Stephen Carr Lyford 

1839-1885

Class of June 1861.

Cullum # 1943.

“11.  Stephen Carr Lyford (New Hampshire) was commander of the Cairo, Illinois, ordnance depot from February to May, 1862, and chief of ordnance in the Department of Tennessee from July 11, 1862, to September 6, 1863. Lyford returned to West Point as assistant professor of mathematics (1865-1867) and as instructor of ordnance and gunnery (1872). In 1874, he went to Japan, where he presented the emperor with arms and books. At the 1876 International Exhibition in Philadelphia, Lyford was a judge for sporting arms, weapons, and explosives. He died at the Frankford, Pennsylvania, arsenal, which he commanded, in 1885.” [Ralph Kirschner, The Class of 1861 (1999), p. 163. Pictured on plates between pages 76 and 77.]

 

Manuscripts:

Lyford, Stephen Carr, Papers, 1857-1882. SPEC Mss. 146 items. Summary: 103 cadet letters to his mother and father, S.C. Lyford, 1857-1861, describing West Point, academics, cadet life, the completion of his studies at West Point and his concern about the coming War; 38 letters to his parents, 1861-1865, describing his experiences during the Civil War; letters to parents, 1865-1866; appointment as chair of centennial exhibition board; standard order of procedure for accounts and transactions of the Frankford Arsenal issued by Major Lyford, 1 July 1882