PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
page 526
JAMES WALLACE POLLOCK.
One of
In
Washington County, Pa., John Pollock was born and grew to manhood.
In Westmoreland County, of the same State, lived Abraham and Jane
(Johnson) Elder, of Scotch-Irish stock, to whom was born a daughter, Jane.
The Elders removed to Logan County, Ohio, about the year 1820, where the
husband and father became a man of note, esteemed for his sterling character
and sturdy, common sense. He
was elected one of the first judges of the county, and served as such for many
years. John Pollock having come to Logan County, Ohio, met Miss Jane Elder, to
whom he became attached and after a successful wooing, the young couple were
united in marriage in 1834. They
built a home upon a piece of land near Huntsville, where they reared a family of
eight children, the subject of this sketch
being the third born, and having opened his eyes to the light January 12,
1840.
Young James Pollock was educated in the
district schools, afterward taking up a course of study in
During his confinement Mr. Pollock had charge
of a mess of one hundred men, for whom he drew the miserable stuff they called
rations. The Commissary Sergeant
of a small party of colored troops was brutally shot by the guard, and the
rebels would not issue rations directly to the Negroes, so it became necessary
to have a white man draw their supplies for them.
The position was not a pleasant one to hold, and few men cared to
undertake it, but Mr. Pollock volunteered to take charge of them, and did so
until his removal from the place. At one time the raiders became so numerous and
bold in their depredations, even at times murdering the defenseless prisoners,
that a committee was formed to remedy the evil.
Our subject was one of the committee men and helped to bring the
miscreants to justice, six of them being hung.
When captured Mr. Pollock weighed one hundred and
seventy-three pounds, but under the privations of prison life his weight
was reduced to eighty-three pounds. When
he had about made up his mind to die, he received a box from home in which a
little food had been left, it having been filled with clothing and food, but all
of the former and fully half of the latter having been taken out by the
Confederates. The letter in which
the receipt of the box was acknowledged had of course
From Andersonville Mr. Pollock was sent to
Charleston, where a party of prisoners were kept under guard six weeks until the
stockade at Florence was completed, when they were sent there. On their way he
and a comrade Charles Hoffman, of Buffalo, N. Y., made a break for liberty,
jumping
from the cars while in motion, and falling into a ditch of water.
A few shots were fired at them, but they escaped in the darkness,
traveling all night, but the next day, blood hounds being put on their trail,
they were run down, and reached Florence but thirty-six hours behind the others.
Mr. Pollock bears on his leg to this day the scars left by the bites of the
hounds. After spending about ten
weeks at Florence, the prisoners were exchanged in Charleston Harbor in
December, 1864, and from there were sent home on furlough.
Mr. Pollock rejoined his regiment April 5,
1865, and was mustered out of service with them at Camp Parker, near Nashville,
June 19, following. Returning to
Logan County, he entered Duff's Commercial College from which he was
graduated the following year. He
then adopted the drug business, in which he was busied for several years,
during two years of the time carrying on a store in Cedarville and one in Xenia,
for a considerable period. During
his stay in Cedarville he became acquainted with Miss Nettie, daughter of Samuel
and Jane (Townsley) Anderson, of that place, to whom he became attached, and his
regard being reciprocated, they were married on the 4th of November, 1869.
The father of Mrs. Pollock was
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Pollock comprises
three daughters--Edith, Jennie and Junia. The eldest is now a student in
Monmouth College, Ill., and expects to graduate in the class of '92.
Miss Jennie has already been graduated from the Cedarville schools, and
her parents intend to give her also a course at Monmouth, and to bestow the same
advantage upon the youngest daughter, who is yet attending the schools nearer
home.
Mr. Pollock is a Republican and a stalwart
anti-saloon man, and is now the nominee on the Republican ticket for County
Commissioner. In addition to the agricultural boards of which he is a member, he
is one of the charter members of the American Devon Cattle Club, and also one of
the founders of the Ohio Spanish-Merino Sheep Breeders' Association.
These associations were formed for the purpose of improving the grade of
stock. Mr. Pollock has a thoroughbred
herd of sheep and of Devonshire cattle, all being well housed in two large
stock barns on the home place. He belongs
to the United Presbyterian Church, and holds the office of Elder.
It might be said that his religious belief was born and bred in him, as
for many generations it has been that of the family.
30 Jan 2000