Charles Bridges married Frances Sarah Frye on June 27, 1865, and left the army for good in August. They lived in Stockton.
The 1870 census lists him as a "U.S. Messenger;" in 1880, as a "Hardware Dealer." His enlistment papers, however, had given his occupation as blacksmith, and a Historical Sketch of Stockton Springs published in 1908 included Bridges in a list of "ship's blacksmiths" who worked in the several shipyards in and around the town.
Fannie's younger brother, Charles W. Frye, lived with the couple in 1870, working as a store clerk, but there is no evidence that the Bridges ever had a child.
In 1883, Bridges' pension record lists him as an invalid. He died on August 16, 1886, and was buried in Mt. Prospect Cemetery in Stockton. Fannie was buried with him upon her death in 1922.
