James R. Kittredge - Civil War Soldier Buried in Farmer Cemetery

Member of Farmer Post, G.A.R.

Born in Maine, James Kittredge and his family traveled West to Ohio by 1846, according to James' obituary.  Their first stop was Warrensville Township, near Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio; that was where the census enumerator found them in 1860.  Cyrus Kittredge, 50, and his wife, Mary A., 41 lived with their children: Sarah, Colten, James R., David, and Cyrus F.  



James R. Kittredge's name appeared on the draft registrations of Summit, Lake, and Cuyahoga Counties, taken in June 1863:

"Warrensville - Kittridge, James R. - 22, white, farmer, single, born Maine."

No prior military service was recorded, although his obituary stated he had served two years before. No record of a prior enlistment could be found in official military records.

On September 23, 1864, James enlisted in the 177th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company A, which organized in Cleveland for a one year term of service.  The unit was sent to Nashville via Indianapolis and Louisville, and after awhile at garrison duty, they engaged the enemy in Murfreesboro where they successfully captured more than 200 Confederate soldiers and captured some of their artillery.  
In January, 1865, they moved back up to Cincinnati where they took "the cars" (train) to Washington, D.C.  From there, they marched to Annapolis and then took a ship to North Carolina, arriving on February 7th at Fort Fisher.  They were engaged in several attacks on the Rebels - Cape Fear River, Fort Anderson, and Town Creek where it captured the entire Rebel command there.  They joined Sherman's Army and went to Greensboro, North Carolina where James mustered out on June 29, 1865.

Upon returning home, James settled on thirty acres of land in Section 16 of Farmer Township on the Cemetery Road.  He married Sarah Jane Leiter in 1867, and they continued farming in Farmer Township until eventually, it appeared they turned the farm over to their only child, Cyrus F.  In 1900, James termed himself a Landlord on the census, and he lived right next to Cyrus, a farmer, with a wife and six children.

He claimed no disabilities due to his war service, as reported on the 1890 Veterans Census.  James Kittredge died on April 26, 1904, at his Farmer Township home.  His obituary appeared in the Defiance Weekly Express on May 6, 1904, page 5:

The Bryan Press ran a short death notice on May 5, 1904:

"Died, at his home near Farmer, April 25th, after a lingering illness, James Kittridge, aged 62 years and 10 months.  Funeral services were held at the house Thursday afternoon conducted by Rev. Ashworth."

Sarah continued to live in their home until later in life when she moved in with Cyrus.  In June, 1925, she fell one morning while getting out of bed and broke her leg near the hip.  She seemed to decline after this, the local social columns reported in the paper.  Sarah was 82 and odds were not good for her recovery, they noted.  Sarah died on August 18, 1925, and was buried with her husband in Farmer Cemetery.

Her obituary appeared in the Defiance Crescent-News on August 28, 1925:

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