DOB/DOD: September 9, 1824 (Branford, CT) – August 19, 1875 (at sea Sulawesi Tengah, Indonesia); 51 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Eliza J. Purse (1826-1903) on March 4, 1851.
CHILDREN: Four daughters, Agnes S. Lanfare Woodward (1855-1894), Mary E. (1857-1926), Adella M. Lanfare Thompson (1858-1889), and Jesse F. (1862-1870).
ENLISTMENT: November 16, 1861, in Branford, Connecticut.
DISCHARGE: Mustered out August 2, 1865.
FAMILY: Born to Oliver Jr. (1782-1873) and Lois Willard Lanfare [also seen as Lanphere, Lamphier, Lanphier, and Landphier] (1792-1825). Four sisters, Martha (1810-1870), Mary Ann (1812-1870), Betsy Lamphier Peck (1816-1822), and Louisa Lanfare Dodd (1818-). Three brothers, William S. (1814-1816), William S. (1820-1890), and Henry (1822-).
MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION
AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING: Civil War
BRANCH OF SERVICE: Army
UNIT: 1st Connecticut Cavalry, Company B
DATE OF ISSUE AND PRESENTATION: May 3, 1865
AGE ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT: 20
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant (Cavalry) Aaron Steven Lanfare, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 6 April 1865, while serving with Company B, 1st Connecticut Cavalry, in action at Deatonsville (Sailor’s Creek), Virginia, for capture of flag of 11th Florida Infantry (Confederate States of America).
Aaron Lanfare was a sea captain for the Trowbridge family in New Haven. He was a master of a vessel that supplied goods from New Haven to the Caribbean, West Indies, Barbados, Bermuda, and so on. He was a Civil War volunteer, and after the war, he returned to the Trowbridge fleet as Master of Vessels and was lost at sea in 1875 on a voyage to the West Indies. A headstone was placed by his descendants in 1985 in Branford Center Cemetery.
Photo of the telescope courtesy of Jane P. Bouley. Description courtesy of the Branford Historical Society
The Lanfare/Lanphier telescope was donated first to the Blackstone Library by three sisters, all granddaughters of Aaron Lanfare. When the library started breaking up its museum, the sisters requested that the telescope be returned to them, and they, in turn, donated it to the Branford Historical Society. The telescope has been proudly displayed ever since at the Harrison House.
The telescope was presented to Aaron Lanfare by Queen Victoria, and the engraving reads as follows:
Presented by the British Government
to Captain Aaron S. Lanfare,
master of American Barque “Reindeer”
of New Haven, Conn:
In testimony of his humane services
to part of the crew of the late
Brig “Dominica” of Exeter on the
2nd April 1860.
From The Branford Review October 17, 1990
LANFARE RECEIVED MEDAL OF HONOR
Aaron Steven Lanfare was born in 1824 in Branford, one of 15 children born to Oliver Lanfare (1782-1873) of Short Beach. Aaron’s grandfather, Oliver Lanfare (1749-1812), served in the Revolutionary War as master of the ship “Chloe Ann,” which patrolled the coastal waters throughout the conflict. Like his ancestors, Aaron took to the sea and, before the Civil War, was master of the barque “Reindeer” out of New Haven. In 1860, he was given a telescope by Queen Isabella of England for his service to the British brig “Dominica.” The telescope was later donated to the James Blackstone Memorial Library by the Lanfare family.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Aaron Lanfare, at the age of 37, enlisted in Company B, First Connecticut Cavalry. The cavalry division saw action in Virginia at Cedar Creek, Winchester, Sailor’s Creek, and Appomattox. During the battle of Sailor’s Creek, Aaron Lanfare captured the flag of the 11th Florida Infantry on April 6, 1864. On the day he was mustered out, May 3, 1865, First Lieutenant Aaron S. Lanfare was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
After the Civil War, the Lanfare family lived in New Haven, and Aaron was a spice merchant and captain of vessels that traded goods to the West Indies. On one such voyage in August of 1875, he was lost at sea.
Branford has paid tribute to Aaron Lanfare on several occasions. A plaque in his memory was placed at the flagpole at the old Post Office on Montowese Street in 1961. The plaque was rededicated at the new Post Office on Park Street in 1984, with several of Aaron Lanfare’s great-granddaughters in attendance. A memorial stone was placed in Center Cemetery in 1984 next to Aaron’s grandfather, Oliver Lanfare (Lamphier). Aaron Steven Lanfare remains Branford’s only native son to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
A plaque was placed at Branford’s old Post Office in 1961, then moved to the new and current Post Office in 1984. About 20 years ago, the plaque at the Post Office was being vandalized and skateboarded on, and the town had a new one made, which is now to the right front of Town Hall, 1019 Town Hall Drive, Branford, Connecticut.
In memory marker in Branford Center Cemetery, 161 Montowese Street, Branford, Connecticut; front right corner of the cemetery along Montowese Street. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
In Memory marker in Fair Haven Union Cemetery, 149 Grand Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut; Avenue D, East Side. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
END