Biography of Elitha D. House

Elitha D. House
Company A
1836-1878

Elitha D. House was born October 16, 1836. According to the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, Elitha served with the 3rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a Sergeant, was promoted to First Lieutenant, and then promoted to Captain. On February 8, 1864, at the age of 27, Elitha enlisted with Company A of the 60th Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a Captain. He signed on to serve for a three year term. On October 27, 1864, he was wounded in action at Yellow House, near Petersburg, Virginia.

A little over 4 months later, on March 2, 1865, he was discharged on a Surgeon's certificate of disability. It was said by Strader (either Levi C. or Levi T.), who served with his company, that Elitha was an "excellent soldier", who was "highly respected by all his comrades and showed rare qualifications as an officer on many occasions."

Elitha D. House died December 23, 1878. He was buried in Union Church Cemetery in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. He was survived by a half brother, P. M. Gutches, an ex-wife in Texas, a two-year old daughter in Texas, and an eight-year-old son at the Reform Farm in Lancaster.

A special thanks to Brent Nimmo for contributing this information and supplying the photogragh of Elitha D. House's grave marker.