Roeliff Brinkerhoff

Roeliff Brinkerhoff
Brevet Brigadier General Roeliff Brinkerhoff
Born	(1828-06-28)June 28, 1828 Owasco, New York
Died	June 4, 1911(1911-06-04) (aged 82) Mansfield, Ohio
Allegiance	United States of America
Years of service	1861-1866
Rank	Colonel Brevet Brigadier General
Battles/wars	American Civil War *Capture of Nashville *Siege of Corinth
Other work	Lawyer, Newspaper Editor, Bank President, Founder and President of the Ohio Historical Society

Roeliff Brinkerhoff (June 28, 1828 – June 4, 1911) was a lawyer, editor and owner of the Mansfield Herald, and later a bank president. He was a quartermaster and supply officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, rising to the rank of colonel. In recognition of his service, he was nominated in 1866 and confirmed in 1867 for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers. His work, "The Volunteer Quartermaster" was considered the definitive text on military logistics and transportation from the Civil War until World War I. He also founded the Ohio Historical Society and succeeded former President Rutherford B. Hayes as president of the American National Prison Congress.

Roeliff (often mistakenly known as 'Ruloff') was born in Owasco, Cayuga County, New York. At the age of sixteen, he became a teacher in his native town, while at eighteen he was in charge of a school near Hendersonville, Tennessee. The following year he was the tutor in the family of Andrew Jackson Jr. before moving to Mansfield, Ohio, to study law with his relative Jacob Brinkerhoff. He was admitted to the bar in 1852, and remained in active practice from that time until after the outbreak of hostilities during the American Civil War. He also served as editor the Mansfield Herald newspaper. Brinkerhoff was married on February 3, 1852, to Mary Lake Bentley, of Mansfield, a granddaughter of General Robert Bentley, a general in the Ohio militia in the War of 1812, later a lawyer, judge and state senator. They had two sons and two daughters.