The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1955-03-31

Early during the Civil War
the war between the states
James M. DalzeI, then native
of Pennsylvania, enlisted in de
fense of his country and served
until the close of that struggle.
He was then a young man with
strong aspirations to make his
mark" in the world; and he
succeeded. In the war he was
nothing more than a "buck pri-
vate" although he did finally
reached the position of a com
pany clerk. Somewhat dis
appointed, he dubbed himself as
Private" DalzelI and he carried
this title to the day Cf his death
many years ago in Washington
City.
Following the close of the war,
Private" Dalzell located in
Caldwell, where he soon became
one of Southeastern Ohio's most
prominent and popular at
torneys-at-law AS his promin-
ence grew he became a noted
writer and author and soon
developed into an orator and
public speaker Of nationwide
repute At this time there is but
one living Union veteran. He
resides in Wisconsin and is past
the age Of l07 years.
Within two or three years
after coming to Caldwell, Mr..
Dalzell conceived the idea of
organizing annual reunions of
Union Veterans Of the Civil
War, in which he succeeded after
long and heroic efforts and be-
came widely known as the
father of soldiers reunions. His
first effort was to hold a reunion
at Philadelphia, Pa, which prov
ed to be a failure; then at a later
time he made a similar effort
TO hold a reunion at Lansing,
Mich, but this attempt also prov
ed to be disappointment
Not being daunted nor dis
couraged, he made a final effort
to hold at least one such right
here in Caldwell, and this at
tempt was so successful that he
continued his efforts for years
afterWard-each being a success
without minute description -
until the last one which was held |
in the courthouse park in |
September, 1882
Each OF the local reunions was
held on what is now the county |
fairgrounds or in the woods |
where the West Side of Caldwell |
is now located 1t was the latter
that was the crowning event of |
all. This one was attended by |
many of the more prominent |
Union generals Of the war, |
among them being Grant, Sher-
man, Sheridan and Howard, and |
by an attendance at least 10000 |
Union veterans who had served |
in defense of their country dur |
ing the war between the states. |
1t was during the holding OF |
the reunions held on the site Of |
the West Side that Orson Wheel |
ar, then a very young man |
residing with his parents only a |
short distance north of Caldwell, |
lost his right arm by the pre-
mature explosion of the cannon |
he was assisting in loading and |
to be fired in saluate of the
generals. The accident
happened about where the
residence Of Cliff Keyser now
stands.
Another incident in connection
with the event was that during
a terrific rainstorm during this
reunion that Eli Coerns, then a
very small boy, became separ-
ated from his parents, Grafton
Coerns and wife, who frantically
rushed around through the
-hrong of former veterans
at the top of their
voices, 20, Eli" The call was
aiken up by the visitors with the
result that the youngster was
soon returned to his parents. For
many years thereafter the call |
o Eli was very frequently |
heard throughout the northern
section of the United States
ust as it is now sometimes heard
n various sections.
The holding Of the reunions
vas quite expensive. Many years
ago Mr.. Dalzcll stated to this
writer that he had spent more
han $4,000 in the expense of
holding them-but that he was
well satisfied with the cost to
lim; that it was we'll worth it.
Classifieds Pay Dividends J.