Notes:
Centennial Portrait and Biographical Record of the City of Dayton and of Montgomery Co., OH,- [pages 954-955]
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MAJ. ELIJAH CULBERT, one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Madison township, Montgomery county, Ohio, is paternally of Scotch descent and maternally springs from Pennsylvania-German ancestry.
Elijah Culbert, father of the major, was a native of New York state, but when a young man went to Pennsylvania, where he was clerk in the Washington furnace, at Laurel Hill, in the Alleghany mountains. He married, in Somerset county, Miss Eva Hicks, a native of the county named, who bore him one child, the subject of this biography. Mr. Culbert, at the early age of twenty-two years, and when his son was but fifteen months old, met with an untimely fate, being killed by a falling timber in the furnace while superintending some repairs. He was a well-educated and scholarly man, and his death was deeply deplored, not only by his young widow, but by his employers and a large circle of friends.
Maj. Culbert was born in Somerset, Pa., March 1, 1814, and the log house in which he was born is still standing. He received a rudimentary education in the common schools, early learned the blacksmith's trade, and in 1836, when a young man of twenty-three years, came to Ohio, settled in Madison township, Montgomery county, and voted for Gen. William Henry Harrison for the presidency of the United States in the famous log cabin and hard cider campaign, September 25, 1838, he married Miss Mary Olinger, of Jefferson township, born August 13, 1816, a daughter of Jacob and Mary Olinger. Mr. Olinger was of German descent, was born in Pennsylvania, and was one of the original pioneers of Jefferson township, where he cleared up a farm from the forest, on which he ended his days. He died a member of the Dunkard church and a respected citizen, and there were left, to mourn his sad loss, the following children: John, Jacob, David, Elizabeth, Barbara, Mary, Nancy and Catherine.
After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Culbert lived a year with the wife's father, and then, in 1839, settled in Poast Town, where Mr. Culbert engaged in blacksmithing on his own account, prospered and erected a fine residence, in which he still resides. To Mr. and Mrs. Culbert were born five children, but two of whom are living—William H. and Amanda. Of the younger children, Elijah died at the age of thirty-nine years; Jacob at ten, and Elizabeth at the age of six; and on January 3, 1884, Mr. Culbert lost his beloved wife, she dying a devoted member of the German Baptist church.
As early as 1860, Mr. Culbert was enrolled in the Second regiment, Ohio state militia, and was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, but this regiment was shortly afterward consolidated with the One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio national guard, and when mustered into the United States service at the opening of the Civil war, Col. Culbert was reduced in rank to major, in which capacity he served 100 days, being stationed at Baltimore and Washington, and receiving his discharge at Camp Chase, August 25, 1861. The major, however, had two sons who also served in the Civil war—William H. and Elijah. William H. was a sergeant in company E, Seventy-first volunteer infantry, became a veteran and served four years; he was twice wounded, once at Lovejoy's station and once at Nashville. Elijah was a sergeant in the One Hundred and Thirty-first (his father's regiment, and served 100 days. William H., who has been on the Dayton fire department for about eighteen years, married Miss Eliza Shafer, and is the father of one child—Clarence. Amanda C., the major's eldest daughter, was married to David B. Mumma, now deceased, and became the mother of two children—Harry C, and Willis, the latter of whom died at the age of seventeen years. Harry C. Mumma married Miss Rosie Arnold, and this union has been blessed with one child, Corinne.
In politics Maj. Culbert is a republican. He is at present engaged in the tile business in Post Town and probably no man in the township or county is more widely known or more respected than he. His progressiveness is proverbial, and his readiness to assist in the promotion of every movement designed for the public weal and his liberal contributions to such purposes are as household words in the community in which he has so long lived and the prosperity of which he has so strenuously striven to advance.