JOHN LAW ERWIN

(From the History of Callaway County Missouri, 1884, page 651-653.)
Transcribed by Kris Breid, 24 November 2004

JOHN LAW ERWIN, proprietor of the North Fulton dairy. Mr. Erwin, one of the progressive and substantial citizens of Fulton township, though occupying a subordinate position in the Union army during the Rebellion, rendered a valuable service to his country in one of the most important battles of the war.

Entering the army in 1861, at the age of twenty-one, at the time of the battle of Chickamauga he had been promoted until he was then first sergeant of his company—Company F, 98th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. At the critical moment during the progress of that battle, when the rebels by a terrible charge had driven a portion of Steadman’s division back some two hundred yards, and were about to turn the day into a great victory, he taking command of his company—of which at the moment there was no commissioned officer present—formed it across the end of the regiment and enfiladed the rebel advance, until Steadman’s Union forces could re-form and rally, thus assisting in saving the day to the Union arms. He was appointed 1st lieutenant November 4, 1864. Mr. Erwin was in many of the more important battles of the war, including the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, in 1862, in which he was wounded, and in fact all the principal engagements of the army of the Tennessee. He was sent back on recruiting service November 4, 1864, to Lexington, Kentucky. As soon as the proclamation was issued, announcing the close of the war, he tendered his resignation which was declined. He spent the greater portion of his time, from this till his discharge in September, 1865, in the mustering out department at Louisville, Kentucky, copying various papers, mustering out soldiers, etc.

After the war, having married in 1861, he and his father removed to Missouri with their families, and located in Callaway county near New Bloomfield, in 1865. The first year here he and his father farmed together and then he came to the vicinity of Fulton, some three and a-half miles south of the city, where he was engaged in farming principally, for about seven years and also began in the dairy business. In 1876 he established the Mineral Springs dairy, south of Fulton, which he carried on until 1881. This was the first substantial dairy improvement in the county. Returning to the farm near New Bloomfield that year, the following spring he came back to the vicinity of Fulton and established the North Fulton dairy, which he is still conducting.

Mr. Erwin has one of the finest dairy farms in this section of the State. He has 400 acres of his place all in grass, and he keeps between fifty and sixty cows and employs regularly, five hands. He expended in the establishment of this dairy, aside from the cost of the farm, etc., over $6,000. It is a complete dairy-farm in every particular, every thing being arranged and conducted according to the latest and most approved methods of dairy-farming. He is just completing an artesian well 350 feet, so as to have an abundant supply of the purest water for his cows. He was the first dairyman to make a success of the retail business in this county. His dairy has an established reputation and his success is complete.

Mr. Erwin is a native of Ohio, born in Harrison county, July 28, 1840. His father, Robert Erwin, is now a resident of this county. His mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Law, died in Ohio while John Law was still in infancy. Reared on the farm in Harrison county, he had the full benefit of the common schools of his neighborhood, and energetic and successful at school as he has been since in both military and agricultural life, at the early age of seventeen, he was amply qualified to engage in school-teaching. He taught school successfully, alternated with attending school in order to advance his education, for four years up to 1861, when he answered the call of his country to defend its life, and during the four years of rebellion made a record as a soldier, which his children and his children’s children will for generations point to, as one of the proudest distinctions of their name and lineage.

Mr. Erwin has been twice married. His first wife, formerly Miss Lizzie E. Birney, died on the 25th of October, 1878, leaving him five children; Maggie J., Robert W., Birney J., Arthur T. and Lizzie E. To his present wife, whose maiden name was Rachel L. Snyder, formerly of Pennsylvania, he was married on the 5th of February, 1879. They have two children; James O. and George S. Mr. and Mrs. Erwin are both members of the M. E. church South.

He has been a prominent member of the Republican party ever since his settlement in the county, and has several times been honored by being its candidate for some of the county offices. He has been secretary, almost continuously, of the county Republican central committee, for fifteen years past. By fidelity to principle and that courtesy due to man in all walks of life, he has won the respect and confidence of the people of the county.

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