Co. B., 136th Ohio Muster Roll- Stephen R. Beerbower entry. (Click to enlarge.)Co. B., 136th Ohio Muster Roll- Samuel Beerbower entry. (Click to enlarge.)
Beerbower Family-
Olive Beerbower and her cousin Mary Emma Beerbower would have wished for August 31, 1864 to come quickly- it was the day their loved ones were to come home from the Civil War. Samuel Beerbower, who was Ollie’s father and Emma’s uncle, and his brother, Stephen Russell Beerbower, uncle to both girls, had spent 100 days in the Union Army. Their unit, Company B., 136th Ohio, had been on garrison duty south of the Potomoc as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. Although 22 members of the 136th died during their 90-day tour, no one in Co. B perished, and the men arrived home safely as hoped.
Mary “Emma” Beerbower, daughter of Eleazer John Beerbower and Matilda Louise McKelvey Beerbower, c late 1860s? Courtesy of Marion County [Ohio] Historical Society. (Click to enlarge.)The family reunion was short-lived, however. Ollie and Mary Emma no longer lived next door to each other and two years later, in 1866, Eleazer J. moved to Indianpolis, Indiana for his job. The family stayed in Marion while he established himself in Indianapolis. Emma and the rest of the family joined him a year later, around 1866. How difficult that must have been- wishing they could be with their father, but not wanting to leave family and friends. In 1870, they were the only Beerbowers listed in Indianapolis. The following year, son Stephen Russell married and was listed as a carpenter in the Indianapolis City Directory, and son Edgar P. Beerbower was a clerk, ‘boarding’ at his parent’s address.
Ollie Beerbower daughter of Samuel and Jane Huggins Beerbower. Courtesy of Marion County [Ohio] Historical Society. circa mid 1860s? (Click to enlarge.)Meanwhile, Ollie’s family was still living in Marion, Ohio. In 1872, however, they decided to move to Winterset, Madison, Iowa. Ollie’s uncle George Albert Beerbower had already relocated there about 1852, so at least they did have some family, and lots of cousins in the county- he had 6 living children!
Two years later, Emma married Ashford Ligenfelter (b. 1847) on 13 May 1874 in Marion County, Indiana, possibly in Indianapolis. It would be interesting to learn if the Marion, Ohio and Winterest, Iowa families came to celebrate with the happy couple!
We do know that some family members traveled back to Marion, Ohio, to visit:
Mary Emma Beerbower Ligenfelter and her family visiting her brother, Samuel T. Beerbower, in Marion, Ohio. Marion Daily Star, 26 Dec 1878, volume 2, number 67, page 4. Posted with kind permission for non-profit use. (Click to enlarge.)
This must have been a jolly Christmas visit!
The reunions were sometimes as much as three weeks long, such as this visit from 10 August to 04 September 1880:
Emma Beerbower Ligenfelter visiting Samuel T. Beerbower and family. Nancy Jane Huggins Beerbower, the wife of Samuel Beerbower of Winterset, Iowa, accompanied her. Marion Daily Star, 10 Aug 1880, page 4. Posted with kind permission for non-profit use. (Click to enlarge.)Emma (Beerbower?) Ligenfelter returning home to Indianapolis after a 3-week visit to Marion, Ohio. Marion Daily Star, 04 Sep 1880, page 4. Posted with kind permission for non-profit use. (Click to enlarge.)
We don’t know which children, if any, also traveled to visit family, but we do know that Ollie Beerbower was not a part of the 1880 visit… More on that in our next post.
2) Official roster of the soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861 -1865, Vols. 1-12.
3) A note on the RootsWeb message boards from Betty (commanchestar) from 05 Mar 2005 states her relationship to Casper, Ollie, and Bertha Beerbower. I have tried contacting her in hopes she is still interested in sharing family information. I do hope she finds our posts about the Beerbowers. http://boards.ancestry.com/thread.aspx?o=30&m=1.3.6.29.1&p=surnames.beerbower
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