Skip to Main Content

Otterbein Civil War Soldiers Biography

This guide details the lives of Otterbein Civil War Soldiers.

Jacob Weinland | 167th Ohio Voluntary Infantry

Jacob Weinland | 167th Ohio Voluntary Infantry
by Zach Reat

Jacob Augustus Weinland was born on November 16,1845[1] in the town of Jacksonboro, Butler County, Ohio.  He was born into the family of John and Elizabeth Weinland who made a living as farmers in Butler County.[2]  Jacob had seven siblings, four brothers and three sisters.  Also living in their home was Elizabeth, the maid, and Jacob, an elderly grandfather.  At the age of eighteen Jacob made the decision to enlist in the 167th Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a one hundred days’ recruit. 

On May 2, 1864 Jacob A. Weinland enlisted with the 167th out of Hamilton County, Ohio, at the age of 18.[3]  Weinland was assigned to Company E of the 167th, and was under the command of 1st Lieutenant T.D. Urmstom of the 12th U.S. Infantry.[4]  The regiment was marched first to Charleston, West Virginia, where they came under the command of Colonel Ewart on May 21, 1864.[5]  The regiment was then split with six regiments moving Camp Piatt and four to Gauley Bridge.  Weinland went with Company E to Camp Piatt where his duties included guarding supply posts and accompanying supply trains.  His service ended on September 8, 1864 when his company was mustered out.

After Weinland’s term of service expired, he moved to Westerville with the intention of attending Otterbein College.  He never graduated from the college, and the 1870 Census Report[6] reveals that Weinland moved back to Butler County, living with his new wife, Ellen, and Edgar, his one-month old son.  Shortly thereafter Weinland moved back to Westerville where he would stay for almost 40 years.  He was involved heavily in the community at large as a fire insurance agent, superintendent of the Westerville First United Brethren Church Sunday School, as a member of the Blendon Lodge of Masons, and a director of the Bank of Westerville.  Weinland moved to downtown Columbus in his latter years, and died of pneumonia in San Francisco, California on July 13, 1924.[7]  Jacob A. Weinland’s ideals of progressive development, backed up by his actions, helped bring Otterbein College and the City of Westerville to where they are today.

 

[1] Birth date taken from the gravestone of J.A. Weinland in the Otterbein Cemetery. This is the most reliable source available considering the lack of birth records in the early nineteenth century.

[2] 1860 United States Census Report. Butler County, Ohio, http://www.heritagequestonline.com (accessed on February 15, 2005).

[3] Roster of Ohio Soldiers, 1861-1866 vol. IX, 377.

[4]Ibid., 377.

[5] Ibid., 371. The Roster gives a brief overview of the limited troop movements of the 167th. The date of the regiment’s arrival to Charleston however, comes from Whitelaw Reid, Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Generals, and Soldiers vol. 2, (Cincinnati, OH: Moore, Wilstach, & Baldwin, 1868), 697.

[6] 1870 United States Census Report, Butler County, Ohio, http://www.heritagequestonline.com (accessed on March 2, 2005).

[7] Activities in Westerville and date of death come from Weinland’s obituary in the Westerville Public Opinion. “Weinland Obituary”, Westerville Public Opinion, July 17, 1924, 1. Accessed on microfilm at the Westerville Public Library on February 26, 2005.