I have several direct and collateral ancestors that served in the Civil War. One of those relations was Christopher Vickers (sometime spelled Vicars). There are several Christopher Vickers that were born and died in the same parts of New England and around the same time periods. I’d like to tell you a little about the Christopher Vickers that was born in Thompson, CT on the 19th of June 1831.

His parents were Christopher Vickers and Mary Curliss. He married Celinda Dailey on January 30, 1852 in Killingly, CT and Diannah  Hazard Smith/Thomas on December 1, 1863 in Oxford, MA. Diannah was the mother of Christopher’s sister-in-law, Fannie Thomas Vickers, and nearly ten years older than Christopher. Christopher had three known children, William Christopher (21 Feb 1855 – 9 Mar 1878), Henry A. (Jan 1858 – 19 June 1859), and Albert R. Vickers (4 June 1862 – aft. 1919).

Christopher volunteered for Company G, 2nd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery on December 4, 1863. He was captured in Plymouth, North Carolina in April of 1864 and died while a prisoner of war. His military records each carry a variety of dates for his death- August 30, 1864 at Andersonville, Georgia, September 15, 1864 at Andersonville, and October 1864 in Charleston, South Carolina.

 His widow’s pension application (and after her death, his son Albert’s pension record) discuss the various dates and settle Christopher’s date of death on August 30, 1864 from chronic diarrhea.

Diannah Vickers died on October 11, 1877. Her son, William, passed on March 9, 1878. Son, Albert Vickers successfully applied for the pension in his own right.

Christopher Vickers was not the only Nipmuc casualty of the Civil War. His older brother, Rufus Vickers (3 July 1824 – 6 November 1864), also perished at Andersonville. Others who did not return include Daniel Gigger, William H. Cady, and Hezekiah Dorous.

More the next time we meet…

Aquene,

Cher