Vautrots in the North: Union Vautrots! Joseph Jules Vautrot, Jr.

VAUTROTS IN THE NORTH:

The following information is taken from the historical information cited from the 1921 book published “The History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, Ohio, Volume 2”

The Vautrot family is of old Huguenot stock, and was founded in America on July 09, 1834 by Francois Vautrot when he arrived in New York City aboard the ship Libertas from Havre de Grace, France with his wife Marie Moyeaux. They had six children: Francois Joseph Vautrot, Joseph Jules Vautrot, Sophie Catherine Vautrot, Gustave Emile Stanislas Vautrot, Pierre Alphonse Vautrot, and Louis Philip Vautrot.

“Upon reaching America, Francois Vautrot went to the French settlement (aptly called “French Town”) at Mead's Corners in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, where he bought land and established his home and followed farming. Two of his sons had come to the US prior to his arrival, one (Francois Joseph Vautrot) going to Opelousas, LA, where he married a southern woman (Amelia Burleigh Johnson), became a slave holder and ardently espoused the cause of the South when war was declared in April 1861. The other son, Gustave Emile Stanislaus Vautrot, settled at Mobile, Alabama, where he became editor of the Mobile Advertiser and Register, which is still being published. Joseph Jules Vautrot lived in Crawford County, PA, and then moved to Warren, Ohio where he was active for many years. He married Rosalie Gaudilott.”

“Joseph Jules Vautrot, Sr., son of Francois Vautrot and the father of Joseph Jules, Jr. of Warren, Ohio, was born at Nancy, France in 1819, and was a boy thirteen years of age when the family came to America. He learned the Silversmith trade at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and after working at it in that city for a time, he and with six other young men voyaged down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in a scow, drifting with the currents, to New Orleans, Louisiana, from which city Joseph Jules Vautrot, Sr. went to Opelousas, Louisiana, and there he spent the next six years, working at his trade, also manufacturing by hand gold rings, scarf pins and other articles of jewelry. Returning to the North, he worked for a time at Meadville, Pennsylvania, and then, in 1847, he came to Warren, Ohio, and went to work for Ashbel King, the pioneer jeweler of this city. He was about 28 years old. At Mead’s Corners in Pennsylvania, he married Rosalie Gaudilott, who was born in Lorraine, France and came to America when young with her parents and eleven other children of the family, settling on their large farm at Mead’s Corners, Pennsylvania.”

The elder Joseph Jules Vautrot, Sr. made the trip from Pennsylvania to Warren, Ohio, with his family in a wagon, as was quite customary in those days. In 1849 he engaged in business on his own account in a small frame building on Market Street, a few doors west of the present store of his son, Joseph Jules Vautrot Jr. He met with success and soon built up a good business, and continued in active charge of it for many years, gradually, as he grew older, however, relinquishing the store to the management of his son, Jules, Jr. In 1890, he permanently retired from active business, and he died in 1902. His wife died in 1856, however.”

“Joseph Jules Vautrot, Sr. was an uncompromising member of the Republican Party from its organization, and during the War Between the States (US Civil War), although two of his brothers were in the South and strong sympathizers with its cause, he was just as strong in his support of the North (Union), and an Abolitionist, and what is more he had the courage of his convictions and the disposition to air his opinions. Many prominent men of Warren were his friends and well remember him!”

Joseph Jules Vautrot SR, son of Francis and Marie, was born in France October 17, 1819, and with his parents came to this country in 1834, the family settling near Meadville, Pennsylvania. When sixteen he commenced an apprenticeship at the jewelers' trade in Pittsburg, and afterwards worked in Louisville, Kentucky, two years. In 1849 he came to Warren, Ohio, and for nearly two years was in the employ of Walter King. He then engaged in business for himself and is still engaged in the same, having had partners at various times. The firm is now Vautrot & Hull. He was married in November, 1844, to Miss Rosella Gaudilott, who was born in France in 1825, and has one son and one daughter, Joseph Jules Vautrot Jr. and Julia Vautrot. Mrs. Vautrot died in 1856 back in France. Mr. Joseph Jules Vautrot, SR was formerly a director in the Trumbull National bank, of Warren, and is now connected with the Second National. Joseph Jules Vautrot, Sr died on April 2^nd, 1902 in Detroit, Michigan.

His son Joseph Jules Vautrot, Jr was a member of the Eighty-Fourth (84^th) Ohio volunteer infantry, Company C (May 29, 1862 – Sept 20, 1862; for 3-4 months of service; his age was 18 years-old) in the War of the Rebellion, and was at the battle of Cumberland in 1862.

May 26, 1862, Governor Tod called for 500 additional men for three months, for three years, or for guard duty. The first Company to respond was the Toledo Light Guards, Captain Richard Waite, of Ohio Militia of the Reserve, which reported June 3d. A second Company, recruited in Toledo by Uriah Gregory (then proprietor of the Ohio Business College) and Edmond Paine, left Toledo June 5th, for Camp Chase, where the Eighty-Fourth Ohio Regiment was organized June 7th, in which the first named was Company A, and the other Company K. The Regiment left for Cumberland, Maryland, on the 11th of that month. From that point detachments were sent in different directions for preventing the passage of arms and supplies into the Rebel lines, capturing Rebel mails, and putting an end to guerrilla operations. September 13th, it was ordered to New Creek, where an attack by the Rebel forces under Jackson and Imboden was anticipated, but did not occur. Its term of service having expired, the Regiment returned to Ohio, and after being reviewed and highly complimented by Governor Tod at Camp Delaware, was mustered out. This Regiment was organized at Camp Chase, Ohio in May and June 1862 to serve three months, and on June 11, 1862 was ordered to Cumberland, Maryland, where it was employed in preventing transportation of supplies into the Rebel lines.

On September 13, the Regiment was ordered to New Creek, WV, where an attack was anticipated by Rebel forces. The enemy retired without making an attack, and the Regiment was ordered to Camp Chase for muster-out. It was ordered from Camp Chase to Camp Delaware, where it was mustered out on September 20, 1862, after having served about a month longer than its term of enlistment.


On June 10, 1862, the 84th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry mustered into service at Camp Chase, at Columbus, Ohio. The men in the regiment were to serve three months.

Flag of the 84th Ohio Volunteer Infantry


On June 11, 1862, officials dispatched the 84th to Cumberland, Maryland. Upon arriving at Cumberland, the regiment primarily sought to intercept Confederate smugglers, spies, and mail carriers and to defend against Confederate guerrilla attacks. On September 13, 1862, authorities ordered the 84th to New Creek, where the regiment garrisoned the town and a fort located just north of the community. Military officials anticipated an attack by Confederate forces under General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson that did not materialize. The 84th then traveled to Camp Chase and then to Camp Delaware at Delaware, Ohio, where the regiment mustered out of service on September 20, 1862.


During the 84th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry’s term of service, fourteen men, including two officers, perished from disease or accidents. No men died from wounds received on the battlefield.

On April 27^th,1864 he volunteered for 100 days of service, being a corporal, at age 19, in the One Hundred and Seventy-first (171^st) Ohio Volunteer Infantry (National Guards), and was taken prisoner with his regiment at Cynthiana, Kentucky. The One Hundred and Seventy-first Infantry. —This regiment was organized at Sandusky, May 7, 1864, to serve for 100 days. It was composed of the 51st battalion, Ohio National Guard, from Trumbull county; 14th battalion, from Portage county; 85th battalion, from Lake county; and the 86th battalion, from Geauga county. It was ordered to Johnson's island, where it was engaged in guard and fatigue duty until June 9, when it was ordered to Covington, Ky., reporting on arrival to Gen. Hobson. It was then placed on cars and ordered to Cynthiana, but on arriving at Keller's bridge it debarked, where it was attacked by a force of Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan's cavalry, in which engagement the regiment lost 13 killed and 54 wounded. Soon after the fight at Keller's bridge, Morgan was pressed so closely that he was compelled to parole his prisoners, who made their way to Augusta, whence they were taken on boats to Covington and then transferred to Camp Dennison, where they joined the regiment. The regiment moved from Camp Dennison to Johnson's island, where it remained until Aug. 20, 1864, when it was mustered out on expiration of term of service.

Upon the 171st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry's formation, authorities dispatched the regiment to Johnson's Island, where the men served on guard duty. The 171st remained at Johnson's Island until June 9, 1864, when officials sent the regiment to Covington, Kentucky. Upon reaching Covington the regiment quickly departed via train for Cynthiana, Kentucky. Confederates had burned a railroad bridge known as Keller's (also spelled Kellar's) Bridge (also known as Battle of Cynthiana). The 171st went on picket duty, waiting for the bridge's repair. A portion of General John Hunt Morgan's Confederate cavalry attacked the Northern regiment on June 11, 1864. The 171st repulsed several Confederate assaults, despite the Southerners outnumbering the Northerners approximately two to one. Unfortunately, the soldiers of the 171st Regiment were eventually forced to surrender to Morgan's command. Thirteen members of the 171st died in the engagement, and another fifty-four men were wounded. Morgan attempted to negotiate an exchange of nearly 740 prisoners with Northern officials, but they refused. Advancing Union soldiers forced Morgan to parole the 171st Regiment. The regiment then marched to Augusta, Kentucky, where it boarded boats for Covington, Kentucky. The 171st Regiment eventually reached Camp Dennison outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. Officials soon dispatched the regiment to Johnson's Island, where it again served on guard duty once the United States War Department declared the soldiers' paroles invalid. Authorities mustered the 171st out of service on August 20, 1864. During its time of service, the 171st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry lost seventeen men on the battlefield. The regiment lost an additional fifteen soldiers to disease or accidents.

“Joseph Jules Vautrot, Jr. was born at Mead’s Corners Pennsylvania on September 21, 1845, and he was two years old when he was brought to Warren County, Ohio by his parents. His sister, Miss Julie, who is his junior by 16 months, is still living and makes her home in the family residence on Mahoning Avenue. He was educated in the public schools of Warren, which he left in 1862 to enlist in the 84^th Ohio Volunteer Infantry for 3 months of service, but pursued a service extending over four months and twenty days, mostly in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.  He was 18 years-old while fighting Confederates in the Civil War. After receiving his honorable discharge he returned to Warren, Ohio and to school in 1863. His father needing his assistance in the store; so, the young soldier once more left school and took up an apprenticeship at watch repairing. Soon, however, he became salesman and then buyer, and following his father’s death he succeeded to the business; and, he took partners his son Phil Vautrot (grandson of Joseph Jules Vautrot, Sr.; great grandson of Francois Vautrot) and Charles Myers, under the firm name of Vautrot & Myers Company, which was incorporated in 1910 with Mr. Joseph Jules Vautrot Jr. as President and his son Phil R. Vautrot as Secretary and Treasurer. Mr. Jules Vautrot Jr. now confines his business activities to being the financial main of the company. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Western Reserve bank; vice president of the Peoples Ice and Cold Storage Company; vice president of the Warren & Niles Telephone company, and for the last 20 years has been vice president of Oakwood Cemetery Company.”

 
“Mr. Joseph Jules Vautrot Jr. is a member of Old Erie Lodge No. 3 of the Free and Accepted Masons; Warren Chapter and Commandery; Lake Erie Consistory, and Al Koran Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and was the first candidate initiated by Warren Lodge, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, after the latter lodge had obtained its charter. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and belongs to the Warren Board of Trade. Mr. Vautrot served as director of safety for Warren, and during his incumbency of that office was active in installing the motor equipment of the fire and police departments.”

“The maiden name of Mrs. Vautrot was Frances Richards, and she is the daughter of William Richards, who built the first blast furnace at Brier Hill, where Mrs. Vautrot was born on April 13, 1851 (she died May 20, 1928).  William Richards (her father) was from Wales, England, where he was born in 1819.  Mr. Jules Vautrot, Jr. married Frances Richards on November 19^th, 1873. She is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Trumbull County, Ohio. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Vautrot:

Grace, who married Fred Byard, a druggist of Warren, and they have 2 children: Mary Frances and Julie;

Phil R., who is Secretary and Treasurer of the Vautrot & Myers Company, who is unmarried;

and Louis R., who is an electrical engineer with a large concern in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, married Mae Chryst, a daughter of Solomon R. Chryst of Warren.”

That concludes all of the historical information cited from the 1921 book published “The History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, Ohio, Volume 2”