Pvt., 173rd Ohio Infantry
1834-1881
Andrew Patrick was born in Kingston, Frontenac, Ontario, Canada on 18 June 1834. Andrew’s father, Samuel Patrick, was born in Scotland about 1810 and after traveling to Canada he became a barge pilot on the Erie Canal, where he met his future wife Sarah Kyle, a cook on the same vessel.
Andrew traveled with his parents on the barge and in his travels he met Gertrude (Gitty) Ann Spire, his wife. Andrew and Gertrude were married on 14 March 1856 in Fort Brewerton, New York. Andrew and Gertrude’s first child, Mary Jane Patrick, was born there in early 1857. In the spring of that year they moved to Monmouth, Warren County, Illinois where son, William Edgar Patrick was born. They later moved to Kelly, Warren County, Illinois where James Russell Patrick was born.
In September 1864, during the Civil War, Andrew, then 30, enlisted in the Union Army, Company A of the 173rd Ohio Infantry. Upon returning from his war service he and his family moved once again, this time to Grinnell, Poweshiek County, Iowa. They later settled in Chester Township, where Andrew was active in the community and was a member of the local militia and the Grange.
Andrew, who was a carpenter as well as a cabinet maker, built the house and much of the family’s furniture for their new farm. Many of the school houses and dwellings, including churches in Poweshiek and nearby Tama County were built with Andrew’s help. His family lived there for about seven years before moving to a farm in Sugar Creek, Jasper County, Iowa. Andrew again built their house as well as the first school on the hill east of Sugar Creek. Andrew was the school’s first director. Education was very important to him.
Andrew and Gertrude had four more sons, Abram Hayes Patrick born on 10 May 1865, Byron Oliver Patrick born 25 June 1867, Chester Norman Patrick born July 1869, and Clyde S. Patrick born about 1873. And, in 1877 they adopted Lulu Lillian George, when she was three years old. Lulu was born on 14 April 1874 in Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa. She was the daughter of close friends who had passed away. Andrew stated in his Will, which was written just six weeks before his death, “I desire and direct that Lulu George shall be brought up and properly educated out of my estate, until she shall arrive at the age of 18 years.”
Andrew died on 6 August 1881 in Harvard, Clay County, Nebraska at the age of 47. At the time of his death he and his family were living in Fontana, Miami County, Kansas. He had been ill, but asked his wife and one of his sons to take him to see family in Nebraska. He made it as far as Harvard where he passed away. He was buried at the Harvard Cemetery and a small, stone marker was placed on his grave. In 1920, when his son Abram and his family visited the cemetery, the marker was crumbling. Over time his grave became unmarked. In 2015 Andrew’s descendants contacted the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and requested a headstone be created and placed at his grave. On 14 November 2015, two of his great-great grandchildren, a group of local veterans, a pastor, a representative of the city, and the local media attended the ceremony at the Harvard Cemetery, where a new Civil War era headstone was unveiled in Andrew Patrick’s honor.
