Otterbein Civil War Soldiers Biography

Abraham Bowman Kohr was born on April 2, 1842 to Christian and Mary Bowman Kohr in Winfield, Ohio.  Winfield was a farming community in which Kohr grew up.  His parents were sturdy disciplinarians and hard workers.  Kohr was fortunate enough to have received a common school education in which he excelled in mathematics.  He even gained the reputation of being the most intelligent student in his community.  Nothing else was recorded about Kohr’s childhood and maturing years.

Kohr enlisted in the Army in August of 1862 and was discharged three years later.  After his discharge on August 14, 1865 he enrolled in Otterbein University (present day Otterbein College).  Also in 1866, he married Mary Louise Bosler.  They had three children together, two of whom graduated from Otterbein. Ralph W. born in1872 and graduated in 1894, Donald A. born in 1877 did not but was expected to graduate in 1898, and Jessie Louise born in 1879 and graduated in 1901.  Kohr graduated in the regular classical course in 1870, achieving high rank in a class of fourteen.  Upon graduation, he moved his family to Lisbon, Iowa where he taught in the public school systems.  Two years later, he moved to Roanoke, Indiana where he taught at the Roanoke Classical Academy for two more years.  Then, in 1875 he studied and practiced law at Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Unfortunately, he encountered health problems and was forced to go back into teaching, still at Fort Wayne.  Sometime later, he became involved with the Massillon public schools in Ohio before moving back to Westerville in 1879, where he remained for the rest of his life.  He took the position of Secretary of People’s Mutual Benefit Association where he was the expert accountant and bookkeeper of fifteen million dollars.  In 1884, his first wife died as a result of tetanus from stepping on a pitchfork.  He remarried to Ida Youmans and had a daughter, Allison, in 1892.  Kohr also served on school board, town council, superintendent of Presbyterian Sabbath School, and ruling elder of his Church in Westerville.  He died on July 23, 1896 in Westerville from complications resulting from his old war wounds.  He was laid to rest in Otterbein Cemetery.

Kohr enlisted on August 20, 1862.  He became a part of the One Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment.  Throughout its service, the 126th engaged in twenty-six significant battles.  Kohr was involved in twenty-five of them.  He courageously fought in the front line many times, including at The Battle of Wilderness in which nearly half of his Regiment perished. Throughout the war, the 126th marched 1800 miles, traveled by rail 1600 miles, and by water 1800 miles.  Kohr was injured at The Battle of Petersburg on March 25, 1865.  He was shot in the foot and forced to take leave from the Army.  The 126th fought in one more battle without him on April 2, and was mustered out at the conclusion of the war on July 25.

During his service, Kohr wrote a diary of his experiences.  All but three months were recorded.  This diary is helpful to understand what daily life was like for Civil War soldiers and demonstrate how one man can be transformed by a war. 

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