Asa Waldo Wildes was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on August 2, 1822. Wildes, who studied civil engineering in his late teens, assisted in the construction of several railroads and eventually accepted leadership positions for railroads in Kentucky, Maine, and Michigan. In 1857, he became chief engineer for the Marquette & Ontonagon Railroad, and in 1859 he became chief engineer of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. He moved to Maine just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War and became colonel of the Union Army's 16th Maine Infantry Regiment in May 1862, after which he participated in the First Battle of Bull Run. Wildes married Jane Patten on April 10, 1842, and, following her death, Fannie Gray on August 12, 1878. He had five children and died in 1894.
From the guide to the Asa Waldo Wildes daybook, Wildes, Asa Waldo daybook, 1849-1864, 1857, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
