GEORGE D. STINEBAUGH GRAVESTONE PHOTO
Pages 1089-1091 from volume III, part 2 of Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. ... / with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence. Standard Pub. Co. Chicago : 1912. 3 v. in 4. : front., ill., ports.; 28 cm. Vols. I-II edited by Frank W. Blackmar. Transcribed December 2002 by Carolyn Ward. This volume is identified at the Kansas State Historical Society as microfilm LM195. It is a two-part volume 3.
George D. Stinebaugh.—As a valiant soldier in the Civil war, and as a capable business man of Ottawa, where he has resided since March 24, 1866, Mr. Stinebaugh is well known to the people of eastern Kansas. He was born near Galion, Ohio, Aug. 13, 1840, and traces his ancestry back to Württemberg, Germany, his ancestors being represented among the pioneers of Pennsylvania. There is no phase of an ancestor's life so dear and so treasured by a descendant as that portion in which he served as one of his country's defenders, and few indeed are the descendants who fail to point with pride to the military record of an ancestor, hence no omission should be made of any incident that indicates his military prowess, and a veteran's military record should be made as complete as official records and memory will permit. His grandfather, John, son of Adam Stinebaugh, a Revolutionary soldier, was born in Pennsylvania and served in the war of 1812. When his son, Jacob (who was born in Hagerstown, Md., in 1806), was a child of two years, John Stinebaugh moved to Horseshoe Bottoms on Cheat river near Beverly, W. Va., and there carried on a blacksmith's shop and engaged in the cattle business. He died during a visit to Maryland when his son was a young man of twenty-four. Jacob soon afterward removed to Crawford county, Ohio, married and engaged in farming. He resided there until 1854, when he removed to Williams county, Ohio, and there made his home until 1866, when the entire family settled in Kansas. He purchased a farm in Franklin county, near the now extinct town of Ohio City, and engaged in agricultural pursuits there until his death, which occurred in 1869, at sixty-three years of age. He was a man of considerable ability; reared under the judicious oversight of his father, who was a man of prominence, he was fitted for life's responsibilities, and during his long career he proved himself to be a man of integrity and intelligence. He learned the blacksmith's trade, but devoted himself principally to farming. He was a member of the Lutheran church. Jacob Stinebaugh married Helena Hershner, a native of York county, Pennsylvania, of German descent, who accompanied her father to Ohio about 1822 and was there married. To them were born ten children, all of whom attained maturity except one. This father and mother gave an unusual quota to the defense of the Union, for five of their sons saw service during the Civil war. John was a member of Company C, One Hundredth Ohio infantry, and afterwards lived in St. Joseph, Mo., where he died. Henry was a sergeant in the Thirty-eighth Ohio infantry, and died in Ohio from the effects of his army service. Andrew was a member of the Tenth Kansas militia and lived and died in California. Jacob enlisted in the Thirty-eighth Ohio infantry, was wounded in front of Atlanta, and now makes his home in Ottawa. George D. was the sixth in order of birth and his war record is given below; Elizabeth is the wife of H. Towney and lives in Princeton, Franklin county. Mary died in childhood. Mrs. Ellen Goodrich died in Ottawa. Lydia lives in Princeton, Franklin county, and Mrs. Anna Campbell resides in California.
George D. Stinebaugh at the age of fourteen years accompanied his family from Galion to Williams county, Ohio. At the first call for volunteers for the Civil war he enlisted on April 19, 1861, in Company C, Fourteenth Ohio infantry, and was mustered in at Cleveland, Ohio, for three months. Among his first engagements were those at Philippi, Laurel Hill or Beelington, Carrick's Ford, on Cheat river (which was almost on the same ground where his father was reared). He was mustered out at Toledo, Ohio, Aug. 13, 1861. In company with his brother Henry he enlisted in Company H, Thirty-eighth Ohio infantry, and in 1864 they were joined by a third brother, Jacob. Among the engagements of his second term of service were Mill Springs Stone's River, Perryville, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Snake Creek Gap, and all the battles of the Atlanta siege. In the battles of Jonesboro, at the first volley, every man within ten feet of him was struck. In the second volley two shots passed through his left leg, another grazed the ankle of his right leg, while a shell grazed the top of his head. About sundown he was carried to the rear and at midnight his leg was amputated on the field. He was sent to a field hospital, where he remained three days, was then transferred to the hospital at Atlanta, then to Chattanooga, afterwards to Nashville, Tenn., thence to New Albany, Ind., later to Jeffersonville, Ind., where he was discharged. As soon as he was able to get around he was given the head clerkship at the hospital and continued in that capacity until July 14, 1865, when he was honorably discharged at Louisville, Ky. Returning home Mr. Stinebaugh took a course in Bryant & Stratton's Business College at Toledo, Ohio, where he graduated in 1866. He then came to Kansas where he was employed as deputy recorder of deeds of Franklin county. In the session of 1866-67 he served as enrolling clerk of the house of representatives. In the fall of 1867 he was elected county clerk on the Republican ticket, and by reëlection each two years, held the office from 1868 to 1880. While acting as county clerk he became interested in the real estate business, and in this he has since engaged. In 1890 he was admitted to practice in the interior department and has since been a pension attorney. He has represented six of the old-line fire insurance companies. For two years he was a member of the city council and served on the school board at the time of the building of Central school. For some time he served as city clerk. He is a member of the Baptist church and affiliates fraternally with George H. Thomas Post No. 18, Grand Army of the Republic.
On Sept. 13, 1868, he was united in marriage with Mary Ann Reese, daughter of James and Nancy (Anderson) Reese, who was of Welsh descent and a native of Lafayette, Ind., but came to Kansas in 1867. Her people were likewise patriotic, all three of her brothers having served in the Civil war and two of them in the war with Mexico. The death of Mrs. Stinebaugh occurred on Jan. 9, 1907, and later he contracted a second marriage when he was united with Mrs. Ida C. Adamson, the daughter of Joseph D. Powers, who served as provost-marshal of eastern Kentucky during the Rebellion. The husband, father and eight uncles of Mrs. Stinebaugh were valiant soldiers in the Civil war. Joseph D. Powers lived in Lawrence county, Ohio, but later removed to Missouri, where he died March 10, 1888. He was an excellent public speaker and took a very prominent part in the affairs of his day. He gave the Republican party his allegiance. Throughout Mr. Stinebaugh's residence in Ottawa, he has ever been a patriotic, public spirited citizen with energies directed toward the development and business prosperity, as well as the general welfare of the people.