PDF (20 MB) - Virtual Library of the Public Library of Cincinnati

HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 305
THE GRAND ARMY OP THE REPUBLIC
This is a military order, numbering in its state membership over
40,000 persons. The order has for its foundation stone the great principles
of fraternity and charity. It is not, in the most strict sense of
the word, a secret organization, yet it has its unwritten work and rituals.
McMeens Post was organized on the 18th of March, 1880, with the
following charter members: Elisha M. Colver, William A. Till, W. J.
Affleck, Christian Henry, J. R. Booth, S. D. Cutliff, B. F. Church, John
Heeter, Charles Groesch, Robert Kimball, George A. Free, William
Nash, Henry Landan, Martin C. Cross, John S. Murthy, Henry Bernard,
John Geiser, Joster F. Neill, T. M. Cook, James Duffy, Philip Cann
and George R. Marvin.
The McMeens Post takes its name from Dr. Robert R. McMeens,
formerly surgeon of the Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who died suddenly
at Perrysville, Kentucky, while in the faithful discharge of his
duties as medical director. On first entering the service he was made
regimental surgeon, and by his gentlemanly deportment and undoubted
professional skill, AA'on for him the confidence and esteem of his brother
officers; and at their request he Avas appointed medical director. Up to
the date of his death, October 30, 1862, he continued in active service,
filling many important positions in the medical department of the army.
In his death the army lost a kindhearted, faithful and efficient officer,
the county a true patriot, and the medical profession one of its brightest
ornaments.
KNIGHTS OP PYTHIAS
This order is as strong, proportionately, as any of the other similar
organizations of the city, and its object is just as worthy and commendable.
Friendship, charity and benevolence are the fundamental principles
of Odd FelloAvship. The order is founded upon naught but the
purest and sincerest motives. Its aim is to alleviate the suffering of a
brother, succor the unfortunate, zealously Avatch at the bedside of the
sick, soothe the pilloAV of the dying, perform the last sad rites at the
grave of a brother, offering consolation to the afflicted, and caring, with
a brother's love, for the widow and orphan.
Brotherly love and charity are the pillars on which it rests. Friendship
and truth the bond and surety of its preservation.
Western Reserve Lodge No. 128, K. of P., Avas instituted July 7,
1881, the charter members being William Alstaetter, Charles Baetz, John
F. Bredbeck, Henry Dehnel, Louis Duennisch, C. J. Gibaut, Henry
Graefe, J. Greenfelder, Jr., T. J. Holzaepfel, J. M. Holzaepfel, Joseph
Hower, Frank Kerber, Gust. Kirner, Fred Kranz, R. P. Krudwig, Charles
Kubach, F. R. Lange, Charles Miller, Jr., H. Neumeyer, George Peters,
W. E. Sloane, William C. Smith, E. L. Steuk, R. S. Tebbutt, I. J. P.
Tessier, Charles L. Wagner, G. Zimmerman.
Courtesy Lodge No. 252, K. of P., Avas instituted September 6, 1887,
with fifty-nine charter members.
Vol. 1—20