Louis P. Rife - G.A.R., Bishop Post

Louis (Lewis) was a Butler County, Ohio, boy born and raised.  In 1860, he lived with his parents Peter (Reiff) and Elizabeth in St. Clair Township.  Peter was an immigrant from Bavaria, Germany, who was a master blacksmith.  They had a large family of ten children, of which Lewis was the fourth oldest and 12 at the time.

At about 16 years old, he enlisted in Company F, 69th Ohio Infantry as a private on February 27, 1864.  He served about a year and five months, mustering out on July 17, 1865.  During that time, the 69th fought mostly in Georgia and the Carolinas, securing the end of the war.

Upon the end of the war, Louis came home to his family.  His father died in 1867, and his widowed mother surely needed his help.  In 1870, his mother, Elizabeth, was 47 with nine children at home.  The four older boys worked to help support the family.  John, the oldest, and brother, Charles, worked at the blacksmith shop; Louis, 22, worked at the brickyard, and George, 16, worked at the broom shop.

Louis was 33 when he married Clara Bell Thornburg in Butler County on September 28, 1871.  They were still in Butler County in 1890 when Lewis appeared on the Veterans Census there, but by 1900, the census enumerator found them in Defiance, Ohio.  At 52, Louis was a foreman at the plow works company, and he and Clara had two children with them, Fanny and Earl.  Another daughter might have been married by that time.

Louis was an active member of the G.A.R., Bishop Post, serving as commander during the decade of the 1920s.  Clara Bell Rife died in February, 1920.  On February 6, 1920, the Defiance Crescent-News printed this obituary:

"Mrs. Clara Bell Rife, wife of L. P. Rife, passed away Friday morning at nine o'clock at the Defiance Hospital, aged 68 years, 6 months.  The deceased had been in poor health for some time, and her death was not unexpeced to those near to her.  She leaves to mourn her death her husband, two daughters, Mrs. C. J. Lockman of Washington, D. C. and Mrs. Clinton H. Seither, of this city, one son, Earl L. Rife of Pittsburg, Pa. and six grandchildren.  Funeral arrangements have not yet been completed, but the funeral will probably be held Monday and will be in charge of the W.R. C." 

In 1922, Louis had an accident at work that resulted in the loss of some of his fingers.  Apparently, by that time, he was living with one of his daughters.

At the age of 78, Louis remarried to Malinda (Wolff) Partee, 73, a widow, of Defiance, and they moved into a home at 323 Hopkins Street.  In 1933, Malinda was interviewed for a newspaper story which appeared in the Rural Rambler column of the Crescent-News on November 15:

On January 9, 1937, the Crescent-News reported on the 90th birthday celebration for Louis, and about a month later, he died.

The Defiance Crescent-News of February 9, 1937:

www.findagrave.com

His second wife, Malinda, lived on just a few more years until April, 1940.  

(Error concerning Louis's date of death)

Malinda was buried with her first husband, Frank Partee, in Riverside Cemetery.

(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!)