Service Academies

Thomas C. Bowen Civil War Veteran and Marion Fire Chief

marionohioveterans3 Comments

Thomas Corwin “T. C.” Bowen was born in Marion, Ohio, on 14 October 1840. He was the son of Honorable Ozias Bowen & Lydia Baker. Thomas C. Bowen’s maternal grandfather was Eber Baker, founder of Marion, Ohio. Thomas Bowen attended schools in Marion. He also attended Oberlin Preparatory School.

From US Naval Academy

Thomas C. Bowen was admitted to the United States Naval Academy. T. C. Bowen was graduated early from the academy, due to the outbreak of the Civil War. He was an 1861 Graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He then served in the Navy during the Civil War. Due to his service in the Civil War, Bowen would gain the nickname “Colonel Bowen.”

In March of 1862, Midshipman Thomas C. Bowen was ordered to report to Captain Mead, on board the receiving-ship North Carolina, where he was assigned to duty as Assistant Instructor of Gunnery.
In an official publication of the Navy Department dated 1 January 1865, Lieutenant (Lt.) Thomas C. Bowen was assigned to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, aboard the USS Monongahela (1862). The Monongahela at that time was led by Commander James H. Strong. By Orders dated 6 September 1865, Lt. Thomas C. Bowen was ordered for temporary duty on board the USS Miantonomah.

Following the Civil War Bowen returned to Marion, Ohio. While in Marion, Bowen worked as Civil engineer, surveyor, and attorney; being admitted to the bar in 1871. It was also in 1871, that T. C. Bowen married Sarah Williams, on 12 October.

In 1874, T. C. Bowen was found to be part of the Marion Star Baseball Association. The players were known as the “Stars.”

On 11 April 1878, the Marion Daily Star reported that T. C. Bowen was nominated and confirmed as Solicitor and Chief of Fire Department in the City of Marion. Also, nominated and confirmed were V. Lapham as Engineer of Fire Steamer, Con Maloy as Teamster, J. Cochran & A. BenVenuti as Night Watchmen.

On 25 April 1879, the Daily Ohio State Journal reported that Marion had appointed T. C. Bowen as City Solicitor and Chief to the Marion Fire Department. Elected at the same meeting was Wm. Fies, Clerk. William Fies later served as Chief of the Marion Fire Department. Both Bowen and Fies served as political appointees to the Chief position and had to be reappointed. This was before the Council created the Board of Public Safety and began to hire the Fire Chief and full-time firefighters.

Thomas C. Bowen died on 4 November 1917. He is buried in the Marion Cemetery.
Thomas C. Bowen’s name is recorded inside the Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Memorial Chapel; Column 3, “Bowen, T. C. USN,” for service in the Civil War.

Merchant Marine Oiler George E. Berridge Killed in Collision of Tankers, 1943

marionohioveteransLeave a comment

George Edward Berridge was born on 17 April 1923, in Marion, Ohio. His parents are Cornelius W. & Catherine G. (Tedow) Berridge of Marion, Ohio George E. Berridge attended Saint Mary High School. George had two brothers who were also serving in the armed forces; pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Francis W. Berridge, stationed at New River, North Carolina; Apprentice Seaman Donald J. Berridge, Great Lakes Naval Station. George E. Berridge had worked in Arizona for three months, on the Colorado River Dam Project. He was last employed at the Scioto Ordnance Plant.

George E. Berridge enlisted in the Merchant Marines. He took his basic training at Sheepshead Bay, New York. Berridge worked in the engine room as an oiler. United Fruit Company was the company that he shipped from. Different sources state that an accident occurred in 1943 and 1944. 1943 is the date that the Merchant Marines and others use. The Liberty Ship J. Pinckney Henderson had a collision with Tanker J. H. Senior.

“While steaming in Convoy HX-252 and carrying a volatile cargo Liberty Ship J. Pinckney Henderson collided with the tanker J. H. Senior, which was carrying high octane aviation gas, on August 19, 1943, while off Newfoundland. Both ships were immediately drenched in aviation gas and became blazing infernos, the flames spreading so rapidly that there were only nine survivors between them. The Liberty ship J. Pinckney Henderson was towed to Sydney, Nova Scotia where she arrived on August 31, and was beached. She continued to burn for three more weeks until nothing was left but a gutted hull. Later she was refloated and towed to Halifax, then on January 14, 1944, she was towed to New York, where she was declared a constructive total loss. In July of 1944, she was scrapped in Philadelphia. Sixty-one men were lost on the Liberty ship and only three survived.”

from Navy Records

George E. Berridge was reported as missing in action. Also aboard the J. Pinckney Henderson was Jack Sellers born in Delaware, Ohio. The names of both men are listed on the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri.

In September of 1943, the bodies of the men recovered from the collision were buried in a mass grave, in Harwood Hill Cemetery, in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Some of the Canadian sailors who recovered the bodies from the burning ships were also the burial party.

An 800lb. granite marker, in the shape of a Cross, was erected that read: “U. S. Liberty Ship J.P. Henderson, September 3, 1943. Here lie the remains of officers and crew members, naval and merchant, who lost their lives while serving their country. All members buried with full naval honors.” The date, September 3, 1943, may be the date the bodies were recovered and laid to rest or the date the memorial was set.
In 1949, the remains of the Merchant Marines and sailors were returned to the United States and buried in a mass grave at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, in St. Louis, Missouri. A memorial listing their names is also found there.

In the 1960’s, Canada offered the original cross-shaped marker to the United States Merchant Marine Academy, in Kings Point, New York. They had plans to erect it near the waterfront, but before it could be installed a new academy superintendent, who decided he did not like it, stopped the plans. The memorial was sent to storage in a government warehouse. Somehow it was later buried on the grounds of the Merchant Marine Academy. Forty years later, on May 23, 2003, a bulldozer working to widen a road uncovered the marker. It is now, erected on the campus of the Academy, in memory of the men who lost their lives.

George E. Berridge is remembered on the Honor Roll, at the Veterans Memorial Park, in Marion, Ohio; on the west wall of the Marion County Courthouse; and on the World War Two Memorial Wall, at the Marion Cemetery.

Memorial at Jefferson Barracks
Photo Courtesy of Ms. Donitz, United States Merchant Marine Academy Alumni
Photo Courtesy of Ms. Donitz, United States Merchant Marine Academy Alumni

Harry M. Dombaugh – United States Naval Academy, 1877

marionohioveterans1 Comment

Harry Mason Dombaugh was born on 24 January 1856. His parents were Philip & Sarah E. (Deardorff) Dombaugh. His parents had nine children. Harry M. Dombaugh attended the United States Naval Academy and was a graduate of the Class of 1877.

Records show that, “Lieutenant Harry Dombaugh left Monday night for duty at the United States Navy Torpedo Station at Newport, R. I.,” in the fall of 1889. In 1901, he was the Lt. Commander of the USS Hartford. We then find that he Commanded the USS Arkansas, on 29 August 1907; later was Commander of the USS Chicago (CA-14), USS Nevada (Battleship #36), and USS Olympia (Cruiser #6). By July of 1909, he was on the list of Navy officers, who applied for voluntary retirement and whose applications have been accepted. At this time he was Commander of the USS Ozark (Monitor).

Captain Dombaugh was mentioned in a letter dated 5 August 1918, written from Major George B. Knapp to Knapp’s father.
Commander Harry M. Dombaugh died in 11 October 1920, and is buried in the Marion Cemetery, Marion, Ohio.

Caption: Officers of USS HARTFORD, during reconstruction. Picture taken in 1901. The officers are, (from left to right): Assistant Paymaster Walter Camp, Ens Thos C. Hart, Ens Victor S. Houston, Capt. F.W. Witte, Lt. Cdr. Alex Sharp, Sailmaker Fronk Watson, Lt. John E. Hines, Comdr. John M. Hawley, Tall man behind?, Surgeon Edw. R. Stitt, Lt. Cdr. Harry M. Dombaugh, Gunner David F. Diggins, Lt. George W. Laws, Asst. Surg. Edw. G. Palmer, Gunner Wm. J. Foley, Warrent officer ?, Chaplain Robt. E. Steele, Warrrent officer ?

John William “Jack” Houpt – Navy Veteran

marionohioveteransLeave a comment

John William “Jack” Houpt was born in Marion, Ohio, on 7 April 1922. Jack was the son of William C. and Mabel Y. (Allen) Houpt. Jack Houpt was a 1940 graduate of Harding High School. Jack attended Ohio University for two years. Jack was a first place candidate for the United States Naval Academy in December of 1941. Houpt was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy Class of 1945, in which he received a degree in Chemical Engineering. Houpt would also marry Vivian Joy Hancock in Annapolis, Maryland, on the same day that he was commissioned as an officer of the United States Navy on 6 June 1945. Houpt would serve in the Submarine Service of the Navy.

Back home in Marion, Ohio, John was the owner and operator of the Houpt Monument Company for over 50 years.

John William “Jack” Houpt died on 3 December 2008, and was buried in the Marion Cemetery.

John W. Houpt is also honored on the World War Two Veterans Memorial Wall at the Marion Cemetery.

J. W. “Jack” Houpt U. S. Naval Academy Class of 1945

Capt. R. L. Ferguson – World War Two Casualty

marionohioveteransLeave a comment

Robert Langdon Ferguson was not from Marion but was married to a Marion resident, Mrs. Jean Andrews Ferguson. Mrs. Ferguson was the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. W. W. Andrews of Marion, Ohio. Robert Ferguson was known by a number of people in Marion, due to his visits here.

FergusonUSMA
Class of 1942

Robert (Bob) L. Ferguson was born 21 June 1918 in West Point, Georgia. His parents were the late Anderson D. Ferguson & Carolie Clark Ferguson of West Point, Georgia. Bob was an outstanding student in high school with a dream of attending the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. Bob attended the Marion Military Institute in Alabama for one year and was ranked as a gold star cadet for his scholastic achievement.
Bob was not able to secure an appointment to the United States Military Academy (USMA), so he enlisted in the United States Army. He soon entered the West Point Preparatory School at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. After nine months training he not only won an Army appointment to USMA, but also secured the Senatorial appointment, in which he beat out 250 other Georgians for the spot. Bob thus entered USMA in 1938.
Cadet Ferguson continued as an excellent student while at West Point, New York. He received the honor star his first-class year and was a Cadet Officer.

With his sincerity of purpose, he possessed a fun-loving nature, and this happy combination made him many real friends. He was a member of the Choir, and played trumpet in the Cadet Orchestra, becoming leader of it during his first-class year. Although the Infantry was his first preference. Bob finally chose to try for Air Corps Wings, as a fighter pilot, after graduation.
USMA Association of Graduates Cullum Record

2nd Lieutenant Ferguson attended Air Corps training at Ocala, Florida and Oreeneville, Mississippi, and also at Craig Field in Selma, Alabama. Lt. Ferguson would earn his Silver Wings at Craig Field on 13 December 1942, but not before marrying Jean Andrews of Marion, Ohio, whom he had met while on furlough the previous summer. It would be interesting to know how these two met and where. Please share if you have the information.

Lt. Ferguson continued training at Craig Field for Fighter Transition Training. Lt. Ferguson was promoted to 1st Lt. in January 1943. Lt. Ferguson was then assigned to the 325th Fighter Squadron flying a P-47 Thunderbolt.
In August of 1943, Ferguson was promoted to Captain and assigned as the Operations Officer for the 325th Squadron. In October of 1943 Cpt. Ferguson was assigned to the 366th Fighter Group under Colonel Dyke Myer. This Group was actively preparing to go overseas. They would set sail for Europe on 17 December 1943.

FergusonUSACapt. Ferguson was the Operations Officer for the 391st Fighter Squadron while in England. He often spent time as the Acting Squadron Commander and considered “the backbone of the command” by at least one squadron member and was described as “a real leader of men and expected things be done in the ‘Army way.’ ” Capt. Ferguson participated in over 15 missions of France and Germany. On 5 April 1944, Capt. Ferguson died in a mid-air collision while trying to land after a mission had been called off due to dense fog on the airfield.

In addition to his widow and parents, Bob is survived by his sisters, Mrs. Redmond Forrester of West Point, Georgia, and Mrs. Philip C. Loofbourrow, of March Field, California. At the time of his death, his two brothers were also overseas—Captain Drew Ferguson with the Emory Hospital Unit in France, and Major Miles Ferguson with Merrill’s Marauders and later Mars Task Force In Burma.

Capt. Robert L. Ferguson was given a full military burial at Brookwood American Military Cemetery, near London. He was reinterred in Sec: 12, Site: 7888, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia.
He is memorialized with a memorial headstone in his hometown, Marseilles Cemetery, West Point, Troup County, Georgia.
Capt. Robert L. Ferguson is also remembered on the Honor Roll at the Veterans Memorial Park in Marion, Ohio, on the west wall of the Marion County Courthouse, and on the World War II Veterans Memorial Wall at the Marion Cemetery.