William C. Margedant

William C. Margedant was born in Germany and immigrated to America in 1854. He was a machinist and a physical instructor in the local Turner Society in Hamilton. In April 1861, Margedant organized a group of ethnic Germans which became Company B, 9th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He gained his true fame as a mapmaker for the Union Army, serving on the staffs of several generals such as William Rosecrans, John Fremont, and Franz Siegel. Margedant invented methods of duplicating maps in the field so that all units in the field could quickly get accurate maps of the roads, water ways, and military features of the area they were operating in. These maps were printed on cloth, often on a handkerchief and distributed in great numbers through photographic duplication of the original maps. Topographical information was gathered from individual units daily, consolidated by Margedant's men, added to updated maps, and reissued to using units. Truly remarkable for his time was the ability of his printers to actually make map changes and reissue updated maps within a matter of hours, even during the course of a battle. After the war, Margedant remained very active in the Hamilton community. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Royal Arcanum and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He was organizer of the centennial celebration in 1876, the Hamilton centennial in 1891, and the electric light celebration in 1895. He was president of the United German societies, a member of the city board of school examiners, president of the executive board of judges of awards of the Columbia exposition, president of the Pioneers', Soldiers' and Sailors' Permanent Monument association of Hamilton, and president of the citizens' war committee in 1898. Mr. Margedant was also the first president of Mercy hospital. Photograph is from Biographical and Historical Sketches by Stephen D. Cone