The baby in the photograph is my great-grandfather, Dallas Hayes Sproul. Dallas, the elder son of Robert Jonas and Mary McCormick Sproul, was named for his great-grandmothers, Louise Dallas and Isabella Hayes. The little christening dress, slip and bloomers worn by the baby in this picture remain a treasured keepsake in our family. In 1864 Robert Jonas Sproul was a 19-year-old farmer in Auglaize County, Ohio. His Scots-Irish grandfather had emigrated from Tyrone County, Ireland to South Carolina in 1801, purchased 320 acres of government land in the Ohio valley, and moved his family west. Robert’s father – Thomas Sproul – in turn purchased a farm, and worked it with his four sons….of whom Robert was the eldest.
On May 2, 1864, Robert Jonas Sproul enlisted in the 151st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company D, to serve 100 days. The regiment set out from Camp Chase, Ohio, on 14 May, 1864, traveling to Washington DC via the Ohio Central and Baltimore Railroads. The soldiers spent the next three months at various forts in the Washington DC area, defending the Capital City.
In a letter written to his brothers in July, 1864, Sproul told of extreme heat during the day and of some chilly nights. He spoke of the recent Battle of Ft Stevens – which he described as a “little fight we had with the Johnnies on the 11th and 12th of this month”. He asked about the hay and harvesting on the farm, and spoke of his fear that “Father will work too hard.” He asked about his horse, and wrote of his hope to take a trip with father on horseback soon after his return.
The 151st OVI mustered out at Camp Chase, Ohio, on 4 August, 1864, and Sproul went back to farming. In the years that followed he married Mary Stuart McCormick (sister of fellow soldier John McCormick), and together they had three children – a daughter who died in infancy, and two sons - Dallas Hayes and Robert Eugene.
When Sproul died in Waynesfield, Ohio, on 13 September, 1919, at the age of seventy four, his family remembered his kindness and laughter. His obituary noted his quiet, and unassuming disposition, as well as his honesty in business dealings. Members of his GAR Musser Post # 329 remarked that “Another of the old comrades has answered the final roll call.”
--Karen Belle
On May 2, 1864, Robert Jonas Sproul enlisted in the 151st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company D, to serve 100 days. The regiment set out from Camp Chase, Ohio, on 14 May, 1864, traveling to Washington DC via the Ohio Central and Baltimore Railroads. The soldiers spent the next three months at various forts in the Washington DC area, defending the Capital City.
In a letter written to his brothers in July, 1864, Sproul told of extreme heat during the day and of some chilly nights. He spoke of the recent Battle of Ft Stevens – which he described as a “little fight we had with the Johnnies on the 11th and 12th of this month”. He asked about the hay and harvesting on the farm, and spoke of his fear that “Father will work too hard.” He asked about his horse, and wrote of his hope to take a trip with father on horseback soon after his return.
The 151st OVI mustered out at Camp Chase, Ohio, on 4 August, 1864, and Sproul went back to farming. In the years that followed he married Mary Stuart McCormick (sister of fellow soldier John McCormick), and together they had three children – a daughter who died in infancy, and two sons - Dallas Hayes and Robert Eugene.
When Sproul died in Waynesfield, Ohio, on 13 September, 1919, at the age of seventy four, his family remembered his kindness and laughter. His obituary noted his quiet, and unassuming disposition, as well as his honesty in business dealings. Members of his GAR Musser Post # 329 remarked that “Another of the old comrades has answered the final roll call.”
--Karen Belle