Death Home of Mrs. Babbitt
Salisbury, Herkimer County, New York
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Place of Burial North Platte Cemetery, North Platte, NE
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Burial Notice Albert Marsh, 1809-1893
Spouse
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Wife’s Name Eunice Murry (Stoddard) Marsh
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Married Family Name Albert and Eunice (Stoddard) Marsh Family
Children
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Son’s Name John Albert Marsh
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Son’s Family Name John and Honorah (Lordan) Marsh Family
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Son’s Name Halstead Marsh
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Daughter’s Name Sophie M. (Marsh) Babbitt
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Daughter’s Name Anna Eliza (Marsh) Babbitt
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Military Service (1851 – 1863)
Abel served in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861-1865). He enlisted in the Army for a three year period on Oct. 19, 1851 at age 50 in Salem, Illinois. About 285,000 soldiers from Illinois fought in the Union Army during the War of the Rebellion.
Abel was placed in the 49th Illinois Infantry Regiment which was organized at Camp Butler, Springfield, Illinois, and mustered in December 31, 1861. It was moved to Cairo, Illinois, and then on to Fort Henry, Tennessee on February 8-10, 1862. The regiment joined up with numerous Brigades in the South and Southeast areas of the country. The Regiment was finally ordered to Paducah, Kentucky on December 29, 1864, and mustered out on September 9, 1865. The regiment suffered 7 officers and 72 enlisted men killed in action or mortally wounded and 5 officers and 170 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 254 fatalities. Albert achieved the rank of Sergeant while deployed.
Abel transferred to gun-boat Service in the US Navy on February 21, 1862. He deployed under Rear Admiral Andrew Hull Foote, and served under him until the end of the war. Admiral Foote was born on September 12, 1806 and died June 26, 1863. Admiral Foote served in the US Navy from 1822-1863.
Abel served onboard the USS Benton , an ironclad river gunboat which is described in detail at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Benton. On September 30, 1862 Albert was transferred with remark on muster roll as “employed on St. Sovereign as a blacksmith”. The USS Sovereign was a 336 ton steamer captured from the Confederate Army on the Mississippi River by the Union Navy.
Abel returned to the USS Benton on January 1, 1863 and served there until March 31, 1863. No further record of his service in the US Navy can be found.
- Personal History
Abel worked as a blacksmith and a mason for the Union Pacific Railroad .
Railroad owners in the 1860s considered North Platte a division point of the transcontinental railroad they were building across the United States. It became a rough, busy railroad camp nicknamed “Hell on Wheels”. Union Pacific Chief Engineer Granville Dodge built major shop facilities there, and switching tracks used for train repairs and refueling. The Bailey Yard today sees about 14,000 train cars roll through its yard daily. It is the largest railroad yard in the world and employs 1 in 10 North Platte residents.
Abel died at the home of his daughter Sophia (Marsh) Babbitt and her husband James Babbitt
He is written about as a very honorable man.
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