Genesee County MI Archives Biographies.....Raab, George 1846 - 1935
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Joanne Weimer joannneweimer@yahoo.com October 29, 2007, 8:53 pm

Author: History of Genesee; Flint Journal

GEORGE RAAB. The poplular Supervisor of the Fourth Ward of Flint, whose claim to
public consideration is well founded upon his bravery and loyalty as a soldier,
who served his country faithfully in the late war, and who was in the Fourth
Michigan Cavalry, is he whose name appears above. As a supplementary work he
handles at the present time Stanley's remarkable book. Mr. Raab was born at
Wetzler, Germany, in the Province of Nassau, March 17, 1846. He is a son of
Eberhardt and Catherine E. (Zimmerman) Raab. 
Our subject's father was a tailor by trade and his father was a farmer by
calling; he was also a soldier in the Napoleonic wars. Late in life he came to
America and spent his last days in Flint; he was seventy-nine years of age at
the time of his decease. Eberhardt Raab brought his family to America in the
spring of 1855, making the voyage on the sailing vessel "Republic" in which they
were confined for forty-two days, being overtaken by a calm that lasted three
weeks. The family located in Wyoming County, N.Y., in the town of Strykersville,
where the father was employed as a tanner. In 1858 they removed to Flint,
Genesee County, Mich., and here Mr. Raab was employed at his own trade, that of
a merchant tailor, and lived until 1890, when he removed to Caro, which is now
his place of residence. He is sixty-eight years old. 
Catherine Raab died in 1876 leaving two children, of whom our subject is the
elder; the younger, Jacob, is in the furniture business in Flint. Our subject's
family was one of the pioneers in the Fourth Ward, which was then all woods.
George attended private school at first then the ward school and later the union
schools. At the age of fourteen years he was apprenticed to learn the
cabinetmakers' trade under William Miller, with whom he remained until the fall
of 1863, when he enlisted in Company F, Fourth Michigan Calvary. He was mustered
in at Detroit and joined his regiment at Nashville. In the spring of 1864 the
regiment joined Sherman's army at Chattanooga. He was in many skirmishes and the
cavalary he was with participated in many battles. He was taken sick after the
engagement of Kenesaw Mountain, in July, 1864, and was sent to the hospital in
Chattanooga, thence to Columbia, and on being sent back to his regiment, was
with a mounted squad that did scout duty throughout that fall. In the spring of
1865, under Col. P. Pritchard, they were at the engagement at Selma, Ala.,
Double Bridge and Macon, Ga., and participated in the capture of Jefferson
Davis, May 10, of the same year. Our subject was one of the one hundred and
twenty-eight picked men selected for that important duty. He brought back with
him from the war a hand mirror, taken from the wardrobe of Jefferson Davis, and
he wore the Confederate ex-President's felt hat until the close of the war. Mr.
Raab was mustered out of service at Nashville, August 15, 1865. From injuries
received in the army he now draws a pension of $24 per Month. 
Returning to Flint after the war, our subject again resumed his trade and in
1867 removed to Lawrence, Van Buren County, where he started a furniture store
and conducted it for four years. While there, May 9, 1869, he was married to
Miss Hattie E. Tomlinson, who was born in Branch County. She is a daughter of
Alex. E. Tomlinson, an English gentleman, who was one of the early pioneers of
that portion of the State. 
In 1871 Mr. Raab sold out his effects and interests in Lawrence and returned to
Flint. He resumed his trade and helped finish the State School for the Deaf. In
1872 he went to Holly and for four years was engaged in the furniture trade
there, but was again attracted back to Flint and this time opened a grocery
store at the foot of Hazelton Street, in partnership with John Zimmerman. They
were burned out two years later and then our subject, in partnership with his
brother Jacob, started a cabinet-making shop, running it until 1884, then opened
a grocery at the corner of Asylum and Glenwood Avenues, and with Richard Hughes
as a partner. They continued in business for two years, when our subject sold
out and has since been engaged in handling sewing machines. For the past five
years he has been on the road constantly. The open air exercise was beneficial
to his health, which has never been robust since his army service. He now
handles Stanley's book in this county. 
Our subject and his wife are the parents of six children--M. Bertha, a teacher
in the county; Myrthis A., a teacher in the city schools; Alice C.; Irving;
Ethel E. and Arthur. He has been Supervisor of the Fourth Ward since 1883.
Socially he belongs to the Odd Fellows and also to the Grand Army of the
Republic. He is a Mason and in his political liking is a true Republican.



Tales of Early Flint
Flint Man Is Sole Survivor of Detachment Which Captured Jeff Davis at Close of
Civil War; Will be 89 in March

By Mildred Elwood
George Raab, survivor of the detail which captured Jefferson Davis, president of
the southern Confederacy, at the close of the Civil war, George Raab recalls his
war adventures of 70 years ago as though they were yesterday. 
Sitting in his home at 315 Sylvan court, he recounts with un(-)agging zest the
story of how the Fourth Michigan Cavalry and the First Wisconsin were sent to
capture Jefferson Davis, who was suppose to be going to the Florida coast and
thence to England. 
It is a colorful story as he relates it. From the two regiments, 180 men, of
whom he was one, were sent ahead to surround Davis’ camp early in the morning.
The Davis expedition was a small one - including only Mr. and Mrs. Davis, their
two children, two of the Confederate cabinet members and some Negro servants,
all traveling in an ambulance in which they slept at night. 
Tells of Capture
“When we came up, Jeff Davis (?) me out dressed in a long waterproof coat, with
a woman’s shawl over his head and a water pail over his arm,” Mr. Raab recounts.
“Mrs. Davis called to ask if her (?) others’ could go to the spring to get some
water, but as the confederate president started, someone in the Union forces
called out to Mrs. Davis, “What the hell is your mother wearing spurs for?”
Davis (?) his horse tied in the woods (?) was going to make a dash for (?) 
The capture was made near Irwinville, Ga., on May 10, 1865, and concluded with a
brief flurry of fighting between the detail and more of their own forces who
were mistaken for Confederate soldiers in the early morning. When the Union
colonel arrived, Davis’ young son marched up to his capt(?) and cried, “When I’m
a man, I’ll avenge my father.” 
The colonel sent a dispatch to a Union general at Macon, who sent a brigade to
bring back the captives lest an attempt be made to deliver the southern leader.
Mr. Raab was one of the 10 men assigned to guard the ambulance until the brigade
arrived. 


Has Davis’ Mirror
He still owns a hand mirror from Davis’ effects, and for a while had a gray felt
hat of Davis, which he is sorry now that he threw it away a little later when he
bought a new hat. He also remembers a story to the effect that in Jefferson
Davis’ trunk when he was captured was $30,000, which a Union soldier buried
until he could come back and get it later. He is a little doubtful about the
truth of that tale, however. 
The veteran remembers that the expedition to capture Davis was generally
unpopular, since the Confederate  had been allowed to go safely home, and the
opinion even of the soldiers who made the capture was that Davis should have
received the same treatment. 
The Confederate leader, whom Mr. Raab describes as “a fine man and no more a
traitor than any of the others,” was imprisoned in Fort Monroe for two years.
The veteran recalls that one of Davis’ horses - a dapple gray- was brought back
to this vicinity by a Lapeer man, who once rode the steed into Flint. 
”War is an awful thing,” Mr. Raab said the other day. “People used to stand up
and shoot at each other and then chat back and forth when the shooting stopped.
I hope the United States will never get into another war.” 
89 Years Old
The veteran, who will be 89 on St. Patrick’s day, enlisted in Flint on January
5, 1864, at the age of 17 and was discharged Aug., 15, 1865, in Nashville. Dr.
George W. Fish, prominent Flint physician and later United States consul at
Tunis, Africa, was his regiment surgeon, and Dr. Fish’s oldest son was the
company commander. 
Mr. Raab came through the war without being wounded, although he declares that a
bullet once came so close that it blistered his nose. He was thrown from his
horse, however, and suffered a spine injury which has troubled his ever since. 
He is the only surviving charter member of the Gov. Crapo Post of the G.A.R., of
which he was president three times. The post now has only seven members, as
compared with 400 soon after the war. Mr. Raab, who came to Flint when he was 10
years old, lived in the Fourth ward when it was a pine forest. He was a
supervisor and assessor in the ward for 24 years. A cabinet maker by trade, he
made many of the pieces of furniture which are now in his home. 
The Flint Daily Journal, February 10, 1935 . 




Additional Comments:
Son of Ebrhart and Elizabeth Zimmerman Raab
Nephew of John C Zimmerman Sr., Mayor of Flint, MI
Cousin of John C, Zimmerman Jr., Sheriff of Genesee County, MI

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