Hirah F. Olmstead
Hirah F. Olmstead was born in Lafayette, N. Y. on January 22, 1836. His family moved near
Syracuse when he was young. He attended the Onondaga Academy before coming to the Normal
School, from which he graduated in January 1862. When he joined the Normal School Company,
he was made a corporal. He was discharged from a hospital in York, Penn. on January 7, 1864.
He held a variety of jobs in a variety of places. He taught for 1-2 yrs at the Onondaga Academy
and for 16 years total, also teaching at Roscoe High School in Illinois. He worked in a store for 2
years, raised fruit in Delaware, and was a merchandiser in Michigan for 2 years. Before leaving
Syracuse, he worked in the city engineer's office. He worked as a civil engineer for the railroads
in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota for 13 years. He served as a superintendent of
schools for 8 years, and finally settled in Washington D. C. and was employed as a clerk in the
United States Bureau (formerly the Department of Labor), where he was still employed in 1911,
having worked there for over 20 years. In 1864, he married Helen Chamberlain, who died in 1873.
He remarried in 1876, to Josephine A Pierson. He had a total of 4 children, 2 sons and 2
daughters. (1)
1. Historical Sketch of the State Normal College at Albany, N.Y...., 191; Nash, 320.