Founder's Biography
- REV. REUBEN E. BARTLETT
May 25, 1843 – August 06, 1912
Reuben Emerson Bartlett was born at Shutesbury, Massachusetts on May 25, 1843 to Lemuel Bartlett, Jr. and Sophia Drury and was educated at Madison University. He lived in Shutesbury until he was fifteen, when he moved to Leverett and then Amherst. According to records, the family farmed land in Shutesbury, Massachusetts:
Lemuel Bartlett, Jr. born August 24, 1812 in Stowe, Lamoille, Vermont and died January 16, 1888
Sophia Drury born October 1, 1814 in Wendell, Franklin, Massachusetts and died July 2, 1895
- Reuben E. Bartlett born May 25, 1843
- Francis A. Bartlett born December 12, 1844
- Needham L. Bartlett born March 11, 1848
- Emma S. Bartlett born February 2, 1851
- Asa Edward Bartlett born September 27, 1855
During the war he served as a member of the Thirty-seventh Massachusetts Infantry Regiment of Volunteers, belonging to Company F of that command, from his enlistment on July 18, 1862 at Pittsfield as private at the age of 19, until the conclusion of hostilities in June 1865. He was obliged to be in the hospital for some of the time due to sickness and was accidentally wounded by a blow from an axe at Brandy Station, but was nevertheless in several of the notable engagements with the enemy and did efficient service. His courage and heroism exhibited on the battlefield entitled him to membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he was an honored representative. He was distinguished for gallantry at the battle of Winchester, Sept. 19, 1864. He suffered seriously from injuries received in the army and received a pension from the government. In politics he was a republican.
According to the “Massachusetts Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the Civil War” published by the Adjutant General in 1937, this is the regimental history of battles fought:
Battle at White Oak Church, Virginia on 08 December 1862
Battle at Fredericksburg, Virginia on 13 December 1862
Battle at Fredericksburg, Virginia on 01 May 1863
Battle at Fredericksburg, Virginia on 03 May 1863
Battle at Fredericksburg, Virginia on 05 June 1863
Battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on 02 July 1863
Battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on 03 July 1863
Battle at Mine Run, Virginia on 30 November 1863
Battle at Wilderness, Virginia on 05 May 1864
Battle at Wilderness, Virginia on 06 May 1864
Battle at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia on 08 May 1864
Battle at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia on 09 May 1864
Battle at Wilderness, Virginia on 09 May 1864
Battle at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia on 10 May 1864
Battle at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia on 11 May 1864
Battle at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia on 12 May 1864
Battle at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia on 13 May 1864
Battle at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia on 15 May 1864
Battle at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia on 18 May 1864
Battle at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia on 21 May 1864
Battle at Near Pamunkey River, Virginia on 27 May 1864
Battle at North Anna River, Virginia on 27 May 1864
Battle at Pamunkey, Virginia on 27 May 1864
Battle at Cold Harbor, Virginia on 01 June 1864
Battle at Cold Harbor, Virginia on 03 June 1864
Battle at Cold Harbor, Virginia on 04 June 1864
Battle at Cold Harbor, Virginia on 05 June 1864
Battle at Cold Harbor, Virginia on 08 June 1864
Battle at Cold Harbor, Virginia on 11 June 1864
Battle on 15 June 1864
Battle at Petersburg, Virginia on 18 June 1864
Battle at Petersburg, Virginia on 19 June 1864
Battle at Petersburg, Virginia on 21 June 1864
Battle at Fort Stevens, District of Columbia on 12 July 1864
Battle at Snicker's Gap, Virginia on 20 July 1864
Battle at Snickersville, Virginia on 20 July 1864
Battle at Snicker's Gap, Virginia on 21 July 1864
Battle at Snicker's Gap, Virginia on 22 July 1864
Battle at Charles Town, West Virginia on 21 August 1864
Battle at Charlestown, West Virginia on 21 August 1864
Battle at Winchester, Virginia on 19 September 1864
Battle on 23 November 1864
Battle at Hatcher's Run, Virginia on 05 February 1865
Battle at Hatcher's Run, Virginia on 07 February 1865
Battle at Petersburg, Virginia on 25 March 1865
Battle at Petersburg, Virginia on 02 April 1865
Battle at Sailor's Creek, Virginia on 06 April 1865
Mustered out at Washington, DC on 21 June 1865
He afterwards prepared himself for the ministry. The Elm Street Baptist Church in Wilmington, Delaware was organized on July 30, 1873. Rev. N. C. Naylor, who had labored with them when a mission, became their first pastor. This interest grew out of the Baptist City Mission. Rev. Bartlett was called to the ministry and ordained there. He served for one year, but his failing health obliged him to resign and return to Massachusetts. The church disbanded in December 1876. Rev. Bartlett married his first wife, Josephine Moore on August 26, 1869. She was the daughter of Charles Moore and Emily Dudley, born August 24, 1845 in Erving, Franklin, Massachusetts. According to the 1880 U.S. Census the family resided in Sunderland, Franklin, Massachusetts. There were eight children by his first wife, seven of whom were living as of 1891:
- Reuel Earnest Bartlett born September 14, 1870
- Winthrop V. Bartlett born July 2, 1872
- Charles Frederick Bartlett born February 16, 1874
- Nettie Josephine Sophia Bartlett born October 16, 1875
- William Quimby Bartlett (Twin) born March 10, 1878
- Henry Wicks Bartlett (Twin) born March 10, 1878 – died before 1880
- Samuel E. Bartlett born October 24, 1870
- Nina Elizabeth Bartlett born December 25, 1881
Josephine died on January 24, 1882 at the age of 36. Rev. Bartlett married his second wife, Lydia Marie Dyer, on April 4, 1884. She was the daughter of Caleb Horton Dyer and Martha Chessman born on April 15, 1852 in Randolph, Norfolk, Massachusetts. Lydia was a missionary in Boston, associated with the Tremont Temple Church for twenty years. Together they were engaged as missionaries under the Baptist Home Missionary Society of New York. They served in Kansas, North Dakota and northern Montana. He became the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lebanon, Connecticut in October 1890. Rev. Bartlett also held pastorates at Deerfield, New Hampshire and Norwich, Connecticut. While residing in East Hampstead, New Hampshire, they were instrumental in founding the East Hampstead Union Evangelical Church, which was dedicated on April 28, 1897. Rev. Bartlett was the first pastor of the church and left the church in 1899 for reasons unknown. The church continues to this day as an active inter-denominational Christian fellowship serving the local community.
The 1900 U.S. Census shows the couple residing in Plaistow, New Hampshire with Lydia’s mother, Mrs. Martha Dyer. Lydia died on April 1, 1904 in Randolph, Franklin, Massachusetts at the age of 51. Her mother died in 1905 and was buried with her husband in the Central Cemetery on North Street in Randolph, Massachusetts at the age of 72.
The 1910 U.S. Census shows Rev. Bartlett residing with his one of his sons in Ephratah, Fulton, New York: William Bartlett age 32, born in Massachusetts, Clergyman - Baptist Church
Frances, age 29, born in New Hampshire
William, Jr., age 3, born in New York
Reuben, age 66, Father, Widower, born in Massachusetts, Clergyman - Baptist Church
On March 20, 1911, Rev. Bartlett married his third wife, Selinda Garvin, born July 01, 1850 in New York. She was the widow of Rev. Thomas H. Garvin born in Wisconsin in March 1856 and died on February 11, 1901 in Pacific Grove, California at the age of 44.
Rev. Bartlett died on August 06, 1912 at the age of 69 and is buried in El Carmelo Cemetery, Pacific Grove, California next to his third wife and her first husband. His gravestone is inscribed: “R. E. Bartlett, 37 Mass. Inf. Co. F., I will come and receive you unto myself. Welcome Home”. Selinda Garvin Bartlett died on May 21, 1927 at the age of 76.
03/28/2009
VJK
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