George Leonard Andrews - Civil War General

George Leonard Andrews b. 1828 in Massachusetts. George Leonard Andrews (1828-99) was an American soldier, serving as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

In 1851 graduated at West Point at the head of his class. For two years (1854-56) he was assistant professor of engineering at West Point. He then resigned from the service and was engaged in engineering work until the beginning of the Civil War, when he entered the Union Army as a lieutenant colonel.

He served in the Shenandoah Valley in 1861, took part in Pope's campaign in 1862, was raised to the rank of brigadier general in November, 1862, and bore a prominent part in General Bank's expedition to New Orleans. He was commander of the Corps d' Afrique from 1863 to 1865, and for "faithful and meritorious services in the campaign against Mobile" was brevetted major-general of volunteers in March 1865.

He was United States marshal in Massachusetts from 1867 to 1871, and was professor of French at West Point from 1871 to 1882, and of modern languages from 1882 until his retirement in 1892.

George Leonard Andrews married Sarah Bridge Fiske.

Harvey Fisk - Wall St. Financier

Harvey Fisk b. 1831 in Vermont. FISK & HATCH, BANKERS AND DEALERS IN GOVERNMENT SECURITIES, 1862-1885

Three achievements entitle the firm of Fisk & Hatch to have their name inscribed in the financial history of the United States. They were among the largest distributors of government bonds during the dark days of the Civil War and for the entire period of their business were known throughout the land for large dealings in government bonds. Secondly, they financed the construction of the western end of the first transcontinental railroad and marketed the United States subsidy bonds for the entire line. Thirdly, they financed the construction of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad from tidewater to Louisville, Kentucky. They temporarily suspended operations in 1873 but soon resumed business. The partnership was dissolved in 1885

Resource Material

Since I dove into the deep end of the genealogical pool last year I have found and some very helpful resources.

Wickam Skeith parish records which holds the birth, death and marriage records for the parish which is located in Suffolk County, England. Time period for these records is 1700-late 1800's

Genealogies of the Families and Decendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown Massachusetts by Bond. This is a very nice resource as it covers many families in detail from the first settlers of Massachusetts to mid 1800's. This is one of my resources for my Fiske and Bigelow lines. Since there are a handful of Warrens already in my lines I will most likely be adding them as well once I get caught up.

The Laupersville Family from The Dallenbachs in America. This covers Montgomery/Herkimer County in New York from 1710-1935. The primary name of course is Dallenbach, Dillenback or other various spellings but in close knit communities there is alot of intermarrying between families. That was true in the early Massachusetts colonies and it is true here as well.

Genweb One county may not take genealogy with the same amount of effort as the next county. In Jefferson County NY where I am from for instance has an abundance of information such as cemetary records for the majority if not all the cemetaries. There is information on pioneering settlers of the various townships. All in all it is a terrific site for information. Compartively, if you visit the genweb site of the county to the north you get mainly links to off site pages. Perhaps there is just not the same interest.

I have also found some very helpful information which has helped in solving one or two family questions in various newspapers mostly of which were obituaries. One of these is the Northern New York Library System which has copies of many local newspapers in seven counties in Northern NY. There are a few that date back to 1850's.

Another resource for newspaper archives is Old Fulton Post Cards which has a larger selection of newspapers

For the Fisk(e) surname there is the Fiske Family Papers and for the Bigelow surname there is the Bigelow Society so if you are doing any research on either of these two families at all these two resources are priceless.

Francis Skinner Fiske

Francis Skinner Fiske b. 1825 in New Hampshire. Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. He graduated from Harvard Law in 1846 and was in legal practice at the outbreak of the Civil War. He went to Europe 1849 and passing on to Asia, was imprisoned by the Arabs in 1850. he came home in the summer of 1850 after sailing around the globe. On April 30, 1861, he enlisted and was appointed Lieutenant Colonel in command of the 2nd Regiment New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. For merit and leadership of his regiment at the Battle of Bull Run on August 29, 1862, he was brevetted Brigadier General of U.S. Volunteers on March 13, 1865. After the war he resumed his law practice and wrote articles for The New England Magazine until his death.