Return to main file
Brigadier General Asa Bacon Carey (1835–1912), son of James Benajah Cary and Mary Bacon Adams
Laura Melinda Colby (1846–1921), the daughter of Hon. Stoddard B. Colby and Harriet Elizabeth Proctor
Asa Bacon, the son of James B. and Mary B. Cary was born on 12 July 1835 in Canterbury, Windham County, Connecticut. [1][2] He died on 4 April 1912 in Orlando, Florida and is buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Tisbury, Dukes County, Massachusetts. [3][4] He married Laura Melinda Colby on 23 July 1867 in Washington, D.C. [5]
Laura Melinda Colby was born on 2 February 1846 in Derby, Vermont. [3][6] She died on 14 December 1921 and is buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery. [3]
Asa is said to have spelled his last name "Carey" because of an uncorrected spelling error at West Point. However, his father was referred to as James B. Carey.
Laura is referred to as Laura Cary in the 10 September 1867 will of her father Stoddard B. Colby.
Asa Bacon Carey received a bequest in his grandfather Fitch Adams's will of February 1837.
In 1850 Asa was a 15-year-old laborer living with Walter and Abigail Paine in Pomfret, Windham, Connecticut. [7] Abigail was his great aunt, the daughter of Captain Asa Bacon.
Asa entered the United States Military Academy as a cadet from Connecticut on 1 July 1854. [8] He was brevited a second lieutenant in the 6th infantry on 1 July 1858. From 1858 to 1859 he served at the garrison in Fort Columbus, New York. [4]
Asa was appointed a second lieutenant in the 7th infantry on 22 October 1858. [8] He served on frontier duty: the Utah Expedition in 1859 to 1860, the March to New Mexico in 1860, and at Albuquerque from 1860 to 1861. [4]
Asa was in New Mexico at the outbreak of the Civil War. [4] He was promoted to first lieutenant in the 13th infantry on 14 May 1861. [8] He was promoted to captain on 24 October 1861. [8]
Asa commanded a battalion at the Battle of Apache Canyon near Santa Fe. He captured Confederate ammunition, supplies and transportation, effectively ending Confederate operations in the area. [4] He was brevetted major on 28 March 1862 for gallantry and meritorious service in the battle of Apache Canyon.[9] He was later voted a unanimous resolution of thanks by the legislature of New Mexico. [4]
Asa was brevited lieutenant colonel for gallantry and meritorious service in the War against the Navaho Indians on 13 March 1865. [9]
On 25 July 1866 Brevet Lieutenant Colonel A.B. Carey, 13th U.S. Infantry, Chief Mustering and Disbursing Officer, District of New Mexico, applied for six months leave of absence to attend to private business of great importance. This application was forwarded, and approved by the Commanding Officer of the General District of New Mexico with the endorsement: "Brevet Lieutenant Colonel A.B. Carey Captain 13th Infantry has been here for nearly four years been under my command and has been one of the most efficient officers in the discharge of his duties, whether in garrison or in the field." The application was forwarded by the Commanding General, Department of the Missouri, (with the recommendation that his leave be granted) through headquarters Military Division of Missouri. On 15 August 1866 the Provost Marshal General recommended that Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Carey be ordered to close his office as Chief Mustering and Disbursing Officer, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and repair to Washington, D.C. with his records, reporting on arrival to the Adjutant General. Action on his application for leave was suspended. On 15 October 1866 Carey reported that he had completed the duties required of him and renewed his application for six months leave of absence—he had served continuously on the frontier in Utah and New Mexico from September 1859 until August 1866. His leave was approved by General Grant. [10]
 |
 |
Asa was appointed a major and paymaster on 5 October 1867. [8]
According to the census, in 1870 Asa and Laura, were living in Santa Fe. Asa was an army paymaster with real estate worth 12,000 dollars and a personal estate of 3,000 dollars. [7]
A catalogue produced for the 12 June 1873 annual West Point reunion listed the fates the 27 men in Asa's class who had graduated in 1858. Six had been killed in battle or subsequently died of their wounds, three had died, the school did not know what had happened to seven. Only six were still serving in the army. [11]
According to the census, in 1880, Asa and Laura were living with their son Edward and their daughter Edith in Washington, D.C. Asa was a major in the U.S. Army. [7]
Asa was promoted to lieutenant colonel and deputy paymaster general on 7 March 1895. [8] He was promoted to colonel and assistant paymaster general on 30 January 1899. [8] He was promoted to brigadier general and paymaster general on 30 January 1899. [8] Asa retired on 12 July 1899. [8]
In 1866 Asa was one of six investors who paid 30,000 dollars for a land claim called the "Ramirez Grant". This grant was sold to the San Pedro and Canon del Agua Company in 1888. [12] In 1882 Asa and Laura gave a lot of land, 50 by 100 feet, on Main street in Tisbury, Dukes county, Massachusetts on which to build the Episcopal Church. [13]
According to the notes from his memorial service, Asa was a close friend of Kit Carson. See a letter from Kit Carson to Asa.
According to the census, in 1900, Asa and Laura were living with their daughter Edith and two servants in Tisbury, Dukes County, Massachusetts. Asa was a brigadier general in the U.S. army. [7]
According to the census, in 1910, Asa and Laura were living with their daughter Edith and her husband and two servants in Memphis. [7]
A Colorado estate tax document records that Asa Bacon Carey, who died on 5 April 1912 and who was a resident of Tisbury, owned 1,800 dollars worth of Colorado railroad stock. [14]
Laura M. Carey applied for a Civil War widow's pension on 3 August 1912 from Massachusetts. [15]
According to the census, in 1920, Laura was living on William Street in Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard with her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Geer, age 78, and Mable Howes, age 44, a companian and trained nurse. [7]
Asa's survey response for Cullum's Register.
Photos: Asa Bacon Carey; Laura Melinda Colby and her brother, Edward Parker Colby.
Children of Brigadier General Asa Bacon Carey and Laura Melinda Colby:
1.Edward Colby Carey was born on 20 April 1871 in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory. He died on 16 or 19 February 1948 in Southern Pines, Moore County, North Carolina. He married Ruth Palmer.
2. Edith Carey was born on November 1878 in Washington, D.C. [3] She died on 19 February 1964 and is buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Tisbury, Dukes County, Massachusetts. [3] She married Brigadier General Meriwether Lewis Walker. Meriwether was born on 10 September 1869. [3] He died on 29 July 1949 and is buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery. [3]
Meriwether was governor of the Panama Canal Zone from 1924 to 1928. [16]
Children of Meriwether Lewis Walker and Edith Carey: (photo of Robert Luckey)
i. Cary Walker was born on 24 December 1910 in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. [16] She died on 10 March 2008 on Martha's Vineyard. [16] She married first Lieutenant General Robert Burneston Luckey in 1933 in Vineyard Haven. [16] He died in 1974. [16] She married second Doctor George Scheller in 1977. [16] He died in 1984. [16]
References
1. "Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630–1870," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Canterbury, from original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928, pp. 45–46.
2. David W. Dumas, ed., "Bacon - Adams - Whitney - Kingsbury Family Record," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 138 (1984), 32–38. Records compiled by John Bacon (1774–1846), record of John Bacon, son of Captain Asa Bacon and Abigail Whitney.
3. Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 28 December 2022), memorial pages for
Asa Bacon Carey (12 Jul 1835–4 Apr 1912), Memorial ID 230495446, citing Oak Grove Cemetery, Tisbury, Dukes County, Massachusetts; Maintained by jbsweet (contributor 47731621).4. Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Annual Reunion, June 12th, 1911 (Saginaw, MI: Seeman & Peters, 1911), 138–41.Laura Melinda Colby Carey (13 Feb 1846–14 Dec 1921), Memorial ID 142094772, citing Oak Grove Cemetery; Maintained by Sunset (contributor 47745050).
BG Meriwether Lewis Walker (30 Sep 1869–29 Jul 1947), Memorial ID 142047921, citing Oak Grove Cemetery; Maintained by Sunset.
Edith Colby Carey Walker (4 Nov 1878–19 Feb 1964), Memorial ID 142048320, citing Oak Grove Cemetery; Maintained by Sunset.
5. "Washington, D.C., U.S., Marriage Records, 1810–1953," database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884), entry for Asa B. Carey and Laura M Colb[!] 23 Jul 1867.
6. Laura Colby Carey, Application for Membership in the Massachusetts Society of the Colonial Dames of America, 8 November 1898.
7. U.S. Federal Census Collection, searchable databases, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/usfedcen)
1850 > CT > Windham > Pomfret, image 8. Walter Paine, 74, farmer; Abigail, 27; Sarah, 27; Asa B. Carey, 15.
1870 > New Mexico Territory > Santa Fe, image 2. Asa B. was 34 and born in Connecticut; Laura M. was 26 and born in Vermont. With Asa and Laura lived Mary Dillion, 35, and born in Massachusetts.
1880 > District of Columbia > Washington, District of Columbia > Washington, district 24, image 26. A.B. was 45 and born in Connecticut, Laura was 36 and born in Vermont, Edward was nine and born in New Mexico, and Edith was one and born in Washington, D.C.
1900 > MA > Dukes > Tisbury > district 244, images 5–6. Asa B. born July 1835 in Connecticut, Laura M., born February 1844 in Vermont, Edith C. born November 1829 in D.C. Asa and Laura had been married 33 years; Laura had two children and both were living.
1910 > TN > Shelby > Memphis Ward 16 > District 213, image 13. M.L. Walker was a 39, born in Virginia, and an army officer; Edith was 36, born in Washington, D.C.; A.B., the father-in-law, was 74, an army officer and a Civil War veteran; Laura M., the mother-in-law, was 61 and born in Vermont. Asa and Laura had been married for 45 years; Laura had two children and both were living.
1920 > MA > Dukes > Tisbury, image 14. Laura M. Carey, 75; Elizabeth Geer, 78, sister-in-law; Mable Howes, 44, companian, trained nurse.
8. "U.S. Select Military Registers, 1862–1985," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2345) > army > 1912, image 474. Brig. Gen. Asa B. Carey, born 12 July 1835.
Heitman:
9. Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, vol. 2, digitized as "Heitman's Register," Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com) > volume 2 > Part II Comprehensive Alphabetical List of Commissioned Officers of the Army, p. 133.
10. "Letters Received from the Adjutant General, 1861–1870," database with images, Fold3, citing "Letters Received by the Office of the Adjutant General, Main Series, 1861–1870, M619, NARA, 1866, Carey, A.B., New Mexico, Civil War, Files C209, C701.
11. "U.S., School Catalogs, 1765–1935," database with images, Ancestry (2012, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2203) > NY > USMA > 1873, image 94.
12. "Finding Aid of the Title Papers of San Pedro and Cañon del Agua Grants, 1844–1880," Rocky Mountain Online Archive (University of New Mexico, 2000, https://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=nmu1mss75bc.xml). "Inventory of the Title Papers of San Pedro and Canon del Agua Grants, 1844–1880", Center for Southwest Research Website, University of New Mexico, 2000, libxml.unm.edu/ loanm/nmu/ num1mss75bc.html.
13. Charles E. Banks, The History of Martha's Vineyard, vol. 2 (Boston: George H. Dean, 1911), 55.
14. "Colorado Wills and Probate Records, 1875–1974," database with images, Ancestry (2015, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8665) > Denver > Probate Cases 20395–20443, 1917, image 272.
15. 
"U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861–1934," database with images, Ancestry (2000, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/4654) > Canfield, Lewis–Carkhuff, John, image 3426.
Obituaries: "Promotion," Cincinnati Inquirer, 5 April 1912, p. 2. "Brig. Gen. Asa Bacon Carey," New York Times, 4 April 1912, p. 13; "General Asa Bacon Carey, Hartford Courant, 8 April 1912, p. 12.
12-May-2023