BERGHOLZ – With this being the final year of the four-year sesquicentennial commemoration of the nation’s Civil War, the Ohio History Connection gave assistance to Curtis and Virginia Glenn in funding for a dedication marker concerning Ross Township soldiers named on the monument in their honor.
The Mooretown Soldiers Monument will be dedicated at 11 a.m. Monday during a luncheon and program. The monument is located off county Road 53.
Robert and Martha George had the 39-foot monument erected in memory of their son, Thomas, 25, who was killed at Perryville, Ky. on Oct. 8, 1862. Alongside the monument is a 4200 cannon on wheels that fires a 30-pound shell. It was cast at West Point Foundry in Hudson River, N.Y. On the marker is a picture of a Civil War reunion of soldiers with the 31 soldiers from the township listed.
The marker was produced at Sewall Industries in Marietta and was installed by Curt, Carl and Charlie Glenn and Mike Boyd on May 14. It was made possible by a grant from the Ohio History connection, Jefferson County commissioners, Ross Township trustees, Bergholz Community Foundation and George family heirs.
The Glenns have been saving funds from the sale of historical books that have been reprinted about Yellow Creek and the Morgan Raiders and the sale of the Mooretown pencil sketch by Dave Barnhouse, that shows the area as it was when Owltown was a thriving community. There is a horse and wagon, with Curt Glenn paying homage to the monument in the photo as well.
“The funding will enable the committee to provide lunch, catered by T.J. Balint, and help pay some of the special guests speakers. We are planning a program similar to the Memorial Day 2011 rededication after the monument was restored,” Virginia Glenn said.
“We are encouraging any descendent from the soldiers whose names are engraved on the Mooretown Civil War Monument to join us as we commemorate the new marker. A 1896 Civil War reunion photo will be posted on the Mooretown web page. If anyone recognizes a relative in the photo, we would like them to contact us at (740) 768-2365,” she said.
“We will run a shuttle for parking and there will be a tent, tables and chairs but this won’t be enough, so we are asking those in attendance to bring lawn chairs. We had a crowd of between 400 and 500 people for the 2011 dedication. This was after the area around the monument was cleared of trees that had grown up, the rusty cannon refurbished and a new block of engraved names added to the monument as they were wearing thin,” Glenn explained.
The George family heirs donated one/third of an acre of property near the monument in the 1960s and an acre in 1985, giving the historic area land to put out benches, tables and chairs and to plant flowers.
There are 57 steps leading to the monument section from the road or it can be accessed by a haul road by car. This sloped area is being planted with yews and hardy plants and is done by Glenn lowering his wife down the slope on a rope.
There is a bronze plaque on the west face of the monument dedicated to Robert George, who was born in Antrim, Ireland, in 1744 and died in Mooretown in 1819. He served in the Revolutionary War in the Seventh Pennsylvania Regiment. The plaque was erected by the Ross Township trustees in 1985.