Michigan in the Civil War

Browse by Name: Baughman, Adelbert D.

Baughman, Adelbert D., b. 1841.

Typewritten copy of a diary (Sept. 13, 1864-July 16, 1865). Baughman lived in Plymouth, Richland County, Ohio and was with the First Independent Ohio Battery. He was stationed on guard and picket duty in Martinsburg, Va.Later he became company clerk in the Provost Marshal's office there and in Washington (Fort Meigs). His diary contains brief entries about his duties as well as social and recreational activities such as billiards, dancing, Masonic Lodge meetings, reading, letter writing, church attendance. There are more detailed accounts of places he visited, such as the Capitol and other places of interest in Washington, and Mount Vernon. He attended Ford's Theatre the night Lincoln was shot and gives a graphic account of that event. He was mustered out in 1865, and a few years later came to Charlotte, Mich., where he had a dry goods store. He eventually became mayor (1885) and president of the Merchants National Bank and the Eaton County Savings Bank.