Military History in Paulding County
By: Mark Holtsberry
Ross Frederick Shrider was born July 18, 1894, in Lafayette, Indiana. He was the son of William Carlysle Shrider, born September 28, 1859, in Jackson Township, Allen County, Ohio, and Tena E. (Stombaugh) Shrider, born in 1870 in Ohio.
The couple married in 1890. By 1900, the Shrider family was living in Paulding, Ohio, where William worked as a farmer. William and Tena were the parents of Ray Walter, born July 7, 1890; Ralph Oscar, born November 30, 1892; and Ross Frederick, born in 1894. Also living with them were Tena’s mother, Frances Stombaugh, and a boarder, Jacob Sprague—a Spanish-American War veteran from Paulding. The boys were attending school.
By 1910, the Shrider family was still living on the farm around the Paulding area. The family had grown with the birth of daughter Vira E., born September 14, 1900, followed by William Dale on August 12, 1903; Virgil L. on November 17, 1905; and Daniel Paul on November 11, 1908. William continued farming, and Ross was helping his father on the farm.
Ross later moved to Jackson, Michigan, where he worked for the Jackson Cushion Spring Company. He eventually returned home to Paulding. On May 28, 1917, Ross registered for the World War I draft at the Paulding West Precinct. He was described as short with a medium build, brown eyes, brown hair, and single. His brother Ralph also registered for the draft and would go on to serve in France.
Ross joined the National Army from Paulding on April 28, 1918. He served with Company G, 32nd Infantry until July 25, 1918, and was promoted to Private First Class on July 19, 1918. He was shipped overseas to France, where he served with Company H, 104th Infantry. He was promoted to Cook on January 1, 1919. Ross served in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne defensive sectors. On March 27, 1919, he boarded the ship Mount Vernon in Brest, France, and arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 4, 1919. He was honorably discharged on May 17, 1919. Ross was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star.
By 1920, Ross had returned to his parents’ farm on Parker Pike outside Paulding and worked the land. On February 11, 1921, Ross married Elsie Marie Brown, born December 4, 1900, in Emerald Township—the daughter of Charles and Annie Brown.
In 1927, Ross and Elsie moved to 408 Jackson, Michigan, where Ross worked as a foreman in a machine shop. By 1930, they were living in Leoni, Michigan, where Ross was a machinist for a gear company. By 1935, they had moved to Michigan Center, Jackson, Michigan, and Ross continued his trade as a machinist.
By 1940, Ross and Elsie were living on Page Avenue, Route 7, in Michigan Center, and Ross worked as a foreman at the gear factory. In 1942, he registered for the World War II draft. At the time, they were living on Water Street in Jackson.
On April 25, 1942, Ross was taken to Foote Hospital in Jackson, Michigan, where he passed away at 11:00 p.m. from pulmonary edema. He had been suffering from heart issues for over a year. Ross and Elsie had just moved to 4712 Francis Street in the Vandercook Lake addition. He was brought back to Paulding and buried in Live Oak Cemetery. His upright tombstone was placed in late 1943 at his gravesite.
Elsie later remarried a man named Ray Voil Flansburg. She passed away in 1982 and is buried in Michigan.
… Until Next Time!
