GEORGE PARKER BIXBY was born in Cuttingsville, Vermont, in 1831, the son of Robert and Phylinda (Grover) Bixby. He enlisted at the age of 29 from Shrewsbury, Vermont, on August 27, 1861, and was mustered in at St. Albans, Vermont, on September 16, 1861, as a Private, Company I, 5th Regiment, Vermont Infantry. He was wounded on April 16, 1862, at Lee’s Mills, Virginia. He was wounded again at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, on December 13, 1862. He re-enlisted on December 15, 1863, and was promoted to the rank of Corporal on March 1, 1864. He was killed in action at the Battle of the Wilderness, in Virginia, on May 5, 1864.

George’s brothers Hascall Freeman Bixby and Robert Bixby Jr. also served in Company I, 5th Regiment, Vermont Infantry. Hascall and Robert both enlisted on September 6, 1861. Robert was discharged for disability on May 22, 1862, and Hascall was discharged for disability on January 17, 1863 (due to a wound received at the Battle of Antietam, Maryland).

George’s brother Orrick L. Bixby did not serve in the Civil War, but Orrick’s sons James Austin Bixby and John Oscar Bixby did – also in Company I, 5th Regiment, Vermont Infantry. James Austin enlisted on September 9, 1861; was promoted to the rank of Corporal and then to the rank of Sergeant; and finally was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on April 23, 1863 (to date March 25, 1863). He was wounded at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia, on June 4, 1864, and was mustered out on September 15, 1864. John Oscar enlisted as a “substitute” on August 25, 1864. He was mustered out on June 29, 1865.

George’s nephew Charles Franklin Bixby, a younger son of Orrick, was the second husband of Cora Ella (Crocker) (Whitney) Bixby, and the step-father of Mertie Belle (Whitney) Wimble (my wife’s grandmother). The identification disc worn during the war by George Parker Bixby was passed down through this family. We can surmise that when George was killed, James Austin Bixby (his nephew and the Second Lieutenant of his company) took possession of the disc, and that after the war it passed from James Austin to his brother Charles.

David Jay Webber
December 16, 2008