USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > History of Dayton, Ohio. With portraits and biographical sketches of some of its pioneer and prominent citizens Vol. 1 > Part 36
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"That for the purpose of avoiding the necessity of holding a bazaar, this meeting is of the opinion that by a grand combined effort money enough can be obtained by subscriptions to provide for the wants of our gallant soldiers, and a public meeting of the citizens of Dayton is hereby called for Thanksgiving night to inaugurate this work."
Messrs. Kuhus, Hanitch, and Wait were appointed a committee to provide a place for the meeting. An executive committee to manage the relief fund was also appointed as follows: First Ward, Augustus Kuhns; Second Ward, C. Herchelrode; Third Ward, John HI. Shank; Fourth Ward, Josiah Gebhart; Fifth Ward, B. F. Wait; Sixth Ward, W. N. Lowe. Treasurer, Valentine Winters.
The amount of money to be expected from taxation, which could be devoted to this purpose, was stated as follows: Taxable property of Montgomery County, $29,879,280. State tax for the relief of soldier's families, at two mills, $59,758.56; county levy for the same purpose, one mill, $29,879.28; city duplicate, $10,315,310; levy of one half mill, $5,157.65. Total amount applicable to this purpose, $94,795.49.
A relief meeting was held on the 25th of the month, at which S. Gebhart presided, the vice-presidents being Henry Herrman and T. A. Phillips, and the secretaries Charles Parrott and W. D. Bickham. A large number of subscriptions were taken, the aggregate amount sub- scribed being $4,200. The committees continued to work zealously in the cause, and a large number of wealthy citizens contributed liberally. The military committee, however, thought it best to give one more opportunity for those to subscribe who had not done so, and they asked for twenty thousand dollars, in order that there might be enough for each family to have one dollar and a half per week.
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HISTORY OF DAYTON.
On the 19th of December, 1864, President Lincoln called for three hundred thousand more men, which was the last call made. The quota for the Third District under this call was 2,577 men. A comparison of the quotas of the various districts in the State showed that there must have been some mistake in the calculations upon which the quotas had been based. The understanding between the United States authorities and the authorities of the State of Ohio was that on the 25th of October, 1864, all requisitions made upon the State had been filled. It was also understood that on the 1st of July, 1864, Governor Brough had procured an order from the war department of the United States, stating that up to that time there was no deficiency existing against any of the districts of the State, but that on the contrary the State was entitled to a credit of twenty thousand men, which credit was to be applied on the call for five hundred thousand men of July 18th. It was also claimed that the Third District furnished its full quota under that call and bad a small excess. The quota of the Third District under the call of July 18th was 3,043, and in filling that quota the terms of enlistments of the men amounted to 5,832 years, being an excess of service over the men fur- nished of 2,789 as due. The aggregate service furnished by Ohio under the call of July 18th amounted to 102,853 years, which was an average to each district of 5,413 years; but the Third District had furnished 5,832 years of service, an excess of 419 years' service. The excess of years of service over the number of men furnished by the State under call of July 18th was 52,324, an average to each district of 2,754, and the excess in the Third District was, as has been stated, 2,789, leaving the district an excess over the average of 35.
Under the call of December 10, 1864, the whole number of men required from Ohio was 26,155, an average to each district of 1,376. The Third District was required to furnish 2,577, an excess above the average for the entire number of districts in the State of 1,201. The question arose: " Why was the Third District required to furnish one tenth of the entire number of men required of the State, while the Eleventh District was asked for only 320 men, the Fifteenth District only 461, the Fourteenth only 387," etc.
An attempt was made to have the inequality rectified by application to the provost marshal general of the United States, James B. Fry, but that officer replied, under date of January 2, 1865, to the provost marshal of the Third District, Captain John Mills, that the quotas assigned under the call of December 19, 1864, for three hundred thousand men, must not be reduced except by actual enlistments in the army, navy, or marine corps since the date of that call. This order of General Fry was denounced
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by Union men as an outrage upon the rights of men who had been the most earnest in maintaining the government in its efforts to overthrow the rebellion. General Robert C. Schenck, who was then serving in con- gress, receiving information of the injustice being done toward his district, immediately called upon Provost Marshal General Fry, who upon having his attention pointedly called to the inequalities of the requisition from the various districts in this State, concluded to have the whole account revised and to have all errors in calculations rectified.
From this time on, enlistments which had received a temporary check, were very brisk, and the most of the wards and townships succeeded in filling their quotas before the draft was finally made on the 30th of March, 1865. One consideration, which may have stimulated enlistments, was the pay an enlisted man was receiving from the general government, the State government, and the people, in the way of bounties and allowances · of various kinds, a statement of which is as follows: Government bounty $100; local bounty, $100; special bounty, (average), $800; monthly pay, $192; clothing, $150; rations, $300; total annual pay of a private soldier, $1,612. On the 2d of February, 1865, the provost marshal published a statement of the number of men required from the county and the city, 598 from the former, and 200 from the latter. After the month had closed, it was found that 499 men had been recruited and mustered, and 24 men had been recruited, but not mustered. The local bounty money paid in during the month was $199,600, while the local bounty money paid out was $177,435. The treasurer of the Fifth Ward made a statement just previous to the draft of March 30th, showing that 239 subscribers in that ward bad paid in $5,797; that he had received from city bonds discounted, $5,120, and $12.10 from the sale of stamps; total amount, $10,929.10. He had expended for 21 recruits, $9,825; for various small matters, $14.50, and had on hand a cash balance of $1,089.60. He also said that there were some two hundred and fifty persons on the enrollment lists who had contributed nothing toward freeing the ward from the draft, and urgently requested the delinquents to pay their share.
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The quotas of all the wards not being' full, Major L. V. Bierce, acting provost marshal of the Third District, issued the order for the draft on the 27th of the month, and on the 30th the draft was made in the following wards: In the First Ward, 58 men were drafted; in the Fifth Ward, 66, and in the Sixth Ward, 56, these numbers including the one hundred per cent in excess of the quota, in order to fill possible deficiencies. On the next day Major Bierce was relieved of the duties of provost marshal of the Third District, and Captain John Mills, who had been temporarily relieved, resumed his place.
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HISTORY OF DAYTON.
But a few days after this draft was completed came the intelligence that the rebel General Lee had surrendered to General Grant. The news began to be telegraphed over the country about midnight of the 9th of April, 1865, and the next day the entire country was electrified with the intelligence. Every one saw plainly then that the Union was saved.
In Dayton, Billy Keifer was at the telegraph instrument, and after a lull in the receipt of dispatches of an important nature, which for a time seemed to justify the expectation that the war news would be unusually dull for the next day, said at half past ten P. M., that he had received nothing then, but was going to have a bully report, as Buffalo said that Lee had surrendered, sure pop. At 11 o'clock Dayton was called by Columbus: "Send for another operator, we have a government dispatch of thirteen hundred words. Lee has surrendered !" It was not long before messen- gers sped up and down the streets shouting heartily, ringing door bells, and explaining to the people who, awakened in this way, and in some cases alarmed, were thrusting their heads out of upper windows, "Lee has surrendered!" And generally there came back the response of " Hurrah for Grant," or "Three cheers for the Union," or some other expres- sion indicative of joy. Soon a soldier ran on the double quick to the engine house, and in a second afterward the fire bells were ringing out a glad alarm. The deep thunders of the cannon were heard echoing grandly down the streets and their reverberations gradually died away in the distant hills. The streets were soon thronged with people yelling with frantic pleasure. The darkness of the night was dispelled by blazing torches which were everywhere visible throughout the city. Old men as well as young, vied with each other as to who should exhibit the most extravagant manifestations of joy. Women's voices were heard as well as men's, in the singing of patriotic songs. The cannon boomed on till daylight, and the exultation of the hour was intense. Its like will not be scen again for generations yet to come.
On the 8th of April, Governor Brough set aside the 14th of the month as a day of thanksgiving and praise. In accordance with the proclamation, the people of Dayton made preparations to celebrate the day in a befitting manner. Committees were appointed on the various features of the pro- posed proceedings. The committee on singing and string band consisted of Dr. Brewster and W. J. Comly; on brass band, R. M. Marshall; on National Guard; Colonel John G. Lowe, J. W. Dietrich, Frederick Fox, and Dr. Brewster; on veterans, Captain William Brown; on artillery, II. W. R. Brunner and C. A. Starr; on fireworks, R. M. Marshall; ou printing, IL. W. R. Brunner and C. A. Starr; on bonfires, II. C. Fox, C. A. Starr, and C. E. Bauman; on finance, H. W. R. Brunner, A, Pruden, and
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D. W. Woodmansee. The above arrangements were made by a committee appointed for the purpose. The mayor issued a proclamation to the people calling attention to the recommendation of the governor, and requesting that all the citizens of Dayton suspend their regular business for that day and unite in a proper observance thereof.
At sunrise on the 14th the rejoicing began by the firing of a national salute at the park. The bells of the various churches and of the engine- house were rung for a considerable length of time. Everywhere the national flag was displayed, and with very few exceptions the people made every possible exhibition of the joy and gladness that filled their hearts to overflowing. At 10:30 A. M., the church bells called the congre- gations to their respective houses of worship, and the attendance was unusually large. After the noon salute, at about 1 P. M., Marshal Dietrich and his aids proceeded to collect the military and civic materials for the grand procession, which was formed in the following order: The field band; the veterans with their battle-flags; wounded and infirm soldiers, in carriages, under the command of Colonel E. A. Parrott; brass band; National Guard of Montgomery County, under command of Colonel John G. Lowe; mayor of Dayton and other civic authorities; fire department; the boys of Dayton; citizens on horseback, in carriages, and on foot.
The most interesting feature of the procession was the veterans with their tattered battle-flags-colors borne by the First and Ninety-third Ohio regiments on many a sanguinary battlefield. The boys in the procession were commanded by Captain Herchelrode, but they being quite young could not keep their places in the procession until the end, and so fell out by the wayside as they became too, tired to go further. The steam fire engines were decked out with flags, evergreens, portraits, etc., and were a very noticeable feature of the display. Captain Hoole had a ship beautifully decorated, and labeled "Old Constitution." The massive wagon of the Express Company, loaded with boxes, was a very prominent feature. Samuel Thomas had a wagon in the procession containing a wheel spinning hemp, and a gallows on which was displayed an effigy, placarded "Jeff Davis has found his last Hitch." It was esti- mated that thirty thousand people were in the streets, and that as many more were in the doors, windows, etc., preferring to be spectators rather than participants in the display.
After the evening salute there was the grandest illumination of the city ever witnessed in Dayton. All the prominent houses and stores in the principal portion of the city were most brilliantly illuminated, and the tower of the Lutheran church, ou Main Street, was the center of a 23
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most gorgeous display of fire-works, as was also the vicinity of the court- house. Afterward there was a big bonfire, and during the entire evening the band varied the programme by playing all kinds of patriotic and soul-stirring music. Speeches were made by Colonel E. A. Parrott, Samuel Craighead, Senator Gunckel, and Colonel Lowe, and the Glee Club sang "Richmond has Fallen," "Johnny Comes Marching Home," "John Brown's Body," and other patriotic songs, the crowd joining in whenever they could or whenever they desired. Never before in Dayton was there such universal joy, or so hearty a demonstration, as on that occasion. It was something which those who participated in it can never forget.
Almost immediately after the close of this joyful jubilation came the astounding news that President Lincoln had been assassinated. The news was so shocking and so horrible, that at first it could not be believed; but when the first dispatches were confirmed, and there was no longer any hope that it was not true, joy gave way to grief, and the hearts of the people bled with inexpressible anguish. It seemed clear that this cowardly assassination was the last expiring thrust of slavery, and the determination that that gigantic crime against humanity should be extinguished became more intense and more irrevocable, if that were possible, than it ever had been before. Everyone knew that the murder was wholly without the least semblance of justification; that the assassin had never been in any way injured by his unsuspecting victim, and that slavery was, in this case as in that of the inauguration of the rebellion itself, the great criminal.
On the morning of Saturday, the 15th, Mayor Ellis, of Dayton, by proclamation, called the people together at the courthouse at one P. M., to consider the great calamity that had befallen the country. Mayor Ellis was called to the chair, and W. D. Bickham was made secretary. Upon the suggestion of E. W. Davies, Dr. Thomas offered prayer. A com- mittee, consisting of Hon. L. B. Gunckel, E. W. Davies, Samuel Craig- head, J. A. Jordan, and Dr. Henry K. Steele, was appointed to draw up resolutions for the consideration of the meeting. While the committee were absent preparing their resolutions, Dr. Thomas addressed the assembly with fervent eloquence, dwelling upon the inscrutable wisdom of God in his dispensations with men, and calling attention to the fact that the calamities which he visited upon nations often proved their greatest blessings; and that, notwithstanding the bullet of the assassin had stricken down the great captain of the hosts, the people still lived, and would yet triumph. After a similar address by Dr. Kemper, the committee on resolutions made its report, The resolutions were as follows:
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First. That, according to the suggestion of the mayor, business be generally suspended for the remainder of the day, and that the people avoid, as far as possible, undue excitement, and devote the afternoon and evening to such considerate calmness and quiet as seemed appropriate to the occasion.
Second. That all the church bells be tolled between the hours of ten and half past ten o'clock A. M. on Sunday, and that solemn religious services be held in all the churches of the city, and that the pastors of the several churches, as far as practicable, conform their exercises to the national calamity.
These resolutions were unanimously adopted, and the mayor cau- tioned the people to comply with the resolutions and to use their best influence to preserve the good order and peace of the city.
Sermons were preached in accordance with the spirit of the resolu- tions, at the First Presbyterian Church by Dr. Thomas; at the First Baptist Church by Rev. Dr. Harvey; at the First United Brethren Church by Rev. W. J. Shucy; at the First Episcopal Church by the Rev. Mr. Jewett; at the First German Reformed Church, by Rev. T. B. Bucher, and at St. Joseph's Church by Rev. Father Kelly.
On Wednesday, the 19th, in accordance with the suggestion of the war department of the government, religious services were held at twelve M., in all parts of the country, in honor of the dead president. In Dayton all the business houses were closed, minute guns emphasized the solemnity of the day, church bells tolled out sad requiems to the great soul of the departed, and the city was clad in sad and appropriate emblems of mourning. On the 25th, a meeting of citizens was held at the court- house, at which a committee of one hundred was appointed to go to Columbus on Saturday, the 20th, to participate in the obsequies of the president, whose body reached there that day on its way to its final resting-place at Springfield, Illinois.
Following is a summary of the men enlisted at Dayton in the service of the United States during the War of the Rebellion:
Lafayette Guard, 85; Dayton Light Guard, 70; Montgomery Guard, 85-all in the First Ohio Infantry; Dayton Riflemen, 100; Anderson Guard, 55-both in the Eleventh Ohio Infantry; Buckeye Guard, 87- Twenty-fourth Ohio Infantry; Eighty-fourth Ohio Infantry during the summer of 1862, 26; Eighty-sixth Infantry, 4. Total number of three months' men, 512. In the Fourth Ohio Independent Cavalry, for six months, 90.
One year's enlistments: One Hundred and Seventy-ninth Ohio Infantry, Company K, 18; One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Ohio, 6;
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One Hundred and Eighty-sixth Ohio, 5; One Hundred and Eighty- seventh Ohio, 10; One Hundred and Eighty-eighth Ohio, 5; One Ilundred and Eighty-ninth Ohio, 25; prior to draft of March 30, 1865, 100; drafted March 30th, 40. Total for one year, 209.
Three years' enlistments: Twenty-fourth Ohio, 50; Eleventh Ohio, Company A, 70; Company I, 20; Twelfth Ohio, 25; regular army, 80; First Ohio, Company B, 100; Company C, 80; Company E, 60; Company F, 100; Second Ohio, 30; Twenty-second Ohio, 40; Thirty-fifth Ohio, 45; Thirty-fifth Indiana, 40; Forty-fourth Ohio, 25; Sixty-sixth Illinois, 50; Seventy-fifth Ohio, 25; Fifty-eighth Ohio, 95; Sixty-ninth Ohio, 7; Seventy-first Ohio, 12; Sixty-first Ohio, 20; Fifty-second Ohio, 12; Ninety-third Ohio, 200; Fiftieth Ohio, 20; One Hundred and Sixth Ohio, 15; One Hundred and Eighth Ohio, 43; Sixty-third Ohio, 25; One Hun- · dred and Twenty-fourth Ohio, 10; prior to draft October 1, 1862, 25; One Hundred and Thirteenth Ohio, 22; Tenth Tennessee, 7; First Ohio Heavy Artillery, 60; Second Ohio Heavy Artillery, 11; prior to the draft of May 11, 1863, 170; One Ilundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio, 10; after the draft to clear First Ward, 5; colored enlistments, 20; First United States Veteran Volunteers, 20; other Ohio infantry regiments, 45; United States navy, 15; First Ohio Independent Battery, 20; Eighth Ohio Independent Battery, 30; Seventeenth Ohio Independent Battery, 15; other Ohio bat- teries, 10; Fourth Ohio Cavalry, 50; Second Ohio Cavalry, 37; Twelfth Ohio Cavalry, 5; other Ohio cavalry regiments, 12. Total for three years, 1888.
Special calls in emergencies: Zouave Rangers, State Guard, 1861, 50; Squirrel Hunters, 1862, 330; Morgan's Raid, 1863, 240; Ohio National Guard, 1864, 365. Total militia service, 985.
Recapitulation: Three months' men, 512; six months' men, 90; one year's men, 209; three years' men, 1,888. Total in the service of the United States, 2,699. Under special calls of the State, 965, making a grand total of Dayton men in the service, of 3,664.
At the close of the War of the Rebellion there were soldiers' hospitals in many of the larger cities in the loyal States, in which everything was done for the comfort of the returning soldiers that skill and sympathy could suggest. As these hospitals disappeared, it became necessary to establish national homes, which may be considered as great hospitals on a solid and enduring basis, the principal object being to enlarge their usefulness and to extend their benefits to as many of the wounded or otherwise dis- abled soldiers of the Union as might need the care and protection of the nation they had suffered to preserve. To carry this purpose into effect, the national congress passed an act which was approved March 3, 1865, and which was entitled
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" An Act to Incorporate a National Military and Naral Asylum for the Relief of the Totally Disabled Officers and Men of the Volunteer Forces of the United States.
" This act is to take effect as follows:
"BE IT ENACTED, ETC., That Ulysses S. Grant, David G. Farragut, Hannibal Hamlin, Andrew Johnson, Salmon P. Chase, Edwin M. Stanton, Gideon Welles, John A. Dix, George Bancroft, William T. Sherman, John A. Andrew, Andrew G. Curtin, Oliver P. Morton, Benjamin F. Butler, George G. Meade, John Brough, Nathaniel P. Banks, Joseph Hooker, Samuel R. Curtis, Richard J. Oglesby, David Tod, Henry Ward Beecher, Ambrose E. Burnside, John A. Logan, Daniel S. Dickinson, William A. Buckingham, Carl Sehurz, Oliver O. Howard, Hamilton Fish, Franz Sigel, Francis Wayland, Austin Blair, Thomas C. Fletcher, Robert Breckenridge, Lovell H. Rousseau, Horace Greeley, George H. Stuart, Joseph Heney, John G. Barnard, Henry J. Raymond, William B. Astor, James Gordon Bennett, II. W. Halleck, William E. Dodge, William M. Evarts, James T. Brady, Gerritt Smith, Reuben E. Fenton, Bellamy Storer, George P. MeIlvaine, Galusha A. Grow, Henry W. Bellows, J. S. C. Abbott, Jay Cooke, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Israel Washburn, Jr., Ichabod Goodwin, Frederick Smyth, John Z. Goodrich, Charles Henry Davis, William Claflin, J. Wiley Edmonds, Amos A. Lawrence, Edward S. Tobey, Thomas Russell, Charles G. Loring, George B. Upton, Charles G. Greene, J. M. S. Williams, George G. Stannard, Henry M. Rice, Greenville M. Dodge, Morton McMichael, Thomas Webster, James M. Scovel, Nathaniel B. Baker, Richard J. Field, Henry C. Carey, John W. Forney, Bishop M. Simpson, G. S. Griffith, William Henry Channing, James E. Yeatman, Dwight Durkee, A. T. Stewart, Barnabas Hobbs, Montgomery Blair, Joseph R. Barnes, E. B. Ward, Henry Benham, Frank Moore, Alfred Lee, Edward Solomon, Thomas C. Bryan, B. B. French, Samuel J. Crawford, James T. Pratt, Alfred II. Terry, Edward Tompkins, Moses F. Odell, and their successors, duly chosen, are hereby constituted and created a body cor- porate in the District of Columbia."
Section 2 of this act provided that the corporation thus constituted should consist of one hundred members, Section 3, that the business of the corporation should be managed by a board of twelve directors, who should select from their number a president, two vice-presidents, and a secretary; and that seven of the directors, of whom the president or one of the vice-presidents should be one, should form a quorum for the transaction of business. There were other important provisions in the act, to which it is necessary to refer the reader for fuller information.
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On March 21, 1866, this act was so amended that the president of the United States, the secretary of war, the chief justice of the United States, and such other persons as might, from time to time, be associated with them, should be a board of managers of the establishment for the care and relief of the disabled volunteer soldiers of the army. The board of managers should consist of twelve members, of whom the three above-named of the United States Government should be members, ex-officio. The other nine members of the board were not to be members of congress, and no two of them were to be from any one State. No person who had given aid or countenance to the rebellion was eligible to a place on the board. The officers of the Asylum were to be a gover- nor, deputy governor, secretary, and treasurer, and such other officers as the board of managers might deem necessary, and they were to be appointed from disabled officers serving as before mentioned.
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