St. Albans, August, 1979. Captain Alonzo R. Hurlbut has emerged from years of obscurity in the dusty confines of the St. Albans Library attic, thanks to Trustee Don Pierce, who rescued the portrait and two other items and presented them to the Historical Society.

Alonzo Reuben Hurlbut joined the First Vermont Volunteer Regiment in 1861, was wounded and then in August the whole regiment was mustered out. Within a year he re-enlisted [in the 5th Vermont Infantry], as a first lieutenant, was promoted to captain. Wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness, he suffered amputation of his left leg, and died in Armory Square Hospital, Washington, D. C. on June 10, 1864. [*Note]

Under the terms of Gov. J. Gregory Smith's will, the second floor of the Library building was designated as a meeting place for the GAR. Why the Post was named for the Captain is not known, but an old photograph of the room shows his portrait on the wall looking proudly down on the gatherings of Civil War Veterans of A. R. Hurlbut Post No. 60. Hurlbut's portrait, a photograph mounted on linen, was in poor condition, cracked and dried, with holes where a frame had pierced it and some one had removed the frame; but William Gillespie of St. Albans did a little artful touching up, Edmund Steele, also of the city, provided glass and another frame. So this veteran of the long ago now occupies his proper position in the military section of the Museum.

Two monuments in the Lake Road Cemetery record the names and dates of the family: parents, three brothers and two sisters. Three of these died very young, his mother at age 36, then another brother, and his father, Reuben, who had gone to California, in 1853. Only his sister Mary was left, the wife of A. E. French.

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Capt. Alonzo R. Hurlbut Co. A 5th Regt. Vt. Vols. Wounded at the battle of the Wilderness May 5, and died at Washington,D.C. June 10, 1864. Æ 27 Ys.

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Note: The U.S. Army General Hospital records indicate Alonzo's right leg was the one amputated; also his date of death is variously recorded as 9 and 10 June, interspersed throughout the records.

Source: The article appeared in late Aug 1979, in the St. Albans Messenger. Permission gratiously granted to reprint this article, given by Josh Kauffman, Managing Director, St. Albans Messenger, 4/15/2002.

The CDV photograph is part of Ed Italo's First Brigade Collection. The gravestone photographs and a copy of the article was provided by Dave Hurlbut, St. Albans, 2nd-great-grandson of Alonzo Reuben Hurlbut.

Click on the tombstone for a close-up.