UPDATE JUNE 2023: A list of the 81 veterans is HERE.
By Monty Siekerman
ONU and the Village of Ada are joining together to honor Civil War veterans from Ada and Liberty Township.
After much research, the names of 81 veterans of the War Between the States have been found and their names, rank and unit will be inscribed on bricks and placed at the foot of the Civil War era canon in Railroad Park. The canon is a monument to those men who fought to preserve the Union and free a people.
The Village of Ada has agreed to provide the bricks at cost: $32.50 each. How to give a brick to honor a veteran is explained at the bottom of this news article.
Prof. Ray Schuck and his students searched long and hard to document the 81 veterans from here who served in the U.S. Army.
The bricks will be placed on the north face of the canon in the park. The base of that side of the monument reads “In Memory of Our Soldiers / 1861 -1865.” The legend on the south face of the monument reads, “Lest We Forget.”
The memorial bricks will be dedicated in a ceremony at 10:30 a.m. on Memorial Day, May 28.
To sponsor a brick, make the check payable to Ohio Northern University and mail to:
Dorothy Brown
Ohio Northern University
525 S. Main St.
Ada, OH 45810
All contributions are fully tax deductible.
For more information, contact John Lomax at 419-772-2088 or Dorothy Brown at 419-772-2090.
PHOTOS:
• The canon at the Railroad Park is flanked by two kinds of magnolias in the background and a VFW rose, just leafing out, in the foreground. Several of the bricks at the base are inscribed. More will be when the project is completed. The canon points to Fort Sumter.
• Example of how bricks will be inscribed.
• “LEST WE FORGET” is inscribed on the west base of the canon. “IN MEMORY OF OUR SOLDIERS / 1861-1865” is inscribed on the east side.
