16. George Washington Kerchner II
The Kershner Families of Maryland, page 312, Volume III
George KERCHNER (KERSHNER) b 1804
George KERSHNER II, wife Rachel J. COOKE
reported by Glenna Kershner & Katherine Kershner Spangler:
Diary from George Franklin Kershner "In this diary on July 7 he speaks of a Uncle David Jones coming to see him, and on Aug. 1866 my grandfather [Geo. W. Kerchner II] left for Baltimore, Md. to see a P. Cook [Rachael's father or brother?], which he had written to often, I think Jones lives some where around there too.Census records would indicate as per the birth locations of his children Anna and Isaac that George W. Kerchner II and family moved from Carroll Co, MD to Greene Co, OH sometime between 1860 & 1868, probably because of the Civil War.
1880 United States Census, Ohio
Butler Twp. Montgomery Co. Ohio
Household:
Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
C. N. KERSHNER Self M Male W 44 MD Overseer Of Saw Mill PA MD
Racheal KERSHNER Wife M Female W 46 MD Keeping House MD MD
Anna M. KERSHNER Dau S Female W 20 MD MD MD
Isacc KERSHNER Son S Male W 12 OH At School MD MD
Florence KERSHNER Dau S Female W 10 OH At School MD MD
George KERSHNER Son S Male W 8 OH MD MD
Lovina KERSHNER Dau S Female W 5 OH MD MD
Jonah KERSHNER Son S Male W 3 OH MD MD
(C. N. is what is shown in the index, closer inspection reveals this is really a faded G. W.)
1870 United States Census, Ohio
Beaver Creek Twp., Greene County p9, taken on 10, July, 1870
Geo W. Kershner age: 34, occupation: Works in Grist Mill, value of real estate: $0.00, value of personal estate: $400, birthplace: MD
Rachel G. Kershner age: 35, occupation: Keeping House, birthplace: MD
Ann M. Kershner age: 10, attending school, birthplace: MD
Isaac Kershner age: 4, at home, birthplace: OH
Florence M. Kershner age: 2/12, at home, birthplace: OH, born in MarchCivil War Roster of Ohio Troops
George W. Kershner entered service on 11 Feb 1864 age 27 as a Corporal
9th Independent Company Sharpshooters Organized in Dayton, Feb. 26, 1864 "Stearn's Sharpshooters"
Attached to 60th Ohio Infantry as Company G (Sharpshooters)
mustered out 15 June 1865 as a Sergeant at Camp Chase, Ohio, by order of War DeptCompanies A, B, C, D, E, F, and I of the Three Years' Service were organized at Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio in the months of February, March, April and May of 1864 to serve three years. Company K was organized in November and December, 1864, to serve one year. The 9th and 10th Independent Companies, Ohio Sharpshooters, were transferred to this Regiment on February 24, 1865, and became known as Companies G and H. It was mustered out of service July 28, 1865, in accordance with orders from the War Department.
The official list of battles included:
Wilderness, Virginia May 5-7, 1864
Mary's Bridge (Nye River), Virginia May 9, 1864
Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia May 8-18, 1864
North Anna River, Virginia May 23-27, 1864
Cold Harbor, Virginia June 1-12, 1864
Petersburg, Virginia June 15-19, 1864
Petersburg (Mine Explosion), Virginia July 30, 1864
Six Mile House (Weldon Railroad), Virginia August 18-21, 1864
Ream's Station, Virginia August 24, 1864
Preble's Farm (Poplar Springs Church), Virginia Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, 1864
Nottoway River, Virginia December 10, 1864
Fort Steadman, Virginia March 25, 1865
Fall of Peterburg, Virginia April 2, 1865NINTH ARMY CORPS.
Maj. Gen. AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE.
THIRD DIVISION.
Brig. Gen. ORLANDO B. WILLCOX.
Second Brigade.
Col. BENJAMIN C. CHRIST.
60th Ohio
Lieut. Col. James N. McElroy.
Company G
Captain William L. Stearns
This regiment was organized early in the Spring of 1864, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel J. N. McElroy. Upon completion of six companies, it was ordered to the field. Two companies of Independent Sharp-shooters, rendezvousing at Camp Taylor, near Cleveland, were assigned to duty with the battalion. The command reported to Major-General Burnside, commanding the Ninth Army Corps, at Alexandria, Virginia, on April 24, 1864, and was assigned to the Second Brigade, Third Division.The Sixtieth marched with the corps on April 27th, to join the Army of the Potomac, on the Rapidan. On May 5th, it crossed that stream, and took part in the actions in the Wilderness. On May 9th, the battalion led the advance of a column of two divisions of the Ninth Corps, in the attack at Mary's Bridge, Nye River. The battalion was specially distinguished in orders by the General commanding, for the gallantry with which it crossed the stream and carried the position of the enemy. In all the actions about Spotsylvania in which the corps was engaged, the Sixtieth took an honorable part, suffering very much in that series of engagements.
This regiment took an honorable part in the engagements at the North Anna, Tolopotomoy, Bethesda Church, June 2nd and 3rd; at Cold Harbor until June 12th, and the siege of Petersburg, and the actions about Richmond, which brought the Rebel army of Northern Virginia to pass under the Caudine Forks, on April 9, 1865, and the Army of the Potomac turned its face homeward.
Two additional companies joined the regiment: one at Cold Harbor in June and the other in January 1865 before Petersburg. It, however, never became a maximum regiment, as its losses far exceeded the additions. The muster-out rolls, in the Office of the Adjutant-General of Ohio, show the casualties to be 505, with but 17 missing. Few regiments have had so eventful and brilliant a career in less than one year's active service. The Sixtieth was mustered out of service on July 25, 1865.
Campaign from the Rapidan to the James River, Va.
MAY 4-JUNE 12, 1864
O.R.-- SERIES I--VOLUME XXXVI/1 [S# 67]SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS
May 4, 1864
Advance of the Army of the Potomac, Skirmish near Chancellorsville
May 5- 7, 1864
Battle of the Wilderness (including combats at Parker's Store, Craig's Meeting-House, the Brock Road, Todd's Tavern, the Furnaces, &c)
May 7, 1864
Maj Gen Richard H Anderson, C S Army, assigned to command of the First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia
May 8, 1864
Maj Gen Jubal A Early, C S Army, assigned to command of the Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia
May 8-21, 1864
Operations about Spotsylvania Court-House (including combats at Todd's Tavern, Corbin's Bridge, Alsop's Farm, and Laurel Hill (8th); the Ny River and the Po River (10th); the Angle or the Salient (12th); Piney Branch Church (15th); Harris' Farm (19th); Stanard's Mill and Guiney's Station (21st), &c)
May 9, 1864
Brig Gen Horatio G Wright, U S Army, assumes command of the Sixth Army Corps
May 9-24, 1864
Sheridan's expedition from Todd's Tavern to the James River (including combats at Davenport (9th); Beaver Dam Station, North Anna, and Davenport Ford (9th and 10th); Ground Squirrel Bridge or Church, Glen Allen Station, Ashland, and Yellow Tavern (11th); Meadow Bridges, Mechanicsville, Strawberry Hill, Brook Church or Richmond Fortifications (12th); and skirmishes en route at Mattapony Church, Jones' Bridge, Haxall's, White House Landing, Hanover Court-House, &c)
May 22-June 1, 1864
Operations on the line of the North Anna, the Pamunkey, and the Totopotomoy Rivers (including combats at Quarles' Mills, Ox Ford, and Jericho Bridge, or Ford, or Mills, on the North Anna (May 23-26); Hanover Junction, Sexton's Station, Mount Carmel Church, Dabney's Ferry, Hanovertown, Little River, Pole Cat Creek, and Salem Church (May 27); Aenon Church, Jones' Farm, Crump's Creek, and Haw's Shop (May 28); Totopotomoy River (May 28-31); Matadequin Creek, Old Church, Shady Grove, and Armstrong's Farm (May 30); Mechump's Creek, Shallow Creek, Turner's Farm, and Bethesda Church (May 31); Ashland (June 1), &c)
May 24, 1864
The Ninth Army Corps assigned to the Army of the Potomac
May 29, 1864
Maj Gen Jubal A Early, C S Army, assigned to command of the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia
May 31-June 12, 1864
Operations at and about Cold Harbor
June 3, 1864
Action at Haw's Shop, Skirmish near Via's House
June 7-24, 1864
The Trevilian Raid (including combats at Trevilian Station and Newark or Mallory's Cross-Roads (11th and 12th); King and Queen Court-House (18th and 20th); White House or Saint Peter's Church, and Black Creek or Tunstall's Station (21st); Jones' Bridge (23d); and Saint Mary's Church (24th), &c)
June 10, 1864
Skirmish at Old Church
June 12, 1864
Action at Long Bridge, Skirmish at White House Landing
See book by Gordon C Rhea
See video from The History Channel, Civil War Combat, The Tragedy at Cold HarborSee G.W. Kerchner's diary 1866, under Cash Account July in the back, (image 060.bmp)
Captain George W. Summers and Sergeant Newton Koontz, Company D, 7th Virginia Cavalry, were here executed on June 27, 1865, by order of Lt. Col. Huzzy [sic] 192 O.V.M.I., without the privilege of any kind of trial, they having been arrested at their homes in Page County, brought here and shot.
1866 diary refers to uncle David Jones & P. Cook. P cook was probably Peter Cook, Rachel's father and David Jones
was George's mother's sister's husband. Barbara Bollinger.1860 Census:
Surname Given Name Age Sex Race Birthplace State County Location Year
JONES DAVID 72 M W PA MD CARROLL MIDDLEBURG P O 18601870 Census:
Surname GivenName Age Sex Race Birthplace State County Location Year
JONES DAVID 84 M W MD MD CARROLL UNIONTOWN P O 18701870 occupation: retired miller, 1860 occupation for GW Kerchner: miller
1860 United States Census, Maryland
New Windsor Twp., Carroll County p542, taken on 24, August, 1860
G. W. KERCHNER age: 23, occupation: miller, value of estate: $100
Rachel age: 21
Anna age: ?
Married with the yearCarroll County, Maryland marriage records
George W. Kerchner
Rachel Jane Cook
30 Jul 1859Butler Township (Robin Hess 937-898-6735) reports George W & Rachel Kershner are burried in lot 101 at Polk Grove Cemetery
George b. 1835, d. 1898
Rachel b. 1833, d. 1916Also township office reports that lot 321 was purchased by George Kershner, could be Frank or Frank's son George
For directions in the cemetery call Butler Township service 937-890-1218 (Doug Brunk let is ring 10 times)
Polk Grove United Church of Christ
Polk Grove has an interesting and proud heritage. In 1812 pioneers began celebrating their bountiful harvests in a cabin and grove donated by Daniel Waymire. The church-cabin also served as a school. In 1816, the original 33 members named themselves the Lower Stillwater Christian Church. They worshiped in either the Waymire cabin or the farmhouse of Anthony Coble, now Aullwood. The harvest meetings became known as annual basket meetings because people bringing baskets of food, came to renew their spiritual growth. The 1896 basket meeting was called the Great Polk Grove Exposition! Over 10,000 persons attended the fair-exhibits-revival. The baskets meetings continued in various forms until the 1950's.
In 1839, it was decided to build a brick church. By Dec. 9, 1843, 435.00 dollars was pledged and the church was completed in 1844 through donated labor and materials. Our church has been designated by the local historical society as one of the oldest sanctuaries in continuous use. The church probably so-named because James Polk gave a political speech in the grove while the church was being built. Another ledged tells of the abundance of poke berry stalks in the grove, making our church look like a poke church.
Our church experienced many changes in name and size. In 1931, the name changed to a Congregational Christian Church. In 1952 a building addition consisting of the fellowship hall, kitchen and classrooms was dedicated. In 1958, the Congregational Christian Churches merged with the Evangelical and Reformed Churches and we became a United Church of Christ. In 1964 our church expanded to include the offices and more classrooms. Our most recent addition, the new fellowship hall and kitchen were dedicated in 1980.
One of the wonderful things about this church is the diversity of our Church family, united in one Christ. On this Web Sight you will see people that come from all walks of life with different gifts and abilities. You will also see young and old, male and female, working together as the body of Christ.
Summers-Koontz_Incident: Referenced in G.W. Kerchner's diary 1866, under Cash Account July in the back, (image 060.bmp)A Matter of Injustice:
The Summers-Koontz Incident
by Robert H. Moore, IIReprinted with permission from the February 1992 issue of Blue and Gray Magazine
As the earth glows orange, a warm June sun sets behind the blue hue of the mountains to the west. Occasionally the hum of a passing vehicle breaks the stillness along the picturesque Valley Pike.
The contemporary scene, apart from the occasional automobile, is little different from the one of 127 years earlier. Then too, cattle and green rolling hills have taken the place of Federal occupation soldiers and scorched earth. The place is just north of New Market, Virginia - better known for the battle where the cadets of the Virginia Military Institute gained undying fame. However, a lone graying five-foot monolith in a field near Rude's Hill does not pay tribute to the Confederate victors of that spring day in 1864. Instead, it gives evidence of a little known incident which took place almost three months after Lee surrendered.
Like most of the South's surviving residents, the people of the Shenandoah Valley took little pleasure in the continuing presence of the "damned Yankees." To make matters worse, many Confederate veterans, who had escaped capture or surrender, faced a difficult reality. Their cause was lost and they needed to obtain paroles from their former enemies.
Over a month after Appomattox and the subsequent but separate disbandment of the famous Laurel Brigade, four young veterans of Company D, 7th Virginia Cavalry set out from their homes in Page County for Woodstock to receive paroles. Twenty-two-year-old Captain George Washington Summers, Sergeant Isaac Newton Koontz, his cousin Jacob Dallas Koontz, and Andrew Jackson Kite started on their way in the early morning hours of May 22, 1865.
The passage across the Massanutten and down the Valley took them past a party of Union troops conveying ex-Governor Letcher. Passing the small caravan without incident, minutes later the group came upon a band of about half-a-dozen stragglers from Co. H, 22nd New York Cavalry.
What came over the ex-Confederates can only be guessed as they drew revolvers and demanded that the Federals surrender their horses. A lieutenant with the band of cavalrymen "resented" the demand and drew his pistol. In what would have otherwise been a classic scene from some western novel, one of the four assailants turned his piece toward the gun wielding lieutenant. Both men's weapons produced no more than a "pop" of the cap. The Rochester cavalrymen reluctantly consented to surrender.
Realizing that they had just carried out an illegal guerilla action, the four young men returned to their homes in the Luray Valley where they were ill-received by their rightfully disturbed fathers. After the facts of the incident had been ascertained, Captain Summers' father, also named George, set out to gather a group of the most respected local citizens to go to the Federal camp the next day and plead that the local soldiers' rashness be forgiven.
The following morning the group went to Rude's Hill and the camp of the 192nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The elder Summers recollected that they were "courteously" received by Colonel Francis W. Butterfield, commanding the post. After Summers explained his mission to the attentive colonel, they made an agreement that with the return of the stolen property the matter would be closed with no punishment to the four. As proof of the return of property, receipts were given to the ex-Confederates. Satisfied that the mission was a success, the four young men and their friends returned home. No account was made of the transaction in the Ohio regiment's Morning Order book.
Although for the ex-Confederates the matter appeared to be resolved, trouble again surfaced one Sunday following the return of the property. A local Union sympathizer, William Tharp, got into an argument with a former Confederate over an incident during the war. The elder Summers recollected that Tharp, "became very much enraged.: After one of the young men earlier involved in the stolen horse episode made a comment to Tharp, the Unionist snapped back: "You had better return those horses stolen from the Yankees!" The verbal battle heated up even more when Captain Summers and two others joined against Tharp. At the conclusion of the verbal confrontation one young man threatened to hit the Yankee sympathizer. Tharp swore he would go to the Federal camp and get revenge for his mistreatment.
Whether or not Tharp carried out his threat can only be ascertained due to the lack of information available. One event worthy of note, however, is that the previous week Colonel Butterfield had gone on furlough and Lieutenant Colonel Cyrus Hussey was left in command.
Another known fact is that on the following day, Monday, June 26, Special Order #3 was issued by Hussey to Captain Lycurgus D. Lusk, commanding Company H, 22nd New York Cavalry, to "proceed to Luray Valley at 9 p.m. and there arrest and execute severally and all without delay whatsoever, the followed named men who had been guilty of attacking U.S. troops and stealing horses since the surrender." The four young men were named and underlined several times in red. The order for the execution was according to General Order #1 and was also noted in a post-war reference as having been carried out in accordance with instructions "from Army and Department Headquarters."
Early on the morning of June 27 the company reached the vicinity of the homes of Summers and Daniel Koontz (Dallas' father) and proceeded to encircle them. Jackson Kite and Dallas Koontz succeeded in evading the Federals. George Summers was equally determined to make his escape. After some convincing by his father, however, Summers allowed himself to be arrested to face what his father expected would be a fair trial. Newton Koontz, arrested earlier at his home, soon arrived at the Summers' home escorted by Federals.
Before Newton's party had come to the Summers' home they had stopped briefly at Kite's Mill near Columbia Mills. Koontz apparently saw a familiar passerby and asked the lieutenant permission to draft a quick note and have the friend dispatch it to his betrothed. The lieutenant allowed it and Newton wrote:
I write to inform you that I was arrested this morning before daylight at Uncle Daniel Koontz's in bed. I am now under arrest . . . I hope dearest Emma you will bear up under this as well as you can, and doubt not but that God will allow me to return to you[.] he will not allow such innocence to be bereft of its happiness. I hope Mr. Shuler will take some interest in my welfare and do some things for me if possible, I expect to be carried to Mount Jackson, where I suppose they will give me an honorable trial. The Lieutenant and men appear to be gentlemen . . . . I am conscious of having acted the part of a gentleman in returning the horses, I have the consolation of knowing I have faced death on a hundred battle fields, and should it be my sad lot to suffer death, I shall endeavor to doe a brave man, and a gentleman . . . .
The elder Summers tried to explain the earlier agreement made with Colonel Butterfield and showed the receipts for the returned items, but Captain Lusk was indignant toward Summers and had no knowledge of the transaction. However, Summers had "breakfast prepared for them and they ate at the same table with my son George." When the party was finished and ready to go, the elder Summers stated his willingness to accompany them back to Rude's Hill and see the officer in charge. Captain Lusk in turn told him it would be best to wait until the following day and possibly procure their release. The elder Summers was satisfied that he would be able to do so, but his son felt uneasy and bid farewell as if he were certain he would die.
The Rochester Cavalry arrived at the foot of the Massanutten Mountain on the Shenandoah County side sometime that afternoon and Summers and Koontz were told of their fate. Up to this point, no mention had been made by their captors of the requirements of Colonel Hussey's order and the boys pleaded for mercy. There was to be no trial, but the young men were permitted to request the services of the local reverend, Socrates Henkel, for the last rites. Still the boys pleaded until Captain Lusk said he would go ahead to the camp and see what could be done.
Sometime after the captain had departed, the detachment again started the march to the Federal camp. When within a hundred yards of the Federal bivouac, the company was greeted by yet another party tasked with an on-the-spot execution. Summers and Koontz were permitted to write final letters to loved ones. Summers' note was simple:
My Dear Father, Mother, Sisters, and Brothers: Very much to my surprise, we must soon leave this world to try the realities of an unknown one, but pray God that I had died upon the battlefield in defense of my dear native South! But it has been otherwise ordered. I submit to my fate. Pray for me, and try to meet me in heaven. I feel as though God will forgive my sins. Don't grieve after me. Farewell, my father, mother, sisters, brothers, and friends.
Newton Koontz wrote his fiancé and parents in two separate letters. To his "Darling Emma," Emma Jane Shuler, he wrote:
Oh, how can I bear to write you? Affliction is bearing me down! But I will write you a few lines. They are now ready to shoot me. Oh Emma, dearest in the world to me, how can I leave you but I must. Oh, I have heard you often say it would kill you to hear of my death. But dearest Emma take it as you can . . . . I wish to be buried with this ring on my finger. Emma, my respect to your father and mother whom I have loved as such, but no more.
Yours in death,
I.N. Koontz
P.S. Try to meet me in heaven where I hope to go.To his parents he dictated a last note:
My Dear Father, Brother, Sisters, Nephews, Niece, Black ones and family: I bid you all farewell in this world, hoping to meet you all in a better and happier world. I have been bandaged and tied to be shot, but have sent for Parson Henkel . . . . Remember dear ones that this world is all a shadow, only a moment in life, and death everlasting. Prepare to meet me in heaven every one of you, I will close . . . .I wish to be buried beside my dear mother. No more, goodbye forever.
Reverend Henkel did not come, and at 7:30 p.m. the men stood before a firing squad. Shortly thereafter they were riddled with bullets. In a post-war account from the 192nd Ohio, the conduct of the two condemned was exemplary.
On the morning of June 28, the elder Summers showed up with his friends in order to defend the two men. But before the campsite was reached, and near 11 a.m., Summers found his son and Newton laid out on the ground with "stones for pillows." Though the elder Summers had been a Unionist, he now felt a strong hatred toward the Yankees. He stated that he felt "cheated" out of the opportunity to influence the authorities. However, he later wrote, "To those that spoke evil and treated me unkindly I returned many kind acts."
On July 7, another party of 20 men under Lieutenant Henry E. Beeby, also of Company H, 22nd New York Cavalry, set out pursuant to Special Order #3, to apprehend and execute Jackson Kite and Dallas Koontz. Before the end of the day, though , orders from the Headquarters of the Army of the Shenandoah arrived calling for the action to cease. The two surviving men were pardoned by General Alfred T. A. Torbert, who a year earlier had carried out General Grant's orders to execute any of Mosby's men who were captured.
A monument today stands as a silent reminder of the little known incident and reads simply:
Captain George W. Summers and Sergeant Newton Koontz, Company D, 7th Virginia Cavalry, were here executed on June 27, 1865, by order of Lt. Col. Huzzy [sic] 192 O.V.M.I., without the privilege of any kind of trial, they having been arrested at their homes in Page County, brought here and shot.
The grave of Captain Summers lies across from the old Ingham Station in Page County; Sergeant Newton Koontz rests peacefully in a family lot near Alma, Page County.
1900 census Lovina, Jonah, Ezra,
also G. Daughter born Feb 1894, (Istel?? or Ester??, initial A or J??)
9 children 7 alive, must have been still born not on any census or other records1910 census Rachel Kirchner, Jonah & Ezra living with, Troy St., Vandalia village
9 children, 7 aliveSince this G Daughter was not there in 1910 she was possibly the daughter of Lovina.
1880 Census Randolph Twp. Montgomery Co.
PumphREy JNO. index shows JNO, actual image looks like "Jno." but is faint & obscured by name below
Age 39, Farmer, Health: Rhumatism or Rhu.....something
BORN Self VA, Father VA, Mother VA
Catherine 38
Elmer 11
Albert 8
Melvin 6
Maude 3Census 1870: 1870, Roll M593-1198; Sheet 27; Fairfield CO; Walnut OH
Census 1880: 1880, Roll T9-1052; 748C; Montgomery CO; Randolph OH
Census 1900: 1900, Roll T623-1306; ED 92; Sheet 12A; Montgomery CO; Butler OH
Census 1920: 1920, Roll T625-1420; ED 78; Sheet 8A; Montgomery CO; Butler OHCivil War vet
1900 census years Married: 32y, same census page as WRL Chitwood
See Marriage Cert issued on Dec 18, 1867, married next day