Defiance Soldiers in the Spanish-American War
John Thomas Wirock/Wyrock and William Henry Bowers
This article tells the separate stories of two Defiance men
whose lives crossed through Company M of the 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during
the Spanish-American War. John Thomas Wirock remained closely tied to Defiance
throughout his life, while William Henry Bowers eventually followed work far
beyond northwest Ohio.
Part One: John Thomas Wirock/Wyrock - A Life of Strife
John Thomas Wirock was born 22 August 1878 in Defiance,
Defiance County, Ohio, to Peter Wirock and Celesta/Margaret/Martha (Palmer)
Wirock, whose surname is also found as Wireock. Defiance would remain the place
John returned to throughout his life. In 1900 he was living with his parents
and working as a day laborer. Later censuses place the family's long-time home
at 264 Gray Street.
Off to War
At 19, John left Defiance for military service during the
Spanish-American War. He enlisted on 13 June 1898 as a private in Company M,
6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. A Defiance newspaper captured the excitement
surrounding the company's departure, announcing that the local soldiers had
received marching orders for Columbus and would then join the 6th Ohio
Volunteer Infantry at Chickamauga.
A Defiance newspaper announces the departure of Company M for Columbus
and, ultimately, Camp Thomas at Chickamauga.
John's service was interrupted by illness that September,
when he spent several days in the Division Hospital and then received a sick
furlough that was eventually extended through 26 November 1898. He remained
with the regiment until he was mustered out at Augusta, Georgia, on 24 May
1899.
Marriage and a Return to Military Life
Back in civilian life, John married Perle M. Hubbard on 31
May 1901. He was 23 and Perle, who was living in Hicksville, was 20. The
marriage eventually ended in divorce. Many years later, on 24 August 1933, John
married Luella Marks of Napoleon. That marriage also ended in divorce after
about a year.
Military life called John again in 1908. On 30 April he
enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at Toledo, Ohio, beginning nearly four more
years of service before his discharge on 14 May 1912. His Marine Corps years
were not without difficulty. Muster rolls from the Marine Barracks at the Navy
Yard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for March 1912 record disciplinary
proceedings for using profane, abusive and threatening language and striking
another service member. He received three months' confinement at hard labor and
forfeited $20 in pay.
Back Home in Defiance
By the time of the First World War, John was again in
Defiance. When he registered for the draft on 12 September 1918, he was living
at 264 Gray Street and working as a laborer for his brother William. The 1920
census likewise found him living with his parents and earning his living as a
common laborer.
The Soldiers' Home in Dayton
John's health appeared to have become a greater concern as he
grew older. On 15 March 1929 he entered the National Home for Disabled
Volunteer Soldiers in Dayton, Ohio. His record described him as an Ohio-born
laborer, named his father, Peter Wirock, of Defiance as his nearest relative, and
noted medical problems including mild varicocele and what appears to be chronic
arthritis. His stay was brief. John discharged himself on 3 April 1929, less
than a month after arriving, and appears to have returned to his family's home
on Gray Street in Defiance.
National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers record for John Wirock,
Dayton, Ohio.
His Final Years
John's life ended in Defiance on 4 October 1935. His death
certificate gives his residence as 264 Gray Street, records him as divorced and
a common laborer, and lists his parents as Peter Wirock and Martha Palmer. The
coroner recorded his death as suicide by strychnine poisoning.
Ohio death certificate for John Thomas Wyrock, 4 October 1935.
A newspaper account published after his death reported that
John had recently been divorced and was in ill health. According to the
article, he took three strychnine capsules that Friday afternoon. A neighbor
later heard his cries and went for help, but a physician was not able to reach
him for at least half an hour.
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Newspaper account of John T. Wyrock's death, shown in two columns.
Remembered by Fellow Veterans
John's funeral was held the following Monday at the
Hoffman-Turner funeral home, with Rev. Theodore Strauss of St. Paul's Lutheran
Church officiating. He was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Defiance. The
funeral notice adds a fitting final detail to his military story: members of
the United Spanish War Veterans served as pallbearers and flower carriers.
Funeral notice for John T. Wyrock. Members of the United Spanish War
Veterans took part in the services.
From his youth in Defiance through two periods of military
service and his later years, John repeatedly found his way back to his hometown
and the family home on Gray Street. The surviving records offer only pieces of
his story, but together they trace a life marked by military service, hard
physical work, periods of illness and difficulty, and enduring ties to
Defiance.
John T. Wirock and William H. Bowers, fellow Defiance soldiers of Company
M. (Identification supplied with the photograph. AI edited Picture)
Part Two: William Henry Bowers - A Soldier Who Wandered Far From Defiance
William Henry Bowers was born in Ohio in May 1874. According
to the 1900 federal census, his family was living in Defiance Twp. on Francis
St. Strangely, William and his brother Charles were not living with the family.
It is proved by other sources, including birth and death records, that his
parents were Martin M. and Mary (nee Bush) Bowers. His father worked as a
carpenter, while his mother was an Ohio native who later died in Lima. The
surviving records suggest that William found his way to Defiance sometime after
1900.
By his twenties, William had made his way to Defiance, where
his life briefly crossed paths with another young man, John T. Wirock. In 1898,
both men became members of Company M of the 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during
the Spanish-American War.
For William, military service began with some distinction—he
entered the company as a corporal. His service record also reveals that
military life did not always go smoothly. During his time in uniform, he was
reduced from corporal to the ranks for violations of the Articles of War.
Whatever lay behind that episode, William remained with the regiment and
completed his service.
After his Spanish-American War service, William was mustered
out with the regiment on 24 May 1899.
Little is known with certainty about the next several years
of William's life. He appears to have spent some time around Lima, Ohio, and
his records associate him with Almeda F. Winegardner. The 1900 census
apparently places William and Almeda, as husband/wife in the household of John
C. Wright, although a marriage record for the couple has not yet been located.
They apparently divorced or became estranged a short time later.
Following Work West
Eventually, William's travels took him much farther from
northwest Ohio. His World War I registration card finds him in Pontotoc County,
Oklahoma, at about age 45. By then, the former soldier was working as an
oil-well driller, an occupation that offers a glimpse of the very different
life he was leading nearly two decades after leaving the Army.
William Henry Bowers' World War I registration card, recording his
residence in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, and his work as an oil-well driller.
His Final Years in Texas
William continued west and south in the years that followed.
By the end of his life, he was in Texas and married to Mildred Hale Lambert
Bowers. His Texas death certificate records his death at Devine, Medina County,
Texas, on 17 February 1935, at approximately 60 years of age. The certificate
indicates that his death was accidental and records an injury at his home
shortly before his death.
Texas death certificate for William Henry Bowers, 17 February 1935.
Bowers grave marker for William and Mildred. Devine Evergreen Cemetery, Devine, Medina County, Texas
From Ohio to Cuba, Oklahoma and finally Texas, William Henry
Bowers seems to have spent much of his life on the move. The surviving records
leave considerable gaps in his story, but they also preserve an intriguing
trail: a young corporal leaving Defiance for war, a laboring man following work
westward, and finally a veteran whose life ended hundreds of miles from the
Ohio communities where it began.
Kim Bercaw, Researcher
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