Harvey Webster Wood and Columbus Edward Kindig - Spanish -American War Veterans From Defiance

 

Both the son of Harvey Wood, "Webb Wood," and his son-in-law for a brief time, Columbus Edward Kindig, "Edward," served in the Spanish American War in Company M, 6th Ohio Regiment, in different capacities and with different endings.  

Webster "Webb" Wood was a Corporal in Company M who enlisted at the age of 20 on July 2, 1898.  He was mustered in at Columbus, Ohio by Captain Charles M. Rockefeller.  

Edward Kindig, on the other hand, once Cora Wood's husband, was a private in the same unit.  Company M was sent by train to Columbus and then to Camp Thomas, Georgia, where the conditions were horrible.  This camp was at the site of the Civil War battle, Chickamauga, and it was overcrowded with poor sanitation and little clean water.  Later the unit was moved to Camp Poland, Tennessee, in August, 1898.

                                           Camp Thomas, Georgia

But it was too late for Private Edward Kindig of Defiance; he had already contracted typhoid fever at the camp in Georgia.  Dead at the age of 28, he was sent home to Defiance on the B & O Railroad. (Coincidentally, his mother was returning home to Defiance from a trip on the very same train and had no idea her son's lifeless body was in another car.) His return was much noted in the newspapers, as shown in this article found in the Defiance Express of August 25, 1898:

"SORROWFUL HOMECOMING

Remains of Corporal Edward C. Kindig Came Home This Afternoon.  

They Were in Charge of Corporal Lem Sapp Who Came Home Sick.

The remains of Corporal Edward C. Kindig, who died at Camp Thomas, Sunday at 5:30 p.m. arrived Tuesday afternoon, B & O train, NW bound in charge of Corporal Lem Sapp.  An immense crowd had already begun to make its way to the depot when the following telegram was made public and added to the general interest taken in the affair:

Special to Daily Express:  Deshler, August 23 - The train bearing Kindig's remains and myself will arrive at depot at %:30.  Inform parents, firemen, meet me, sick.

Corporal Lem Sapp.

At 3 p.m. the Sons of Veterans, G.A.R. men headed by a platoon of police and the Defiance Military Band marched to the depot, while Private Bert Wisda of Company M, home on furlough, carried the beautiful flag presented to Company M before it left for the war.  At the depot, the remains were taken charge of by undertakers, Blanchard & Son, and were met by the Sons of Veterans and members of G.A.R.  The body was conveyed to the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Kindig, 720 Harrison Street, the procession moving in the order given above.

As soon as the remains were taken from the train, the company flag was placed on the rough box and the procession then moved to the Kindig residence.  The following persons were pall bearers: C. J. Thompson, Ed  Krabach, Carl Schultz, John King, I. C. Osborne and Peter Hendrick.  A beautiful floral cross arms in red, white and blue, presented by the citizens, was carried in the cortege.

Corporal Sapp was very weak and had to be led from the train by friends.  The crowd present was immense.  The friends and citizens have procured many beautiful floral offerings to place on the casket.

The Funeral

The remains of Corporal Edward Kindig were taken to Evansport for interment Wednesday at 10 a.m.  At 9 a.m. a short funeral service was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kindig, the parents, 720 Harrison street, Rev. Ova C. Wright of the Baptist church officiating.  The remains were then escorted to the high bridge in North Defiance by a large number of Sons of Veterans and members of the GAR, headed by the Defiance Military Band.  An escort of Sons of Veterans accompanied the remains to Evansport, and after a short service at that place, the body was lowered to the grave.

There were many beautiful floral offerings, one piece being presented by the Second Ward people and one by citizens generally, both designed by Winterich.  The Daughters of Veterans sent a beautiful spray of roses.  

Mrs. Kindig, who returned from Piqua, rode from the place to Deshler on the same train that bore the remains of her son, but she did not know it until she left the train at Deshler and met Corporal Sapp who was in charge of the body.

Edward C. Kindig was one of the heroes of the war and while it is distressing that the sturdy young man should have been called in the morning of manhood, there were rumors attending his homecoming that only added to the distress of his friends.  It was reported that Kindig had been hurt in a rough and tumble fight and that was the cause of his death.  W. E. King had used the sword on Kindig on the parade ground, and that he had died of blood poison.  Not withstanding these outrageous stories, had been disproved by Lieutenant H. B. Lewis and other members of the company. 

Dr. M. B. Stevens was called on Tuesday evening and made an examination of the remains.  He did not find a mark upon them, and the parents were permitted to see for themselves what Dr. Stevens had told them.  This puts to rest for all time the cruel stories that would have left a cloud upon the hero dead and put a lasting blight upon the living...The sworn statement of the physician at Camp Thomas shows that Corporal Kindig died of enetric fever.

Corporal Webb Wood continued with Company M to Charleston where they departed on the ship, Minnewaska, headed for Cuba, where the unit remained until the next April, 1899.  The war had officially ended on December 10, but the troops stayed to keep the peace and stability of the country.  The Spanish- American War was a short war, 1898-1899, and one where more men were lost to disease than battle.  In his company, Webb lost one officer and 24 enlisted men to disease.

Webb lived in Defiance his entire life, and he worked as a foreman in the tool room of the American Steel Packaging Company.  He married Julia Houck on December 14, 1904, daughter of Gottlieb and Henrietta (Smith) Houck. 

Webb had to register for both the WW I and WWII drafts.  In the first draft, he indicated he was tall and stout, but in the second "old man's " draft of World War II, when he was 64 years old, he elaborated that he was 6'10" tall and 225 pounds!

Webb and Julia lived for quite awhile at the 901 Wilhelm Street address, but by 1940, they had a new home at 906 West Jefferson.  Grace lived with them until her death in 1937. Webb took on a new job as defense instructor in Defiance during the war.

Julia Houck Wood died in December, 1954, of a sudden hemorrhage.  Her obituary appeared in the Christmas Eve edition of the Crescent-News. On February 17, 1956, Webb married again to Ada Elizabeth Galloway who was the director of nurses at Defiance Hospital.  Elizabeth, as she was called, was nineteen years younger than Webb, and after his retirement that same year, they moved to her hometown of St. Mary's, Ohio.

They were married but five years until Webb's death in 1961.

"H. WEBSTER WOOD

Remains of Harvey Webster "Webb" Wood, 83, a Defiance native and former city councilman were brought here for burial in the Riverside Cemetery Tuesday afternoon.

Burial followed services in St. Mary's, where he died Saturday after a lingering illness dating to May 22, 1959.  The services were held in the Sittler and Stein funeral home Tuesday afternoon with the Rev. Kenneth Burris, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, St. Mary's, officiating.

A son of Harvey and Sarah White Wood, he was born in Defiance on November 17, 1877, and died Saturday in his home, 111 Nagel Steet.

He was a Spanish-American War veteran and former foreman and supervisor in the Defiance Tool and Die Co. plant.  He served several years on city council, resigning Friday, Jan. 2, 1942.  He had been reelected to council from the first ward the preceding November and his resignation at a special meeting came as a surprise.

He gave his duties as instructor in defense classes as the Defiance High School as the reason for his resignation...

Wood and his wife, the former Ada Elizabeth Galloway moved to her home in St. Marys in 1956, following his retirement.  She is his only survivor.

He was a member of the Defiance Presbyterian Church, Omega Lodge, No. 564, Free and Accepted Masons; Ensawocsa chapter No. 89, Royal Arch Masons, Oc-co-nox-ee 55 R and S.M., Defiance Commandery Knights Templar andValley of Toledo Consistory."

Webb was buried in Riverside with his first wife, Julia.  Elizabeth is buried in Elm Grove Cemetery in St. Mary's, Ohio, when she died in May, 1980.

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Harvey Wood - Bishop Post, G.A.R.

Harvey Wood, actually William Harvey Wood, was born in 1840, which meant he was at a prime age to fight when the Civil War came along.  He enlisted into the 25th Ohio Infantry, Company A, on October 6, 1864, and he served a one year term, mustering out on October 6, 1865.  He did suffer some kind of infirmity, but the handwriting could not be read on the 1890 Veterans' Census to determine its nature.  

Harvey joined his company and regiment in Fort Pulaski, Georgia in October, 1864.  From there, the company attached to the 3rd Separate Brigade and headed to South Carolina where they led an expedition against the Charleston and Savannah railroads, hoping to keep supplies out of the hands of the Confederates. One of their most important battles was the Battle of Honey Hill where the regiment had 150 men wounded or killed.  Harvey would have taken part in the occupation of Charleston toward the end of the war.

After he returned from the war, he married the 15 or 16 year old Sarah E. White on July 4, 1869.  In the 1870 Federal Census, they lived in Pleasant Township, Henry County, near New Bavaria.  Harvey, 28, worked as a farmer with a personal estate of $300.  Sarah was then 17, and they had Cora, 5 months old.  

By 1880, they had moved to 435 Court Street in Defiance where Harvey had a job as a laborer.  He, Sarah, 27, and Cora, 11, had welcomed a new brother, Harvey Webster, called "Webb," 2.

The daughter, Cora Wood, age 20, married Columbus Edward Kindig, age 19, on June 7, 1890.  The marriage did not go well, as in October, 1895, Edward (as he was known) filed for divorce.  The Defiance Evening News reported on October 29, 1895, on page 5:

"WANTS A DIVORCE

Edward Kindig Becomes Weary of the Tie that Binds.

Edward C. Kindig has become tired of the tie that binds, and has begun suit in probate court against his wife, Cora, for divorce.

He alleges that they were married in this city, June 7, 1889, and have no children.  He has always conducted himself towards her as a dutiful husband, but notwithstanding this fact, she has for a long time been an inmate of a house of ill fame, and is now known as a public prostitute on the streets.  He prays for an absolute divorce.  Enos & Johnson are his attorneys."

No other information could be found on Cora, searched with her maiden name or married name.  It is known that she died in February, 1898, only because her family put a thank you in the newspaper for those who gave condolences upon their daughter, Cora's, death.  No obituary could be located in any state for her.

In 1900, the family was enumerated without Cora at 816 Perry Street.  Harvey, 60, was a day laborer and owned his home free and clear.  Sarah was 45, and she reported she had two children and two living. However, the children listed were Webb H., 22, day laborer, and Grace, 15, at school.  Was Cora completely disowned and not reported as a child born to Sarah? 

Son, Webb, and the Sherriff accompanied Sarah Wood to the Toledo State Hospital where she remained until her death in 1937.

Webster married Julia Houck, daughter of Gottlieb and Henrietta (Smith) Houck, on December 14, 1904.  He was a toolmaker, 27, and Julia was 26.  So, just Grace, 19, and Harvey were left in their home.  Neither Webb nor Harvey nor Grace could be found in the 1910 census.  However, it is known they were in Defiance as Harvey was injured at work that year, as the Defiance Crescent-News reported on May 19, 1910:

"Harvey Wood, an employee of the American Steel Packaging Company, sustained severe burns to his left hand.  Wood was working with his hand immersed in naptha, and got too close to an open light causing the fluid to explode."

Grace Gladys Wood remained single and cared for her father until his death on October 17, 1917, at the age of 77.

Grace then went to live with her brother, Webb, and his wife, Julia.  She was enumerated with them on the census of 1930.  She was employed as a saleslady in the Uhlman store which was once in Defiance, until her death on February 27, 1937, at the age of 47..

Grace's mother, Sarah White Wood, also died in 1937, in December at the Toledo State Hospital.  The Crescent-News ran her obituary on December 21, 1937, on the front page.

"MRS. SARAH WOOD, LONG ILL, EXPIRES IN TOLEDO, AGED 84

Mrs. Sarah E. Wood, 84, widow of Harvey W. Wood, died in Toledo Hospital at 11:55 p.m. Sunday, following an illness of many years.

The body was brought to Smith Brothers funeral home here where services will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday with Rev. H. W. Shepfer in charge.  Interment will be in Riverside cemetery.

Mrs. Wood was born in Defiance county, March 25, 1853, and spent the major portion of her life in Defiance and vicinity.  She was married to Mr. Wood in 1868.  Her husband died in 1917.

Surviving are a son, H. W. Wood, 706 Clinton street.  A daughter, Grace, preceded her in death."

Harvey Webster Wood was left - more on him next time.

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(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!)