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Otterbein Civil War Soldiers Biography

This guide details the lives of Otterbein Civil War Soldiers.

W.R. Biddle

William R. Biddle | New York  Voluntary Infantry
by Randi Hopkins

William Rhinehart Biddle was a man that deeply cared about his country on the national, state, and local levels, evident through his enlistment in the Oneida Independent Cavalry and participation in politics.  The life of William Biddle shows that civil war soldiers felt a strong sense of duty to their country that lasted far beyond the war.

Biddle was born the son of Reverend Alexander Biddle, a prominent circuit rider in rural Ohio for the United Brethren Church and Magdalenna Noftzger Biddle.[1] The influence of the United Brethren Church likely brought Biddle to Otterbein University where he studied for a Bachelor of Science degree, though he never graduated. 

The tension brewing to head between the Northern and Southern United States called Biddle to Hagerstown, Maryland.  Once there he worked for the government organizing supple trains as a civilian.[2]  At the outbreak of war, Biddle enlisted in the Oneida Independent Company Cavalry on November 8, 1861 at the age of twenty-one.[3] 

Biddle mustered in as a private but rose to the rank of corporal July 1, 1864 and sergeant September 4, 1864 before mustering out December 4, 1864.[4]  While serving he fought in the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Petersburg[5] 

After his enlistment was over, he received his law degree from the University of Michigan in July 1868.[6]  He returned briefly to Bucyrus, Ohio where he passed the Bar exam before moving to Mound City, Kansas to start his first law practice[7]  It was here that he also started his political career as a member of the City Board of Trustees before being elected Country Clerk.[8]   Eventually, he entered the Kansas State Legislator as a House member in 1876 but was reelected in 1877 and 1879.[9]  In 1878 he was chosen President of the Republican State Convention.[10]  Following 1880, he returned to practicing law independently and with partners off and on to at least 1911. 

He married Lauretta S. Streeter on May 8, 1870.[11]  Together they had two daughters Magdalena and Sue Ellen.[12]  He was also active in the local fraternal orders such as; Freemasons, the Heptasophs, G.A.R. of Fort Scott, and Knights and Ladies of Security[13]  It is unclear the date of his death but information becomes limited after 1911.

William R. Biddle was a man with extraordinary dedication to the people of his community and the government of his country.  During the war he heroically served as an officer in the Oneida Independent Cavalry. His service did not end when his enlistment was up, instead, he likely served politically to protect the constitution that he fought for in the war.  The life of Biddle shows that the men that fought in the Civil War deeply cared about the county they lived in and their commitment to it lasted far beyond their military experience.

[1] Frank W. Blackmar, Kansas: a cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Countries, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc. vol. 3 part 1, transcribed by Carolyn Ward (Chicago: Standard Publishing Company, 1912) http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb.archives/1912/b3/biddle_ william_r.html (accessed November 6, 2008).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of New York for the Year 1895Registers of the First Dragoons, Oneida Independent Company Cavalry, First, Second, Third, and Fourth Provisional Cavalry in the War of the Rebellion, transmitted to the Legislature (Albany: Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Company, 1896), 195, http://www.books.google.com (accessed October 10, 2008).

[4] Ibid.

[5] William G. Cutler, History of the State of Kansas (Chicago: A.T. Andreas, 1883), 112.

[6] Blackmar, Kansas.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Cutler, State of Kansas, 1,108.

[9] Rita Haley et al., “Kansas State Legislators Past and Present,” State Library of Kansas,http://www.kslib.info/legislators/membb2.html.

[10] Cutler, State of Kansas, 1,108.

[11] Blackmar, Kansas.

[12] Cutler, State of Kansas, 1,108.

[13] Blackmar, Kansas.

 

Bibliography

Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of New York for the Year of 1895: Registers of the First Dragoons, Oneida Independent Company, First, Second, Third and Fourth Provisional Cavalry, in the War of the Rebellion, transmitted to the Legislature, New York: State Printers,1896. (accessed October 6, 2008).

Blackmar, Frank W. Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc. Vol. 3 Part 1. Chicago: Standard Publishing Company, 1912. transcribed by Carolyn Ward. http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1912/b3/biddle_william_r.html (accessed November 6, 2008).

Cutler, William G. History of the State of Kansas. Chicago: A.T. Andreas, 1883.

Haley, Rita, Sherri Schulte, Donna Copeland, Bill Sowers and Lois Delfelder, “Kansas Legislators Past and Present.” State Library of Kansas.http://www.kslib.info/legislators/ membb2.html (accessed November 14, 2008). 

 

New York Voluntary Infantry

W.R. Biddle