ALBERT DEARING
Albert L. Dearing was born in Webster, Maine on Feb.17, 1835 to John Dearing and Catherine Whitmore. At age 22, in 1857, he enlisted in the United States Army in the 1st Regiment Mounted Rifles and was sent to the Southwest to fight Indians. He was discharged after 2 years on Aug. 13, 1859 at Fort Defiance, New Mexico and he returned to Maine and took up the occupation of carriage maker.
His peacetime occupation was interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil War in the spring of 1861. He enlisted in the 5th Maine Infantry at Portland, Maine on June 24th,1861 and was mustered in as a Sergeant, probably due to his previous experience in the Regular Army. He was 26 years old, 5’9" tall with fair hair and hazel eyes. Less than a month after enlisting Sgt. Dearing and the 5th Maine saw action at the Battle of Bull Run, which was a crushing Union defeat. Sgt. Dearing and the regiment returned to Washington, D.C. where he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in October of 1861. In December Lt. Dearing was arrested for dereliction of duty when a surprise night-time inspection found the sentry’s guardhouse empty and the Officer of the Guard, Lt. Dearing, asleep in his tent. After a brief confinement and investigation, Lt. Dearing was cleared of the charge. The 5th Maine next took part in the Peninsula Campaign in the spring and summer of 1862. During this campaign he was promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to 1st Lieutenant and detached from his regiment and placed in charge of the ambulance corps for his division. It was in this capacity that Lt. Dearing witnessed the bloodiest day in American military history, the Battle of Antietam on September 17th.Over 20,000 Americans were killed or wounded on that day, and Lt. Dearing as commander of an ambulance corps would have had a close-up view of all the terrible carnage.
Promoted once again, to Captain, Dearing returned to his regiment in time to participate in the Union disaster at Fredericksburg in December of 1862. The following May, at Chancellorsville, while leading Co. I, the Civil War ended for Captain Dearing when a musket ball tore into his left hip, shattering the hip bone. After 5 months in the hospital he was discharged from the Army and he returned to Maine, marrying Miss Sarah Palmer in late 1863. He then started a 7 year study of the ministry, eventually graduating from the Theological Seminary of Massachusetts. Sarah died in 1878 and his second wife, Clementine, died in 1880. In 1882 Rev. Dearing, his third wife, Lydia, and his 5 children moved to Santa Ana where he invested his life savings in a 20 acre ranch on the Northeast corner North Main St. and Santa Clara Ave. According to family members he came to California to make a home for them as his health was failing and he didn’t expect to live very much longer. But ranch life proved both profitable and beneficial, and his health soon recovered.
Due to a shortage of Pastors in the area Rev. Dearing accepted an appointment to the First Methodist District and eventually served as a Pastor in Santa Ana, Westminster and Newport Beach. His wife Lydia died in 1910 and the following year he married his 4th wife, Matillda. Rev. Dearing retired from the pulpit a short time later, sold his ranch, and moved with Matillda to 1410 Bush St. When asked in a 1915 pension application whether he was still living with his wife or had there been a separation, Rev. Dearing replied, "I’m still living with my wife, thank God!"
Albert Dearing died from stomach cancer on September 13th, 1924 at age 89. Matillda died on June 1st, 1933 and both are interred in the beautiful mausoleum at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana.