W. A. Perkins, of Ames; Elizabeth, who is the widow of William Cameron and makes her home in Ames; and W. A., also of this city.
Dr. Cramblit remained on the home farm in Guernsey county, Ohio, with his parents until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when, on the 14th of November, 1861, he enlisted as a member of Company A, Seventy-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Leggett. The regiment was assigned to duty with the Army of the Tennessee, and after serving for three years he enlisted for three years more, or for the remainder of the war. This was at Vicksburg. He took part in all of the engagements of his regiment, including thirty-three battles and many skirmishes and he was engaged in scouting for six months after the guerilla band. He was made captain of twenty select men, who, splendidly mounted, would cross the dead line at dark and hunt our guerillas and desperadoes who were causing such trouble among the northern troops by their disregard of all the rules of war. In this connection Dr. Cramblit served on independent detailed service. He was mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, and honorably discharged July 18, 1865, at Columbus, Ohio.
When the war was over, Dr. Cramblit returned to his father's home in Ross county, to which place his parents had removed during the period of the war. There he resided for some time and engaged in buying stock, which he shipped to the east until 1867. He then came to Ames, bringing stock with him, purchasing four horses in Ohio, at a cost of eleven hundred and fifty-four dollars. He also had two hundred and forty of as fine blooded sheep as could be found in the United States, these winning first prize at the National Stock Show at Circleville, Ohio. The last work Dr. Cramblit did in Ohio was to drive sheep from Ross county to New Jersey, riding a horse all the way, and later he shipped the horse and saddle to Ames, where he has resided continuously since 1867. Here he began farming and in the spring of 1868 took up the practice of veterinary surgery, which he followed until about four years ago, in the meantime pursuing a three years' course in the veterinary department of the Iowa State College. Prior to that time he had pursued a correspondence course of lectures on veterinary surgery and had traveled with an old doctor for five years, treating chronic diseases of men and animals in various states. His practice covered a radius of fifty miles in early days, and few men are more widely or more favorably known in this part of the state than Dr. Cramblit. Largely retired from the practice of veterinary surgery, he is engaged in the breeding of chickens, making a specialty of fine Rhode Island Reds since 1906. He has also been engaged in the manufacture of medicines for thirty-five years and was the originator of King of Pain, which, together with his other medicinal products, have been sent all over the United States.
In March, 1868, Dr. Cramblit was united in marriage to Miss Mary Jane Nichols, who ,was born in New York in 1844, and with two brothers came to Ames, where she was married. Her parents had died (luring her