USA > Ohio > Erie County > History of Erie County Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 19
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This command was called into the United States service in the spring of 1864, and was the first regiment composed in any considerable part of Erie county volunteers, that enlisted in the one hundred days service. Parts of sev- eral companies were raised in Erie county. The regiment rendezvoused at Camp Chase, but not long was it permitted to remain there, for it was at once ordered to the national defenses at Washington. Upon the arrival of the reg- iment at the capital it was assigned to garrison duty at Forts Whipple, Wood- bury, Cass, Tillinghast and Albany, on the south of the city, on what is known as Arlington Heights.
The men of the One Hundred Forty-fifth, during their months of service, were not once engaged with the rebels, but their duty was, nevertheless, labo- rious and severe. At that period of the war the capital was threatened with invasion and the defending force was kept constantly on the alert, ready at any minute for an attack should it come. In July the rebel commander, General Early, with his force made a raid down the valley of the Shenandoah River, and threatened to lay siege to Washington; and from where the regiment lay en- camped the noise of his troops could be heard, but he made no attack.
The One Hundred and Forty-fifth was in service from the 10th of May un- til the 20th of August, 1864, and after the expiration of its term of enlistment the men returned to Camp Chase, where they were mustered out of service.
It is not deemed important for the purposes of this chapter to furnish a roster of this regiment, or the portion thereof from Erie county, other than to give the field and staff, and the commissioned officers, which were as follows.
Colonel, Henry C. Ashwell ; lieutenant-colonel, Lloyd A. Lyman ; major, Henry C. Olds ; surgeon, Henry Besse; assistant surgeon, John D. Janney ; adjutant, William E. Moore; quartermaster, James H. Stead; chaplain, W. G. Williams ; captains, Edward M. Jones, Lewis Moss, James Wallace, James M. Crawford, Richard W. Reynolds, John J. Penfield, David H. James, Archibald Freswater, William H. Wilson, John Cellar ; first lieutenants, Hugh J. Perry, Frederick W. Cogsville, Cornelius Hull, David G. Cratty, John A. Cone, Wil- liam E. Bates, G. W. Flemming, Jackson S. Post, James W. McGookey ; sec- ond lieutenants, Joseph S. Hall, James S. Harmon, Henry M. Bronson, John Neley, John T. Munsell, John D. Van Deman, E. H. Draper, H. B. Wood, Chris. R. Caulkins, Samuel M. White, jr., Aaron M. Decker.
THE THIRD CAVALRY.
This regiment was recruited largely from the counties of Erie and Huron, the contingent from Erie being represented in the companies B, E, I, and K. It was organized and prepared for service at Camp Monroeville, in Huron
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county, from which point it proceeded to Camp Dennison on the 14th of Jan- uary, 1862, but one month later moved to Jeffersonville, Ind.
On the 18th of March the command arrived at Nashville, and ten days later left for Pittsburg Landing, where it arrived and went into camp on April 25. In May the first engagement of the battalion was had at Monterey, and there the enemy were driven back. After this it moved to a point near Cor- inth, when it took a position within sight of the rebel lines, but being com- pelled to fall back, the rebels pursued and a brisk battle followed. Again, on May 27, on the railroad west of Corinth, another battle was fought, and the enemy beaten.
On July 18 the Third reached Winchester, where it camped until August 14, and then moved to McMinnville. Major Foster took his battalion to Dun- lap, five miles distant, where the enemy was again encountered and their pickets driven in, after which the command returned to its division. On Sep- tember 3 Nashville was again reached, thence Gallatin, and from there to Mumfordsville, arriving at the latter place on September 21, just in time to meet the enemy and drive them three successive times into their earth-works, and with a loss to themselves of less than fifteen.
On the next day began the march to Louisville, arriving October I, and from here the Third took up the work of following and harassing Bragg's rebel army, but on the 20th a detachment of the regiment, some two hundred and fifty strong, fell into the hands of the guerrilla John Morgan. The prisoners were robbed of their personal effects, and paroled and allowed to return to the Union lines, but subsequently sent to Camp Chase. The remaining force of the Second and Third Battalions was then stationed along the railroad between Bowling Green and Gallatin, where a battle was soon brought on against Mor- gan's force and a large amount of supplies taken as well as many prisoners. The regiment then went into camp at Hartsville.
From this place the detachment under command of Captain Elisha M. Colver moved up the Cumberland River to Carthage to intercept a drove of mules and rebel stores, which were being removed by rebel quartermasters, and accompanied by an escort of Morgan's raiders. After a chase of twenty- six miles, fording the river four times, the detachment captured the entire train, and drove off one hundred and forty- six mules, besides routing the escort and taking seventeen of them prisoners.
During the greater part of the month of December the Third was actively engaged in skirmishing and foraging through the enemy's country. On the 26th it took a position on the right of Rosecrans's army, near Franklin. On the 27th a battle was fought here and the rebels routed. The regiment then moved to Triune, and at night again engaged the enemy. The next few days it saw plenty of service. On the 29th a reconnaissance in force was made ; on the 30th the Third was assigned to a position on the extreme right ; and at
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two o'clock on the morning of the 31st the rebels made an advance, whereupon the brigade to which the Third belonged was advanced as skirmishers ; at four o'clock the line was driven in by Wheeler's Cavalry, and after a sharp battle of two hours was driven from the field. The next morning General McCook's Corps ammunition train was captured, but the Second and Third Battalions of the Third made a dash and re-captured the whole train, as well as a large number of prisoners. In this efficient work the Third sustained thirteen killed and a large number wounded.
The year 1863 witnessed many stirring events for the regiment. On the Ist the Third left the field to escort a train of four thousand wagons to Nash- ville for supplies. The train was attacked by the rebel cavalry under Stewart and Wheeler, but the attack was repulsed by the Third, supported by the Tenth Cavalry. During the whole journey the rebels hung about and made frequent attacks, but as often were they defeated by the escorting party. Their duty was at length performed faithfully and well. After this, and after the battle of Stone River, the Third was sent in pursuit of the enemy, and at Mid- dleton, Tenn., attacked the rear guard and captured a wagon train. It then went into camp at Murfreesboro. Here the Second Battalion was detached and sent to Readyville to battle against John Morgan's guerrillas. The Third Battalion, remaining at Murfreesboro, was surrounded by rebels and a sur- render demanded, but Lieutenant Brenard, in command, could not see it in that light, and at once ordered a sabre charge, cutting his way out and taking a number of prisoners.
On the general advance of the army from Murfreesboro, in July, the Third was engaged almost daily. In the Sequatchie Valley the enemy was encoun- tered, and a running fight of three days' duration ensued. During the battie at Chickamauga the Third occupied the extreme left of the line, and afterward pursued Wheeler's Cavalry through Tennessee, engaging him at McMinnville and Farmington, and in the latter battle secured a large number of prisoners. In November detachments of the Third scouted through the mountains of East Tennessee, and thus ended the year's campaigning.
While at Pulaski, Tenn., in January, 1864, the regiment veteranized, but its ranks were fearfully decimated, the results of its many engagements. It there- fore became necessary to recruit and add to its effective strength, there being then but four hundred men fit for duty in the whole command. Through the efforts of Major Skinner and Captain Elisha M. Colver nearly one thousand troops were raised in Northern Ohio, and when the regiment returned to the front, at Nashville, it numbered over thirteen hundred serviceable men. At Nashville the regiment was re-equipped, armed and mounted. Much was ex- pected of the command, and it more than fulfilled that expectation.
We find them first engaged with Rhoddy's command at Courtland, Ala . early in May, 1864, at which fight the rebel loss amounted to upwards of thirty
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men in killed and wounded. At Rome the Third was on the left of Sherman's army, and was engaged at Etowah, Kenesaw Mountain, Noonday Creek, and at the crossing of the Chattahoochie River. It was sent to Roswell, Ga., to destroy the rebel stores and factories at that place. In this affair four hundred factory girls were captured and sent through the lines. At McAfee Bridge, on July 9, four companies of the Third, commanded by Captain Colver, became engaged with a large force of rebel Texas cavalrymen, in which battle several rebels were killed and a large number fell into the regiment's hands as pris- oners.
The regiment participated in the battle at Peach Tree Creek, in the raid upon Covington, Stone Mountain, and in the Stoneman raid, in each of which engagements it met with severe losses. After the fall of Atlanta it went in pursuit of Hood's rebel force, and was engaged at the battles of Franklin and Nashville ; also in the Wilson raid through Alabama and Georgia. It was at Selina, Montgomery, Macon and Griffin, and in the chase after Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president.
Under the orders of General Thomas, the Third Cavalry turned over to the government its horses and arms, at Macon, after which it proceeded to Nash- ville and was mustered out of service. It then returned to Camp Chase, where, on the 14th of August, 1865, after a severe service of almost four years, it was paid off and discharged.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE PRESS OF ERIE COUNTY.
E' DUCATION is the great civilizer, and printing its greatest auxiliary. Were it not for the aid furnished by the press the great mass of the peo- ple would still be groping in the darkness of the middle ages, and knowledge would still remain confined within the limits of the cloister.
It is surprising, when searching our libraries, to discover how little has been written of the " Art preservative of all Arts," and the educator of all edu- cators. While printing has been the chronicler of all arts, professions and learning, it has recorded so little of its own history and progress as to leave even the story of its first invention and application wrapped in mystery and doubt. We only know that from the old Ramage press which Faust and Franklin used, capable of producing a hundred impressions per hour, we have now the ponderous machine which turns out one thousand copies per minute
In glancing over the pages of history, we discover the gradual develop-
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ments in the arts and sciences. We notice that they go hand in hand-one discovery points to another, one improvement in the arts leads to others con- tinually, and the results of the last few centuries show that observations of no apparent use led to the most important discoveries and developments. The falling of an apple led Newton to unfold the theory of gravitation and its rela- tions to the solar system ; the discovery of the polarity of the loadstone led to the construction of the mariner's compass; the observation of the muscular contraction of a frog led to the numerous applications of galvanic electricity ; the observation of the expansive force of steam led to the construction and application of the steam engine ; the observation of the influence of light on the chloride of silver led to the art of photography ; the observation of the communication of sound by the connected rails of a railroad led to the inven- tion of the telephone ; the impressions taken from letters cut in the smooth bark of the beech tree led to the art of printing-the art which transmits to posterity a record of all which is valuable to the world.
Thus is progress discernible in every successive generation of man. Grad- ually has he advanced from a state of rude barbarism and total ignorance to a degree of perfection which gives him almost absolute dominion over all ele- ments, and in the pride of glorious and enlightened manhood he can exclaim with Cowper :
"I am monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute ; From the center all 'round to the sea I am lord of the fowl and the brute!"
So long as mind shall occupy its seat, so long will progress be the watch- word of man, and onward and upward will be his march to an endless and lim- itless ascent-where all the hidden and occult secrets of creation will unfold their mysteries to his comprehension and crown him master of them all.
The printing office has well been called the " Poor Boy's College," and has proven a better school to many; has graduated more intellect and turned it into useful, practical channels ; awakened more active, devoted thought, than any alma mater on the earth. Many a dunce has passed through the univer- sities with no tangible proof of fitness other than his insensible piece of parch . ment-himself more sheepish, if possible, than his "sheep-skin." There is something in the very atmosphere of a printing office calculated to awaken the mind to activity and inspire a thirst for knowledge. Franklin, Stanhope, Ber- anger, Thiers, Greeley, Taylor, and a host of other names, illustrious in the world of letters and science, have been gems in the diadem of typography, and owe their success to the influence of a printing office.
The newspaper has become one of the chief indexes of the intelligence, civilization and progress of the community in which it is published, and its files are the footprints of the advancement and refinement of the period of its
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publication ; and the printing office is now deemed as essential as the school- house or church. It has taken the place of the rostrum and the professor's chair, and, become the great teacher. No party, organization, enterprise or calling is considered perfect without its "organ " - the newspaper - as a mouth-piece.
Turning from this comment upon the art of journalism, let us see what Erie county has done in the way of newspaper publications.
THE SANDUSKY REGISTER.
The journal now known as the Sandusky Register was founded in the year 1822 by David Campbell, a New England printer. An effort was made, how- ever, in the year 1821, by this same person, associated with Adonijah Champ- lin, to establish a paper in Sandusky, to be known as the Ohio Illuminator, but from lack of that substantial support so essential to the successful conduct of a newspaper, or any other enterprise, the Illuminator never sent forth its rays of light upon the people of the county.
The Sandusky Clarion, a weekly publication, succeeded the Illuminator project, and made its first appearance on the 22d of April, 1822, David Camp- bell acknowledging its paternity and assuming its maintenance. It was a four-page sheet, four columns to the page, printed on what would now be called coarse paper, and the advertisements and reading matter appeared in much the same size and style of type. Under the name of the Clarion the paper was continued until 1843, when Mr. Campbell issued a daily edition, which he called the Daily Sanduskian.
After continuing for some years longer the proprietor sold the entire plant to Earl Bill and Clark Waggoner. The former of these persons was afterward chosen clerk of the United States District Court for the district of Northern Ohio, while the latter became editor of the Toledo Blade. Still later he was on the editorial staff of the Toledo Commercial, but at a quite recent day embarked in the limitless field of history.
Messrs. Bill and Waggoner subsequently sold an interest in the paper to Henry D. Cooke, and the firm style was thereupon changed to H. D. Cooke & Co. Upon taking formal possession of the office this firm dropped the old name and called the paper, in all its editions, The Commercial Register, three editions, daily, tri-weekly and weekly, being printed. H. D. Cooke & Co. continued the Register publications for some twelve years, when Mr. Cooke retired to become the editor of the State Journal, Mr. Waggoner to accept a position on the Toledo Blade, whereupon the paper passed into the hands of Bill & Johnson.
The Commercial Register changed hands three or four times between 1855 and 1869. In the last named year Isaac F. Mack purchased a half interest, and in 1870 the other half. He dropped the first part of the name, and since
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that time the paper has been called The Register. In 1874 John T. Mack be- came a part owner, and for fourteen years the paper has been published under the firm name of I. F. Mack & Bro. In 1882 a Sunday edition was started, and since that date has been published every morning in the year. In 1869, when the present editor took charge, the Register was an evening daily, but he changed it to a morning paper in May, 1869.
The Register, from the time of its establishment to the death of that party, was an ardent advocate of Whig principles. It became Republican in 1856, and has so since remained, being all these years the recognized organ of that party in this county,
From the office of the Register are now issued four separate editions - daily, Sunday, tri-weekly and weekly. The business department is in charge of John T. Mack; Isaac F. Mack is editor-in-chief ; C. P. Caldwell has the charge of the Sunday edition, and Charles Kline is in charge of the city de- partment of the Daily Register.
THE MILAN FREE PRESS.
Second in the order of founding in the county was the newspaper carrying the above head line. The paper was established at Milan in February, 1830, under the editorial management and proprietorship of Warren Jenkins. Its publication continued at that place for a single year only, after which the pro- prietor moved to the county seat for the purpose of starting an anti-Masonic paper. As to what end this last venture finally came we have no reliable in - formation, but it seems to have failed of its main purpose in extinguishing Free Masonry, judging from the present popularity of that order throughout the county.
THE REPUBLICAN STANDARD.
The Standard came into existence as a weekly publication at Sandusky in the year 1832 through the efforts of E. and J. H. Brown, and was intended to be the " organ " of the Jacksonian Democracy, and especially to advocate the cause of "Old Hickory." But the Standard proved to be a short-lived journal, and was soon discontinued.
THE HURON COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER.
On the 17th of January, 1837, the first number of the Advertiser made its appearance, issuing from an office at Huron, and from the editorial manage- ment of H. C. Gray. During the succeeding year the office was destroyed by fre, but in March, 1839, the paper again appeared and was published regu- larly until the year 1842, at which time the office was moved to Sandusky and a new weekly paper issued under the heading of the Commercial Advertiser, the publishers being M. H. Snyder & Co. Sandusky seems to have been, at that period at least, a no more profitable field for journalism than was Huron,
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for in the fall of the year of its removal to that place the Advertiser became numbered among the evanescent journals of the county.
In the office of the paper while at Huron it seems that use was made of the material of the Milan Times, a paper published at Milan, but of the precise time of its birth or death, as a journal, no reliable information is obtainable. George M. Swan is said to have been at one time connected with the paper, and that he was, " perhaps," one of the original proprietors in connection with Mr. Gray.
THE DEMOCRATIC MIRROR.
In December, 1842, William S. Mills and Sylvester Ross purchased the material of the defunct Commercial Advertiser and issued the first number of the Democratic MMirror, a weekly paper of Sandusky. These proprietors con- tinued its publication with varying success until the year 1847, when John Mackey, then recently admitted to the bar, but not yet in practice, became a part owner in the office, and the firm was changed to Mills, Ross & Mackey.
Under the management of these gentlemen a daily was started, and in connection with the weekly edition was continued for about two years, or until May, 1849, when Mr. Mackey retired from the firm to practice law, and J. W. Taylor, better known as "Signal Taylor," took his place in the firm. During the fall of this same year Mr. Ross was attacked with cholera and died. Mills & Taylor continued the publication until 1852, when the latter retired, leaving Mr. Mills sole editor and proprietor.
In the fall of 1853 the paper was sold to Joseph and Fielding Cable, father and son, under whose control the name of both daily and weekly was changed to the Bay City Mirror. The Cables published the Mirror but a short time and then sold out to Asa Dimmock, and he soon afterwards to Ray Haddock. About this time the daily edition was discontinued.
Charles Orton, formerly connected with the Norwalk Experiment, became the owner and proprietor of the paper in May, 1856, but after two years' ex- perience in its publication disposed of it to his son, T. S. Orton, but one year later its publication was suspended.
THE MILAN TRIBUNE.
In the year 1843, the Tribune as a newspaper of Erie county first saw the light of day. It was founded by Clark Waggoner, who brought to Milan for the purposes of the publication the materials formerly used by him in the pub lication of the Lower Sandusky Whig. After publishing the Tribune, a weekly paper, at Milan for something like eight years, Mr. Waggoner discontinued operations at that place and became interested in the Sandusky Clarion, and moved his stock to the building in which the Clarion was published in San- dusky. Thus ended the life of the Milan Tribune. Mr. Waggoner subse- quently severed his connection with the Clarion to assume an editorial position
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on the Toledo Blade, but at a still later day became connected with the Toledo Commercial.
THE INTELLIGENTE BLATT (GERMAN).
This paper was established in the year 1851, by Augustus Reimmele and Herman Ruess, and was the first German paper of the county. Mr. Ruess was the editor, and his partner had charge of the business and mechanical depart- ment. The latter was killed by an accident on the old Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, near Castalia, in September, 1857.
The paper was continued by Mr. Ruess, and Frederick Kelley until 1859, when it passed by sale into the hands of Jacob Neuert, H. Hamelstein and Charles Bachy. J. Lippart was the editor. In November of the same year, 1859, the paper was sold to Engle & Co., under whose ownership it was edited by A. Thieme and Frederick Reidding. In May, 1861, the latter became sole editor and proprietor. Until 1854 the Intelligente Blatt pinned its faith to the Democratic party, but in the year named it became Republican in politics. About the time of the war the publication of the paper was suspended.
THE BEACON.
This weekly paper made its first appearance at Huron in the year 1853, un- der the proprietorship of Mr. Haddock; but it seems to have been the more remarkable for the short term of its existence, as it " passed away" in the next year, 1854.
THE BAYSTADT DEMOKRAT (GERMAN).
The Demokrat, the outgrowth of which is the present Sandusky Demokrat, was established at the county seat in 1856 by Louis Traub, and edited by H. Raw. In the fall of the same year the paper was sold to Frederick Hertel, who thereupon became editor and publisher. It advocated the cause of the Democracy.
In 1873 the property passed into the editorial control of William Senn, and appeared under the name of the Sandusky Demokrat, by which it has ever since been known. Two issues of the Demokrat are published each week-a semi- weekly and weekly. It enjoys a very extensive circulation among the German clement of this county, and in Ottawa, Sandusky, Huron and Lorain as well.
THE SANDUSKY JOURNAL AND LOCAL.
The Sandusky Journal was first established as a weekly newspaper in the year 1866, in a job printing office conducted by Addison Kinney and Frank B. Colver. This office was located in rooms over where Melville Bro.'s drug-store ., at present situated, on the northeast corner of Columbia avenue and Market street.
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