by Karl Frederick Schaeffer, Jr., PCinC
Thomas Hamlin Hubbard was born in Hallowell, Maine, on December 20, 1838, the son of Governor John Hubbard and the former Sarah Hodge Barrett. He prepared for college at the Hallowell Academy and entered Bowdoin College at the age of fourteen in the fall of 1853. He ranked high in his class and, at the Commencement Exercises in 1857, delivered the English Oration. He was a member of the Chi Psi, Athenaean, and Phi Beta Kappa fraternities. From 1859 to 1860 he served as principal of the Hallowell Academy. In the fall of 1860, he entered law school at Albany, New York, and was admitted to the New York Bar on May 4, 1861. He was then employed by the firm of Barney, Butler and Parsons in New York City, becoming its managing clerk.
On September 29, 1862, Thomas enlisted in the 25th Maine Volunteer Infantry with the rank of First Lieutenant and Adjutant. The regiment proceeded from Portland, Maine, to Washington, DC on October 16 and was attached to General Silas Casey’s Division. The 25th served on garrison duty in the defense of Washington from October 18, 1862 until March 24, 1863. The regiment then moved to Chantilly, Virginia, for picket duty until June 26. It was ordered home on June 30, and Thomas was mustered-out on July 11, 1863.
Thomas was recommissioned on December 19, 1863, as Lieutenant Colonel in the 30th Maine Volunteer Infantry, second in command to Colonel Francis Fessenden. The regiment left for New Orleans on January 8, 1864, arriving on February 16. It was attached to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, IXX Corps, Department of the Gulf. On February 18, 1864, the regiment was on duty at Algiers and Franklin, Louisiana, until March 15, when it participated in the Red River Campaign under Major General Nathaniel P. Banks. They advanced to Alexandria through March 26 and to Natchitoches on March 29. They fought at Sabine Crossroads on April 8 and Pleasant Hill on April 9, followed by Cane River Crossing on April 23.
On April 30, 1864, a dam at Alexandria was begun and completed on May 10. Lieutenant Colonel Hubbard received a citation from General Joseph Bailey for his superior engineering techniques in raising the water level by a series of wing dams, enabling General Banks’s forces to pass to safety. He also received special commendation in Admiral David Dixon Porter’s report for his conduct in aiding construction of the Red River Dam at Alexandria to allow passage of the Federal fleet. With Colonel Fessenden’s promotion to brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Hubbard was promoted Colonel and given command of the 30th Maine.
The 30th Maine then moved to Fortress Monroe and Bermuda Hundred and then, via Washington, DC, to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. They participated in General Philip Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign. After recovering from typhoid fever, Colonel Hubbard continued with his regiment through the remainder of the war, with his final posting in Savannah, Georgia, on June 30, 1865, following the regiment’s participation in the Grand Review in Washington, D.C., on May 23–24, 1865. The regiment served as Provost Guard, and Colonel Hubbard was promoted to the rank of Brevet Brigadier General on July 13, 1865, for “meritorious service.” He resigned his commission on July 23, 1865.
Upon returning to New York, Thomas resumed the practice of law and, on January 1, 1867, became a partner in the firm of Barney, Butler and Parsons, with which he was associated for twenty years. In 1874 the firm’s name changed to Butler, Stillman and Hubbard. He and his partners were among the organizers of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the New York County Lawyers Association. He was serving as president of the latter organization at the time of his death.
Though he retired from active practice, his work had largely involved corporate litigation, and he gravitated toward corporate management. He managed the Mark Hopkins Estate and reportedly received the largest salary ever paid to an administrator up to that time – $75,000 annually. The estate owned one-fourth of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, of which General Hubbard served as director for eleven years and first vice-president for half a decade. He also established the International Banking Corporation, the first American bank to gain and retain a foothold in the Orient.
General Hubbard maintained a lifelong interest in Bowdoin College and contributed generously to projects including the library and grandstand. In 1901, he endowed the chair of legal ethics in the law department of Union University, known then as Albany Law School, of which he was a trustee. He was President of the Peary Arctic Club of New York, whose philanthropy contributed significantly to the success of the Peary expedition to the North Pole. Cape Thomas H. Hubbard in the Arctic was named for him by Admiral Peary in tribute to his friend and supporter.
On February 9, 1867, Thomas Hubbard was elected a Companion of the First Class of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion through the Commandery of the State of Maine and assigned Insignia #2302. He transferred to the New York Commandery on May 4, 1887. From May 6, 1891 to 1892 he served as Junior Vice-Commander of the New York Commandery and as Commander from May 6, 1903 to 1907. On October 15, 1913, he was elected Commander-in-Chief of the Order, serving until his death in New York City on May 19, 1915.
General Hubbard’s death came as a great shock to his many friends and Companions of the Loyal Legion, whose 50th Anniversary on April 15 he had attended little more than a month before being taken ill. His funeral was held on May 22, 1915 at Madison Square Presbyterian Church, and it is estimated that it was attended by the largest number of Companions of the Loyal Legion ever assembled at a burial. Admiral Peary served as one of the pallbearers. Thomas Hubbard was interred in the Bronx at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Thomas Hubbard married Sibyl Amelia Fahnestock in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on January 28, 1868. He was survived by his widow, his son John, and his daughters Sibyl Emma and Anna Weir. Two other children had predeceased him. General Hubbard was succeeded as Commander-in-Chief by the Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief, Rear Admiral Louis Kempff, USN.