Marion was the elder brother of my 2nd great-grandmother, Emma Culver Sinnamon Bunn (1865-1934). He was the second (known) son of David M. Culver (1821-1885) and Jane Adams Culver (1833-1902) who were both Ohio natives. He was probably born in Monroe Township, Preble County, Ohio and his birthdate was 30 Jan 1859.
Marion’s father served in the 5th Ohio Cavalry, Company F during the Civil War. He enlisted as a private in 1861 but was promoted to quartermaster sergeant within two months probably due to his experience in commerce — his 1850 US Census occupation was “merchant,” though he later farmed. During his service, David Culver was promoted several more times and ended his service as a captain in late 1864, about a year before the conflict came to an end.
At some point not long after Captain Culver came home, he moved his family to Indiana. Marion was six at the time. His sister Emma (my ancestor) was the first child of the family to be born in Indiana when she arrived nine months after her father left service.
Marion only appears on one surviving census as an adult. In 1880, at age twenty-one, he lived on the family farm in far north Howard County, Indiana near Galveston. The enumerator listed him as being a farmer but also going to school.
Marion died at age thirty-seven on 12 December 1896. His funeral occurred the following day at his home (probably still the family farm near Galveston) and he was buried at nearby Galveston Cemetery.
His cause of death is unknown at this time, but he was apparently not in good health. The following death notice/short obituary says that his death was due to “a complication of troubles.”
Marion was active in Sons of Veterans which was an offshoot of G.A.R. I guess the guys in G.A.R. wanted their work to carry on once they were gone and so created the Sons. The organization still exists today.
I’d love to see a photo of Marion. If you have one, please let me know.