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| Left to right: A.B. Votrie |
#27 ALBERT B. VOTRIE
Albert was a little elusive at first as his name was misspelled on the photo as Votree. Votrie was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with his family moving to Ohio later. His mother, Josephine F Pariset, married Peter Votrie, the second of three husbands (Huss, Miller). Albert was born on December 28, 1865.
In 1883 Albert was married to Ida Musselman and they had a daughter, Cleo, in 1885. At the time of his enlistment in 1898, they lived in Emmett, Ohio, now a ghost town of Paulding County. He was 32 years old when he enlisted as a Private in Company M, and he climbed the military ladder quickly. In November 1898, he was promoted to Corporal and then in April 1898, he became a Sergeant.
In November 1898, he wrote a letter to the Defiance Daily Express defending Captain James Crandall against what Votrie felt were disparaging and false rumors spread by the press. Crandall was considering a run for sheriff when the troops came home, and some did not like that.
"AN OPEN LETTER
Another Soldier Tells The Truth
Camp Poland, Knoxville, Tenn.
Nov. 1st, 1898
Editor of Express:
Some time ago my attention was called to an article which appeared in the columns of the Defiance News attacking the military as well as the political record of our commanding officer, Captain James F. Crandall. The captain defended his military position in a well-written letter to the Express and the boys of Company M endorsed the same as being a true statement of affairs up to the time of writing, but still the News appears in our camp loaded with statements which we know are false.
A person not acquainted with the facts and conditions of the park at Chickamauga would be lead to believe that Captain Crandall of our own good company was directly responsible for the epidemic of typhoid fever which swept so many to eternity, and took from us our comrade, Ed Kindig.
I am not a citizen of Defiance, therefore it is immaterial to me whether Captain Crandall is elected to fill of office of sheriff of Defiance county or not, but in justice to him, I believe I am safe in saying that his military record is without a blemish. He took upon himself the duty of commanding a company of young men who were inexperienced and not used to the hardships generally endured by men in times of war.The captain is a veteran of the civil war and he knows the needs of his men. And there is not in the Sixth Regiment a captain more diligent in looking after the comforts of their men than is Captain Crandall.
True, it is natural for soldiers to grumble without cause; I have done my share of that, but my grumbling has never went beyond the confines of my own company street, and I trust it never shall.
Now as to the statement of Mr. Crandall's cruel treatment of military prisoners, you have the word of a prisoner then confined in the 6th regiment guard house and Mr. Crandall's denial. I leave it to the people of Defiance to decide in between the two. For my part, I trust I shall never regret having become a member of Mr. Crandall's company. I also trust that when we again arrive at home with friends and relatives, that my regard for my commanding officer will not have diminished one iota. The sensible boys of Co. M, both Democrats and Republicans know that the - of the News is for political effect and nothing more.
Yours truly,
Albert B. Votrie
Co. M 6th O.V.I."
From his letter, it would seem that he was loyal, educated and understood military life. He mustered out with Company M, and at some point, he joined Company K of the 39th Volunteer Infantry who went on to fight in the Philippine Insurrection (Philippine-American War), beginning in January 1899. He was killed in action on February 3, 1900, at Baybay, Luzon.
The story of Sergeant Votrie's death is a complicated one. The Lima Times Democrat first reported on April 25, 1900, p.6, that he was shot in battle.
"Thrilling Experience of Five American Soldiers
Sergeant Votrie Was Shot
"A scouting party of the Thirty-ninth was sent out to cover the country west of Tauanan and ascertain if there were any insurgents in that locality. During the day five men of K company who had ventured some distance from the rest of the party were cut off about four miles west of Tauanan and fired upon by rebels supposed to be about 150 strong...
The men put up a running fight for some distance in hope of either reaching the rest of the scouting party or that, hearing the sound of firing, their comrades would come to their relief. They continued their retreat, firing as they went, until one of their number, Quartermaster Sergeant Votrie, fell, having been shot through the head.
When the sergeant fell, the bullets were flying like hailstones..."
The following day a searching party was sent out to find the bodies and give them burial. They found Sergeant Votrie where he had fallen, shot and terribly boleed after death by the savages and buried him where he fell."
Even though his name was spelled incorrectly in that article, the story was upheld by a later newspaper article that finished Votrie's story.
The Defiance Democrat, June 14, 1900:
"VOTRIE MURDERED
General Otis Exercises Clemency on His Slayers
Not in Battle But By the Assassin's Hand was a Former Member of Company M Killed
The following special from Washington appeared Saturday which shows that Albert Votrie, formerly of Company M, Sixth OVI was murdered by three natives and not killed while in battle:
Newspaper reports just received at the war department shows that three natives were convicted by a military commission of having murdered quartermaster Sergeant Albert Votrie, Company K, 39th volunteer infantry, at the Barrio of Bagbag, near Tananan, in the province of Batangas, February 2, and were sentenced to death by hanging.
In passing upon the case, General Otis, as the final reviewing authority, said that the findings of the commission were fully sustained in the evidence and that the death sentence imposed by it had the express sanction of the laws of war.
He was, however, unwilling to direct the execution of the sentence, as he believed that the accused were influenced to commit the crime of which they were convicted by local guerilla chiefs, who he said were the principal criminals in the affair. Moreover, he said the prisoners were ignorant of the legal consequences of their art. Therefore, he commuted the sentence in each case to 20 years imprisonment at hard labor in the presidio at Manila."
Hedges Cemetery, Paulding County, Ohio
The story goes that Albert's mother, Josephine, fought hard to have his body exhumed and reburied in the United States. She won the battle and his body was returned home for burial in Paulding County.
By June of 1900, his widow, Ida, 37, and his only daughter, Cleo, 14,appeared on the census of Ukiah City, Mendocino, California, where Ida found work as a seamstress. They remained there for their lifetimes, as far as can be determined.
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