Among the seven children of Andrew and Calma was Charles H. Gilbert, born in New York in 1826 or 1827, and moved to Wisconsin with his family.

Charles died of illness during the Civil War on September 5, 1864, in Cario, Illinois. He was a lieutenant in Company F of the 40th Wisconsin Infantry. Sadly, his wife Eliza Day would also die young, passing on February 16, 1868 at the age of 39. Husband and wife are buried at Spring Grove Cemetery.

Following the death of their parents, Carrie and Harry Gilbert were adopted by Eliza’s sister Betsey and her husband R. G. Bennett. Tragically, both Carrie and Harry would would die young as well, neither living to be as old as their parents at the time of their deaths. The couple also had one birth son, Griggs, “a most excellent youth,” who would die at age 16 from diphtheria. According to the Centennial History of the Town of Nunda, “[t]he entire family lived but a few years,” and Carrie, who graduated Nunda Academy, wrote “The Mission of Difficulty,” an essay that was full of excellence and appreciation for those who had made themselves victors of circumstances.

The only child of Charles and Eliza to survive to adulthood and start a family was Clarence Day Gilbert. You can read about his life HERE.

[The 40th Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was among scores of regiments that were raised in the summer of 1864 as Hundred Days Men, an effort to augment existing manpower for an all-out push to end the war within 100 days. The 40th Wisconsin was organized at Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into Federal service on June 14, 1864. The regiment was mustered out on September 16, 1864. The 40th Wisconsin suffered 1 officer and 18 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 19 fatalities. Source: Wikipedia]