This interesting couple has ties to Omena that go back to the days of Rev Peter Doughtery. Although General George Armstrong Custer’s presence is fleeting at best and somewhat “ghostlike”, his wife, Elizabeth Clift Bacon Custer definitely was a presence here. Her father, the wealthy and influential Judge Daniel Bacon who purchased land in this area in 1852 and in 1858. He purchased the land in Omena where the yellow Anderson house stands as well as where Villa Marquette and the Presbyterian church are. It is believed that it was to Omena that Elizabeth brought Custer to recover from an injury caused by a spent bullet. He was injured in the conflict at Culpepper courthouse in Richmond during the Civil War.
Libby
Libby was the only one of Judge Bacon’s children to survive into adulthood and he doted on her. She was talented, beautiful, and intelligent and he hoped she would make a good marriage with a man from her own elevated social class. He refused to allow her to marry Custer but her finally relented when Custer was promoted to Brevet Brigadier General in 1864.
George Custer was the oldest child of a farmer-blacksmith. Known as a practical joker, throughout his life he tested boundaries and rules. His dramatic end was as controversial as the rest of his career and the reaction to his life and career remains deeply divided. His leadership in battle is unquestioned, but his legend was partly of his own fabrication and perhaps more through the energetic lobbying of his wife, Libby.
Libby was the only officer’s wife to live in a tent on the edges of the Civil War battlefield, ride the ranks with the soldiers, and accompany the 7th calvary on many of its expeditions. She wore her own uniform dresses to show her dedication to her husband and to the US Army. She was assigned the title “Mrs. Major General” and set the social tone in the posts Custer was assigned to.
Photos and information courtesy of Omena Historical Society and “Omena, A Place in Time” by Amanda J. Holmes. Also the Mandan Historical Society and Wikipedia.