Nye's Life Before the War

Welcome back to the Nye Diary Project, where we continue to look into what the diary does not say, that is, the backstory of Nye’s life.

Albert B Nye’s entry in A Genealogy of the Nye Family tells us a couple of important things. First, that the mysterious ever-present “B” stands for Bancroft, second, that he left his wife and son behind for the war, and lastly, that his living situation was rather chaotic.

The 1850 census puts Nye in Norwich, but the 1860 census puts him in Lebanon, where his son George was born in 1862. The place of births of his children suggest he may have been living in Hanover and Thetford before returning to Norwich. But why?

It could have been due to Nye’s profession, as a painter, which is mentioned before the war in his listing in the 1860 census in Lebanon, living at the hotel of Howard B. Benton. Maybe he moved around to get more work?

Nye's entry in Lebanon Census 1860

His profession may also explain why he came to Lebanon in the first place, which in turn would explain why he ended up registered for the 15th New Hampshire Infantry.

No matter the reason, end up in the 15th New Hampshire Infantry, he did. And that is what brought him to New York, and to the New York City Hospital, where the diary begins.

Remember the diary? We are getting it, I promise.

- Ella

Nye Family History

Hello again! Welcome back to my project on the Civil War diary of Albert B Nye. When we last left off, I noted how much the diary can tell us about Albert Nye’s life beyond the basic sketch we get from his gravestone. But the diary centers around his time during the war. Who was he? Did he have a family? What did he leave behind? In order to answer these questions and ground the diary in a life before the war, we must look beyond the diary itself. Albert B Nye’s story begins long before he began this diary. For my purposes, his story starts with Benjamin Nye, the first Nye to come to the United States from England. Benjamin arrived in Massachusetts on the “Abigail” in 1635. He was Albert B Nye’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather. From A Genealogy of the Nye Family, I was able to gather that the Nye family first came to Vermont with Albert B Nye’s Great-Grandfather, Daniel Nye, after he served in the Revolutionary War. Due to an injury during the war, Daniel was compelled to wear a bandage over his eye for the rest of his life. They lived in Orange County VT, presumably as farmers, until Albert B Nye’s father, Samuel, moved to Norwich. It is Albert B Nye’s entry in this very genealogy that gave me my first insight into his life and allowed me to start to answer my questions.

Albert Nye’s entry in A genealogy of the Nye family

Stay tuned. - Ella