James C. Gribben was born in Ashland County, Ohio, Nov. 27, 1829, to James and Catherine (Aten) Gribben.  Apparently his father was a farmer.  Both James and his older brother William became attorneys.  James apparently joined other Putnam Co. men to form Company E of the "ninety-day" 21^st O.V.I.  At the time of his enlistment as a private in the 21st, James resided in Kalida and was the prosecuting attorney in Putnam Co.  William was Hancock Co. (Findlay) prosecutor from 1854-8 and then instead of joining the Army as he had planned, he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in the fall of 1861 and served from 1862 until 1864.

 

The 21^st trained at Camp Taylor in Cleveland and then moved to Camp Carrington in Gallipolis.  They were deployed to the Kanawha River area of  (West) Virginia and saw action against the rebel army at Scarey Creek in July, 1861. When the ninety-day 21^st came home, James enlisted with other Putnam Co. men in the newly formed 57^th O.V.I.  He entered as 1^st Lt. in Company A.  On Feb. 8, 1862, he was promoted to Captain of Co. A and ordered to Camp Chase.  The 57^th was deployed to western Kentucky and was among the first units to be hit by the Confederate Army at Shiloh.  The captain died of a minie ball wound to the chest during the battle.  Letters written to his brother William by Col. Mungen on April 10 and by Lt. Col. A.V. Rice on April 13, recounting the events surrounding the captain's death indicate that he was bravely leading his men in the battle. 

 

The family had the captain's remains returned to Ohio, where he is buried beside his parents, his sister Margaret, and two infant siblings in the cemetery in Savannah, Ohio, near where he grew up.