AARON BARKER – 118th INFANTRYDIED IN 1864 – DISCHARGED BY ORDER OF MG BENJAMIN BUTLER - Aaron, shoemaker born in Cottingham Hall Gate, Yorkshire, England in 1824, to William and Elizabeth (Dalby) Barker, immigrated to the US and settled in Chazy. He met and married Lydia Sprague, daughter of Bela and Olive (Hawks) Sprague. They had 3 children: William, Adelbert and Olive. Olive died when very young. Lydia passed away in 1859. Aaron then married Lydia's sister, Achsah, about 1860. They had 2 daughters, Mary and Lydia.Aaron enlisted in Company I in the 118th New York Infantry and contracted a disability while he was in the service. When the regiment went to their first engagement at the Siege of Suffolk in April 1863, they left Aaron behind as a cook in a hospital. He was discharged for disability by order of Major General Benjamin Butler.The army discharged him March 20, 1864, but he was so weak that he died from his illness shortly after getting home – April 11, 1864. He was buried in the Riverview Cemetery in Chazy. Unfortunately, Achsah died around this time, too, so Aaron's two sons by Lydia and 2 daughters by Achsah, were orphaned. She is probably buried with Aaron. Some of the children went to live with their grandfather, Bela Sprague, who took them first to Illinois and then to Iowa.Before she died, Achsah applied for a Widow’s Pension which was granted, but she died shortly thereafter. William A. Ladd from Chazy became the guardian of the minor children and a pension was granted for them in 1866.In 1887, the family applied for a military headstone to be placed on Aaron’s grave. He is buried in the Riverview Cemetery in Chazy where his wives were buried.
