I wish I could report that Calvin Spangler was
related to the Spangler Candy Company but I
cannot find a reliable source to confirm that fact,
but one thing we know, Calvin was no Dum Dum.
Calvin Spangler was born in Ohio in 1838, 7 years before the Miami and Erie Canal was finished. His entire life was spent here in Waynesfield. I should be accurate about that; there was a period of 10 months when Calvin left Waynesfield. At the age of 22 Calvin and a group of companions decided to go to war. It was August 1861. While Henry Wolcott was with the 3rd Ohio the last years of its service, Calvin along with his 18-year-old brother Henry Dayton were there at its start. They joined Co C. Calvin was mustered in as a Corporal and in the first group to arrive at Camp Worchester for training. Located 53 miles east of Toledo, near Monroeville they began to train in defense of their country. The Blade did not have a reporter with the 3rd at the beginning but the story came home about the unsanitary conditions of the cooking and serving of the meals. The coffee was not made "like mother used to make" and the pork was fat, the beef tough, and to the soldiers dissatisfaction there were no pies, cakes or puddings. Conditions in the mess would not have passed a "restaurant report". By the end of September the men had "had their fill" and it wasn't of nutritious meals. One morning the breakfast tables were overturned, dishes wrecked, and the men rioted. The cooks and waiters were dismissed, 2 men from each company were assigned the cooking detail, and by 4 in the afternoon dinner was being served to the appreciated applause of the diners.
Calvin actively served 8 months with his regiment. His last 2 months in the service were spent in the army hospitals with chronic diarrhea (I don't know if this condition had nothing to do with the food he consumed during his training as this was an ailment suffered by many, many soldiers.)
In August of 1862, just 10 months after joining, Calvin Spangler received a discharge due to disability. Just four months later his brother Dayton died. Records do not show his cause of death.
Calvin would marry the former Mary Elizabeth Woodley on October 2, 1862. They will have 2 daughters, Minnie and Vinetta.
After his service Calvin returns to his job as a moulder but by 1880 he is not employed, presumably his health prevents him from working. He died in 1882 at the young age of 44. His wife filed for a pension and probably subsisted on that until her death 15 years later.
Calvin is buried here along with his brother Dayton and his parents Jacob and Ann.
For your contribution and sacrifices you made, Calvin Spangler we pray you and your brother rest in peace.