Over on our Facebook page one of our friends, Jim Pavik, sent us a picture of the headstone for John Weare, a veteran of the War of 1812 buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Many of our members found the inscription on Mr. Weare’s stone interesting: “Soldier, Farmer, Lumberman, Justice of the Peace. He lost a leg in the War of 1812, and the other in a lumbering accident in the 1830s. Thereafter he used two wooden legs, a crutch, and a cane.”  That wasn’t enough for Louie Zenti, current president of the Society of the War of 1812 in the State of Iowa.  Louie wanted to know more of the story and searched the internet for clues as to which battle Mr. Weare lost his first leg.  And what he found is a remarkable story …

It turns out that in 1897 a man by the name of William Williams Walker wrote a book titled, In Memoriam – John Weare, about the life of John Weare – the son of the War of 1812 Veteran.  Within the first few pages of the book we learn of the account of Cynthia Ashley Weare and her thirty-six hour horseback ride with her small children to find her husband who had been wounded in the Battle of Plattsburgh.

Her husband was severely wounded before the Battle of Plattsburg. She was distant a thirty-six hour’s ride, through a country in the hands of the enemy and only passable on horseback. She was the mother of two young children, one a small baby. Every able-bodied man in the community was in the service, and her only available assistance was the son of a neighbor, a mere boy, and two fine horses. One of the horses was packed with supplies; the other, she rode, mounted behind the boy, with her baby in her arms. Thus, she began the journey to her husband, traveling night and day. She suffered great fatigue, and passed through many distressing experiences; but her courage never failed, not even during the long hours of the two dark nights of her ride. As they passed numerous camps of the enemy, her heart stood still for fear the cry of her tired baby might betray them. During the second night, when she had begun to hope her journey was almost over, they were brought to a halt by a gruff voice out of the darkness, demanding:
“Stand, and deliver the password”
Summoning all possible dignity and self-control, she replied, “I have a wounded husband beyond you; is not that a password sufficient for friend or foe?”
Her calmness probably saved the life of the little party, and surely saved the horses to them, as their detainers were a party sent out to capture all the horses to be found in the country. Although enemies, they proved themselves men, for they not only allowed her to retain both horses but sent an escort to see her safely within the American lines, where, alas! she found her husband too ill to recognize her, and crippled for life, his shattered leg having been amputated the day before, during the fierce Battle of Plattsburg. Mr. Weare related afterwards that he only ceased protesting against having the amputation made when his voice was drowned by the roar of the cannonading at Plattsburg. A remarkably good constitution and the skillful nursing of his wife, enabled Mr. Weare to recover. He then assumed a position in the Commissary Department, where his loss of a leg did not unfit him for service, as in those times death alone wholly disabled a soldier.

But that is not all!  A few paragraphs later we learn the fate of John Weare’s second leg.

In the spring of 1835, [John Weare, Jr.] accompanied his father to the territory of Michigan, to found a home for the family. Here the two bought land and engaged in the lumber business.
While in this business, not far from the present limits of the city of Allegan, his father met with a distressing accident. In felling a tree his remaining leg was crushed.

Our thanks to Jim Pavik for the picture and to Louie Zenti for wanting to know more and passing along this story for us to share.