A New Project – The Judkins and the Coburns

Welcome back to this space, loves!

So, it’s obviously been a while since I posted on here about anything genealogically related. As anyone will attest, life sometimes steers us more than we steer it.

Now that I’ve been able to take the reins back, I’m working on a few different projects. One of the most exciting ones deals with two families on my paternal line. Like many people whose families have been in the United States for generations, many of my relatives took part in the Civil War, including my 4th great-grandfather Willard Judkins and my 3rd great-grandfather Greenfield Preston Coburn. Willard’s grandson, Laforest Eastman Judkins, and Greenfield’s daughter, Lulu Mae, would grow up to marry one another and become my 2nd great-grandparents.

During the Civil War it was a common thing for all the sons of a family to join the armed forces, especially as volunteers. Willard and Greenfield’s families were no exception. What was interesting to me was the vast difference in the outcomes of the two families from the war.

Willard Judkins and his four brothers all volunteered for the service, leaving behind two sisters in the care of their parents. Only Willard and his younger brother Eastman would return. Brothers Orrin, Asaph, and Benjamin all died during the war. Sadly, the two sisters, Mercy Ann and Irene, would also pass during that time.

Greenfield Preston Coburn also had four brothers. The youngest, Wallace, was only 9 when the Civil War began and never saw battle. Greenfield’s brothers Jefferson, Hiram, and John all signed on as volunteers in the war. The three eldest sisters -Loretta, Angelia, and Ellen – were all married, but Sara and Ella Maria were still at home with little brother Wallace the their parents. Unlike the Judkins brothers, all four Coburn boys who saw action returned home.

My goal is to piece out the stories of what happened to each family. From tracing what units the boys served in, to how they moved up through the ranks (if they did), I hope to find how it is that one family was dealt with the heartbreak of losing all two children during the Civil War, while the other, who were neighbors in the same town, saw their how family survive to see the end of the war.