USA > Ohio > Logan County > The historical review of Logan County, Ohio > Part 33
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son. He was ordered to Camp Dennison and remained there until his regiment en- listed for three years' service. The govern- or authorized an election of officers, but Colonel Piatt, unwilling to receive as con- stituents the men he had sought to cominand as soldiers, declined appearing as candidate. He obtained permission to raise a brigade for three years' service. Relying upon his own means he organized the First Zouave Regiment, known as the Piatt Zouaves ever after. It served gallantly throughout the war. Their great efficiency and heavy losses made them famous. In a recent rec- ord classifying regiments this one is ranked among the first for excellence amid the hun- dreds of regiments serving from Ohio. He subsisted this regiment for one month and ten days at his own expense, was commis- sioned colonel. and ordered to Camp Den- nison. He commenced recruiting the Fif- ty-fourth, was rapidly filling it up. with every belief that it would soon be complete. when he was ordered with his Zouaves to join General Rosecrans in western Vir- ginia. In September he led a detachment of Zouaves in search of rebels who were in- tending to stop navigation. Another band was sent up Cole river. Colonel Piatt marched on to Chapmansville and found the Confederates strongly fortified on the mountain top. He attacked and drove them in utter rout from their position. Col- onel J. W. Davis, the rebel commander, was captured, wounded. Colonel Piatt, after making him swear not to bear arms against the Union during the war, let him go, after obtaining a skillful surgeon to dress his wounds. The return march was through
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which they had waded three days before, Confederate and Union lines of battle. He was swollen to a depth of twenty-five feet. expected every moment to be ordered into Upon its banks they remained two nights and a day, subsisting upon corn gathered from the fields near by, and parched. They found "Camp Snyart" submerged. March- ing further, they established Camp Piatt. where a village of the same name still exists. This expedition, fifty miles from its base. across an enemy's country, accomplishing his purpose and bringing his five companies safely back, is typical of Colonel Piatt's abil- ity as an officer to handle his men under the most trying circumstances. The regiment went into winter quarters and guarded the rear of Rosecrans' army all winter, keeping the five counties surrounding free from guer- rillas by constant scouting. In March, 1862, Colonel Piatt removed to Gauley Bridge, under General J. D. Cox, and short- ly after was taken ill with typhoid fever. He was permitted to return home. During this illness he was commissoned brigadier general and ordered to the Shenandoah, under Fremont. General Sigel, succeeding Fremont, sent Piatt to Winchester to forti- fy it, which he did to the expressed satis- faction of Sigel. He was assigned to a bri- gade under General McClellan, who was then returning with the army from the pe- ninsula. His division general told him that twenty cars were all he could secure, and they were at the disposal of the regi- ment first ready to take possession of them, and thus be privileged to go to the front. General Piatt was first, and arrived at mid- night at Warrenton Junction.
Next day he*reported to General Pope. and was by him ordered to Manassas Junc- tion. He reached there on the 29th. He marched three miles on the Manassas Gap road, was again halted on the flank of the
the conflict. Instead, he was ordered to retrace his line of march to Manassas Junc- tion. This he did, but before reaching it he was commanded to countermarch his column. He bivouacked for the night where he was halted on the flank of the two armies, but the firing had ceased. At dawn on the 30th an aide brought an order to re- port to General Porter. He had marched but a few hundred yards toward Manassas Gap when, meeting a brigade of Porter's Corps going in an opposite direction, under similar orders to join that corps, General Piatt was ordered to follow that brigade. which he did, but found it led him to Cen- terville. He halted his brigade and the other marched on toward Washington. General Piatt, tired and doubtless disgusted with these maneuvers, said to General Stur- gess : "What the h-1] does this mean? I have gone far enough in this direction to find Porter, and with your permission I am going to the battlefield." Guided by the sound of artillery, he arrived at Bull Run at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. His brigade went into action on the left of the road, and acquitted itself with great courage. At a late hour in the day his brigade was thrown forward into the woods at the foot of a slope in advance of the main line. He maintained his position against the enemy until ordered to fall back, lest he should be "gobbled up. as the whole army is marching and concen- trating on the road, and are falling back on Centerville." Here, as he moved up the hill, he again met Sturgess. The sun was slowly setting when a round shot, passing the heads of his and General Sturgess' horses, went crashing into the timber on their left. This was followed by another.
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that passed directly under their horses, and a third shot which went in the rear of these Generals, and in front of his aides, Worth- ington and Piatt. These were the parting and last shots from the enemy, and so ended in darkness and disaster the second battle of Bull Run. General Pope, in his report. complimented General Piatt highly for the "soldierly feeling which prompted him. at- ter being misled and with the bad example of the other brigades before his eyes, to push forward with such alacrity to the field of battle." After Pope's withdrawal from the army of Virginia. in a letter to General Piatt he says :
"I wish to bear testimony to the zealous and soldierly qualities which marked your services while with me in Virginia. Your patriotic and soldierly conduct during the last days of the campaign made a deep im- pression upon me. and I shall follow your future course in life with sincere interest and sympathy. Compliments to your wife. and believe me your friend and obedient ser- vant.
JOHN POPE."
In September General Piatt reported to General Morrill at Minor's Hill. from thence to Harper's Ferry, and marched on the right of the army under McClellan to Winchester. At Snicker's Gap he performed good service by making a reconnoisance of that gap in force, and meeting General A. P. Hill with his command: after a sharp and decisive fight drove them back, until he got a fair view of the valley beyond, and was thus en- abled to make a clear and intelligent report of the situation in Furay valley.
General Piatt took part in the battle of Fredericksburg. and held the extreme right of the army. He had three days before been impressed that to march across the river into the basin was to enter a slaugh- the beautiful Mac-a-cheek. When General
ter pen that the Confederates had been pre- paring for days. He expressed his protest against this in a letter to General Burnside, in which he suggested the propriety of a strategic movement, that would force Lee from his stronghold. It was to leave thirty thousand men on the banks opposite the town, make all the demonstration of cross- ing. even to doing so. In the meantime move the balance of his men down the river to an available point, throw them as sudden- ly as possible across the river, and thus threaten General Lee's right and rear, and his communications by railroad with Rich- mond. This would force Lee to fall back and give the Union army a chance with him upon the open field. But the army was marched over with the result of disastrous failure. and the bloody sacrifice of hundreds of very brave men. After the battle Burn- side proposed (as the record shows)' to car- ry out General Piatt's strategic movement, suggested before the battle, but the gallant officers refused to respond, and declined to serve longer under him. General Hooker, the brave. gallant and handsome soldier, succeeded him.
General Piatt entered the army with the intention of serving his country to the best of his ability. After two years and more of arduous service he found it necessary to return to his home and relieve his aged par- ents of the too heavy charge they had as- sumed. But he had no home. At this time he had the good fortune to meet the ac- complished and beautiful Eleanor Watts, daughter of Arthur Watts and a grand- daughter of Thomas Worthington, once United States senator and governor of Ohio. Their marriage was a most happy one, and they soon restored his home, on
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Piatt had by diligence and care again placed . before the people as candidate for several his affairs and property in proper shape. tlie war still continuing, and the government needing help he sought to be restored to his late command. He received letters from General Whipple from one of which we quote :
"Your absence is felt by all as a serious loss to the army. I wish you had stayed and allowed me to turn over the division into your hands. I am not satisfied with my ill success to increase it. Hope your financial arrangements have proved satis- factory, and that you will soon return and assume your duties. Please write me soon. With kindest regards, truly your friend.
A. W. WHIPPLE."
General Piatt wrote Mr. Stanton. secre- tary of war, asking to be reinstated. In reply the secretary wrote :
"Dear Sir: It would give me great pleasure to gratify the wish you express, but by the action of congress in the case of General Blair, a resignation once accept- ed is rendered irrevocable, and its acceptance cannot be canceled. Reinstatement to your former rank is only possible through reap- pointment, and recommendation to the sen- ate, and this course is now precluded by the absence of any vacancy in the grade of brig- adier general. I remain very truly, your friend,
EDWIN M. STANTON." In another letter Stanton writes :
"I regretted you felt constrained to ten- der your resignation. I hope, if this war continues, some occasion may offer wherein you can gratify your patriotic feelings by further service to your country. My com- pliments to your wife and friends, and be- lieve me your friend,
E. M. STANTON." Since the war General Piatt has been
offices in the Greenback and Liberal parties. Lately he has returned to his first love, is a strong free trader, and warm admirer of Mr. Cleveland, and indorses his policy. His life has been spent quietly for the most part at his Mac-a-cheek estates. He has built him- self a beautiful house of stone, in the French chateau style. It stands on a high point, overlooking and one one side of the Mac-a- cheek, where it passes through a gorge into the valley of the Mad river. It was the de- lightful task of General Piatt and his de- voted wife to embellish and decorate their elegant home, which is filled with many rare souvenirs and heirlooms, handed down for over a hundred years. The house is fin- ished in natural woods of all kinds, and the ceilings are frescoed by a French artist of rare merit and talent, brought over to this country for the purpose by General Piatt's son, Charles B. Piatt, when consul at Men- tone. France. A huge rock of several tons, from what is called the cliff of the coast range, ornaments their terraced grounds. Mrs. Piatt once asked "what violent agita- tion of nature had placed the rock there." The General replied : "It was the concerted efforts of six mules, my dear."
For his third wife the General married Miss Emma Belle Murray, of Goshen, In- diana, who is still living.
REV. GEORGE LEWIS KALB, D. D.
For about forty years Dr. George L. Kalb has been a resident of Bellefontaine and has been so closely and prominently connected with the educational and moral interests of the town during this period
REV. G L KALB, D. D.
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that no history of the community would be complete without the record of his career. It is a widely acknowledged fact that the most important work to which a man can direct his energies is that of teaching. whether it be from the pulpit. from the lecture platform or from the schoolroom. Its primary object is ever the same-the development of one's latent powers that the duties of life may be bravely met and well performed. The in- tellectual and moral nature are so closely allied that it is difficult to instruct one with- out in a measure influe :cing the other. Christian instruction is having an influence on the world that few can estimate and although now practically living retired. Dr. Kalb was for thirty-five years the pas- tor of the First Presbyterian church of Bellefontaine.
Born in Franklin county, Ohio, on the 12th of September. 1829. the Doctor at- tended the district schools until the spring of 1844. when he entered the preparatory department of Miami University at Ox- ford. In the fall of the same year, how- ever. he was promoted to the freshman class. In his senior year he entered Cen- ter College at Danville, Kentucky, and was graduated there on the 30th of June. 1848, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Through the succeeding year he engaged in teaching Greek and Latin in the academy at Chillicothe, Ohio, and in the fall of 1849 he began the study of theology in Oxford, Ohio, being graduated in the Cincinnati Theological Seminary in March. 1852. In April of the previous year he had been licensed to preach the gospel by the presbytery of Columbus, and after serving for some months.in the ministry of his native church, he was in October, years. In addition to all this he has fitted 17
1852, called to Circleville, Ohio, where he was ordained on the 31st of May. 1853. continuing in charge of that church until the 6th of September. 1863.
Deeply interested in the questions which involved the country in Civil war and believing firmly in the supremacy of the national government. Dr. Kalb as- sisted in raising parts of several regi- ments, especially the Ninetieth Ohio Vol- unteers, and on the 5th of September. 1862, he was commissioned chaplin of his regiment by Governor Tod. After four months in the field. however, he was take.1 ill and sent home and for some weeks was confined to his bed. He was then dis- charged for disability on the 8th of May. 1863. and it was on the 12th of Septem- ber, of the same year that he came to Bellefontaine to accept the pastorate of the First Presbyterian church of this city. Here he has resided continuously since. laboring long. earnestly and effectively for the upbuilding of the church and the spread of Christianity in this locality. He remained as active pastor until he had completed thirty-five years of work in this church and then in September. 1898. he resigned. Through the kindness of the people who entertained for him love and veneration he was made pastor emeritus and to the church he yet renders what service he can. Throughout his ministry he has also labored for the cause of edu- cation and for ten years he served as school examiner in Circleville and for thirty-eight years in Bellefontaine. He was a member of the board of education of this city for eighteen years, served as its clerk for seventeen years and was trus- tee of Wooster University for twelve
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many young men for college. putting forth every effort in his power to enable the young to develop their latent talents in order that they may be well prepared to do the work which comes to each in- dividual in this life. He has never re-visit- ed his alma mater. but he received the de- gree of Master of Arts from Wittenberg College in 1872 and that of Doctor of Divinity from Wooster University in 1875 before lie was made a trustee of the in- stitution.
On the 30th of November, 1853. Dr. Kalb was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Bigham, of Hamilton, Ohio, and unto them have been born six children, of whom five are living and are married. In his life work there has not been denied Dr. Kalb the golden harvest nor the aftermath, and Bellefontaine owes much to his earn- est efforts along lines of intellectual and moral development.
HENRY HAMILTON.
Henry Hamilton, deceased, was one of the worthy citizens that Ireland has furnished to the new world. He was a native of the Emerald Isle, born in County Tyrone. November 3, 1818, and was a son of Henry and Mary (Love) Hamilton. His father was born in the same country about 1765. and reared a family of ten children : John, William. Archer. James, Thomas, Jane, Eliza, Mar- garet, Mary and Henry.
The subject of this sketch grew to man- hood in his native land and was indebted to the national schools of that country for his educational privileges. Believing that
he could better his financial condition in America, he crossed the broad Atlantic in 1839 and located in the town of Harper. Logan county. Ohio. Here he became a tiller of the soil and the owner of a gool farm of eighty-four acres in Rush Creek township, where he spent his last days and where his widow still resides. It is a well improved place and in its operation he met with well deserved success.
Mr. Hamilton was a single man on coming to America, and in this county he was married in 1847 to Miss Sarah Fulton. who was born in Licking county, Ohio, February 9. 1823. Her father, Thomas Fulton, was born February 10. 1791. in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and was educated in the common schools of his native state. After leaving school at the age of nineteen years he turned his atten- tion to farming and continued to follow that occupation throughout life. He mar- ried Nancy King, who was born in Ireland on the LIth of March. 1787, but was only eighteen months old when brought to this country. Eight children blessed this union. as follows: James F., Joseph G., William. Alexander, Sarah, Catherine, Margaret and Nancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton were also the parents of eight children: Abraham F .. who was born February 22, 1849, and died June 25. 1870: John R., born September 13. 1850; Thomas H., who was born April 25. 1852. and died August 25. 1853: George E., born March 20. 1854; Alice J., born January 17, 1856; Joseph F .. born January 24; 1859; Rachel L .. born July 12. 1863: Hester M., who was born Feb- ruary 7, 1866. and died April 30, 1870. The father of this family pased away on the 9th of July, 1871, honored and re-
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spected by all who knew him. for he had gage in business on his own account, he at led an upright, honorable life. and was found true to every trust reposed in him. Religiously he was connected with the Re- formed Presbyterian church.
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WILLIAM RAMSEY.
It is natural when one has left the scene of earthly activities to review the life record completed and pass judgment upon what has been accomplished. The career of Wil- liam Ramsey was one which would bear the closest scrutiny, for in business and in every relation of life he was an honorable man, shaping his course by such principles as lead to the development of an upright character. For many years he was asso- ciated with the business interests of Belle- center, and was widely and favorably known throughout this section of the state.
Mr. Ramsey was born in Keene. Coshoc- ton county, Ohio, February 5, 1831, and was a son of Henry Andrew and Margaret (Cullen) Ramsey, both natives of County Donegal, Ireland. the former born April 15. 1790. and the latter in ISo7. The parents were reared and married in that country. Our subject lost his father when fourteeni years of age. and then started out to make his own way in the world empty-handed. Prior to this time he had attended the pub- lic schools of his native town and acquired the rudiments of a good English education.
Mr. Ramsey began his business career as a clerk in a dry-goods store in Keene and on coming to Logan county in 1848, he ac- cepted a similar position with Reuben Tous- ley, of Bellecenter, in whose employ he re- mained for a few years. Ambitious to en-
length opened a general store at that place and successfully carried-on operations as a merchant for thirty years, during which time he met with marked success. On sell- ing his store he bought a farm near Belle- center, and, although he continued to make his home in the village, he gave his personal attention to the cultivation of his land for some time. In ,1886 he established the first bank in the place, it being opened for busi- ness on the Ist of May of that year, with J. H. Clark as president, and William Ram- sey as cashier. but shortly afterward the latter purchased his partner's interest and became .sole owner. holding the office of president up to the time of his death. He was a man of keen discrimination and sound judgment, and his executive ability and ex- cellent management brought to the concern a high degree of success. In 1886 he erected the bank building and other business houses were built by him before and after that time. Besides his town property he owned a fine farm of five hundred acres at the time of his death.
In early life Mr. Ramsey was married in Bellecenter, to Miss Elizabeth Wallace. who was born on a farm near that village and is a daughter of William and Polly ( Campbell ) Wallace. Her parents were both of Scotch descent, her father being a representative of the same family to which Sir William Wallace belonged. On coming to America her ancestors first located in Vir- ginia. whence they crossed the mountains to Kentucky, and from thence came to the Miami valley, in Logan county, Ohio, when the Indians were still numerous in this region. Mrs. Ramsey's mother was called "the pretty white squaw" by the red men.
Unto our subject and his wife were born
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six children, as follows: Mary and Georgie one of the leading young business men of both died in infancy: Robert Graham was the town. educated in the schools of Bellecenter. and In his political views William Ramsey was a Republican. He filled several minor offices, serving as a member of the school board, township treasurer and councilman. but he never cared for political honors. He was a prominent Mason, having attained to the thirty-second degree, and his sons. Earl W. and William B., are also members of that order. belonging to Bellecenter lodge. The latter is also a member of the chapter at Bellefontaine. The father was a charter member of the blue lodge of Bellecenter, and at his death, which occurred August 28, 1901. he was laid to rest in Fairview cem- etery. Bellecenter, with Masonic honors. In his life span of seventy years, he accom- plished much, and left behind an honorable record. He met with early success and made for himself a reputation among men of finance. Those who were most intimately associated with him speak in unqualified terms of his sterling integrity, his honor in business and his fidelity to all the duties of public and private life. His assistance could always be counted on in any philan- thropic work, and his advice was sought by men in all sections who knew his stability and his splendid judgment. engaged in clerking in his father's store un- til the business was sold, when he assumed the management of the farm. He is still engaged in agricultural pursuits in Hardin county. He wedded Mary C. Torrence, of Bellecenter, and they have four daughters : Georgie, Mary, Charlotte and Margie. Helen A. married Philip F. Campbell, a resident of Atlanta, Ohio, and they have three children : Alice, William Ramsey and Howard. Earl Wallace is now cashier of the Bellecenter bank, which he entered as assistant cashier thirteen years ago. He married Eva Laughlin, of Bellecenter, and they have two children : Meade and Frances. William Boyd, the youngest of the family, was born in Bellecenter, February 11. 1872. and was graduated at the high school of that place in 1888, and later at Nelson's Business College, of Springfield. Ohio. Af- ter working in his father's bank for a short time, he accepted the position of assistant cashier in a bank at La Rue, Ohio, where he remained three years. The following year he was a student at the University of Wooster, and in 1893. entered Princeton University in New Jersey, where he was graduated with the class of 1807. While in college he took up the study of law, and after leaving there entered the law office of Howenstine & Huston, of Bellefontaine, JOHN C. KERR. where he remained one year. He next at- tended lectures at the Cincinnati Law John C. Kerr, deceased, was for many years an honored resident and highly es- teemed citizen of Logan county. He was a native of this state. born in Harrison county, on Christmas day. 1814. and on the paternal side traced his ancestry back to Walter Kerr, who about 1707 removed School, where he graduated in 1898 and was at once admitted to the bar. For three years he successfully engaged in practice at Toledo, Ohio, but on the death of his father he returned to Bellecenter to take his place in the bank, and here he has since remained,
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