John H. Wilber
Soldier, Doctor
Patriarch

Roger A. Wilber

Roger A. Wilber lives in Ravena with his wife Cyndy and is supervisor of the preservation unit at the New York State Library in Albany. In this article, Roger writes about his granduncle, John H. Wilber, who grew up in Fulton. John was a member of an elite Civil War regiment prior to earning a medical degree and practicing medicine in Fulton and Cohoes.

JOHN H. Wilber may seem to be just another name, but it is much more to me. It bespeaks a tradition of continuity and dependability. The name “John H. Wilber” has been passed down in my family for generations, and lives today. Let us step back to the nineteenth century to learn why.

The Wilber family line had a close connection with Schoharie County, starting in the early 1800s. Among the first Wilbers to settle in Schoharie was Titus Wilber. Titus was born in Dutchess County in 1796 and moved to Duanesburg where he met and married Mary Simmons, around 1817. A son, William, was born in 1818 and, around 1820, the family moved to Middleburgh.

By 1835, the Wilber family included seven children and had moved to a place called Adams Hollow, [1] located near West Fulton, where they farmed. According to the 1835 New York State census, they owned two cattle, one hog and had made 36 yards of cloth for their own use. It was there, in West Fulton, that a daughter and later a son were born. Mary was born in 1836 and John H. Wilber on July 24, 1839. Shortly after John’s birth, the family moved to Broome. According to the 1855 New York State census, Titus and his family moved back to Fulton.

John H. Wilber gave his profession as “teacher” in the 1860 federal census, and on the muster roll when he volunteered for the army in 1861. But apparently he did not see this as a lifetime profession as he was also a student of medicine, registered with Dr. J. D. Wheeler of West Fulton. The Civil War, however, would interrupt his medical studies. John’s life would be changed by an event that took place in Virginia.

On May 24, 1861, Col. Elmer Ellsworth, organizer and commander of “Ellsworth’s Zouaves,” [2] seized a Confederate flag flying from the tavern and was shot dead by the tavern-keeper. Ellsworth was the first Union casualty and became a martyr. By September, the 44th New York Infantry – “Ellsworth’s Avengers” – was organized. The Avengers held to strict standards and moral codes. Ellsworth’s “Golden Resolutions” [3] prohibited:

First,– Entering drinking saloons at any hour of the day or night, except when compelled by imperative business which cannot be transacted by proxy, in which case a statement of the facts should be made to the Company immediately after the occurrence.

Second,– Entering houses of ill-fame under any circumstances or pretext whatever.

Third,– Entering any gambling saloon, or gambling for any sum of money or article, under any circumstances or pretext. Fourth,– Entering any private room attached to any hotel or saloon, for drinking or gambling purposes, under any circumstances. Fifth,– Playing billiards in any public billiard hall or saloon. Playing billiards is interdicted not because of any objection to the game as an elegant amusement to those who can afford it, but because for young men it is a step towards the other offences named, and the excitement and the associations of the billiard saloon naturally lead to drinking.

John H. Wilber was among the Schoharie County men [4] accepted for the elite 44th regiment, enlisting on August 22, 1861. According to the muster roll, John had blue eyes, light colored hair, light complexion and was 5’8” in height. John’s uniform would have included a blue cap, Zouave jacket with brass buttons, blue trousers with red stripes on the outer seams, shoes with yellow leggings and a Havelock cap cover.

The 44th regiment was mustered into federal service on October 5, 1861. On October 21st, the regiment left Albany by boat and traveled to New York City, arriving there on the following day. On October 23rd, the regiment marched from New York to Jersey City, New Jersey, where it boarded a train and traveled to Washington, D.C., arriving there on October 24th. On October 28th it crossed the Potomac at Long Bridge and traveled to Hall’s Hill, Virginia.

The custom of the period was to cease fighting during the winter and resume in the spring, so the regiment settled in for the winter, building temporary quarters at Hall’s Hill. Serious illnesses were common during this time, especially typhoid. In the course of waiting out the winter, John must have become gravely ill because when his regiment was preparing to leave its winter home, John was found to be too sick to join the regiment. Although he was prepared to fight for his country, John would never have the opportunity to do so. Instead, he was moved to a hospital at Philadelphia and remained there until September 1862. In September 1862, he was transferred to an army hospital at Albany (possibly Ira Harris Hospital). There, John stayed until May 5, 1863, when he was discharged due to disability. His time in the hospitals in Philadelphia and Albany must have confirmed the importance of continuing his medical education, as after John’s discharge, he resumed his medical studies and graduated from Eclectic Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1864.

After graduation, John returned to West Fulton where he practiced medicine for about three years. [5] In 1867, he married Alsena Deetta (born: April 22, 1840) in Duanesburg. In 1868, they moved to Oak Hill, Greene County, where they resided until 1871. In 1873, John and Alsena moved to Cohoes, residing on 8 Willow Street, and on May 3, 1873, a daughter, Avis Moon Wilber, was born. Two years later a second daughter, Mary Katie Wilber, was born. Katie, as she was called, died of cholera a year later, on August 10, 1876. Their only son, John Milton Wilber, was born around 1882, also in Cohoes.

John opened a drug store while still practicing medicine. The 1877 Cohoes City Directory listed John  as a “physician & druggist.” He placed advertisements as a druggist in the city directories of 1875 through 1891. John listed his office as 8 Willow Street until 1892.

For most of this period, the family resided in the same building as his business. In 1880, they temporarily moved to 120 Mohawk Street for a year or so, only to move back to 8 Willow Street. In 1889, they again temporarily moved away, to 90 Willow Street, only to return to 8 Willow Street by 1891. In 1892, they moved to 149 Ontario Street, where John and Alsena would reside until their deaths. The 1892 Cohoes City Directory lists his office as 18 Willow Street. [6] However, by 1894, he had moved his office to 147 Ontario Street, which was next door to his home.

In 1876, he joined the Park Methodist Church, and by 1877 had become an officer, serving on a variety of its organizations. [7] He later joined the Remsen Street Methodist Episcopal Church, where he served on its Official Board until his death. In addition, John was a prominent member of the Cohoes Masonic Lodge as well as the Cohoes City Lodge, A.O.U.W., and the Abraham Lincoln Council, No.7, O.U.A.M. [8] of Cohoes.

Several months prior to his death, John suffered a stroke with paralysis. He continued to have small strokes until he became confined to his bed, about three weeks prior to his death. On March 20, 1896, John H. Wilber died as a result of another stroke. His funeral, which took place at his 149 Ontario Street home, was described in a March 23, 1896 news article in the Cohoes Evening Dispatch. Rev. W. W. Carr, pastor of the Remsen Street church, delivered an address in which he reviewed John’s life as a citizen, physician and Christian, and paid high and well deserved tribute to him. John’s obituary, published in the Evening Dispatch on Saturday, March 21, 1896, says:

He was possessed of a kind and sympathetic nature, as many, will attest in this city, who received his professional assistance gratis and with a good will at times when it was a question of life or death with them. He never took an active part in politics, but affiliated with the Democrats, and several years ago when that party had control of the board of health he was prominently spoken of in connection with the office of health officer.[9]

John was buried in the Albany Rural Cemetery. At the time of his death, his home at 149 Ontario Street was valued at $1,500, with $1,200 in personal property. [10] This, he left in his will to his wife. After John’s death, his wife, Alsena, continued to live there until her death on January 5, 1912. Her will left the property, by then valued at $5,000, and her personal property, valued at $240, to her son and daughter, John Milton Wilber and Avis Moon Wilber Ostrander. [11]

At the time of his mother’s death, John Milton Wilber had a plumbing business at 143 Remsen Street, Cohoes. Avis Moon Wilber had married George W. Ostrander, a carpenter, some years before. Around 1915-16, the house at 149 Ontario Street was sold. It appears this home stayed in the family for nearly 25 years. John Milton Wilber’s date of death and burial location are unknown to me. He is not buried with his parents and sisters.

Avis and George Ostrander moved to Troy and had three children: Deetta, Vincent and George Jr. Avis died in Burlington, Vermont on April 1, 1949. George W. Ostrander, Sr., died in Troy on April 24, 1956.

I am constantly reminded of my granduncle. William, John’s brother, named one of his sons after John. This was my grandfather, John H. Wilber, Sr. My grandfather named one of his sons John as well. My father was John H. Wilber, Jr. and my brother, Dorance K. Wilber, named one of his sons John Wilber.

Sources

Albany, N.Y. Express, Sept. 28, 1864.

Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York, 1901, Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., New York and Albany, N.Y.

Cohoes, N.Y. Evening Dispatch, March 21, 1896 and March 23, 1896.

Deed of Sally Jane Akley & others to George Schermerhorn & John Wilber, March 28, 1868, deed book 54 pg. 217, office of Schoharie County Clerk, Schoharie, N.Y.

Federal census of 1890.

Ingraham, Charles A., Elmer F. Ellsworth and the Zouaves of ’61, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1925.

Landmarks of Albany County, Amasa J. Parker, ed., D. Mason & Co., Syracuse, N.Y. 1897.

Munsell, Joel, History of Cohoes, New York, Albany, 1877; reprint by Eric Hugo Printing, Schenectady, N.Y., 1969.

Nash, Capt. Eugene, History of the 44th Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, R.R. Donnelly & Sons Co., Chicago, 1911.

Warner, George H., Military Records of Schoharie County Veterans of Four Wars, Weed, Parsons and Company, Albany, N.Y., 1891.

Will of Alsena D. Wilber, Albany County, N.Y. file 4474, recorded February 3, 1912, book 63, pg. 365.

Will of John H. Wilber, Albany County, N.Y. file 146, recorded May 9, 1896, book 45, pg. 104. 

Notes

[2] Zouave units were named for French Algerian units known for bravery and colorful uniforms. The original French army Zouaves were made up of tribesmen from Zouaoua.

[3] Elmer F. Ellsworth and the Zouaves of ’61,Charles A. Ingraham.

[4] In Military Records of Schoharie County Veterans of Four Wars,George H. Warner lists 38 Schoharians as members of the 44th.

[5] Landmarks of Albany County,Amansa J. Parker, ed., which gives no source.

[6] The number 18 was found only once, in a city directory, and could be a typographical error since there were so many other instances of residency at 8 Willow Street.

[7] History of Cohoes,Joel Munsell.

[8] A.O.U.W. refers to the Ancient Order of United Workman and O.U.A.M. to the Order of United American Mechanics. Many 19th century lodges were benevolent associations that provided insurance to their members.

[9] Cohoes Evening Dispatch,March 21, 1896.

[10] John H. Wilber’s will.

[11] Alsena D. Wilber’s will.