Conditions Governing Use

The donor of this collection has transferred rights to the intellectual property they created to the Center. For more information regarding permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the West Virginia and Regional History Center.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], George W. Hadley, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Papers, A&M 2841, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Sauter, Susan, 2021 February. Original gift, copy of ALS by George W. Hadley, circa 1980s.

Biographical / Historical

According to census information on Ancestry.com, George W. Hadley was born about 1842 and lived in the town of Norwalk in northwestern Ohio. He was the son of Edward and Mary (Lounsbery) Hadley. He served in several Ohio units during the Civil War (see scope and contents note). According to the scanned handwritten note that the donor provided, titled, "Uncle Geo's papers from Fort Dennison 1863," George Hadley died on October 17, 1863, in the Missouri River due to accidental drowning. However, through Ancestry.com, the U.S. Registers of Deaths of U.S. Volunteers, 1861-1865, recorded his death as due to drowning on August 12, 1863. His sister, Louisa A. (Hadley) Rood later applied in the 1890s to the U.S. War Department, seeking the rest of his military bounty that had not yet been paid out to the family.

Scope and Contents

Contains the papers of George W. Hadley, who served in different Ohio units during the Civil War. His service included his time as a musician in the 55th Ohio Volunteer Infantry from October 1861-August 1862, voluntary member of the "Squirrel Hunters" militia that defended Cincinnati, Ohio, in September 1862, and service in the 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry from July 1863-August 12, 1863, upon his death by accidental drowning. According to the family, Hadley rolled off a raft into the Missouri River while he was sleeping during a troop transport and drowned. Papers include service records and correspondence to Hadley's family from the Ohio Adjutant General's Office, U.S. War Department, and U.S. House of Representatives; three letters between Hadley and his sister and mother; an 1863 circular announcement from Camp Cuyahoga, Cleveland, Ohio; and a copy of his military discharge certificate from the "Squirrel Hunters" unit. Also includes transcriptions of the three letters by Hadley to his family, a print copy of an image of Hadley, and additional information about Hadley and the "Squirrel Hunters."

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Cincinnati (Ohio)
• Civil War - Romney.
• Civil War - Union soldiers' letters.
• Civil War - Union soldiers.
• Hadley, George W. (circa 1842-1863)
• Squirrel Hunters (Militia: 1862)
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865