Andrew Barclay Spurling (Spurling variant)
Andrew Barclay Spurling (1833–1906) was a Union cavalry officer from the Cranberry Isles, Maine, and a brevet brigadier general. He received the Medal of Honor for capturing Confederate soldiers near Evergreen, Alabama, in 1865, and is buried in Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago.
Sourcing: mixed 1 reference · 2 genealogy
Early life
Andrew Barclay Spurling was born on 20 March 1833 in Cranberry Isles, Maine[1]. Before the war he mined in California, farmed in the San Jose valley, and worked as a merchant ship's captain out of Maine[1]. He came from the Spurling family founded on Great Cranberry Island by Benjamin Spurling[2].
Civil War
In September 1861 Spurling enlisted as a first lieutenant in the 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment. He was a captain by February 1863[1]. Under General David Gregg he fought at Brandy Station, Middleburg and Upperville in June 1863[1]. He then moved to the 2nd Maine Cavalry, was promoted to lieutenant colonel in June 1864, and served in Florida and Louisiana[1]. In 1865, while leading cavalry scouts near Evergreen, Alabama, he captured three Confederate soldiers who were trying to bring up reinforcements, wounding two of them. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for this action in 1897[1]. He was brevetted brigadier general at the end of the war; the biography on his Find a Grave memorial dates the brevet, as brigadier general of volunteers, to 26 March 1865.[1][3]
Later life
After the war Spurling was sheriff of Hancock County, Maine, and worked for the Interior Department, the Justice Department and the postal service, where he spent five years as a post-office inspector in Chicago[1][3]. He co-founded the Chicago Rawhide Manufacturing Company and was its president for 12 years[1]. In 1891 he tried to build Elgin, Illinois's first skyscraper, but lost much of his wealth in the Panic of 1893[1].
Death and burial
Wikipedia, citing a Chicago Tribune report of 23 August 1906, says he died of heart trouble in Chicago on 22 August 1906[1]. His Find a Grave memorial, one of the site's "famous" memorials, gives the date as 13 August 1906[3]. He is buried in Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago.[1] The memorial places the grave in Section 4 and transcribes the inscription "Medal of Honor / BVT BRIG GEN 2 MAINE CAV."[3]
See also
- Notable Spurlins · People strong
An index of notable people surnamed Spurlin, with related Spurling-surname figures listed separately as variants. - Benjamin Spurling of the Cranberry Isles · History mixed
Benjamin Spurling (1752–1836) was a New Hampshire-born sea captain and Revolutionary War militia corporal. He is described as the first permanent settler of Great Cranberry Island, Maine, founded a long line of Spurlings there, and is buried in the family's Revolutionary War cemetery above Spurling Cove. - Spurlins in the American Civil War · History strong
Spurlins served on both sides of the Civil War. They included Confederates from North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee and Union soldiers from New Hampshire, Iowa, Indiana and Tennessee. This roundup collects service-index records, rosters, pension, pardon and soldiers' home records, and county-history accounts. - Spurlin Family History in America · History mixed
An overview of Spurlin and Spurling families in America, from colonial Virginia and New England through southern and western migration, Civil War service, and published genealogies. - Spurlin cemeteries · Places weak
A roundup of burial grounds named for the Spurlin family on Find a Grave: eight Spurlin cemeteries in Arkansas, Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky and North Carolina, plus Spurlington- and Spurling-named cemeteries and the graves of notable Spurlins. - Spurling public officials (variant spelling) · People strong
Minor public officials and candidates with the related surname Spurling, including a 19th-century Maine postmaster, a 2004 Democratic National Convention alternate, a North Carolina town councilman and school-board member, and a Georgia county coroner. - Spurlins in public service · People strong
A roundup of people surnamed Spurlin (and, separately, Spurling) in government, politics, the military and the courts, from a 19th-century Indiana sheriff to a Kentucky utility commissioner and recent local candidates, with links to the individual articles.
References
- ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Andrew Barclay Spurling — Wikipedia Reference
- ↑ Benjamin Spurling (1752-1836) — WikiTree Genealogy
- ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Andrew Barclay Spurling (1833–1906) — Find a Grave Memorial — Famous memorial; Rosehill Cemetery Section 4; death 13 Aug 1906 Genealogy
Last reviewed 2026-09-24.