This is the Civil War Sword of Elijah Gillen. I have checked the internet, and the sword could be an Ames 1860 Light Cavalry Saber. George G. Saunders was the inspector.
This sword probably belonged to Elijah, as my Aunt Susannah Smith Hartley had mentioned it to me once. Nathan P. Ames founded a cutlery business in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, in 1829, which among other things, provided a large number of swords by contract to the United States government.
The business relocated to Cabotville in 1834 and added a foundry that furnished most of the brass cannons for the United States Army and cast statues. – Amy Kimball Stoddard
Photo and story courtesy of Amy Kimball Stoddard
The following information was taken with permission from the ancestry account of Amy Kimball Stoddard.
I, Amy Kimball Stoddard, am in possession of a small, leather-bound Bible that belonged to Elijah. On one of the first pages he has written: “From Mother/ E.F. Gillen/ Mother died 1856/ Father died 1841”. My Aunt Susannah Page Smith Hartley says that some Gillens left Ohio for Louisiana (possibly his brothers) to buy land where they had cyprus trees. When the Civil War started, Elijah got “separated” from them and got “gipped” out of the land. His daughter Rachel had been down to visit the relatives down there and learned how to use a rifle.
The bible has since been handed over to my cousin Kent Smith (2009).
Elijah is mentioned in an article from the Ironton Register, dated 10 November 1887; “E. F. Gillen looks as hearty as ever. Mr. G. made a host of friends by refusing to be a candidate for Treasurer.”
Elijah is mentioned in an article from the Ironton Register, dated 10 November 1853: “I. R. Nov. 10, 1853 – Jos. Davidson of the wharfboat, has our continued thanks for late Cincinnati papers, as also clerk Gillen, of the steamer Cabinet.”
Ironton Register May 26, 1853 – Our acknowledgments are due to Jas. Fisk, clerk of the Jene Franklin, E. F. Gillen, our friends of the wharf boat, and others, for river favors.
In an obituary, Elijah is mentioned:
IRWIN, ROBERT Ironton Register AUG. 04, 1881
Robert Irwin, son of Wash Irwin, one of the pioneer citizens of Ironton, was killed by cars in Minnesota last Saturday night. His sisters were Hattie and Maggie, who are now married and live in Texas. The heirs of the Irwin estate were stockholders in the I.R.R., and their stock was recently transferred to E. F. Gillen, the administrator. Robert’s share amount to about $600.
Some deed transcripts from Lawrence County (grantor;grantee,vol#,pg#,date):
Ohio Iron & Coal Co.; Elijah GILLEN & Martin; 15; 147; 13 Dec 1851
Ohio Iron & Coal Co.; Martin GILLEN & Elijah F. Gillen; 30 July 1855
1850 Aug 08 – Ironton Register – Notice in Partition – John Gillen, Curtis Scoville, and Ann his wife, Stephen Wilson and Sarah Wilson, his wife, David Pope and Emily Pope, his wife, Elijah F. Gillen, Isaac F. Gillen and Rachel Gillen of the county of Lawrence, State of Ohio, Mary Jane Haskill and Ann Eliza Haskill infant heirs of Lorenzo D. Haskill, of the state of Iowa, will take notice that a petition was filed against them on the 05 Aug 1850 in the Court of Common Pleas within the said county of Lawrence, by Martin Gillen of said county of Lawrence and is now pending, wherein the said Martin Gillen demands the assignment of dower to the said Rachel Gillen, and partition of the following real estate situated in said county of Lawrence, by Elias Nigh, counselor for petitioner. Aug. 08, 1850.
An obituary is noted in the Ironton Register newspaper the 14 May 1896:
GILLEN, CAPT. E. F.—– Ironton Register MAY 14, 1896
Capt. Elijah F. Gillen, whose death occurred at Proctorville Monday, was the first to petition the Hanging Rock Masonic Lodge for admission. He was elected and initiated on Dec. 6, 1849, and the officers who served at that time were all dead. They were: Stephen Daniels, W. M.; Geo. W. Reddeck, S. W.; Josiah G. Dole, J. W.; R. Galgraith, Sec.; E. C. McCormick, S. D.; James Sullivan, J. D.
According to an 1882 Hardesty Atlas from Lawrence, Elijah Gillen was born near Burlington, Lawrence County, Ohio, on August 21, 1822, and moved to Hanging Rock in 1844, where he entered into a merchandising business and continued there for five years. He then moved to Ironton and became the superintendent of construction of the Ironton Railroad until its completion.
He built the first frame house in Ironton in 1850 and afterward turned his attention to navigation and sailed the Mississippi and tributaries from the Gulf to St. Paul. His first position was as a clerk, but he later held the position of Captain. He was also the general superintendent of the Star Nail Works for one year, 1859.
Elijah quit navigation in 1876 and went into Bradrick’s general merchandising business. He had also served as the clerk of Union Township for a few terms. He was a soldier in the Civil War, enlisted on Sept. 11, 1861, and was discharged on Oct. 12, 1864. He was a first lieutenant and adjutant in the 2nd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry.
He was engaged in battles; in Middle Creek, Kentucky; Lewisburg, Virginia; Winchester, Fisher´s Hill; and was with General Custer in the Shenandoah Valley. His regiment received first honors at the grand review at Washington from General Sherman.
Source: Loyal West Virginia from 1861 to 1865, by Theodore F. Lang, The Deutsch Publishing Co., Baltimore, Maryland, 1895
“His effort in obtaining recruits enabled him to report with a company at Parkersburg, Va., for organization and muster, September 16, 1861. Under President Lincoln’s call of July 2, 1861, a regiment for the cavalry arm of the U.S. service was formed on August 1, in southern Ohio. Three companies were recruited in Lawrence County, two in Meigs, one in Jackson, one in Vinton, one in Washington, and one in Morgan.
The remainder of the regiment was composed largely of volunteers from Putnam and Monroe counties, West Virginia. When this body was ready for organization and commission, the application was made to Governor Dennison of Ohio to complete the organization. This he declined to do, saying that the governors of all the Northern States had received instructions from the War Department to recruit no more cavalry and that they were also advised that all cavalry organizations in excess of forty regiments would be mustered out of service.
Application was then made to F.H. Pierpont, provisional governor of that portion of Virginia now known as West Virginia, the latter State not having been admitted to Statehood until June 20, 1863. Governor Pierpont, with the consent of the Secretary of War, accepted the organization as cavalry, ordering the same into camp quarters at Parkersburg, where ten companies reported about the middle of September 1861.”
The Burlington Academy was founded in the Spring of 1842 by the joint contributions of the citizens of Lawrence County, assisted by the liberality of some few citizens of adjoining counties. The main objectives contemplated by its founders were to educate teachers for the common and other schools, to fit students for college, and furnish the means of a thorough English practical education.
The amount charged for tuition at the Academy per term of eleven weeks was, for lower branches of English, $4.00, and for higher branches of English, $4.50, and for the Classics, $5.00. The Academy’s downfall came about when the county seat was removed to Ironton in 1852. The law having been changed and other schools springing up, it was not thought profitable to carry on the Academy any longer. Elijah was a student here.
Taken from some newspaper articles (1948) about Ironton´s first 100 years:
“An advertisement that catches the eye is that of Thomas Murdock, grocer. As they say on the radio today, “We´re Tobacco Men — Not Medicine Men,” Mr. Murdock was a “tobacco man” His advertisement starts off “Chew Chaw! Chaw Chew!” and tells about his big shipment of fine chewing tobacco. Other grocers’ advertising included A. Ford and Gillen & Brother — E. F. and M. Gillen, but the location of the business was not given.”
“The first barber of the town advertised with these words: “Tommy Jim, The Barber is on hand, ready to shave a gentleman’s face, cut the locks from his head, brush his clothes, black his boots, give him a grin and take a dime. Office on Front street adjoining the Ironton House. Give him a call.” Irwin & Kelly advertised men’s ready-made clothes and hats. Gillen Bros. (E. F. and M.) advertised furniture at Third, and Lawrence J. C. Mead was selling lumber on Front street just above the wharf.”
An e-mail from Taylor Kent Smith(my cousin) 20 Feb. 2008:
I have a Civil War sword that came from our Grandfather, Smith. I believe it has the initials GGS 1860 on the sword. 1860 may be a date or a model #. I don’t have the ancestry charts in Orlando, but could you look and tell me if GGS are potential initial of an ancestor, with the S being Smith? My cousin in Denmark, who has done all the work on our genealogy, replied below.
I mentioned the GGS as potential initials to her, but she said that there is no one in our family ancestry around the Civil War period with those initials. She also feels the sword may have belonged to Elijah Gillen, part of our ancestry, who was alive in the 19th century. She also came up with the info below. The inconsistency is that I did not tell her that the manufacturer was ‘Mees Manuf’ (if I remember right), Chicopee, Mass. As you can see below, what she pulled up does not fit. However, your weapons expertise could help us nail this down. (Kent was asking a friend for advice here)
Ironton Register 23 Feb 1865 – Robbery – We learn that the store of Elijah F. Gillen & Geo. E. Downing, located at the end of the Ashland Railroad, was robbed on the afternoon of the 20th …inst. The parties came in force and proceeded leisurely to pack and box up the stock of goods. Luckily for the owners, the amount was small, the bulk of it being stored at Ashland. What they did not take was “beautifully small.” No violence was offered.
Ironton Register Aug. 29, 1872 – Elijah F. Gillen assumed the management of the European Hotel in Cincinnati. It is an elegant house and conveniently situated. Visit him during the exposition. (Note: this would be the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition, it could have been called European Hotel Company and could have been on the corner of 7th & Vine)
Ironton Register Sept. 27, 1888 – Proctorville – Elijah F. Gillen is entertaining his cousin, John M. Frampton, from Quincy, Ill. Mr. Frampton left here 43 years ago, and this is his first visit; there has been a great change; he has been in the Revenue office, but he and Grover are not alike as to tariff, and Mr. F. had to step down, and out.
PROCTORVILLE – Ironton Register THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 1889:
School closed here last Friday. The schools adjourned to the intermediate room. Before the afternoon session was called, the house was thronged with visitors. The exercises consisted of recitations, dialogues, and music. One pleasant feature of the occasion was the reading of an original poem by one of the pupils of the high school.
Miss Kate Bay presided at the organ, and Dr. J. V. Ricketts assisted in singing. Rev. Drum spoke for a short time and forcibly brought to the minds of the pupils the advantage of living in the Buckeye State, after which Mr. Elijah F. Gillen, one of the School Board, spoke a few words thanking the teachers in the name of the Board and the community for how they have conducted the schools.
From Wiggins and Weavers Ohio River Directory for 1871-72:
Elijah is entered as Gillen, E.F., gent. Third and Centre
Civil War Service Records:
Surname Given Name Middle Initial Company Unit Rank – Induction Rank –
Discharge Notes Allegiance
Elijah F. Gillen F2 West Virginia Cav.1 Lieutenant Adjutant Union
According to the copies of his muster roll, he was in G Company under Lt. Col. J.C. Paxton and was initially a quartermaster. It is said that he was also under Gen. Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker. According to the letter written himself, he was initially turned down when he joined (due to a bad hand), but an old college buddy got him commissioned. He was sick for most of 1864 (lung problems/bronchitis) and resigned in Sept. 1864.
Elijah applied for his Civil War pension in 1885(?) due to invalidity.
His discharge/resignation/medical papers claim that he suffered from chronic bronchitis, aphonia, and some spinal irritation(?) due to frequent exposure in the service in the fall of 1862. Another medical document claims that he was too feeble with spinal irritation, heart problems, and oral (?) debility and would not be fit for 20 days. The doctor was a W.F. Willson, and it was dated Ironton, Ohio, Dec. 4, 1863.
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