Saturday, December 14, 2013

Captain Daniel Wilson, 5th., West Virginia..

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Daniel Wilson was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, August 24th, 1824.  His father's name was William F.; mother's. Jane - maiden name, Booth. His parents moved to Barbour county. Va.., in 1825. He married Miss Naomi Reger, of Barbour county, in 1845, by whom he had seven children. She died before the close of the war, and he afterwards married a second wife, who bore him four children. He was engaged in farming till 1854, when he went to merchandizing, which he followed in Barbour and Taylor counties till 1860. He was a devoted friend of the union, never flinching from any duty, no matter how arduous or hazardous.

He ably assisted Col. Latham in the enlisting of Company B, in May, 1861, went to Wheeling with the company, and was mustered in as second lieutenant. He was promoted from second lieutenant to captain on the 20th day of May, 1862. He was never very robust in health, but was in all the engagements with his company and regiment, until compelled to resign on account of failing health, April 22d, 1863. In 1864 he was appointed post master at Crafton, which position he held until 1876. when he resigned and moved to Michigan, in 1877, on account of his health, and died there in 1878. He has one son, James L., who graduated with honors at West Point, and is now first lieutenant in the Fourth Artillery; and one son, Lloyd L. . who is a practicing physician at Grafton, West Va.

Friday, December 13, 2013

James Welch, 8th., Vermont Infantry.

Battle of Cedar Creek.
From the eighth Vermont Regimental History.
 
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Page 209.  Lieutenant James Welch, with Company G, advanced into the woods as skirmishers, and were soon hurled back by the overwhelming forces of the enemy. But the brigade knew why it had been sent there, and firmly met the shock on ground which could not long be held.

Page 217.  Lieutenant Welch,  who so gallantly led the skirmish line at daybreak, and was then fighting like a tiger, was shot in the thigh, but stood his ground till the regiment went back.

Page 233.  Lieutenant James Welch, of Company G, entered the service as a private, and rose to be sergeant, then second lieutenant, then first lieutenant of his company. At the morning battle at Cedar Creek, he commanded Company G as skirmishers, and his line first met the Confederates as they came rushing; through the woods. In this engagement he was  severely wounded, and as the forces fell back, barely escaped being captured by the enemy. On account of consequent disability he was honorably discharged from the regiment. But as soon as he recovered sufficiently to sit on a horse, he wished to return to the field, and the governor of Vermont appointed him quartermaster of the Eighth Regiment, March 27th, 1865;  and in that capacity he did good service until the close of the war.

Page 261.  Lieutenant James Welch has been a successful farmer and manufacture.

Page 267.  James Welch. Private Company G, Nov. 20, 1861 ; sergeant Feb. 18, 1862 ; 2d lieutenant May 5, 1863 ; honorably discharged as 2d lieutenant Feb. 17, 1865, for wounds received in action Oct. 19, 1864, at Cedar Creek ; quartermaster, March 27, 1865 ; mustered out June 28, 1865 ; commanded the skirmish line of second brigade, first division, 19th A. C, at battle of Cedar Creek.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Lieutenany Colonel John W. Crosby.

The following is from the Sixty-First Regimental History. 
 
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Page 105.  Major Crosby of the 6 Corps, wounded in the Wilderness, was in a hospital in Washington, and when he heard the 6th Corps was coming, applied for leave to join his regiment.  His application was refused on the ground that his wound in the head was not sufficiently healed to permit wearing a hat or going where there was dust, and over heating would be dangerous.
 
Nevertheless, he went to a livery stable, hired a horse and joined the regiment, taking command, as he was the ranking officer.  When nearing the regiment at Fort Stevens, having his horse, a fellow officer met Crosby, who was then on foot, and begged him to return because of his feeble condition.  This he refused to saying "I must go to my boys.."
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Page 107.  Major Crosby commanding the sixty-First Pennsylvania, who had but just recovered from the bad wound he received in the Wildness, was taken to the hospital were the surgeons removed his left arm from the shoulder.
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Page 137.  Lieutenant Colonel John W. Crosby of the 61st, an old resident of Philadelphia, was mortally wounded.  He was carried to the rear as soon as he was stricken down, and died in a few minutes.  It was the fourth wound he had received in the service of his country, by one of which, received in front of Washington on July 12, 1864, he had lost an arm.  Gallant, high spirited, generous to a fault and more then brave, his name was added to the list of "Officer Killed."
 
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Page 147.  John W. Crosby, Lt. Col., 61st., Pennsylvania, Field & Staff, mustered in September 2, 1861, for 3 years.  Promoted from Captain, Co. G., to Major April 22, 1864; wounded at Wilderness May 6, 1864; wounded at Fort Stevens July 12, 1864; mustered out December 15, 11864, re-commissioned  Lt. Col. February 22, 1865; killed at Petersburg April 2, 1865.

Sunday, December 08, 2013

Broom Hotel, Ogden Utah, 1883.

THE BROOM HOTEL.

For many years Ogden, the railroad center of the Rocky Mountain region, suffered from the lack of appropriate hotel facilities, and thousands of travelers both pleasure-seeking tourists and business men passed by the city after a few moments' stop at the depot, who other-wise would have remained a day or two in the town.   This deficiency was finally supplied by Mr. John Broom, an old-time citizen and a man of enterprise, who, in April, 1882, commenced the excavation for the foundation for the Broom Hotel, on the corner of Main and Fifth Streets, where formerly a row of low wooden
structures had served as permanently dangerous firetraps. 

The Broom Hotel covers an area of 66 feet on Main Street, by 100 feet on Fifth Street. The part of the building on Main Strict fronts to the east, and that on Fifth Street faces to the south. It is built of the best fire- proof brick and is three stories high. On the first floor on Main Street there are three elegant stares. The first room on the floor on Fifth Street is 30 x 60 and is designed for the office, baggage room, etc. The billiard hall is 30 x 52 feet, and its appointments are equal to any other on the Pacific Slope. At the west end of the building and facing the south is the apartment 15 x 60 feet, fitted in neat, tasteful style and occupied by Mr. John G. Chambers, the pioneer bookseller, newsdealer, etc. On this floor in the west end of the building are the culinary departments, the kitchens, larder, laundry, etc., with ranges and all other appliances of the latest improved styles. Water is abundant for all necessary purposes.

On the second story there are 34 elegant hotel parlors, with bay windows fronting the south and east. In addition to these is the magnificent dining hall, 52 x 28 feet, splendidly arranged, lighted, and painted. The third story also contains 35 rooms similar in size and construction to those on the middle story, with bath rooms and all other conveniences. This handsome structure has nine double-bay windows, artistically ornamented, and supported with Corinthian columns. The architecture is, in some respects, similar to that of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. From the roof it is lighted by seven large crystal skylights.

The Broom Hotel was designed and constructed by Mr. J. C. Matthews, architect, Oakland, California. The rock work in the foundation, etc., was done by Mr. D. J. Doyle, the brick work by Mr. Joseph T. Johnson, the carpenter work was superintended by Mr. J. E. Blethen.

The plastering was clone by Messrs. Taylor & Shupc, the painting by Mr. Robert Wilson. The erection of this splendid structure cost between $60,000 and $70,000, exclusive of the furniture, which has been imported from the East, and cost $25,000. It is the finest edifice and best hotel between San Francisco, Cal., and Denver, Col. The Broom Hotel was opened on January 15th, 1883, by Mr. A. D. Shakespeare, under whose management the patronage of this hostelry has so rapidly increased that an addition of 33 feet front is being built to it, on the north side, of the same height and style as the main building.