Ohio History Journal

486      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

where they fell at the hands of the Indians. This, I think, should

be one of the first things to be done by the Commissioners.

The pioneer history of Ohio is filled with soul-stirring events

and I know our posterity will read, with grateful hearts, the story

of the builders of the great foundation on which now stands, in

high esteem in all lands of the world, our great State of Ohio.

Good-night.

 

 

COLONEL WILLIAM LEONTES CURRY.

Colonel William Leontes Curry was born in Union

County, Ohio, January 25, 1839. He died in Grant

Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, April 27, 1927. He was the

son of Stephenson Curry. His grandfather, Colonel

James Curry, was an officer of the Continental Line in

the Fourth and Eighth Virginia Regiments during the

Revolution and was granted, as part-payment for his

service, one thousand acres of land in Union County.

On this the family settled in the year 1811.

The subject of this sketch worked on his father's

farm during his boyhood days and until he arrived at

the age of twenty-one years. He received a common-

school education and for a time attended the Marysville

Academy. In the fall of 1860, he entered Otterbein

College, at Westerville, Ohio. In January, 1861, he

commenced to study law.

At the first call for troops in the Civil War he en-

listed for the three-months service. He was elected

first lieutenant and his company promptly commenced

drilling, but the quota for Ohio was filled before this

company was mustered in. He then enlisted at the first

call for three-years troops as private in the First Vol-

unteer Cavalry. At its organization he was appointed

orderly sergeant, and was promoted successively to sec-

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Reviews, Notes and Comments      487

ond lieutenant, first lieutenant, and captain of his com-

pany. He was also, for some time, regimental quarter-

master. He served through the war with his regiment,

participating in all the battles of the Army of the Cum-

berland, including the Siege of Corinth, Perryville,

Stone River, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, and the

Campaign of the "One Hundred Days Under Fire

from Chattanooga to Atlanta." He was taken prisoner

at Courtland, Alabama, in 1862, after a bullet had

passed through his hat and cut a groove through his

hair. The hat is now on exhibition, with other of his

war-time accouterments, in the Museum of the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society.

After three one one-half years' service, he was hon-

orably discharged "for injuries received in the line of

duty." He engaged in the mercantile business in Union

County until the year 1875, when he was elected county

auditor, in which position he served three successive

terms. On retiring from that office, he engaged in the

lumber business. He served as assistant adjutant gen-

eral of Ohio during both of President McKinley's terms

as governor, and also served in the National Guard five

years as lieutenant colonel of the Fourteenth Regiment

of Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

He was the first Commissioner of Soldiers' Claims

in Ohio and served also as United States Pension

Agent.

He was president of the Ohio Sons of the Revolu-

tion from 1907-1909 and was its secretary until the time

of his death. He was prominent in the Grand Army of

the Republic and was known to the membership of that

body far beyond the bounds of Ohio.

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488       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

He was author of a number of books and contrib-

uted to periodicals. Among his published works are:

Address at Reunion of Washington County Veteran Asso-

ciation, Marietta, Ohio, October, 1915. 10 p.

History of Jerome Township, Union County, Ohio. 205 p.

"Indians in Union County." (In Ohio Archaeological and

Historical Society Publications. XXI, pp. 263-271.)

"Ohio Generals and Field Officers in the Civil War." (In

Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society Publications. XXIII,

pp. 306-311.)

Raid of the Confederate Cavalry Through Central Tennes-

see in October, 1863. 21 p.

Raid of the Union Cavalry Around the Confederate Army

in Atlanta, Georgia, Commanded by General Judson Kilpatrick,

August, 1864. 24 p.

War History of Union County . . .  The Revolution,

the War of 1812, the War with Mexico, and the War of the Re-

bellion. 128 p.

"The Wyandot Chief, Leatherlips, His Trial and Execution."

(Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society Publications. XII,

pp. 30-36.)

Four Years in the Saddle. History of the First Regiment,

Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. War of the Rebellion.    1861-1865.

401 p. With the Official Roster of the Regiment. 50 p. appended.

Proceedings of the Thirty-fifth Annual Reunion of the First

O. V. V. C. 29 p.

History of Union County, Ohio. Its People, Industries and

Institutions. . . With   Biographical Sketches . . .  and

Genealogical Records. 1113 p.

His "Four Years in the Saddle" has, for some time,

been out of print and is much sought by collectors. It is

written in excellent style and gives a vivid picture of

cavalry service in the Civil War.

What he intended to be his chief contribution to war

literature is the unpublished work that he left, entitled.

"History of Ohio Activities in the Civil War." He had

been gathering material more than thirty years for this

work. His manuscript and a number of the books of his

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Reviews, Notes and Comments       489 library are now in the library of the Ohio State Archae- ological and Historical Society. He was a faithful church and Sunday-School worker for sixty years. He was a life member of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. The Co- lumbus papers, on the day following his death, paid high tribute to Colonel Curry as teacher, soldier, citizen, offi- cial, husband, father, and friend, but perhaps the most expressive offering was the cartoon in the Ohio State Journal, by Westerman, which is reproduced with this sketch.

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490     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

DR. JACOB ALBRIGHT SHAWAN.

Dr. Jacob A. Shawan, for many years recognized as

one who had attained high place among educators of

Ohio, died at his home near DeGraff, Logan County,

Ohio, May 4, 1927. He was born in Wapakoneta, June

15, 1850; was reared on a farm; educated in the public

schools of Urbana, Ohio; and was graduated from

Oberlin College in 1880. He received his M. A. degree

from Oberlin College in 1883, and the honorary degree

of Ph. D. from Muskingum College in 1894.

Dr. Shawan taught in the Pretty Prairie District,

Urbana Township, before entering Oberlin College, and

in Mad River Township in Champaign County. In

1880, he was appointed superintendent of the schools at

St. Marys, Ohio. In 1833, he became superintendent of

schools in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. In 1889, he was called to

the superintendency of the schools of Columbus, Ohio,

a position which he held for twenty-seven years and

from which he retired at his own request in 1916.

Dr. Shawan's long service as superintendent of the

Columbus schools forms an era in the educational prog-

ress of the capital city of Ohio. When this service

began the schools of the city were conducted in twenty-

three buildings and the pupils numbered 11,000. When

he retired, there were fifty-six schools with 29,000 pupils

attending.

In the schools of Columbus, Dr. Shawan inaugu-

rated manual training, domestic science, the kinder-

garten schools, and the open air school. The latter was

established in cooperation with the Columbus Society

for the Prevention and Cure of Tuberculosis. He was

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