Born in Amsterdam, Ohio. Enlisted Aug. 23, 1862.

The description below is consolidated for: David Gruber; John Boyd; James Shimer; Andrew J. Shepherd; as listed this way in the book as all four men served together and went through the war together, so each name will have their birth information and occupation and the paragraph below.

These men were in Company I, 40th Reg., O. V. I., and joined the Regiment at the village of Louisa, Kentucky, where they began their military life. Always present in all the journeyings of the company and regiment through Kentucky and Virginia then to Tennessee. These comrades never left the company from the time they entered it until they were transferred into Co. E, 51st Regiment O. V. I., except during the time Comrade Shepherd's wound was healing. They were in the following battles and engagements: Franklin, Tenn., April 10, 1863; Shelbyville, Tullahama, Wartrance, Murfreesboro, Lookout Mountain, Chickamauga-where Comrade Shepherd was wounded. Missionary Ridge; then on the Atlanta Campaign, Tunnel Hill, Buzzards Roost, Rocky Face, Dalton, Resacca, Kingston, Pine Mountain, Pumpkin Vine, Kenesaw, Chattahoochie River, Big Shanty, Dallas, Altoona Hills, Jonesboro, Atlanta; then back to Nashville with the 4th Army Corps after General J. B. Hood. The 40th and 51st O. V. I. were consolidated and known as the 51st O. V. I. After the battle at Nashville they went down to Hunstville, then to Strawberry Plains, thence to Bull's Gap, in Tennessee, then by rail to Nashville where they remained until June 16, 1865, and were discharged June 20, 1865, after long and arduous service in many battles and engagements in which many of their comrades lost their lives or were wounded. How very remarkable it is that many soon fell and others saw long services and were never wounded. After passing through so many battles, where the air was almost filled to suffocation with smoke of battle, and showers of lead were coming thick and fast, it seems a miracle to have gone through and not wounded once even, but such is the fortune of battle. Our lives were spared by that Divine Power which is able to save the uttermost.
The writer here desires to say that these soldiers never left any duty undone, and having enlisted these men and twelve others for the 40th O. V. I., I am proud to say that without one single exception they were as good and as faithful soldiers as Uncle Sam had on his rolls, and their records bear testimony to the fact. Coming home with the laurels of a long and faithful service, broken down in health, they can now sit around their own firesides and relate to their families the joys and the sorrows of camp life, of the march and the battlefield, the many scenes of war's terrible havoc and destruction, the fearful loss of life and limb, the sad scenes at the burial of their comrades who fought side to side and shoulder to shoulder with them, and relate to them also the many amusing ancedotes and army incidents. At the battle of Nashville, Comrade Gruber received an injury that yet remains with him and will, no doubt, as long as he lives. This injury was sustained while charging a rebel battery.