Dwight Owen Tomlinson - Civil War Soldier Buried in Farmer Cemetery

Member of Evans Post G.A.R. 149, Bryan

Dwight Tomlinson had a relatively short, and perhaps sad, life.  Born on July 18, 1845, in Williams County, he joined the family of Giles H. and Eunice Tomlinson.  His older brother by two years, Walter S., would join him in the service of the Union Army.  His younger brother by two years was Frank Tomlinson.  



 Giles, in 1860, was a merchant with real estate worth $6000 and a personal estate worth $14,000, quite a sum for the day.  Unfortunately, Dwight's mother had died five years before, when Dwight was 9 years old.  By the time of this census, Giles, at 50, had remarried a younger woman, Electa, who was then 23.  They added baby Ida to the family.

On August 20, 1862, when Dwight was barely seventeen, he went to Bryan to enlist with the 111th Ohio Infantry, Company C.  His brother, Walter, had enlisted the year before.  Dwight stayed with the 111th all through the war, mustering out on June 27, 1865 at Salisbury, North Carolina.

On March 19, 1868, Dwight married Mary Saul.  They settled in Washington Township, where Dwight began farming.  By 1870, he had real estate worth $2500.  Mary Saul Tomlinson died in 1873; the couple was childless.

Dwight could not be found in the 1880 census, but his obituary and other sources suggested that he moved to Williams Center, his home.  However, on November 10, 1886, the register of the Soldiers and Sailors Home in Dayton reported his admission.  He was 41 years old, 5' 9" tall, with a light complexion and gray hair and eyes.  Dwight reported that he suffered a disability from the war, contracted in Bowling Green, Kentucky in February, 1863 - heart and lung disease, specifically.  He stayed in Dayton a little over a year, being dismissed on January 11, 1888.  Not much life was left for Dwight; he died on October 9, 1888 at the age of 43.

His obituary appeared in the Bryan Press on October 18, 1888 on page 3:

"Dwight Oren Tomlinson was born in Bryan, July 18th, 1845, and died Oct. 9th, 1888, aged 43 years, 2 months and 22 days.  In 1848 he moved, with his parents, to Wms. Center, near which place he lived the balance of his life, excepting the three years which he served in the war.  

He was one of four children, three sons and a daughter, the fruit of the marriage of Giles Tomlinson and Eunice A. Ensign.  His mother and infant sister died when he was nine years of age; his father and brother, Walter, reside at Wms. Center, while his younger brother lives near Des Moines, Iowa.  

He enlisted in the 111th O.V.I in 1862 when at the age of 17 and served in the war until its close.  After returning from the war, he located on a farm and married Miss Mary Saul, who died in 1873, leaving no children.  He was a member of Evans Post No. 149, G.A.R., of Bryan and his funeral was conducted by that order.  The sermon was preached by the pastor of the M.E. Church of Williams Center."

Farmer Cemetery

The Commemorative Biography of Northwest Ohio noted that Dwight "...never recovered from the effects of the hardships of army life, his death which occurred in 1890 (incorrect), being doubtless hastened thereof."