Andrew Sproul - G.A.R., Bishop Post

Andrew Sproul was Irish through and through.  Both of his parents, Andrew and Nancy Baird Sproul, and his older sister, Mary Ann, immigrated into the U.S. from Ireland before his older brother, John's, birth in 1836.
He was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio.

In 1850, Andrew's father farmed in Rush Township, Tuscarawas County, and the family added six sons born in Ohio: John, Robert, William, ANDREW, Thomas and James. By 1860, the family moved to Defiance and were enumerated there under the name Sproll.  Four sons and Mary Ann were at home.

When Andrew turned twenty, he felt his duty to enlist in the Ohio infantry.  His birthday was August 16, 1842, and his enlistment was August 22, 1862. (One source, however, said he was 19.) He joined Company E of the 111th Ohio Volunteer Infantry where he served until the end of the war. The 111th served under their captain, Benjamin F. Southworth, mainly in Kentucky and Tennessee until the movement into Atlanta and the Carolinas. Andrew was mustered out with his company at Salisbury, North Carolina, on June 27, 1865. He reported on the 1890 Veterans Census that he had an injury on his right foot due to his service.

On April 21, 1870, Andrew married Delotia Shaw, and the couple moved in with Andrew's widowed mother, Nancy.  His mother was 60 and had real estate worth $1500 at the age of 60.  Her daughter, Mary, 34, was still at home, along with sons,Thomas, 28, a farmer; James, 23, a teacher; and Andrew, 21, a farmer.
Andrew's father, also Andrew, died on May 10, 1869, so the sons supported their mother as a widow.

By 1880, Delotia and Andrew lived on their own with their growing family.  Andrew, still farming, had sons: Squire, 9; Solomon B. (called Bernard), Mary A., 6; Charles F., 4.  Also with them were Andrew's mother, Nancy, 75, and his brother, Thomas, 34.

Andrew's son, Solomon Bernard Sproul, died of a serious infection in September, 1900.  His obituary appeared in the Defiance Weekly Express on September 27, 1900.

"Salaman Bernard Sproul, son of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Sproul, died at the home of his parents in Defiance township at 3 a.m. today, aged 26 years, _?_ months and 4 days.  He had been suffering from an abcess of the side and back for over a year.  The funeral will (be held) from the house at 10 a.m. Friday, B. W. Slagle officiating.  The remains will be interred in the Taylor Cemetery.  

In the 1910 census, Andrew (Sprull on the census), 61 and Delotia (Elotia on the census) were enumerated with their son, Charles, 33, wife, and five children who lived with them.  Charles helped on the farm. Yet, in 1900, Andrew lived at 202 Summit Street, so although a farmer, he lived in town.

In 1921,  Andrew and Delotia were both 71 years old.  Andrew was always active in the G.A.R., serving as its commander in 1920, and on various committees.
His eldest son, Squire Ernest Sproul, died in June, 1924, in a horrible car accident.

Just a few years later, Andrew, himself, passed away quietly in Defiance where he is buried at Riverside Cemetery.  He died on February 17, 1926.

Defiance Crescent News, February 17, 1926

 Delotia followed her husband in death just a few years later, in January 1928.
The above obituary and funeral notice below appeared in the Crescent News on January 9, 1928.

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!)