J[ohn] G. Fairchild
Co. B, 8th Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio

[1st Sgt. John G. Fairchild –  Co. F, 8th Ohio. WIA 3 July]

John G. Fairchild (1840-1906) was the son of Levi Sherman Fairchild (1811-1885) and Philinda Leach (1813-1891). In 1860, John (age 20) lived with his parents in Cleveland’s 1st Ward, Cuyahoga county, Ohio. His father’s occupation was given as “Mill Wright.” In 1870, John was again enumerated in the residence of his parents; his occupation given as “Works in Saw Mill.”

John was married on 3 February 1874 in Lake county, Ohio, to Adeline P. Pierce (1848-1881) and together they had at least one child, Arthur Gilmore Fairchild (1875-1957). After his first wife died, John remarried to a woman named Hattie who filed a pension for her husbands service after his death in 1906.

“John Fairchild enlisted at age 21 for 3 months as a private.  At the end of his 3 month tour, he reenlisted for 3 years and was promoted Orderly Sergeant. Fighting at Antietam, he received a head wound; Fellow 8th Ohioan Thomas Galway wrote about it in his diary, later published as The Valiant Hours: “Our brave Orderly Sergeant Fairchild sticks doggedly to his position, blood streaming down his face.” After that battle, Fairchild was promoted to Sergeant. Wounded in the left leg and right shoulder on July 3rd, he survived his wounds, but his left leg had to be amputated, and he remained in the hospital until June, 1864. After the war, he worked as a carriage maker in Perry, Ohio, and died on May 3, 1906, of blood poisoning- family lore states that it was due either to a small piece of shrapnel that remained in his arm, or complications due a surgery on his amputated leg.” [Source: Kyle Fairchild]