Summary Information

Repository
George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine 04011
Creator
Varney, Almon Libbey
Title
Almon Libbey Varney U.S. Army regalia
ID
M300
Date [inclusive]
1865-1904, undated
Extent
2.0 linear feet
Language
Abstract
Personal effects, chiefly post-Civil War, late nineteenth-century U.S. Army regalia; also includes military documents and biographical materials.

Preferred Citation

Almon Libbey Varney U.S. Army Regalia, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine

Biographical/Historical Note

Almon Libbey Varney was born April 5, 1839, at Windham, Maine, to Joel and Jane (Lowell) Varney. After a year at Tufts College he entered Bowdoin's Class of 1862 as a sophomore. In 1861 he volunteered with the 13th Maine, where he was appointed lieutenant, rising to the rank of captain in 1862. Commissioned as second lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps of the regular army in 1865, Varney was promoted to first lieutenant in June 1874, captain in October 1874, major in 1891, and lieutenant colonel in 1901. He retired from the U.S. Army in 1903 and was commissioned colonel, retired in 1904.

Varney married Hannah Josephine Gibson in 1866. He died on December 25, 1922, in Washington, D.C., survived by his sons, Gordon Edward Varney and Theodore Varney.

Scope and Content

Personal effects, chiefly post-Civil War, late nineteenth-century U.S. Army regalia. Military attire includes Almon Libbey Varney's U.S. Army officer's kepi, sash, shoulder boards, and dress epaulettes. The collection also includes military certificates, printed War Department material, biographical and genealogical information concerning Varney, and his Bowdoin College diplomas.

Administrative Information

Publication Information

 George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine 04011

3000 College Station
Brunswick, Maine, 04011
(207) 725-3288
scaref@bowdoin.edu

Collection Inventory

Box Folder
1 1

Biographical and genealogical information concerning Varney 
Archives
1.3.2

Bowdoin College diplomas, A.B., and A.M., 1865 
Ovsz-Box
E

Certificate, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (signed by Rutherford B. Hayes), 1890 Mar 5 
E

Certificate, U.S.A. Officer's Commission: Colonel, Retired (signed by Theodore Roosevelt), 1904 May 23 
Box Folder
1 2

Printed document - War Department Circular No. 23, 1898 Jul 15 
1 3

Printed document - War Department commission transmittal form with autograph additions, 1901 Oct 25 
Box
3

Sword belts (one cloth, one leather), each with Union officer's rectangular belt buckle 
1

U.S. Army dress epaulettes (Lieutenant Colonel), with contemporary metal epaulette case 
1

U.S. Army officer's kepi 
2

U.S. Army officer's ostrich-plume dress hat 
3

U.S. Army officer's sash 
3

U.S. Army parade shoulder scales, two sets (Lieutenant Colonel; Colonel) 
3

U.S. Army shoulder boards, two sets (Major; Lieutenant Colonel)