Steubenville's Civil War

I just spent way too much money to purchase this image. I am speculating it is in front of the Means Foundry Building. Any thoughts?

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Recapture of artillery by the First Ohio and other regiments under General Rousseau, April 7, 1862.

During the Battle of Perryville, Corporal Jacob Summers was wounded in the thigh and hospitalized. Promoted from corporal to sergeant  he was hit again at the Battle of Chickamauga .  Two months of agony followed before he died in Chattanooga, Tennessee .Jacob was just twenty years old.

Steubenville Weekly Herald, November 18, 1863

November 12, 1863

Death of a True Soldier- We have been requested to publish the following letter from Lieut. Krebs, company G, 2d Ohio Volunteer Infantry, containing the announcement of the death of Jacob Summers, formerly of this city, and a true and faithful soldier, of that company. The letter was directed to the Mother of the Deceased and reads as follows:

“Camp near Chattanooga, Co G 2nd O.V.I., October 31, 1863

MRS. YOUNG: –

The painful duty devolved upon me to acquaint you of the death of your son, Jacob Summers.

He died on the night of the 27th inst., in General Hospital in this place, of wounds received in the Battle of Chickamauga, on the 20th of September.

He was wounded in the leg, the ball striking and shattering the knee joint- he had every care taken of him that the circumstances of the case could permit;

but such wounds as his was, as a general thing, result in the death of the victim sooner or later.

In your bereavement in the loss of a kind and affectionate son, you have the sympathies of the company in which he was a member ,

who mourn the loss  of a noble and true hearted soldier and comrade. Ever ready to do his duty, he was always found  at the post of danger,

nobly battling for his country’s  flag, and for which he cheerfully gave his life as a ransom.

He is buried in the burying ground of a church in this place. His grave is neatly marked by his name , company and regiment..

I am. Madam, your most obedient servant

Malachi Krebs ,2nd Lt com’dg Company “

On February 10, 1864 ,  Summers’ remains were interred in Union Cemetery

“The military were out, and bestowed the honors to the memory of the brave soldier, ” reported the Herald . “This was as it should be.”

Note- Jacob Summers is interred  in Section O of Steubenville’s Union Cemetery. During the winter of 2007 the stone marking his grave was knocked from its base.  It is my goal to work with Union Cemetery this summer to restore the grave of this fallen patriot to its proper dignity, hopefully by the July 3rd re-dedication of the Jefferson County Civil War Memorial. If you would be interested in helping with this project, please contact me.

Jeff

(click on above for larger image, Courtesy J.C.H.A)

From its earliest days, Steubenville’s  destiny has been tied to the Ohio River.  In the  early and mid nineteenth century, the city’s location  on the north-western bank of the Ohio River cemented deep economic ties to the south. At the foot of Market Street the world came and went to the wharf boat moored against the steep riverbank.  The ferryboat crossed the river from Virginia, linking Jefferson County to  Virginia. Packets and steamboats  came and went from Wellsville, East Liverpool, Marietta ,Pittsburgh, Parkersburg, Cincinnati  and beyond. Warehouses along the waterfront were stacked with goods ranging from fresh produce  and  bales of cotton grown in the deep south to  the latest Paris fashions which had been sailed  across the ocean, and unloaded in New Orleans.  Also disembarking  were  sons and daughters of many of the deep south’s proudest planters: bound for the Female Seminary and Latin Academy, two of the finest schools of their type west of the Appalachian Mountains.

From the waterfront Steubenville announced her presence to the world.  Salesmen left to sell their products along the Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri  and Red Rivers.    Steubenville glass, cloth and iron products were well known throughout the south, the town’s reach touching any place the waters flowed. There is little wonder that the Steubenville Dailies reported the market conditions and latest news from Cincinnati, Saint Louis, Memphis and New Orleans. Throughout the early 19th century, steamboats, flatboats and ferryboats arrived at the foot of Market Street. Many brought passengers and goods from the nearby cities of Wheeling and Pittsburgh. Others came from far off places like New Orleans and Memphis. Steubenville was linked with Kentucky, Tennessee and even the Gulf of Mexico by the ribbon of water that rolls past it from Pittsburgh.

Late 19th Century image of ferry from Steubenville to (West) Virginia. (NYPL)

BORN ON THE WATER

From his birth in January of 1833, George O’Neal  was a part of this world.  His family appeared on the Steubenville scene about the timeas George. Their arrival coincided with the halcyon days of Steubenville steamboating, a legacy  George’s father Abner and his brothers helped to construct.  Owning a succession of side wheelers, They plyed the rivers from the headwaters of the Ohio in Pittsburgh to the deepest reaches of the south.

Growing up in the pilothouse, George was an experienced pilot by the time he reached the age of majority. Growing to know the ever changing eddies and flows of the rivers ,by the early 1850s, young George was piloting boats independently on the lower Ohio River and down the mighty river known as “the Father of the Waters”.

In the mid 1850s the role of steamboats  in Steubenville changed with the arrival of the railroads.   Although Steubenville  steamboats continued to reach points south and increasingly further west , profits dwindled.The bread and butter of the Steubenville boat trade became more localized. The O’Neals  owned a shallow draft packet named after one of the town’s most powerful citizens: the William Means.  George returned home to help pilot the Means, which was known universally as the O’Neal and he and his crew engaged in a fierce rivalry with the crew of a competitor for the daily Steubenville to Wheeling  run.

Commercial rivalry soon took on the air of spectator sport as the competitors worked to find any way possible  to increase the speed of their Wheeling run. Six days a week crowds gathered in the early morning  along the at waterfront . Excitement would built as the daylight broke and the rival boats built up heads of steam at the dock and watched the other for signs of movement.  The decks thronged with passengers and each boat had its own legion of fans. One can imagine the bets loosely flowing and the and the steam built in the boilers as the waterfront buzzed with the excitement. Suddenly one of the boats would lurch from the docks to the cheers of their supports. That, according to a later historian is when the excitement would really begin:

“…sometimes when the “BAKER” would try to forge ahead of the “Means” the latter would  “lock” that is run boat against the other until the guards would overlap and hold the steamers together in close embrace while the crews and even passengers would  exchange left handed compliments with each other.”

It was noted that the rivalry was carried on, for the most part, genially as those engaged all worshipped together at St Pauls’s Episcopal  Church on Sundays. In time, the rivals would join together and  go into business.

Although this is a postwar view of Steubenville, the general layout of the town remains the same

Camp Steubenville as portrayed in the November 8, 1900 edition of THE NATIONAL Tribune. Note the proximity to the railroad. Originally titled "I Took My First Breakfast In Camp"

REUNION

In 1897, a grizzled group of men revisited the location where their most important adventure began.  Like the boys in blue, Mingo Junction had changed quite a bit in the last thirty five years. In their youth green fields and orchards had spread across Mingo Bottoms.  Here in 1862 young men prepared for the fratricide of Civil War.“Time has brought change to our old camp and drill ground on Mingo bottom,” observed veteran John Patton.  “It is no more a quiet pasture ground, but is covered with furnace buildings.”[i]

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Wide Awakes March in New York City (HARPERS WEEKLY)

The Cadiz Democratic Sentinel

October 10, 1860

Events of national importance do not matter to three year olds. They generally do not understand the grand sweep of history, nor the relevance of far off events. Yet these events do impact their lives, often times profoundly and personally. The Battle of Perryville may have saved  Kentucky for the Union but it cost three year old Frankie  Lopeman something much more precious: <Continued here>



Although largely forgotten today, the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky  was one of the most critical of the Civil War. The bloody engagement marked the Apex of Confederate fortunes in the western theater. Perryville was the culmination of a campaign during which two Confederate armies poured into Kentucky, captured the state capital of Frankfort and forced the Union Army poised to take the war deep into Mississippi and Alabama to defend Louisville and Cincinnati.Few moments of the war cost Jefferson County more dearly. (CLICK HERE FOR MORE)

From the Steubenville Weekly Herald, December 23, 1857:

ADVERTISING A HUSBAND- A Mrs. Smith, having lost her husband, concludes that the best plan is to advertise:

“LOST,STRAYED OR STOLEN- An individual whom I, in an unguarded moment of loneliness, was thoughtless enough to adopt as my husband. He is a good looking and feeble individual , knowing enough, however, to go in  when it rains, unless some good looking girl offers her umbrella. Answers to the name of Jim. Was last seen  in company with Julia Harris walking with his arm around her waist, up the plank road , looking more like a fool( if possible) than ever. Anyone who will catch the poor fellow , and bring him back so I may chastise the him for running away, will be asked to stay for tea by HENRIETTA . SMITH

Note:

While we will probably never know the full details of this amusing piece, a look at the possible culprits does offer a revealing look at the ethnic diversity of Steubenville on the cusp of the Civil War.

According to the 1860 census, there was one Henrietta Smith in Steubenville in 1860- a 58 year old woman married to someone not named Jim .Her 60 year old husband Charles and he owned a millinery store and was, like his wife, a native of Saxony.

In the 1860 Jefferson County Census, there is no Julia Harris listed. There were, however, 78 Julias residing in Jefferson County and  many Harris families  living in Steubenville.Perhaps Ms.  Harris withdrew from Jefferson County society in shame. Perhaps her affections for Jim were fleeting and she married another. Perhaps the lovers took advantage of the river or railroad systems and “got lost” in mid-19th century America.

If the infamous Smiths had not moved on by 1860; the most likely  culprit for the lecherous James was  a 35 year  who in 1860  lived in Steubenville’s Fourth Ward. Born in Ireland, he worked as a drayman.  One of the  primary uses of a dray was in breweries. This leads one to wonder…hmmm