Born Wayne Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, March 8, 1845; occupation, Teamster. Enlist May 12, 1864, in Company G, 157th O. V. I., for one hundred days.

The description below is consolidated for: George S. Megrail; John C. Hammond; William H. Beebout; Richard Reynolds; 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 soldiers left their homes in the darkest days of the rebellion, when those of us who had gone before were low in spirits from the apparent ill success of our Armies; but the tide turned, and many of the regiments of one-hundred-day men relieved old and experienced troops from guarding United States stores and prisoners of war, so that the ranks, Regiments, Brigades, and Divisions were fast filling up. With our renewed forces, many of them having had a long rest, and were of course fresh and vigorous. And now our Armies were on the forward march to a final and glorious victory, one year later ending one of the most gigantic Rebellions the world ever witnessed, in which nearly five millions of men were engaged, equal to as many men as could stand on 2, 371 acres, or equal to a single line of men 1,600 miles long. This regiment, made up of the 39th Battalion of Jefferson County and the 88th Battalion of Carroll COunty, Ohio National Guards, now called the 157th O. V. Infantry, commanded by Col. George W. McCook, and mustered in the 15th of May, 1864, at Camp Chase, was immediately ordered to Baltimore, under Gen. Lew Wallace. Left Camp Chase on May 17, arriving at Baltimore on May 19, 1864; remaining at Camp Relay a few days, under orders left Camp Relay June 5 for Fort Delaware, arriving at the fort June 6. Relieved August 24 and ordered to Camp Chase, arriving August 29 and mustered out September 2, 1864. The above named soldiers wnt out with the regiment and served in their appointed capacities until the regiment was mustered out, and they held in their power a very important trust, guarding from twelve to fourteen thousand prisoners of war. An incident occurred previous to the organization of this regiment, which we will here incorporate.
"The members of the 157th Regiment, O. V. Infantry will remember that in September, 1863, Governor Dennison called the regiments and companies of the home guards to assemble at Camp Licking for instructions. The commissioned officers and sergeants were to meet on Monday, Corporals and Privates on the Thursday following. Monday morning found only one Lieutenant and one Sergeant of COmpany G ready to get on the train when it stopped at B Station. They arrived at Camp Licking in the afternoon, finding neither rations nor tents, but plenty of laborers preparing the grounds by digging wells, removing tree tops, etc. Before night closed in two wells were finished and pumps set therein, and a plentiful supply of good water that constant pumping failed to exhaust, during the week we were there. A number of dog tents were dropped off the cars in time to be put up ready to sleep in, the parties above were lucky enough to secure one, and by persistent effort, watching others, and borrowing an axe when they could, succeeded at last in getting their tent erected, but no rations had arrived and they had to make a supper on water and the remnant of food brought from home. They retired to their tent that had cost them so much labor and lay down to sleep, but the novelty of the situation, together with the strange bed, would not permit them to sleep long at a time, and so, by sleeping and waking, the time passed until about two o'clock, a. m., when the Lieutenant parted the tent, looked out eastward (the moon was lighting up the sky), and said "day-light." He crawled out, straightened himself up, slapped his hands on his thighs and crowed a crow that put the farmer's roosters to shame and awakened echos on the hillsides south of the Licking river, reverberating back to the north hills. Crow followed crow in quick succession until it was answered by five hundred or more on the west side of a little ravine. Those who had arrived during the night, not being successful in finding where the others had encamped, were sleeping against trees and lying around on the ground, until startled by that crowing chanticleer, that must have weighed at least two hundred pounds or more, by the sound. The assertion is thrown in here that for a short time such crowing was not heard in the Licking Valley from its settlement and has not since. Questions then began to be asked and answered back and forth, until the Lieutenant asked "what General is commanding over there?" The answer is not remembered; but the Lieutenant quickly added, "We have a new General over here." The question came back, "Who is your General?" "Why, General Starvation."
Numerous laughable incidents occurred during the campaign of the 157th Regiment.