Century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and representative citizens 20th, Part 21

Author: Rockel, William M. (William Mahlon), 1855-1930, ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1086

USA > Ohio > Clark County > Springfield > Century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and representative citizens 20th > Part 21

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The plan of buildings adopted by the Grand Lodge of the Knights of Pythias was entirely different from that of the Masons and Odd Fellows, in that it con-

KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS' HOME, SPRINGFIELD

ODD FELLOWS' HOME, SPRINGFIELD

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templated, when completed, a number of buildings and was based very largely up- on what is known as the cottage plan. The first cottage was erected in 1894,,at a cost of $8,000. To this eight additional buildings have been added; the main ad- ministration building costing $75,000, the dining room and auditorium $25,000, two cottages each $17,000, power house and coal cellars $6,000, barn $4,000, employees' cottage $2,000, hospital building $4,000, making a total of $146,000. The last of these buildings was completed and dedi- cated in June, 1904.

The site of this home is equal in beauty to that of either the Masonic or Odd Fel- lows. institutions. Within the corporate limits, immediately north of the main part of the city, it has all the advantages of a city location, while the ground is so situated as to give it plenty of country air. On the north end of the tract of eighty- four acres is a beautiful natural grove of forty-four acres. The number of resi- dents at present is 214, boys 109, and girls 105.

The first superintendent was Mr. Thomas H. Collins, his wife being matron. Afterward the present very able and aff- able R. M. Le Fevre and his helpful wife were made superintendent and matron respectively. Even since its organization until the present year Zac Taylor, who was very attentive to his duties, was a member of the board of directors.

The total value of the grounds, build- ings and equipments at this time is not far from $300,000.

The question of a home for aged and infirm members, has been brought up, and no doubt, in the not far distant future

some action will be taken in this direc- tion. Whether or not this home will be located here and carried on in connection with the present orphan's home, is a mat- ter not yet decided, but it is not unlikely that such may be the case.

Much of the credit for securing the lo- cation of these fraternal homes in our vicinity is due to two men-Governor Bushnell, through his generous subscrip- tion to the Masonic Home, and P. M. Cart- mell, who in a thorough and painstaking manner collected and presented statistical information showing the ready acces- sibility of this city to and from all parts of the state, with other weighty considera- tions calculated to influence favorable ac- tion in behalf of Springfield.

OESTERLEN ORPHANS' HOME.

Not only have fraternal orders found Springfield a desirable place in which to locate homes, but the Lutheran Church has also come to the same conclusion. In 1904 Mrs. Amelia Oesterlen, a wealthy Lutheran lady of Findlay, Ohio, by her last will and testament left a fund of about $30,000 to be used in the erection and maintenance of a home for orphan children of Lutheran parentage. When this bequest became available, those in authority began to seek a proper site for the home. The large Lutheran following in Springfield, together with the influence of Wittenberg College, no doubt, had much to do with the committees' selec- tion of Springfield, but the fact that the three great fraternal organizations had found Springfield to be a suitable place in which to locate their respective homes, no doubt had its effect with the Lutheran

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committee in coming to the conclusion it did.

Several locations in and about Spring- field were suggested to the committee, but finally it was decided to purchase the old Zimmerman farm just beyond the city limits, north of Lagonda. This farm is very nicely situated and had upon it very commodious buildings. It contained 108 acres and was purchased in 1905 at a cost of about $12,000. The Home is of- ficered and managed by a board of trus- tees selected by various Lutheran bodies, and supported by the Lutheran Synods of Wittenberg, Miami, Eastern Ohio, Northern Indiana, and Olive Branch.

It was opened for the acceptance of in- mates on June 6th, 1905. The house has been remodeled and a number of other improvements made, involving an expen- diture of about $3,000.

The first superintendent was Rev. A. J. Kissell and Mrs. Della Etta Kissel, his wife, was matron. In December, 1905, the matron died, and in the following April the superintendent resigned his po- sition, and the present efficient official, Rev. W. M. Havey, of Spencerville, In- diana, was selected as superintendent and his wife as matron. The present number of inmates is twenty-two, fifteen males and seven females.

As at present arranged the members of this "Home" family attend Sunday School and church services in the Fifth Lutheran Church. The home is pros- perous and bears ample evidence that in time it will fulfill the generous expecta- tions and hopes of its founder.

Rev. S. E. Greenewalt is president, Rev. J. H. Zinn vice-president, Rev. H. S.

Lawrence secretary, and John L. Zim- merman, Esq., treasurer, respectively, of the Board of Directors.

CLARK MEMORIAL HOME.

This home is designed for aged women who are willing to comply with its con- ditions and who wish to have a pleasant home for the remainder of their lives. It is a substantial brick building at No. 616 North Limestone Street. It was founded in 1899 by Mrs. Charlotte S. Clark in memory of her son. The prop- erty was purchased and remodeled and on the 16th of November in that same year, it was opened for inspection by. the public and has been occupied ever since for the purpose it was intended. It cost $3,000 to remodel the house and $2,000 to furnish it. At one time Hon. John W. Bookwalter, who has just re- cently sent a check for $2,500 to be dis- tributed to the poor of this city, sent a like check for $2,500 to cancel the in- debtedness on this home. Money and en- .dowments from other sources have been also received until a small but substan- tial fund of that character is now held by the institution.

Mrs. Winger, widow of Capt. Amaziah Winger, has given very substantial aid to the home and no doubt will continue to do so during her lifetime. Mrs. Charles Stout has also been very atten- tive to the wants of this institution. Ev- ery few years the home adopts a novel way of raising funds. Having interested in its behalf all the pretty girls in town, they designate a certain day as "Tag Day," on which the girls set out to catch

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every wayfarer, insisting that he pur- chase a tag. The men recognize that the easiest way to get rid of the importuni- ties of these fair ladies is to succumb to

the wiles of the first one he meets and purchase a tag. As high as $1,500 has been raised in this way on a certain day. Elmina Shaffer is matron of the home.

CHAPTER XIV.

MILITARY HISTORY OF SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY, OHIO.

Paper Read by Gen'l J. Warren Keifer at First Centennial of Springfield :- Rev- olutionary and Territorial Times. War of 1812-1815-Mexican War, 1846- 1848-Civil War, 1861-1865-Second Ohio Infantry-Third Ohio Infantry- Sixteenth Ohio Infantry-Thirty-first Ohio Infantry-Forty-fourth Ohio Infantry-Seventy-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry-Eighty-sixth Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry-Ninety-fourth Ohio Infantry-One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Infantry-One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Ohio-One Hundred and Forty-sixth Ohio Infantry-One Hundred and Fifty-second Ohio Infantry- One Hundred and Fifty-third Ohio Infantry-Sixteenth Ohio Independent Battery-Seventeenth Ohio Independent Battery-Squirrel Hunters, 1862 -First Kentucky Infantry-United States Navy-United States Military Academy-Spanish War, 1898.

PAPER READ BY GEN. J. WARREN KEIFER AT THE FIRST CENTENNIAL OF SPRINGFIELD.

(In this paper Clark County will be referred to as though it had an organized existence from the earliest times, although its territory was a part of Hamilton County prior to 1800; then of Greene until 1805; then of Champaign until 1817, when it was or- ganized.)

My Friends and Neighbors:

The duty of summarizing the military history of Clark County has led me to study the annals of her people a people springing, originally, from all national- ities and tongues, with varied race char- acteristics, but who, in time, became so composite, in blood and character, as to

be able, if occasion required, to deny any national or race origin, or to boast that the blood of all nationalities run in the veins of its citizens.

How impressive is the history of her people. They early came here with ex- alted hopes and high ambition ; they, with- in the limits of their aspirations, succeed- ed in the main, then passed to the great beyond, leaving to us a heritage of ex- ample and valor. Our blood-kindred and earliest friends were of these. What sad reflections might we summon; but this is not the time nor the occasion. The priva- tions, struggles and sufferings of the early settlers were largely forgotten by

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their descendants, they being almost selfishly willing to enjoy the fruits of what they accomplished for education, civilization and Christianity, without awarding to them full credit.

But this is not a day for sad rem- iniscences and serious reflections, but for cheerfulness and hopefulness, for re- joicing-even for boasting.

The task assigned me is an inspiring and a pleasant one, because of the splendid history Clark County has made in all the wars in which our country was engaged in the nineteenth century. Her people, willingly and loyally, responded to all calls of danger and duty, and went forth to uphold constitutional liberty and the natural rights of man. Her sons fought and died on every important campaign and in every great battle in the last one hundred years in which our country was engaged.

The blood of her sons has crimsoned the soil of, and their bones have bleached on the great battlefields of the Republic. They have heroically borne on high the starry flag of Washington, the purest and proudest emblem of human liberty, both on land and sea; only lately participating in carrying its protecting folds to the re- lief of endangered and imprisoned Christ- ians in far-off imperial China's walled capital. Wherever glory in the cause of humanity has been won through deeds of valor and by bloody sacrifice, Clark Coun- ty's soldiers and sailors must justly be awarded a share, and so as to this na- tion's standing in first place among the greatest powers of the world.

world, having reference to the advance- ment of science and the fine arts, to ma- terial and moral progress, and wealth; to the liberation of man and the elevation of woman, and the best growth of a purer civilization. All these things seem, in the providence of God, to have required human sacrifice. As a purer atmosphere succeeds violent electrical storms, so purer liberty succeeds overthrown op- pression.

In the nineteenth century (substantially the period of Springfield's existence) the map of the world has often changed, and our new nation, inspired by liberty for man, has developed in usefulness and taken its place among the controlling powers of the earth. That which was protected by law and by public sentiment, sometimes claimed to be maintained by Divine sanction-the slave trade, since Springfield was settled, became piracy (1820) and the whole institution of slavery, upheld by Christian nations through the centuries, has passed away, in large part, throughout the civilized world. A war for humanity has been de- clared and successfully terminated. A list of controlling events is too long for production here.

What part did the citizens of this city and Clark County have in determining these great questions? Small as Clark County is, in comparative area and num- bers, it has had her soldiers and sailors ready to rush to battle and sacrifice wher- ever duty and country called in all our Re- public's wars.

Springfield was born amid savagery, . This day marks the end of a century in and her earliest settlers were in constant the existence of our city, covering the danger of the tomahawk and scalping most eventful epoch in the history of the knife. The battle at Piqua Indian vil-

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lage, on Mad River (six miles west of Springfield, August 8, 1780), drove back the federated Indian tribes for a few miles only, leaving them to roam over this coun- try for a third of a century longer.

The early inhibitants of what is now Clark County were, perforce, soldiers for the defense of their homes, and were sub- ject to be called into temporary service at any time. The region round about here was, on account of its healthful perennial springs, rich pastures, quantities of fish in the pure waters, wild fruits, berries and nuts, abundant deer, bear, turkeys and other wild game necessary to sustain man in a savage state, much coveted by the Indian tribes, and they fought for it with a desperation seldom witnessed in other parts. It was the ancestral home of more than one fierce tribe. At the Piqua Shaw- nee Indian village, Tecumseh and the Prophet, sons of a Shawnee chief, were born. They became the most famous of the Indian war chiefs, and they waged war on the frontier settlers longer than others of the wild tribes.

Simon Kenton, a spy, guide, scout, hunter, and Indian fighter for forty-five years, resided for a time within the pres- ent limits of Springfield.

Within these limits have been held councils with Indians to settle real or pretended grievances, notably one attend- ed by Tecumseh and other great Indian war chiefs in 1807.

REVOLUTIONARY AND TERRITORIAL TIMES.

There came to what is now Clark Coun- ty, as to other parts of the West, some Revolutionary soldiers, bringing with. them their patriotism and generally their

poverty. Their love of liberty was, how- ever, put in practice, and, by example, these veteran soldiers did much to build up peaceful communities. William Baird (Harmony Township), Merrifield Vicory and Andrew Pinneo (Springfield Town- ship), Abraham Rust (German Town- ship) and William Holmes (Bethel Town- ship) are of the soldiers of the Revolution who settled, lived and died in Clark Coun- ty, and who left descendants to honor their names by a life of usefulness. There were, doubtless, others of the Revolution- ary War, whose names are unknown to me, who did likewise.

Some of those who were with General Anthony Wayne (Mad Anthony) in his campaign to the Maumee and in the bat- tle of Fallen Timbers (1794) and at the Treaty of Greenville (1795), and who were in other Indian expeditions, settled and died in Clark County.

In territorial times, and long after the State of Ohio was admitted (1802) into the Union, it was a requirement of law that all able-bodied men within certain ages should muster, at least annually, un- der officers, generally of their own selec- tion, thus to familiarize them with move- ments in organized bodies and with arms in their hands. These musters were gala- days, and were not always conducted, in the then wild state of society and free- dom of habits, with that regard for peace and propriety conducive to military discipline. As the militia were not gen- erally armed, save with their own rifles, or, for want of them, with sticks and corn- stalks, the training in the manual and use of arms for war was little. In time these. militia musters fell into disrepute, be- came unpopular, and were by common

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consent discontinued, then abolished by law .. Some distinguished citizens had rank in the militia as brigadier-general, notably Samson Mason and Charles Anthony, both of whom were distin- guished lawyers of Springfield, and each left sons who have served in the United States Army in time of war.

Passing, for want of detailed informa- tion, too lightly over the worthy pioneers, who almost constantly acted in the semi- capacity of soldiers, being on guard with rifles in hand, whether in field, at church, or home, to guard against Indian mas- sacres, we go to the history of wars on a large scale.

We must remark that the annals of our young Republic are surpassingly bloody. From Lexington to Appomattox (1775- 1865), almost one year out of five, not counting our constant Indian wars, was, on an average, a year of war.

WAR OF 1812-1815.

The War of 1812 became necessary to secure commercial and maritime rights denied to this nation by Great Britain.

The incomplete list of names of sol- diers and sailors of Clark County of that war is still too long to be here given. Colonel John Dougherty, Major James Neely, Captains John McPherson, Arthur Layton, Samuel Black, Philip Kizer and Samuel Stewart, and Lieutenants Will- iam Ward, Nathaniel Williams and Will- iam Lamme, of the cavalry and infantry, and Captain Benjamin Hathaway, of the navy, from this county, were in that war; and among others who served from Clark County, principally on the then extreme Western frontier, fighting the English

and their savage allies, may be mentioned (Pleasant Township) Charles Botkin, Jonathan and William Curl, A. McCon- key, William H. Hunter, Joseph Coffey, Amos Neer; (Moorefield Township) Ho- ratio Banes, William Hunt, James Foley, John Humphreys, Andrew Hodge, Simon Kenton, and Abraham Yeazell; (Pike Township) Andrew Black, James Black, Obediah Lippencott, James Fuller, Thomas Stafford; (German Township) Benjamin Frantz, G. Gard, David Kizer (father of Thomas Kizer, long County Surveyor of Clark County), Jacob Kib- linger, David Jones, Benjamin Morris, John Ross, John Pence, John, Philip, and Samuel Baker; (Bethel Township) El- nathan Cory, James and Jonathan Don- nell, John Forgy, Jacob Fross, William Hustler, John Hay, Peter Sheets, Will- iam Layton, Benjamin P. Gaines, Abra- ham Smith, George Lowman, David Lowry, W. G. Serviss, Michael Minnick, William Crawford, John Paul (supposed to be the first settler of this county), John Wallace, Sr., Hugh Wallace, and Henry Williams; (Springfield Town- ship) Louis Bancroft, John Kelly (father of Oliver S. Kelly, a successful manufac- turer, now an honored citizen of Spring- field), Samuel Lisle, David Hughes, Jo- seph Keifer (father of J. Warren Kei- fer), William Minach, J. W. Ross (killed at the Battle of Thames), Andrew Pinneo (probably the same who served in the Revolution), and Nathan Reddish; (Har- mony Township) John and Peter Baird, Hamilton Busby, William Foreman, John Judy, Edward Rice, Nathan Smith, Will- iam Osborn and Jacob Olinger; (Madison Township) Conrad Critz, Isaac David- son, Philip Hedrick, Enoch Jones, John

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McCollum, and David Vance; (Greene Township) George and Samuel Albin, Jacob Garlough, Thomas Mills, John T. Stewart (father of Captain Perry Stew- art, of the Civil War), O. S. Stewart, George Sroufe, James Todd, Joseph Weller, and Benjamin Whiteman; (Mad River Township) Melyn Baker, Samuel Davis, Richard Hughel, Daniel Mead, Daniel Jenkins, and Rule Peterson.

We have named but few, for as many as five hundred are reported to have en- listed in the War of 1812 from Clark County, and many more who served hon- orably in that war, later settled in the county and were of its best citizens. Among whom were Archibald Mitchell (father of Captain James A. Mitchell, killed in the Civil War), the ancestor of distinguished soldiers of later wars; also Adam Rockel,* Benjamin Wilson, Peter Sager, William Donovan (buried at Bethel Church), and Christian Overhalt- zer.

MEXICAN WAR, 1846-1848.

The enlistments from Clark County for . the Mexican War-a war to acquire ter- ritory to devote to slavery-were but few, Andrew F. Biddle and Edward Boggs, George Cox, Isaiah Cheney, Dan- iel Harsh, and Adam Evans are of the number. Vincent Nowotay and others who served in that war later settled in the county. Captain Simon H. Drum, a graduate of West Point, appointed from Springfield, was killed fighting a battery of the Fourth Artillery, U. S. A., just in- side of Belen Gate (Garita de Belen) in the final assault and capture of the

walled City of Mexico (September 13, 1847). His body is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery.

CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865.

The number of residents of Clark County who, as officers, soldiers and sail- ors in the regular and volunteer service, joined the army or navy on the Union side in the Civil War, and who, having joined from other places, afterward be- came residents of the county, can only be approximately estimated. This number will reach about twenty-five hundred and fifty (2550), not counting double enlist- ments. Those included in this number who enlisted elsewhere will hardly ex- ceed the large number, residents of the county, who were credited elsewhere, still leaving about 2550, the actual number of residents of the county who joined the army or navy in that war. Some of these were found in the regular army or navy, but for the most part they belonged to volunteer organizations, principally the following :

SECOND OHIO INFANTRY.

Captain Edwin C. Mason's company, enlisted here within twenty-four hours after President Lincoln's first call for volunteers (April 15, 1861), became Com- pany F of the Second Ohio Infantry (three months), and it fought under Cap- tain David King at the first Bull Run (July 21, 1861) and many from this coun- ty served with the regiment in the South- west in the three-years' service. Edwin C. Mason later became Colonel of the Seventh Maine, then still later of the One

*Grandfather of the editor.

THE KELLY PLANT, SPRINGFIELD

CHAMPION WORK'S SPRINGFIELD

INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER CO., CHAMPION WORKS, SPRINGFIELD.

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Hundred and Seventy-sixth Ohio. He was appointed (1861) captain in the reg- ular army, and was retired a few years before his death with the rank of Colonel and brevet brigadier-general. Mason dis- tinguished himself in the Civil War, then in the Modoc Indian War.

Captain James R. Ambrose, of this city, commanded a company in the Sec- ond Ohio in the three-years' service. This regiment did much heavy fighting and hard campaigning.

THIRD OHIO INFANTRY.

Captain James C. Vananda enlisted here, about April 20, 1861, what became Company D, Third Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, a three-months and three-years regiment. This company fought at Rich Mountain (July 11, 1861), in about the first battle of the war; at Elk Water and Cheat Mountain, in West Virginia, and campaigned and fought in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, notably at Per- rysville, Kentucky (October 8, 1862), and at Stone's River, Tennessee, and it was captured on the Streight raid in Ala- bama in 1863.

SIXTEENTH OHIO INFANTRY.

Captain Philip Kershner took a Spring- field company into the Sixteenth Ohio Infantry, where it saw much service in West Virginia and in the Southwest, par- ticipating in many battles and sieges. This regiment came to be commanded by Colonel John D'Courcey, of royal En- glish blood, afterward sitting in the House of Lords as Lord Kinsale.

THIRTY-FIRST OHIO INFANTRY.

Captain William H. Wade (since for several terms in Congress from Mis- souri) took from this county Company K, Thirty-first Ohio Infantry, and it saw much hard service and fighting in bloody campaigns and battles, principally in the Southwest, including Corinth, Perrysville and Stone's River (1862), Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge (1863), and the At- lanta campaign, etc., in 1864.

Captain William H. H. McArthur, of this county (grandson of General and ex- Governor Duncan McArthur), was of this regiment.

FORTY-FOURTH OHIO INFANTRY.

This regiment was organized on this Fair Ground in 1861, and it contained many Clark County men (Hugh Blair Wilson, its Lieutenant-Colonel, was of Springfield), and it saw service in West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Later it became the Eighth Ohio Cavalry, and as such served with distinction in Vir- ginia campaigns and battles. Major Charles H. Evans was of this regiment; also Lieutenant-Colonel August Dotze.

SEVENTY-FIRST OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.

The Seventy-First Ohio was organized in 1861. Colonel Rodney Mason, of Springfield, was its first commander. Company I, commanded by Captain Sol J. Houck, was organized in this county. Captain William S. Wilson (New Car- lisle), now of Springfield, commanded a company in this regiment. It fought at Shiloh and in many battles and campaigns under Grant and Sherman.

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EIGHTY-SIXTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.

Howard D. John, of Springfield, en- listed Company B of this three-months' regiment, organized about June 1, 1862.

NINETY-FOURTH OHIO INFANTRY.

Companies A and G of this regiment were of Clark County, commanded re- spectively by Captains Perry Stewart and Charles C. Gibson. David King (once of the Second Ohio) was first Major, then Lieutenant-Colonel of this regiment. Captain Amaziah Winger succeeded Cap- tain Stewart in the command of Company A. Lieutenants Hezekiah Kershner and Henry C. Cushman were of this com- pany; also George and Robert N. Elder, Jacob A. Hinkle, Richard Leedle and other excellent soldiers and citizens. Nathan M. McConkey succeeded Gibson ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINTH OHIO. as Captain of Company G. George W. Wilson (since a distinguished lawyer, London, Ohio, and two terms in Congress) was a First Lieutenant in Company G of this regiment. The regiment fought in Kentucky and Tennessee (1862-1863) and was in Sherman's Atlanta campaign and with his army from "Atlanta to the Sea" (1864); then marched and fought up the Atlantic coast through the Carolinas and to the end of the rebellion.

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Century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and representative citizens 20th, Part 21

Author: Rockel, William M. (William Mahlon), 1855-1930, ed Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing co. Number of Pages: 1086

Author: Rockel, William M. (William Mahlon), 1855-1930, ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1086