The Andrew John Cusac Family Newsletter
Issue #26 February 2007
This is an electronic newsletter for those looking for information on the family or descendants of Andrew John Cusac (about 1750 - about 1816)
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Contents:
1. Charles Cusac’s Biography
2. Charles Cusac’s Civil War Military Service
3. John Furr Biography
1. Charles Cusac’s Biography (John B Cusac, Andrew John)
Charles was born 29 June 1837/8 in Muskingum Co, OH and died 02 February 1918 Bennington Twp, Marshall Co, Illinois. He married Louisa J. Smith about 05 September 1860/1 in Muskingum Co, OH. She was the daughter of William Smith and Harriet Morrison. She was born 09 May 1842 in Muskingum Co, OH, and died sometime between 1900 – 1910.
“CHARLES CUSAC, a representative farmer of Marshall county, is finely located on section 11, Bennington township, where is maintaining his place among the progressive and intelligent men around him, engaging in farming and keeping a choice assortment of graded stock. He was born near Zanesville, Muskingum county, Ohio, June 29, 1838, a son of J.B. and Elizabeth (Slack) Cusac.
The father was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, of Scotch decent, his early ancestors being natives of Scotland, whence they removed to the North of Ireland, and finally founded the family in America. The mother’s people were of English origin. In early life the father removed to Ohio, where he met and married Elizabeth Slack. By occupation he was a miller, owning and operating both a saw and grist mill on Johnson’s creek in Muskingum county. Although he started out in life a poor man, by persistent labor, economy and sound judgment he succeeded in accumulating a handsome property, owning three hundred and twenty acres of valuable land.
The boyhood and youth of our subject were spent in attending the common schools near his home, and assisting his father in the work of the farm and mills. He remained under the parental roof until coming to Marshall county, Illinois, in 1859, at which time he located upon a rented farm in Evans township, near Wenona. The following year, however, he returned to Ohio, where on the 5th of September, 1860, he married Miss Louisa J. Smith, a native of Muskingum county, and a daughter of William and Harriet (Morrison) Smith, who were born in Muskingum county, Ohio, and Loudoun county, Virginia, respectively. Her paternal grandfather was of German birth and spelled the name Schmidt. In the common schools she acquired a good education.
Mr. Cusac carried on farming and worked in the mill of his father until the spring of 1862, when he enlisted in the national guards for five years, becoming a member of Company A, Eleventh Ohio regiment, but was afterward transferred to the One Hundred and Fifth-ninth. He was principally engaged in doing guard duty in Ohio and aided in driving the rebel General Morgan from the state. He was allowed to remain at home a part of the time, and only while on active duty was he paid.
In the spring of 1865 Mr. Cusac returned to Marshall county, where he again rented land for a number of years. Two years previous to his return, however, he made a trip to California, by way of New York city and the Isthmus of Panama, being forty-three days en route, during which time they encountered several severe storms, and the machinery of the vessel breaking, they were compelled to drift. In 1887 Mr. Cusac purchased one hundred and sixty acres on section 11, Bennington township, his present fine farm, which he has under a high state of cultivation, and improved with good and substantial buildings.
Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cusac, who in order of birth are as follows: William H., born April 5, 1862, was educated in the common schools, and now lived on a farm north of Wenona. He married Margaret Shipley, and has four children: Ethel, Berenice, Lela and Oval De Witt. Charles Al, born May 20, 1854, also lives near Wenona. He married May Hunt and has one son, George. Louis Sherman, born in Marshall county, January 20, 1866, married Minnie Robinson, and has four children: Louis Sherman, Charles, Leeta Waneta and William McKinley. James Justin, born Mary 27, 1868, died November 12, 1891, and was buried in the Wenona cemetery. Ulysses Grant, born July 1, 1870, lives in Bennington township, and by his marriage with Georgiana Gage has one daughter, Beulah Blanche. Minnie Etta, born in Muskingum county, Ohio, June 20, 1873, is the wife of Elbert Meredith, of Tampico, Whiteside county, Illinois, and has two children: Orville De Witt and Hazel. Cora Estella, born in Marshall county, January 20, 1875, is the wife of Thomas Meredith, of Bennington township, and has one child, Oral J.
The father of our subject was a whig in politics, and held various township offices, such as justice of the peace. Mr. Cusac, of this review, cast his vote for Abraham Lincoln, in 1860, and has since been a stanch republican, but has never taken a very active part in political affairs, aside from attending the township caucuses. For many years he has served as school director, and was elected highway commissioner on the republican ticket, although the township generally has a democratic majority of one hundred and sixty, a fact which plainly indicates his popularity and the confidence and trust his fellow citizens place in him. He and his estimable wife are consistent members of the Presbyterian church of Wenona, and their worth and ability are justly recognized.”
The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois
Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1896
“Mr. Charles Cusac was born in Ohio. After his marriage to Louisa Smith, and service in the Civil War, He came to Marshall Co. He purchased a farm in Bennington Township in 1887 where his son Grant later resided. When he came to Illinois in 1865, he made the entire journey in a wagon, bringing his household goods, while his family came by train. He was the grandfather of Ray Cusac Sr. and Mrs. Edna Drummett.”
(from the Rutland Record Centennial Edition, 1955)
2. Civil War Veterans of the 11th Ohio Volunteer Infantry National Guard and the 159th Ohio Volunteer Infantry
According to the above biography Charles served in the 11th Ohio Volunteer Infantry and the 159th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (both National Guard Units). However, I have been unable to locate him in the records for these units. Ancestry.com does not have the 1890 Illinois Veteran schedule online so I have been unable to confirm if he did serve in these units.
Company A of the Ohio National Guard Unit was organized May 11, 1864, for 100 days service. Under Colonel Lyman J. Jackson, it moved at once to Harper's Ferry. The Regiment reported to General Lew Wallace and was assigned to the defenses of Baltimore. Part of the Regiment was mounted and fought at Monocacy. It returned to Ohio in August and was mustered out August 24, 1864.
159th Regiment Infantry. Organized at Zanesville, Ohio, and mustered in May 9, 1864. Left State for Harper's Ferry, W. Va.; May 9. Assigned to 3rd Separate Brigade, 8th Army Corps, Middle Department. At Maryland Heights till May 17. Guard duty in the Defences of Baltimore, Md., and guarding bridges along Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad by Detachments till July. Battle of Monocacy Junction, Md., July 9. Expedition to Parkesville July 12. Companies "B," "E," "G" and "I" guard railroad at Havre de Grace July 28 to August 13. Ordered home August 13, and mustered out August 24, 1864. Regiment lost 10 Enlisted men by disease during service.
Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frederick H. Dyer
Cusac descendants who served in the 159th OVI:
William Axline, Co K (son of Mary Isabella Cusac and Emanuel Cornelius Axline)
John W Baughman, Co B (husband of Phoebe Cusac daughter of John B Cusac)
Andrew Cusac, Co G (son of John B Cusac and brother of Charles)
William Axline enlisted as a private on 02 May 1864. He mustered out on 22 August 1864. He filed for pension on 02 June 1887 application 611,693 certificate #407,846. Martha (nee Bagley) filed for widow’s pension on 08 March 1923 application 1,202,019.
Note: Andrew Cusac enlisted in 159th OVI. He enlisted as a private on 02 May 1864 at the age of 40. He served in Company G from 10 May 1864 until he mustered out on 24 August 1864 in Zanesville, OH. I believe this to be Andrew the son of John B Cusac and brother of Charles.
This Andrew filed for pension on 22 January 1892. Application # 1,087,856 certificate #834,159 Filed Ohio, attorney: GM Miller
Andrew appears in the 1890 Veteran Schedule for Newton Twp, Muskingum Co, OH, Enumeration District 194, page 4 household 259
Charles and Andrew’s other brother Alva also served in the Civil War. He served in Company G 88th OVI. He enlisted as a private on 06 Jun 1862, aged 21 years. He mustered out on 26 Sep 1862 at camp Chase, OH. He filed for pension on 06 Apr 1888 in Ohio. Application #649,146 certificate #445,105
I can find no record of Charles Cusac filing for a pension.
3. John Furr Biography (husband of Clarissa Rodman, William, Roseann Cusac, Andrew John)
John Furr. The subject of this biographical notice is an honorable and progressive farmer, and as such no name in the memorial department of this work is more worthy of mention. He is a product of Missouri, born in St. Louis, October 1824, when early settlers of St. Louis, a son of Sampson and Sarah A. (Cantwell) Furr, both of whom were born I the Old Dominion but were early settlers of St. Louis, at which time there were only three American families in the place. Sampson Furr was a soldier in the War of 1812, but died in November 1824, when just in the prime of life, his widow surviving him until April 24, 1871, at which time she died at Clarksville, Texas, at the extreme old age of ninety-six years. At the early age of four weeks John Furr, the immediate subject of this sketch and the youngest of a family of twelve children, was left fatherless, and as his mother's means were limited he made his home with a sister in Shelby County, Illinois, and was compelled to begin laboring at quite an early age, therefore his advantages for gaining an education were limited. He made his home in Shelby County, Illinois, for some years, working at anything honorable he could find to do, but at the age of fifteen years he engaged as a cabin boy on a boat plying the Mississippi River, following various occupations on the river until 1845, being watchman for some time. He then turned his attention to farming in Shelby County, Illinois, and in 1846 was married to Miss Martha A. Huls. Three years later he was taken with the "gold fever" and made his way to California, driving an ox team across the plains, and was there engaged in mining for about a year, with fair success, for when he came to Indiana, in 1851, he had about $1,000, with which he purchase a farm in Pike Township, Marion County, Indiana, on which he has resided ever since. His estate comprises fifty-three acres, which is well and carefully tilled and yields a larger income than many more pretentious places. January 21, 1860, his wife died, having borne him five children: William (deceased), John, Sarah (deceased), David F. and Lucia A Furr. July 19, 1860, Clarissa Rodman became Mr. Furr's second wife, and their children are named: William G., born July 2, 1861; Charles A., born September 8, 1863 (now deceased), and Maggie A., born May 23, 1866, The mother of these children died August 29, 1868, and Mr. Furr's third marriage occurred August 15, 1869, Miss Mary E. Snyder, a native of Hendricks County and a daughter of William and Rachel (Huls) Snyder, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Kentucky, became his wife. Their children are as follows: James F., born November 25, 1870; Martha J., born July 7, 1872; Omer B., born July 19, 1874; Clara V., born October 10, 1877; and Daisy A., born June 15, 1879. At his country's call for troops in 1864 Mr. Furr enlisted in the Union service, becoming a member of Company B, Twenty-ninth Indiana Volunteers, which he joined September 20, 1864, and served until the close of the war, receiving his discharge July 2, 1865. He was in the Army of the Cumberland and was through Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi; his regiment being engaged in guard duty the most of the time, although it participated in a number of skirmishes. Mr. Furr is now a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Boone Post, No. 202, at Zionsville. He and his wife are associates with the Christian Church and politically he has always been a faithful and enthusiastic Republican.
Pictorial & Biographical Memoirs of Marion County & Indianapolis, Indiana.
Originally Published in 1893 by Goodspeed Brothers
That's it for issue #26. If you come across any obituaries, documents, essays, photographs, weddings, births, or stories on your line from Andrew John Cusac that you would like to share, please pass them along to me. Feel free to forward this newsletter to others in the family who may have an interest in Andrew John Cusac's history or genealogy. Free back issues will be available for the asking. Do you have a question you want asked of the group? Email it to me and I'll include it in the next issue. Email skratze@wcnet.org or skratze@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Best wishes... Sheila