Over the years, The Observer has shared the story of Piqua clothing merchant David Urbansky, one of four Jews to receive the Medal of Honor from Congress for service in the Civil War.

In Private Urbansky’s case, it was for “Gallantry at Shiloh and Vicksburg.” The Prussian-born Urbansky served with Company B, 58th Ohio Infantry, a German-speaking unit out of Columbus. He was involved in at least 15 fighting engagements in the Civil War and rose to the rank of corporal (his regiment spelled his name Orbanski on its muster rolls). When he died in 1897 of a stroke at 56, he was buried at Temple Anshe Emeth’s Cedar Hill Cemetery in Piqua.

His family eventually moved to Cincinnati and reinterred Urbansky’s remains at Walnut Hills United Jewish Cemetery. His Medal of Honor is part of the American Jewish Archives’ collection in Cincinnati.

But did you know that since 2016, Greenville’s Garst Museum has exhibited a Union Army officer’s coat made by Jewish tailor Aaron Friedlich, also of Piqua? A Bavarian Jew, Friedlich settled in Piqua in 1848 with his wife, Theresa, and established his merchant tailoring business there. The couple had 10 children. In 1861, he built a store on the north side of the public square known as the Commercial Block.

According to The Garst, Friedlich made the uniform for 6-foot, 4-inch Capt. Joseph C. Ullery of Company G, 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was organized at Camp Piqua in October 1862 and mustered out in June 1865.

Although the Union Army issued mass produced ready-to-wear uniforms to enlistees, commissioned officers were expected to have their uniforms tailor-made at their own expense.

Paul R. Wright, Ullery’s grandson, donated the uniform — hat, vest, jacket, overcoat, sword, and walking stick — to The Garst.

— Marshall Weiss

Related: Three known Civil War veterans are buried in our Jewish cemeteries. 

Related: 7 (possibly 8) Jewish Civil War veterans are buried at Dayton National Cemetery.

To read the complete November 2026 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.