Ambrose Ezekiel Partch was born as one of 10 children to Erastus Meach Partch and Sofia Maria Hoyt (married 1828). Ambrose was born in Bristol, Addison County, Vermont. He migrated with his family from Vermont to Illinois where, in September of 1861, he enlisted with the Union forces of the Civil War. Ambrose served as 1st Sergeant for Company C, 55th Illinois Infantry which was also known as the "Canton Rifles" Division. 1st Sergeant Partch fought in the Battle of Shiloh as well as the Siege of Corinth. He was a war prisoner in Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia and was discharged in August of 1862 "with wounds" (not specified) received in the Battle of Shiloh. After the war, he joined the fraternal order of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, and grew to include hundreds of "posts" (local community units) across the North and West. It was dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member, Albert Woolson.
Ambrose married Sybil Magee on June 2, 1867 in El Paso, Pierce, Wisconsin. Ambrose and Sybil had 7 children as they moved from Wisconsin to Illinois to Minnesota and eventually to Afton Township, Brookings County, South Dakota in 1878 where they had a home SE of White. His listed occupation per census was as a 'cooper' which indicates he made and repaired casks and barrels. Ambrose lived until July 5, 1898 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery, White, SD.
