Big Request Here -- Help Transcribing Documents.

[YoreLocal]

I can read most of it, but because of time constraints, I suspect others will get to it before I can. The handwriting is fairly legible if you can read cursive.

It may or may not be applicable here, but I recommend that any youngster out there who wasn't taught cursive in school would be wise to find someone to teach them. If future generations don't carry on the knowledge and skill, documents like this will be as undecipherable to the masses as Egyptian hieroglyphics. To us old farts, that's unimaginable.

I was taught cursive when I was young, but I never had a use for it outside of school, and they stopped making us use it in middle school. Now the only cursive I know is for my signature. I do plan on re-learning it.

 

[Northstep]

You do have the ability to edit ... for a few hours.

Go back to your post and look at the bottom line.

You should see two words in "blue" ... report & edit.
Click edit, make any corrections and then click "save ".

I'm not sure if it's a 12 or 24 hour window, but you can make corrections
to a previous post.

Thanks!! Okay, let me see. I'll try it on this reply. I thought I should be able to do that but did not see the edit option.
LOL. It was right in plain sight and I did not see it. I'm an idiot.

 

[YoreLocal]

I suppose this is somewhat on topic, so I might as well ask it here. One thing which has been mentioned a bit about George; is that he went into battle armed with an axe. Namely at the Battle of Lookout Mountain. I wonder if this is possibly true or only a myth?

 

[Seduzal]

Thanks!! Okay, let me see. I'll try it on this reply. I thought I should be able to do that but did not see the edit option.
LOL. It was right in plain sight and I did not see it. I'm an idiot.

You made this post at 12:37 a.m. sometimes your eyes get tried looking at these posts and you didn't see it.

 

[lupaglupa]

I don't know too much, but I have heard some details from my great-grandpa. He married while on furlough in early 1864 and seemed to straighten up after that. Sometime in 1865, he was appointed sergeant. It's also claimed that he was shot in the head at the Battle of Shiloh. After the Civil War, he became a devout Christian and spent a lot of his time and money on helping the needy. He was also known to have an interest in politics. Though, I can't find official records relating to it; several sources claim he was the leader of the local Republican Party. Through questionably legal gambling, sometime after the Civil War: George obtained a thousand-acre tobacco farm. Despite his prior money troubles, this acquisition had him set for the rest of his life. He passed in his sleep at the age of 80, on October 27th, 1921.

In "A History of Adams County, Ohio," Nelson W. Evans claims that George W. Lewis fought at the battles of Shiloh, Cheat Mountain, Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, and others. Oddly, Evans claims that George enlisted on May 27th, while official records say June 13th. His farm is owned and operated by his direct descendants: though it's only a tenth of the original size. I had the fortune to grow up on that farm, and it's probably what got me into history. Supposedly, he carried a silver dinner knife around with him. One day, he stuck the knife in one of the dining room walls; and it was left there for a hundred years before my parents decided to remove it. I've always wondered if there's any context to the story, but I can't imagine what it would be.

I love all of this! So wonderful that you have these family stories and a connection to the land where your ancestors lived. That real connection to family history is so special. I think if more people had it we would not have to worry about our history being lost.

 

[lupaglupa]

Thanks!! Okay, let me see. I'll try it on this reply. I thought I should be able to do that but did not see the edit option.
LOL. It was right in plain sight and I did not see it. I'm an idiot.

No one who is smart enough to find this website and use the forums can claim to be an idiot.

 

[Northstep]

I suppose this is somewhat on topic, so I might as well ask it here. One thing which has been mentioned a bit about George; is that he went into battle armed with an axe. Namely at the Battle of Lookout Mountain. I wonder if this is possibly true or only a myth?

While it's likely you'll never know, my first thought is the ax story stemmed from his court martial. As stories, known as family lore, are passed down through the generations the story tends to change. By the time the story is told by the 3rd or 4th generation, there is usually some degree of truth to the story but cannot be relied upon to be the total truth. Some of the family may have known the true story of his court martial but it was not something they wanted to repeat, so they told the story of an ax being used in battle. That was a much more "respectable" story to tell, especially about a man who in his later years became active in religious activities, as George did.
Did men takes axes into battle? I have no idea and leave that question to the experts on this forum.