George Ewalt Fish

Male 1839 - 1913  (73 years)


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  • Name George Ewalt Fish 
    Birth 16 Dec 1839  Sparta, Livingston Co., New York, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Military Service 6 Feb 1863  Jackson, Jackson Co., Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    American Civil War (North)
    7th Michigan Cavalry, Co.E
    Took part in the Battles of Wilderness, Peterburgh and Sheriden
    In service after the war. 
    Death 24 Nov 1913  Arenac Co., Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Burial Clayton Cemetery, Maple Ridge, Arenac Co., Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • George Ewalt Fish, founders and Civil War Veteran, was born in Sparta, Livingston Co., New York, on December 16th, 1839 and was the oldest of twelve children of James and Clarissa (Ewalt) Fish. While a young man, George, worked on his father’s farm and in about 1854 he moved with his father’s family to Van Wert County, Ohio near the Indiana border with the tide of others going west.

      In 1859, George made his way to Lima, Washtenaw Co., Michigan, where his cousin, Nathanial Fish, had recently died, leaving a young widow, Hannah Hartman Fish, with two young children (Henry and Isabelle). George and Hannah were married in June of 1860 in Lima while he worked as a farm laborer in the area. Their oldest daughter, Abbie, was born the following year in Van Wert, Ohio, where his parents still resided.

      At the start of the Civil War, as a resident of Lima, George first enlisted in November 1861 in the 1st U.S. Lancers Michigan Cavalry. The unit, however, didn’t conform to federal mustering regulations therefore the unit was dissolved and George was mustered out on March 20, 1862. In Feb 1864, George again enlisted in the Civil War, this time with the 7th Michigan Cavalry. This unit was part of the Michigan Brigade, known as the Wolverine Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General George A. Custer. Shortly before the Battle of Cedar Creek in October 1864, George was promoted to Full Corporal. His unit took part in other major campaigns and battles including; Wilderness, Petersburg, and Appomattox. After the war, George continued with his unit during operations against the Indians in the District of the Plains and Dakota. It was during this time that remaining members of the 7th Cavalry were transferred into the 1st Michigan Cavalry. He was mustered out on March 10, 1866 in Salt Lake City, Utah, obtaining the rank of Full Quarter Master Sergeant. (Many men of the Michigan Cavalry were mustered out at Camp Douglas in Utah – including George. These men were paid $115 which would not cover their expense half way to the Missouri River. A trip from Utah to Michigan would cost upward of $300 at the time. The Governor and the US Senate got involved in the issue of leaving the men in Utah to have them pay their own way home. After several pleadings by the Governor, the House and Senate approved funding to pay the men of the 1st Michigan that were mustered out in Utah $325 minus the amount already allotted them).

      During George’s enlistment, it appears that his wife, Hannah, moved back to Sparta, New York, near her father’s family. When George returned to Sparta after the war and his service out west, he and his wife along with her sister, Elizabeth Hartman, and her husband, Isaac Clayton, left western New York and came to what was then Bay County in the Arenac township about 1869.

      The following year, George, with others, filed for an application for the erection and organization of a new township that would later be known as Clayton. The first township meeting was held at the house of Isaac E. Clayton where George E. Fish, Philo P. Clayton (brother of Isaac) and William Smith were the three electors of the new township presiding at the meeting. George would later hold several other positions in the township, including, Commissioner of the Highways (Pathmaster as they were also called) and Member of the Board of Review. He also worked the elections and was instrumental in getting some of the current roads mapped out in the township.

      In 1886, George and his wife were charter members of the First Presbyterian church of Maple Ridge and he was elected one of the first elders of the church. George Fish built a general store in Maple Ridge which had a hall upstairs where the Grange and Oddfellows held meetings. Later he sold the place and had a general store in the building where Alfonzo Deford later lived.

      George died in Maple Ridge on November 24th 1913 and was survived by daughters, Abbie Eymer and Vinne Poole, of Maple Ridge and two step-children, Henry Fish, of Maple Ridge and Isabelle Clayton Kear, of Wayland,NY.
    Person ID I7919  OurNorthernRoots
    Last Modified 3 Feb 2014 

    Father James Fish,   b. ca 1807, New York, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Mother Clarissia Ewalt,   b. ca 1818, New York, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F10950  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Hannah Ellen Hartman,   b. 7 Jul 1834, Sparta, Livingston Co., New York, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 13 Feb 1911, Arenac Co., Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 76 years) 
    Marriage 28 Jun 1860  Lima, Washtenaw Co., Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
    +1. Abigail Emeline Fish,   b. 16 Sep 1861, Van Wert, Ohio, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 22 Jan 1946, Grand Rapids, Kent Co., Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 84 years)
     2. George Nathaniel Fish,   b. 22 Jan 1868   d. 30 Oct 1869, Arenac Co., Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 1 year)
    +3. Ellen Fish,   b. 1873, Maple Ridge, Arenac Co., Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 15 Jan 1892, Maple Ridge, Arenac Co., Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 19 years)
    +4. Vinnie Fish,   b. 1876, Maple Ridge, Arenac Co., Michigan, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1957 (Age 81 years)
    Family ID F1883  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 1 Feb 2014 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 16 Dec 1839 - Sparta, Livingston Co., New York, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 28 Jun 1860 - Lima, Washtenaw Co., Michigan, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMilitary Service - American Civil War (North) 7th Michigan Cavalry, Co.E Took part in the Battles of Wilderness, Peterburgh and Sheriden In service after the war. - 6 Feb 1863 - Jackson, Jackson Co., Michigan, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 24 Nov 1913 - Arenac Co., Michigan, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - - Clayton Cemetery, Maple Ridge, Arenac Co., Michigan, USA Link to Google Earth
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