Horatio Nelson Webber (1808 – 1838) was not a direct ancestor in the Shaw line, but he holds clues to the ancestry of Oliver A. WEBBER  because Oliver was appointed guardian of his children when he died.

Horatio Nelson Webber was born Aug 1808 in Vassalboro Kennebec, Maine.  His parents were Jeremiah Webber and Belsora Horn.  He married  Dorothy (Dolly) F. Harlow on 18 Feb. 1830 in Vassalboro. Marriage intentions were published 19 Jan 1830 in Sidney, Kennebec, Maine.  Horatio died 25 Sept. 1838, and is  buried in Hallowell Village Cemetery, Kennebec, Maine.  Probate took more than a year and is dated 25 Dec 1839.

Dorothy (Dolly) Harlow was born 16 Oct 1812 in Sidney, Kennebec, Maine.   Her parents were Jabez Harlow (1775 – 1817) and Catherine Hastings (1778 – 1870).  In the 1850 census, Dolly and her two daughters, Sarah and Mary were living in Vassalboro. Dolly died on 22 Jul 1902 in Hallowell, Kennebec, Maine and is also buried in Hallowell Village Cemetery.

Children of Horatio and Dolly:

Children (named in probate records): Mary Webber, Susan B. Webber (also  Susan B. Lowell), Sarah H. Webber, all minors. Oliver A. WEBBER was appointed  their guardian. Charles E. Webber was “heir of age.”

Children

1. Charles E. Webber

I can’t reconcile Charles E Webber’s early 1821 birth with his parents marriage or dates of birth, but there is other compelling evidence he is Charles’ son and Oliver’s ward.

1821 Evidence – 1860 Census states he was 39, family genealogies

1831 Evidence – Civil War records, parents age and marriage date, family genealogies, son named Horatio Nelson Webber

Charles E Webber’s wife Katherine Grant was born in 1826 and died in 1866. In the 1860 census, Charles E Webber and Katherine were farming in Vassalboro, Maine with three small children.     Mary Cowan, born about 1795 in Maine, was living with the family in 1860.  I don’t think she was Katherine’s mother because in the 1850 census she was living with William and Jerusha Gaslin.

Charles enlisted in Company D, Maine 21st Infantry Regiment on 13 Oct 1862 as a Private. He died on duty in the Civil War 04 Apr 1863 and is buried in  the Baton Rouge National Cemetery.

The 21st Maine Infantry under Colonel Elijah D. Johnson was organized in Augusta, Maine and mustered in October 14, 1862 for nine months’ service under the command of Colonel Elijah D. Johnson.

The regiment left Maine for Washington, D.C., October 21. Ordered upon reaching Trenton, N.J., to return to New York, and served duty at East New York until January 1863. Embarked for New Orleans, La., January 9. Companies A, C, E, F, H, and K, on the steamer Onward, reached New Orleans January 31, and moved to Baton Rouge, La., February 3. The balance of the regiment [including Charles’ Company D] arrived at Baton Rouge February 11. Attached to 1st Brigade, 1st Division, XIX Corps, Department of the Gulf, to July 1863. Participated in the operations against Port Hudson March 7-20, 1863. Served duty at Baton Rouge until May. Advance on Port Hudson May 20-24. Action at Plains Store May 21. Siege of Port Hudson May 24-July 8. Assaults on Port Hudson May 27 and June 14. Surrender of Port Hudson July 8. Ordered home July 24.

The 21st Maine Infantry mustered out of service August 25, 1863.   The regiment lost a total of 172 men during service; 1 officer and 26 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 144 enlisted men died of disease.

I don’t know whether Charles died in battle or of disease, given the regiment totals above, disease is much more likely.  His regiment was in involved in operations, but his regiment was assisting in operations around Port Hudson a few days before his death.

The Siege of Port Hudson occurred from May 22 to July 9, 1863, when Union Army troops assaulted and then surrounded the Mississippi River town of Port Hudson, Louisiana, during the American Civil War.

Confederate batteries fire down onto Union gunboats on the Mississippi.

In cooperation with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s offensive against Vicksburg, Mississippi, Union Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks’s army moved against the Confederate stronghold at Port Hudson on the Mississippi River. On May 27, 1863, after their frontal assaults were repulsed, the Federals settled into a siege that lasted for 48 days. Banks renewed his assaults on June 14 but the defenders successfully repelled them. On July 9, 1863, after hearing of the fall of Vicksburg, the Confederate garrison of Port Hudson surrendered, opening the Mississippi River to Union navigation from its source to the Gulf of Mexico.

Barbette position at Port Hudson mounting a 10-inch (254 mm) Columbiad. This type of cannon would use a 102 pound shell, projected from a smooth bore.

Children of Charles and Katherine:

i.  Frank Leslie Webber b, 01 Dec 1851 in York, Maine; d. 27 Jun 1928 in Augusta, Maine;  In the 1870 census, Frank (age 19) was living with Rufus R Lisherness (age 29) and Minerva Lisherness (age 30) in Augusta, Maine and working in a machine shop; m. bin 1879 to Alice P. Randall (16 Oct 1856 – after 1930) In the 1910 census, Frank was a grocery dealer in Augusta, Maine.

ii. Ann M Webber b. ca. 1855 Vassalboro

iii. Horatio Nelson Webber b. 5 Jun 1856 Vassalboro; m1. Helen Leigh b: Mar 1857; Horatio moved to California some time between 1910 and 1920.  a son Leigh Webber (8 Apr 1893 – 12 Apr 1962) m2. Julia Frances Torrey b: 22 Jul 1861

Source: Official bulletin of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, Volumes 16-17 By Sons of the American Revolution 1921

Leigh Webber Sons of American Revolution Application 1

Leigh Webber Sons of American Revolution Application 2

3. Susan Brown Webber

Susan’s husband John H. Lowell was born in 1830 in Maine. In the 1880 census, Susan’s mother Dorothy Webber was boarding with Susan and John. 

Children of Susan and John:

i. Rittena F Lowell b. 23 Sep 1854

ii. Mary (Maryetta)  E. Lowell b. 28 Feb 1856; Public School Teacher, Never married 1900 Census, Age: 44, Living in Spencer Brook, Isanti, Minnesota , 1910 Census, Age: 54, Living in Hallowell Ward 3, Kennebec, with Susan B Lowell: daughter, single, 1920 census, Age 64, living in Anoka Ward 2, Anoka, Minnesota, with her niece Melvina Fulton (Age 47) and her son Keith

iii. Elizabeth (Lizzie) H. Lowell b. ca. 1858; m. 1890 to Everett Kimball Day (1860 – 1940) No children in 1900, 1910, 1920 or 1930 census Rumford, Oxford, Maine.  Everett was a merchant of a dry goods store.

iv. William (Willie) H. Lowell b. Jun 1861 Maine m. 1884 to Annie [__?__]  In the 1910 census, William was a Fish Dealer in Bucksport, Hancock, Maine

iv. Henry F. Lowell 1v. ca. 1865 ;No record after 1880 census.

Sources:

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/1985269/person/-559602006

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/1112684/person/-1924220893

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/o/b/Stephen-L-Robbins/FILE/0055page.html

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~fayfamily/ralph_webber.html

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/1112684/person/-1924220893?ssrc=