GEORGE S. MYERS.

Engaged in the occupation of growing oranges on a plat of ground at Riverside, in the inspiring and almost perpetual sunshine and fragrance of this richly favored western land, there dwells a citizen-hero of the people, who treasures as his most worthy possession an engraved star bearing this inscription: "The Congress to SergeantGeorge S. Myers, Company F, One Hundred and First Ohio Volunteers, for most conspicuous gallantry at the battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, September 19, 1863." While other worthy achievements have been crowded into the life of Mr. Myers, to those who know him best the trait of character which inspired a deed of bravery during the Civil war is the keynote to a fine and harmonious personality. It is much to have sounded a redeeming note during the terrible time of carnage; for above the din and discordancy of battle, and the supreme and sorrowful condition w hich antagonized and frenzied the rival brothers of the north and south, there rises, like the spirit of forgiveness, the personal courage of the soldiers of the Union and Confederacy.

Enlisting as a private in Ohio, in August, 1862, Mr. Myers was promoted to the rank of sergeant in 1864, and discharged at Cleveland in June, 1865. During the service he suffered from sunstroke, which left his hearing permanently impaired, and his general physical condition show ed for many years the impress of hardship and deprivation. At the battles of Perryville, Stone River, Liberty Gap and Chickamauga, he bore his part. He began the march through Georgia May 3, and reached Atlanta August 30. At Chickamauga, while in the thickest of the fight, he was wounded in the right arm by a ball, and while weak from loss of blood, before his fast-dimming eyes and painracked senses, the colors were ignominiously shot down. With superhuman effort he rushed at the fallen emblem, and with his left hand raised aloft the standard for which so many have

willingly died. On that spot is now erected a beautiful monument engraved with the words: "One Hundred and First Ohio Infantry, Second Brigade, First Division, Twentieth Army Corps."

For some time after being wounded Mr. Myers was obliged to remain in the hospital. Afterward he rejoined his regiment and took part in the engagements at Rocky-Faced Ridge, Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain, Chattahoochee River, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Lovejoy Station, Spring Hill, Franklin and Nashville, thence pursuing General Hood to Atlanta and utterly annihilating his army, after which the regiment was utilized in East Tennessee and North Carolina, closing in on General Lee at Richmond, later marching to Nashville. In June, 1865, when peace once more reigned throughout our land, he was mustered out at Cleveland, Ohio.

The youth of Mr. Myers was uneventful, and not unlike that experienced by the average Ohio-reared boy. He was born at Lancaster, Ohio, and graduated from the Carey high school. His parents, John and Mary (McClean) Myers,were natives respectively of Virginia and Maryland. The elder Myers settled in Ohio at an early day, where he married and reared a family of six children, four of whom are still living. A. H. is a physician at Carey, Ohio, and is the oldest of the family; John R., who now lives in St. Louis, Mo., is a retired locomotive engineer, and served for two and one-half vears during the Civil war in the Second Ohio Heavy Artillery; S. D. is a machinist at Carey, Ohio.

With the cessation of hostilities, Mr. Myers returned to his home in Ohio and for three years was employed as a clerk in a drug store. Having mastered the business, he undertook an independent venture in the same line at New Bremen, Ohio, continuing the same with considerable success for four years. Upon returning to Carey he bought a drug store which he managed until 1890, when, owing to failing health, he determined to locate in the restorative climate of California. At Carey, in 1867, Mr. Myers married Eliza, daughter of Samuel and Eliza Sargent, of Carey. Of this union there are two children: Louie, who was born in 1870, and is now Mrs. Woodworth, of Carey, Ohio; and Claude, who is an orange grader in a Riverside packing house.

Coming to Riverside, Mr. Myers settled on ten acres, then an unimproved prairie, now at the corner of Blaine and Chicago avenues. At once he began to set out orange trees, and in 1896 sold the east half of his possession. His home property has a fine residence and the land is well watered by the Gage system. Domestic

water is furnished by the Kyes system and comes from the Box Spring mountains, this being by far the best water to be had in Riverside. The principal products are navel oranges, but in addition, Mr. Myers raises many varieties of small fruits for his own family use. Good fortune has attended his efforts to make a home and secure a competence in California. He owns a cottage at Long Beach, whither he takes his family during the heat of summer. An enthusiast when dwelling upon the merits of the city and state of his adoption, he is an appreciator of their many advantages, and an advocate of all that tends to their progress and improvement. A Republican in politics, his first presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln, and he has at times held local offices. In Carey, Ohio, he served as township trustee for two terms, and was also township clerk and a director of the school board. For several years he was commander of Colonel Crawford Post, G. A. R., in Ohio, of which he was a charter member, and is now identified with Riverside Post No. 118. He is connected with the Medal of Honor Legion. As a member of the Southern California Veteran Encampment and as secretary of the Ohio Division of the same, he is entitled to the credit for this division, which is said to be the best in the entire encampment; he was the first member of the commandery to call a meeting for the organization of the Ohio Association in Riverside county, and presided at the organization of the same. At McCutchenville, Ohio, in 1867, he was initiated into the blue lodge of Masonry, and became a charter member of Carey Lodge, A. F. & A. M., with which he is still connected. He is also identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

George S Myers