Byron Joslin was the county’s last surviving veteran. He died at the age of 98. ‘Comrade Joslin,’ as he was affectionately known, was perhaps the county’s most respected veteran for his post-war services to other comrades in arms.
The passion which Byron Joslin possessed for military service was part of his family’s legacy. His great-grandfather, Benjamin Joslin, was a corporal in the Revolutionary War. He grew up with his parents, Robinson and Susan, at the family’s colonial home on North Miami Avenue. As a young man, Byron Joslin joined a juvenile military company, and later became a member of the National Guard. He was a member of the first public school class assembled in Sidney. In his later years, Joslin remembered that first class, saying the teacher “whipped as well as taught.”
The call for volunteers in 1861 swept most young from their hometowns or farms to sites hundreds of miles away. Leaving from Sidney, Joslin joined company K of the 134th Ohio directly from the national guard, where he was serving. His regiment formed on May 6, 1864, for a 100 day enlistment.
The men participated in the skirmish of Port Walthall, and then reported for picket duty outside Richmond, Virginia. He served until discharged on August 31, 1864.
Byron Joslin participated in the prosperous times that followed the end of the war. With brother Clay and his father, Robinson, Byron opened a sash and door factory on North Main Avenue. The Joslins later entered the construction business, and subsequent to that operated a grocery for 7 years. He married Elizabeth Deering on June 6, 1871. They had two children, William and Ada.
As the years went by, and his Shelby County Civil War comrades passed away, Comrade Joslin became increasingly active in veterans’ affairs. At various times until his death, Joslin was a state and national representative to the Grand Army of the Republic encampments. He served as the aide-de-camp, assistant adjutant, and quartermaster general, and then commander of the Ohio G.A.R. He was one of the few remaining veterans to attend the 75th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg in 1938.
Some around town still remember him polishing the marble tablets in the Monumental Building weekly during his visits to town.
Granddaughter Vera Killian of Sidney, one of Byron’s two grandchildren, had fond memories of him. He would travel into Sidney on the streetcar from where he lived with his son on Millcreek Road to visit with family and friends. On Christmas Day, Grandfather Joslin presented a silver dollar to each grandchild.
His interests included making wooden puzzles, collecting old books, and keeping scrapbooks of news on Civil War reunions and local events. The scrapbooks, comprised of hundreds of pages, offer a fascinating insight into early Sidney through the eyes of one of its most loyal and patriotic citizens.
It was as the unquestioned symbol of patriotism in Shelby County, however, for which Byron Joslin was best known. For over seven decades he participated in Memorial Day parades, always in his full dress uniform. Vera Killian recalls that he required family members to attend such important civic events. In his Sidney Daily News obituary, the author noted: “Few men have walked more steadfastly under the waving flag of his country that Comrade Joslin, and none here more endeared himself to the adult or youth than this aged man who took part in every patriotic undertaking possible.”