Abner Pomeroy Bridgman was the tenth of the eleven children of Spencer and Dotha (Burt) Bridgman, of Westhampton, Massachusetts. He was born and raised in the old family homestead that had been built by his grandfather Israel Bridgman on North Road in Westhampton in the 1790s.
Abner attended the local one-room schoolhouse and later Williston Seminary in Easthampton. On November 15, 1855, he married Hannah Strong Ludden, daughter of Almon B. and Clarissa (Clapp) Ludden, who lived in the house near Outlook Farm where Dr. Thomas Cleary has lived in recent years. Abner and Hannah's wedding took place in the front parlor of that house.
Abner and Hannah moved in with Abner's parents on the Bridgman family farm on North Road. Abner worked on the farm, gradually taking over his aging father's responsibilities. Hannah eventually gave birth to six children, the youngest of which died in infancy.
On September 8, 1862, during the Civil War, Abner enlisted in the 52nd Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Co. K. His term of service was brief, however, for on February 23, 1863, he was discharged for disability at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His health suffered much during his time in the service, and he never fully regained his strength.
Nevertheless, after returning to Westhampton, Abner tried to carry on his work on the farm. He also became involved in the lumbering business, which his son Dwight would one day take over. In 1873, he was nearly killed while crossing the Mill River near the Ross farm on Meadow Street in Florence, when the bridge collapsed sending him, his horses, and his wagon full of lumber into the river below. Abner brought a suit against the town of Northampton and was later awarded $3500. in damages.
In March of 1875, using the money he had received from his lawsuit against the town, Abner decided to move west to a climate more suited to his health conditions. He and his wife and daughters (it is not known if his eldest son Dwight joined the family) settled in Onarga, Iroquois County, Illinois, for a year and a half. Little is known about the family's time in Illinois other than a brief statement Abner made near the end of his life, "When in Illinois I canvassed some but was unable to follow it any more than to pay my way, my object being to try a change of climate." By "canvassing" one assumes that Abner meant the he worked as a peddler. The family returned to Westhampton in September of 1876.
In the fall of 1881, Abner finally decided that his health would no longer permit him to do heavy work, so he turned control of the farm over to his son Dwight, while he and his wife and four daughters moved to the village of Florence. There Abner found work as the custodian of the Florence High School (later known as Florence Grammar School) on Pine Street. The family lived for some time in a rented house at the corner of Park and West Center streets, but in 1887 they bought the small house at 12 Pine Street, where members of the family lived for 52 years.
Abner Bridgman died in 1889, three days before his fifty-seventh birthday. His wife Hannah survived him by thirty years.
© 2013 James E. Bridgman
Abner attended the local one-room schoolhouse and later Williston Seminary in Easthampton. On November 15, 1855, he married Hannah Strong Ludden, daughter of Almon B. and Clarissa (Clapp) Ludden, who lived in the house near Outlook Farm where Dr. Thomas Cleary has lived in recent years. Abner and Hannah's wedding took place in the front parlor of that house.
Abner and Hannah moved in with Abner's parents on the Bridgman family farm on North Road. Abner worked on the farm, gradually taking over his aging father's responsibilities. Hannah eventually gave birth to six children, the youngest of which died in infancy.
On September 8, 1862, during the Civil War, Abner enlisted in the 52nd Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Co. K. His term of service was brief, however, for on February 23, 1863, he was discharged for disability at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His health suffered much during his time in the service, and he never fully regained his strength.
Nevertheless, after returning to Westhampton, Abner tried to carry on his work on the farm. He also became involved in the lumbering business, which his son Dwight would one day take over. In 1873, he was nearly killed while crossing the Mill River near the Ross farm on Meadow Street in Florence, when the bridge collapsed sending him, his horses, and his wagon full of lumber into the river below. Abner brought a suit against the town of Northampton and was later awarded $3500. in damages.
In March of 1875, using the money he had received from his lawsuit against the town, Abner decided to move west to a climate more suited to his health conditions. He and his wife and daughters (it is not known if his eldest son Dwight joined the family) settled in Onarga, Iroquois County, Illinois, for a year and a half. Little is known about the family's time in Illinois other than a brief statement Abner made near the end of his life, "When in Illinois I canvassed some but was unable to follow it any more than to pay my way, my object being to try a change of climate." By "canvassing" one assumes that Abner meant the he worked as a peddler. The family returned to Westhampton in September of 1876.
In the fall of 1881, Abner finally decided that his health would no longer permit him to do heavy work, so he turned control of the farm over to his son Dwight, while he and his wife and four daughters moved to the village of Florence. There Abner found work as the custodian of the Florence High School (later known as Florence Grammar School) on Pine Street. The family lived for some time in a rented house at the corner of Park and West Center streets, but in 1887 they bought the small house at 12 Pine Street, where members of the family lived for 52 years.
Abner Bridgman died in 1889, three days before his fifty-seventh birthday. His wife Hannah survived him by thirty years.
© 2013 James E. Bridgman
Abner Pomeroy Bridgman was the tenth of the eleven children of Spencer and Dotha (Burt) Bridgman, of Westhampton, Massachusetts. He was born and raised in the old family homestead that had been built by his grandfather Israel Bridgman on North Road in Westhampton in the 1790s.
Abner attended the local one-room schoolhouse and later Williston Seminary in Easthampton. On November 15, 1855, he married Hannah Strong Ludden, daughter of Almon B. and Clarissa (Clapp) Ludden, who lived in the house near Outlook Farm where Dr. Thomas Cleary has lived in recent years. Abner and Hannah's wedding took place in the front parlor of that house.
Abner and Hannah moved in with Abner's parents on the Bridgman family farm on North Road. Abner worked on the farm, gradually taking over his aging father's responsibilities. Hannah eventually gave birth to six children, the youngest of which died in infancy.
On September 8, 1862, during the Civil War, Abner enlisted in the 52nd Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Co. K. His term of service was brief, however, for on February 23, 1863, he was discharged for disability at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His health suffered much during his time in the service, and he never fully regained his strength.
Nevertheless, after returning to Westhampton, Abner tried to carry on his work on the farm. He also became involved in the lumbering business, which his son Dwight would one day take over. In 1873, he was nearly killed while crossing the Mill River near the Ross farm on Meadow Street in Florence, when the bridge collapsed sending him, his horses, and his wagon full of lumber into the river below. Abner brought a suit against the town of Northampton and was later awarded $3500. in damages.
In March of 1875, using the money he had received from his lawsuit against the town, Abner decided to move west to a climate more suited to his health conditions. He and his wife and daughters (it is not known if his eldest son Dwight joined the family) settled in Onarga, Iroquois County, Illinois, for a year and a half. Little is known about the family's time in Illinois other than a brief statement Abner made near the end of his life, "When in Illinois I canvassed some but was unable to follow it any more than to pay my way, my object being to try a change of climate." By "canvassing" one assumes that Abner meant the he worked as a peddler. The family returned to Westhampton in September of 1876.
In the fall of 1881, Abner finally decided that his health would no longer permit him to do heavy work, so he turned control of the farm over to his son Dwight, while he and his wife and four daughters moved to the village of Florence. There Abner found work as the custodian of the Florence High School (later known as Florence Grammar School) on Pine Street. The family lived for some time in a rented house at the corner of Park and West Center streets, but in 1887 they bought the small house at 12 Pine Street, where members of the family lived for 52 years.
Abner Bridgman died in 1889, three days before his fifty-seventh birthday. His wife Hannah survived him by thirty years.
© 2013 James E. Bridgman
Abner attended the local one-room schoolhouse and later Williston Seminary in Easthampton. On November 15, 1855, he married Hannah Strong Ludden, daughter of Almon B. and Clarissa (Clapp) Ludden, who lived in the house near Outlook Farm where Dr. Thomas Cleary has lived in recent years. Abner and Hannah's wedding took place in the front parlor of that house.
Abner and Hannah moved in with Abner's parents on the Bridgman family farm on North Road. Abner worked on the farm, gradually taking over his aging father's responsibilities. Hannah eventually gave birth to six children, the youngest of which died in infancy.
On September 8, 1862, during the Civil War, Abner enlisted in the 52nd Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Co. K. His term of service was brief, however, for on February 23, 1863, he was discharged for disability at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His health suffered much during his time in the service, and he never fully regained his strength.
Nevertheless, after returning to Westhampton, Abner tried to carry on his work on the farm. He also became involved in the lumbering business, which his son Dwight would one day take over. In 1873, he was nearly killed while crossing the Mill River near the Ross farm on Meadow Street in Florence, when the bridge collapsed sending him, his horses, and his wagon full of lumber into the river below. Abner brought a suit against the town of Northampton and was later awarded $3500. in damages.
In March of 1875, using the money he had received from his lawsuit against the town, Abner decided to move west to a climate more suited to his health conditions. He and his wife and daughters (it is not known if his eldest son Dwight joined the family) settled in Onarga, Iroquois County, Illinois, for a year and a half. Little is known about the family's time in Illinois other than a brief statement Abner made near the end of his life, "When in Illinois I canvassed some but was unable to follow it any more than to pay my way, my object being to try a change of climate." By "canvassing" one assumes that Abner meant the he worked as a peddler. The family returned to Westhampton in September of 1876.
In the fall of 1881, Abner finally decided that his health would no longer permit him to do heavy work, so he turned control of the farm over to his son Dwight, while he and his wife and four daughters moved to the village of Florence. There Abner found work as the custodian of the Florence High School (later known as Florence Grammar School) on Pine Street. The family lived for some time in a rented house at the corner of Park and West Center streets, but in 1887 they bought the small house at 12 Pine Street, where members of the family lived for 52 years.
Abner Bridgman died in 1889, three days before his fifty-seventh birthday. His wife Hannah survived him by thirty years.
© 2013 James E. Bridgman
Inscription
Abner P. Bridgman/Member/of Co. K/52 Reg. M.V.M./Died/Feb. 26 1889/Æ 57 yrs./
His Wife/Hannah S. Ludden/ Died/Oct. 1 1919/Æ 86 yrs.//
Henry Noble/Son of/A. P. & H. S. Bridgman/Died Mar. 12 1872/Æ 9 mos.//
Delia L. B./Wife of/J. H. Gilpin/1865 – 1918
Emily D./1859 – 1924
Myra B./1869-1939//
Family Members
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