Farnum, Reuben, 1835-ca. 1918

Reuben Farnum was born in Essex County, New York on October 8, 1835. He married Roxanna Hale, who was born September 24, 1840 in Canada East. Together they located in the vicinity of Plainview (Waseca County), Minnesota prior to the outbreak of the Civil War.

Farnum was mustered into the First Battery of Minnesota Light Artillery on December 31, 1863. He served in the Mississippi, Georgia, and Carolina campaigns, and was a member of the forces under Sherman's command at the Battle of Atlanta and on the march from Atlanta to Savannah.

After the war Farnum was a farmer and blacksmith in Plainview, Janesville, Faribault, and Correll, all in Minnesota. In the early 1900s he and his family moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he may have worked in a steel mill.. He died around 1918 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Birmingham. Roxanna Farnum died in April 1919.

From the guide to the Reuben Farnum Civil War letters., 1864-1865., (Minnesota Historical Society)