Barnhart Kline Jr.'s Sons - Barnhart III, Henry, and Peter Comstock Kline

 

Barnhart Kline III -

Barnhart Kline III was born to Barnhart Kline Jr. and Rosetta Chapelles on May 22, 1843, in Sandusky County, Ohio.  He was their first son.

Barnhart, known as "Barney," enlisted on August 4, 1862, into Company K of the 100th Ohio Infantry, at 19 years old. On September 8, 1863, his company, inexperienced in battle, led by General Ambrose Burnside, met a Confederate unit, led by Alfred E. Jackson, on the bridge at Limestone Station.  Prior to this the 100th had done a lot of marching, but no fighting.  There the 100th ran out of ammunition and was consequently surrounded by the enemy.  Two hundred and fifty men were captured and placed on a train bound for Richmond, where there were numerous prisons for Union soldiers.  

Eighty five of those 100 died in prison in Richmond.  Barney was eventually in a prisoner exchange and, upon his release, made his way to Atlanta and caught up with his regiment there.

On August 4, 1864, Sherman decided it was time to move forward and seize the railroad to East Point.  He ordered Schofield to advance his Twenty-Third Corps, plus Major General John M. Palmer's Fourteenth Corp and "not stop until he has absolute control of that railroad.  The next day only one Union brigade, Brig. General Absalom Baird's, moved forward and seized an entrenched skirmish line with 140 prisoners at the cost of 83 killed and wounded.  

The next morning, Schofield ordered part of his corps to attack at Utoy Creek.  By the time the Union advanced, the Confederates had taken a position on a ridge and they were ready.  They had strengthened their works with logs and branches of trees.  Union soldiers had heard the felling of the trees.  Into this entanglement and up the slope came the Union charge, including Barney, and the Confederates opened with heavy musketry and cannon, driving them back.  The Union tried again and was repulsed.  Seventy six men were killed, 199 wounded and 31 captured. against 15-20 Confederate men.  Barney Kline was killed in this battle at Utoy Creek.  After the battle at Utoy Creek, the bodies were left on the field of battle, as there was no time for other than perhaps a quick burial.  Later the Marietta National Cemetery was created and Barney III's body was moved there.  However, the family also erected a cenotaph in the McPherson Cemetery in Clyde, Ohio for him.

           Fremont Journal, August 26, 1864, page 7

                                        Monument at Marietta National Cemetery, Marietta, Cobb Co., GA

                                         

                                         Centotaph for Barney Kline III, McPherson Cemetery, Clyde. Ohio   

                                           Note G.A.R star on the left side.

Peter Comstock Kline was named after his maternal grandfather, Comstock Chapelles (Rosetta Chapelles Kline), and was born on February 25, 1845.  His obituary gave a very complete summary of his life, except that he was married twice.  First, he married Helen Tichenor in 1872.  They divorced in December, 1885, at the request of Helen, on the grounds of willful absence for three years.  She was granted custody of their child - probably Russell.

                             The Sandusky Register, February 25, 1940, page 12

Another obituary added yet more facts to his life story: 

"PETER C. KLINE, VETERAN OF CIVIL WAR, CLAIMED BY DEATH

Death claimed the life of Pete Comstock Kline, 95 year old Civil War veteran and sole survivor of the C. B. Gambee Post No. 33, G.A.R. at his home at 205 North West street at 11:50 p.m. Monday.  His passing was attributed to the infirmities of old age.  In failing health since June 12, 1939, when he suffered a hard fall on Main Street, Mr. Kline has been confined to hishome for over a year.  Despite the delicate condition of his health, his mind was active and he took a keen interest in world affairs which he followed nightly by listening to Lowell Thomas radio broadcasts.

PARADE PAID TRIBUTE

His last public appearance was on Memorial Day when the parade stopped in front of his home to pay tribute to the city's last Civil War veteran as he stood on the porch supported on the arms of war veterans.  A recent illness brought on by the intense heat prevented him from attending the Ohio convention of Civil War veterans held at Sandusky last weekend.

He received his host of friends at intervals during the past year and enjoyed their company  in spite of the fact he was unable to make his daily trips 'uptown.'  His death last night thwarted his ambition to reach 100 years of age.

Believed to have been the oldest resident of the city, Mr. Kline was born February 15, 1845 in York township on the homestead which is now the Gypsum Cherry Farm.  He was the son of Barnhart and Rosetta Kline.  He spent his early boyhood in this vicinity and remembered well much of the early history of the city and surrounding county.

ENLISTED AT 19

As a lad of 19, he enlisted February 27, 1864, in the A company of the 10 regiment of the U.S. Army at Cleveland and served three years in the Union Army before being discharged at Ft. Ripley, Minnesota, February 27, 1867.  He fought in five different engagements including the Battle of the Wilderness - May 6, 1864, Battle of Petersburg - June, 1864, and the Battles at Weldon railroad, August 18, 19 and 21, 1864. He was wounded in the left arm at the Bottle of the Wilderness and while in the hospital, he had the pleasure of shaking the hand of Lincoln who visited the wounded men.  From November, 1865 until his discharge, he was among the Indians in Minnesota at Ft. Ripley, Leach Lake and Crow Wing.

MARRIED 54 YEARS

During his active life, he was a farmer and a railroader, having been an engineer for over 18 years. On June 1, 1886, he was married to Jennie Stone, they recently having celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary.  Besides the local widow, two sons, Dr. Walter Kline, local dentist, and Russell, at home, survive.  A daughter died in infancy.

He has been an active Mason and served a four year term as Master of the Blue Lodge.  He also served several terms on the city council and held the office of Post Commander of the C. B. Gambee Post No. 33 for a good part of the last 50 years.  The organization originally numbered 163 members.  He was also an honorary member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Funeral services will be held Thursday at 2:30 p.m. from the Young funeral home with the Rev. D. J. Black officiating.  Burial will be in the Bellevue Cemetery. Mr. Kline will be accorded full military honors at the grave which will be in charge of the American Legion.  Members of the Masonic Lodge will be pall-bearers..."

Henry Edward Kline

Little could be found on this youngest son, Henry, born in 1847 and died in 1902.  His obituary was helpful in that it established that he never married and had no children.

In the Bellevue Gazette, August 21, 1902: 

DEATH OF HENRY KLINE

Henry Kline died Wednesday, at eleven o'clock a.m. at Dr. Orwig's sanitarium on East Main Street, aged 56 years.  Mr. Kline had been in impaired health for several years and death was due to messenteric consumption.

Deceased was born and raised in York township and was a son of the late Barnhart Kline.

He was unmarried and leaves a sister in Michigan and one brother, P. C. Kline, the well known York township farmer.

Decease was an active member of the Blue Lodge Council , Chapter, and was also a Knight Templar, being a member of Norwalk Commandery. The funeral services were held from the home of his brother, P. C. Kline, at 9:30 o'clock Friday morning and at the Free Chapel at 10:00 under the auspices of Norwalk Commandery, Knights Templar.  Interment will be in Free Chapel Cemetery."

Barnhart and Margaret Ritter Kline Sr. - Their Sons

 Barnhart Sr. and Margaret Kline had three sons.  Our direct ancestor was the oldest son, Solomon, born on December 26, 1787. More can be read about his family HERE and ALSO HERE.  Solomon removed to Hocking County, Ohio.

His eighth child was also a son, Henry Kline, born August 26, 1800, in Union County, Pennsylvania, and he stayed there and in Union County for his lifetime, farming and acquiring land, and even by 1850, he had real estate worth $6,000. In Union County, he married Mary "Polly" Kratzer around 1820.  They had together twelve or thirteen children: Samuel, Barnhart Maurice, Catherine, Mary Anna "Polly", Henry Jr., Jacob Joseph, Rebecca, Solomon, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Eva.  

Little could be found on Henry, beyond the censuses. His wife died on March 31, 1875, and he followed on September 16, 1883.  In the 1880 census, he lived with his daughter Polly Derk and her husband, John, farmers in Snyder County.

 

He was buried with his wife in the Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery in Kratzerville, Pennsylvania.

The last child (#10) and son of Lt. Barnhart Sr. and Margaret Kline, was the colorful Barnhart Kline Jr., born June 17, 1805, in Union County, Pennsylvania. He removed to Sandusky County, Ohio, in his youth and there married Rosetta Cook Chapples on September 23, 1838, the daughter of Comstock and Hannah Chapples. 

Several children were born with a first wife before his marriage to Rosetta and Barnhart remembered those in his will and they had the Kline surname: Phoebe Kline (1830-1849), died at age 19; Wealthy Kline (1832 -1899); and Elizabeth Kline (1837 - 1859), died at age 22.  The rest of their children were: Sarah Annette "Nettie" Kline (Cuyler Smith Price); Frances Amelia Kline (Frank Abraham Avery); Barnhart "Barney" Kline III; Peter Comstock Kline (Jennie Stone, Helen Tichenor); Henry Edward Kline; and an infant daughter born and died in 1851.

In 1857, Barnhart Jr and Rosetta went through a very publicized divorce.  The divorce petition was filed in Sandusky County, Ohio in the Chancery Records, Vol. 9, page 100 and read as follows:

" Rosetta vs Barnhart Kline, December 1857

Couple married 23 September 1838

The couple married in Sandusky County and had resided there until 22 November 1857. Rosetta stated her age was 52 years. The couple had six children: Sarah, 18; Frances A., 16; Barnhart, 14; Peter, 12; and Henry E. 11.  One child died in infancy.

Barnhart had been attending spiritual and 'Free Love' meetins after which he became abusive and locked her out of their bedroom.  One Saturday in 1857, he began choking Rosetta and when her daughter tried to help, Barnhart hit Rosetta, threw her in a buggy, and had her driven to Weaver's Tavern. She then stayed with the Amos R. Carver family.

Barnhart accused Rosetta of selling their personal property.  He further stated that Rosetta had been abusive, had left his bed, and was meeting a man named Queen.  On 20 December 1857, she threatened to poison him.  He believed she owned $354 worth of land in York Township which she could use for her support.

Divorce decree and $3,000 alimony were granted to Rosetta.  Barnhart was ordered to pay $75 every 6 months.  Failure to pay would result in double payments.  Barnhart appealed to the district court."

The report of this divorce also appeared in a book, Sex Radicals and the Quest for Women's Equality by Joanne Ellen Passet, 2003 on page 84: "Locally, Rosetta Kline, a fifty two year old mother of six children, cited her husband, Barnart's, conversion to free love as the cause she sued him for divorce in December 1857.  After attending Free Love meetings during the summer months, she alleged he had become physically abusive and 'sour.' A sympathetic judge granted Rosetta the divorce and three thousand dollars in alimony."

As would be expected, Barnhart and Rosetta lived apart for the 1860 census.  Barnhart, 55, and Master Farmer, lived on his farm in York Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, with the three sons - Barnhart III, Peter and Henry - along with four farm hands and two domestic girls, aged 16.  He had real estate valued at $35,000 and a personal estate of $2500.  Rosetta, on the other hand, moved in with Jeremiah and Delora Smith. Nettie Kline,19, worked there as a domestic, and one 15 year old boy was a farmhand.  Another older lady, Louisa Knapp, and Rosetta, 54, were not listed with occupations. 

Rosetta was buried in McPherson Cemetery, Clyde, Sandusky County, Ohio.

On May 7, 1879, The Bellevue Gazette reported: 

"Horse Thieve About - Attempt to Steal a Rig From Barney Kline

Friday night thieves visited the premises of Barney Kline, just out of town on the pike, and made a futile attempt to get away with a horse, buggy, and harness belonging to that gentleman.  Two of Mr. Kline's men were sleeping upstairs in his house and were awakened during the small hours of the night, either because they happened to wake up, or because of the curse occasioned by the operations of the would-be horse thieves.  Further listening developed the fact that some parties were moving about the premises, and accordingly, Mr. Kline was aroused and accompanied his men out to the barn werhe they found a horse had been turned out of the stable and left in the south end of the barn.  Undoubtedly, the approach of Mr. Kline and his men gave the thieves timely warning in which to make themselves scarce."

On July 25, 1885, the newspaper above reported that Barney Kline Jr. was in a very critical condition due to congestive fever, and on August 3, 1885, he died.  Before he died, he called a lawyer to him so he could speak his will, which was probated then on August 10.

Witnesses who signed testified that Barnhart was in a very weakened state and questioned if he had a sound mind.  One witness said he hadn't been of sound mind for three years.  "He showed this by selling the property the way he did - he didn't have people pay him then."  One witness was there at the time lawyer, Mr. Schyler, was helping him with his will.  He thought Barnhart was easily influenced by Mr. S.  Barnhart tried to speak, but couldn't, so Mr. S. answered for him.

Mr. Schyler, Barnhart's lawyer for thirty years, was well acquainted with Kline for the last 15 years, having been his ally on several cases. About a month before this, Barnhart came to Ridole's Hotel in Bellevue and had a physician attend him.  He dropped in on Mr. Schyler several times before his death and wanted help in getting his papers together and wanted them looked over.  The papers were in a safe in his home, so he had the physician who was there

open the safe with a key and he unloaded the papers and checked them in Barnhart's presence.  Mr. Schyler said that most were of little or no value, so he  packaged them up to look at them further and he came to Barnhart several times more, but Barnhart was too weak to talk.

Then

 someone came to Mr. Schyler and said that Kline wanted him to see to his will.  Mr. Schyler said he did write it and then read it back to Barnhart in its entirety. The lawyer felt that Barnhart understood fully and he answered the questions softly so he doubted that the witness could hear.

At his death at Kline's Corners on the Pike (Rt. 20),his nephew, Amos Kline, was named executor and Mr. Scyler, assistant.  He wanted his debts and funeral expenses paid, and then $1,000 to go to each of his children - Sarah Annette, Henry E. and Peter C. - 1/2 in one year and 1/2 in the next year, and the same to his nephew, Amos. 

 

The remainder of his estate he gave to daughters, Wealthy (Dunton) and Frances A. (Avery), to be owned and used by them for the rest of their natural lives, and then on to their children.

Last he gave the homestead farm in York Township to be given to Wealthy and Frances and their children. All other real estate was to be sold on the discretion of the executors as to time and the profits to those daughters and their families. The final appraisal of his property was $34,944.57, and the will signed with Barnhart's mark.