DOB/DOD: April 19, 1837 (Wolcottville, CT) – August 28, 1930 (Plymouth, MA); 93 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married to Caroline Southmayd (1840-1922)
CHILDREN: Two sons, William S. II (1874-1901) and DeWitt (1876-1952). Two daughters, Mary C. (1867-1947) and Susan (1869-1958).
ENLISTMENT: August 30, 1862, in North Stonington, Connecticut
COMMISSIONED: November 1862
DISCHARGE: Mustered out November 24, 1862
FAMILY: Born to Reverend Stephen (1802-1884) and Martha E. Stone Hubbell (1814-1856). One sister, Mary E. (1833-1854). One brother, Edward S. (1839-1839).
OTHER: One of five members of the 21st Connecticut to receive the Medal of Honor. Wounded twice: May 16, 1864, at Drewry’s Bluff, Virginia, and September 30, 1864, at Chapin’s Farm.
MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION
AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING: Civil War
BRANCH OF SERVICE: Army
UNIT: Company A, 21st Connecticut Infantry
DATE OF ISSUE AND PRESENTATION: June 13, 1894 (30 years later)
AGE ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT: 27
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Captain (Infantry) William Stone Hubbell, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 30 September 1864, while serving with Company A, 21st Connecticut Infantry, in action at Fort Harrison, Virginia. Captain Hubbell led out a small flanking party and, by a clash and at great risk, captured a large number of prisoners.
William Stone Hubbell, son of Rev. Stephen (Yale, 1826) and Martha (Stone) Hubbell, was born in Wolcottville, Litchfield County, Connecticut, on April 19, 1837. He was prepared for College by E. L. Hart, Farmington, Connecticut, and entered the Class on July 24, 1854.
From October 1858, he was engaged in surveying in Will and Kankakee Counties, Illinois, until June 1859, and then returned to the East. During the Autumn of 1859 and Winter of 1859 and ’60, he studied Engineering at Yale. During part of the Spring and Summer of 1860, he taught at a private school at Stonington, Connecticut. In September 1860, he entered the Junior Class in the Andover Theological Seminary and remained until August 1862. August 30, 1862, he enlisted as a private in the 25th Connecticut Infantry, was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in the 21st Connecticut Infantry on November 24, 1862, 1st Lieutenant on February 5, 1864, and Captain on September 23, 1864. He was twice wounded: May 16, 1864, at Drewry’s Bluff, by a shell in the right thigh, and September 30, 1864, at Chapin’s Farm (Fort Harrison) by a musket ball entering the back and left side, skipping over and behind the spine, and reentering and passing out through the right shoulder. He was for the last year detailed as A. A. G. of his brigade, at one time the third in the First Division, 18th Corps, and at another, in the Third Division, 24th Corps. He was discharged July 1, 1865, with his regiment, and in the following September, commenced his third and last year at Andover and wrote, “My morals are on the rise.”
He is a descendant, in the seventh generation, of Richard Hubbell of Fairfield, Connecticut, who was born in 1627-8.
On February 1, 1898, he became Secretary of The New York Sabbath Committee at 31 Bible House.
“The object of this Society, which was formed in 1857, is to protect and promote Sunday Rest and Observance, and to awaken public sentiment so as to secure the prudent enforcement of existing laws and new legislation when necessary and to guard against unfavorable legislation: to prevent unnecessary work and illegal public amusements on Sunday: and in general, to save the Rest Day from destruction by greed, pleasure, and irreligion.
“With this strenuous task, I have been busy for the past ten years, making a multitude of addresses in New York State and elsewhere, conducting fifty public hearings before the legislature and the mayor, campaigning for the Sunday closing of Expositions at Buffalo, Omaha, St. Louis, Jamestown, and Seattle, taking part in various Sunday Rest Congresses in this country and in Europe, consorting with commissioners and other police authorities in New York, and acting as the complainant in many courts, serving as President of the Federation of the eleven Sunday Rest Societies in the United States and Canada for four years, and issuing many reports and other documents meanwhile.
“It has been a difficult and delicate business, from which I would gladly withdraw if allowed to do so. During this period, I have visited Europe seven times with most of my family.”
He edited and prepared The Story of the Twenty-First Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, Stewart Printing Company, Middletown, Connecticut, 1900.
He is serving his eighth term as Chaplain of the New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion, is Chaplain of the Medal of Honor Legion, of George Washington Post, No. 103, G.A.R., and of the Military Society Department of the Gulf. He is a member of the Army and Navy Club and is Vice-President of the Quill Club.
From the Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York) June 27, 1884
UTICA, June 26, — Twenty-three graduates of the class of forty-nine members that left Clinton in a body last winter took part in the commencement exercises at Hamilton College today. The Kellogg Commencement Prize was awarded to Reuben L. McGuicken of Utica. The following honorary degrees were conferred: Ph.D. – Professor Francis Brown of the Union Theological Seminary in New York; Doctorate of Divinity – Reverend William Stone Hubbell of Buffalo, Reverend Amory Howe Bradford of Montclair, New Jersey, and Reverend William Henry Palmer of Penn Yan, New York; LLD (Doctor of Law) – Judge Glenni William Scofield of the United States Court of Claims in Washington and William F. Cogswell of Rochester.
Buried in Indian Hill Cemetery, 383 Washington Street, Middletown, Connecticut; Memorial 2, Lot 45N. Photos by Jeff DeWitt.
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