Remus Poling, Civil War veteran

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=75682528

In census records Remus' birth year ranges from 1820 to 1825.

In the 1880 census, there is a record on the same page of a William Unger who is approximately the same age. Mary Ann Poling (Unger)'s father was Peter Unger so William could be a sibling or cousin of Peter's.

The 1870 census has Remus Poling and William Unger two pages apart in the Benton Township, Hocking County, Ohio registers. In between the two are additional Poling families: an Absalom Poling (noted in many online but unverified family trees as a brother of Remus and our final link into the broader, global Poling family history) and an Isaac Poling. Isaac is listed as 32 at the time of the census and would seem to be the eldest child of either Remus (age 50 at the census) or Absalom (age 58 at the census). Given their ages there is census-based credibility for Remus and Absalom to have been cousins or brothers. Martin W. Poling is 18 at the time and works on the farm

In the 1870 census for the adjacent township of Salt Creek we find Peter Unger, wife Amanda and children, including Mary at age 16 who helps her mother keep house. Peter is listed as 50 at the time of the survey and his wife Amanda is listed as 36. Amanda's age agrees with other census records while Peter's varies by census similar to Remus. Given that William in Benton Township is listed at age 34 he would have to be a much younger sibling or more probably a cousin to Peter.

It is also worth noting that Remus Poling applied for a Civil War pension that was denied due to the clerk finding no records of his enlistment or service. His tombstone was recently located and, according to the local resident who found it while cataloging Hocking county cemeteries, it has a marker for "US Navy, Cuba & Phillipines". This could be a reference to the Spanish-American War; however, since that took place in the late 1890's it is also very doubtful that Remus was in the Navy in his 70's. It appears rather doubtful that Remus had active service during his life without any definitive records proving otherwise.

Any relatives in South-Central Ohio who are interested in assisting with some local research, please send me (Jeremy Poling) a message through Geni.