Monroe County History: Christiancy family known for Civil War, public service

Tom Adamich
·3 min read
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When I began writing local history articles for The Monroe News, one of my first articles was about Isaac Christiancy. Christiancy adopted Monroe as his home in 1836 and became one of its most active legal and political citizens. Christiancy served as a Michigan state senator, Michigan Supreme Court chief justice, United States senator from Michigan and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Peru.

Isaac Christiancy (1812-1890) was a Michigan state senator, Michigan Supreme Court chief justice, United States senator from Michigan and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Peru. He is buried in Monroe’s Woodland Cemetery.
Isaac Christiancy (1812-1890) was a Michigan state senator, Michigan Supreme Court chief justice, United States senator from Michigan and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Peru. He is buried in Monroe’s Woodland Cemetery.

A recent inquiry about information regarding Christiancy’s family – he had five children with his first wife, Elizabeth Lenora McCloskey – prompted me to do some additional research.

Two of Christiancy’s sons served honorably in the U.S. military – Henry C. belonged to Company F, 1st Infantry (based in Detroit) during the Civil War and son James Isaac was first lieutenant in Company D, 9th Michigan Volunteer Cavalry, Union Army. James Isaac’s bravery at the Battle of Hawes Shops, Virginia, May 28, 1864, resulted in his receipt of the Army Medal of Honor (also profiled on these pages recently). 1st Lt. Christiancy, acting as a senior officer's aide, voluntarily led a platoon of cavalry troopers into the Confederate lines and was twice wounded. For this bravery in the face of the enemy, he was awarded the Medal of Honor on Oct. 10, 1892.

George Armstrong Custer Christiancy (1863-1943) was the youngest child of Isaac Christiancy and Elizabeth McCloskey Christiancy. He followed his father from Monroe to Washington, D.C., when the elder Christiancy was a U.S. senator from Michigan. (Find-a-Grave)
George Armstrong Custer Christiancy (1863-1943) was the youngest child of Isaac Christiancy and Elizabeth McCloskey Christiancy. He followed his father from Monroe to Washington, D.C., when the elder Christiancy was a U.S. senator from Michigan. (Find-a-Grave)

Similarly, Henry C. Christiancy rose in the ranks and later became a first lieutenant, brevet major, and lieutenant colonel for the U.S. Volunteers on March 13, 1865 (having served previously as aide-de-camp for Gen. Humphrey and was a key participant in the Battle of Fredericksburg, as described in The War of the Rebellion, part of the Official Records of the Civil War – Serial 031, Chapter 33). The author wrote, “…I cannot express in too warm terms my indebtedness to the officers of my staff for the service they rendered me. The cool gallantry with which they aided in forming the troops, leading them to the charge, and rallying them when retiring; in conveying my orders over the field, and in seconding all my efforts to accomplish the object of our presence there, entitles them to some mark of approbation from some authority higher than time. I beg leave, to mention their names: Captain Carswell McCellan, assistant adjutant-general; Lieutenant Humphreys and Christiancy, aides-de-camp…

Jessie Barton Christiancy, wife of George Armstrong Custer Christiancy and daughter-in-law of Isaac Christiancy, was a member of the successful Barton family of Omaha, Neb., whose family operated several businesses and had significant land holdings there.
Jessie Barton Christiancy, wife of George Armstrong Custer Christiancy and daughter-in-law of Isaac Christiancy, was a member of the successful Barton family of Omaha, Neb., whose family operated several businesses and had significant land holdings there.

Thomas J. Christiancy, born 1859, would die of a childhood disease at age 2 and is buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in Monroe. Older brother William Penn Christiancy (1848-1901) would leave behind four children and be buried in another St. Joseph Cemetery – this one located in Lansing. Sister Mary Christiancy O’Brien would also join young Thomas J. in Monroe’s St. Joseph Cemetery following her death in 1913 at age 66.

It was youngest son, George Armstrong Custer Christiancy – named after Monroe’s most famous resident and Civil War hero, who would join his father in Washington where he would marry Jessie Barton. Jessie Barton was the daughter of successful Omaha, Nebraska, industrialist Guy Barton, whose Omaha and Grant Smelting Co. was one of the most successful operations of its kind in the Midwest. Both George Armstrong Custer and Jessie Barton Christiancy would be buried in the noted Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

The Omaha and Grant Smelting Co. in Omaha, Neb., was owned by Guy Barton and was one of the largest and most productive companies of its kind during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Barton’s daughter would marry Monroe native George Armstrong Custer Christiancy.
The Omaha and Grant Smelting Co. in Omaha, Neb., was owned by Guy Barton and was one of the largest and most productive companies of its kind during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Barton’s daughter would marry Monroe native George Armstrong Custer Christiancy.

It is the second marriage of Christiancy to Lillie Maude Lugenbeel that sparks curiosity. Christiancy was 64 and serving as Michigan’s senator in Washington; Lillie Lugenbeel was 22 when the couple married. The couple’s brief marriage would end in divorce in 1882. A Dec. 13, 1883, article described Lillie Lugenbeel’s untimely death at age 29 as a result of a choral (sedative) habit that would cause her to go mad. She is buried in an unmarked grave in Rock Creek Cemetery.

Tom Adamich is president of Visiting Librarian Service, a firm he has operated since 1993. He also is project archivist for the Greening Nursery Co. and Family Archives and the electric vehicle awareness coordinator at Monroe County Community College.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe History: Christiancy family known for Civil War, public service