MILITARY HISTORY OF PAULDING COUNTY

By: Mark Holtsberry

Joshua Byron Hartzog, Paulding County’s only Medal of Honor Recipient, was born February 3, 1866 in Grover Hill, Ohio. The son Of Joshua and Sarah Jane (Blythe) Pease Hartzog. Joshua Hartzog Sr., was born in Schuykill County, Pennsylvania, January 30, 1830. Mr. Hartzog was of German descent and moved to Paulding County in 1850, with the trade of a blacksmith. Upon moving into Washington Township, he met and married Eliza J. Mackeral, January 16, 1851. Eliza was born in 1833, and passed away December 31, 1864, leaving behind 4 children. She is buried in Middle Creek Cemetery, Grover Hill, Ohio. 

Joshua remarried to Sarah Jane (Blythe) Pease. She was born January 27, 1838, in Waynsburg, Stark County, Ohio. Her first husband was Mark Pease, who passed away. Joshua and Sarah were married May 15, 1865. Sarah’s father, Henry Blythe, was a Civil War Veteran. With Joshua and Sarah’s marriage, the blessing of 4 children were born. 

Thus the story of Joshua Byron Hartzog begins. As a small child, Joshua picked up the values of family and hard work as he worked the farm ground in Washington Township with his father and other siblings. By 1889, Joshua wanted to seek the adventure while serving in the United States military. 

Joshua traveled to Michigan. On April 25, 1889 at Detroit, Michigan, at the age of 21, Joshua enlisted in United States Army. He lists his occupation as a laborer. Joshua has Dark Eyes, Dark Complexion, Dark Hair and is 5-4” tall. He is assigned to Company E. 1st United States Artillery with the rank of private. On December 29, 1890, Joshua was a participant in the Pine Ridge Campaign that occurred at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. The purpose of this action, was to arrest the Sioux Chief, Big Foot and disarm his warriors. A powerful medicine man had convinced the warriors that their “Ghost Shirts”, would protect them from the Bluecoats bullets. 

When Joshua’s commanding officer was wounded, Private Joshua Hartzog, braved the heavy gun fire to rescue the officer. An eye witness stated, “All the Indians opened fire on us. One of my men went for ammunition and did not come back. My captain called on me to come back, but I kept moving nearer to the Indians, and kept shouting. Lieutenant Hawthorne came toward me and was calling, when suddenly I heard him say, “Oh, my God”! Looking around I saw him lying on his side, and then I knew he had been hit. Hartzog ran to him and carried him back behind the hill”. 

On March 21, 1891, for his actions on December 29, 1890, at Wounded Knee, part of the Pine Ridge Campaign, Joshua Bryon Hartzog was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The written statement for his medal reads, “Went to the rescue of the commanding officer, who had fallen severely wounded, He picked him up and carried him out of range of hostile gun fire.” He also served with Company G., 5th United States Artillery, with the rank of sergeant. Joshua stayed in the military until July 21, 1892. In 1893 Joshua found himself at the Chicago World’s Fair as part of the Exposition Police Force. Joshua returned home to Grover Hill and July 25, 1894, he marries Elvina Elizabeth Gensel who was born December 10, 1865, in Paulding, Ohio. She was the daughter of James H. and Mary (Ackerman) Gensel. James was a Civil War Veteran, who served with 20th Mississippi Infantry, Confederate Army. 

With this marriage, 8 children will be born. With 2 sets of twins. On July 25, 1897, Joshua’s father, Joshua Sr., passed away, he was buried in Middle Creek Cemetery, Grover Hill, Ohio. By 1910, Joshua and family was living in Pinconning, Bay County, Michigan as a farmer. 

On February 10, 1910, Joshua filed for his military pension and the family moved to Arkansas. On September 24, 1916, in Higginson, White County, Elvina passed away and is buried in Gum Springs Cemetery, Searcy, White County, Arkansas. 

On August 7, 1917, Joshua married Carrie E. Davis, in Wellington, Kansas. (Apparently, that marriage did not work out!) In 1918, Joshua married, Mariah Gertrude Thurmon, born in 1870, and lived in Higginson, Arkansas, and had 1 child, a daughter, Thelma Lucille. Joshua was a farmer. Well, that marriage will not last either. In 1923, Joshua married Madie Bell McClellan, who was born in 1884 in Mississippi. They lived in Garden, Arkansas until Joshua Bryon Hartzog died. He passed away, May 27, 1939, in Beebe, Arkansas. He was buried beside his first wife, Elvina, in Gum Springs Cemetery, Beebe, Searcy, White County, Arkansas.