A. F. Nail
A.F. Nail enlisted in the First Ohio Independent Battery Dec. 11, 1861 and was honorably discharged June 25, 1865, and says the only reason any man can give for having a better time than he had must be that he was in the service longer. He was 15 years and 7 months old when he enlisted. Patriotism seems to run in the Nail family, which has had representatives in all the wars in which our country has been engaged. Frank, as Comrade Nail is familiarly called, has been in the show business for the past 25 years and as "Uncle Joe" in the play of the "Drummer Boy" has no equal upon the stage. He has played in all the principal cities from Boston to San Francisco. He was a member of the committee recently sent to Camp Wikoff to look after the welfare of Company M and no better selection could have been made. Frank knows how to talk to the boys and how to care for them too. He is popular everywhere and has the confidence and respect of the community where he has always lived. Family names are repeated and represented in both army and navy. Four generations of Selbridges have served in the navy; three Porters, three Perry's, six Rogerses, and in looking over the list of naval and army officers today it is surprising to observe how many of the names appear upon the pages of the history of the past.
From The Mansfield Semi-Weekly News, October 11, 1898, Vol. 14, No. 84
