Obituary of Lewis Ransom Mann
Medina County Gazette
Friday, September 19, 1924
(exactly as written - but not the complete obituary)
Lewis R. Mann: 1833-1924
L.R. Mann, the oldest male resident of the town of Medina and one of the oldest in Medina County, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Lyman Crofoot, Wednesday morning, at the age of 91 years.
While Mr. Mann was a familiar figure in Medina on account of his age he was best known because he was one of the few remaining figures of the great Civil war and one of the most active members of the Grand Army. He served as commander of Blake Post, of Medina, and for some years has been its chaplain. In every patriotic event in which the veterans could appear he took an active part.
Mr. Mann was born in Weymouth, one mile west of the village, July 10, 1833. His father was Abijah Mann, who came to Medina County in 1816, following close after Zenas Hamilton, the first settler in the vicinity. He had been married in 1857 to Miss Mary Adella Bleekman, of Weymouth, and they went onto the farm in Lafayette. His wife died in October 1898. They had four children, Mrs. L.D. Crofoot, C.W. Mann, Mrs. J.W. Seymour, and Mrs. E.C. Wilbur.
Mr. Mann served from August, 1862, until the close of the great conflict, was in all of the campaigns and battles participated in by his company, and while he remained a private, being numbered with the hundreds of thousands who did their whole duty all of the time, the one that won the war and saved the Union. He enlisted in Co. K, 103rd regiment, in August of “62 at Cleveland, and went with his command to Cincinnati within a month at the time that city was threatened by Gen. Kirby Smith whose forces, in fact, approached within eight miles. He did not participate in any fighting there, but after Smith was driven back the 103rd was sent south along the Lexington Pike, and engaged in quite a number of skirmishes with Morgan’s men. The first real fight was at Fort Mitchell, only a few miles from Cincinnati. Most of the service from that time on was in Tennessee and Georgia, the following major battles being participated in: Blue Springs, Tenn.; siege of Knoxville; Dandridge, Tenn.; Resaca, Ga.; Kenesaw Mountain, Ga.; siege of Atlanta, Spring Hill, Tenn. The regiment was with Sherman’s Army up to the capture of Atlanta, but did not accompany Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea, being left behind to take care of Gen. Hood’s army which it did satisfactorily. Mr. Mann was mustered out with his company and regiment at Raleigh, N.C., June 12, 1865.
At first Co. K was commanded by William H. Garrett, who resigned and was succeeded by George Norton, of Burbank, who served as such until the close of the war. The company was composed entirely of Medina County boys, 160 or 170 of them nearly all of them being now mustered out of this earthly life.
Mr. Mann was never wounded, although two bullets passed through his clothes and one through his hat. He suffered a sunstroke at one time, which affected him for many months but he did not give up. He also had a touch of malaria fever.
The regiment has held annual reunions for many years, and has for a dozen or 15 years owned its own camp grounds, on the shore of Lake Erie five miles east of Lorain. Mr. Mann did not miss a reunion in 30 years until his feeble health prevented his attendance the past three years. He was the oldest survivor of his regiment.
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