Almanzo W. Litchard

Almanzo W. Litchard (November 12, 1841 – 1906) was a soldier, farmer, and legislator in New York during the nineteenth century. He fought as a Union soldier during the Civil War and purchased a farm after serving his country. In later years he served as a member of the New York State Assembly.

Early years Almanzo Litchard and his twin brother Alexander were born on November 12, 1841, in Sparta, New York, to George and Nancy Litchard. The Litchard family moved to Almond, New York, where a younger brother named John was born three years later. An 1850 census of Almond, Allegany County, recorded the ages of the Litchard family: George (34), Nancy (37), Harriet (11), Alexander (8), Almanzo (8), and John (5). The census also stated that the Litchard real estate was worth $900. In 1855 Almanzo's mother died.

Civil War On August 24, 1861 Almanzo and his brother Alexander enlisted at Hornellsville, New York. They mustered into Company D, 86th New York Volunteer Infantry, led by Colonel Benajah Bailey, Lieutenant Colonel Barnard Chapin, and Major Seymour Rhinevault. On November 23, 1861, the Eighty-sixth Regiment left New York for Washington, D.C. Throughout the winter, the regiment defended the capitol as an attachment to the Second Brigade, Casey's Division, Army of the Potomac. His brother Alexander was discharged for inflammatory rheumatism one month later.

On September 1, 1864, Almanzo and Alexander reenlisted into Company E, Ninth New York Heavy Artillery, Third Division, Sixth Corps. On April 9, 1865, Almanzo and Alexander were present at Appomattox when Lee surrendered to Grant. They cut down trees and shaped the land into a working farm. Although a freeze destroyed their first wheat crop, the two brothers succeeded in making cheese, raising cattle and sheep, and growing wheat, potatoes, and apples. In 1875, the Gazetter and Business Directory recorded that Almanzo and Alexander were also the proprietors of a flouring mill.

Following the war, Almanzo took a commercial course and graduated from Eastman's College in Poughkeepsie, New York. As a staunch Republican, he was a member of the New York State Assembly (Allegany Co,) in 1898, 1899 and 1900. He was a member of the committees on Internal Affairs, Excise, and Agriculture. He also became the superintendent of Sunday School. During his ministry at the Methodist Episcopal Church, Almanzo pushed for the purchase of a church bell. He died in 1906 before the church purchased the bell, but the church honored Almanzo by inscribing “Milton M. Woods, the sweet singer, and Almanzo W. Litchard, the Sunday School Superintendent” on the rim of their new bell.

Legacy In 1910 Helen Gilbert reminisced about the Litchard farm in her book Rushford and Rushford People: The one hundred acres now owned by Mrs. Jennie Litchard Gilbert was given to our Baptist Church by the Holland Land Company. It was very heavily timbered with pine and was divided up into five and ten-acre lots and sold to the highest bidder. That gave those that had no timber a chance to secure some. I can remember when our Baptist Church stood in the woods on that farm. People said the land would not be worth a dollar an acre but the Litchard brothers thought better of it and bought it and cleared it and made a farm of it. I consider it one of the best farms in Allegany County. Today in 2012, Almanzo Litchard’s great-great-grandson, Edward Gilbert and his wife Jane, own the family farm which has received the Century Farm award.