A VETERAN DEAD.

∼Death of Major William Wirt Bloss, Formerly of Rochester, NY.

George H. Washburne yesterday received a telegram from Chicago announcing the death at Woodland Park, a suburb of that city, of Major W. W. Bloss, formerly a well-known Rochesterian and a member of the One Hundred and Eighth Regiment, New York Volunteers.

William Wirt Bloss, the eldest son of the late William C. Bloss, was born in this city, on March 25, 1831. His educational privileges were limited to public school No. 14 and a brief course of study at the Rochester Collegiate Institute. At the age of 17, he learned the printing trade and followed that vocation for several years, visiting most of the

Western cities. Returning home from St. Louis in 1856, he engaged with the seed house of Bloss & Adams and, in the following year, established a branch of the same business in Lawrence, Kansas. It was near the culmination of the desperate struggle between freedom and slavery in that territory and Mr. Bloss promptly allied himself with the free state party. For a long time, bloody outrages were inflicted upon free state settlers in southern Kansas, which instigated a system of reprisal upon the free negroes as well as fugitive slaves. Marauding bands from Missouri kidnapped defenseless negroes and ran them across the borders, whence they were shipped down the river and returned to slavery.

Mr. Bloss, who was then one of the editors of the Leavenworth Times, participated in the rescue of Charles Fisher, a negro who had been kidnapped by pro-slavery ruffians. For this act, Bloss was attacked and shot down in his office, receiving several severe wounds. After long and painful confinement, he returned to Rochester and engaged with Messrs. Hebard, Tracy, and Reed as local editors of the Evening Express. In July, 1862, he joined Captain Williams and Lieutenant W. H. Merrell in recruiting Company A, One Hundred and Eighth Regiment, and was commissioned a second lieutenant. After the regimental inspection and muster, he was detailed by Colonel A. H. Palmer to precede the regiment to New York and Washington and arrange for transportation. He joined the regiment at Arlington Heights, at the battle of Antietam, where the One Hundred and Eighth received its baptism of fire and suffered severely in rank and file. Lieutenant Bloss was severely wounded. The color guard had been almost annihilated, and only Sergeant Goff and a single corporal remained. When Colonel Palmer ordered Bloss to make a detail of Company A and come to the support of the colors, the line again moved forward until checked by a terrific fire from the enemy, which fairly decimated the ranks. The colors were steadily advanced until Sergeant Goff fell, pierced by a ball in the forehead, and every member of the guard was wounded. Bloss thrust the color lance into the ground and supported the colors with his right arm. The air was literally filled with bursting shells and whistling bullets. The vivid sense of danger was followed by a blinding blow. When he became conscious, he was lying under a haystack in the rear. Captain Pierce, of Company F, helped him off the field. He afterward joined the regiment in Bolivar Heights, but was compelled to resign on account of disability. He resumed journalism again and, for a time, was associate editor of the old Rochester Democrat. He later returned to Leavenworth, Kansas, and received a commission as captain from Governor Carney, participating in the battle of Westport, Mo. He was brevetted major at the close of the war.

In 1865, in conjunction with his brother, Henry C. Bloss, and Colonel J. H. Cogswell, he established the Titusville Daily Herald. In 1873, he severed his connection with the paper and was located in Kansas City, Mo., as managing editor of the Journal. For the past eight years, he has been the editor of the Chicago Graphic, an illustrated newspaper. The members of the regiment will meet at the mayor's office tomorrow evening at 7:30 to take action on his death.

This information was published in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle Newspaper on September 6, 1892.

The above news notice was collected and contributed by George Quinn Stone on 04.28.2024

Major

Company A

108th New York Infantry

William Wirt Bloss received special mention in the Congressional War Record for bravery at Antietam. Married Louise Kate Skinner of Cincinnati in 1855.

Issue:

William Wirt Bloss, b. 1856

Harry Hubble Bloss, b. 1860

Thank you, Virginia D, for the bio info!