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Captured! Camp Parole
“Hardened veterans, scarcely strangers to the sting of battle, nevertheless found themselves ill-prepared for the horror and despondency awaiting them inside Civil War prison camps. While they often wrote frankly of the carnage wrought by bullets smashing limbs and grapeshot tearing ragged holes through advancing lines, many soldiers described their prisoner of war experiences as a more heinous undertaking altogether.” (American Battlefield Trust) After the brutal fighting at Antietam on September 17, 1862, Wells Waite Miller of the 8th OVI headed to Harpers Ferry, Virginia with his unit where they went to rest, reinforce, and resupply. On October 29, 1862,
Wells Waite Miller: Republican Candidate for Ohio Governor?
As I’ve been researching the life and times of Wells Waite Miller, it has become quite clear that he played a significant role in 19th-century Erie County politics and farmers associations, also serving as longtime secretary of what became the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Going through scans of Sandusky newspapers, though, revealed much more. Setting the Stage: Ohio Governor’s Race On January 8, 1900, Republican George Kilbon Nash became Ohio’s 41st governor—an election in which Wells Waite Miller had received support to become the Republican candidate. It’s interesting to see the many ways in which the two men experienced similar
Oscar Schultz Kriebel, Part Four
Quick Recap of the Life of Oscar Schultz Kriebel For five years now, I’ve been exploring the life of a forgotten Civil War hero, Wells Waite Miller—which includes a look at people who were close to him in his lifetime. Wells and his wife Mary had two children: a son named Amos Calvin and a daughter named Corinne who married a prominent educator and theologian of the day. His name was Oscar Schultz Kriebel. In part one of my series about Oscar, I shared insights into his Schwenkfelder faith, his ancestors, and when he met Corinne. In part two, I
Nathaniel Couch Rests
My direct ancestor, Nathaniel Couch, lived in a tumultuous time and place—and it looks like he didn’t miss much of the action. Born in 1725 in Winchester, Virginia when this was a frontier town, he fought in the French and Indian War with George Washington and under the same man during the Revolutionary War; and he hid men who challenged Washington and defied his orders during the Whiskey Rebellion. More specially about the third event, on July 15, 1794, a federal marshal named David Lenox and the federal tax inspector, General John Neville, tried to summon a local Pennsylvania farmer
Nathaniel Couch and the Whiskey Rebellion
Nathaniel Couch is my ancestor who fought in the French and Indian War (covered in post one) and the Revolutionary War (covered in post two). At the risk of vastly oversimplifying the roots of the Revolutionary War, here’s a key element. From 1763 through 1775, the British Parliament passed multiple laws that impacted trade and imposed taxes on the Colonists. This taxation didn’t come with representation—and the Colonists weren’t very happy about the financial burden. Tensions kept rising as the two groups couldn’t come to a compromise. This includes the Boston Tea Party incident when Colonists dumped 342 chests of
Nathaniel Couch: The George Washington Connection
I can make no claims that my ancestor, Nathaniel Couch, maintained a close friendship with George Washington. Their lives, however, clearly intertwined. As noted in my first blog post about Nathaniel, he was born in Winchester, Virginia in 1725. He remained there for decades. Then, according to The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, from 1748 to 1758, Washington “spent more nights in Winchester than another place besides his home [in Mount Vernon].” Case for a Relationship Between Nathaniel Couch and George Washington Washington arrived at Winchester on March 16, 1748 as part of a surveying party, a job