Lewis D. Blue - Bishop Post, G.A.R.

Born in 1832 in Miami County, Ohio, Lewis DeWeese Blue lost both of his parents when he was young.  His mother, whose maiden name was DeWeese, died when he was about eight, and his father when Lewis was a teenager.

By the 1850 census, he lived with Charlotte Blue, 45, head of the family, and Joseph Blue, 39, a teacher, who were probably relatives of his deceased father.  He had attended school that year. Marriage records for that county indicated that Lewis married Martha Elizabeth Kelly on January 8, 1856, in Piqua.





At some point Lewis, sometimes called L.D., moved to Highland Township, Defiance County, where he and Elizabeth were enumerated on the 1860 census with their young daughter, Anna.  The couple lived with Charles and Deborah Lockey that year.

When Lewis enlisted in 1862, he and Elizabeth had two small children, Anna Bell and Nelson Scott.  On July 18, 1862, he joined Company D of the 100th Ohio Regiment.  Later on, he would also serve with the 2nd North Carolina Mounted Infantry in Company D which he helped to organize. 

Identified as Lewis D. Blue on an ancestry family tree

 Most records indicated that Lewis joined them on October 1, 1863, in Cedar Creek, Tennessee at the age of 31.  On the day he mustered out of the 100th Ohio Regiment in October, 1863, he was promoted to Second Lieutenant.  He then served with the mounted infantry until October 11, 1864.






















Lewis could not be located on the 1870 regular census, but he was on the HIghland Township agricultural census.  With one horse, one milk cow, and five swine, his livestock holdings were small.  He had only fourteen improved acres and thirty-nine unimproved, and from that he gained one hundred bushels of corn and forty bushels of oats.

By 1880, children Harry, Clarence, Edwin, Mattie and Nellie were added to the family.  L.D. farmed and his son, Scott (Nelson), who was eighteen then, helped him.  Only Mattie, 28, and Nellie, 19, were home with parents, Lewis, 67, and Elizabeth, 64, in 1900.  Martha Elizabeth had had nine children and by 1900, just six survived.

Mrs. Lewis D. Blue died at the age of 70 in 1906.  Her obituary appeared in several newspapers, but this was from the Defiance Express, published on November 6, 1906:

Lewis DeWeese Blue followed his wife in death on January 18, 1907, just a few months later.  His obituary appeared in the Defiance Weekly Express on January 25, 1907:

In the will of Lewis Blue, he divided his property, giving 21 acres for Mattie and Nellie to divide evenly and 9 acres to Nelson Scott.  To insure equity, he had some children paying others various amounts of money.

He was buried in the Ayersville 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!)