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Rev. George Washington Pilcher
Facts and Events
History of Hocking Valley, Ohio, pg. 1207:
Rev. G. W. Pilcher, of
Vinton County, was Chaplain of the 11th Illinois Cavalry during the
Civil War, he being in Illinois in 1862, enlisted in that regiment
and was commissioned as Chaplain. He remained in the service two
years.
A Standard History of Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio, pg. 1151, 1152:
One of the younger
children of the above mentioned family was Rev. George W. Pilcher,
father of Otto F. He was born on the old homestead in Elk
Township, Vinton County, in 1831, and passed to the life eternal in
1899. He served long and faithfully as a clergyman of the
Christian Union Church and was a man of fine intellectual powers as
well as of consecrated zeal and devotion in the work of the
Christian ministry. In view of his deep and abiding Christian
faith, which dominated his life in all of its relations, it is
specially interesting to note that in the Civil war he served as
chaplain of the regiment that was commanded by the famous agnostic,
Col. Robert Ingersoll. In connection with his service in the Civil
War he was a passenger on the military transport vessel "Runyon,"
at the time when the same was wrecked by running afoul of some
obstruction in the Mississippi River, near Vicksbug, where most of
the crew and passengers lost their lives, though Chaplain Pilcher
succeeded in making his escape, largely through his superior
physical powers, all members of the family having been favored with
excellent and really exceptional physical strength. Mr. Pilcher
continued his service as chaplain during the entire period of the
great conflict through which the integrity of the nation was
preserved, and it was his to endure the full tension of the long
and weary campaigns and marches, besides ministering faithfully to
the soldiers who were wounded and called upon to make the ultimate
sacrifice on the altar of patriotism. In politics Rev. George W.
Pilcher never wavered in his allegiance to the democratic party and
he was an effective advocate of its principles and policies,
besides which he served at one time as a member of the board of
county commissioners of Vinton County, where he continued his
residence in McArthur until the time of his death.
As a young man Rev. George W. Pilcher wedded Miss Rebecca
Coulter, who was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, but who was a girl
at the time of her parents' removal to Vinton County. Her parents
were natives of Pennsylvania and her father, John Coulter, became
one of the pioneer farmers of Vinton County, Ohio, where he lived
to attain the remarkable age of nearly one hundred years, his first
wife having passed away at the age of sixty-one years, and it
having been their privilege to rear to years of maturity their four
sons and nine daughters, all of whom married and reared children of
their own. Two sons and two daughters are yet living, and of this
number is Mrs. Pilcher, mother of the subject of this sketch. She
celebrated in 1915 her eighty-first birthday anniversary and is
vigorous of mind and body, as shown by the fact that she still
gives her personal supervision to her home and her garden and is
still active in church work, in which she long was a zealous
colaborer of her honored husband. Of their children one daughter
died in early childhood; Sallie L. is the wife of Frank Morehead, a
prosperous farmer in Guernsey County, and they hvae sons and
daughters; James F., who now resides at Sparta, Illinois, and is
identified with railway operations, is married and has three
daughters; Irving W., who is likewise a railroad man, is still a
bachelor and is now living in the West; and Otto F. of this review,
was the youngest in the family.
References
- Inter-State Publishing Company, Chicago. History of Hocking Valley, Ohio: together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military and political history, portraits of prominent persons and biographies of representative citizens. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1972).
- Willard, Eugene B.; Daniel W. Williams; George O. Newman; and Charles B. Taylor. A Standard history of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with an Extended Survey of the Industrial and Commercial Development. (Chicago, Illinois?: Lewis Publishing, 1916).
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