Theobald Gross, probably before 1874.

Theobald Gross, probably in Philadelphia when or after he remarried in 1892. His left sleeve is empty because he lost his left arm in the Civil War.

This is a map of Mount Jackson in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. It is from 1872, but it corresponds well with on printed in 1860, which is otherwise blurry. Shown in yellow is the house James Nesbit, where Theobald lived in the 1850s while a teenager. Shown in green is the home where his friend David Poak lived. In this 1872 map only his sister Sadie is still living there. Theobald, David, and other young men went west before 1860. Not shown is the home of Dr. Allen Nesbit; he lived in the Nesbit family's ancestral homestead outside of town. (The Dr. Zimmerman shown in the map is a newcomer.)

Depot or General Hospital
Absent Friend,
I take this opportunity to inform you that I am not well yet at present but doing very well now. You must not think hard of me for I wrote this sitting in bed. I can get up a little while at a time. But I hope that this finds you and all the rest in good health.
I suppose that you have heard about the fight we had the 7th of last month at Belmont. I will give you a little idea of it. We had 2850 men and 6 artillery pieces. You ought to seen the rebels with their cannons. They thought that they was doing it up right along. But when our artillery came right up to them within about 150 yards, they soon spiked their cannon and took to their heels. I will tell you a little what they done. When we got close to them where they had their entrenchments or trees cut down and laid thick around them, our cannon ball killed a man not more than 2 yards from me and a shot burst only a little ways behind us but did no harm. As soon as they had to leave their cannons we marched right up to them, burnt their tents, and took down their flag, and put up the stars and stripes. [We] ran 4 of their cannons down the hill in the river. They was spiked. Two was not far and we took them with ours to the boats. I got shot in my left arm before that, but the company I was with helped to take the cannons. The rebels had 3,800 in the start but got 5000 to help them. They surrounded our men but they fought their way through, but the rebels fouled our two boats, but our two gunboats came right to them and killed about 60 of them the first fire. They lost I think from what we hear not less than 1000. Our loss is supposed to be from 600 to 500.
I cannot write much more at present. You must write as soon as you get this and then I will write again. For we have 36 batteries here and 16 gunboats here too. We soon have something done now, and 15000 men and more will be here. These look out for the rebels.
Tell C. C. Abbott [Christopher C. Abbott of Deerfield, Ohio] that I have my arm taken off a little above the elbow.
December the 15th 1861.
T. Gross
to W. Fram [William Fram, Deerfield, Ohio]

Pages 2&3 of letter written by Theobald Gross on December 15, 1861, to William Fram in Deerfield, Ohio, and also to Christopher C. Abbott of Deerfield.
In 1860 Theobald was living in Illinois. The fact he is corresponding in 1861 with two friends in Deerfield, Ohio, both born and raised there, one of them only 16 years old, leads one to think he must have lived in Deerfield a little while before moving to Illinois.

Part of the campus of the Central National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soliders at Dayton, Ohio. Theobald lived here from 8 Dec 1880 to 3 May 1881 and from 3 May 1882 to 22 Jan 1883.

A barracks at the Northwestern Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soliders in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Theobald lived here from 26 May 1881 to 31 July 1881 and from 22 Sep 1881 to 3 May 1882. Between these two stays he went to New York and completed his naturalization papers.

This is Theobald's oath of allegiance and naturalization certificate, dated Aug 15, 1881. It shows the fine handwriting he had when afforded the benefit of a desk and chair. Note that in his hospital letter twenty years earlier he apologized for the poor penmanship of the letter, explaining that he had to write while in bed (and one-handed at that).

2920 Rosehill St, Philadelphia, where Theobald and Susan lived for a while after they were married.

Theobald Gross and his second wife Susan (Swickley) Gross lived in this house beginning sometime between 1893 and 1898 until his death in 1913. Afterwards Susan lived as a boarder in another home.

Theobald Gross