Hershey, John T, Capt.

Posted By: Wally Garchow
Date: 21 November 2004

transcribed from A Biographical History of Darke County Ohio, Lewis Publishing Company, part II, pp 315-317

CAPTAIN JOHN T. HERSHEY.

John T. Hershey, deceased, was born in Gettysburg, Darke county, Ohio, August 16, 1844, and in this little town passed his life, for many years occupying a leading place among its representative citizens.

He was a son of Jacob Hershey, who came with his father from Pennsylvania to Ohio at an early day and selected a location in Darke county, where they laid out the town of Gettysburg, with which they were identified during the rest of their lives. Jacob Hershey married Mary McCune, in Darke county, and John T. was the first born and only son in their family of three children. He was reared at Gettysburg. At the time the civil war broke out he was yet in his 'teens, but, young as he was, he was among those who were first to enlist. He enlisted from Darke county, state of Ohio, on September 10, 1861, and was mustered into the United States service at Camp Clark, state of Ohio, on September 12, 1861, as a private of Company B, Forty-fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Captain J. C. Langston and Colonel S. A. Gilbert, to serve three years, or during the war. He took part in the battle of Lewisburg, West Virginia, May 23, 1862, where he was severely wounded through the explosion of a shell; Dutton's Hill, Kentucky, and others. He was honorably discharged January 5, 1864, at Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, on account of re-enlisting as a veteran in Company B, Eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, under Captain Anson N. Thompson and Colonel A. S. Moore, to serve three years or during the war. The Eighth Cavalry was assigned to the Second Brigade, Third Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac, and he participated in the following engagements, viz: Covington and Otter Creek, Virginia; Lynchburg, Liberty, Maryland Heights, Winchester and Martinsburg, West Virginia; Fisher's Hill, Winchester, and North Shenandoah valley, or Luray, Virginia; Cedar Creek, and Beverly, West Virginia, October 29, 1864, where he was captured and confined in Libby prison for about three months and a half, when he joined his regiment. He was appointed sergeant February 19, 1865, and commissary sergeant June 1, 1865. He received his final discharge July 30, 1865, at Clarksburg, West Virginia, on account of the close of the war. Afterward he recruited Company 13, Third Ohio National Guards, and was made its captain, a position he filled for a period of eight years, and throughout his life he took a deep interest in military affairs. For a number of years he was a member of the G. A. R.

In many ways he was identified with the business interests of Gettysburg. He was at one time the postmaster of the town, also at various times filled numerous other offices, and for a number of years previous to his death was engaged in general merchandising, conducting a successful business. died March 13, 1900. A man of many able traits of character, generous and unselfish, he had many warm friends, and was respected by all who knew him or in any way had dealings with him. For many years he was prominently connected with Methodist Episcopal church of Gettysburg, active in both church and Sunday school, serving as the superintendent of the latter. His political affiliations were with the Republican party.

Mr. Hershey's widow, Mrs. Celia (Hoover) Hershey, resides at the homestead in Gettysburg, she being, like her husband, a native of this place. Her father, Absalom Hoover, was born, reared and married in Miami county, Ohio, and from that place came to Darke county in pioneer days and established his home in the woods, in Franklin township, southeast of Gettysburg, where he acquired the title to one hundred and sixty acres of land. Shortly after his settlement here he was killed by a falling tree. He was a member of the Christian church, and was an active and efficient worker in both the church and the Sunday school, having served as superintendent of the latter. Politically he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. The Hoovers, originally Quakers, came to Ohio from North Carolina in the early history of the Western Reserve. Mrs. Hershey's mother, before marriage Sarah Patty, was born and reared in Miami county, Ohio, and her father, David Patty, like the Hoovers, came to this state from North Carolina. The Pattys also were Quakers. Absalom and Sarah Hoover were the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters, namely: Noah, a resident of Adams township, Darke county; Bell, deceased; Celia Jane, now Mrs. Hershey; Charles; Albert, a teacher in the Union City schools; and Mary, who died in early life. Mrs. Hershey was reared in Gettysburg, where she received her education in the common schools, and in 1865, at the close of the civil war, she was united in marriage to John T. Hershey. Their union was blessed in the birth of three children, as follows: Mabel, the wife of J. L. Selby, who is the principal of the Greenville schools; Wilbur, who died in early life; and Gertrude, a teacher, residing with her mother. Mrs. Hershey is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

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