Civil War takes toll on Huron County

When I research in the newspapers of the American Civil War era, I'm pleasantly surprised at how many short stories and anecdotes can be found which describe how the war was affecting the home front. One such story would seem to have a great contrast in it, but perhaps there was an easy explanation at the time. One of the well-known Norwalk residents in the 19th century was Frederick W. Graves. He was born in Connecticut, and coming to our area he kept the hotel at East Norwalk from 1850 to 1858. At that point he moved to Norwalk and purchased the Guaff House Hotel which stood at 79 East Main. Mr. Graves was a staunch Democrat and in general the Democratic Party was opposed to the Civil War and anything connected with it. In later years he said that when the war first started in 1861 he boarded many of new soldier recruits who were in Norwalk while regiments were forming in the area. He told an interviewer that he gave away 4,000 meals to the recruits and spent $1,000 of his own money for other supplies. At the time he received no compensation for his efforts, but later was reimbursed with government funds at a rate of 30 cents per day per man ... and he made a small profit at this rate. It surprises me that he'd do business connected with the war, but apparently his heart was large and he put partisan politics aside. Fred Graves had an interesting career otherwise as a livestock dealer and also worked as a guard at the Ohio Penitentiary ... and held several local political offices. He died in 1896 and is buried with his wife Mercy. Men who were off to the military left their family behind and in questionable circumstances. They weren't always paid regularly, and when they were paid they had to send the money home in some way or send it by someone who was going home on leave. Therefore, the wife at home had to economize as best she could to take care of her family. Almost every fall a 'wood bee' was held in most every town. The one in Norwalk in early December 1862 showed that 125 loads of firewood and several sacks of potatoes were brought into town by local farmers, and the wood distributed to 40 families. Benjamin Olcott of Hartland won the prize for the largest load of wood. The prize was an $8.00 premium, which he paid over to a local widow with three sons in the army. One of the village hotel keepers (not Mr. Fred Graves this time) served 125 dinners to the participants, and then local citizens contributed $100 to the cause. It was used for expenses, and the remainder used to buy 41 half sacks of flour to distribute to the families of local soldiers. At the end of the War the County Auditor released a report showing that a total of 2,454 men entered the military between 1861 and 1865. Of this number, 505 died in the hospital or were killed, or were disabled in the line of duty. The next item is not at all connected with the Civil War, except that Lemuel Sherman had operated a station on the Underground Railroad east of Norwalk prior to 1861. After retirement he built and lived in the house at 71 West Main. In 1876 he advertised that he had more than 240 bushels of potatoes at his house that he didn't need, and would give some to anyone needing them. The following day 248 bushels were given away to those in need who applied. * * * REMEMBER: My "Just Like Old Times" books are on sale at New Directions Design, 20 W. Main St., in downtown Norwalk. These contain my earlier columns fully indexed and in permanent book form. Henry Timman, an authority on Firelands history, resides in rural Norwalk.