History of Dayton, (Montgomery County) Ohio United States of America

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Biographies:

George Crook, soldier, was born near Dayton, Ohio, Sept. 8, 1828. He was graduated from the United States military academy in 1852 and was assigned to the 4th U.S. infantry as brevet 2d lieutenant, serving in California, 1852-61. He commanded the Pitt river expedition in 1857 and in one of the several engagements was severely wounded by an Indian arrow. His promotion to the rank of 1st lieutenant was received in 1856, and to that of captain in 1860. He was ordered east and in 1861 was made colonel of the 36th Ohio volunteer infantry. He commanded a brigade in western Virginia and was wounded at the affray at Lewisburg. He then engaged against the army of northern Virginia and at the battle of Antietam he won promotion to the brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel, U.S. army. He was in command of the 2d cavalry division, army of the Cumberland, 1863, and after the battle of Chickamauga, in which he was conspicuous, he pursued Wheeler's cavalry, driving it across the Tennessee into Alabama. In 1864 he was transferred to the command of the military district of West Virginia, won the battle of Cloyd's Mountain, May 9, 1864, and later in the year joined Sheridan and aided him in the Shenandoah campaign. He received for his services brevets as brigadier and major-general, in the U.S. army, March 13, 1865. He commanded the cavalry of the army of the Potomac in March and April, 1865, directing the operations at Dinwiddie C.H., April 1, Jetersville, April 5, Sailor's Creek, April 6, and Farmville, April 7. After the surrender, April 9, he was placed in command of Wilmington, N.C., and in January. 1866, was mustered out of the volunteer service. He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 23d U.S. infantry, July 28, 1866, and actively operated against hostile Indians in Idaho until 1872, when he was sent to Arizona to quell an Indian insurrection. He sent a message to the Indians, warning them that if they did not return to their reservations they would be exterminated. They refused to heed the warning and Crook engaged them at Tonto Basin, capturing their stronghold. This exploit put an end to their rebellion and in 1875 General Crook was ordered to Wyoming where he defeated the Cheyenne Indians in two engagements at Powder River, destroying over one hundred ledges. In June he won his third victory at Tongue River and a few days after, at Rose Bud, his masterly exploit so incensed the Sioux that they massed eleven tribes and at Little Big Horn massacred Custer with two hundred and seventy-seven troopers. Reinforcements were then sent to Crook, who pursued the Indians, driving them out of their fastnesses, and by May, 1877, he had succeeded in subduing the Indians of the entire northwest. In 1882 he was ordered to Arizona to meet a threatened outbreak of the Apaches. Arriving there he found the cause of the trouble to have been encroachments upon the reservations by Mormons, squatters, miners and stock raisers, and after driving off the white marauders he reinstated the Indians. In 1883 he was sent to the northern boundary of Mexico to put a stop to repeated raids by the Chiricahua Indians. He adopted a method of warfare unusual in dealing with hostile tribes, and instead of pursuing them on their trail, followed it back to their camps, captured the women and children left in the fastnesses, and patiently waiting, captured the Indians on their return with their booty. In this way, with a single company of U.S. troops, supported by 200 Apache scouts armed with rifles, he marched 200 miles into Mexican territory, captured the horses and plunder and made 375 Indians prisoners of war, returning with them to Arizona. The government then for two years left Indian affairs entirely in the hands of General Crook and no hostilities ensued. He abolished trading, set the Chiricahua Indians at work on farms, paying them in cash for supplies needed by the army, and within three years the captured Indians were self-supporting. In 1885, when a second outbreak took form, less than one-fourth of these braves joined in the revolt. General Crook was promoted major-general, April 6, 1888, and commanded the department of the Missouri with headquarters at Chicago. He died in Chicago, Ill., March 21, 1890.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

William Grose, soldier, was born in Dayton, Ohio, Dec. 16, 1812. His father was a soldier in the war of 1812 and both his grandfathers saw service in the Continental army during the war for American independence. He was educated in the public school, studied law and settled at New Castle, Ind., where he was admitted to the bar. He was a presidential elector for Indiana in 1853 and voted for Franklin Pierce. In 1852 he was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for representative in the 3d congress. In 1856 he joined the Republican party and supported the candidacy of John C. Fr?mont, being the same year elected a representative in the state legislature. He was elected judge of the court of common pleas in 1860 and resigned in 1861 to serve in the army. He recruited the 36th Indiana infantry and was elected its colonel. His was the only regiment of Buell's army that reached the scene of action at Shiloh on the first day of the fight. He was promoted to the command of a brigade and served with the army of the Cumberland in all its campaigns, including Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Dalton, and the battles in front of Atlanta, where he received his commission as brigadier-general while under fire. He then served in the battles of Franklin and Nashville and afterward presided over courts-martial held in Nashville, 1865-66. He was appointed by President Johnson collector of internal revenue and served 1866-74, and was an unsuccessful candidate for representative in the 46th congress in 1878. In 1884, he was appointed by Gov. A. G. Porter one of four commissioners to superintend the building of three state hospitals for the insane, and they were built at Evansville, Richmond and Logansport, 1884-86. He was a representative in the state legislature in 1887. He died in Newcastle, Ind., Aug. 3, 1900.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Andrew Kennedy, representative, was born in Dayton, Ohio, July 24, 1810. His father removed to the wilderness of Indiana near where Lafayette now stands. Tiring of farm life Andrew went to Connersville, Ind., where he became a blacksmith, which trade he followed until he was nineteen, when an accident prevented further manual labor, and he first learned to read and write. He soon acquired a fair education through private study and the aid of a Mr. Parker, who gave him the use of his library. He was admitted to the bar and removed to Muncie, where he practised law. In 1836 he was elected to the state senate to fill a vacancy and he was re-elected for a full term. He was an elector on the Democratic ticket in 1840; a representative from Indiana in the 27th, 28th and 29th congresses, 1841-47, and a candidate for the U.S. senate in December, 1847. John Quincy Adams called him "the greatest natural orator in America." He died in Muncie, Ind., Dec. 31, 1847.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Paul Laurence Dunbar, poet, was born in Dayton, Ohio, June 27, 1872; son of Joshua and Matilda (Burton) Dunbar, and grandson of Eliza Black. His parents were full-blooded negroes, his father having escaped from slavery in Kentucky, and his mother having been freed from bondage by the events of the civil war. Paul was graduated from the Dayton high school in 1891 and engaged in journalism. In March, 1896, he became a messenger in the Montgomery county, Ohio, court of common pleas, and in October, 1897, he entered the library of congress, Washington, D.C., as assistant. He was married, March 6, 1898, to Alice Ruth Moore of New Orleans, La. From his early childhood he showed literary talent, and during his high school course he was editor of the school paper, into whose columns many of his first writings found their way. His poems attracted the attention and admiration of James Whitcomb Riley and William Dean Howells, the latter using his influence to bring the young poet before the public. He is said to be the first negro poet to write in the English language. His published works include: Oak and Ivy (1892); Majors and Minors (1895); Lyrics of a Lowly Life (1896); Folks from Dixie (1898); The Uncalled (1898); and Lyrics of the Hearth-Side (1899).

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor