Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1902 — OHIO WAR VETERAN. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHIO WAR VETERAN.

Was a Target for the First Shot Fired at the Siege of Vicksburg. B. J. Williams, cashier of the Firal National Bank In Shelby, Ohio, enjoyi the flistinction of having the first shot

fired at the siege of Vicksburg in 1863 aimed at hi m personally. Mr. Williams was bora in Marlon, Ohio, In 1842. In 1861 he enlisted in Major Ink’s battalion In Missouri, and served for eighteen months. He re-

enlisted in the Sixty-ninth Ohio, and hefd the office of quartermaster ser * geant. At the siege of Vicksburg h« was on the staff of General Burbridge of Kentucky, and as the army marched up on the hills surrounding the city h« was ordered to go over and take possession of a farmhouse as a hospital He rode away with a few men, and at they passed up the lane to the house two Confederates opened Are on them from the place. None of the men wen hit. Another curious coincidence in connection with this Is, that when General Pemberton sent a flag of true* into the Union lines with a proposal ol surrender the men were taken to Mr Williams’ tent and kept while General Grant went over their message. Mr. Williams has been cashier of the First National Bank of Shelby continuously since the day of Its opening, April 9, 1872. He Is, therefore, serving his thirty-first year as cashier.

B. J. WILLIAMS.