10/26/2026
Member Cathryn Hondros researched the life of Corporal Harlan Page Hall of the 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
Harlan’s descendant Dan Myers generously shared family photos and documents adding amazing color and detail to this little sketch. Thank you Dan!
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Harlan Page Hall was born in 1842. He was the son of Richard Hall and Deborah (Schultz) Hall. Sadly his mother died when he was two years old. His father put him in the care of Aunt Sarah (Schultz) Stewart and put Harlan’s older sister Harriet in the care of another Aunt. His father and his new wife Sarah Cortright then relocated to Madison Township, Lake County, Ohio and began a family there.
The 1850, 1855 and 1860 censuses show Harlan living with his Uncle Jesse and Aunt Sarah Stewart. Family stories say that from age 13, Harlan worked as a laborer on neighboring farms by the month. After 1860, he and sister Harriet moved to Ohio to be near to their father.
On August 8, 1862 while in Lake County, Ohio, Harlan P. Hall enlisted into Company D of the 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry for a three year term. At 20 years old, he became a Corporal. Alonzo Chubb, who recruited the majority of Company D from Lake County, likely recruited him.
Harlan’s basic Civil War service can be gleaned from Albion Winegar Tourgée’s regimental history, “The Story of a Thousand”. Hall family lore, correspondence, GAR and Loyal Legion records tell a more detailed story.
After being mustered in at Cleveland, the 105th was taken by rail to Cincinnati and then across the Ohio River to Kentucky. At Covington, the troops were given a grand banquet by the citizenry and equipped for service. Soldiers were outfitted with necessary items including heavy winter coats, rubber ponchos, blankets and knapsacks. The regiment was issued Springfield muzzle-loading ri**es rather than more modern cartridge models. The cost of these supplies was drawn against future pay.
Within days after muster in, the 105th was called to Louisville to bolster Union forces repelling the advances of Confederate troops under the command of General Braxton Bragg. The new recruits were ordered east, with full packs and few provisions, to assist in the defense of Richmond, Kentucky. After several days of marching, the 105th met Union troops retreating from the Battle of Richmond, which had been lost. Seasoned Confederate troops were in hot pursuit. Temperatures were soaring and a prolonged drought meant little water was available for the soldiers. The 105th, with less than one month of service, marched 140 miles during the “Hell March” sometimes as far as 23 miles in a single day. Those who fell behind were kicked, derided, and, in some cases, formally disciplined for their inexperience and weakness. Some soldiers who fell behind were captured by the Confederates becoming POWs. A number of soldiers died. At the end of the ordeal, only a third of the Regiment was fit for service.
Fortunately for Harlan, he had taken ill prior to the Hell March and was held back on doctor’s orders. During this time, he helped with quartermaster duties, likely assisting the 105th’s QM Marshall Wright. Harlan volunteered and was assigned as a Sergeant to an ad hoc or “mutt” battery under Lieutenant Charles Parsons that came to know as Parsons Battery. He was given command over a 3800 pound cannon. He wrote, “My command consists of 18 men, 12 horses and a 12-pounder brass howitzer, shooting solid shot, shrapnel, shell and canister.”
Parsons Battery was staged on Open K**b during the Battle of Perryville and was almost immediately overrun by battle-hardened Confederate forces. Harlan wrote “The Battery was taken in the fight, and I returned to my regiment. I had a bullet put through my canteen and another shot in between my pistol ramrod, and the barrel, making all things hum when it struck. I was struck on my left hip by a spent ball or piece of a shell and knocked over the tail of a gun laming me some, so much that I am in the hospital now.”
Having never fired anything beyond a blank practice round, the inexperienced troops of Parsons Battery were widely blamed for its loss. Of the 136 volunteers in Parsons Battery, 90 had come from the raw 105th Ohio. Colonel Albert S. Hall of the 105th visited the field hospital in Munfordville, Kentucky and told Harlan he did not appear unwell, ordered him to return to service and stripped away his sergeant stripes.
Harlan fought in the Battle of Vaught’s Hill at Milton, Tennessee under the command of Colonel Hall in March 1863 and also fought in the Battle of Hoover’s Gap in June 1863. Hoover’s Gap proved to be the deciding battle of the Tullahoma campaign, driving Braxton Bragg out of the state of Tennessee.
In July 1863, Harlan was detailed to New York City to help quell the draft riots occurring there. He wrote that the soldiers with him had no experience in managing or firing a cannon. He took command, loading the cannon with canister shot, and fired over the heads of the rioters. He noted how quickly the crowd dispersed! He also wrote that the grapeshot peeled the shutters from houses down the street with amazing efficiency.
Other military experiences included Sherman’s March to the Sea. At the end of the war, the 105th traveled to Washington D.C. and marched in the Grand Review of the Union Army. Harlan was transferred on June 1, 1865 to Company I of the 38th O.V.I for mustering out on July 12, 1865 near Louisville.
Harlan made the most of his time in D.C. He wrote “I spent a good share of the day in viewing Uncle Sam’s dwelling and office. Pretty fine affair, considering the number of persons engaged in managing it. Went through the Smithsonian Institute and saw all kinds of animals and creeping things. Mummies, skulls, fish, horns, bear, deer, elephants, and every living thing. I was in the Patent Office also and saw many curious things in the shape of machinery. A soldier is considered a good ways in advance of a citizen of this city. We have access to the last three mentioned places free. Citizens pay a fee.”
GAR records from 1898 outline Harlan‘s war experiences and name Captain Henry Harrison Cumings, Private Minor H. Allen, Captain George L. Riker and Private Frederick H. Vickers as his intimate comrades.
After the war Harlan returned to Ridgebury, Wawayanda, Orange County, New York and engaged in a mercantile business with a Dr. Webb for about 6 years. He married Sarah Slaughter Crane in September 1868 at the Presbyterian Church in Ridgebury. Their marriage produced 4 children.
Harlan’s oldest child, son Jessie Stewart Hall — named in honor of the Uncle Jesse Stewart who raised him — was born in June 29, 1869 and died at just over 8 months old.
Harlan’s father died in Ohio in November 1869.
Son Horace Crane Hall was born in 1871 and was named for his maternal grandfather; daughter Jessie L. Hall followed in 1875; and youngest daughter Margaret Coleman Hall in 1878. Daughter Margaret was named after Aunt Margaret who raised Harlan’s sister Harriet.
In 1879, Uncle Jesse Stewart passed away. His will left $2000 (about $67,000 in 2026) to Harlan.
The 1870, 1875 and 1880 censuses show Harlan was a farmer in Ridgebury. He drew his veteran’s pension starting in 1883. The 1890 Veterans census of Wawayanda Township confirmed his military service and noted he suffers from chronic rheumatism.
Throughout his life, Harlan was a hard-working and enterprising individual. He farmed and had a special interest in fruit cultivation. He owned and operated a steam mill in Ridgebury, which served the community as both a lumber and a grain mill. He rented his Woodbine Cottage in Orange County to summer tourists from NYC.
The Halls hosted a silver anniversary party in September 1893. It was a large gathering of family and friends. The newspapers stated “About 140 guests were present, and were entertained with the profuse hospitality that characterizes that household.”
The family lived in the Hall and Walker house until about 1900 when they moved into the magnificent mansion of General Benjamin Dunning at the foot of Ridgebury Lake. That home burned in a spectacular fire on the 4th of July. The home had a cupola and was under renovation. No one ever knew for sure whether it was spontaneous combustion from linseed oil soaked rags from the construction or whether a skyrocket fired on the 4th went through a cupola window. The house was completely destroyed, regardless of the origin of the fire The family moved into Woodbine Cottage.
Harlan was well known in his community through his church membership, fraternal and veteran’s organizations and other clubs. He belonged to the Presbyterian Church where he was married, the General Lyon Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the Loyal Legion, the Freemasons and the local Chautauqua Society. He attended a number of reunions of the 105th O.V.I. in northeastern Ohio.
Harlan Page Hall passed away on February 11, 1906 at age 63. In his obituary, a close family friend notes he “found in him a loyal and true friend, with the courage of his convictions, a generous and accommodating neighbor: in fact, a man to tie to. Truly, a good man has gone to his reward.”
He was buried at Ridgeberry Cemetery, Ridgebury, New York, adjacent to the Presbyterian Church. After his death, wife Sarah collected his military pension and made her home with daughter Margaret. She passed away in 1916.
