Bill Sell via the Mercer County Historical Society

There are lots of joyful artifacts and relics at the Riley House Museum, from marriage certificates to silly inscriptions and drawings in the old Mcduffy Readers. But there are also dark and tragic artifacts in our care. In the War Room is an old cot. The accompanying card says “Civil War Cot, 1860. Gift of Mrs. Francis Schaffner. Her grandmother's uncle, Joe Hayes of Mendon, Ohio, died during the American Civil War and was sent home on this cot.” Years ago, I spoke to Joyce Alig about this cot; she said that Joseph Hayes made it home and died here, and that there were bloodstains on the mattress.

My Civil War friend from Van Wert, Harrison Frech, thought that Jospeh Hayes might have been in the cavalry because his wife's pension application from 1911 had him listed in “The 10th US Cavalry.” But there is a problem: the 10th US Cavalry was organized in 1866 after the war ended and was famously known as “the Buffalo Soldiers,” a group which was predominately made up of African American troops.

Knowing this, I thought they probably meant the 10th Ohio Cavalry which did serve in the Civil War, but no Joseph Hayes (or “Elias Hayes” as he sometimes went by) was in any company of the 10th Ohio. Nor did he show up in any infantry regiments from Mercer County.

Next, I went to the Celina police station. I asked Officer Poppe if they had a solution that could identify blood and told him about the mattress. I also told him that many of our volunteers at the museum thought the stains were probably rust from the cot's bed springs.

Officers Poppe and Daniels agreed to come and inspect the mattress with a lens that could detect blood. Unfortunately, since the stains are 160 years old, the light and lens were inconclusive. But Officer Poppe closely examined the mattress and concluded that some of the stains looked like they could be blood.

We are still researching Joseph Hayes, a Civil War casualty from Mendon. If any of our readers and followers of history have information, please let us know at the Riley House museum. We are open on Mondays and Fridays, 9am to 5pm. Admission is free.