Bidspirit auction | CIVIL WAR DOG TAG (identification

CIVIL WAR DOG TAG (identification disc) made from 1854 US quarter coin. Boldly stamped “ J. G. OCHS. ” c. 1862.     A highly educated man and fluent in six languages, Captain Julius G. Ochs (1826-1880) studied at military academy in Cologne before immigrating to the United States in 1846. After fighting in the Mexican War, Ochs served in “Ochs Company” 52nd Ohio Infantry (Jones Infantry) headquartered in Cincinnati.     Interestingly, his wife Bertha Levy Ochs, was a proud Southerner. Family lore recounts that during the war she smuggled contraband goods including quinine in a baby carriage across the Ohio River from Cincinnati to Confederate Covington, Kentucky. The couple’s differing sympathies did not separate their household.      Their son ADOLPH OCHS (1858-1935) rose to become a celebrated newspaper publisher, owner of The New York Times and The Chattanooga Times.