Martin B. Gorman - G.A.R., Bishop Post

Born in Ireland, Martin Barney Gorman immigrated to America in 1848, he reported on one of the censuses.  He was only a lad of about 3 or 4 at the time.

Just before the Civil War broke out, he was living with John B. Weisenberger, John's wife, Margaret, and son, Frank,1, in Defiance.  Martin was 14 at the time.  Perhaps he was Margaret's brother as she, too, was born in Ireland?  Mr. Weisenberger was a grocer, an enterprise that Martin would also follow for many years of his life.

In 1862, when only 16 years old, Martin enlisted as a private in Company H, 87th Ohio Infantry. By law, enlistees had to be 18 unless they had parental permission, but recruiters often looked the other way at this rule. He enlisted on May 29, 1862, and served until October 1, 1862.  During that time, he fought in the battle at Harper's Ferry in September where he was captured and held very briefly.

When he was about 18, he reenlisted as a private in the 7th Ohio Independent Company of the Ohio Volunteer Cavalry on December 16, 1863, where he served until the end of the war, discharged on Sept. 9, 1865.  Another name for this unit was the Union Light Guards.  These soldiers served as bodyguards for President Lincoln, among other duties.

Govenor Tod of Ohio organized this unit with the intention of recruiting one man from each Ohio county to serve.  However, Defiance County had at least four men chosen because some counties did not put forth a man quickly enough.  They were enlisted for three years or until the end of the war and were mustered into service in Columbus.  They were not told that they were a special service group enlisted to act as bodyguards or mounted escorts for the President until they were mustered in. Some men were assigned to the White House, others around Washington D.C., and some to forts around Washington, especially in Virginia.  Those from Defiance who served included Martin B. Gorman, Abraham T. Brechbill, John Crowe, and Lemuel T. Hibbard.

The book, Lincoln's Body Guard, the Union Light Guard of Ohio by Robert McBride, 1911 stated:  
"Taking the company as a whole, the membership was much above that of the average company of soldiers, intellectually, morally, socially, and physically."
According to McBride, some men were disappointed with their assigned duty and thought they should have been fighting instead, but in the end, most saw it as a badge of honor to so serve the nation.

When Martin returned home, he married Catherine Agnes Zook on February 24, 1868, according to Ohio Marriages.  They settled in Defiance and he resumed his occupation as clerk in a retail grocery, according to the 1870 census.  Their first child, Martina, was 2 at the time.

Eventually he opened his own grocery store at the corner of Perry and Fourth Streets in about 1871.  The family, in fact, resided at 87 Perry Street in 1880 with their expanded brood of seven children.  (Later they would move to 507 Jackson Street.)  Along the way, some of the children found employment in the store as bookkeepers or salesmen or clerks.  

In 1910, Martin B., 64, and Catherine, 64, still had living with them Martina, 41; Viola, 35 - a bookkeeper; Millie E., 27 - a bookkeeper, and Thomas E., 25 - city auditor.  Catherine had had eleven children, but at that time only nine were living.

Martin Barney Gorman died on March 22, 1914.  His obituary appeared in the Defiance Democrat on March 26 and it named all the organizations in Defiance to which he had contributed and gave details of his Civil War service.

     
 After his death, his son, Martin Earl, and daughter, Viola, took over the store which eventually moved to Perry and Fifth Street.  

His wife, Catherine, lived on until 1930, and her obituary appeared in the Crescent-News on February 1, 1930:

  She was laid to rest beside her husband in Riverside Cemetery.

On October 20, 1961, on page 6, the Crescent-News reported that the Defiance Historical Society had received some donations for its museum.  Among them was an item related to Martin B. Gorman:

 "From Edward S. Bronson, Union Light Guard badge which President Lincoln presented to his bodyguard, Martin Gorman."

Do we still have that? Please comment if you know.

(This is part of a series on Civil War veterans of Defiance County who were part of the G.A.R., Bishop Post, that headquartered in the city.  Formed in 1879, the post was named after a local man, Captain William Bishop, Company D, 100th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army who died as a result of wounds received in battle.  The veterans' photos are part of a composite photo of members that has survived.  If you have other information or corrections to add to the soldiers' stories, please add to the comments!)