Jonathan Lewis - Bishop Post, G.A.R.

Jonathan Lewis spent his entire life in the Defiance County area.  Born in May, 1839, he first appeared on the 1850 census of Defiance Township with his parents, William and Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was twenty years younger than William, and it is possible this was a second marriage for William.  At that time, they had children at home: Rebecca, 16; Eliza Jane, 13; Jonathan, 11; and Eleanor E., 8.  

By 1860, Jonathan, 21, worked for a neighboring farmer, Elijah Karns, as a laborer, along with two other young men, Oliver Craft and William Lewis, Jr.  






 In 1861, he enlisted for three months into Company E, 21st Ohio Infantry, where he served from April 20, 1861 - August 12, 1861. He was discharged at Columbus, Ohio.  He then went into Company B, 68th Regiment, Ohio, for a three year term. Led by Sidney Sprague, this unit served mostly in Mississippi and Georgia, seeing the Battle of Vicksburg and the Atlanta Campaign.  In 1864, Jonathan was discharged on a surgeon's note.  More details could be discovered by ordering his pension record. 

After his first discharge, when he was probably on a leave home, he married Anna Long on November 21, 1861, in Defiance.

By 1870, the couple were settled into a home in Defiance Township where Jonathan worked as a day laborer.  He and Anna had two little girls, Mary, who was 4, and Ellen who was two.  There they lived for another ten years at least, adding John, Henry, and William to the clan.

A May, 1894 newspaper account noted that the Lewis home had suffered from fire for the third time.  How discouraging!

A home at 108 Auglaize Street had called to them by 1900 and into town they went where Jonathan continued to work at the age of 61, according to the 1900 census.  Anna reported that she had had eleven children, but only seven were living, four of those still at home.  In 1900, Henry, 26, single, lived there and worked as a day laborer, along with his younger brother, Benny, 16, a day laborer.  Two sisters were also at home - Hattie, 19, worked as a typesetter at the printing office, and the youngest, Mabel, 12, was still in school

By 1910, Jonathan, 70 years old, and Anna, 64,  had been married for 48 years.  Hattie, 27, still a typesetter and Mabel, 23, now a stenographer in a lawyer's office, and Benny F, 25, a gas fitter for a plumbing shop, were home to help them.  

But it was not long before Jonathan J. Lewis would die on April 24, 1916.  He was not quite 76 years old.

Defiance Crescent-News, April 24, 1916

 Tragedy struck the family just before Christmas in 1927 when son, Jonathan J. Lewis, Jr. died in Tennessee while working for the railroad.  This incident was mentioned a few years later in his mother's obituary as a turning point in her health.  It appeared that Anna was not well enough to attend the funeral in Illinois.

Defiance Crescent-News, December 23 and December 24, 1927

Just a few years later, Anna Long Lewis, passed away.  Her obituary appeared in the Defiance Crescent-News on April 5, 1929.

Defiance Crescent-News, April 5, 1929

 Their burial place could not be located at this time, but it could be at Riverside.

(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!)