GEORGE W. MOON

GEORGE W. MOON is one of the the most substantial farmers of Allen county and represents a line of business that contributes in a greater degree to the substantial growth and prosperity of the country than any other calling to which man devotes his energies. He was born in Hamilton county, near Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 22nd of December, 1838. His father, Milton Moon was a native of New York, and by occupation was a farmer. His mother, Julia Mullen Moon, was a native of New Jersey, and a representative of a Quaker family. When twelve years of age Milton Moon accompanied his parents to Ohio, where he was reared and continued to make his home until his death which occurred in 1886, at the age of seventy-eight years. His wife died in 1866 at the age of sixty-five years.

George Moon remained at home until about twenty years of age, when he began learning the milling business, serving as an apprentice under a Mr. Miller, of Union county, Indiana. He was employed in that capacity until the outbreak of the Civil war. He was then young, of courageous spirit and unfaltering loyalty, and in defense of the old flag he enlisted as a member of Company B, Sixty-ninth Ohio Infantry. He was made first sergeant. He little imagined the hardships and privations that were in store for him, but wherever he was found he was always loyal to duty and to the Union cause. The regiment with which he was connected was sent directly to the front and was engaged in several skirmishes. He participated in only two pitched battles,—the engagements of Stone River and Chickamauga. At the latter he was captured and he experienced all the horrors of the southern prisons. It was on the 19th of September, 1863, at the burning of Reed's bridge that he was captured and taken to Bell Isle, just opposite Richmond, Virginia. After remaining at that place for about two months he was transferred to Richmond, being incarcerated in Libby prison, a large tobacco house which the rebels had transformed into a place in which they might confine those who through the fortunes of war had fallen into their hands. The prison was very crowded and dirty and the soldiers only had about half rations, and though he considered the hardships very great, the conditions in Richmond were far better than those at Danville, Virginia, whither he was sent after three months spent in Libby prison. At Danville he remained for two months and was then transferred to Andersonville, where he remained for seven months. The conditions at that place were too horrible for description, for many of the prisoners were crowded into an open space with a high stockade all around with nothing to shelter them from the hot summer sun of the south. This prison was so crowded that they had hardly room to lie down. They had scarcely anything to eat and the sanitary conditions were the worst possible. The poor food and impure air brought death to many of the boys in blue. Sickness visited them and the sufferings were horrible. Mr. Moon entered that prison a strong man, but was almost a skeleton when he came out. He could hardly stand alone, but the bayonets and bullets of the guard forced him to move when the command was given. The sufferings

and horrors of that prison are beyond description and only those who experienced incarceration there can fully understand the situation. When the men were taken prisoners they were robbed by the guards of all they possessed, including tents, blankets and much of their clothing. A promise was given that these would be returned, but they never were.

Mr. Moon was taken from Andersonville to Savannah where he remained for a few days and was then sent to Charleston, South Carolina, where, after a month spent upon the race track, he was transferred to Florence. He experienced there a repetition of the horrors of Andersonville. After remaining at that point for three months Mr. Moon was taken to Wilmington, North Carolina. The Union forces were so near, however, that the prisoners were rushed on to Goldsboro where relief came to them. After suffering everything that human nature could endure, the subject of this review was at length paroled, sent to Wilmington and passed through the Union lines. He was then taken to Columbus, Ohio, and given a thirty days' furlough that he might return home, as he was greatly in need of rest and of those necessities of life which contribute to health and strength. On the expiration of his furlough he reported at Columbus and was there when the news of General Lee's surrender was received in May, 1865, and returned to his home with a record paralleled by comparatively few of the thousands of brave men who defended the nation in her hour of peril.

Returning to his home Mr. Moon resumed work in the employ of the man with whom he had learned his trade several years before. For three years he remained in this man's service as a most trusted and competent workman, and then started for the west, arriving in Humboldt on the 1st of April, 1868. He purchased a farm two and one-half miles west of the city and has since resided here, giving his time and attention to the development of his farm in Allen county, and has acquired a comfortable competence for the evening of his life. He keeps the soil in good condition by the rotation of crops and he is most progressive in all of his methods, while the neat and thrifty appearance of the place indicates his careful supervision.

Mr. Moon was united in marriage in March, 1867, to Miss Rachel Danzenbaker, a native of Indiana. Unto them have been born five children, but their eldest, Emma, died at the age of eighteen months. The others are: William, who is now married and living on a farm; Charles L., who studied telegraphy, but is now farming; Frank, who is pursuing a course of study in the Wichita College, and also devotes a part of his time to teaching, and George, who is with his parents. Mr. Moon has always been a stalwart Republican and has been elected as county commissioner, in which capacity he served for three years. He was township treasurer for two terms, and has also been township clerk. He received the nomination of his party for representative, but in that year the Fusion ticket won, he being defeated by a very small majority. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and in this way maintains associations with his old army comrades. His has been a well spent life of activity,

energy and honesty in all of its relations. As a citizen he is as true to his country as when he followed the stars and stripes on the southern battlefields. His business methods have ever commended him to the public confidence and support, and he is now regarded as one of the valued representatives of the agricultural interests of Allen County.

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