Biographical Note

Born in Ohio on 8 October 1832, son of Francis Noble Colburn (born, New York) and wife, the former Caroline Bloss (born, Vermont), Richard Colburn enlisted in the 12th Infantry of the United States Regular Army on 18 December 1861. His home at the time of his enlistment, as indicated in the diary, was Ellington, Iowa, in Hancock County. Colburn served as a cook with Company B of the 12th Infantry Regiment, which was attached for much of the war to the Army of the Potomac. He was wounded--shot through the calf--and captured at the Battle of Gaines’ Mill on 27 June 1862. After recuperating for about a month in Confederate hospitals, he was transferred to Union custody and eventually was taken to Philadelphia to continue his convalescence. He was released from the hospital on 15 January 1863 and returned home.

According to the 1870 census, Richard and Elmira lived in Ellington, Iowa with sons Amos, Francis, John, and daughter Caroline. Also in Ellington in 1870 are his parents, F.N. Colburn and wife Caroline, along with his brother Parley and his family. The 1880 census shows Richard Colburn in Ellington with wife Anna (his second wife Elmira died in 1872), age 26, from Holland, with sons Francis and John, young daughter Diena, and two nieces and nephews, both from Holland. Later census records show Anna’s place of birth to be Denmark. Richard Colburn died on 2 December 1907 in Kingman, Arizona.

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