| Male, Born | in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania on 7/21/1834 |
| Died | 9/27/1906 (Grants Pass, Oregon) |
Spouses / Children
Born July 21, 1834, in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, of Hiram ROSS and Mary (KEECH) ROSS. Jesse was the oldest of seven children. He had brothers Henry William, Casper Steven, Daniel A., and George G.; and sisters Jennie and Amanda M.
Jesse apparently was the first of his family to move west, since he was married on December 25, 1856, at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He married Lucretia SANFORD, of Linn County, Iowa, who was born April 6, 1836, in Jefferson County, New York; the ceremony was performed by Humphry MOUNT, Justice of the Peace. In 1858, Jesse's father moved to Linn County, returning to Pennsylvania in 1861-1862 for the rest of the family, and returning again to Linn County with them in 1862.
In the meantime, Jesse answered the call to duty and enlisted in the Union Army. The Civil War having begun only five months earlier, Jesse enlisted on September 20, 1861, at Cedar Rapids, as a Private in Company D, 12th Iowa Infantry Volunteers.
The following is an extract from Roster and Record of Iowa Troops In the Rebellion, Vol. 2 by Guy E. Logan:
Ross, Jesse H. Age 27. Residence Kingston. Enlisted Sept. 20, 1861. Mustered Oct. 26, 1861.
Discharged for disability April 16, 1862, St. Louis, Mo.
Jesse’s short experience as a soldier proved extremely miserable. His company records show him absent sick at Good Samaritan Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri, as early as January 1862, when he was treated for chronic “rheumatism caused by exposures and hardships incident to the service.” In February 1862, while being transported from St. Louis by boat to join his regiment, “he incurred a rupture caused by a man accidentally running against him while asleep on the deck.” He was then hospitalized at Mound City, Illinois, and later at the U.S. Army General Hospital at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, where he was discharged with disability on April 17, 1862. In less than one year after joining the Army, Jesse returned home “fever stricken and in a very bad condition physically, having lost all of his hair” and “lost the use almost completely of the left arm.”
Jesse reported, in his petition for pension, that upon his release from the service, he “resided in Iowa for one month, in Wisner, Nebraska, for one month, the Missouri Valley for six years, and the balance at Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa.” Unfortunately, this document is not dated and provides no clue as to when or why he moved to Oregon.
At the time of his enlistment, Jesse was described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, light complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, and a bricklayer by occupation. His description upon discharge from the Army was exactly the same. Some years later, the description remains the same except he is shown as 5 feet 9 1/2 inches tall.
The sources researched revealed only one child born to Jesse and Lucretia: Charles F. ROSS, born early in the marriage on July 10, 1860.
Jesse died of stomach cancer at 11 P.M., on September 27, 1906, at Grants Pass, Oregon. His widow died September 19, 1918, at Coquille, Oregon, at which time she was receiving a widow's pension of $25 per month.
