UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS
STATE OF OHIO TUSCARAWAS COUNTY
CIVIL WAR
ARCHINAL, WILLIAM J. -- CORPORAL -- MISSISSIPPI -- 1863
BLICKENSDERFER, MILTON A. -- SERGEANT -- VIRGINIA -- 1865
CAMPBELL, WILLIAM -- CORPORAL -- MISSISSIPPI -- 1863
DAVIS, FREEMAN D. -- CAPTAIN -- TENNESSEE -- 1863
This is a freestanding monument about four feet high consisting of a granite slab with a black polished insert in the middle. This bears the inscription above representations of the Congressional Medals with the names of five recipients, all from the Civil War era, within and outline of the state of Ohio.
BIOGRAPHIES
Corp William J. Archinal
From: Military Times Hall of Valor
Date of birth: June 3, 1840
Date of death: May 10, 1919
Burial Location: Trenton, New Jersey
Place of Birth: Felsburg, Hesse, Germany
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Corporal William J. Archinal, United States Army, for gallantry in the charge of the volunteer storming party on 22 May 1863, while serving with Company I, 30th Ohio Infantry, in action at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
General Orders: Date of Issue: July 10, 1894
From the Wikipedia article for William J. Archinal
Archinal enlisted in the 30th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, becoming a Corporal in Company I. On May 22, 1863, during the campaign to capture Vicksburg, Mississippi, he participated in an assault on Confederate positions that was considered a "forlorn hope", meaning the soldiers taking part in it would have little chance of surviving. Corporal Archinal was indeed one of a relatively small number of men to escape alive. Fifty-three of the survivors were eventually awarded the Medal of Honor for their participation, including Archinal and eight other members of the 30th Ohio.
Sergeant Milton J. Blickensderfer
From: Military Times Hall of Valor
Date of birth: May 20, 1835
Date of death: March 17, 1916
Burial Location: Sugar Creek, Ohio
Place of Birth: Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Home of record: Shanesville, Ohio
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Corporal Milton Blickensderfer, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 3 April 1865, while serving with Company E, 126th Ohio Infantry, in action at Petersburg, Virginia, for capture of flag.
General Orders: Date of Issue: May 10, 1865
Corporal William Campbell
From: Find A Grave
Birth: Apr. 28, 1840
Death: Apr. 19, 1919
Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. Born in Polk County, Iowa, he served as a Private in Company I, 30th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Union Army. During the Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi, on May 22, 1863, he was a member a volunteer storming party against the Confederate Stockade Redan. For gallantry in the face of the enemy, he was awarded the Medal of Honor on August 14, 1894. (bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
Captain Freeman Davis
From" Waymark by teachingkris
Text on the historical marker:
While serving with 80th OVI CO. B at Lookout Mountain, TN, Nov. 25, 1863, during the Battle of Missionary Ridge, this soldier, while his regiment was falling back during the ferocious hand to hand battle, and seeing the two color bearers and three color guards shot down under sever fire and at imminent peril, recovered both flags and saved them from capture.
The governor of Ohio sent Sgt. Davis a commission as 2nd Lieutenant, later he was commissioned to grade of Captain October 6, 1890.
March 22, 1898, the Congress of the United States awarded him the Medal of Honor.
Captain Davis was born in Newcomerstown, OH 1841; Died Butler, Mo 1899.
Dedicated by Newcomerstown Historical Society, May 26, 2006.
Designed by Thomas Boyd and built by T.B. Townsend, this is the third courthouse building to occupy this same location originally planned and donated by David Knisely, the founder and designer of the city of New Philadelphia.
From the text of the Historic Marker 3-79:
"When David Knisely, the founder of New Philadelphia, first arrived in the Tuscarawas Valley on August 27, 1803, he found a sparsely populated, pristine wilderness. Five years later the state legislature approved a bill organizing Tuscarawas County effective March 15, 1808. Shortly thereafter, New Philadelphia was chosen as the county seat, and on April 16, 1808, the first commissioners met at Leininger's tavern. By August, the tavern proved to be an inappropriate location for the county's official business, and the commissioners approved the construction of a two-story, combination jail and county office building on land donated by John Knisely on the northeast corner of the square. By 1818 a new, larger brick courthouse was authorized by the commissioners. This building was occupied in 1825 and served as the courthouse until 1882 when the present structure was approved. Occupied in 1888, the building continues to be the center of the county's business. The beautiful, state-of-the-art annex was dedicated on October 27, 1990."
TUSCARAWAS COUNTY COURTHOUSE
New Philadelphia, Ohio
According to the official city web site, New Philadelphia was founded in 1804 by John Knisely from Pennsylvania who had become good friends with David Zeisberger of the nearby Schoenbrunn mission begun by the Moravians in 1722 working among the local native population. Knisley returned to his home, sold everything and moved his family, along with 33 pioneers who accompanied him to this frontier. He purchased the land that is now the city of New Philadelphia and began careful and deliberate planning for a great city. New Philadelphia was selected as the county seat for the newly formed county of Tuscarawas in 1807, and was officially incorporated in 1833.
There are several war memorials and monuments here, the largest being one erected for the veterans of the U.S. Civil War. The building is capped by a large dome with a four-faced clock. It has been honored with a "Historic Marker" designation by the Tuscarawas County Heritage Home Association.