William Mark; Soldier & Farmer

William Mark

26 May 1844 OH – 21 November 1904 OH

My Great Great Grandfather

William Mark

William Mark was something of a colorful figure. He served and was injured in the Civil War. After the war he was married twice and at one time he lived with both these women simultaneously. William lived in an undersized cabin in Ohio with his fourteen children. He lived close to the land, hunting, fishing and farming to feed his family.

William Mark was one of 8 sons of Abraham Mark & Mary Isabella Heffelfinger. William’s brothers were: Thomas Jefferson, John, Marion, Abraham Martin, Franklin P., David & Edwin. In 1850 the Abraham Mark family was in Wayne Co., OH. Abraham was a carpenter.[1] In 1860 William & Isabella were still in Wayne Co., OH with seven sons.[2]

On 6 March 1865 William Mark enlisted in the Union Army for one year. We can imagine that his family worried about his fate in the war. Two of his brothers were already killed in the war. William was 21 and a laborer. The records show he had blue eyes and light hair with a fair complexion. He stood 5’ 9” tall. He was a private in the 195^th Regiment Infantry.[3] The regiment was organized at Camp Chase. William Mark was “Mustered out with company Dec. 18, 1865.”[4]^{,[5], [6]}

The rifle that William used in the Civil War is still in our family. Dan and Rick Kindig from the Log Cabin and Historical center in Lodi, Ohio identified the weapon as a musket of French or Belgian manufacture. It is most likely a French 1842 Musket.

The musket was factory converted to be a breech-loaded weapon, possibly in late 1864. It may have been converted either in Europe or after being imported to the US. …the weapon would not have been issued to a front line combat unit but would have been issued to a unit involved in garrison duty. This matches the assignments of the 195^th Ohio Infantry, which served on garrison duty at Harper’s Ferry VA in March 1865 and Winchester VA in early April 1865, before doing Provost Duty at Alexandria VA from 28 April until it was mustered out in December 1865.[7]

After the war William married Emma Abeline (Flory) Mark on 2 June 1870.[8] This marriage did not last long. They had two children: Cora Bell[9] and Marion. Emma was ill for a long time before she died. Elidia Rebecca Ritter, who was a neighbor, came to live with the family to take care of Emma and her children. Emma died 23 July 1877.  She was only 25 years old.[10]^,[11] According to her death record, Emma died from an abortion.[12] Why this young married woman would have an abortion is just another family mystery. 

A few months later William married again. William Mark married Elidia Rebecca(Ritter) Mark on 20 April 1878 in Cedar Valley, Wayne, Ohio.[13]  In 1880 they were living in Chester Township in Wayne County.[14] He was a 36 year old day laborer. He and Elidia Rebecca had five children.

In 1900 William and Elidia Rebecca owned their home with no mortgage.[15] He was a farm laborer who was unemployed for six months that year. Seven children were at home, between the ages of 22 and 3 years old. Providing for seven children and being unemployed for half the year must have been difficult. Granddaughter, Ivy (Mark) Brown remembered the small home in Chester. She said,

I remember their place. It wasn’t a very big place but they always had a good garden and a lot of chickens. Chickens were out back. In those days there was a lot of hunting. Like rabbit, turkey, wild turkey and such things. They had a lot of fishing. There was a big creek right by their house. They could fish.[16]

Home of the William Mark Family

Except for his time in military service, William spent his life in Wayne County, Ohio. On 21 November 1904, William died.[17] He was 60 years old.  The cause of death was recorded as “Paralysis”. Ivy (Mark) Brown related the story of her grandfather’s death,

She [Elidia Rebecca] and my grandfather lived in that house and he wasn’t well enough to do much.  He used to go for walks. He loved to be outside. So, this one day he went for a walk and he come back and he told Grandma he had walked further that day than he had for a long time. And she said, ‘Well, sit down a few minutes. Dinner isn’t quite ready.’ And he sat down and when she went to call him, he was dead.[18]

William and Elidia Rebecca (Ritter) Mark share a tombstone in Overton Church of God Cemetery, row 7[19]^,[20],[21]. There’s a large flowering shrub that reaches over the tombstone in the spring. An American flag is proudly planted in front of the tombstone to show that William was a veteran.[22]

William Mark's tombstone

William & Family:

1 William Mark b: 26 May 1844 Wooster, Wayne, OH, d: 21 Nov 1904 Chester, Wayne, OH

... + Emma Abeline Flory b: 24 Oct 1852 in Wayne, Ohio, USA, m: 2 Jun 1870, d: 23 Jul 1877 Chester, Wayne, OH

......2 Cora Bell Mark b: 30 Jul 1872 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 10 Jun 1905 Wooster, Wayne, OH

...... + Edward Newell b: Apr 1873 OH, m: 24 Nov 1892 in Wayne, OH, d: Unknown

......2 Marian Francis Mark b: 14 Nov 1874, d: 06 Apr 1947 Wayne, OH

... + Elidia Rebecca Ritter b: 30 Jul 1854 Chester, Wayne, OH, m: 20 Apr 1878 Cedar Valley, Wayne, OH, d: 28 Aug 1912 in Chester, Wayne, OH

......2 William M. Mark b: 12 Feb 1877 Cedar Valley, Wayne, OH, d: Aft. 1920

...... + Alice Leota Heacock b: 3 Oct 1880 Ashland, OH, m: 19 Oct 1899 Wooster, Wayne, OH

......2 George Washington Mark b: 1 Apr 1878 in Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 16 Oct 1938 Chester, Wayne, OH

...... + Elizabeth Shifferly b: 10 Oct 1881 Plain Twp., Wayne, OH, m: 20 Nov 1901 Cedar Valley, Wayne, OH, d: 3 Sep 1949 Chester, Wayne, OH

......2 Thomas Kenneth Mark b: 19 Jul 1879 in Wooster, Wayne, OH, d: 12 Feb 1975 Wadsworth, Medina, OH

...... + Nancy Regina Victoria Gruissy b: 31 Jan 1879 in Sharon, Medina, OH, m: 28 Jan 1903 Medina, OH, d: 24 May 1959 Wadsworth, Medina, OH

......2 Margaret Maude Mark b: 06 Jan 1881 in Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 10 Jan 1964 Wooster, Wayne, OH

...... + Ralph Clayton Kauffman b: 8 Nov 1877 Wayne, OH, m: 28 Aug 1937 Orrville, Wayne, OH, d: 12 Nov 1968

...... + Samuel Martin Jolliff b: 08 Dec 1871 Wayne, OH, m: 10 Mar 1898 in Wayne, OH, d: 28 Jan 1927

......2 Emma Jane Mark b: 27 Apr 1882 Overton, Wayne, OH, d: 9 Dec 1961 Wooster, Wayne, OH

...... + Alfred C. Pfeifer b: 23 Feb 1880 Grafton, Lorain, OH, m: 30 Dec 1902 Lagrange, Lorain, OH, d: 8 Apr 1968

...... + Elmer Howard Wilson b: 10 Oct 1879 NJ, d: 12 Jul 1959 in Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware

......2 William Hercules Mark b: 30 Apr 1884 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 12 Aug 1929 Congress, Wayne, OH

......2 Mary Jeanette Mark b: 28 Feb 1886 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 06 May 1940 Berea, Cuyahoga, OH

...... + John Rickert Shaw b: 13 Jan 1886, m: 12 Jun 1912, d: Abt. 1984

......2 Amos Martin Mark b: 21 Jun 1888 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 16 Jun 1969 Wayne, OH

...... + Lillian Myrtle Hoverstock b: 25 Apr 1896 Chester, Wayne, OH, m: 28 Apr 1914 Overton, Wayne, OH, d: 10 Oct 1975 Wooster, Wayne, OH

......2 Eslie Guy Mark b: 2 Dec 1890 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 10 May 1972 Medina, Medina, OH

...... + Golda Mae Warner b: 22 Sep 1902 Lodi, Medina, OH, m: 15 Apr 1922, d: 25 Mar 1982 Lodi, Medina, OH

......2 Charles Forest Mark b: 2 May 1892 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 30 Apr 1967 OH

...... + Bertha Flickinger b: 2 Mar 1904 Wayne, OH, m: 2 Jun 1923 Overton, Wayne, OH, d: 01 Jul 2000 Wooster, Wayne, OH

......2 Elva Gale Mark b: 28 Jun 1894 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 12 Jan 1959 Wooster, Wayne, OH

...... + Myron A. Boreman b: Abt. 1893 Wayne County, OH, m: 13 Sep 1912 Wayne, OH, d: Unknown

......2 James Everett Mark b: 28 Oct 1896 Chester, Wayne, OH, d: 28 Oct 1968 in Wooster, Wayne, OH

...... + Effie Margaret Carter b: 15 Feb 1904 Knox, OH, m: 31 Dec 1924, d: 5 Apr 1966

---

[1] 1850 US Census, Wayne Co, Ohio; 1850; Extracted from Census by C. Arthur Phillips, Published by MicroPhoto Div., Wooster, Ohio, R.929.377161Un3wp; Page 324; Wayne Co. Public Library, Wooster; Abraham Marks family.

[2] 1860 US Census, Wayne County, Ohio; 1860; ; Page 150, Lines 14-22; Family History Center Microfilm #805051; NOTES: Abraham Marks Family in Congress Twp.

[3] Pension Application of Rebecca Mark, Widow of William Mark; 1865-1905; Civil War, Ohio Volunteer Inf., Co. I, 195 Regiment, Certificate #602620, Can #50791, Bundle #18, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[4] Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio In The War Of  The Rebellion, 1861 - 1866, Vol. X (Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1889).Page 185.

[5] Roster of Soldiers for Ohio, 195^th Regiment, 1861 – 1866, Microfilm 0284929, Family History Center, Loudonville, NY. William Mark.

[6] United States Special Schedule, Veterans, 1890, Wooster Township, Wayne County, Ohio, Roll 72, SD 6, ED 315, Page 1. Private William Mark, Company I, 195^th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, 5 March 1865 – 30 October 1865.

[7] Pasquale, Colleen G. Brown. "John, Thomas Jefferson, Marion & William Mark: Brothers & Soldiers." Ohio Civil War Genealogy Journal. XV.1 (2011): 3 - 8. With additional notes by Dan and Rick Kindig.

[8] Pension Application of Rebecca Mark, Widow of William Mark; 1865-1905; Civil War, Ohio Volunteer Inf., Co. I, 195 Regiment, Certificate #602620, Can #50791, Bundle #18, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[9] Birth Record for Cora B. Marks, 30 July 1872, Volume 1, page 109, #35, Wayne County Probate Court, Court House, 107 W Liberty St., Wooster, Ohio.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Family Papers and Letters from Clarence Mark to author.

[12] Record of Death for Abeline Marks, 1877, Volume 1, Page 81, #11, Probate Court, Chester Township, Wayne Co. Copy from Wayne County Public Library, Wooster, Ohio. 

[13] Certificate of Marriage for William Mark and Rebecca Ritter, 20 April 1878, Volume 9, Page 132, Wayne County Marriage Records. From the Wayne County Public Library, Wooster, Ohio.

[14] 1880 U. S. Census, Wayne Co., Ohio; 1880; Compiled by Richard G. Smith, 1979, Published by Wayne Co. Historical Society Genealogical Section, Wooster, Ohio; Page 38; State Library of Ohio, Columbus, Ohio.  “Marks, William”

[15] 1900 U. S. Census, Wayne Co., Ohio; 1900; Vol. 155, E.D. 142, Sheet 10; Line 37; Family History Center Microfilm #1241331. William “Marks.

[16] “Interviews with Ivy Regina Mark Brown”.

[17] Certificate of Death for William Mark, 21 Nov 1904, No. 9, Volume 2, Page 190, Probate Division, Court of Common Pleas, Wayne County, State of Ohio.

[18] “Interviews with Ivy Regina Mark Brown”.

[19] Letter from Rebecca Kurtz Cogar at Overton Church of God Cemetery Association (7940 Akron Rd., Sterling, Ohio 44276) letter to Colleen G. Pasquale (7 Seneca Drive, Averill Park, NY 12018) 7 April 2009.

[20] Murray, Wendy. Overton Church of God Cemetery Records. Privately Published, 1992.

[21] Genealogical Section of the Wayne Co Historical Society. Wayne County, Ohio Burial Records. OH: Privately printed.

[22] Graves Registration Card for William Mark, 21 November 1904, Ohio Military Records: Grave Registration, Microfilm #0182752, Family History Center, Loudonville, NY.