EARL FENNER.
Corp. Earl Fenner was born in Providence, R. I., on the 20th day of April, 1841. He is the second son of James M. and Sarah A. Fenner. His mother was the daughter of Gould and Alary Brown, of North Kingstown, R. I. His ancestor, Capt. Arthur Fenner, erected in Johnston, R. I., (then a portion of the town of Providence) what was known as the “Old Fenner Castle,” a strongly constructed log house, built for the purpose of resisting the assaults of the Indians. The old “Castle” and the lands adjacent thereto descended in direct succession to James, son of Capt. Arthur Fenner; then to his son Thomas Fenner; then to James M. Fenner, the father of Comrade Earl Fenner.
The subject of our sketch attended the public schools of Providence in his youth.
When the War for the Union began Comrade Fenner became imbued with the martial spirit of the times, and was desirous of taking part in the great struggle for national existence. On the 25th day of August, 1861, he enrolled as a private in Battery C, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. This battery left Providence on the 31st of August, and proceeded to Washington. It remained at Camp Sprague engaged in daily drill until October, when it crossed the Potomac and encamped near Fort Corcoran, giving to its encampment the name of “Camp Randolph.” From thence it removed to Hall’s Hill, and again to Miner’s Hill, Va., and became identified with Porter’s division of the Army of the Potomac. While the battery was stationed here the privations and hardships of a soldier’s life greatly impaired the health of Comrade Fenner, and eventually caused his discharge from the service Dec. 9, 1861.
Regaining his health the following year he again yearned to serve his country in her hour of peril, and enlisted as a private in Battery H, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, Sept. 24, 1862. From this time on until its final muster out Comrade Fenner became closely identified with its history. During his term of service he served as private, bugler and non-commissioned officer.
When the Army of the Potomac was moving towards Gettysburg, Pa., in June, 1863, Comrade Fenner was detailed to headquarters of the Third Brigade, of the Twenty-second Army Corps, and was ordered on special duty as a bearer of dispatches to the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac. As that army was on the march against the enemy his instructions were very explicit to deliver the dispatches entrusted to him to the general commanding wherever he might be found. On one occasion while returning from one of these journeys he narrowly escaped capture by Mosby’s guerillas near Germantown, Va.
In the battles before Petersburg, the engagement at Sailor’s Creek, and the closing scenes at Appomattox, where the surrender of the Confederate army occurred, Comrade Fenner was an active participant with his battery, and at the termination of the war returned to Rhode Island, where the battery was mustered out of service June 28, 1865.
Comrade Fenner is a member of the First Rhode Island Light Artillery Veteran Association, and served as Executive Committee of Battery H in the regimental association a number of years. In 1891 he was chosen first-vice president of the association, and in 1892 president.
On the 27th of June, 1891, he called a meeting of the old members of Battery H, for the purpose of forming a veteran association of the battery. Starting with only four members, through his untiring efforts as secretary and treasurer, the association now numbers on its roll fifty members. He was unanimously chosen historian by his comrades of the battery. Having in his possession a very valuable war diary that he kept while in service it has formed the nucleus from which a large portion of the facts and incidents relating to the history of the battery have been gathered. This diary has also been the means of aiding many of his comrades and their widows in obtaining pensions, and likewise been of great service to the pension office in settling disputed cases.
Comrade Fenner is connected with various societies. He is a past chief patriarch of Narragansett Encampment, No. 1, I. O. O. F., and has held the office of recording secretary in Hope Lodge, No. 4, I. O. O. F. He is a past great sachem and past great prophet of the Great Council of the Improved Order of Red Men of Rhode Island, also holding the position of great mishewina in the Great Council for two years.
Comrade Fenner has been for several years in the employ of his brother, James M. Fenner, druggist, in the city of Providence.