Walter S. Tomlinson - Civil War Soldier Buried in Farmer Cemetery

Member of Farmer G.A.R.

Walter Tomlinson, brother to Dwight O. Tomlinson, enlisted in Company A, 38th Ohio Volunteer Infantry on August 26, 1861.  He was the oldest son of Giles and Eunice, an 18 year old when he joined.  Promoted to Corporal on September 14, 1864, he continued to serve until the end of the war. On July 12, 1865, he mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky with almost four years of service.



Walter Tomlinson was interviewed by the Bryan Press about his war experiences, and the resulting article appeared in the newspaper on February 12, 1914:

"W. S. TOMLINSON TELLS OF THE WAR

Writes of Hardships At the Front and Rewards on Return Home

Fifty years ago about this time, the 38th Ohio, nearly half of which went from Williams Co., was leaving this part of the state for the scenes around Chattanooga, where preparations were being made for an advance on Atlanta, Ga., and a great many of the boys who left Bryan at that time were never permitted to return to the scenes of their childhood again.

Of my own company A, about 20 who started away in 1861, re-enlisted for 3 years or during the war and we received as many recruits while at home, besides those that did not re-enlist making the regiment nearly full again when we got back to Chattanooga.

It was a long time before we got through talking about the good times we had at home and the good things we had to eat.  Many of the boys were never permitted even to taste a piece of bread and butter after they left Williams county for the front and the writer does not even recall seeing such a thing until after the close of the war in 1865.

At that time there was a division among the northern people.  One party was for war until the union of all the states could be established again and the other was for peace on any terms.  Many of this latter party sympathized with the south and the young ladies wore butternut pins in honor of the southern soldiers who wore butternut colored clothing while  the Union girls wore the Red, White and Blue and there used to be a great many battles between the two parties.

At a rally in Farmer township, a Union girl dispossessed one of the other party of her butternut breast pin and in the struggle, lost her shawl.  We were called upon to recapture the shawl and were told there would be bloodshed before we could get it.  We strapped our guns across our backs, mounted our horses and started for the scene with 40 rounds of cartridges, but there was no trace of the enemy when we arrived.  We got the shawl and returned it to the owner.  Mary Sawyer, who afterwards married Ferd Cornell, a cousin of Judge Bowersox and who died several years ago.  And such a supper as they had prepared for us, and that was 50 years ago.

I think it was the Jefferson squad who made a southern sympathizer carry the flag around town and salute it.  These were great times and but few are left who took part in them, but all is well that ends well.

Everybody seemed to make it pleasant for us except those who were opposed to the way Abraham Lincoln was carrying on the war and I remember Dr. Ensign gave us a dance.  It was a bitter cold night and the late Lord W. Wilder furnished the music.  George Bible and Albert Dolph, a brother of Frank of West Unity, now living on a large farm south of South Bend, came down from Jefferson and nearly froze.  Ed Conkey froze his hands going home.  At that time, Ed was quite a dude and his kid gloves fit a little too tight.  Poor Bible as well as his messmate, George Mott, and Dan Jayberg, who reenlisted from Edgerton were all killed on the Atlanta campaign.

While we were at home on veteran furlough, the ladies of Bryan presented us with a beautiful flag that we carried until the close of the war and to my best recollection, those who had charge of it during the war have all passed away as well as the donors except Mrs. John Garver of Des Moine, Iowa, who was one of Bryan's most patriotic ladies during the war and as I recollect, her husband kept Col. Greenwood's family while he was out in the 3 months service.

My old comrade, Charles F. Donze, who picked up the flag after the death of Baird and the wounding of Col. Choate and Strawser and placed it on the breastworks in front of Jonesboro, Ga. on the 1st of September, 1864, was the last of the color bearers to be taken away and his remains are laid away by the sides of his two former wives and only child in the beautiful Fountain Grove cemetery and as I look back and see what this great country of ours has accomplished since that date 50 years ago and what those same soldiers that we were fighting at that time have done to make it such, it makes me feel sad that they too cannot enjoy such a pension as we are permitted to have in our declining years from one of the most liberal governments on the face of the earth and there is just one thing more I would enjoy and that is a reunion of the Blue and the Gray and march arm in arm with the very men we were fighting 50 years ago.  W. S. Tomlinson."

Walter Sperry Tomlinson died on April 6, 1935 at the age of 91 years, 4 months and 21 days. On his death certificate, the physician merely wrote "dropped dead."  The Bryan Press carried his obituary on April 11, 1935:

"DEATH TAKES WALTER S. TOMLINSON

OUTSTANDING CITIZEN AND PATRIOT

Walter Sperry Tomlinson was born June 16, 1843, a son of Giles and Eunice Ensign Tomlinson.  He was born about half a block south of the square on the west side of Lynn street in Bryan.  Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to Williams Cener, at that time a larger place than Bryan.  The Tomlinson ancestry has been traced back to about 1600 in England and the Ensign ancestry has been accurately traced to the Plymouth Colony in 1634.  His father was born in Marbledale, Conn. in Sept. 1809 and died at Williams Center in July 1906.  His mother was born in Painesville, O., in Feb. 1821 and died in Sept. 1854. Besides the elder son, there were two others, Dwight and Frank.

At an early age the boy, Walter, made a trip with his father to Connecticutt which was interesting because of the method of travel.  They went to Defiance from Williams Center over a corduroy road, took a canal boat to Toledo, transferred to a boat on Lake Erie for Buffalo and from there, finished the journey by train.  He also took the first excursion over the old Air Line to Elkhart.

At the beginning of the Civil war, Mr. Tomlinson enlisted in Co. A, 38th Ohio, and served through the war.  He took part in the battles of Stony River, Chicamauga, Jonesboro, and marched with Sherman from Atlanta to the sea.  He was in the grand review of the troops at Washington after the close of the war.

After his return, he took up farming, his only capital being a few sheep given him by his father.  On Jan. 3, 1867, he was married to Emily Lane and to this union were born two children, Orlo who died in Oct. 1898 and Eva (Bender) who survives.  He was familiar with hard work during the first 20 years of his farming life.  For 12 years he taught school every winter besides running his farm, rising early to milk the cows and take care of the chores, then teaching the school and concluding the days with his evening farm work.

His political career consisted of two defeats, one in 1892, when he ran for commissioner of Defiance county and one in 1894 when he was a candidate for representative, both times on the Republican ticket.

He had a varied farm experience, specializing in sheep at one time, and after the milk condensory was located here, developing a herd of purebred Holsteins.  He liked to tell of putting out his first wheat crop with a team of one ox and one horse, but he lived to see the day when most of his farming was done with tractors. He was progressive in his methods and always ready to try the latest methods as applied to farming, the first to use commercial fertilizer and probably the first to use vaccine for hog cholera. 

He was a contributor of farm papers for years and became among the outstanding farmers of the state, well known and often quoted.

Mr. Tomlinson was always generous with his money and contributed both work and means to the prohibition campaign and church work.  His church contributions were not confined to his own organization, but were spread generously among all churches in need.  For the past 25 years, he was a consistent member of the local Presbyterian church.

In Jan. 1905, his wife Emily, died and in Dec. 1908, he was married to Mrs. Loretta Coy, who was his constant companion until his death, which was a fitting ending of a fine life, coming almost instantly and without pain.

He leaves the example of a good life for his widow, his daughter, four grandchildren, Mrs. Eunice White, of Vallejo, Cal., Mrs. M. L. Langworthy of Des Moines, Ia., and Roger and Walter Bender of Bryan.  There are also five great grandchildren.

The passing of Walter Tomlinson breaks one of the few remaining links with the early history of northwestern Ohio.  One wonders if any child of today who lives to be 90 will see such changes as he saw in his long stay on earth, transportation changed form stage and canal boat to the airplane, going about on horseback to the present speedy movements with automobiles on hard roads.  He saw the telegraph, telephone and radio developed, candles changed to oil lamps and then to electricity.  He has left a life that cannot but have an influence for good among all who came in contact with him."

 

A lengthy biography with more genealogical information appears in the Commemorative Biographical Record of Northwestern Ohio, a volume available in all the Defiance County Public Libraries.