Benjamin F. Mabie (alias Mabee and Maybee) was born in the Province of Ontario, Canada on October 9, 1846, the eldest son of John S. Mabie and Elizabeth Purvis. About 1847 the family immigrated to the United States, settling at first in Wisconsin, and then moving to Minnesota by the early 1850’s. It was here that Benjamin grew to manhood.

On September 23, 1864, just a few weeks shy of being eighteen years old, Benjamin enlisted and was mustered into the army as a Private in Battery B of the 1st Minnesota Heavy Artillery. Private Mabie was quickly promoted to Corporal on October 14th. After its organization, this one-year regiment was ordered to Chattanooga, Tennessee in the winter of 1864-1865. It was placed in charge of the heavy guns and forts there, a responsible position, as it was thought that Gen. John Bell Hood would endeavor to retake the city. The regiment remained at Chattanooga until discharged at the close of the war. Corporal Mabie was mustered out on June 17, 1865.

Family tradition states that Benjamin Mabie was shot at the battle of Second Manassas (August 29-30, 1862) and that he lay on the battlefield for three days, suffering from heat stroke. He never fully recovered from this ordeal, which later led to his early demise.

No evidence has been found to substantiate this family story. Mabie would have only been fifteen years old at the time of the battle, and his name is not borne on the rolls of any regiments present at the battle. It is possible however that he served as a paid substitute or enlisted under an assumed name.

Shortly after the war, Benjamin married his first wife, Sarah. Her maiden name is unknown. In 1870 they were living near his parents in Lincoln Township, Caldwell County, Missouri. This union produced one daughter, Abbie Laura Mabie, who died young. Unfortunately, the mother did not long survive the child and died young as well.

Mabie wearing his G.A.R. Membership Badge

Benjamin F. Mabie later remarried, choosing as his wife Miss Laura Anna Lovett, daughter of Alfred Langdon Lovett and Julia Ann Jordan. The 1880 census finds the family back in Minnesota where they were living with Laura’s parents at Elk River in Sherburne County. Here Benjamin carried on work as a farmer. His marriage to Laura produced four children, namely: Raymond Langdon Mabie, Carl Kendall Mabie, Wayne Benjamin Mabie, and Irving Dorr Mabie.

At this time, Benjamin’s parents were living in California, and there is evidence that he lived there for a short time during the early 1880’s, but shortly returned to Minnesota. However, California’s draw was too much and the family returned to settle in Santa Clara County about 1894.

Benjamin F. Mabie was an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), both in Minnesota and in California where he belonged to the E. O. C. Ord Post, No. 82 of Los Gatos. He was also a Grand Master with the Masonic Lodge.

He died on November 16, 1897 of “brain disease,” the symptoms of which are similar to Parkinson’s Disease or lead poisoning. This may lend some credence to story of being wounded at Second Manassas. Benjamin was buried in the Los Gatos Cemetery, not far from the GAR plot. His widow, Laura, who died in the late 1930’s, was a member of the Women’s Relief Corps and three of his sons were members and officers of the Gen. John Logan Camp No. 20, SUVCW of Los Gatos.