{"id":51344,"date":"2026-06-15T07:36:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T11:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/?p=51344"},"modified":"2026-06-09T15:40:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T19:40:25","slug":"military-history-in-paulding-county-225","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/military-history-in-paulding-county-225\/","title":{"rendered":"Military History in Paulding County"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By: Mark Holtsberry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Irvin Swisher was born July 3, 1893, in Paulding County, Ohio, the son of George M. Swisher, who was born in December 1850 in Ohio, and Mary E. (Ayers) Swisher, who was born in 1864 in Ohio. The couple was married on January 13, 1885, in Van Wert, Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 1890, the family was living in Paulding County, where George worked as a day laborer. A daughter, Laura Gertrude Swisher, was born in October 1885, followed by Francis John in July 1889. By 1900, the family was still living in Paulding. A daughter, Anna Elizabeth, had been born, followed by Joseph Marion in January 1895, Candice Allene in March 1897, and Vera Cleora in June 1899. John was a grade school student at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 1910, the family had moved to Bethany Township, Gratiot County, Michigan. George found work as a farm laborer. The birth of Bernard R. Swisher in 1902 completed the family. John was working odd jobs as a laborer. John\u2019s mother, Mary, passed away, although details of her burial could not be found. George remarried within the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 1915, John had moved to Erie County, Ohio, where he worked various odd jobs. There he met a seventeen-year-old young woman named Carla R. Hill. They were married in 1915. Sadly, she died on October 26, 1915, and was buried in Sand Hill Cemetery in Margaretta Township, Erie County, Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George\u2019s second wife, Darlah Ruby Swisher, passed away on Wednesday, January 5, 1916, at 2:30 in the afternoon at her parents\u2019 home. Funeral services were held at the home on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John registered for the World War I draft on June 5, 1917, in Erie County, Ohio. He was described as being of medium height and build, with brown eyes and auburn hair, and was noted as having a disability in his right ear. At the time, he was working as a teamster for Woodside Farms in Breckenridge, Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 26, 1918, John joined the National Guard out of Sandusky, Ohio. He served with the 39th Company, 10th Battalion, 159th Depot Brigade until September 28, 1918. He was then transferred to Battery B, 70th Field Artillery. He received an honorable discharge on January 30, 1919.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 31, 1919, John married Ruth Bartley Sedore. She was born on August 24, 1902, in Isabella County, Michigan. In 1920, John and Ruth lived with John\u2019s father and stepmother in Wheeler, Michigan, on Cedar Street. John was engaged in farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After their divorce in 1922, Ruth, for whom this was her second marriage, went on to marry two more times. John moved to Colorado, although it is not known what took him there. He passed away on December 31, 1924. His body was returned home and buried in Sand Hill Cemetery beside his first wife, Carla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruth passed away shortly after her fourth marriage on July 14, 1929. She is buried in New Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 Until Next Time!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Mark Holtsberry John Irvin Swisher was born July 3, 1893, in Paulding County, Ohio, the son of George M.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":33070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25,1464,13195],"tags":[29206,29208,29211,29205,29202,29201,29207,29204,3747,29203,13261,12722,29210,29212,29209],"class_list":["post-51344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-history-community","category-mark-holtsberry","tag-anna-elizabeth-swisher","tag-candice-allene-swisher","tag-carla-r-hill","tag-francis-john-swisher","tag-george-m-swisher","tag-john-irvin-swisher","tag-joseph-marion-swisher","tag-laura-gertrude-swisher","tag-mark-holtsberry","tag-mary-e-ayers-swisher","tag-military-history-in-paulding-county","tag-paulding-county-ohio","tag-ruth-bartley-sedore-swisher","tag-sand-hill-cemetery","tag-vera-cleora-swisher"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t