Class of 1948
February 2007
Dear Classmates,
It is “guest” class letter time and I am pleased to enclose
Dick Melton’s (formerly Johnson) interesting historical saga about his state,
his town and the street where he lives that he graciously shares with our class
of 1948. Plop in a cozy chair and enjoy.
To: The members of
the Class of 1948
From: Dick Melton, Glendale,
Ohio
Lorrie Johnson Leaf called last fall and asked that I write a piece
for her spring newsletter. I am retired
(like all of you, I assume), so there isn’t much exciting here for me to write
about. On the assumption that most of
you have never lived in Ohio, I
decided to write a little about the southwest corner of the state―and
“the street where I live” (if I can borrow a line from My Fair Lady). The street is
a bit historic because of something that happened here during the Civil War,
the “Great Raid.”
A note on the street: It’s called Sharon
Road. It
runs east and west through four of Cincinnati’s
northern suburbs. It probably dates to
the 1800 to 1810 period. We’re about 15
miles north of the Ohio River.
What happened here is best
understood in context, so let me set the stage.
Following the Revolutionary War, England
ceded to the United States
all the land east of the Mississippi River. In 1787 the land north and west of the Ohio
River was designated the Northwest Territory,
and the land was put up for sale (usually about $1.25 an acre, I
understand). In 1788 the first group of
26 settlers arrived in this area, coming by flatboat. Ayear later a fort was built,
and the territorial governor arrived.
Shortly there was a flood of settlers.
In 1803 Ohio became a
state, and by 1830 all the government land had been sold.
About
1850 plans were made for a railroad to run from Cincinnati
to Hamilton (about 15 miles north
of here), and on to Dayton (about
35 miles north of here). When the
railroad intersected Sharon Road,
a camp was set up to house the railroad workers. Some entrepreneurs bought 600 acres of land
nearby, and began to plat subdivisions and sell lots. A couple of houses were built in 1852, the
house next to
ours in 1853, and ours in 1859.
1861 brought the Civil War, and in
1863 General Grant’s mission was to capture Vicksburg,
Mississippi and thereby open the Mississippi
to the Navy and to commercial shipping.
Having failed in three earlier attempts to invest Vicksburg,
Grant took 35,000 men south through the Louisiana
bayous, building bridges and laying corduroy roads as he went. Also, he made two attempts to divert the
attention of the Confederate commander. Sherman
was ordered to make a feint north, up the Yazoo
River, and several cavalry
commanders were ordered to head south out of Tennesse into Mississippi. The most famous and most successful of these
raids was headed by a Colonel Greirson, who destroyed the railroad yards,
supplying Vicksburg, as well as the railroad yards, buildings, locomotives and
cars that made up the means of shipping.
Grierson then decided to head south, and he managed with hard riding to
evade the pursuing Confederate cavalry and ride into the Union camp at Baton
Rouge, LA.
The North was electrified by the
news of the raid, and the news made its way through the Confederacy as
well. One Confederate cavalryman, John
Hunt Morgan, went to his commanding officer, General Bragg, and asked
permission to make a raid northward, through Kentucky,
and on into southern Indiana and
southern Ohio. Bragg realized that this would draw off
federal cavlary, at a time when he was planning a retreat, so he gave his
permission. However, he gave very
explicit orders to Morgan that he not cross the Ohio River.
Morgan never intended to follow
those orders; he immediately sent out scouts to both Indiana
and Ohio to get information
regarding towns, rivers, bridges―and the extent of pro-southern
sentiment.
Morgan took about 2500 cavalrymen,
and when he reached the Ohio, he
commandeered two steamboats and crossed over into Indiana. Panic spread throughout the state. Militias were formed in all the southern Indiana
towns, and 13 regiments were formed to protect the capital, Indianapolis. In one day the governor sent three wires to
Cincinnat demanding federal troops to help in the defense of the city.
Morgan zig-zagged
his way through southern Indiana. The militias mostly ran for the woods when
they saw what they were up against. The
women were not molested, but any man carrying a gun or not following orders was
immediately shot. About 400 farmhouses,
barns, mills and stores were burned. All
usable horses were taken, and all bridges were burned after the raiders had
crossed. It was known that Union cavalry
were not too far behind.
Then they got to the Ohio
line and crossed over. They pillaged the
first town they got to, and then Morgan ordered them into their saddles, for a
36 hour ride. Rather than go east to Cincinnati,
or north-northeast to Hamilton, he
took a midway route, ending up on Sharon Road.
So
at 3:00 in the morning on July 14 the
residents of Glendale awoke to the
sound of thousands of hoofbeats. The
raiders broke into the homes stealing food and valuables and of course they
took all the horses they could find. I
feel sure they were in our house; the house is right on main
street. I’ve often wondered about
the DeCamp family living here. Did they
all run out the back door and attempt to hide in the woods? Or did Mr. DeCamp go to the front door and
let the raiders in? And did Mrs. DeCamp
and the children run to the attic? Or
did they all cower in one of the bedrooms?
There is no known record, so I suppose I’ll never know. We do know that the oldest daughter, Emma,
became engaged here March 9, 1865;
she used her diamond to etch the fact on a pane of one of the dining room
windows.
No
one was killed or injured here in Glendale. Morgan had expected to encounter Union troops
here, but there were none. By
coincidence, a train-load ot troops had passed through
Glendale half an hour before Morgan
arrived. They had been sent from Cincinnati
to aid in the defense of Hamilton.
The following morning two
Confederate soldiers were found asleep in a barn-carriage house one block south
of our house. Knowing that the pursuing
Union cavalry would soon be passing through Glendale,
the residents allowed the young men to continue hiding in the barn until the
coast was clear. When the Union cavalry
came through, the general in charge is reported to have stopped for tea with
the girls who were attending the Glendale
Female Academy
which was across the street from our house at that time.
I’ll stop here; the Glendale
part is over. Morgan’s raid continued
for another 400 to 500 miles. He was
finally captured up near Cleveland. He, and the other captives were imprisoned in
Columbus, but he escaped and rode a
train to Cincinnati. He paid a boy 50 cents to row him across the
river; once in Kentucky it was
easy to rejoin the Confederate forces. A
year later he was killed by Union troops in Tennessee.
If you
have made it this far without falling asleep, you must be considered a
cognitively intact member of the class of ’48.
Best regards to all of you. ~Dick
Melton
Thank you very much
Dick. Little did we think some 58+ years
ago that we would be corresponding with our Gustie classmates in the far
distant future like this! Dick added a
P.S. saying the John Wayne movie, “Horse
Soldiers,”popular some 20-30 years ago, was based on the Greirson raid. There are also books available on the “Great
Raid” and I am sure Dick could give you titles of the best if you contact
him. Address: 140 E. Sharon Road,
Glendale, OH 45246-4544. Phone:
513-771-3505. This is the second
time Dick has been a guest writer―the first, a duo volunteer in 2001,
with his friend, Howard Krave of Minneapolis.
CLASS NEWS
Harold “Monk” Mattke and wife, Bernice, celebrated 58 years of
marriage October 9, 2006. Congratulations! What a nice trip you had together in California
in September. Monk and Bernice are
volunteers at Mt. Olivet
Lutheran Church
in Minneapolis In the fall of
2006, Harold completed requirements to graduate from Citizens
Police Academy
in St. Louis Park. They enjoyed the Andre Rieu concert in St.
Paul last October.
Geneva Nygren Anderson, Colorado Springs, CO attended her
granddaughter’s wedding in Boulder, CO
in September.
Vern Marquardt, L’Anse, MI is busy in the Masons and Shriner
organizations. He mentioned Marvin Oberg
’50 and Winton Olson of Willmar
were college roommates of his.
Elwin “Ike” Eichhorst, Greeley, CO is retired, but still goes in
and loves repairing horns. He has a
brother in Minnesota so visits
here occasionally.
I have two corrections to
make in my last letter―
J. Lyman Hall’s book is entitled:
A Native Tarheel’s Journey. It includes stories of WWII and Korea.
Dan Palm is divorced and living in Northfield,
MN.
He has a daughter living nearby and a grandson studying journalism in Mankato.
CAMPUS NEWS
Gustie Pages
Are you looking for a dentist, doctor or other
professional? Make it a Gustie! Go to the Gustie Pages at the alumni website
at: <gustavus.edu/alumni>.
Let’s help recruit
outstanding high school students for Gustavus.
Send their names to the Office of Admission at Gustavus. To send a name, visit “Refer a Gustie.” I hit the jackpot when a walking friend’s
granddaughter enrolled in January!
Snowbirds might like to
attend alumni events in Arizona:
Tucson Gustie
Gathering – March 16
Phoenix Gustie
Gathering – March 17
Sun City Gustie Gathering – March 18
Howard Krave, maybe your visit to Green
Valley would coincide with the Tucson
date! If you live in that area more
details will be forthcoming. If you will
be vacationing there at that time call the Alumni Office and get the details: 800-487-8437!
It is not too early nor too late to send your gift to the Alumni Fund. Get on board before you forget! The need is so great and what better legacy
can we leave.
Del
and I are leaving for Panama
February 20-March 1 with our Osher Life Long Learning group. I was surprised and delighted to meet two
Gusties at our pre-trip meeting. The
tour company’s leader graduated two years ago with our grandson, Andrew Leaf
’05, and one fellow tripper from Buffalo, MN
will be going.
Take care―stay
healthy―keep warm or cool, depending―and be as generous as you can.
Sincerely,
Lorrie Johnson Leaf
1948 Class Agent