GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC
A Post of the Grand Army of the
Republic was organized in Marysville, Aug. 25, 1881.
The Post was named Ransom Reed Post, in honor of the first
soldier from Union County who lost his life in the war for
the preservation of the Nation. Ransom Reed
was a private, Company F, Thirteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, who fell at the battle of Carnifex Ferry, Sept.
10, 1861.
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The number of the Post is 113, Department of Ohio.
The Post was organized and instituted by Capt. D. Lanning,
of Columbus, Ohio, mustering officer. The charter
members were W. L. Curry, M. C. Lawrence, John Hobensack,
Andrew Sabine, J. V. Pearse, W. P. Anderson, S. G. Fry, S.
M., S. M. Landon, D. T. Elliott, D. W. Ayers, J. L. Cameron,
William M. Winget, J. B. Cole, G. P. Robinson, Frank Filler,
T. P. Freeman, William H. Robb, William M. Liggett, Homer
Thrall, John L. Porter, I. N. Hamilton, Thomas Martin, T. S.
Mullen, B. W. Keyes, D. Webb, John Wiley, W. E. Baxter, W.
H. Robinson and William Torrence.
The first officers chosen were:
W. L. Curry, Post Commander; John Hobensack,
Senior Vice Commander; M. C. Lawrence, Junior Vice
Commander; W. M. Liggett, Adjutant; W. H. Robb,
Quartermaster; Andrew Sabine, Surgeon;
Homer Thrall, Chaplain; W. P. Anderson,
Officer of the Day; S. G. Fry, Officer of the
Guard; D. T. Elliott, Sergeant Major; S. M. Landon,
Quartermaster Sergeant; J. B. Cole, Assistant
Inspector; and W. M. Winget, Aid-de-Camp.
Ransom Reed Post has had uninterrupted growth and
prosperity. There have been only one or two meetings
in eighteen months that recruits have not been mustered.
The total number mustered in the Post since its organization
is 220; of these ten have been transferred to the Scribner
Post, since organized at Plain City. In this large
number of comrades there are representatives of over seventy
different regiments and battalions.
Only one member of the Post has died since the
organization, M. C. Lawrence, late Lieutenant Colonel
of the One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Infantry, who at
the time of his death was Junior Vice Commander. His
death occurred Dec. 15, 1881, and on the 18th he was buried
by the Post according to the service prescribed in the
ritual for the burial of the dead.
As the public are interested in knowing the objects of
the Grand Army of the Republic, it may be well to give a
brief statement of them here. First, the object is not
political; this is distinctly declared in the following
emphatic language in the rules:
"No officer or comrade of the Grand Army of the
Republic shall in any manner use this organization for
partisan purposes, and no discussion of partisan questions
shall be allowed at any of its meetings, nor shall any
nomination for political office be made."
The objects are: 1st, "the preservation of the spirit
of comradeship, to preserve and strengthen those kind and
fraternal feelings which bind together the soldiers, sailors
and marines who united the suppress the late rebellion, and
to perpetuate the memory and history of the dead."
To secure the last-mentioned object, a day is set
apart, the 30th of May, to be observed as Decoration Day.
The Post has an impressive service to be used on that day.
2d, mutual helpfulness. "To assist such former
comrades in arms as need help and protection, and to extend
needful aid to the widows and orphans of those who have
fallen." It is the design of each Post to accumulate a
fund to be used for charitable purposes. 3d, the
promotion of loyality to the Nation. "To
maintain true allegiance to the United States of American,
based upon a paramount respect for an fidelity to the
National Constitution and laws, to discountenance whatever
tends to weaken loyality, incites to insurrection,
treason or rebellion or in any manner impairs the efficiency
and permanency of our free institutions; and to encourage
the spread of universal liberty, equal rights and justice to
all men." No man can become a member of the Grand Army
of the Republic who has ever borne arms against the
Government, or upon whom "the stain of treason rests."
All honorably discharged soldiers and sailors of the war for
the preservation of the Nation are eligible to membership.
All distinction of rank are done away,
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the title by which members are addressed or referred to in
the meetings and business of the Post being "Comrade."
The several constituted bodies of the association are
Post, the State organization or Department, and the national
organization, known as the National Encampment of the Grand
Army of the Republic.
A badge, consisting of a bronze star made out of cannon
captured during the war and upon which is represented every
corps of the army, is given to each comrade at his muster
in.
The Commander of a Grand Army Post ranks as Colonel; S.
V. Commander, Lieutenant Colonel; J. V. Commander, Major;
Surgeon, Major; Officer of the Day, Captain; Quartermaster,
First Lieutenant; Adjutant, First Lieutenant; and Officer of
the Guard, Second Lieutenant.
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