Our Eclectic Soldiers Database:
Information and Sources
This database contains the names of almost 400 young men who attended the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (now Hiram College) between 1850 and 1865, and served in the Civil War. Prior to this project, we only knew the names of about 140.
This is a work in progress as the Archives Department continues to gather information about the soldiers and their service. For more information about this project please contact the archivist at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 330.569.5361.
The Hiram College Archives wishes to thank the Hiram Historical Society for their support of this project.
Source Information
We have used a number of resources and they include the following. The shortened form used in the database is offered first followed by its full title.
Akron & Summit County History – Akron and Summit County, Ohio, 1825-1928 by Scott Dix Kenfield (S. J. Clarke, Chicago and Akron, 1928)
Ashtabula County OGS records – Soldiers’ Records: Originally Published by J.A. Howells in the Ashtabula Sentinel Newspaper, December 25, 1867 through November 4, 1869, Three Years After the Civil War by Tina Carpenter, The Ashtabula County Genealogical Society, and J. A. Howells & Co. (Ashtabula County Genealogical Society, 2004)
Ancestry – databases of Ancestry.com
Beers’ History Portage County – History of Portage County, Ohio: Containing a History of the County, its Townships, Towns, Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, Etc.; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; Biographies; History of the Northwest Territory; History of Ohio Statistical and Miscellaneous Matter, Etc., Etc. … by R. C. Brown and J. E. Norris (Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885)
College Photograph Collection – Hiram College Archives Photograph Collection
Cuyahoga County Soldiers & Sailors Monument – the online database of soldiers’ names carved on the interior of the monument
Diary of Hettie Smith – The diary of Esther Smith, WREI student, part of the Hiram College Archives Collection/ Alumni Series
Family Search – familysearch.org
Findagrave—Findagrave.com
Friend Alice – Friend Alice: the Civil War letters of Captain David D. Bard, 7th and 104th Regiments, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 1862-1864 edited by James T. Brenner (Scholar of Fortune Publications, Kent OH, 1996)
JAG Collection – James A. Garfield Collection, Hiram College Archives
Garrettsville Journal – Garrettsville Journal newspaper from Garrettsville Ohio
Geauga County Cemetery Books – A Monumental Work: Inscriptions and Interments in Geauga County, Ohio, through 1983 by Violet Warren and Jeannette Grosvenor (Whipporwill Publications, 1985)
Green – Hiram College and the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute: Fifty Years of History, 1850-1900 by
Francis M. Green (O.S. Hubbell Printing, Cleveland, 1901)
Henry Family Collection – Henry Family Collection, Hiram College Archives; containing letters and manuscripts of Capt. Charles E. Henry of the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry
History of Medina County – History of Medina County and Ohio: Containing a History of the State of Ohio, From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time; A History of Medina County, Giving an account of its Aboriginal Inhabitants, Pioneer Incidents, its Growth, its Improvements, Organization of the County, Biographical Sketches; Portraits of Some of the Early Settlers and Prominent Men, Etc., Etc. (Chicago, Baskin & Battey, 1881)
History of the Western Reserve Vol. 1 – History of the Western Reserve (3 volumes) by Harriet Taylor Upton (Lewis Publishing; Chicago & NY, 1910)
Knapp’s History of Pioneer & Modern Times of Ashland County (1863) – A History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County: From the Earliest to the Present Date by H. S. Knapp and Elyzabeth Sprenge McCorkle (Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1863)
NARA Navy Pension Index – U.S. Navy Pensions Index, 1861-1910 online at Ancestry.com
NPS – National Park Service Civil War Soldier Database
OGS—Ohio Genealogical Society Civil War Soldier Database
Ohio Genealogy Express – ohiogenealogyexpress.com
Portage County Cem Book – Portage County, Ohio Cemetery Inscriptions (13 Vols.) (Portage County Genealogical Society, Ravenna OH, 1991)
Portage County Democrat – page 1 of the June 11, 1862 Portage County Democrat provided a list by township of the young men serving from Portage County Ohio
Rootsweb – Rootsweb.com family trees
Roster of Ohio Soldiers – Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866 (Werner Co., Akron, 1886-1895)
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War – suvcw.org
Summit County Cemetery Books – Summit County, Ohio, Cemetery Inscriptions by the Ohio Genealogical Society, Summit County Chapter ( Summit County Chapter, OGS, Akron, 1979-1986)
Trumbull County Civil War database – Trumbull County Ohio Civil War Veterans; database by Anne Lowery (2002)
