Lakewood Lore

Dashing Elwell was true legend in and out of city

A colorful, courageous figure of Civil War fame--who lived out his years in the hamlet of Lakewood--was the Union force's Brigadier General John J. Elwell.

Stories of his bravado and bravery as a dashing cavalryman were told and retold around potbellied stoves here long before he settled in the community after the conflict.

He made his mark in the bloody first assault on Confederate-held Fort Wagner outside Charleston, S.C., on the night of July 18, 1863. Elwell was reported everywhere "riding into the battle bare-headed, his long hair flying in the wind."

Although the Union Army was repulsed and 1,500 of its soldiers eliminated in an hour, the audacious, lionhearted officer exemplified the ultimate in gallantry under fire.

Elwell was born in Warren, Ohio, in 1820 and grew up in Cleveland at the southwest corner of Euclid Avenue and East Ninth Street, on a site where the Schofield Building was erected in 1902.

A civilian, he was a two-hatter--a doctor with a degree from Cleveland Medical College and an attorney admitted to the bar in 1854.

Using his dual knowledge, he wrote a book "Medical Jurisprudence," which became a standard text on the subject. From 1857 to 1861, he edited the Western Law Monthly. Later he served as a college professor and a member of the Ohio legislature.

When the war broke out, Elwell raised and equipped the Second and Third Ohio Cavalry and Sherman's Brigade. He was given honorary promotions four times during the war.

After it was over and Elwell took up residence on the north side of Detroit Avenue opposite Grace Avenue, he was a sought-after speaker. He labored many years to obtain permission for construction of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Cleveland's Public Square.

He died in 1900, six years after the monument was completed.

This article by Dan Chabek appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post February 16, 1989. Reprinted with permission.

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