CFH First Draft: George William Callin

 This post is part of an ongoing series, sharing the first draft of my Revised Callin Family History. 

George William Callin is the 56th person in a descendant report beginning with the earliest known ancestor of our Callin family, (1.) James Callin. This descendant report uses the Register Style of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society. 

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Fourth Generation

56. George William Callin (William H.-3, John-2, James "1st"-1) was the author of the original Callin Family History, published in 1911. He was born on the Fourth of July in 1846, on his father's farm near Jeromesville, Ashland, Ohio. He grew up in Peru, Huron County, Ohio, and in Ridgefield, Huron County.

On 11 December 1862 he enlisted in the 21st Ohio Battery of the O. V. I. at Cleveland, and served until the end of the war. (Note: this is the same unit his older brother, John Henry Callin, served with.) The unit organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, on 29 Apr 1863, and was ordered to West Virginia on 5 May. They returned to Camp Dennison on 20 May and stood duty there till September. This was no easy duty, as the unit pursued an invading Confederate army during what is known as Morgan's Raid through Indiana and Ohio July 5-28.

After that, on 22 September, they moved to Camp Nelson, Kentucky, where the 21st was attached to Willcox's Left Wing forces, 9th Army Corps, and moved to Greenville, Tennessee, where they saw action in the Battle of Blue Springs on October 10, and in a skirmish at Walker's Ford on December 2. They did duty at various points in Tennessee and Alabama until they mustered out 21 July 1865. The battery only lost 9 men during its service: 1 officer and 8 enlisted men by disease.

George was working as a laborer at the farm of B.W. Purdy in Center, Wood, Ohio in 1870.  George and Mary Ann St. John married on 22 Apr 1871 in Wood, Ohio. Mary Ann, daughter of Stephen W St John (1817–1893) and Harriet Jane Husted (1833–1899), was born on 24 Dec 1850 in Bowling Green, Wood, Ohio. She lived at home in Plain Township, Wood, Ohio in 1870.

After they married, George and Mary Ann remained in Plain Township, Wood, Ohio in 1880, and he began his career as a teacher. Mary died on 25 Aug 1894 at the age of 43, as the result of “severe intestinal derangement,” and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Bowling Green.

Her obituary appeared in the Wood County Sentinel, 30 Aug1894:

"Saturday morning at 7 o'clock, Mrs. George W. Callin passed over the dark river of death, the result of a serious intestinal derangement. She was aged 43 years and leaves a husband and three children, to whom she was a most cherished and lovable wife and mother. Mary Ann was the daughter of the late SW St. John and a sister of Dr. CS and Ezra St. John. The funeral was held Monday at the ME Church."

George William Callin and Mary Ann St. John had three children:

204 i. Everett Leroy "Roy" Callin, born 4 Jul 1872, Plain Township, Wood, Ohio; married Myrtle A. Rumley, 16 Mar 1898, Lucas County, Ohio; died 29 Apr 1957, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.

205 ii. Clement Carl Callin, born 11 May 1877, Bowling Green, Wood, Ohio; married Gertrude DeWees Smith, 15 Feb 1905; died 29 Nov 1944, Morrisville, Bucks, Pennsylvania.

iii. Mabel Augusta Callin was born on 15 Jul 1881 in Bowling Green, Wood, Ohio, and lived with her family in Plain Township in 1900. She became an elementary school teacher in Lorain, Lorain County, where she lived for three decades. She died on 13 Jul 1970 at the age of 88 and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Bowling Green.

George and Lura M. Case were married on 27 Jun 1899 in Wood, Ohio. Lura was the daughter of Samuel Case (1832–1904) and Mary E. McMahan (1840–1917), born on 12 Dec 1861 in Crestline, Crawford County, Ohio. Lura was the widow of Rev. Lemuel Lee Warner (1863–1888); they had both contracted typhoid fever in 1888, but only Lura recovered. Lura's son (Donald Warner) and daughter (Marie L Warner) were just a few years younger than George's youngest, Mabel. 

George and Lura lived in Plain Township, Wood, Ohio in 1900, where George served as a justice of the peace. In the summer of 1903 the Sheriff brought the local Bowling Green baseball team before him after four ministers complained of the team’s Sunday games. He continued to serve as Justice of the Peace for a total of 24 years.

As his health deteriorated, George moved to Sawtelle, Los Angeles County, California, where he visited the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Veterans in 1920. George died on 21 Jul 1921 at the age of 75 and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Bowling Green, Wood County, Ohio.  

His obituary appeared in the Daily Sentinel Tribune; 22 Jul 1921, page 1, col. 7:

“George W. Callin, 75, aged pioneer and Civil War veteran, died at his home, 331 Pearl street, at 12:30 a. m. today, after an illness of about two months. Death was due to complication of diseases superinduced by old age.

“The deceased was born July 4, 1846, on a farm near Ashland, O., and in 1861 he moved to a farm near this city on the Sand Ridge road. He taught school for 27 years. He was justice of the peace in this city for 24 years prior to his death. In 1871 he was united in marriage with Mary A. St. John. Three children were born to this union. Mrs. Callin died in 1894.

“He enlisted in the 21st Ohio Battery of the O. V. I. at Cleveland, December 11, 1862, serving until the end of the war. He was commander and later adjutant of the Bowling Green Post of the G. A. R.

“In 1899 he united in marriage with Lura M. Warner. One child was born to this union. He was a member of the official board of the M. E. church and teacher of the Old Guards' class. He is the last of five brothers.

“Surviving are: Four children, Leroy, Toledo; Clement at home; Mabel of Lorain, and Rosemary at home. There are two step-children, Donald C. Warner, of Toledo, and Marie Warner, of New York city.

“Funeral services will be held Sunday afternoon at the home. The Rev. J. W. Holland of Toledo, assisted by the Rev. E. H. Charington will officiate. Burial will be made at Oak Grove cemetery.”

Lura lived with her daughter, Rosemary, in Richfield, Henry County, Ohio in 1930. Both ladies were involved in the social activities of the resort community of Lakeside. Lura died on 15 Sep 1948 at the age of 86 in Marblehead, Ottawa, Ohio. She was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Bowling Green.

George William Callin and Lura M. Case had one child:

iv. Rosemary Callin was born on 15 Jan 1903 in Bowling Green, Wood, Ohio. She grew up in Bowling Green, living there with her parents. Rosemary became a school teacher, and lived with her widowed mother in Richfield, Henry County, Ohio in 1930. Rosemary died on 1 Dec 1978 at the age of 75 in Lakeside, Ottawa County, Ohio, and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Bowling Green, Wood County, Ohio. Her obituary appeared in The News-Messenger in Fremont, Ohio, on 4 Dec 1978.

“Rosemary Callin, 75, a former Lakeside resident but a patient at Riverview Nursing Home since Sept. 22, 1975, died at the nursing home Friday night. She was born Jan. 15, 1903, in Bowling Green to George and Laura (Case) Callin. Her only survivors are cousins. Miss Callin was a retired school teacher and was a writer for the Sandusky Register and the Port Clinton Herald. She had received her master's degree from Columbia University, New York City. She was a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan College and the Lake Erie College for Women at Painesville. No services are scheduled at this time. The Robinson Funeral Home in Oak Harbor is in charge of arrangements.”