Colonel Frederick Chapin Lord is a native of the state of Connecticut, his birth having occurred in Wallingford on the 9th of October, 1837. he comes of English lineage, his ancestors having settled in New England in the year 1636. Representatives of the name were participants in all the important events which formed the early history of that section of the country, and also took part in the Indian wars, the war of the rebellion, the war of 1812 and the war with Mexico.

Frederick Lord, the father of the Colonel, was born in East Windsor, Connecticut, in 1778, and after arriving at years of maturity married Miss Elizabeth Allen, of New England ancestry equally as prominent in the history of Connecticut as his own. He died in 1867, and his wife passed away in 1899, at the age of eighty-nine years. They were both members of the Episcopal church and were worthy people, whose sterling traits of character endeared them to a large circle of friends. They had four children, two sons and two daughters, and both the sons, with the blood of the Revolutionary forefathers flowing in their veins, gave their services to the country as defenders of the Union for the Civil war. Henry C. Lord, the brother of the Colonel, enlisted in the Fifteenth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers and died in the army of yellow fever a the eighteenth year of his age. The surviving sister is Mrs. C. F. Lander, a resident of Connecticut.

Colonel Lord was educated in the public schools of his native town, and in response to President Lincoln's first call for troops to put down the rebellion in its incipiency he enlisted on the 18th day of April, 1861, five days before General Robert E. Lee resigned his commission in the United States army. He became a member of Company D, First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and afterward served in the Harris Light Cavalry, the Thirteenth and Third Provisional Cavalry Regiments of New York. Three years his service was in that celebrated raiding regiment, the Harris Light Cavalry, a regiment credited with one hundred and eighty-five engagements, and they lost nine hundred and twenty-eight, dead and wounded, out of the whole number of two thousand, eight hundred and thirty-seven men. And it is Iisted in Colonel Fox's roster of regimental losses as one of the six cavalry regiment that gained the distinction of being called the fighting regiments.

Colonel Lord served successively as a private, sergeant, first sergeant. sergeant major, second lieutenant, first lieutenant and captain. He won the second lieutenancy at a point twenty-five miles south of Fredericksburg on the 5th of July, 1862. The officer in command was disabled in the first charge, and Sergeant Lord, being next in rank, took command and brought the combat to a successful termination, routing the enemy and capturing a number of prisoners. He was promoted to the rank of captain after the desperate cavalry engagement at Aldie on the 17th of June, 1863. His platoon being in advance, he was ordered to charge, and his troops remained and guarded the town against a superior force, securing a strong position and holding it against repeated assaults, until General Kilpatrick was able to bring up his brigade. The first squadron coming to the support of Lieutenant Lord lost its five officers, and several of its men were killed and wounded in reaching the position. Colonel Lord's service in the Union army was continuous from the 18th of April, 1861, until the 2d of October, 1865, with the exception of a brief period of fourteen days which was granted to him as a furlough after his re-enlistment. His record is scarcely equaled by that of any volunteer in the Civil war. He was in thirty-three hard-fought engagements, yet he escaped with only one wound. In a cavalry charge in a close combat a pistol was pointed at his head, but before it could be discharged he had thrust it aside with his hand, and in so doing he was shot through the hand, the wound leaving a great scar.

In May, 1866, just seven months after receiving an honorable discharge from the Union army, Colonel Lord arrived in Virginia City, having made the journey by way of the Nicaragua route. He was at first employed in a quartz mill, and while thus engaged was appointed to a position in the revenue service, in which capacity he remained, discharging his duties in a most capable manner for eighteen years. He was first assistant assessor, later deputy assessor and then assessor, and subsequently collector. In 1896 he was elected a member of the state senate and re-elected in 1902, so at this writing, in 1903, he is now the representative from his district in the upper house of the state legislature. During the Spanish-American war he was appointed paymaster of United States volunteers and filled that position at San Francisco until after the close of hostilities. His superior officers in their official reports accorded him with the highest tributes of energy, industry, promptness, economy, intelligence and integrity in the performance of his duties, his accounts being in excellent shape and entirely accurate.

Since coming to Nevada Colonel Lord has taken an active interest in the state militia. He commanded the battery for five years, was colonel of the old regiment, and on its re-organization in 1892 he was again elected to that office, and was in command of both state encampments held at the state capital. He was also a member of the rifle team in its contests with the California militia in 1883 and 1884, at which time the records of the Nevada team excelled all previous records made in the United States. This was certainly very gratifying to Colonel Lord and other members of the team, and of their work they have every reason to be proud. Colonel Lord was also a very active member of the Republican party in former years, and was secretary of the Republican state central committee for twelve years, renderng his party a valuable service in that capacity. But when the party repudiated its position on bimetallism he believed it to be a great injustice to his state and to the people of the entire United States. He then attended the meeting called to organize the silver party, was elected its chairman and was also one of the organizers of the silver and fusion movements which carried the state of Nevada for William Jennings Bryan and elected the Nevada state officers.

During the past twenty-six years Colonel Lord has been agent of the Giant Powder Company, and has sold a large amount of the giant powder used by mining companies in Virginia City and other mines in this portion of the state. At the present time he is timekeeper for the Consolidated California & Virginia Mining Company.

In 1872 was celebrated the marriage of Colonel Lord and Miss Bella T. Fulsom, a native of the state of Maine. Their union was blessed with two daughters: Fredericka C, now the wife of Otto F. Williams, of Elko, Nevada, who is a successful attorney at that place; and Flora, who is now the wife of W. E. Hansan, a druggist of Oakland, California. After some years of happy married life Mrs. Lord died, leaving to the Colonel the care of his two daughters. In 1895 he was again married, his second union being with Miss Alice O. Nye, a daughter of Emanuel Nye, a California pioneer of prominence. Mrs. Lord is a lady of superior culture and natural refinement, and is a valued member of the Episcopal church.

The Colonel is a member of the Loyal Legion, his certificate for admission to that order having been signed by General Phil Sheridan. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Cavalry Corps of the Potomac and of the Harris Light Cavalry Regiment Association. He likewise has the honor of being a member of the Spanish-American War Veterans' Association. He was made a Mason in New York city, and retains his membership with the blue lodge and chapter, and is also a Knight Templar, belonging to DeWitt Clinton Commandery No. 1. Colonel Lord has made for himself a record as a soldier, public officer and civilian that well merits the high commendation of all, and he justly enjoys the good will, confidence and friendship of a very large circle of acquaintances.

Source:
A History of the State of Nevada: Its Resources and People
By Thomas Wren, Lewis Publishing Company
Published by The Lewis publishing company, 1904