Samuel Magill, Civil War Veteran

Samuel Magill in his G.A.R. uniform

Samuel Magill was born near Bloomingville, Ohio on September 22, 1815. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Magill, Sr., were early pioneers of Erie County. In 1810 they traveled from Pennsylvania to Bloomingville, Ohio in a covered wagon along with several of their youngsters.  The elder Mr. Magill farmed the land located about two miles south of the Seven Mile House, along the Columbus Pike. Samuel Magill, Jr. married Celia Ann Sampson in 1835. They had a total of eleven children. One son, Alfred A. Magill, was the Erie County Sheriff from 1894 through 1898.

During the Civil War, Samuel Magill, Jr. enlisted as First Sergeant in Company G of the 145th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served in the military for 100 days, and received a Certificate of Honorable Service from President Abraham Lincoln on December 15, 1864. An article about the family that appeared in the April 16, 1922 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that eight of the Magills served in the Union ranks during the Civil War, with four reaching the rank of officers. 

Samuel Magill, Sr. died in 1858, and Samuel Magill, Jr. died in 1897. Both are buried in Sand Hill Cemetery, along with several other Magill family members. 

An interesting historical story passed down through the Magill family was recounted in the March 29, 1916 issue of the Sandusky Register by A. A. Magill. On September 10, 1813, Samuel Magill, Sr. and some of his sons and a hired man were working in the fields of the family farm. The boys sat down on a boulder which stood near the roadside. They could hear a cracking noise when they placed their ears next to the large stone. Later they learned that the noise they heard was the booming of a cannon during the Battle of Lake Erie when Commodore Perry met and defeated Commodore Barclay. 

The "Letters from Home Club"

In 1944 and 1945, Sandusky had a “Letters from Home” club. Members sent a monthly letter to more than 2000 men and women in military service during World War II. Pictures of the officers of the club appeared in the July, 1945 copy of letter sent out from the club. Mrs. Harrison W. Pratt was the president, Mrs. W.A. Carnes was vice president, Mrs. J.L. Sampson, Jr. served as secretary, and Mrs. Frank D. Schneider was the club’s treasurer. The letter included details about the potluck held at Lions Park, at which Cpl. Kenneth Stauffer spoke. An article which appeared in the September 11, 1943 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News reported that people in military service listed “letters from home” as what they most desired, followed closely by snapshots from home.  In June of 1944, serviceman Bernard Palmer wrote back after he read a letter sent to him from the club: 

“Out here in the South Pacific a fellow is always glad to hear from the folks at home. This is a land of perpetual summer. All these tropical islands are spots of everlasting green on the beautiful blue Pacific, but regardless of all this, give me dear old Sandusky, the best spot to me on all the earth. Walking down Columbus Ave. is just another thing to you people, but to us, and I mean all of us out here, it would be a privilege worth everything.”

One of the activities of the “Letters from Home” club was a baby contest in which local residents voted for the favorite son or daughter of Sandusky men and women in the service. Below are a few of the young boys in the contest.

 

Here are some the young ladies entered in the baby contest.

Besides the baby contest, the “Letters from Home” club also had contests in which they selected a pin-up girl and a pin-up grandmother. If you would like to read a copy of one of the letters from home, stop by the Reference Services desk.