George Abiel Washburn (1827-1891)

George Abiel Washburn was born in Belchertown Massachusetts on April 23, 1827. According to Abiel Washburn and His Descendants by William Leroy Washburn*, his parents were millwright Abiel Washburn and Polly Webber. Polly originated from Stafford, CT, and Abiel moved his family there in 1835 or 1836. This is where George Abiel and his siblings were raised.

As a young man, George Abiel began apprenticing to a cabinet maker in Stafford, but perhaps sensing a more lucrative living in the city, moved to Hartford and worked as a bookkeeper, bank teller, and insurance adjuster.

He married Mary Graves Burt in 1848 in Hartford. She died two years later, in 1850, having given birth to two daughters: Mary in 1849 and Frances in 1850.

George Ariel married his second wife, Sarah Ann White, in 1854 in Hartford. She gave birth to five children: George Arthur in 1855, Albert Lyman in 1857, Sarah Alice in 1860, William Lewis* in 1862, and Leroy Herbert in 1869 (this last child did not survive).

In 1861 George Abiel enlisted in the Union Army, receiving a commission as First Lieutenant of the 4th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, was promoted to Captain of Company M and then to Major of the 16th Regiment. On September 17, 1862, he participated in the battle of Antietam during which he suffered a severe wound but survived (NOT mortal wound as stated on the monument). In recognition of his sacrifice and gallantry, he was made Lieutenant-Colonel on March 30, 1864 and Brevet Brigadier General on March 13, 1865.

He retired from military service and lived in South Carolina until his death on May 20, 1891. His body was returned to Hartford where he was interred at Spring Grove Cemetery, section H.