Josiah Daughtery

Son of Eliza Bridges Daughtery
American Civil War

Allen Denman Bridges

Union Army
American Civil War
3rd Great Grandfather

“Grandpa Denman was drafted into the Army just weeks before the Civil War ended. He was only in the Army for a few months. My Aung Ethel Bridges Jewell told me and I found documentation to verify her information.”
- Contributed by Joan Bridges Adamson

Photo, Huron Baptist Church Dedication 1897 (woman with flat hat is Cassie Bridges)

Walter Adamson

US Navy
Married Nona Joan Bridges

Olive Sue (Obbie) Bridges Cape

Born 1935
US Army, 1953-1956
Tech Sgt. West Virginia Air National Guard, 1973-1990
Vietnam War

Daughter of Wendell Bridges, Grandma Mundy’s first cousin. Graduated Huron High School in 1953. Senior photo from year books. Olive Sue and Joan went into the service right out of high school. “I was in the Army for 3 years then after raising my family joined the West Virginia Air National Guard and stayed until I got my 20 years in. I retired as a Tech Sgt.”

Nona Joan Bridges

Born 1931
Cpl. in US Marines, 1950-1951

Daughter of Wendell Bridges, Grandma Mundy’s first cousin. Graduated high school probably in 1948. Senior photo from year books, and one alumni photo. graduated Huron High School 1948.  Enlisted in Marine Corps 1950, served in San Diego and San Francisco with rank of Corporal.  Married Walter Adamson, a sailor, and received a Medical Discharge 1951 because of pregnancy.

Gary Bridges

World War II
3rd cousin
Son of Willard Bridges

George Bernard Pruett

Born 1924
Died 1943
Second Lt. in US Marines, 1943
World War II

Nona Bridges, “George Bernard Pruett, son of Grace Bridges Pruett, (my aunt and your Grandma Mundy’s 1st cousin) was a pilot in the Marine Corps during WW II. He was was killed at Camp Lejeune when his plane stalled out during one of his last training missions. Bernard was known as “Ab” and was my favorite older cousin. He had attended Purdue University on a scholarship, and joined after graduation. He stayed with the stalled plane to make sure his crew had a chance to jump, and went down with it. He is buried in Vincennes, Indiana where he lived with his parents, Wayne and Grace Bridges Pruett. He was named for his uncle, George Bernard Bridges, who died in WW I.”

Leonard Bridges

3rd cousin
World War II

Son of Lawrence Bridges.

Charles Bridges

3rd cousin
World War II

Son of Gus (Edna said he finished his service with Korea, but thinks he was in something between WW II and Korea. Don’t know what that would be.)

Eugene S. Bridges

3rd cousin
Technical Sergeant in US Army, 1942-1945
World War II

Son of Claude, served in the Pacific. Brother of Dean Bridges.

Dean Bridges

Died 2006
3rd cousin
Staff Sergeant in US Army, 1939-career
World War II

Died in a military retirement facility in Washington D.C. Brother to Eugene Bridges.

Carl Bridges

Born 1933
3rd cousin
US Navy
Korean War

Nona Bridges, “graduated from Huron High School 1950. He ship was docked in San Diego Ca in 1950 while I was stationed there. We saw each other several times before his ship was sent out and I was transferred to San Francisco.”

Robert H. Barlow

3rd cousin
Pfc. in US Army, 1943-1947
World War II

Son of Ruby Bridges Barlow

Winfield Scott Bridges^

Born 1886
Died 1918
2nd great uncle
Private in US Army Field Artillery, July 1918-October 1918
World War I

Joyce, “Son of Levi A. and MAry E. Bridges; born November 15, 1886, Halbert Township, Martin County, Ind. Railroad employee. Entered service July 21, 1918, Shoals, Ind. Sent to Camp Taylor, Ky.; assigned to 27th Company, 7th Training Battalion, 159th Depot Brigade. Transferred to Camp McClellan, Ala.; assigned to Battery F, 26th Field Artillery. Died of lobar pneumonia October 21, 1918, Base Hospital, Camp McClellan. Buried in Clark’s Cemetery, near Huron, Ind.

The loss of Fred’s brother, Scott Bridges, was mourned as long as his siblings lived. He was the much-loved brother of my grandmother and was a victim of the flu pandemic that raged in the military training camps during World War I. He entered the Army in July of 1918 and died in October, having never reached the battlefield. Many Bridges grandchildren were named for him.”

Lowell “Red” Bridges

Died 1968
4th cousin
World War I

Joyce, “Son of Joel N. and Flora Bridges, brother to George Bridges. Lowell “Red” Bridges also served in France, in a different field artillery unit from that of his brother. He never liked to talk about his war experiences, but told of surviving an explosion in which everyone around him was killed. He resided and worked in Bedford, passing away in 1968 at age 74.”

George Banard Bridges^

Born October 4, 1888
Died November 9, 1918
4th cousin
Private US Army Field Artillery, 1917-1918
World War I

Joyce, “George Bernard Bridges was an educator in North Dakota and a cousin of my father. At age 25, he returned to Martin County to enlist along with his 18-year-old brother, Lowell. Both served in France in field artillery units. George was injured by the explosion of a poison gas shell on Nov. 7, 1918, dying 2 days later. The war ended on Nov. 11, just 2 days after his death. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Son of Joel N. and Flora Bridges; born October 4, 1888, near Trinity Springs, Martin County, Ind. Principal of public schools, Logan, North Dakota. Enlisted June 12, 1917, Indianapolis, Ind. Received training at Camp Wilson, Tex., and Camp McArthur, Tex. Sailed May 27, 1918; assigned to 19th Field Artillery, Battery B, 5th Division. Fought in the Vosges, and St. Mihiel Offensive. Wonded November 7, 1918, and died November 9, 1918, at Base Hospital No. 82, Toul, France. Buried, Toul, France.”

Absalom Bridges

3rd great uncle
American Civil War

“Absalom is the ancestor who was given the land in Texas by Sam Huston as governor of the Republic of Texas because he ‘died in the defense of our people.’ He’s one of my favorite ancestors from the Bridges family. I’ve not been able to find any further information about Absalom’s death in Texas, but there are extensive records in Van Zandt Texas about the “Absalom Bridges” grant of nearly 1200 hectares of land and the complicated legal moves over the years. The land eventually ended up being owned by the Van Zandt oil company and was the centerpiece of the first big oil field developed in Texas.

Absalom was probably part of one of the brigades of riverboat men that formed and marched to the defense of Texas right after the Alamo was captured by the Mexicans. I have read that one brigade formed at Cincinnati and another in New Orleans, and I suspect both were present in the encounter where American volunteers were pretty much wiped out by Santa Ana. I’ve not found Absalom’s name listed anywhere in the accounts however. All we have is the card that was addressed to William Bridges, Absalom’s father, in Martin County Indiana notifying him of the grant, and then some letters from someone in St. Augustina County in Texas who found the land and filed the correct papers. Then there are letters to our GGGGrandfather, Denman Bridges, from some of his brothers and sisters about paying taxes etc.

We have the papers (well, I only have copies, but I know who has the originals) because William Bridges apparently saved every little scrap of any type of legal paper, William was living with Denman Bridges when the 1850 census was taken so we are told that he was born in SC in 1766. There are records on Ancestry.com and roots web that identify his father as being Aaron Bridges but that is NOT correct. I think he was part of the Bridges family in Lancaster County, Camden District North Carolina, but have no proof.”
- Contributed by Joan Bridges Adamson

Fred Bridges

2nd great uncle
World War I

Fred Bridges served in France. His niece, Edna Richman, remembers Fred’s old Army gas mask which hung in her grandmother’s shed. Poison gas was one of the most feared German weapons of the war. Like many of the Bridges men, Fred became a railroad worker at Huron, living to age 94.