Photo # 27: Triumph

James Albert Barber, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Photo #27 Triumph

The Life of a Civil War Hero

James Albert Barber (1841-1925) was researched for a book, The Boys of Adams' Battery G, by my young friend Robert Grandchamp. He researched tirelessly to include every piece of information we could find. I already had his huge pension file and some family information but the best information came from the elderly granddaughter of James from the branch of the family that moved to, Idaho and Utah. She owned the copy of his photo taken in the Schofield Bros. Studio in Westerly. It is the same photo setting as my other 2nd great grandfather, Joseph Schofield. Isn't that amazing?

Known as Capt. Jim to his friends, James was fond of the sea. His father, a Westerly farmer had two wives and many children. The second wife who raised James, is a distant cousin of mine in another line. James married Hannah Josephine Tourgee (of the French Huguenot family of Piere/Peter Tourgee) and she bore him seven sons. My great grandfather, James Frederick (J. Fred) was his oldest son. My grandmother Josephine was named for this grandmother. Hannah Josephine Tourgee was named for her grandmother, Hannah Gould. All my family stories about this I have been able to confirm. [Display Board]

Sadly, the wife of James Albert Barber, is buried in an unmarked grave paid for her by her father and is buried nearby to him and not her husband. My grandmother did not like this Civil War hero much as he cried each time her saw her because she looks like "my dead wife". My grandmother said she died in childbirth and the stillborn baby is buried with her. The cemetery didn't know any of this. I copied the photo you see here to be put up in the cemetery office. They allowed me to photograph plot cards and ledger pages. I am forever thankful. It is a beautiful cemetery.

According to his obituary, which a family member confirmed, James did not live with any of his sons, preferring to live with family that lived within walking distance of the ocean. I think the draw of the ocean was too much a part of his life when he returned home from the war. He lived on his sloop, the Triumph, and was the Captain of the Watch Hill lifesaving station. He harvested seaweed to make money, which doesn't sound like fun to me. His hands were arthritic and he had to fight for his extra pension for the Medal of Honor ($10/month). That hardly seems fair. Knowing about him gave me a new perspective of the Civil War.

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