Glass 
 
 IlSAl 
 
 Rnnk .T) ?.'R C, 
 

T 
 
 #BT 
 
 OF 
 
 iiti# 
 
 HENHY L. BOIES. 
 
 O. P. BA8SETT, PRINTER, 
 
 95 Airo 97 WBST BAHDOLPH STBEET, CHI 
 
 1868. 
 

 ■'/. 
 
 ^ 
 
preface:. 
 
 This work has been j^i'epared at the solicitation of many 
 of the pioneer settlers and prominent citizens of the County. 
 The materials have not proved abmidant. So brief has been 
 the existence of our County ; so quiet and uneventful its 
 career ; so little of exciting adventure or unusual experience 
 have the annals of its early settlement afforded, that the task 
 of writing its history has been like that of writing the biogra- 
 phy of some vigorous but common-place country lad who is 
 yet in his teens. Yet, there is much in the early experience 
 of the first settlers of the County that we, their successors 
 and descendants, should not willingly suffer to pass into ob- 
 livion. And, it seemed important that the work of collecting 
 and recording it should be done without delay. For many 
 of the first settlers were fast passing into senility or dropping 
 into the grave, and the interesting story of the toils and trials, 
 the joys and sorrows, the gloomy tragedies and gay comedies 
 that made up their history, lived only in the uncertain memo- 
 ries of the participants, — only in the recollection of a class 
 of men who were rapidly passing away. 
 
 The militai-y history of the County, — the story of the ser- 
 vices rendered by its brave boys in blue in defence of the 
 Nation against the Great Rebellion, have been found a mine 
 of historic wealth, so rich, so extensive, that the limits of the 
 work have permitted only a partial exploration. Few knew, 
 or adequately appreciate, the extent of the service that our 
 brave boys rendered in that grand struggle for the preserva- 
 tion of the life of the Nation ; and this, it seemed, must soon 
 pass into obscurity, or live only in the uncertain, perhaps con- 
 tradictory, remembrance of the participants in its stirring 
 scenes. 
 
24 PREFACE. 
 
 To rescue these facts from an undeserved oblivion ; to 
 her and fix these ephemeral incidents before they were 
 e forever ; to give our citizens a knowledge of events of 
 jrest in its past career and present situation ; to give to the 
 trld some information, not only of its history, but of its 
 esent resources and future prospects ; to render a fitting 
 ibute to the valor and devotion of its gallant boys in blue 
 A'ho nobly bore its banners upon the bloody battle-field, or, as 
 martyrs to their love of country, bravely died in its defence ; to 
 encourage in our citizens an esprit chi corps^ a pride in the 
 name and fame of the County in which they have made homes, 
 such has been the purpose of this work; such its object and 
 design. If this shall have been so accomplished as to meet 
 the approval of its people, its author will be more than satis- 
 fied. For its many defects and omissions, he would beg the 
 indulgence of its readers. Those who would view the work 
 with an unkindly critical eye, could hardly appreciate the 
 difiiculties of the task of determining exact facts of occur- 
 rences long jDassed, in the midst of conflicting testimony, or 
 of doing jDerfect justice to all who have bonio a share in the 
 work of reclaiming the County from its native wildness, and 
 building it up to its present state of prosperity and enlighten- 
 ment. The author has striven to make-a faithful record, noth- 
 ing extenuating, nor setting down aught in malice. With the 
 hope that its readers may take in its perusal some share of that 
 interest which he has taken in its preparation, it is committed 
 to the candid, and it is hoped, kindly judgment of the people 
 of DeKalb County. 
 
 Note.— A large number of soldiers of DeKalb CouBty did gallant service in the Sec- 
 ond Illinois Artillerjr, under General Stolbrand, and Captains J. W. Lowell and H. C. 
 Whittemore; but the history of those batteries, promised in the prospectus of this 
 work, appears to have been lost in the course of transmission by mail, and could not 
 be replaced in time for publication. Numerous irritating typographical errors appear. 
 The author, residing at a distance from the place of publication, was unable to review 
 some portions of the proof. The reader will probably be able to correct most of them, 
 and it is hoped to excuse them ; but it may be well to mention that the first line on 
 page 89 should be read as the last ; that the last word on page 479 should be Corinth, 
 instead of Lyndon, and that the headings on pages 489 and 491 should be De Kalb in- 
 stead of Sycamore, and on page 389 should be Tenth, instead of Thirteenth Illinois 
 Infantry. 
 
 ^ 
 
^r^BLE OF CONTENTS. 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 SKETCHES AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Geographical description of the County. .Its geology. .Origin of the 
 prairies. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE STATE. 
 
 Settled by the French.. New France. .Ceded to Grea\Britain Prnv- 
 iuce ot Quebec. .Conquered by General Clarke. -County of lUino s n 
 ihe State of Yir-inia! . Ordinance of 1787. .War of 1812 -The Vi san 
 Legislatur.. Divided from Indiana. .Admittance as aState. KasKas- 
 lda..Vandalia.. Slavery in Illinois.. The Illinois^ Canal .Galena.. 
 The Suckers.. First Black Hawk war.. Second Back Hawk wai . . 
 Battle at Stillman's Run. .Dixon. .Massacres. .Battles. .Internal im- 
 provements — County ot DeKalb. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 :manxers and customs of the indiaks. 
 
 Their personal appearance. .Characteristics. .Their Villages ^" tim 
 Vicinity.. Burial places.. Corn fields. .Huntmg. .Marriage. .Life of 
 Old Shiobona. .Tecumsehs aid. .Black Hawk's enemy. His service^ 
 to the Whites. .Smoke. .Pokanoka. . Family discipline. .Shabbona di^s- 
 
 possessed. 
 
 53 
 
 63 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 IJFE OF BARON DE KALB 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 the claim ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 Immigration . .Pre-emption and claims . .Disputes. .Fights. .Division of 
 
 claims.. Convention of the People. .Constitution and by-laws . Siiits 
 
 ..Stark and Barron— McLenathan and Mason— Mann of Burlington 
 
 • . The Lynchers tried. ^ * 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 the banditti. 
 
 Horsestealing. .Brodie's Grove. .Worden's discoveries. .Diiscoll's Grove 
 
 ..Gleasons.. Oregon burned.. How to get a verdict. .The Lynching 
 
 } 
 
26 CONTENTS. 
 
 club. .Captain Lonaj's Mill burned. .Daggett and Powell .. Captain 
 Campbell's army. .Embassy from Judge Ford. . Grathering of the Ban- 
 dits. .Murder of Campbell. .The country roused. .Capture of the 
 Driscolls. .Trial at Wliite Roclc. .The whisky. .Prisoner shot.. Trial 
 of Taylor DriscoU. .Who was the Assassin. 78 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE RESURRECTIONISTS. 
 
 Grave robbing at St. Charles. .James Lovell's discovery. .The watch 
 . .The pursuit. ..The robbers arrested. .A vacant grave. .To Richard's 
 Institute. .Tiie lock of golden hair. .Richard's brutality. .The country 
 in arms. .March to St. Charles. .An angry altercation. .Assault on 
 the Institute. .Its Defenders shot. .The building riddled. .No corpses 
 . .A night Conference. .A Retreat. .Raising the body.. It is returned 
 . .Arrests by both parties. 95 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 DEKALB COUNTY IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH INFANTRY VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 Organization . .In Camp at Dixon . .Field and Staff. .At Chicago. . To Louis- 
 ville. .Great march to Frankfort. .To Shelbyville. .Bowling Green. . 
 Scottsville . .Postage currency . .Changes . .To Nashville . .Pap py Ward . 
 Murder. .March to Lookout.. Lost in a cave. General H )oke'.. Battle of 
 Resaca.A rebsletter.To Kingston and Burnt Hickory. A Flight. Deatli 
 of Surgeon Potter. .Fight at Golgotha. .At Marietta. .Battle of Peach 
 Tree Creek. .Terrible scenes. .How the rebs did'nt gather acorns— 
 .^iege of Atlanta— -The dead and wounded. .Herman Furncss' adven- 
 ture. .Atlanta captured. .Colonel Dustin in command of a Division. . 
 Other changes.. Off for Savannah. .Atlanta burned. .Contrabands 
 and Bummers. .Madison and Milledgville. .Railroads destroved. .Fun 
 and Foraging. .Vinum Antimonia. .Savannah Oft again. .Committee 
 of the whole on the State of South Carolina. .Bummers in chjver. . 
 Forty days more. .North Carolina. .Battle of Averysboro. .Gallantry 
 of the One Hundred and Fifth. .AtGoldsboro. .Richmond Surrenders 
 ..Johnson Surrenders. .On to Richmond and Washington. .Grand 
 Re view.. Home again. .Generous Pittsburg. .Shabby Chicago.. The 
 Rcster. 113 
 
 THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 
 
 Cavalry needed, . Colonel Farnsworth Commissioned. .The rally. .At St» 
 Charles.. To Washington. .Greetings on the route. .Farnsworth's 
 Big Abolition Regiment.. At Meridian Hill. .Grand "Reviews. .No 
 fight. .Camp Sumner. .Five Hundred Sick. .To Alexandria. .General 
 Montgomery. .How the rebs loved us. .Spring opens. .On to Manassas 
 —Wooden Guns. .Scouting. .Back to Alexandria. . Siege of Yorktown 
 . .Williamsburg. .Black Creek Bridge. .Richmond in sight. .Recon- 
 noisances and Picketing. .Fair Oaks. .Captain Farnsworth's dinner 
 party.. Page 220.. The Seven Days Fight. .Change of ba=e..The 
 horrors of the retreat.. At Haxal's and Harrison's .. Malvern Hill.. 
 Back to Yorktown and Alexandria. .Fight at Barnsville. .George M 
 
 ^ Roe . . Frederick City . . South Mountain . . Boonesboro . . -Antietam- . . 
 The Rebel army escape.. Dash into Shepherdstown. .Memorable 
 march to Martinsburg — Alter Jeb Stuart— Page 230-— Markham Station 
 
 
CONTENTS. ^* 
 
 ■RP enlistino---The Furloug]i--Giesborougli Pomt--Early^ ad- 
 v'anct - F Sis at Micldletown, JVIonococy, Urbana--Guardmg Wasl - 
 yance -^ '^",. -^„„K„.„.pursuinff the assassins--St.. George and St. 
 S.^£7^"ToSt'tLis?-l Wricked Steamer--To Chicago andhome 
 -—Roster. 
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH ILLINOIS CAVALKY. 
 
 _ . . ^ ^^ pi Tf„ offippr'?— -Field and Staff— -To St. Lonis 
 
 x^oT-Honor ancrdanger----Price's Retreat----After hin>---^^^^^^ 
 Mine C?eek--Fifty-six hours in the Saddle---Six Hundred horses lost 
 Jack Houghton--Price Escapes-Cape Girardeau--Jeft. Thompson 
 surmKlers--To Kansas City--Fort Larned--Fort Leavenworth-- 
 Trouble in Camp— -Roster. 
 
 THE FIFTY-EIGHTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Or<^anization--At the Capture of Donelson--Fort Henry----Corintli-- . 
 sS -Half the Regiment killed and captured--Captani Rutisthauser 
 - Lieutenant Moxom-.-Sergeant Wheaton s adventure--The Union 
 BriSe-Cape Kittell- -Baule of Corinth-Serg-eant J. C.Wright 
 --To Spriigfield--To Vicksburg--Ra>d _ on Merid,an--Capture 
 of Fort DeUussey . . -Up Red River . . Sabine Cross _ Roads . . Pleas- 
 ant Hill .The Fifty-eighth save the army. .SliU reireatmg .Damming 
 Red river. .Yellow Bayou. .Desperate cl.arges. One hundi;ed and ten 
 men killed and wounded . . Re-enlisted . . Fight at Columbia . .Fight with 
 Fo-est at Tnpello. .To Missouri. .The Price raid. .To NorthviUe and 
 Eastport- . . New Orleans- . . Mobile- . . Montgomery- . . Home agam^"^ ^ 
 Roster. 
 
 THE TENTH CAVALRY. 
 
 Captain Carr's company. .The first company raised in Illinois. .To Cairo 
 ^Fortifying and garrison duty. .Re-organized /or three years Raid 
 in Kentucky.. Sykesville.. Birds Point. .Cuptain Carr killed. .Island 
 No 10 Siege of Corinth. .Booiieville. .Fighting our way to Nash- 
 ville Besieled . .No rations. .Built Fort Negley . .Campaign through 
 Alabama and Mississippi. .Wheeler's cavalry . .Mission Kidge. .Pur.^u- 
 ina- Hardee. .A midwinter march without blankets, shoes or tents, 
 to Chattanooga. .RossviUe. .Veteranized-To Atlanta .. Grand march 
 to the Sea. .Crossing the Salkehatchie. .Forty men lost. Gallantry at 
 Edisto .To Columbia, Cheraw, Fayetteville and Goldsboro. Bat- 
 tle of Bentonville.. Hardee whipped. .Sixty men lost. . lo Raleigh 
 Richmond, and the grand review. ^o4 
 
 THE THIRTEENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Enlistments discouraged .. Sandwich and Sycamore companies accepted 
 —Premiums for places— Gray uniforms-Banner presented— At Dixon 
 -To RoUa-March to Springfield-Fremont's Flying Infantry--Back 
 to Rolla-Jesting and death-To Pea Ridge-Indian corpses-Terrible 
 march to Helena-Assault upon Vicksburg-Death of General Wy- 
 man-Arkansas Post-Jackson-Siege of Vicksburg-On Chattanooga 
 -Capture of Lookout Mountain-Ringold Gap-Pat Riley-Death ot 
 Major Bushnell and Captain Blanchard. .Meridian Station, .bixty- 
 six men captured . .Resume . .Roster. 293 
 
28 CONTENTS. 
 
 THE FOURTEENTH CAVALRY. 
 
 Recraitiuii,-. .Consolidation of tliree Regiments. .At Peoria. .The officer.s 
 ..To Glasgow .".Skiraiisliing at Celina..Camp Boyle. .Pursuit of 
 Colonel Hdmiltou. .We capture John Morgan. .Twenty-one hundred 
 miles ride. .Join Burnside. .Surrender of Cumberland Cap. .Guarding 
 Railroads. .Fight at ZoUicotter. .At Blountville. .Dog-tents. .Siege of 
 IvQOxville. .Driven. .Bean Station. .Daudridge. .Thomas' Legion. . 
 Death of Horace Capron. .Cittico. .General Stoneman. .On Atlanta. . 
 Tlie Great Stoneman Raid. .Seven d-j's and nights in the Saddle.. 
 Massacred asleep. .The Regiment destroj^ed. .Major Davidstm. .Figlit- 
 ing Forest. .Pursuit of Bragg. .Mustered out. 208 
 
 THE FORTY-SECOjSTD IKFANTRY. 
 
 Company K. .Roster. .To Tipton. .Terrible march to Springfield. .Two 
 hundred men disabled. ..Winter at Smithton. .To St. Charles. .Fort 
 If olt. .Columbus. .Island No. 10.. Siege of Corinth. .Booncville. . 
 Captain Butts. .Battle of Farmingion... of Columbia. .Stone River. . 
 22:i men lost. .The Chattanooga campaign. .Chickamauga. .184 men 
 lost. .Mission Ridge, 4~) men lost. .East Tennessee campaign. .Veter- 
 anized. .Home. .Atlanta campaign. .Ten battles, 115 nicu lost.. To 
 Bridgeport, Chattanooga, Athens and Pulaski. .Fight at Spring Hill 
 and Franklin, KiU men lost. .Battle of Nashville. .To Decatur, Blue 
 Springs, Johnsonv.lle, Texas, Port Lavaca. .Mustered out January 
 8d, lb(36.. Roster. ;J18 
 
 THE FIFTY- SECOND INFANTRY. 
 
 Organized. .At Geneva.. To St. Louis and St. Joseph. .Exhausting 
 march to Quincy : To Kentucky. .Colonel Sweeney. .Fori Donaldson 
 . .Guarding prisoners. .Shiloli. .^Major Stark. .Death of Captain Knapp 
 . .One-third of the Regiment lost.. Siege of Corinlh. .Sickness and 
 sufterings. .Battle of Corinth.. To luka and Burnsville. .Corintii. . 
 GallaiUry of the Fifty-second. .Hard marches. .Bear Creek. .After 
 Forrest. .Exhausting marches. ..To Pulaski. .Veteranized and home 
 . .To Nashville and Chattanooga. .Siege of Atlanta. .To Savannah.'. 
 South Carolina. .Fall of Richmond. .Surrender of Johnson. .Wasii- 
 ington, Louisville, Chicago. .Roster. i{28 
 
 THE ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SECOND. 
 
 Company F, its Officers. .To Paducah. .Guarding communications.. 
 The campaign ended. .Home again. .Roster. S4:i 
 
 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIXTH. 
 
 Company H, its Ofiicers. .To Paducali. .Guarding communications.. 
 Tlie Rebellion ended. .Home. .Roster. ;J45 
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 ANNALS OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 1882— -Ma-ch of General Scott Encampment at Kingston- -Battle o^" 
 
 Stiliman's Run— -Encampment at Paw Paw. " 848 
 
 1838 Exploration into Southern Portion of the Teriilorv Indians 
 
 hostile. ■ 849 
 
 1834— Explorations— -Ilolleuback — Claims at Squaw Grove and Pampas 
 — First house— -Mail route to Dixon — Sebrees. 841) 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 29 
 
 1835. .Immigrauts pour in— -Indians. .Mode of traveling— -Mode of life. . 
 Malting ckims. .First houses. .Hope and Ambition... The Claim Asso- 
 ciation — First Justices-— Part of La Salle County. . Religious services 
 established. .Winter of 18 5. .Shab joua Grove. .Peter Lamois and the 
 Whisky trade. 350 
 
 1833. .A year of gioom. .Provisions scarce. .Clothing worn out.. Sick- 
 ness. .Election of Gladden. ..Chicago. .Kane and DeKalb. .towns 
 started. " 358 
 
 1837. .Act, creating Delvalb County.. Septennial wet season. .The finan- 
 cial crash. .What Shabbona says. .The new Villages. .C. Sharer &Co. 
 Coltonville. .How the County was set off from Kane. .The tirst Elec- 
 tion. .Officers chosen. .The County Court.. Its tirst acts. .Precincts 
 created. .The County Seat located. .The struggle. .Why Orange was 
 selected. 300 
 
 1838.. First Circuit Court at Coltonville. .Names of Jurors. .Tavern 
 licenses. .Ilegulati(m of prices. .The tirst County tax. .Election of 
 Commissioners. .Attractions of Coltonville. .Captain Barnes' Enter- 
 prise. .Madden and Colton. .Act for removal passed. .Courting and 
 the County Seat. .Kemoval voted down. .The tirst Crmiinal. .County 
 Town Surveyed. .Cou:t proceedings. .Deer Stalking. 374 
 
 1839. .Sickly season. .New Court House built.. The Mansion House.. 
 Removal of Court. .Elections. .The Polish grant. .Another act for 
 Removal of the Scat of Justice. .Carried. .Kellogg arrested. .Taxes 
 raised. 383 
 
 1840. .Increase of population ...Poverty of the People.. Life at Squaw 
 Grove. .Thieves and counterfeiters. .The N"unner3^ .Election of Har- 
 rison. .The Courts. .County Seat voted back again. .Winthrop Love- 
 lace . . Boarders and prisoners. 385 
 
 1841.. The first Lawyer. .Elections. .State road. .Terrible winter.. Six 
 months good Sleighing. .Starvation. .500 Deer killed. 390 
 
 1843. .First steel plows. .E. L. Mayo. .The Countj^ Town. .Three years 
 Taxes. .The State and County bankrupt. .Rich Recorders. .Elections 
 ..Courts. 391 
 
 1843. .County financiering. .Land comes in market. .Claim wars. .The 
 County Town. .New State roads .. Genoa. 394 
 
 1844. .The regular seven years flood. .Harvesting in the w\ater. .County 
 Elections. .County orders. 398 
 
 1845. .Slow progress in settlement. .Debt and repudiation. .Claim wars 
 . .No money; 399 
 
 1846. .War with Mexico. .Captain Shepherds company. .Shabbona pre- 
 cinct. .Financial situation. .County Officers and justices elected.. 
 First brick dwellings built. 400 
 
 1847- .Improvement in finances. .Immigration. .Poverty. .The taverns 
 crowded. .Elections. .Paupers. 
 
 1848. .New Constitution. .Squaw Grove precinct created. .Wooster pre- 
 cinct. .Tlie old Court House. .A new one demanded. 403 
 
 1849. .Contract for new Court House. .Size. .Donations to be paid back 
 ..The Subscribers. .Off for California. .Officers elected. .Township 
 Organization. .Salaries ot Officers. .Division of the County into 
 Towns. .The original thirteen. .County tax. 403 
 
30 CONTENTS. 
 
 1850. .Town Government established. .First Board of Supervisors.. 
 Names changed and why. .Court House completed. 406 
 
 1851. .Inauguration ball. .The Septennial flood. .Two feet of snow 'in 
 April. .Poisonous wheat. .Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. . 
 St. Charles plank road. 407 
 
 1853. .Assessment. .Only 30,000 acres not entered. .Politics. .Combina- 
 tions. .County Offices become valuable. .Elections. .St. Charles & 
 Mississippi Air Line. .First Agricultural Society. 408 
 
 1853. .History of St. Charles & Mississippi Air Line. .The Dixon Rail- 
 road. .Purchase of County Poor Farm. .Buena Vista Village. 409 
 
 1854. .First Newspaper published. .The Maine Liquor Law issue. .Vote 
 of the County. .Lands all entered. .Newark Station. .Political Mass 
 Meeting. .Organizai.ion of the Republican party. .County Fair. . 
 Elections. .Assessments. .Swamp Land Grant. .DeKalb Village.. 
 County tax. .Af ton. 413 
 
 1855. .The County property. .Population of the towns and villages. 416 
 
 1856.. A year of prosperity. .Expansion. .County Jail built.. Swamp 
 Lands. .Malta. ..taxation. .Terrible storm. 417 
 
 1857. .Commercial convulsion. .General bankruptcy. .Election. .Milan 
 . .Newspapers. 419 
 
 1858.. Papers in the County.. Hard times. .A meteor. .Taxes. .The 
 Septennial flood .. Sycamore & Cortland Railroad. .Teachers fustitute 
 Hard times. .Taxes suspended. .Tornado. .Meteor. 431 
 
 1859. Hard times. Drought. Debt. Suits. Paupers. Dow vs Ell wood. 425 
 
 1860. .A notable year. .Bountiful crops. .Presidential Election. .Great 
 Mass Meeting. .Wide-awakes. .Exciting political contest. 426 
 
 1861. .The Great War. .Patriotic devotion. .Union of Parties. .Stump- 
 tail currency. .Census. 438 
 
 1863. .Gloom and depression. .Enrollment for draft. .Assessment. .Elec- 
 tion. .Swamp Land Grant sold. .History of the grant. 430 
 
 1803. .Pecuniary prosperity. .Fire proof County Offices. .Beautiful 
 School Houses. .600,000 troops called out. .Volunteers enough. .Bounty 
 Legislation. .Jurisdiction of the County Court. .Sorghum culture. 435 
 
 1864. .The great January storm. .Return of the veterans. .H. W. Fay. . 
 William Young. .Destruction of shade trees. .Money abundant. .The 
 Wheat crop destroyed. .More troops called. .County bounties. .The 
 draft comes at last.. Quotas filled. .Elections. .Union League. .Rail- 
 road monopolies. .First foreign appointment. 435 
 
 1835.. The County Seat contest. .Quotas of towns demanded. .The 
 draft. .Heavjr taxation. .Peace at last. .Men famished by each town 
 . .Fall in gold. .Wet season. .Elections. .Census. 438 
 
 1836. .Prosperity. .Elegant churches built. .Desolating hail storm.. 
 Cholera. .Failure of Sycamore Bank. .Election. .Taxation. .Bounties 
 on wolves. 441 
 
 1867. .Great prices for produce. .Rise in lands. .The Half Shire, .Man- 
 ufactories. .Election. .Burglars. .Taxation. 444 
 
 1838. .Statistics. .Election. .Conclusion. 447 
 
 J-i 
 
CONTENTS. 31 
 
 PART FOURTH. 
 
 TOWN HISTORIES. 
 
 Genoa. .Its attractions. .First settlers. .Tliieves and counterfeiters. .E. 
 P. Grleason's history. .Mass meeting in 1838. .Origin of the name.. 
 Largest Village in the County. .Population. .Genoa in the war. .Her 
 martyred dead . . Supervisors. 450 
 
 Kingston. .The Indians. .First white settlers. .Poverty of early times 
 . .How they lived. .Population. .Fearful tornado. .Luke Penwell.. 
 George Magenety killed.. Her soldier boys. .Tlie dead. .Numerous 
 officers. .Supervisors. 455 
 
 Franklin. .Woods, streams and quarries. .First settlers, .Hicks' Mills. . 
 Kishwaukee City. .Poverty. .Dr. Hobart. .Land in market in 1838. . 
 General Tom Humphrej^. .Other officers. .Dead ot the Rebellion.. 
 Tornado. .The killed. .Indian idol. .Population. .Supervisors. 4G3 
 
 Mayfield. .Its natural attractions. .First^ settlers. .Coltonville. .Indian 
 village . . Dr. Madden . . A distillery . . Sarpents and other game . . Claim 
 wars. .Population. .Boys in Blue. .The roll of Honor. .First religious 
 meetings. .Supervisors. 468 
 
 South Grove.. Its soil and surface. .Owens' Creek. .Indian trail.. 
 Orput's and Driscoll's Grove. .Mills. .Its inhabitants. .The Driscolls 
 ..First settlers. .Schoolmaster By ers. .Schools now. .How to buikl 
 School Houses cheaply. .Churches. .Camp meeting. .Hell of a Christ- 
 ian. .Post Office. .Hotels. .Profits of farming. .Hercules helps. .Fine 
 houses. .Noble farms. .Favorite crops. .Population. .Its men in tlie 
 Army. .Its Supervisors. 467 
 
 Sycamore. .Timber and streams. .Norbo. .Charters. .The New York 
 Company. .Bursted bubbles.. The old Town of Sycamore. .Captain 
 Barnes. .Sycamore in 1840. .Churches. .Lawyers. .Population. .Syca- 
 more ill 18*55. .James' Block. .Sycamore & Cortland Railroad. .Lead- 
 ing citizens. .Supervisors.. .Incorporation of the village. 475 
 
 Cortland. .Indian village. .The prisoners. .Ohio Grove. .Palatial Hotel 
 Luce's Corners. .The railroad village.. The population. .Richland... 
 Pampas. .Public schools; the first and the last.. Her soldiers. .The 
 roll of her martyrs. .Captain R. A. Smith. .Supervisors. 482 
 
 DeKalb. .Woodland and streams. .First settlers. .Troops in cami . . 
 Jenks & Co.. ..Russell Huntley's claims. .First Election. .Hard times 
 ..DeKalb for sale cheap.. Town organized. .First called Orange.. 
 The life giving Railroad. .Magical growth. .1857. .Agricultural Society 
 grounds . . School Houses . . Churches . . Newspapers . . Lawyers . . Bank 
 . . Leading citizens . . Supervisors . . Soldiers . . Population 486 
 
 ^ Malta. .Settled in 1851. .Station established in 1854. .Milton. .Etna. . 
 Storm of 1857. .Steam Mill. .Recent rapid growth. .Future prospects 
 . . Census . . Soldiers . . Supervisors. 4f) ^ 
 
 Milan.. The youngest town.. Lewis McEwen..Deer and wolves.. 
 Rapid settlement. .Advance in the price of lands. .School Section and 
 Schools. .Town Hall. .Norwegians. .The willows. .Population. .As- 
 sesment of property . . Its Soldiers. 494 
 
 APTON..The first emigrants mistake. .Sweet Afton.. First settlers.. 
 Organization as a town.. First town officers.. Its uniformly Noble 
 Supervisors. .Its Schools. .Its Churches. .Its Elections. .Its Population 
 ...Its war record. .Its dead of the war. 496 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Clinton. .Its grove aud streams. .First Inhabitants. .Its territory.. 
 Selection of a name. .Population. .Schools. .Churches. .Claim wars. . 
 Hard times.. Its martyred dead. .Captain Pritchard. .The Marsh 
 Brothers aud the Marsh Harvester. .The Supervisors. 499 
 
 Pierce. .Sulphur springs. ."Wheat raising. .Nativity of its inhabitants 
 First settlers. .Schools. .Organization in 1853. .Its name. .Contribu- 
 tions to the war. .Population.. .Supervisors. 501 
 
 Squaw Grove. .The first town settled. .Origin of the name..Sebree 
 and other first settlers. .Mode of life. .Taxation. .First birth and 
 death. .Schools. .Its present wealth. .Population. .Soldiers. .Super- 
 visors. 506 
 
 Paw Paw. .ISTat'iral characteristics. .First inhabitants. .Origin of its 
 name . . Shabbona . . Waubonsie . . Le Clair . ..The banditti . . Bill Rogers 
 . .Treasure trove. .Town organization. .First Election. .Supervisors. . 
 Seminaries. .Churches. .Population. In the Avar of the Rebellion.. 
 The dead. ^ 508 
 
 Victor. .Organization in 1853.. First immigrants. .The railroad.. 
 Nativity of its population. .The Little Indian. .Leland. .Schools. . 
 Population. .Its soldier boj^s. .Their dead. .Supervisors. 514 
 
 SoMONArK. .Description . .First house in the County. .Early settlers. . 
 Poverty and hardship. .Worship. .The mails. .The^ railroad. .Sand- 
 vvMch. .How started. .Manufacturing. .Its grain trade. .Its newspapers 
 . .Its Churches. .Somonauk village. .Rapid growth. .Its war record. . 
 Leading citizens.. .Underground railroad. 519 
 
 Shabbona. ."f he Grove.. The Big Indian Creek.. Early prospeiity.. 
 Old Shabbona. .Treaties. .Sells his reservation to Gates. .Sale void. . 
 The sale at Dixon. .The AVhispering Smith's attempt. .Investigation 
 ..First house.. First settlers. .Game — Sibiqua — Presest situation — 
 Masonic — Its soldiery — The dead — The Supervisors 524 
 
HISTOKY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Geography and Geology of DeKalb County, avith 
 THE Origin of the Prairies. 
 
 The surface of our County of DeKalb has few marked 
 peculiarities — few grand distinctive features. It contains no 
 great and navigable rivers ; no elevated peaks, rising in 
 majestic grandeur ; no mountain torrents, shrouded in foam, 
 chafing in rocky channels ; no deep and narrow valleys, hem- 
 med in on every side, and forming little worlds of their own ; 
 no narrow and precipitous passes, winding through circuitous 
 defiles ; no cavernous gorges, giving exit to pent-up waters ; 
 no contorted or twisted strata, affording evidence of violent 
 internal throes and gigantic overturnings. It is simply a 
 plain parallelogram of rich rolling prairie, eighteen miles broad 
 and thirty-six miles long, dotted with a few groves and watered 
 by a few small streams. 
 
 But the features of the landscape, although less bold than 
 those of mountainous regions, are yet impressive and strongly 
 marked. In the broad, billowy prairies, extending as far as 
 the eye can reach, we have the element of vastness as in scarce 
 any other land ; we have a luxuriant sward of emerald green- 
 ness, clothing the whole land, down to the very margin of the 
 
 5 
 
34 HISTOEY OF DEKALB COUNTY: 
 
 waters; we have meandering streams, clear as crystal, now 
 smooth, quiet and glassy, then ruffled by winds or rapids ; we 
 have clumps of trees, charming groves, disposed with an effect 
 of beauty that might baffle a landscape gardener ; now crown- 
 ing the grassy height, now clothing the green slope with their 
 pleasing shade. From the gentle heights of the rolling prairies, 
 the country, even before the hand of man had broken its 
 surface, wore the aspect of cultivated meadows and rich 
 pasture grounds, irrigated by frequent rivulets. 
 
 The County occupies the high ground between the two 
 well-known streams, the Fox and Rock rivers ; streams famous 
 for their purity and beauty, which, rising in Wisconsin, both 
 flow southwestwardly in a course nearly parallel, and empty, 
 the Fox into the Illinois river at Ottawa, and the Rock into 
 the Mississippi at Rock Island. The highest point between 
 these rivers, and indeed, the highest between the lakes at 
 Chicago and the Mississippi river, is said to be in the town 
 of South Grove, in this County. 
 
 The central portion of the County contains the least exten^ 
 of timbered lands, and the fewest running streams. The 
 northern and southern ends are better watered and timbered. 
 The south branch of the Kishwaukee river is the largest of 
 those streams. Upon all of the early maps of this County, 
 and upon its first records, this stream is designated as the 
 Sycamore river. Kishwaukee is said to be the Indian name 
 for the Sycamore tree, and the river took its name from the 
 fact, that when the country was first settled by the whites, a 
 few scattered groups of those trees (very rare in the prairie 
 region) were found upon its banks. 
 
 This stream rises in the town of Afton, near the centre of 
 the County, flows through DeKalb, Mayfield, Kingston and 
 Franklin, about forty miles, entering the Rock river at Mil- 
 ford, in Winnebago County. It has several branches, the 
 largest of which, originating in Vjrgil, Kane County, flows 
 through Cortland and Sycamore, and enters the main branch 
 in Mayfield. Deer Creek in Genoa, Trimble's Run in King- 
 
ITS GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY. 35 
 
 ston, Owen's Creek in Soutli Grove and Franklin, all minor 
 brandies of the same river, are infinitely valuable to the farms 
 which they water, and have served a valuable purpose in 
 furnishing protection to the scattering groves which always 
 spring up on the prairies upon the eastern sides of the run- 
 nmg streams, sheltered there from the ravages of the annual 
 prairie fires, driven by the prevailing westerly winds. Beside 
 the banks of this main stream stretches one continuous forest 
 composed principally of white red and burr oak trees, liberally 
 mterspersed with the poplar, the maple, the butternut, the 
 black-walnut, and the hickory. This grove constitutes the 
 mamsourceof supply for fuel, fencing and timber, for the 
 land owners of all the northern half of the County, beinc 
 owned m small lots of from one to twenty acres, by the farmer" 
 on the broad prairies on each side, some of whom live ten or 
 even fifteen miles from their timbered lots, and resort to them 
 only m the winter season, at which time their principal 
 occupation is the accumulation of a supply of fencing and 
 luel tor the next year's use. 
 
 Broad, rolling prairies occupy almost the entire surface of^ 
 the central portion of the County. The land is, perhaps 
 more rolling,-more rough,-than at the two extremities' 
 but only two or three small, isolated, natural groves broke 
 the uniformity of the billowy prairie, before it was formed 
 mto farms and beautified by man with rows or little thickets 
 ot planted or transplanted timber. 
 
 The first settlers of the country naturally made their 
 claims m close proximity to the groves and streams; and 
 could hardly believe that the distant prairies would ever serve 
 
 Sr %r'^''' '^V}"' '^ ' "'^' "-^^Se for flocks and 
 herds. They were confident that no farmer could live and 
 labor conveniently, farther than a mile or two from his tim- 
 bered lots and they regarded him as a visionary enthusiast 
 who dared to predict that they would live to see it all s'led 
 and occupied by man. But the settlements gradually extended 
 farther and farther out upon the prairies, and now the entire 
 
36 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY : 
 
 County is occupied, and scarcely a vacant spot of the wild 
 prairie can be found throughout its entire extent. 
 
 The settlers upon these farms remote from the groves, now 
 claim that the soil is there more productive than in their closer 
 vicinity, and observation seems to justify the claim ; but this 
 superiority may be due to their having been more recently 
 settled and subjected to fewer drafts upon their fertility, than 
 those which have been longer cropped. 
 
 Some of the wealthiest farmers and the most productive 
 farms of the County are now found in this section of the 
 County, which, twenty years ago, it was thought would never 
 be occupied by residents. 
 
 Although this central portion of the County is compara- 
 tively rugged, yet no large streams are found there. The 
 head waters of all the creeks in the County are there formed 
 in sloughs or swamps, which always connect one with another, 
 until the united volume of their waters form brooklets, which 
 flowing north and south ultimately become our larger creeks. 
 The Big and Little Indian Creeks have their origin near the 
 southern boundary of these central towns, and in the town of 
 Afton one handsome and never-failing stream gushes out from 
 the low prairie with considerable size and force ; and flowing 
 southwestwardly through the town of Squaw Grove becomes 
 the Little Rock Creek. 
 
 But the natural disadvantages of this scarcity of timber 
 and of flowing streams in this section, are compensated by 
 the possession of an important line of railroad, a portion of 
 the great commercial artery between the Atlantic and Pacific, 
 upon which the thriving villages of Cortland, DeKalb and 
 Malta have sprung up ; villages which must ever be leading 
 business places in DeKalb County. Thanks to the life-infus- 
 ing influence of this great artery of trade, this portion of the 
 County, has grown in wealth and population during the past 
 ten years more rapidly than any other section, and its popu- 
 lation must still rapidly become more dense. 
 
 The six southern towns of the County, like the northern 
 
ITS GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY. 37 
 
 six, are better watered and timbered than those which occupj 
 the center. There are about four thousand acres of good 
 timber in its several groves, embracing about one thirty-second 
 of its entire surface, and so distributed that no farm in those 
 towns is far removed from timbered lots. Handsome flowing 
 streams are also abundant. It is as fertile and as beautiful a 
 region as the sun shines upon. The Little Indian and Big 
 Indian Creeks water the towns of Shabbona and Paw Paw, 
 while Shabbona Grove and Ross Grove furnish its timber. 
 
 Somonauk and Squaw Grove are watered by the Little 
 Rock and Somonauk Creeks and provided with timber from 
 the grove which borders these streams. 
 
 Upon the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroads have 
 sprung up the two active, enterprising and well built villages 
 of Sandwich and Somonauk. At Shabbona Grove and in 
 the southwestern portion of Paw Paw have long been small 
 villages, natural centers for the surrounding country which 
 only need the life-giving influence of a railroad to make them 
 among the largest in the County. 
 
 The whole County is divided with mathematical precision 
 into eighteen towns, laid out by the United States Govern- 
 ment, each six miles square. 
 
 Hardly a ledge of rocks pierces the surface in any part of 
 the County. Some soft, inferior limestone is found in King- 
 ston a few feet below the surface, and in Franklin is a quarry 
 of the same that is converted into building lime. A similar 
 quarry has been found in Afton, and in the southern part 
 near the banks of the creeks it may be found cropping out 
 occasionally. 
 
 But the whole County is, even for this prairie land, singu- 
 larly and unfortunately destitute of rock suitable for building 
 or for any other valuable purpose. Thinly scattered over its 
 entire surface, however, are found rounded granite boul- 
 ders, varying in size from that of a huge cannon ball to that 
 which would weigh a ton or more. In the vernacular of the 
 country they are called hard heads or nigger heads and are 
 
66 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY: 
 
 prized by the farmers, wlio use them for underpinning barns ; 
 sometimes also for stoning their wells, and more rarely their 
 house cellars. But few farms are so fortunate as to possess 
 enough for these purposes. 
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE PRAIRIES. 
 
 These singularly beautiful and fertile plains, destitute of the 
 thick growth of timber with which nature has clothed most 
 of the country, and so admirably fitted by nature for the 
 immediate use of man, is a subject that has excited a vast 
 deal of interest and inquiry and has given rise to a great 
 many different theories. 
 
 To give an intelligent opinion on their origin, some brief 
 review of the commonly received theories of geology is 
 necessary. 
 
 The science of geology informs us that the earth, originally 
 a fiery, nebulous mass, revolving in illimitable space about 
 the sun, gradually became cooled at its surface and that at 
 the present age, the globe, still seething with tumultuous fires 
 within, is covered on its exterior by a rind of solid matter 
 about ten miles in thickness, which, as compared to its entire 
 diameter, is like a thin sheet of paper spread over a globe a 
 foot in diameter. This surface cooled irregularly in rough 
 corrugations ; the elevations constituting the mountains and 
 continents, and the depressions, filled with the condensed 
 vapors making the oceans and the valleys of the principal 
 rivers. This surface was originally far more rough and irreg- 
 ular than at present, and changes — alternate elevations and 
 depressions, while the solid exterior was thinner — were more 
 numerous than at this later ag;e. 
 
 Those rocks which bear marks of having been originally in 
 a fluid state are called igneous rocks and constitute the primary 
 strata. Granite is the most common specimen of this class 
 of rocks. 
 
 Heat, frost and floods gradually crumble and wear away 
 the irregularities of the surface and form from the disinte- 
 grated mass a soil, which, stimulated by the high tempera- 
 
ITS GEOGEAPHY AND GEOLOGY. 39 
 
 ture caused by the fires below, produced herbage and veget- 
 able growths of enormous size. In the strata of rock formed 
 at this period are found, not only shells and the simpler forms 
 of animal life, but the remains of giant ferns sixty feet in 
 height, with stalks or trunks three feet in circumference. 
 A'^ines, palms, and all the flora of the present tropical regions, 
 an hundred times increased in size, grew and flourished in 
 the hot, moist atmosphere with a luxuriance almost incon- 
 ceivable, and dying, produced a soil of incomparable richness, 
 which in turn reproduced fresh and more gigantic forms of 
 vegetable life. This rapid growth and equally rapid decay 
 soon formed beds of peaty soil of immense thickness, and the 
 crust of the earth being at this time much thinner than now, 
 and of course subject to more frequent disturbances and 
 irruptions of the struggling internal fires, they, bursting 
 forth, often buried Avith the enormous weight of the overturned 
 strata these thick beds of vegetable matter, and by the aid 
 of heat, converted them into those beds of coal, which now, 
 brought to the surface, furnish man with an inexhaustible 
 supply of the most valuable of fuel. In these coals we even 
 now can readily trace the remains of plants and trees ; even 
 the delicate foliage of the graceful ferns being still plainly 
 visible. 
 
 As the earth grew older strange forms of animal life ap- 
 peared. Amid the moist tropical lagunes gigantic beasts dis- 
 ported. Enormous lizards, twenty feet in length, with bodies 
 larger than the elephant's-; reptiles, resembling no species 
 now existing ; huge birds ; terrible serpents ; monstrous fish ; 
 strange compounds of all these species of animals ; many of 
 them furnished with wings yet adapted to life in the water, 
 together constituted the living inhabitants of the earth at this 
 early period of its existence. Their remains are found imbed- 
 ded in solid rock, often so distinct that their mode of life and 
 the nature of the food on which they subsisted may be easily 
 determined. Millions of years passed away. Animals of 
 countless varieties lived, died, and even their species passed 
 
40 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY: 
 
 out of existence, amid the operation of the grand process of 
 fitting the earth for the habitation of man. 
 
 Strata on strata of rocks were formed by the slow process 
 of disintegration of the elevated surfaces, through the agency 
 of heat, floods and frost, aided by alternate elevations and 
 depressions, and the re-formation of this mass into solid rock 
 again, till we come at last to the diluvial or drift period ; the 
 last geological era before man occupied the globe ; if indeed 
 he had not during or before this period become its tenant. 
 
 The greatest portion of this diluvial deposit consists of sand 
 and gravel ; but tough, hard clay constituted no inconsiderable 
 amount of it. 
 
 The vegetation of this period differed but slightly from that 
 of the present day. The position of the mountains, continents, 
 rivers and oceans was substantially the same as at the present, 
 which is termed the alluvial period ; although there have 
 evidently since been some elevations and depressions of the 
 surface. During this diluvial period, there seems to have 
 suddenly occurred an era of intense cold throughout all the 
 northern hemisphere. That it was a sudden change is shown 
 by the perfect preservation to this time in the frozen mud of 
 Siberia of numerous specimens of the elephant, rhinoceros, and 
 other inhabitants of a warm climate, which are now found with 
 the hide and even the flesh still visible ; and also by similar 
 discoveries of the mammoth and mastodon in some parts of 
 this continent. The changed climate was perhaps due to some 
 sudden oscillation of the axis of the earth. Nearly all organic 
 life was destroyed by this reduction of temperature, and gla- 
 ciers were formed on mountains of moderate height. The 
 northern regions of the earth became vast sheets of ice and 
 snow, which, as now in polar regions, sent out their glaciers, 
 by the natural force of expansion, nearly as far to the south 
 as the gulf of Mexico. By changes of temperature these 
 glaciers advancing and retreating as they do at the present 
 time in the Alps and in the polar regions, broke fragments 
 from the ledges of rock below, and grinding them upon the 
 
ITS GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY. 41 
 
 surface of the rock, rounded them into boulders. Ultimately 
 the temperature became again permanently elevated ; and the 
 vast sheets of ice became equally vast currents of water, which 
 floated off huge icebergs loaded with rocks, sand, gravel, cla}^, 
 and fragments of trees. Floating toward the warmer regions 
 of the south they gradually melted and deposited their debris 
 upon the surface of the earth. Becoming fixed upon some 
 accidental projection, large gravelly knolls and hills were 
 formed from their deposits, and over the entire surface their 
 boulders were scattered. In some natural gorges these ice- 
 bergs would naturally accumulate, and rapidly liquefying, 
 would deposit enough of their detritus to stop the passage of 
 the great waters, and cause the formation of immense lakes 
 Avhich covered the country, perhaps for centuries of time, until, 
 either by some internal convulsion or perchance by the slower 
 processes of ordinary causes, the dam thus formed became 
 worn away, and the lakes floated off to the ocean. 
 
 These prairies were undoubtedly at one time the bed of 
 such a lake. The black soft mould which constitutes the 
 surface soil is strongly impregnated with ulmic acid, a charac- 
 teristic constituent of peat and swampy ground, and which is 
 present in most vegetable manures. Beneath this is a foot or 
 two, sometimes ten or fifteen feet, of reddish yellow clay often 
 mixed with gravel ; then a stiff blue clay or hard-pan, and in 
 or under this we often find well-preserved fragments of timber 
 and the brush of forests ; sometimes pine, oftener hemlock ; 
 rarely tamarack ; always of species that do not grow within 
 some hundreds of miles of this country. This deposit of clay, 
 sand and loam sometimes reaches to the depth of two hundred 
 feet, while in other places the stratified rocks below it are 
 scarcely concealed. These stratified rocks consist of thin 
 veins of coal, limestone, sandstone, and other varieties of rocks 
 ia layers down to the primitive granite. The clay, the gravel, 
 the fragments of trees were probably deposited in the drift 
 period ; the gravelly knolls formed from the detritus of some 
 iceberg arrested in its course and melted there. The granite 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
42 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 ledges, from wlience the boulders that strew the prairies were 
 taken, can now be seen about six hundred miles toward the 
 polar ocean. 
 
 It seems most probable that the departure of the waters 
 which formerly covered these prairies was due to the gradual 
 elevation of the surface by internal forces ; and it is not im- 
 possible that this gradual elevation may still be in progress, 
 and account, in part, for the constantly increasing dryness of 
 the surface of the country, which is so evident to every settler 
 who was accustomed to these prairies a quarter of a century 
 ago. 
 
 The theory that these prairies were formerly the bed of 
 a lake will account for the absence of trees. Grass and 
 herbaceous plants in great variety, including floAvering plants 
 which bloom in constant succession from spring till autumn, 
 grow in the finely comminuted soil which always constitutes 
 the bottom of lakes and ponds, as they grow here on the 
 prairies ; but in such soils trees do not naturally spring 
 up. The beds of lakes in Michigan which have been gradually 
 filled up or drained off remain as natural prairies. Some acid 
 in such soils checks the spontaneous growth of trees. But a 
 different kind of soil is found upon the margin of streams, and 
 in this class of soil groves of excellent timber are always found. 
 The cause of this may be in the fact that when in the course 
 of the gradual elevation of the Avhole region, the higher por- 
 tions are laid bare, the drainage became more concentrated in 
 narrow channels, and the more rapid current washed away 
 the swampy top-soil, leaving exposed the underlying drift, 
 which is a soil of a character adapted to the growth of forests. 
 Trees indeed grow and thrive in the prairie soil when planted 
 there, but never except when the hand of man has broken the 
 tough sod of the surface, and enabled their roots to penetrate 
 to the argillaceous loam which constitutes the sub-soil. 
 
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE STATE, 43 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE STATE, 
 
 It was about two centuries ago that Louis XIV., the most 
 ambitious, most illustrious and most dissolute of all the kings 
 of France, desirous of extending his dominions into the new 
 world beyond the seas, sent out settlers to colonize the rich 
 wilderness called after him, Louisiana, and embracing all the 
 territory that was drained by the Mississippi river, including 
 the beautiful country of the Illini tribe of Indians, named 
 ultimately Illinois, 
 
 French villages or trading posts were established at St. 
 Louis, Prairie du Chien, Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, Peoria, 
 Cahokia, Chicago, and some other less noted points, by settlers 
 who, under LaSalle, Iberville, and various other Jesuit priests, 
 became the first white inhabitants of our State, 
 
 For nearly one hundred and fifty years these villages made 
 little progress. The original settlers generally intermarried 
 with the Indians of the surrounding country, and their de- 
 scendants partook, to some extent, of the wild, roving, indolent 
 character of the aborigines, united with the politeness, gaiety 
 and courtesy of the French, Most of their time was spent in 
 hunting and fishing excursions from which they returned with 
 the skins, fur and feathers, which were the staple articles of 
 their trade in their annual excursions down the great Father 
 of Waters. Each village had its own Catholic church, which 
 was the place of gay resort on Sunday, and its priest, who 
 was the loved advisor and companion of his flock. 
 
 In 1713 the country passed from the authority of the French 
 at the conclusion of the treaty of Utrecht which ceded Canada 
 to the English, the whole being known as New France. 
 
44 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 In 1774 an act of Parliament known as the Quebec act, 
 desio-ned to prevent the Canadians from joining with the other 
 disaffected colonies in opposition to the British Crown, among 
 numerous other privileges, attached all of this country north 
 of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi to the province of 
 Quebec. 
 
 "When in 1778 the country was conquered from the British 
 who then possessed it by the colonial troops under General 
 George R. Clarke, many of his officers and soldiers remained 
 and settled in the territory ; and in due time other hardy 
 pioneers from Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky, followed 
 
 them. 
 
 Clarke who was acting under authority of the Legislature 
 of Viro-inia, claimed this part of the country as a conquest of 
 that State ; and the Virginia Legislature in October of that 
 year organized it as the County of Illinois, in the State of 
 Viro-inia and as such it continued till the ordinance of 1787 
 reoro-anized it as the northwestern territory, and appointed 
 Gov. St. Clair its territorial governor. 
 
 When in the war of 1812 British emissaries stirred up the 
 Indians to war upon the settlement of" those Avho confessed 
 allciance to the Union, these colonists then amounting to 
 about 12,000 in number, maintained their position, and, with 
 the aid of one company of regular troops, took the offensive, 
 and made hostile expeditions into the territory of the neigh- 
 boring tribes, burning their villages and driving them from the 
 country. At the outbreak of the war, however, the company 
 of troops posted at Chicago, who had received notice of the 
 declaration of hostilities and orders to evacuate and destroy 
 their post, were ambushed at Michigan City while escaping 
 to Detroit, and massacred by the Indians. With the cessa- 
 tion of the war, peace returned to the little chain of Western 
 colonies. By the famous ordinance of 1787, organizing this 
 great northwestern territory, there were to be not less than 
 three nor more than five States carved out from its limits, any 
 one of which should be admitted into the Union so soon as it 
 
A BRIEF HISTORY OP THE STATE. 45 
 
 sHould have 60,000 inhabitants ; and the boundaries of those 
 three States, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois were defined. They 
 were each to extend to the British possessions on the north. 
 
 Illinois thus included all of the present State of Wisconsin. 
 But Congress reserved the riojht to form one or two States 
 out of the territory lying north of an east and west line drawn 
 through the south point of Lake Michigan. But until 1814 
 Indiana and Illinois were both under one territorial govern- 
 ment, whose head was at Vincennes, in Indiana, and the laws 
 which governed their people went by the name of the laws of 
 the " Vinsan Legislatur." At this time the Illinoians, anx- 
 ious to have a legislature of their own, elected as delegate to 
 Congress, one Judge Thomas, from whom- they prudently took 
 a bond, pledging him to procure a division of the two terri- 
 tories. This he accomplished, and came home from Wash- 
 ington with the appointment of Supreme Judge of the new 
 Territory of Illinois. 
 
 In 1818 Judge Nathaniel Pope, father of the famous Gen. 
 Pope, was a delegate to Congress from the territory of Illi- 
 nois, and while at his post in Washington, unexpectedly 
 received a petition from the territorial Legislature, then 
 sitting at Kaskaskia, for the admission of the Territory into 
 the Union as an independent State. He immediately brought 
 the subject before Congress ; and before the adjournment an 
 enabling act was passed for this purpose. Through his wise 
 foresight the northern boundary line of the State, which it 
 had been intended should be the line running through the south- 
 ern point of Lake Michigan, was moved north to its present 
 location ; because it was deemed important that the State 
 which, from its great size and commanding position, it was 
 already surmised would become the great empire State of the 
 west, should be so attached to the great system of lake navi- 
 gation at the north that her grand system of river navigation, 
 inclining her to attach herself to a southern confederacy, if 
 such should ever be attempted, would not be a paramount 
 influence, but would be neutralized and controlled by a rival 
 
46 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 interest, wliicli would make her, as she has since proved, an 
 arbiter of the destinies of the Union, preventing its disrup- 
 tion, and by her commanding position and power checking 
 the attempt to rend the Union in twain. 
 
 It was also deemed important that the Illinois and Michigan 
 canal, which was even then projected, should have its entire 
 course in one State. Urged by these considerations. Congress 
 consented to move the northern boundary line fifty miles to 
 the north ; and so it happens that a love of the Union 
 caused that section of the country which is now our County 
 of DeKalb, to be a part of the State of Illinois instead of 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 The enabling act passed, a convention was called in the 
 summer of 1818, which formed a State constitution. Its 
 leading spirit, to whom the State is indebted for most of its 
 peculiar features, was Elias K. Kane of Kaskaskia, after- 
 wards a United States Senator, and who gave its name to our 
 neighboring County of Kane. The Constitution having been 
 adopted, an election was held, and Shadrach Bond, a plain 
 old farmer lately from Maryland, was chosen first Governor of 
 the State. Pierre Menard, an old French settler, was elected 
 Lieutenant Governor ; E. K. Kane, Secretary of State ; John 
 Thomas, Treasurer ; E. C. Berry, Auditor, and D. P. Cook, 
 Attorney General. Ninian Edwards and Jesse B. Thomas 
 were made the first Senators. The names of most of these 
 first ofiicers will be recognized as having been perpetuated in 
 the names of counties since organized in the State. At this 
 time the population of the State was about 56,000, but scarcely 
 any portion of it was located north of Alton. In October of 
 this year the first Legislature convened at Kaskaskia, and 
 after voting itself a sufiicient allowance of stationery, at a 
 cost of $13.50, it organized and put in operation the State 
 government and adjourned till the next winter. 
 
 At the winter session a code of laws were passed, mostly 
 borrowed from the statute books of Kentucky and Virginia. 
 In the main they were very good laws, more clearly expressed 
 
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE STATE. 47 
 
 and more easily understood than the majority of laws since 
 enacted ; but they contain the infamous black laws, which 
 ever after disgraced the statute book and the State, until re- 
 pealed in the winter of 1866. This code permitted immigrants 
 to bring their slaves with them ; and if the signatures of the 
 slaves could be obtained to an agreement to that effect, it 
 compelled their continual service as slaves — or registered 
 servants, as they were called. It forbid any free negro to 
 reside in the State without giving bonds for his good behavior 
 and that he would not become a county charge. Any negro 
 found without a certificate of freedom could be arrested and 
 sold for a specified time. Any negroes assembled for a dance 
 or revelry were to be committed to jail and whipped by the 
 sheriff, not to exceed thirty-nine lashes on the bare back. 
 
 This Legislature also provided for a new seat of government 
 at Vandalia, a point then uninhabited, and named by a wag 
 who suggested to the commissioners that the Vandals, a tribe 
 of Indians, formerly resided there, and that Vandalia would 
 perpetuate their musical Indian name. 
 
 Few events of importance in the history of the new State 
 occurred until in 1821, the Legislature established a State 
 Bank upon an absurdly insecure basis, which made money 
 plentiful until in 1824 it failed, and brought great financial 
 distress upon the inhabitants. 
 
 In 1822, Edward Coles, an accomplished Virginian, was 
 elected Governor, and in 1823 there commenced a long struggle 
 for the establishment of slavery in Illinois. Missouri had in 
 1820 been admitted into the Union as a slave State, under 
 the Missouri compromise act, and that State was rapidly fill- 
 ing up with settlers from the eastern slave States, who thronged 
 the public roads with long trains of teams and negroes, ex- 
 citing the envy of those who had farms to sell and were pre- 
 vented from disposing of them to these rich slaveholders, only 
 because slaves could not be held in this State. 
 
 To secure the establishment of slavery in Illinois, a conven- 
 tion to alter its constitution was required ; and by a majority 
 
48 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY: 
 
 of a single vote the Legislature decided to submit to the vote 
 of its people the question of calling such a convention. For 
 nearly eighteen months the question was debated with great 
 earnestness, and one of the most exciting and extraordinary 
 contests ever known in the State was kept up ; but it was 
 finally decided by a majority of nearly 2,000 that Illinois 
 should be consecrated to freedom. 
 
 The construction of a canal uniting the waters of Lake 
 Michigan with the Mississippi through the Illinois river was 
 the great work of the early days of the infant State ; and as 
 early as 1821 the Legislature appropriated $10,000 to pay 
 the expense of a survey of the route. The survey was com- 
 pleted next year, and the expense was estimated at $750,000. 
 Its final cost was about thirty millions. In 1826 Congress 
 appropriated 300,000 acres of public lands in aid of the 
 scheme, the State Legislature gave State bonds to the amount 
 of $300,000, and the work was begun. 
 
 In 1824, '25 and '26, the lead mines of Galena began to 
 attract attention, and in 1827 seven thousand settlers about 
 those mines were engaged in seeking fortunes by prospecting 
 for and extracting the ore. They were a migratory popula- 
 tion, running up the Mississippi to work the mines in the 
 spring and back to their homes again in the fall. It is sup- 
 posed that this peculiarity in which they resemble the fish 
 called suckers, gave Illinoisans the name which has attached 
 to them ever since. Another theory, however, accounts for 
 the origin of the name by the asserted fact that the early 
 immigrants were of the poorer class of the population of the 
 Southern States, and called Suckers by the wealthy slave- 
 holders and tobacco growers, because they were like the 
 worthless suckers on the tobacco plant, which were picked off 
 from the parent stem and thrown aAvay. 
 
 In 1830 the population of the State had increased to 157,- 
 447 and in that year John Reynolds was elected Governor, 
 
 Next year the northern part of the State, which had then 
 some scattered white settlers, was invaded by Black Hawk 
 
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE STATE. 49 
 
 and his tribe of Indians, who, repudiating the treaty of 1804 
 by which some of the chiefs of his tribe had sold and ceded 
 his lands to the whites, declared his determination to repossess 
 the lands of his fathers, and drive out all whites who had settled 
 upon them. He proceeded to destroy their houses, fences and 
 crops, and of course excited great distress and alarm. A 
 battalion of volunteers, aided by some hundreds of United 
 States regulars, soon drove them across the Mississippi again, 
 and burned their villages near Rock Island. A threat of 
 pursuing them into their own country, brought Black Hawk 
 to terms, and induced him to sue for peace. A new treaty 
 was made which bound the Indians to remain forever on the 
 western side of the great river. 
 
 The spring of the succeeding year, 1832, had hardly opened, 
 however, when the same treacherous Indian chief, who has 
 acquired world-wide fame, and whose character has obtained 
 an ill-deserved reputation for nobility and integrity, disre- 
 garding alike the treaty of his chiefs made with Gen. Harrison 
 at St. Louis in 1804 and his own treaty extorted from him a 
 fcAV months before this time, again crossed the Mississippi at 
 the head of a numerous band of his warriors, and prepared to 
 reassert his right to the lands which had twice been solemnly 
 released. He directed his march to the Rock River country, 
 in the direction of the Pottawatomies, who inhabited this 
 section of the State, and toAvard the Winnebagoes, whose 
 wigwams were on Rock River. 
 
 In April, Governor Reynolds had assembled at Beardstown 
 a force of eighteen hundred volunteers, who were placed under 
 command of General Whiteside, an officer of the State militia 
 who had been in command of a portion of the forces in the 
 campaign of the previous year. 
 
 The army moved up the Mississippi to the mouth of Rock 
 
 River, and thence by a forced march up the banks of that 
 
 stream to the present location of the city of Dixon, and upon 
 
 their route burned the Indian village of which the Prophet 
 
 7 
 
50 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 was the chief, and which place has since been called Proph- 
 etstown. 
 
 From Dixon a small portion of the force was pushed for- 
 ward in a northeasterly direction, and on the 12th of May 
 discovered Black Hawk's forces near Stillman's E-un, a small 
 branch of the Kishwaukee, near the northeast corner of this 
 county. Here a battle occurred in which the militia were 
 outnumbered, and fled in disorder, reaching the main body of 
 the army next day in small parties, with a loss of eleven men 
 killed. 
 
 The army had pushed on to their present location with 
 unnecessary haste, leaving their supplies and baggage behind 
 them ; and they were now threatened with famine. Their 
 immediate necessities were, however, supplied by Mr. John 
 Dixon, then the only settler on Rock River, whose entire 
 stock of cattle, hogs and corn they consumed ; and the supply 
 train coming up, they next day started in pursuit of their 
 foes, at the scene of the late disaster. But the Indians had 
 now scattered in small detachments, and were carrying on a 
 guerrilla warfare all over the country. About fifteen miles 
 from OttaAva they massacred three entire families of white 
 settlers, and afterwards related with great glee, how the women 
 had squeaked as they run them through with spears, or gashed 
 them with tomahawks. 
 
 The army, now returning to Dixon, found General Atkin- 
 son encamped there, with a force of regulars Avhich increased 
 the number of troops to twenty-four hundred men, and sup- 
 plied them with an abundance of provisions. 
 
 They were now in condition for effective warfare, but the 
 short time for which the volunteers had enlisted, had nearly 
 expired; they were also much dissatisfied with Gen. Whiteside, 
 their commander, and they earnestly demanded to be sent 
 home. As it was useless to attempt to prosecute the cam- 
 paign under these circumstances, they were marched across 
 the country by the way of Paw Paw, in this County, to Ot- 
 tawa, and on the 28th of May were there discharged. The 
 
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE STATE. 51 
 
 Governor now called out new volunteers who soon answered 
 the call, and one regiment was organized out of the troops 
 recently discharged, in which Gen. Whiteside volunteered as 
 a private, and conducted himself with great bravery and skill. 
 
 The Indians now scattered all over the country, made desper- 
 ate attacks upon all white settlements from Chicago to Galena, 
 and from the Illinois river up to Northern Wisconsin. These 
 assaults of the savage foes were generally repulsed by the 
 whites with great heroism. The war lasted all summer, the 
 savages, generally defeated, were driven ultimately into North- 
 ern Wisconsin, where, at the last great battle of Bad Axe, 
 they were routed and scattered, with a loss of one hundred 
 and fifty of their best warriors. A few days afterward, Black 
 Hawk was captured by the treachery of some of his allies of 
 the Winnebago tribe, and the Prophet, the next most power- 
 ful chieftain, soon shared the same fate. They were taken 
 to Washington, and after some months of captivity, were con- 
 veyed through the great cities of the Union where they were 
 greatly lionized, being regarded by a perverted public opinion, 
 as noble sufi"erers from wrongs and chicanery of the domineer- 
 ing white race who had stolen their lands, and driven them 
 to desperation. The ladies, in some instances, publicly salu- 
 ted them with kisses. Black Hawk returned to his people, 
 and lived in peace with the whites eight years, when he died 
 and was buried in the burial grounds of his forefathers. 
 
 Many men who have since occupied a large space in the 
 history of the State and County, were more or less conspic- 
 uous in this war. Among them were General Scott, then in 
 the zenith of his fame ; Zachary Taylor, a major of the reg- 
 ulars ; Abraham Lincoln, a captain of volunteers ; Jefferson 
 Davis, a lieutenant of the regular forces ; General Atkinson, 
 Gov. Dodge, Murray McConnel, Capt. Stephenson and Gen. 
 Henry. The glory of this Avar Avas monopolized to a great 
 extent by Gen. A. C. Dodge, but more properly belongs to 
 Gen. Henry, who died too soon after to reap the reward due 
 to his gallantry and skill. 
 
52 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 The war ended, and danger from Indian disturbances for- 
 ever quelled, various projects for internal improvements and 
 the rapid development and settlement of the country occupied 
 the attention of the inhabitants. Railroad charters were 
 granted in 1833, but none of those then projected were ever 
 built. It was not till 1836, that the grand system of internal 
 improvements was planned which, in a few months, grew to 
 such enormous dimensions as to rouse the people almost into 
 a wild frenzy, cover the State with embryo cities, existing 
 only in the imaginations of their projectors, swamp the 
 State government under enormous debts, and ultimately, when 
 there was not enough money in the hands of the entire pop- 
 ulation to pay even the interest on the State debt, force the 
 State into bankruptcy. In this Legislature Dr. Henry Mad- 
 den, ever a prominent citizen of our County of DeKalb, repre- 
 sented a district composed of the present Counties of DeKalb, 
 LaSalle, Kane, Kendall, Iroquois, Grundy, and several others, 
 and at this session he procured the passage of a bill for crea- 
 ting the County of De Kalb. 
 
THE INDIANS. 53 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 The Indians wlio inhabited this County of DeKalb, at the 
 time of its first settlement by the whites, were of the power- 
 ful tribe of the Pottawatomies. Their territory extended 
 as far to the west as the Rock river, which stream divided them 
 from the Winnebagoes. These two tribes, although living 
 upon the most friendly terms, were of diverse origin, speaking 
 a different dialect, and having emigrated from different parts 
 of the continent. The Winnebao;oes belono-ed to the Sioux 
 branch and spoke that language. The Pottawatomies, with 
 the Ottawas, Chippewas, Menomonies, Sacs and Eoxes, and 
 other noted tribes, spoke the Algonquin dialect which was 
 originally the language of most of the tribes north of the 
 Potomac and east of the Mississippi. This tribe came origi- 
 nally from Canada. Like most Indians, they were in person 
 rather above than below the average height of Europeans. 
 The usual expression of their countenances when in 
 repose, was grave, even to sadness. They had high cheek 
 bones, faces uncommonly wide below the eyes, retiring 
 foreheads, long, sleek black hair, finer than a horses mane, 
 but much resembling it, but no beards, for a beard was con- 
 sidered disgraceful, and untold tortures were endured in 
 plucking out the first faint symptoms of one that sometimes 
 appeared. They were of rugged health, straight and well 
 limbed, and with a stoical indifference to pain that was either 
 a wonderful exhibition of fortitude or, more probably, the re- 
 sult of physical insensibility. They were generally sullen, 
 seldom impatient, or hurried into intemperate warmth, except 
 in hatred of their enemies ; generally feigning a proud indif- 
 
54 HISTOEY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 ference to their families, yet often giving evidence of strong 
 attachment to them ; and always indolent, except when engaged 
 in the chase or the war-path. This was rather the natural 
 character of the original Indian than that which most of them 
 bore at the period of the settlement of this County. The use 
 of intoxicating liquors had at this time demoralized them, 
 and destroyed their native nobility of character. They had 
 become more puerile and purposeless, and their most conspic- 
 uous traits, were their indolence and their disgusting personal 
 habits. 
 
 Their pride in dress had mostly passed away, yet they 
 were childishly fond of display. Their persons were anointed 
 with vile paints and grease, as much for the purpose of utility 
 as decoration, as it defended the body from cold and from the 
 attacks of insects. In 1835 there were villages of them near 
 Ohio Grove ; on Section 3, in the Town of Cortland ; in 
 Kingston on Section 21 ; at Coltonville ; a large settlement 
 at Shabbona Grove, under the good chief Shabbona, and 
 another at Paw Paw Grove, under a chief of yet. higher rank, 
 called Waubonsie. There were some forty wigwams at Col- 
 tonville, but at this time they were not all inhabited. The 
 first settlers found them making sugar from the maples of the 
 a'ljoining grove, having, beside -the hewn troughs, quite a 
 number of the backs of turtles for sap buckets ; and the early 
 settlers were sometimes nauseated by seeing them cast into 
 their boiling syrup, rabbits and woodchucks, entrails, hair and 
 all, which they devoured, when thus cooked, with evident 
 relish, and thought the syrup none the worse for the unusual 
 addition. 
 
 Their modes of burial were various. The most of them 
 were buried in shallow graves, with such of their bows and 
 arrows, guns and trinkets, as their relatives thought they 
 might need in the happy hunting grounds to which they had 
 gone. The bodies of their chiefs, however, were treated in a 
 different manner. A space was selected upon some conspic- 
 uous mound, and a square, about six feet by ten, fenced in with 
 
THE INDIANS. 55 
 
 high palisades. Within this, the body Avas placed, braced up 
 in a sitting posture, with knives, rifle, blankets, pipe, and 
 a good supply of tobacco, and all were thus left to moulder 
 and decay. 
 
 A chief of this tribe, whose name has not been preserved, 
 was in this manner enshrined upon the farm of Calvin Colton, 
 in Mayfield, at the first settlement of the country, and his 
 skeleton was afterward begged of Colton by Dr. Richards 
 and went, with the bullet in it which was the cause of his 
 death, to adorn the collection of physiological curiosities in 
 the medical school at St. Charles. The dried and mouldering 
 corpse of the famous chief Big Thunder, of this tribe, was 
 as late as 1840 a conspicuous object on a height in the pre- 
 sent city of Belvidere, but the early settlers becoming desti- 
 tute of tobacco, had carried ofi" the old fellows supply, and 
 left him destitute also of rifle, tomahawk and knives. 
 
 For the bodies of their dead children they had still another 
 mode of sepulture. Hollow logs were procured and halved, 
 the corpses placed in them, covered Avith bark, bound down 
 tightly with Avithes, and then fastened Avith similar withes to 
 the horizontal branches of trees. There they were left, until 
 the withes decayed and the bleached bones perhaps already 
 stripped of their flesh by carnivorous birds, fell in a mass to the 
 ground. As late as 1839 when Mr. Calvin Colton inoved to 
 his present location at Coltonville, there were, he says, as 
 many as fifty pappooses thus suspended in the trees of the 
 grove adjoining his residence. The Indians cultivated small 
 fields of corn — not upon the open prairies where it would be 
 difiicult to break the sod, but upon the bottom lands, near 
 the streams, and on the borders of the groves. Their only 
 implement was a heavy kind of hoe, and they hilled the corn 
 to a great height so that the traces of their hills may even 
 yet be seen in some places. The squaws did all of this work ; 
 the male Indians Avere too proud and indolent to labor. They 
 kept their seed-corn by stringing it upon low poles below the 
 surface of the ground, covering these with bark and then with 
 
 i 
 
56 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 earth. These deposits were sacred among all tribes, and no 
 Indian, no matter how nearly starved he might be, would 
 ever disturb them. 
 
 Their chief reliance for food, however, was upon the chase. 
 Deer were plenty in these woods and upon the prairies at this 
 time, and the prairie wolf, the rabbit, the polecat, the martin and 
 the woodchuck were quite numerous. The buffalo had passed 
 away, but many of their bones were yet to be found. Shab- 
 bona, their intelligent and truthfal old chief, states that 
 about the year 1810 there was a winter of extraordinary 
 severity, more terrible than had ever been known before or 
 since that time ; that multitudes of Indians perished with the 
 cold, and that all of the buffalo died and were never after- 
 wards seen in this section of the country. 
 
 Near the present town line between Clinton and Shabbona 
 is a small pond of water whose springs never fail to yield an 
 abundant supply. Around this spring, could have been seen, 
 twenty years ago, the bones and skulls of hundreds of buffalo. 
 In times of severe drought, this was the only Avatering place 
 on the open prairie for niany miles around, and it is supposed 
 that the old and decrepid buffalo, Avho always avoid the groves, 
 resorted to this spot for water when nearly worn out, and 
 died there. But although the buffalo were gone, the toils of 
 the Indian hunters were yet rewarded with an abundance of 
 game, and it constituted their principal supply of food. 
 
 Their courtship and marriage was simple in the extreme. 
 If an Indian fancied a certain squaw, he sent word that at a 
 certain night he would visit her wigwam. He enters, stirs 
 the slumbering embers of her fire, and lights a bit of wood. If 
 she remains wrapped in her blanket and takes no notice of 
 him, he is rejected, and departs without more ado. If she 
 rises, blows out the torch, he is accepted, and they are man 
 and wife henceforth 
 
 The Indians abandoned the County about six months after 
 the whites moved in. They had a wholesome awe of the power 
 of the government, which protected the white settlers, and 
 
 rn'i 
 
^C^§^i_ 
 
 '^''Hi-^. 
 
 SHABBON A. 
 
LIFE OF SHABBONA. 57 
 
 gave them little reason to apprehend danger. They some- 
 times stole articles of trifling value, and sometimes annoyed 
 the settlers hy their begging for food. They often got whis- 
 key of the whites, and, until that was gone, they had noisy 
 powwows, dancing, screaming and singing all night long, very 
 much as some of their successors do to this day; but even in 
 their debauch they were not quarrelsome, but generally silly 
 and good-humored. Shabbona's tribe remained upon their 
 reservation for several years, and they were occasionally visit- 
 ed by other Indians, and reports were occasionally circulated 
 that they were dressed in the red war paint, had sent away 
 their women and children, and were about to make war a^rain 
 upon the whites. Some isolated farmers sent daily messen- 
 gers to watch them, and kept their horses harnessed at night, 
 ready to fly at a moments warning ; but there is no evidence 
 that these fears were well founded. Shabbona was, undoubt- 
 edly, a warm friend to the whites ; an Indian who knew and 
 appreciated their power, who had become Avarmly attached to 
 many of them, and felt the futility of all attempts to resist 
 their onward progress. 
 
 He was a man of remarkable nobility of character, and 
 worthy of being held in' respectful remembrance by all in- 
 habitants of this State. He was born in Canada sometime 
 about the year 1780. Of his early years we know but little, 
 except that he was attached to some roving party with which 
 he traveled extensively over the State. His knowledge of 
 the country was extraordinary. He was a sort of aid to 
 Tecumseh, and with him visited the Creeks in 1812, orio-jna- 
 ting that bloody Indian war which devastated Georgia and 
 Mississippi, and in Avhich Gen. Jackson acquired his first 
 prominence. He remained with Tecumseh, actively engaged 
 against the Avhites, until the death of that celebrated warrior. 
 His account of the killing of Tecumseh is as follows, and 
 there is no doubt of its truth. He says : " The battle was 
 terrible ; Indians were killed off" very fast ; still so long as 
 they could hear the "big whoop" of Tecumseh, the Indians 
 
58 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 held on ; then came the charge. Col. Johnson riding h's 
 horse, rushed down among them, Tecumseh raised his toma- 
 hawk to strike him off, but quick as thought the Colonel pre- 
 sented his pistol, leveling it across his wounded arm, which 
 was very bloody, and shot the warrior dead. The Indians 
 hearing his voice no longer, at once gave up and dispersed." 
 Shabbona loved the memory of Tecumseh ; he said he was 
 noble and brave, and did what he thought was for the good of 
 his people. This was Shabbona's last effort against the whites ; 
 from that time forward his aim was peace. He was styled 
 the Peace Chief of his tribe ; he concluded it was useless to 
 contend against what he knew to be a superior race. This 
 County soon after became his residence. When in 1831 and 
 '32 Black Hawk began his agitation for war, Shabbona op- 
 posed him from the beginning, using every art to keep peace. 
 Finally, he secretly left the last Indian Council, held some- 
 where on the KishAvaukie, and rode southward, sending out 
 some of his own family in other directions, warning the whites 
 of the approaching danger. On the Indian Creek, near "old 
 Munsontown," in La Salle County, was quite a settlement of 
 whites. He arrived there on his panting pony, told them 
 Black Hawk was coming, and begged them to leave. They 
 would not believe him. He went on towards Holdermand's 
 Grrove, and thence up Fox River, Avarning all and saving the 
 lives of many. Black Hawk, following, soon after surprised 
 these people at MunsontoAvn, killed thirteen of them and took 
 two girls prisoners. Only one person. Green Hal], escaped. 
 He was near the creek, saw the Indians coming, jumped down 
 the bank and hid under some flood-wood. The Indians, after 
 hunting some time, concluded he was drowned. After they 
 went away, he wandered doAvn the creek nearly dead, with a 
 broken arm, and finally reached Ottawa. 
 
 Shabbona has been blamed for his conduct on this occasion 
 — on the plea that he was a traitor to his tribe. His defence 
 was this, almost in his own words : He did not like Black 
 Hawk, who was ambitious and cruel ; he had lived long on 
 
LIFE OF SHABBONA. 59 
 
 terms of intimacy and friendship with the whites ; he loved 
 his white friends and their children ; he hated baby-killing 
 and woman-scalping; and he knew Black Hawk would fail in 
 the end. Certainly his course was right. 
 
 At the treaties following the Black Hawk war, his grove 
 was reserved for him. January 1st, 183fi, the first house was 
 raised at Shabbona Grove, by Edmund Town, assisted by 
 David Smith, both living yet, and residents of the town. 
 While building this house, they lived in the deserted wigwams 
 of the Indians, who had gone west about three months before. 
 A few days before the raising, Smith found two bottles of 
 whiskey hidden in a tree and left by the Indians ; so they 
 had whiskey at the first raising. 
 
 The Indians never after made a permanent home at this 
 place till 1844, but came and went every year or two. In 
 the meantime many settlers had been attracted to the grove, 
 between whom and the Indians there existed close friendship. 
 At this time his band numbered some twenty-five in all, con- 
 sisting of himself, his third wife, Pokanoka, (his first wife was 
 buried in the grove and his second wife lived with her tribe 
 near Council Bluffs) two sons, five daughters; sons-in-laAv, 
 nephews, neices and grand-children. He was then between 
 sixty and seventy years of age ; a fine, portly man with an 
 intelligent pleasant face, and distinguished for his kindliness 
 of disposition and social qualities. He was prompt and hon- 
 orable in his dealings ; and in every way an agreeable person 
 except when in liquor. Drunkenness seems to be an especial 
 vi6e with an Indian. His son Smoke was a magnificent fel- 
 low ; tall, and well proportioned, with fine expressive features, 
 dignified and courteous in his bearing, and distinguished as 
 being perfectly temperate ; he disdained to touch whiskey. 
 He was a real "Uncas." Smoke died in Iowa. It seems 
 he was attended by the whites in his last moments who 
 gave him Christian burial. Shabbona told the story thus : 
 "White man kind to Smoke ; make him box, (describing with 
 his hands the shape of a coffin) put him in ; then one white 
 
60 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 man bend down and say, "0 God! God! God!" over 
 Smoke. Ugh ! white man much good, much good." The 
 other son, Wynonwy, was a heavy, good-natured fellow. 
 They hunted, generally riding their ponies over the prairies 
 after game ; raised some corn ; made sugar in the grove. 
 Like all Indians, they Avere extremely disgusting in their do- 
 mestic habits, though these were not in person very unclean. 
 They were generally pleasant, intelligent and agreeable, and 
 visited, borrowed and loaned with the whites, being usually 
 prompt and honorable. Shabbona was particularly so. He 
 sometimes attended meetings with his grandchildren, whom 
 he was particular to keep in good order. There seemed to 
 be strict discipline kept up among them. As, for instance : 
 Mr. Isaac Morse relates that he went down into the timber 
 to work, one day, and, noticing a pen built up around a tree, 
 went there and found within, an Indian girl apparently about 
 fifteen years old. To his questions she made no reply : at 
 noon he tried to get her to eat of his lunch, but she would not 
 eat nor speak. Next morning she was there yet : he again 
 tried to converse with her, and pulled the pen down. She 
 then told him she was " bad Indian," and must stay another 
 day, carefully the while replacing the sticks. 
 
 Another time a number of them were coming over from 
 Paw Paw in a wagon. They had been drinking, and one, 
 being particularly disorderly, was tied hands and feet and left 
 on the ground : then another and another, as they drove along, 
 was served in the same manner, and left till evening, when 
 they were released. 
 
 Shabbona sometimes went to Chicago with his neighbors, in 
 those old days of overland expeditions, and was noted for his 
 sociable and agreeable qualities. Mr. Harvey Allen tells an 
 incident which he witnessed : One of the Band, "Joe," had 
 been down to Ross' Grove, and returned with two bottles of 
 whiskey, one of which he gave to Shabbona. They parleyed 
 awhile in their Indian language, and finally loaded their rifles, 
 went out and put up a mark. " Joe " shot first, just missing 
 
LIFE OF SHABBONA. 61 
 
 the mark ; Shabbona hit the center ; Joe delivered the bottle 
 to the old chief, who laughed immoderately over the incident. 
 He had a "big drunk." 
 
 About twenty years ago, the large log house now standing 
 at the grove, and known as the Shabbona house, was built by 
 Gates for him. He never occupied it except for storage, be- 
 ing displ'eased because it leaked. He and his family left to 
 go to Kansas in the spring of 1849. In the fall following was 
 the Dixon Land Sale, at which his "Reservation " Avas sold, 
 as will be related in the history of the town. It seems that 
 he never understood the matter, nor why he was dispossessed, 
 as, when he left, he gave his premises and left some things in 
 charge of Mr. Norton, telling him to keep the same until he 
 came back, asking nothing for the use of his land the first 
 year, but wanted " something saved for Shabbona the next, 
 because maybe he come back poor." He was gone some three 
 years. On his return Mr. Norton informed him of the sale 
 of his land, and that his farm was gone. The poor old chief 
 dropped his head upon his breast, muttering, " All gone ; 
 Shabbona got nothing now." His band camped at the spring- 
 near the present road leading into the grove below Mr. James 
 Greenfield's house, while Shabbona, dispossessed, started oif 
 to find another home. Upon his return he received a terrible 
 cursing from the man who owned the timber upon which they 
 were encamped, because they had cut some poles and burned 
 some old wood. Sorrowfully and at once they gathered up 
 their things, and Shabbona with his band left the grove for- 
 ever. 
 
 Mr. Tracy Scott relates the following incident which occur- 
 red at this time : He was returning from Aurora, and, com- 
 ing through Big Rock timber, saw the Indians encamped. 
 Shabbona seemed utterly cast down ; and, in reply to Scott's 
 inquiry as to why he left and where he was going, said he had 
 always been a friend to the whites ; that he had treated them 
 well ; that his wife and some of his children were buried in 
 the grove ; that he had lived there, and wanted to die there • 
 
62 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 that he had lost all — was very poor : then he told that, because 
 his band had burned a few sticks of wood, "big white man 
 call me, damn Indian! Shabbona never damn white man!" 
 and pointing upwards, while the tears ran down his old cheeks, 
 he continued, "No hig white man — no damn Indian up there 
 —all 'like; all 'like!" 
 
 Thus ended the residence and connection of Shabbona and 
 his band with the County of DeKalb. He went down near 
 Morris, Illinois, and died, some five or six years ago, in ex- 
 treme poverty. On the 5th of July, 1865, his wife Pokanoka 
 and two of her daughters came back to the grove, took quiet 
 possession of a thicket near the old house, and remained there 
 three days. Soon after, in crossing a small stream, she was 
 thrown from her wagon (she was very old, fleshy and helpless) 
 into the water and drowned. The family are scattered, no 
 one knows where. 
 
 These are simple statements, just as related by the old set- 
 tlers, and as known to the writer hereof, without an embellish- 
 ment : but what a mournful story ! Is there in the whole 
 field of reality a more pitiful case 'i 
 
LIFE OF BARON DEKALB. 63 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LIFE OF BARON DEKALB. 
 
 Although the memory of the brave Baron DeKalb has 
 been duly honored by the American people, so far as it can 
 be done in the nomenclature of the Country, no less than 
 fifteen towns, and about as many Counties in the Union, 
 having received the name of this heroic general, yet few, 
 very few of our countrymen are familiar with his history. 
 While it is incumbent upon every intelligent American to 
 preserve, fresh and green, the memory of those eminent Euro- 
 peans who, like La Fayette, forsook the fascinations of for- 
 eign courts, to fight for us the battle of our liberties, it is 
 peculiarly desirable that we of De Kalb County should know 
 and duly honor' the memory of that generous hero of this 
 class, who has given his name to our County and to one of 
 our prominent towns. 
 
 Baron John DeKalb, was a native of the province of Al- 
 sace, a German province in the possession of France, and was 
 born about the year 1732. He entered the French army at 
 an early age, and was there educated in the art of war, in 
 which he attained great proficiency, having become a Brio-a- 
 dier General in that army, and a Knight of the Order of 
 Merit. In 1762 he visited the Anglo-American colonies as a 
 secret agent of the French government, and no doubt on 
 that mission, acquired that knowledge of our country, and 
 something of that interest in its destinies, that led him in 
 November, 1776, soon after the stirring news of our declara- 
 tion of independence had reached Europe, to oiFer his services 
 to Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane, the first envoys of 
 our young Republic to France, to serve in the armies of the 
 
64 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 revolted colonies. His proffer was gratefully accepted, and 
 in the following year he sailed with the Marquis de La Fayette 
 and ten other French officers, to this country. On Septem- 
 ber 15th, 1777, he was appointed by Congress a Major Gen- 
 eral, and soon after he joined the main army under Washing- 
 ton which was then operating about Philadelphia. The 
 American officers were intensely jealous of these foreign 
 allies as a class, and the high commands given them, excited 
 great dissatisfaction, but the aims and acts of the veteran 
 Baron De Kalb were of so high an order, his enthusiasm for 
 the deliverance of all who Avere oppressed was so earnest 
 and heartfelt, his desire for rank was so evidently for the 
 purpose of better serving the new-born nation, and his military 
 talents were so unmistakably eminent, that he disarmed this 
 hostility of the native-born fellow soldiers, and served with 
 their approbation, their confidence, their esteem. 
 
 After a fcAV weeks of active operations about Philadelphia, 
 he went with the army into winter quarters at Valley Forge 
 where his active sympathy and enthusiasm for the cause, aided 
 to lighten and brighten the dreariness of that most gloomy 
 winter of American history. During the two following years, 
 he served Avith honor to himself, and satisfaction to the coun- 
 try, in the campaigns in Maryland and New Jersey. When 
 in April, 1780, the capture of Charleston, the principal 
 Southern seaport, was threatened by the British under Clinton, 
 DeKalb Avas selected by Washington Avith the approbation 
 of Congress, to proceed South Avith the Maryland and Dela- 
 Avare forces to reinforce Lincoln, Avho Avas in command at 
 Charleston. Conveyed by Avater to Petersburg, Va., they 
 commenced a long and Aveary march for the Carolinas. The 
 country Avas poor and thinly inhabited ; no magazines had 
 been laid up ; the commissaries had neither money nor credit. 
 It must have taxed all the resources of their general, to pros- 
 ecute the march in the face of these obstacles. But undaunted 
 he pressed on, scattering his soldiers over the country in 
 small parties. They collected their own supplies by impressing 
 
lilFE OF BARON DEKALB, 65 
 
 lean cattle from the canebrakes, and Indian corn, the only 
 grain which the country produced. 
 
 Halting at length at Deep river, he was overtaken by Gen. 
 Gates, who had been appointed by Congress to the command 
 of the Southern department, and pressed on through a barren 
 and disaffected country toward Camden. The little army 
 was soon greatly augmented by reinforcements of Virginian 
 and Carolinian troops ; but weakened by diseases, caused by 
 eating unripe peaches and green corn as substitutes for bread. 
 The patriot army approached Camden with nearly 6,000 men, 
 but they were mostly raw militia, and weakened by disease 
 and their arduous marches. Lord Cornwallis, who command- 
 ed the British force, opposed to him, had a much smaller 
 army, but they were veterans, and were so situated that defeat 
 would have been their destruction. On the night of the 6th 
 of August, Cornwallis put his troops in motion, determined to 
 attack and surprise Gates. On that same night Gates had 
 moved forward his army, intending to occupy another position 
 nearer Camden. The advance of the two armies encountered 
 each other unexpectedly in the woods. A council of war was 
 called, and DeKalb, the second in command, who had caution- 
 ed Gates against the result of a general engagement, recom- 
 mended that the army should fall back to a more favorable 
 position. Gates scorned the advice. " I would not give a 
 penny to be insured a beefsteak in Camden to-day with Lord 
 Cornwallis a captured prisoner at my table." DeKalb, who 
 had repeatedly foretold the ruin that would ensue, and ex- 
 pressed a presentiment that he would fall in the battle, was 
 taunted by the rash Gates, who insinuated that his prudence 
 was occasioned by fear. De Kalb instantly placed himself at 
 the head of his troops on foot, replying : Well, sir, a few 
 hours will prove who are brave. 
 
 The British rushed with charged bayonets on Gates' center 
 and left, when his troops broke and fled, leaving their guns on 
 the ground. Gates went with them, and did not cease his flight 
 till he reached Charlotte, eighty miles from the field of battle. 
 9 
 
66 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 The brave DeKalb, at the head of the right wing, manfully 
 stood his ground, and contended with the whole British army 
 more than an hour. Hundreds of his devoted troops had fallen 
 around him, when at last he fell, pierced by eleven bayonet 
 wounds. At the entreaty of his aid, the British officers 
 interposed to prevent his immediate destruction, but he sur- 
 vived only a few hours. 
 
 To a British officer, who kindly condoled with him on his 
 misfortune, he replied: I thank you for your generous sym- 
 pathy, but I die the death I have always prayed for — the 
 death of a soldier fighting for the rights of man ; and though 
 I fight no more in this world, I trust I may still be of some 
 service to the cause of freedom. 
 
 Many years after, General Washington visited the grave of 
 the departed hero at Camden, and after gazing sadly awhile, 
 he exclaimed : So here lies the brave DeKalb ! the generous 
 stranger who came from a distant land to fight our battles, 
 and water with his blood the tree of liberty. 
 
 Congress voted a monument to him, but it was never erect- 
 ed. The citizens of Camden, however, many years after, 
 enclosed his grave, and placed on it a handsome marble with 
 an epitaph, descriptive of his virtues and his services to the 
 country. 
 
THE CLAIM ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 67 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CLAIM ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 Until the spring of the year 1835, the feet of very few 
 white people had trodden the soil of what now constitutes the 
 County of DeKalb. It was the home of the Indian, and 
 the Indian agent at Chicago, backed up by companies of 
 United States troops, was authorized to drive off all whites 
 who should encroach upon their land. But it having been 
 noised about in this spring of 1835, that the Indians were 
 about to remove west of the Mississippi, no further attempt 
 was made to restrain the immigration of the whites, and they 
 poured into the country in great numbers. 
 
 In pre-empting and claiming land, delays are dangerous, 
 and each landless immigrant, desiring to have the first choice 
 of lands, and to be sure of a location inferior to none, hurried 
 into the territory, and camping near some favorable grove 
 and stream, began to Maze the trees on a line surrounding 
 as much of the timbered land as he thought he should want, 
 and then ran his plow out on the prairie, making with its fur- 
 row, a tract as large as he cared for, of the open prairie. • 
 
 This, according to the primitive regulations which governed 
 the new settlers at that time, gave him a right to hold the 
 tract thus marked out, until the time when the government 
 should have it surveyed, and the opportunity offered for a bet- 
 ter title, by purchase of the United States. 
 
 But innumerable disputes arose under this arrangement. 
 Some of the more ambitious of the new-comers claimed sev- 
 eral square miles of land, and were preventing the settlement 
 of the country by elbowing out those who would have been 
 
68 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 glad to make their homes here. It was evident that something 
 must be done to limit and regulate this privilege of the squat- 
 ter ; and that which was done we cannot better relate than in 
 the quaint language of one of the worthiest of those early 
 settlers, as published in his "Reminiscences of Border Life," 
 in the Repuhlican Sentinel of this County, in 1855. He says : 
 
 " ' In those days, there being no king in Israel, every man 
 did that which seemed right in his own eyes.' The size of 
 claims, therefore, varied from two eightys of prairie, and one 
 of timber, to a half section of timber, and a tract of prairie 
 two miles square. Some assumed the right to make and hold 
 claims by proxy, being thereunto duly authorized by some 
 brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin or friend. Meanwhile, 
 new settlers poured in apace, astonished and perplexed to 
 find the choice timber and prairie ^blazed' and 'furrowed' 
 into claims, whose ample acres, the claimant with all his 
 children, uncles, aunts and cousins, to the 'third and fourth 
 generations,' would never be able to till or occupy. The 
 new settler, perplexed, baffled, and becoming more and more 
 desperate on finding ' God's green earth ' thus monopolized, 
 would approach his more fortunate neighbor with the spirit of 
 Abraham to Lot — 'now I have come a great way to get some 
 of this timber and prairie, and one thing is certain, I am go- 
 ing to have some. There is enough for you and me, and our 
 boys. Now don't let us quarrel ; you turn to the right and 
 I will turn to the left, or, vice versa. Sometimes this good 
 scripture, and, consequently, good common sense logic, would 
 win, but in other cases, the grasping spirit of the borderer 
 would stave off all kind of division or compromise, and, laying 
 his hand upon his rifle, he would bluster and threaten in 
 '•great swelling words,' and drive away the 'stranger from 
 his right.' 
 
 "Hereupon arose innumerable disputes and wranglings, 
 concerning the size, tenure and boundaries of claims. The 
 more reflecting among the settlers, saw a dark cloud, big with 
 the elements of strife and social disorder, gathering in the 
 
THE CLAIM ASSOCIATIONS. 69 
 
 not very distant horizon, whose tornado blasts threatened soon 
 to lay waste all that was of value in the rising community. 
 There was no municipal law reaching these cases ; and if 
 there had been, the settlers probably would have been none 
 the wiser for it, for it is believed at this period, there was 
 neither a Justice nor a statute book north of the Illinois 
 River, and west of Fort Dearborn, unless we except Ottawa 
 and Chicago. Wrongs and outrages for which there was no 
 known legal redress, were being multiplied. Blackened eyes, 
 bloody noses and chewed ears were living realities, while the 
 dirk, pistol, rifle, with something like '■cold lead,' were signifi- 
 cantly talked of, as likely to bring about some ''realities' which 
 might not be '■living.' What could be done to ensure ' do- 
 mestic tranquility,' 'promote the general welfare,' and secure 
 to each settler his right? — Evidently but one thing. Happily 
 some had seen something in the New Testament about those 
 who are without law being a ^law unto themselves,' and set- 
 tlers found themselves in this fix exactly. It was therefore 
 apparent both from scripture and reason, that the settlers 
 must become a 'law unto themselves ;' and, 'where there was 
 a will there was a way. '■A settlers' meeting,' at a given 
 time and place, therefore came to be the watch word, from 
 shanty to wagon, until all were alarmed. Pursuant to this 
 proclamation, a '■heap' of law and order-loving American 
 citizens convened on the 5th of September, 1835, at the 
 shanty of Harmon Miller, then standing on the east bank of 
 the Kishwaukie, nearly opposite the present residence of Wm. 
 A. Miller in the town of Kingston. 
 
 " Happily the best possible spirit prevailed. The hoosier 
 from the Wabash, the buckeye from Ohio, the hunter from 
 Kentucky, the calculating Yankee, brother Jonathan's 'first- 
 born,' and the ^beginning of his strength,' impelled by a sense 
 of mutual danger, here sat down to dictate laws to Kishwau- 
 kie and 'the region lying round about throughout all the 
 coasts thereof.' Hon. Levi Lee, now chairman of a commit- 
 tee to report on petitions for the ' Maine law ' in the Legisia- 
 
70 HISTOEY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 ture of Wisconsin, was cliosen to preside over this august 
 assemblage, where the three great departments of free gov- 
 ernments, the executive, the legislative and the judicial, were 
 most happily united ; and ' Capt, Eli Barnes was appointed 
 secretary.' Gently glided the sometimes turbid waters of 
 that '■ancient river,' the sonorous Kishwaukie, as speech 
 after speech, setting forth the wants and woes of the settlers, 
 the kind of legislation demanded by the crisis, went the 
 rounds. Even those Avho were not used to '■talhin much 
 'fore folks,' evinced their cordial approbation and readiness 
 to co-operate by doing up an amount of encoreing, which no 
 doubt really did, '■astonish the natives.' At last, ripe for 
 immediate action, a committee was selected to draft and pre- 
 sent to the meeting, a Constitution and By-Laws by which 
 the 'settlers upon the public lands' should be governed. 
 After some little deliberation back of the shanty, around the 
 stump of a big white oak, which served as a writing desk, 
 said committee reported a Preamble, Constitution and By- 
 Laws, which, for simplicity, brevity and adaptation to neces- 
 sity, it would be hard for any modern legislation to beat. 
 The 'self-evident truths' proclaimed by Jefferson in the 'immor- 
 tal declaration,' it is believed, were, for the first time, reiterated 
 on the banks of Kishwaukie ; and, had there been a little 
 more time for reflection and preparation, the top of some 
 settler's wagon would have been converted into the 'Star 
 Spangled Banner' and thrown to the breezes of heaven from 
 the tallest tree-top in the grove. The common-sense, law and 
 logic, as well as patriotism, contained in this Constitution and 
 By-Laws, were instantaneously recognized to be the very 
 things demanded by the crisis, and were adopted with unpar- 
 alleled enthusiasm, each subscribing his name thereto with 
 his own hand, thereby pledging 'life,'- 'fortune' and 'sacred 
 honor,' to carry out the provisions of the code. It is not 
 known that a copy of this singular unique document is now 
 extant, and still there may be. As nearly as can be recollected, 
 its provisions were somewhat as follows : A prudential com. 
 
THE CLAIM ASSOCIATIONS. 71 
 
 mittee were to be then and there chosen, whose duty it should 
 be, to ' examine into, hear, and finally determine, all disputes 
 and differences then existing, or which hereafter might arise 
 between settlers in relation to their claims,' and whose deci- 
 sions, with certain salutary cheeks, were to be binding upon 
 all parties, and to be carried out at all hazards by the three 
 departments of government consolidated in aid of the execu- 
 tive, in what jurists sometimes denominate, the ^ posse eomita- 
 tus.' Each settler was solemnly pledged to protect every 
 other settler in the association, in the peaceful enjoyment of 
 'his or her reasonable claim as aforesaid, and further, who- 
 ever throughout all Kishwaukie, or the suburbs, or coasts 
 thereof, should refuse to recognize the authority of the afore- 
 said association, and render due obedience to the laws enacted 
 by the same from time to time, 'to promote the general wel- 
 fare,' should be deemed a heathen, a publican, and an outlaw 
 with whom they were pledged to have no communion or fel- 
 lowship. Thus was a wall, affording protection to honest 
 settlers, built in troublous times. Hon. Levi Lee, our present 
 Avorthy County Judge, Hon. Geo. H. Hill, Capt. Eli Barnes, 
 James Green and Jesse C. Kellogg, were chosen to be the 
 settlers' committee, who who, as may well be supposed, had 
 business on hand for some time in order to restore and ' ensure 
 domestic tranquility,' and 'promote the general welfare.' 
 The thing worked like a charm ; and the value of these asso- 
 ciations in Northern Illinois, to the infant settlements, has 
 never been over-estimated. Similar associations were formed 
 and maintained in Somonauk and other portions of the County, 
 until the lands came into market. This event took place in 
 Chicago, in 1843, when all DeKalb County, except the north 
 tier of townships, was sold to the highest bidder — that is, so 
 far as ' terra firma ' is concerned. The moral as well as phy- 
 sical power of the '■Settlers associations'' was so great, that 
 if a speculator presumed to bid on a settler's claim, he was 
 certain to find himself ''hnoehed down and dragged out,' and 
 had the land officers shown the least sympathy or favor to the 
 
72 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 ^rascal,'' there can be no doubt but what an indignant and 
 outraged yeomanry would have literally torn the land office 
 to fragments in almost 'less than no time.' " 
 
 The duties of these settlers' committees were onerous in- 
 deed. Suits were prosecuted against them with all of the 
 persistence that characterizes litigation in the courts at the 
 present time. Day after day was sometimes spent in the 
 examination of witnesses, the arguments of learned counsel, 
 and of course some one was generally disappointed and angry 
 at their award. 
 
 The Claim associations were not without opposition also, 
 and some were disposed to dispute their authority. Two well- 
 defined parties sprang up in the Kishwaukie country, as that 
 section was called over which the organization before des- 
 cribed claimed authority. The opponents of the Claim As- 
 sociation were called claim-jumpers. They held, not that 
 men had no right to the land on which they settled, but that 
 they had no right to make more than one claim, nor to hold 
 another by purchase. Many rough, reckless pioneers came 
 in at this early day with no intention of settling permanently, 
 but merely to make claims on favorite locations and sell them 
 out. They would roll together a few logs, lay them up in a 
 kind of pen, cover it with bark or shakes, to give it the ap- 
 pearance of a dwelling, and then having blazed around a 
 quarter section of timber, and a mile or more of prairie, they 
 would stand and forbid any one from settling on this claim 
 without paying them some hundreds, or perhaps thousands of 
 dollars, for what they called their farm. And settlers paid, 
 even before the Indians left, hundreds, and sometimes thous- 
 ands of dollars, for such claims. The tract on which now 
 stands most of the village of DeKalb was so claimed in this 
 way by a Mr. Collins, and ^2,000 was paid for the claim in 
 1836 by the company of which Russell Huntley was agent and 
 manager. Mr. Hamlin paid $600 for a claim two or three 
 miles north of that place, and Ephraim and Riley Hall gave 
 for the claim on his present farm in the town of 
 
THE CLAIM ASSOCIATIONS. X^ 73 
 
 Sycamore. In addition to which, the purchaser was of course 
 required to pay the government for the land when it was 
 surveyed and offered for sale by the United States authorities. 
 Such sums were small fortunes in those early days : they were 
 equivalent to ten times as much money at this time ; and men 
 were naturally disposed to stand up very sturdily in defence 
 of those ill defined rights of property for which they had paid 
 so dearly. Fights and rows innumerable arose, fierce and 
 fiery quarrels Avhose embers are even yet smouldering in the 
 breasts of some of those first settlers. Meetings of the settlers' 
 association were called, and new regulations adopted as 
 occasion demanded. 
 
 But as soon as the Courts were accessible, litigation began. 
 While this was part of Kane County, the Courts at Geneva 
 its County seat, were thronged with litigants, witnesses, 
 attorneys and ofiicers from this distant Kishwaukie country, 
 and the suits were often by change of venue transferred still 
 farther, to Joliet or other neighboring Counties. One well 
 known citizen who had buried a relative on land that was 
 afterward found to be over his line, was promptly sued for 
 trespass, and after long litigation was compelled to remove 
 the body. 
 
 One of the most hotly contested of the claim wars, and 
 which may serve as a sample of many others, was between 
 Mr. Marshall Stark on the one side, and Riley Hall with 
 Noble Barron on the other. 
 
 Two brothers, James and Samuel Gilbert in 1835, made 
 claims on the west side of the Kishwaukie on what is now the 
 town of Mayfield, and wishing to move away, Mr. Stark 
 purchased them, paying $550 for the claim-s. But as Stark 
 already had a claim on the east side of the river, Hall and 
 Barron who denied the right of settlers to hold any lands on 
 which they did not reside, "jumped " Stark's west side claims, 
 fenced in a lot, built a house on each, and moved a family in 
 each house to hold them. This was a decided infraction of 
 claim law, and Stark found no difficulty in raising a company 
 10 
 
74 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 of some thirty friends to reinstate him. They marched up 
 to the houses where they found their opponents with a few of 
 their friends, armed with a rifle or tAvo, and protected by 
 arricaded doors. The assaulting party beat down the door 
 \Tith battering rams, seized the rifles from the hands of the 
 inmates, who feared to shoot into so large a party of neighbors, 
 and then gathering rails and firing, they made a bonfire of 
 the whole concern. 
 
 The wrath of the claim-jumpers can readily be imagined. 
 They swore great oaths, and threatened the lives of the 
 perpetrators of this wrong. The first blood in the contest 
 was won by Stark, who at an election held soon after at 
 Frederick Love's, gave a sound threshing to two brothers 
 Leckerby, who belonged to the claim-jumpers party. Not 
 long after, happening to go upon the disputed claim, he was 
 waylaid and attacked with clubs by a party of them, and after 
 a running fight of a mile or more, was lucky to escape with 
 his life. Now commenced a long course of litigation lasting 
 for several years. The case tried first before Rufus Colton, 
 then Justice of the Peace, was appealed to the Circuit Court 
 at Geneva before Judge Roberts, thence taken on change of 
 venue to Joliet, then to the Supreme Court at Ottawa, and 
 after many years, finally decided more by good luck than by 
 law, in Stark's favor. But the expenses as usual in closely 
 contested suits, were much greater than the value of the 
 property. A year or two later, the State Legislature passed 
 a statute legalizing sales of claims, thus maintaining the 
 law established by the settlers' association. In the winter of 
 1839, a party of the settlers came down upon one old fellow 
 Avho was found in the big Avoods preparing to jump a claim of 
 one of their friends, and being inflamed Avith Dutch courage 
 derived from a jug of whiskey, they prepared to hang the poor 
 fellow and would have carried their threat into execution, but 
 that their leaders became alarmed and managed to let the 
 scared wretch run away. He was never more seen in these 
 parts. 
 
THE CLAIM ASSOCIATIONS. 75 
 
 The cases in which the Claim Association was called 
 upon to take formal action were less numerous than those in 
 which the people of the neighborhood in which some violation 
 of claim law had been perpetrated, were summoned to meet 
 and enforce by the power of numbers what they thought was 
 justice in the case ; and after the lands had come into market 
 the Claim Association assumed no further authority, yet the 
 sacredness of claims was very generally enforced by a popular 
 understanding that no man should be permitted to enter 
 another's claim. 
 
 When in 1843 the lands were offered for entry, many of the 
 settlers had exhausted all of their means in makinn- 
 improvements, and were unable to raise the small sum 
 demanded for entering their claims. These lands were now 
 Avorth ten or fifteen dollars per acre ; and there was no law 
 except this unwritten claim law to deter speculators from 
 making them their own upon paying the government the dollar 
 and a quarter an acre which it demanded. But so sacred 
 were these claims regarded by these settlers, so strong was the 
 prejudice against their being taken up by others, and so 
 dangerous was it made for the person who tried it, that many 
 valuable farms were occupied for two, three, and even five 
 years after, by men who had never been able to raise the 
 money to enter them, and who had no title whatever, to their 
 possession. 
 
 In many cases, however, this regulation was violated, and in 
 some instances mobs were raised who forced the ofiender to 
 deed back the land to the claimant. These mobs, as is the 
 case with mobs everywhere, even when moved by generous 
 intentions, often failed to understand the merits of a case, and 
 unwittingly did great injustice. 
 
 In 1843, an old man named McLenathan, a resident of 
 Sycamore, entered a farm which was claimed by Mr. John 
 Mason of Burlington. The claim organization had then 
 become inoperative ; but there was still this strong feeling in 
 favor of protecting settlers in their claims, so that there was 
 
76 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 no great difficulty in raising a crowd to lynch the old man if 
 he refused to deed back the land. He was living with Mr. 
 David Finley near Ohio Grove, when on one cold morning in 
 March a company of fifty young men mounted on horseback, 
 surrounded Finley's house, and calling him out demanded 
 that he deed over the land to Mason or he should be tarred 
 and feathered. McLenathan said that Mason owed him money, 
 that he did not want his land but merely to get security for 
 his debt, and that if Mason would pay him his money he would 
 deed him the land. This did not suit Mason, nor the crowd 
 of excited followers, so without more ado they seized him, placed 
 him on horseback and started off for the woods. JHere they 
 dismounted, stripped the gray haired old man, poured on the 
 tar and rubbed on a coating- of feathers. 
 
 " Now, old felloAV, sign that deed, or we will drown you in 
 yonder pond !" 
 
 McLenathan still sturdily refused, whereupon they dragged 
 him to the pond of water near by, and threw him in, some of 
 them jumping on him and crowding him below the icy waters. 
 Finally, nearly dead from the cold and more than half drowned, 
 he consented to give up the land, and the deed was executed. 
 The party did not then disperse, but adjourned to a school 
 house near by, and there drew up and signed an agreement 
 to protect at the risk of their lives, the right of all settlers in 
 their claims. A week after, the company were summoned 
 together to put their resolve in force, 
 
 A Mr. Mann, of Burlington, had entered some land claimed 
 by one of this party, and they were summoned to compel him 
 to deed it back. An hundred of them were gathered at this 
 lime, and armed with shot guns and rifles, they moved upon 
 Ihe enemies' works. But this was a different undertaking 
 from that of lynching the poor and friendless old McLenathan. 
 The Manns were a numerous family, and had many friends. 
 They had summoned them to their assistance, and when the 
 party approached their residence they found it defended by a 
 large number of determined-looking men well armed with 
 
THE CLAIM ASSOCIATIONS. 77 
 
 murderous-looking rifles. Not caring to risk their lives in an 
 attack upon a fortress so well defended, they abandoned this 
 attempt and dispersed to their homes. 
 
 Indictments were found in the Court of Kane County 
 against a number of the party who assaulted McLenathan, but 
 the matter had become so public there that a fair trial could 
 not be had, and it was removed to Kendall County. The 
 leading participants in this attack were convicted and 
 heavily fined. 
 
78 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE BANDITTI. 
 
 About the confines of advancing civilization upon this 
 continent, there has always hovered, like scouts before the 
 march of an invading army, a swarm of bold, enterprising, 
 adventurous criminals. The broad, untrodden prairies, the 
 trackless forests, the rivers, unbroken by the keels of 
 commerce, furnished admirable refuge for those whose crimes 
 had driven them from the companionship of the honest and 
 the law-abiding ; and, hovering there where courts and civil 
 processes could furnish but a thin veil of protection for life or 
 property, the temptation to prey upon the unprotected sons 
 of toil, rather than to gain a livelihood by the slow process of 
 peaceful industry, has proved too strong to be resisted. Some 
 have sought these unpeopled western wilds for the express 
 purpose of theft and robbery, some because they dare not live 
 within reach of efficient laws, and some who came with honest 
 intentions, have been tempted into crime by the prevalent 
 immunity from punishment. Everywhere in newly-settled 
 lands the proportion of the dishonest and criminal has been 
 greater than in the older and better regulated communities. 
 This was particularly the case in the earlier settlement of the 
 prairies of DeKalb County. A strong and well constructed 
 net-work of organized crime at that time stretched over this 
 whole section of country, and fcAV were fortunate enough to 
 preserve all their property from being swept up in its meshes, 
 A good horse and his equipments was the most easily captured, 
 and most readily concealed — cojihsequently the most coveted 
 and dangerous property in th4 country. No possessor of a 
 
 / 
 
( THE BANDITTI. 79 
 
 fleet and famous horse dared leave him for a single night, 
 unless secured in a strong, double-locked stable, guarded by 
 faithful dogs, and oftentimes by the owner himself, who 
 regularly slept in his stable. During the first four years of 
 the settlement of the country, a large portion of the population 
 were obliged to keep an armed watchman every night, in order 
 to secure any sense of safety to their valuable horses. Many 
 an instance will old settlers relate of thieves detected by these 
 watchmen, while engaged in breaking the stable locks, and 
 fired upon, with more or less damage to the intruder. They 
 were the more cautious, from the fact that a fleet horse once 
 gone was gone forever. So skillfully were the plans of the 
 thieves concocted, so much of energy and ingenuity was 
 employed in rapidly forcing the stolen steeds at once to a 
 great distance, so large the number of rascals Avho were 
 connected, that pursuit and capture was difiicult — even 
 dangerous — and always unsuccessful. 
 
 Brodie's Grove, near what is now the village of Dement, 
 and near the west line of the present township of Malta, was 
 a famous rendezvous and station-house of this gang of banditti. 
 When Mr. Benjamin Worden lived there in 1840, he had a 
 fine pair of horses, and much against his will felt forced to 
 adopt the prevalent custom of sleeping in the barn with them 
 to guard them. Old Brodie discovered that he made this a 
 practice, and innocently asked him wdiy. He answered 
 promptly and significantly, that there were many thieves about, 
 and he feared he should have them stolen. The old man, who 
 had taken a fancy to Ben., answered that he need not fear. 
 His horses should not be stolen. He would see to that, and 
 warrant him that they should not be lost. The old man had 
 the reputation of being one of the chiefs of the gang ; and 
 Worden, confident of his sincerity, ever afterwards considered 
 them safe, as if guarded with bars of steel. About that time 
 Worden had made some significant discoveries. Near the 
 little grove was a large, circular depression of the prairie, 
 called a. sink-hole. In its center was a strong stake driven, 
 
80 HISTORY OP DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 and every indication about it that in that sheltered, obscure 
 spot horses had been frequently tethered and fed. The 
 Brodies were frequently coming and going, and every time 
 upon a new horse, usually a very fine animal. What could 
 all this mean, but systematic horse thieving ? 
 
 But horses were not the only prey for these banditti. The 
 circulation of counterfeit money Avas a large and profitable 
 branch of business, and there were dark and ominous hints in 
 circulation of yet fouler crimes perpetrated ; pedlars had 
 mysteriously disappeared in that section of the country. They 
 had been traced to the vicinity of this grove, but never traced 
 beyond it. When the Brodies finally fled the country, there 
 were found among their eifects a suspiciously large number of 
 travelers' trunks, pedlars' cases, and similar property, whose 
 possession was most easily accounted for on the supposition 
 that the murder of innocent travelers, pedlars, and other 
 wayfarers, was not too heinous a crime for them to commit, if 
 the temptation offered. Walking over the prairie one day in 
 search of his cattle, Worden suddenly found the ground sinking 
 beneath his feet, and he was precipitated into a large, sqliare 
 cavity, which had been carefully excavated, then covered Avith 
 planks and soil, and carefully turfed over with growing grass. 
 The soil taken out had been carefully removed, so that no 
 traces of the excavation could be seen on the surface, and no 
 suspicion of its existence there would be excited. Although 
 no property was then in the cavern, yet the purpose for which 
 it was designed was evident, and its proximity to the residence 
 of the suspected Brodies indicafed the origin and ownership 
 of this place of concealment. Pages might be filled with stories 
 told by the early settlers of circumstances which indicated 
 plainly that Brodie's isolated Grove was one of the chief 
 rendezvous of some of the most daring and skillful of those 
 land pirates who at that early period roved over these billowy 
 prairies, as pirates roam the seas. 
 
 Six miles north of Brodie's is what is now called South 
 Grove, so called because it was south of the main body of the 
 
THE BANDITTI. 81 
 
 Kishwaukie timber. David Driscoll was the first settler there, 
 and for many years it was known as Driscoll's Grove. David 
 had married a connection of the Brodies, and the families 
 naturally became intimately associated. A year after David 
 had settled there, his father, old John Driscoll, moved out 
 with his family, and William Driscoll, his brother, with a 
 family of six or seven children, bought David's claim, the 
 father and David settling anew a few miles farther west, David 
 on the banks of the Killbuck, and the father in what is now 
 called Pennsylvania settlement, a few miles farther north. 
 
 There is much reason to believe, and little reason to doubt, 
 that the houses of David and John Driscoll were other station- 
 houses on the route of this horse-thieving fraternity ; and it is 
 not impossible that even after William Driscoll's purchase 
 there, the Driscoll grove still furnished them shelter and 
 refreshment. From thence their usual course was across to 
 Gleason's at Genoa, or to Henpeck, now Hampshire, in Kane 
 County, and thence north to McHenry County, where some 
 men, now prominent as politicians and office-holders, were 
 supposed to be connected with the gang. From thence it was 
 not difficult to pass the stolen horses along to the pineries of 
 Wisconsin, the mines at Galena, or to find a market for them 
 at some of the young cities on the lake shore. In Ogle 
 County on the west, and Winnebago on the northwest, the 
 banditti were more numerous. There theft, counterfeiting, 
 and the like crimes, constituted but a small part of the sworn 
 duties of the gang. They were required to control elections, 
 to secure the election of justices from among their friends, and 
 in case of arrest, to furnish perjured testimony to secure their 
 discharge. In the spring of 1841 seven of the gang had been 
 arrested and confined in the new jail at Oregon. The court 
 had assembled for their trial in the new Court House, just 
 completed, when, on the night before the trial, the rogues 
 assembled, and burned both buildings to the ground. But 
 the prisoners did not escape. Their trial was proceeded with, 
 and the evidence was found complete and conclusive. But 
 11 
 
82 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 one of the confederates had secured a place upon the jury. 
 He would consent to no verdict of guilt. Then a novel method 
 of securing a conviction was adopted. The eleven honest 
 jurors seized the refractory twelfth, and threatened to lynch 
 him in the jury room unless he gave his assent to the verdict 
 of guilty. The rascal gave up his opposition, the verdict of 
 guilty was received, and the three criminals were sentenced 
 to imprisonment for a year. They all, however, broke out of 
 jail and escaped. 
 
 Such outrages as these naturally aroused a strong and bitter 
 opposition among the honest people of the land. They would 
 be more or less than men who should submit tamely to them. 
 Neither life nor property being protected by the laws, some 
 additional, more stringent, if less merciful, measures must be 
 adopted. The settlers met by universal consent, and 
 organized a band of lynchers. The Ogle County Lynching 
 Club was the title of the organization, although its membership 
 extended over Winnebago and Lee Counties as well. In the 
 spring and early summer of 1841, there were held numerous 
 meetings of these Regulators, or Lynching Clubs, and their 
 armed bands, mounted or on foot, traversed the country, 
 delivering warnings and threatenings to those Avhom they 
 suspected of being confederated in the gangs of banditti. 
 " You are given twenty or thirty days to leave the country, 
 and if found here after that time you will be lynched," was 
 the brief and threatening message which condemned the 
 suspected party, without a trial, to banishment, at whatever 
 sacrifice of his property, and at whatever sudden sundering of 
 the ties which bound him to his home. It was not strange 
 that such messages provoked strong, indignant opposition. 
 Crime always finds or imagines some justification for its evil 
 deeds, and at least is apt to retort that its acts are no worse, 
 only more bold, than those of its pursuers. And it was true 
 in this case, that although the original organization of the 
 Lynching Club was supported by many men of undoubted 
 probity and worth, although the staid Puritan, the upright 
 
THE BANDITTI. 83 
 
 justice, the honest lawyer, the clergyman even, were on its 
 rolls of membership, yet there were also men of the baser 
 sort, — men who used the organization for the purpose of 
 wreaking vengeance on their personal enemies — men who were 
 capable of manufacturing false statements to secure the 
 destruction of their foes ; yes ! there were even horse-thieves 
 themselves among the most active and prominent of those who 
 were lynching others for the same nefarious practice. 
 
 The Lynching Clubs duly organized, they met by mutual 
 agreement, and selected John Long, of Stillman's Run, the 
 proprietor of a fine saw-mill just erected there, as captain of 
 the combined companies. Soon after, in the performance of 
 his duties, he headed a detachment of the lynchers, who seized 
 one Daggett, who was residing near what is now Greenough's 
 Ford in the town of Franklin, and, tying him up, gave him a 
 severe flogging, at the same time ordering him to leave the 
 country. Not long after these events, the mill of Mr. Long 
 was set on fire and destroyed ; and although no direct evidence 
 was obtained of Daggett's connection with the deed, yet 
 circumstances pointed strongly to him as the perpetrator of 
 the crime. About the same time one Lyman Powell was 
 seized upon the road between Driscoll's and the Killbuck. 
 He seems to have been really a harmless, inoffensive man, 
 lame, and destitute of any settled occupation. But he was 
 an associate of the suspected Driscolls, worked at threshing 
 and other odd jobs for them and others. The Lynching 
 Company questioned him closely, to draw from him some 
 evidence of the criminality of himself or his associates, but 
 not succeeding to their liking, they beat him cruelly with 
 hickory withes, and taking from him the horse he rode, they 
 turned him adrift. He afterwards went to the place where 
 he had bought his horse, and furnishing satisfactory proof 
 that it was honestly obtained, it was returned to him. About 
 the same time a threatening letter was sent to Long, defying 
 the society to combat, and threatening personal violence. Mr. 
 Long, being intimidated by these acts, called his band together 
 
84 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 and resigned his office, and Mr. Jolin Campbell, of White 
 Rock Grove, in Ogle County, was chosen in his stead. Mr. 
 Campbell was a very exemplary man, a good Christian, a 
 member of the Baptist Church, a father and a grandfather. 
 
 In June of this year, Judge Ford, afterwards Governor of 
 the State, and its historian, was holding court in Sycamore, 
 when news came down that an armed body of men, magnified 
 by people's fears to a large army, was marching through the 
 western portion of the County, threatening acts of violence. 
 The Judge, considering such proceedings to be contrary to 
 the peace and dignity of the State, resolved to send a formal 
 embassy to inquire what were their objects and intentions. 
 Frederick Love, the Probate Judge, the District Attorney, 
 Farewell, of Ottawa, the Sheriff of the County, Morris Walrod, 
 and William A. Miller, a well-known citizen, were selected as 
 the embassy, and started out on the Oregon State Road to 
 search for the invading army. A mile or two beyond 
 Driscoll's Grove it was found encamped for rest and 
 refreshment. It was discovered to be the lynchers, to the 
 number of one hundred and fifty, or thereabouts, headed by 
 Captain Campbell. After a long and friendly conversation, 
 Captain Campbell, without hesitation, displayed the constitu- 
 tion of the club for their inspection. It required its mem- 
 bers to scour the country, investigate the character of sus- 
 pected persons, warn them, if probably guilty, to leave the 
 country, and lynch them if they refused. Campbell explained 
 that they did not desire to interfere with the courts, but to 
 aid and assist them in the enforcement of justice in cases 
 which they were unable to reach. The commission had a 
 friendly visit, and returning, made a very favorable report to 
 the Judge, who seemed indisposed to make any opposition to 
 their proceedings, but rather to favor them than otherwise. 
 It was, perhaps, upon this identical scouting excursion that 
 Campbell, as chief of the club, visited the Driscolls, one and 
 all, and warned them that unless they left the country within 
 twenty days they would be lynched. To David Driscoll he 
 
THE BANDITTI. 
 
 85 
 
 said : " If after that time you are found east of the Mis- 
 sissippi river, we will brand your cheeks with R. S., and crop 
 your ears, so that none shall fail to know your character as a 
 rogue and a scoundrel wherever you may be seen." Is it 
 strange that all the tiger passions in the human heart should 
 be roused by words like these ? 
 
 There was a gathering of some of the gang soon after. 
 The Brodies, the Driscolls, the Bridges, the Barrets, were all 
 there ; stern, fearless, determined outlaws, exasperated to 
 madness by the threats which had been served upon them, 
 indignant as more honest men would have been at the stern 
 summons to abandon their homes and firesides to their ene- 
 mies, and fly like hounds before them. 
 
 Various modes of resistance were talked of. It was pro- 
 posed to gather together at Driscoll's grove, fortify them- 
 selves there, and defend their position with their lives. Some 
 counseled a compliance with the order, and an abandonment 
 of their homes. But the most feasible plan they could im- 
 agine was one that best suited their crafty and revengeful 
 natures. It had been tried in Iowa, and worked successfully 
 there. William Driscoll had been in Iowa the previous 
 winter, and he had told the story. It was simple, and easily 
 executed. It was merely to shoot the * captain of the Regu- 
 lators. Long had been frightened into resigning by merely 
 burning his mill. Let his successor be shot, and no person 
 would dare to risk his life as its captain ; so the organization 
 would necessarily become extinct. This course was resolved 
 upon, the agents in the tragedy were selected, and the meet- 
 ing dispersed. 
 
 Was William Driscoll present at that meeting ? 
 
 There are many reasons for supposing he was not. It was 
 generally thought by those who knew him best that he was 
 not connected with any of the criminal acts of his father and 
 brothers. Those who had known him from infancy asserted 
 that he was an exception in the family. The family, even 
 while residing in Ohio, were noted as criminals. The father 
 
86 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 had served his five years in the penitentiary, and some of the 
 sons, perhaps, deserved the same punishment. But William 
 was known as a marked exception. He was a man of noble 
 bearing — generous, hospitable, industrious — possessor of a 
 large property, which he was known to have honestly ac- 
 quired, one of the leading farmers of the County. No one 
 could point to any crime that he was guilty of, or even seri- 
 ously suspected of. His chief sin was that he was one of the 
 Driscolls, and he suffered the fate of poor dog Tray for the 
 same reason — he was found in bad company. 
 
 On the Sunday morning following this meeting, the old 
 man DriscoU was seen about the premises of Campbell. He 
 walked around the grounds, passed up to a clump of bushes, 
 closely observed the location, and soon went away. He 
 might that night have easily gone home, but he did not. He 
 stayed at a neighbor's without any apparent reason, and slept 
 there. Was it because he knew that a foul crime was about 
 to be committed, and he wanted to prove an alihi f It was 
 so supposed. That evening just at dusk. Captain Campbell, 
 who had returned from attending Church at Rockford, was 
 passing from his dwelling to his stable, when he was accosted 
 by two men who inquired the road to Oregon. His wife 
 heard him call out "Driscoll," and immediately after there 
 was the report of a gun, and as she rushed toward him he fell 
 lifeless in her arms, shot through the heart. The two men 
 immediately and deliberately walked off in the direction of 
 Driscoll's Grove. The brave son of Campbell — a lad of 
 thirteen years — seized his father's gun, rushed toward the 
 retreating murderers and snapped it at them three times, but 
 the effort to avenge the murder was unavailing : the gun did 
 not go off. The murderers disappqared in the distance, and 
 the grief-stricken family was left alone with the lifeless corpse 
 of its honored head. 
 
 It will be readily understood that this shocking murder 
 caused a prodigious excitement throughout the whole country. 
 Swift couriers roused the entire region Avith the startling 
 
THE BANDITTI. 87 
 
 intelligence, and summoned all the clans to meet at once and 
 devise means to secure and punish the murderers of their 
 chief. Detachments were sent out with the morning's light 
 to scour the country in search for the guilty pair, but the 
 pursuit was unsuccessful. David and Taylor Driscoll were 
 understood to be the two who had committed the crime, but 
 they could nowhere be discovered. The scouts in their 
 search discovered a spot upon the prairie, a half-mile from 
 the scene of the murder, where three horses had been held 
 while they closely cropped the herbage that grew there, and 
 there was some reason to suppose that a wretch named Bridge, 
 Avho has never since been seen in this section of country, was 
 the man who held, ready for instant use, the horses of his 
 companions, while they committed the murder. None of 
 these men could be found; but the old man Driscoll was taken 
 at his house by one party, and, in spite of his protestations 
 of innocence and ignorance of the whole matter, and of the 
 proof he presented of his absence from the scene at the time 
 of its perpetration, he was carried off, his house set on fire 
 and burned to the ground. The house of David Driscoll was 
 also burned and his family left shelterless upon the open 
 prairie. 
 
 Toward evening a party reached Driscoll's Grove, and set- 
 ting their guards about it to prevent any escape, they 
 went up to William Driscoll's cabin and took him and his 
 young brother. Pierce, into custody. William had been the 
 first to tell the story of the murder to the settlers at the 
 grove. He had been in Sycamore on that day, and while 
 there Mr. Hamlin, the postmaster, had called him into his 
 office and read to him the startling news, which the Post- 
 master at Oregon City had written on his package of letters 
 for Chicago, that, passing through all the ofiices on the route 
 it might speedily spread the news far and wide. William 
 seemed surprised and saddened by the intelligence: it boded 
 no good to him. He had perhaps expected to be taken and 
 tried, for he went quietly with his captors, making no objcc- 
 
»» HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 tion or resistance. Conscious of his own innocence, he said 
 he felt sure of acquittal. They told him that thej merely 
 Avanted him to go before Mrs. Campbell, at White Rock, that 
 she might see if he was the man who had killed her husband. 
 Toward evening they arrived at the house where the corpse 
 of the murdered chief of the lynchers was still lying, and 
 where the wailing widow still mourned her sudden and awful 
 bereavement. The two Driscolls were brought to her view, 
 and without any hesitation she said that neither of them was 
 present at the murder. The son who had followed and tried 
 to shoot the assassins, was equally confident that neither of 
 the prisoners were of the guilty pair. But the party of ex- 
 cited men who had gathered at the scene of the assassination 
 were eager to avenge the death of their leader, and cried 
 aloud for victims. Those whom they had captured were of 
 the family of the murderers. 
 
 The country was ringing with the cry that the Driscolls 
 had done the murder, and these were Driscolls. The clans 
 would meet there on the morrow, and these men should be 
 kept and put at their disposal. So saying they placed them 
 for the night in the upper chamber of the Campbell house, 
 and a guard was set round to prevent their escape. It was 
 not a vigilant guard, and as the night wore on the sleepless 
 captives talked of attempting an escape. " They are deter- 
 mined to kill us to-morrow," said Pierce — "I can see it in 
 their looks and manner." 
 
 "No," said William, "we can prove our innocence so 
 strongly that they can not fail to discharge us." 
 
 And after a long whispering discussion of the chances, the 
 stern determination of the elder brother prevailed, and they 
 concluded to remain. With the dawn of the morning a large 
 gathering of the lynchers had collected from the country 
 around. Many of the most respectable citizens of that sec- 
 tion of country, such as the Cheneys, -of White Rock, who 
 had hitherto looked with some disfavor upon the summary 
 proceedings of the lynchers, now gave up their opposition and 
 
THE BANDITTI. 89 
 
 freely imbibed, they soon became like a band of raving 
 enrolled themselves as its members, and became the sternest 
 and most sanguinary of the band. At an early hour the 
 clans from the remoter settlements came in. There was a 
 company from Payne's Point, led by Wellington ; from the 
 Pennsylvania settlement, led by Dr. Hubbard ; from Oregon 
 City, led by a Methodist clergyman, by the name of Crist, 
 and a company from Daysville, a flourishing little town, that 
 has since gone to decay, which was commanded by one Capt. 
 Austin. 
 
 White Rock Grove, a small belt of timber not far from the 
 larger and better known Washington Grove, in Ogle County, 
 had been selected as the place of rendezvous for the lynchers, 
 and thither the band, with their prisoners, Avended their way. 
 The three Driscolls were carried in one Avagon, with ropes 
 about their necks. It had become evident to the captives 
 that their trial was to be a mere farce, and that their fate 
 was already sealed. Overwhelmed by the horrors of their 
 situation, they sat stupid and dazed. 
 
 But meantime the friends of William Driscoll had not been 
 entirely idle. At the moment of his arrest a messenger was 
 dispatched to Sycamore to procure the attendance at the trial 
 of some who knew of his innocence, and as they arrived upon 
 the ground where two hundred of the infuriated lynchers Avere 
 raging around their doomed victims, a couple of Avagons Avere 
 driven up containing a fcAv of his defenders. Among these 
 Avere J. R. Hamlin, Timothy Wells, and Frank Spencer, of 
 Sycamore, and Benjamin Worden'and Solomon Wells, of 
 Driscoll's Grove. The lynching club of Rockford had not 
 yet arrived, and an hour Avas spent in Avaiting for their com- 
 ing. Near the place of the mock trial was a distillery, and 
 during the delay a barrel of whisky Avas rolled out from it, 
 its head removed, and the thirsty crowd regaled themselves 
 Avith its fiery contents. Maddened by a sense of indignation 
 at the outrages of the banditti Avhom they Avere organized to 
 oppose, infuriated by the brutal murder of their oAvn honored 
 chief, and driven to frenzy by the fiery fluid which they 
 12 
 
90 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 wolves, and it was evident that no mercy, not even strict 
 justice would be meted out to their captives. 
 
 The little band of those who knew William, and believed 
 in his innocence, endeavored to encourage him to hope for an 
 acquittal. But "no," said he, "they will kill me, but they 
 will kill an innocent man." 
 
 The club from Rockford soon arrived. It was led by 
 Jason Marsh, a well known citizen of that place, by Mr. 
 Robertson, the postmaster of the town, and by Charles Lat- 
 timer, a young lawyer, who was subsequently killed in a 
 street fight in Wisconsin. 
 
 Upon their arrival a circle was formed, and a lawyer 
 named Leland, who has since occupied the bench in Illinois, 
 as a Judge of the Circuit Court, was chosen as the presiding 
 officer. Seating himself upon the ground at the foot of a 
 tree, he had the old man Driscoll brought into the ring and 
 arraigned before him. 
 
 "What are the charges against this man," said he. 
 
 It was a natural and pertinent question, but it rather con" 
 fused the lynchers. There was some hesitation among them, but 
 at last one and another charged him with certain minor ofiences. 
 
 The main charge was a general cry that he was one of the 
 horse-thieving fraternity, and that they were afraid of their 
 lives if he should be released. 
 
 The old man stoutly denied most of the charges, but he ad- 
 mitted that he had stolen a yoke of cattle in Ohio, and one 
 who was present says that he also admitted the theft of fifty 
 horses in Ohio, without detection, but that he was caught in 
 stealing the fifty -first, and served five years in the peniten- 
 tiary, at Columbus, for it. "When I came out," said he "I 
 resolved to lead an honest life. I moved away to this county, 
 and I have since kept my pledge." 
 
 A very few minutes were spent in the mockery of a trial, 
 when Leland put the question, " What shall be done with this 
 man r 
 
 Some one started up and moved that "we shoot him." 
 
THE BANDITTI. 91 
 
 The Judge put it to vote, and it was carried with a shout of 
 unanimity. 
 
 The old man was taken out of the ring, and William Dris- 
 coll was taken in. He was a large, noble-looking man, and 
 if the party had not been frenzied with rage and liquor, 
 would have excited some respect. Accusations against him 
 were called for. Few could charge any crime whatever ; but 
 a circumstance that excited suspicion, and that had been 
 much talked about, was mentioned. It was, that he must 
 have been in the secret of the murder of Campbell, because 
 he first reported it at Driscoll's Grove and in that section of 
 country. We have already seen that he got the information 
 about it from Mr. Hamlin, the postmaster at Hamlin, who had 
 come especially to explain this suspicious circumstance, now 
 tried to get a hearing. He asked to be permitted to say a 
 word or two, but was met with a storm of hisses, and shouts 
 of "no, not a word." 
 
 Spencer and Wells, who had made some defense of the ac- 
 cused, and got excited in the discussion, had already been 
 seized and placed under guard. A move was made to take 
 Hamlin also, but L eland cried out that he had a right to be 
 heard, and he was permitted to make his statement. Driscoll 
 also talked a little. He said he had lived honestly and done 
 no injustice to any one, unless it was that in a certain trade 
 on one occasion, he had afterward thought he did not do quite 
 right. Nothing was of any avail. The crowd cried " Shoot 
 him, shoot him," and he was led out of the ring. 
 
 There was no evidence whatever against the boy Pierce, 
 and he was discharged. 
 
 There was a motion, then, to give them an hour to prepare 
 for death, and to give them the benefit of clergy, which, as 
 they construed it, was to furnish a clergyman to talk and 
 pray with them. Crist, the preacher. Captain of the band 
 from Oregon City, went to the open whisky barrel, drank a 
 dipper full of its fiery contents, and then knelt down and 
 prayed, long and noisily. William Driscoll joined him audi- 
 bly, but the old man took no notice of what was transpiring. 
 
92 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Hamlin, meanwhile, moved around among the excited crowd 
 endeavoring to secure a postponement of the execution, or, if 
 possible, a commutation of the sentence to banishment beyond 
 the Mississippi, within twenty-four hours. 
 
 Leland, the presiding officer, favored the project, and while 
 unwilling to do much himself, urged Hamlin to keep up the 
 excitement in favor of mercy. Phelps, clerk of the Ogle 
 County Court, favored it. McFarland was also active in 
 support of this movement, and they finally got the party called 
 too"ether again, and moved for an extension of the time, but 
 the majority, led by the Cheneys, Marsh and others, were 
 bitterly opposed to it, and fairly hooted it down. The time 
 had now expired, and the gray-haired old man was brought 
 out, blindfolded, and told to kneel upon the grass. The 
 lynchers drew up in a long line, with guns in their hands. 
 A number, unwilling to take part in the execution, stood 
 round in the rear, and their guns were leaning against the 
 rees. Marsh shouted that all must join in, and hemovd thn^ 
 all the guns left standing there be whipped up against the 
 trees. Upon this the guns were all taken, and the men fell 
 into line. A Justice from White Rock was marshall and 
 gave the order to fire. The fatal one, two, three Avas called, 
 and at the word three an hundred guns were discharged, and 
 the lifeless body of the old man fell over like a bag of wheat. 
 
 Then William Driscoll was led out by the side of the bloody 
 body of his father, and he, too, shared the same fate. Not a 
 muscle moved in either of them : so many well-aimed bullets 
 pierced them, that but for the bandages that covered their 
 eyes, their heads would have fallen into fragments. The 
 bodies were thrown into a brush-heap, and the crowd dis- 
 persed to their homes. Some pitying hand partially covered 
 the corpses with a foot or two of earth, and a couple of weeks 
 later, when the popular excitement had somewhat subsided, 
 the Driscolls having found, in Mr. R. P. Watson, a friend 
 who dared public opinion so far as to make coffins for them, 
 and they were quietly removed and decently buried in Dris- 
 coll's Grove. 
 
THE BANDITTI. 93 
 
 The crowd returning destroyed what remained of the log 
 houses and barns of both the father and the son David, to 
 make sure that the whole race should be driven from the 
 country. No one dared harbor or take the houseless family 
 in, and for two or three weeks they lived in a corn-crib amidst 
 the ruins. 
 
 Probably no one at this time will justify this sanguinary 
 act of execution ; none, perhaps doubt that it resulted in the 
 death of at least one innocent man. No doubt the leading 
 men engaged in it thought they were doing right. It is cer- 
 tain that it resulted in dispersing the whole gang of banditti, 
 and giving peace and security to a section of country that had 
 hitherto been subjected to frequent outrages and constant 
 alarm. 
 
 David Driscoll has never since been seen in this country : 
 he fled to the uninhabited wilderness across the Mississippi, 
 and his fate is unknown. 
 
 Six years after these occurrences Taylor Driscoll returned, 
 and being seen in McHenry County, was arrested and 
 brought to trial for the murder of Captain Campbell. 
 
 The witnesses against him all depended upon the testimony 
 of the widow of Campbell, who swore positively that Taylor 
 Driscoll was the man who fired the shot that killed her hus- 
 band. Although six years had passed, she said she knew 
 him perfectly, and that she never was mistaken in identifying 
 a person whom she had once known. 
 
 But in the course of a vigilant cross-examination, by Mr. 
 Barry of Driscoll's counsel, she was induced to swear with 
 equal certainty, that upon a more recent occasion she had 
 seen Pierce Driscoll at a certain time and place. She was as 
 positive of it as she was that she had seen Taylor Driscoll 
 shoot her husband. It happened, however, that she was mis- 
 taken in this. It was proved beyond a question that it was 
 not Pierce but another brother, who closely resembled him, 
 whom she had then seen, and that Pierce was forty miles 
 away at this time. The jury finding her thus mistaken in 
 identifying a person whom she had seen only a few months 
 
94 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 before, were easily persuaded that she might have been equally 
 mistaken in testifying to the identity of Taylor, whom she had 
 not seen for six years, and they gave him a verdict of ac- 
 quittal. 
 
 But the investigations of the writer of this history have led 
 him upon evidence, which he is not permitted to divulge, 
 which fully convinces him that Mrs. Campbell was right, and 
 that Taylor Driscoll was really the murderer of Campbell. 
 
THE RESURRECTIONISTS. 95 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE RESURRECTIONISTS. 
 
 During the years 1847 and 1848, the inhabitants of the 
 village of St. Charles, in Kane County, and of that section of 
 the country which surrounded it, were kept in an unpleasant 
 state of excitement by a suspicion that the graves of their 
 friends, whose reraa,ins they had buried, were being inraded 
 and robbed by the faculty and students of a medical institute 
 located at that place, which was under the charge of one Dr. 
 Richards. Two or three graves of honored citizens of that 
 place had been examined, and discovered to be emptied of 
 their precious contents. Many who had recently lost friends 
 commenced the painful task of examining their newly made 
 graves, Avhile many others only refrained from it lest they 
 should find their fears realized and that the outrage so hope- 
 less of redress had been consummated. To the gloom and 
 terrors which surround every death-bed were added the dread 
 surmise, that even the grave was no secure resting place for 
 the sacred remains of the dead. The restlessness, the irrita- 
 tion, the indignation that Avas caused by this feeling may 
 readily be imagined. 
 
 But until the spring of 1849 it was not known, nor gen- 
 erally suspected, that the reckless grave robbers extended 
 their depredations beyond the near vicinity of the hated in- 
 stitute. 
 
 It was one gloomy afternoon in March of that year, that 
 three young men, driving a pair of horses attached to a large 
 spring-wagon, stopped for supper at the well-known tavern 
 kept by Mr. James Lovell, on the Sycamore and St. Charles 
 road, near Ohio Grove. A few words of the conversation 
 
96 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 between the party caught the quick ear of the landlord's 
 daughter, who waited on the table, and startled her with the 
 suspicion that the party Avere body-snatchers, designing to 
 rob some grave in that vicinity. She communicated her sus- 
 picions to her father, who at first paid no attention to them, 
 but on second thought sent out a boy, quietly, to search their 
 wagon. The lad returned and reported that, concealed be- 
 neath the buifalo robe in the bottom of the wagon, were a 
 couple of spades, ropes, hoops, etc. — all the tools required for 
 that ghastly trade. This left no room for doubt about their 
 intentions, and landlord Lovell at once determined to set 
 means at work to defeat their purpose, and capture them in 
 the guilty act if possible. 
 
 He dispatched one of his boys out on the west road to Mr. 
 H. A. Joslyn's and Mr. Levias Dow's, notifying them that 
 the resurrectionists were coming that Avay, and asking them 
 to follow and watch the rascals. He thought over the names 
 and locations of those who had been buried in that section of 
 country within the space of a few Aveeks. Among the healthy, 
 hardy pioneers Avho then inhabited the country, a death was 
 a rare occurrence, and none Avere consigned to mother earth 
 Avithout the knowledge, and, indeed, the presence, of most of 
 the inhabitants for miles around. 
 
 Tavo bodies had been interred Avithin a short period. , One 
 Avas that of a friendless German, Avho had been buried in that 
 South Burying Ground in the village of Sycamore, from 
 Avhich the bodies have this year been removed. The other 
 Avas the corpse of the fair young bride of Mr. George M. 
 Kinyon, Avhicli but a fcAV days before had been conveyed to 
 the grave-yard of the Baptist Church, near Ohio Grove, in 
 the present toAvn of Cortland. 
 
 Leaving his friendly neighbor Josyln, to look out for raids 
 upon the Sycamore grave-yard, he made his own way doAvn 
 to Mr. David Churchill, the father of the late Mrs. Kinyon, 
 and Avarned him to guard the sane tity of her grave. 
 
 Meantime the grave robbers had passed on toAvard the 
 village of Sycamore, and Harry Josyln, lying concealed by 
 
THE RESURRECTIONISTS. 97 
 
 the road fence, had seen them pass in the growing darkness, 
 and quietly followed them. 
 
 They made some considerable delay in the village, Avhicli 
 delay Mr. Josyln employed in rousing some of his neighbors 
 from their slumbers, and in watching and arranging them. 
 Mr. Herman Furners, a constable, was made leader of the 
 party, to which was added Lorenzo Whittmore, John A. 
 Waterman, E. P. Young, and one or two others. 
 
 When the wagon had turned down Soonmank street and 
 stopped near the grave-yard, this party of detectives, divided 
 into three squads and so posted as to enable them to cut off 
 all chance of escape, were lying down in the grass and await- 
 ing developments. Four men got out of the wagon and 
 clambered into the burying ground. One, after a moment's 
 delay there, Avas seen making his way back to the village. 
 The watchers thought that they recognized in this person the 
 figure of a resident physician of the village, and imagined 
 that he came to point out the location of the grave, but the 
 obscure light may have deceived them — they may have been 
 mistaken. 
 
 Unfortunately, at this critical juncture, one of the hidden 
 watchers was seized with an uncontrollable fit of coughing. 
 The noise startled the guilty party, Avho ran for their wagon, 
 and were jumping into it, when Constable Furness seized the 
 horses and demanded a surrender. They Avere thoroughly 
 alarmed, and their fright was not lessened by Waterman 
 answering their question as to what would be done Avith them, 
 by the promise to shoot them in the morning. 
 
 Thoroughly coAved, they Avere taken back to the village 
 tavern, and were there recognized as students from Dr. 
 Richards' Medical School. One was a son of the Doctor, 
 another a charity student by the name of Rude, Avho it Avas 
 reported paid for his medical education by furnishing bodies 
 for dissection. The name of the third Avas unknoAvn. 
 
 The captors sent at once for Mr. E. L. Mayo, the principal 
 laAvyer of the toAvn, but after consultation he concluded that 
 13 
 
98 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 there was not sufficient evidence of their guilt to warrant 
 their detention. They were released, and joyfully fled away 
 in the darkness. 
 
 Meantime the Churchills and Kinyons had spent the night 
 in watching the grave of the lost daughter and wife, but all 
 was quiet there. Morning came, and they examined it closely. 
 There was no visible evidence of its having been disturbed. 
 Two of her girlish friends, uneasy at the stories about grave 
 robbers which had been circulated through the country, had, 
 with tender thoughtfulness, laid a twine over it which they 
 fastened on each side as a means of detection. This was still 
 in its position. But something made the friends still un- 
 certain and uneasy. They determined to dig down and assure 
 themselves, if possible, that the sanctity of her last resting 
 place had, indeed, not been invaded. The excavation had 
 proceeded but a couple of feet, when their fears were con- 
 firmed by finding in the soil the comb with which her hair 
 had been confined. The father and husband were excited 
 almost to frenzy by the discovery, and, dropping their spades, 
 ran round like madmen, with heartrending groans and bitter 
 tears. E-eaching the coffin at last, it was found emptied of 
 its precious contents, the grave-clothes alone remaining with- 
 in it. 
 
 The news of this discovery quickly spread over the country 
 around. Mr. David Churchill was a noble old man, honored 
 and loved by the whole community, and the grief and indig- 
 nation Avhich tortured him and the relatives were shared by 
 the entire community. It was certain that this grave had 
 been desecrated. No one knew how many more in this 
 region had also been violated. A party of twelve of the rela- 
 tives and neighbors was speedily made up, to go to the Medi- 
 cal College and demand the return of the body. They went 
 without delay, and on arriving there a search warrant was 
 procured, and they proceeded to examine the premises. But 
 they were an hour too late. When they entered the town 
 they saw there a horse belonging to a physician of their own 
 
THE RESUERECTIOISriSTS. 99 
 
 neighborhood. It was splashed with mud and foaming with 
 perspiration. It was evident that its owner, who had formerly 
 been a student of Hichards' Institute, had heard of their in- 
 tentian, and ridden post-haste, to warn his medical associates 
 of the danger of their detection. They had spirited away 
 the body, and it could nowhere be found. In the large stone 
 building, formerly a barn, which served as a lecture and dis- 
 secting room, they found fragments of human bodies, and in 
 the loft above a half decayed skeleton was hung up to dry ; 
 but none of them were recognized as parts of that dear form 
 which these distressed relatives sought. 
 
 The fruitless search was nearly completed, when the quick 
 eye of the bereaved husband discerned upon the stone flag- 
 ging of the floor, a lock of golden hair. It was the precise, 
 peculiar shade of his lost wife's hair, and he knew it in an 
 instant. It was not evidence enough to convince a jury, per- 
 haps, but it satisfied him. If he had any doubts before, they 
 were all gone now. He begged piteously for the return of 
 what might be left of the remains of his Avife. But Richards, 
 who seems to have been a coarse and brutal fellow, treated 
 the party with anger and contempt. 
 
 " I have no subjects now," said he, " but if you Avill come 
 again in a few days I Avill have a lot of 'em, and from out 
 your way, too." 
 
 Discouraged and disheartened, the party went back to the.'r 
 homes. They kncAv that the body was there ; they thought 
 Avith horror of the dear form of their loved and lost one 
 carved and gashed, and made the sport of a mob of heartless 
 medical butchers. But, alas, they saw no hope of securing 
 it — no prospect of redress. 
 
 To their neighbors they told the story of their reception ; 
 they showed the lock of hair. Their indignation was uni- 
 versal. Some of them taunted the young widower Avith a 
 lack of courage, because he had not, upon the spot, taken the 
 life of the villain, Avho, to the injury he had done him by the 
 robbery, had added the insult of such coarse, brutal, taunting 
 
100 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 language. With one accord, the people pledged themselves 
 to go back next day with them, in a body too strong to be re- 
 sisted, and to force the rascals to yield up their prey. 
 
 About nine o'clock next morning forty stalwart men, the 
 best citizens of the country around, armed with guns, pistols 
 and clubs, gathered together in the village of Sycamore, and 
 started again on the journey of twenty miles, to rescue the 
 remains of the lost child of their neighbor and friend. As 
 their wagons passed in procession along the road, the neigh, 
 boring farmers in both counties, learning the purpose of the 
 expedition, joined it with determined good will, and before 
 they reached St. Charles, its numbers had quadrupled. As 
 they neared the town they halted and gathered together, 
 selected a committee of five of their party to go forward and 
 demand the return of the body, and give the inmates of the 
 Institute fair warning that the consequence of a further refusal 
 would be the destruction of their buildino-s, if not of the lives 
 of the inmates. 
 
 The Committee consisted of Esquire Currier of St. Charles, 
 John C. Wateriman, Willam Fordham, Lorenzo Whittemore 
 and Kimball Dow, of Sycamore. 
 
 Backed up by most of the party, the Committee proceeded 
 to the house. Richards met them at the door, and within 
 were his family and some dozen or more of his students. 
 Pistols were seen in his side pocket, and behind the door 
 were a number of guns. He was still heartless, impudent 
 and defiant. He denied any knowledge about the body they 
 sought for, but said perhaps his students could account for it. 
 
 A good deal of angry conversation passed between the 
 parties. Rude, the student, who had been detected in the 
 crime at Sycamore, was particularly active, and Kinyon, al- 
 though he had never before seen him and did not know him to 
 be that one, yet took an instinctive aversion to him, and could 
 hardly be restrained from shooting him upon the spot. 
 
 The Committee went back and consulted with their party. 
 It was evident that nothing was to be gained by parley. 
 
THE RESURRECTIONISTS. 101 
 
 Kinyon was determined to recover the corpse of his wife, or 
 make a corpse of him who robbed her grave. They resolved 
 to capture the place by storm, seize Richards and take him 
 into Fox River, then liold him under water until he would 
 reveal the place where the body was concealed. In the mean- 
 time some Germans had been found who said that on the 
 Sunday previous, a German friend who had worked for Rich- 
 ards had shown them, in the dissecting room, the corpse of a 
 golden-haired young woman, whose appearance perfectly cor- 
 responded with the description of Mrs. Kinyon. This added 
 to their confidence that the brutal Richards was still in pos- 
 session of her remains, and they Avere sure that nothing but 
 violence would induce him to restore them. Headed by 
 David Churchill, the noble old father of the deceased, and 
 Kinyon, the youthful widower, a party of thirty marched up 
 to the building and made a rush upon the door, and as the 
 pressure forced it partly open, the muzzle of a gun was thrust 
 out and fired. It would have proved fatal to some of the 
 party had not Churchill forced down the barrel so that the 
 bullet struck the stone pavement and bounded over their 
 heads. This first act of war was followed by a shot from 
 Kinyon, who raised his gun and fired blindly through the 
 door. Fate directed his bullet to the death of the man Avho 
 had really been the robber of the grave. Rude was pierced 
 through the hips, and was borne away fatally wounded. A 
 number of shots followed on both sides, and those of the 
 crowd outside, who had no guns, hurled stones from the street 
 till every glass and sash in the house was shivered to atoms. 
 Old Gilman Smith, of Sycamore, who had been a soldier of 
 the war of 1812, was conspicuous for his coolness. He 
 loaded and fired, whenever he saw any part of a person ex- 
 posed, with as much coolness and deliberation as if he was 
 shooting at squirrels. It is said that he put two bullets 
 through Richards, one through his lungs and another in his 
 leg. During a pause in the battle, Richards, now thoroughly 
 cowed and bloody with his terrible wounds, came out to ap- 
 peal for mercy. 
 
102 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 "You have killed two of us," said he, "now, for God's 
 sake, stop and go away." 
 
 Just then a large stone struck his head and prostrated him. 
 He crawled back into his house and was laid upon a couch. 
 
 Soon after, the students were seen escaping from the rear 
 of the building, and Henry Thrall rather cruelly poured a 
 charge of small shot into the rear of one of them as he clamb- 
 ered over a wall. The assaulting party now crowded into 
 the house. They found it fearfully riddled, and occupied 
 only by the two wounded men. Small mercy they gave to 
 their misfortunes. 
 
 "Now," said one to Richards, "now your students can 
 have a subject without sending to DeKalb County for it." 
 
 But Richards still refused to give up the body, and as it 
 seemed impossible to get any satisfaction, and as warrants 
 were out to arrest the party as rioters, they retreated in an 
 orderly manner across the river. As they passed through 
 the town the ladies cheered them from their windows, with 
 waving handkerchiefs and encouraging words. The popular 
 indignation at the outrao;es of the men of the Institute was 
 nowhere greater than in their own town. 
 
 Night now came on and another — a night attack — was ex- 
 pected by the occupants of the establishment. The bridge 
 across the river had been carried away, and only a temporary 
 foot-bridge accommodated passengers, while teams crossed at 
 the fords. The town's people and the friends of Richards 
 established guards at three points and halted every person 
 who attempted to cross. They did also what was more ef- 
 fectual. They sent to Naperville for William D. Barry (a St. 
 Charles lawyer then temporarily absent), who knew Church- 
 ill, the leader of the invaders, and upon whom he would place 
 confidence. Barry arrived late at night, and as soon as he 
 learned the situation crossed over to the little hotel on the 
 west side, which was the headquarters of the invading party. 
 After a long pacific conversation he urged them all to go 
 home in the morning, promising upon his honor, that the 
 
THE RESURRECTIONISTS. 103 
 
 body should be speedily returned to them if it was in ex- 
 istence "You can cross the river again and kill some more 
 of them," said he, "and some of you will as certainly be 
 killed also, but what good will all that do ? You can never 
 get the body in that way. Take my word for it, the body 
 shall be given up to you." 
 
 They took his word for it and next morning they went, but 
 left word that if the promise was not fulfilled, they would 
 come again and destroy the entire establishment. 
 
 Barry had promised more than he was quite authorized to 
 promise, but he now took measures to redeem his word. He 
 summoned John F. Farnsworth, a lawyer of the town. Dr. 
 Hard, who was a brother-in-law of Farnsworth, and had some 
 acquaintance with the afiairs of the College, to a secret con- 
 sultation at his office. Contrary to his expectations. Dr. 
 Hard could tell nothing about thfc body, but after a long talk 
 the Doctor sallied out to see if he could not find some one 
 who could. He brought back a young medical student 
 named Harvey, who, it seemed, alone knew the exact spot 
 where the corpse was concealed, and after a multitude of 
 pledges of secrecy, he promised to reveal to Barry, alone, the 
 place of its concealment on the following night. 
 
 In the gloom of that night the two started out on the search 
 and, after some miles of travel through the woods, they came 
 to a spot upon the banks of the Fox River, within a few rods 
 of thi; village of Geneva, which Harvey pointed out as the 
 grav(! of Mrs. Kinyon. Harvey, Avho had now revealed 
 enough knowledge of the affair to make him liable to arrest, 
 and at least to subject him to the vengeance of the relatives, 
 if they ever discovered his connection with it, now told Barry 
 that he would leave the country forever. He bid him good- 
 bye, started out in the darkness, and was never more seen in 
 this section of country. 
 
 Barry then went to Geneva, roused from his slumbers Mr. 
 Danforth, who then kept a kind of cabinet shop there, and 
 ordered a cofiin to be ready next night at midnight, specify- 
 
104 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 ing no purpose for which it was to be used, but enjoined the 
 closest secrecy. Determined that no person should be known 
 as having been connected with the affair, he now contrived a 
 plan for returning it to the relatives, without their knowing 
 whence or through whom it came. 
 
 Old Mr. Prescott, of St. Charles, who was a distant rela- 
 tive of the Churchills, and had been active in an effort to aid 
 the recovery of the remains, found next day upon his door 
 step an anonymous note, very cautiously worded, but givhig 
 him to understand, that if he would go alone Avith a wagon, at 
 a certain hour on the following morning, to a designated spot 
 in the woods, on the west of the river, he would find the body. 
 
 It was the midnight following, that Mr. Barry, accompan- 
 ied by a young man named Nelson, stopped at Danforth's, 
 took the rude coffin which had been prepared for him, and 
 drove back again to the spot where the body was buried. 
 Nelson, who was sworn to secrecy, as to all that might trans- 
 pire that night, was still uninformed about what his com- 
 panion's strange actions meant and was in a tremor of terror 
 as, digging doAvn a couple of feet, they came to the body of 
 :the fair young woman. It Avas wrapped in an old horse 
 blanket, and still undecayed. The two drew it down to the 
 river, washed off the earth that had adhered to it, and then 
 Nelson, unwilling that it should be coffined entirely nude, 
 drew off his own underclothing and placed it on the corpse, 
 then drove back up the river. 
 
 Prescott next morning repaired to the place to which he 
 had been directed, lie found there the coffin, and opening- 
 its lid recognized the corpse of his niece. Without commu- 
 nicating with any person, he placed it in his own wagon and 
 starting back to Sycamore restored it to the husband. He 
 received it with hysterical delight — laughed and wept, and 
 raved by turns. Never was there gathered at any one 
 funeral before, so large a concourse of people as met on that 
 next Sabbath day, to consign a second time to the grave the 
 body which had caused such an excitement in all the country 
 
tllfIT iilS.©IM^ TMiQM/^ W. HUMPiBirr 
 
 F FRANKLI N. 
 
 tliirai-o Liliur^raphin*^ Cu.Chi( 
 
THE RESURRECTIONISTS. 105 
 
 round. A new grave was dug close under the husband's 
 window, and there the long lost body was at last consigned 
 to await the resurrection only of the last great day. 
 
 Undoubtedly many other graves had been robbed before 
 this time in this same section of country, but it is believed 
 that there Avere none since. 
 
 The medical school was broken up. Rude, the student, 
 died a few days after. Richards, the principal, partially re- 
 covered, moved away to Missouri, but never fully recovered 
 his health, and died about three years after. 
 
 Indictments were found against Kinyon and Churchill in 
 the Courts of Kane County and they were arrested, but re- 
 leased on bail. Indictments were also found in one Court of 
 DeKalb County, against the body-suatchers. Neither were 
 ever brought to trial. Public opinion seemed satisfied that 
 the crime had been duly expiated and that nothing was to be 
 gained by further prosecution of the matter, on either side. 
 
 14 
 
PART SECOND. 
 
 DE KALB COUNTY 
 
 17i TSi: 
 
 WAR OF THE GREAT REBELLION 
 
DeKalb County in the War of the Great Eebellion, 
 
 Decidedly the most interesting, most honorable and most 
 eventful portion of the history of the County of DeKalb, is 
 that which relates the gallant deeds of her brave sons, their 
 sacrifices and sufferings in that tremendous struggle for the 
 life of the nation — the war of the Great Rebellion. 
 
 How do the excitements of its earlier settlement, its claim 
 wars, its county-seat wrangles, its contests with the banditti, 
 its war upon the grave-robbers, its political and social excite- 
 ments, all pale and lose their interest when compared with the 
 story of the grand heroism displayed by her sons upon an 
 hundred battle-fields ; and of the no less devoted patriotism 
 which led two thousand of her brave boys to cheerfully endure 
 the toils, the sufferings, the labors of the grand marches, the 
 terrors of rebel prisons, privation, destitution, death itself, 
 that they might help to save their country from destruction, 
 and give to the world a re-united nation. In the four years 
 of the great civil war is comprised more of its real history, 
 more of true heroism, more adventure, more romance, more 
 of gallantry, valor, everything that dignifies and ennobles the 
 character of its people, than in all the remaining portion of its 
 career. If, then, a larger portion of this work be devoted to 
 this portion of the history than to any other, it will not be 
 more than its importance demands. 
 
 The political character and predelictions of the great 
 majority of the inhabitants of our County impelled them 
 
DE KALB COUNTY IN THE WAR. 109 
 
 to espouse, with more than ordinary fervor, the cause of the 
 government in its struggle with the slave-holders' rebellion. 
 From the first settlement of the County, it had been the home 
 of a strong, active, zealous party of anti-slavery men ; men 
 who were avowed abolitionists, who gloried in that name 
 when it was a term of reproach ; who not only voted for, but 
 labored and expended their money for the freedom of the slave. 
 Scattered here and there over the whole county, were numer- 
 ous well-known stations on the "under-ground railroad;" 
 homes of thrifty, hard-working. God-fearing haters of oppres- 
 sion, in which, it was well understood, the panting fugitive 
 escaping from Southern Slavery, would be sure of finding 
 rest, refreshment, a safe shelter, a warm welcome, and means 
 to help him on to other stations on the route to what was then 
 his only safe-guard, the flag of England on Canadian soil. 
 The homes of the Beveridges and the Hubbards of Somonauk, 
 of the Townsends of Mayfield, David West's of Sycamore, and 
 E. S. Gregory at Genoa, were well known as homes and places 
 of refuge for the fugitive negroes ; and many an interesting 
 story of their experience in aiding and secreting these 
 oppressed people, are now told with a freedom, that before the 
 downfall of American Slavery would have been dangerous. 
 Long before the formation of the Republican party, whose 
 corner-stone was hostility to slavery extension, the majority 
 of the voters of the County were of that class who made 
 hatred of slavery the cardinal principle of their political creed. 
 It was natural that when the devotees of the slave system 
 sought to rend in twain the Union of the States, in order to 
 protect their institution, and with fratricidal hand attacked 
 the defenders of the flag of their country, these men should 
 i-ally to its defense with earnest enthusiasm. But their zeal 
 for the defence of the country was only more fervent than 
 that of their political opponents. Inspired by the noble 
 utterances of their great leader, Stephen A. Douglas, whose 
 patriotic devotion to his imperiled country burst the bonds of 
 party, and shed over the last months of his too short life a 
 
110 HISTORY OP BE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 sublime eternal radiance, the great mass of the Democratic 
 party in the country, with some noted exceptions, rallied at 
 the first outbreak of the war to the defense of the country, 
 gave their support to the government, enlisted for their coun- 
 try's defense or encouraged the enlistments, and gave their 
 services, with patriotic sincerity to the work of preserving 
 the Union. 
 
 The echoes of the first guns that were fired upon Fort 
 Sumter had scarcely died away, when in the principal towns 
 of DeKalb county hundreds of her sons sprang to arms, began 
 drilling and preparing for service, and earnestly demanded the 
 privilege of being led to battle against the rebel foe. Their 
 earnestness was constantly repressed by the government, which, 
 embarrassed by the want of suitable laws to meet such an 
 unlooked-for emergency, and apparently failing to appreciate 
 the real magnitude of the contest, hesitated and drew back 
 from the impending conflict, refused to call out a sufiicient 
 number of troops, and checked, instead of encouraging, the 
 patriotic ardor of the people. 
 
 When, at last, two companies of volunteers from this county 
 gained permission to serve in her armies against the 
 rebellion, their privilege was at a premium. Some of those 
 who had been'accepted, but from various causes found it diffi- 
 cult to disentangle themselves from the ties that bound them 
 to their homes, sold out their places in the ranks, to 
 others whose eagerness could not be repressed. But, as 
 the conflict broadened and deepened, as our armies met the 
 enemy and failed to conquer their legions, the government 
 found use for all the men who were willing to serve her. The 
 calls of the President for troops were as follows : 
 
 April 16th, 1861, 75,000 for three months. 
 
 May 4th, 1861, 64,748 for five years. 
 
 July, 1861, 500,000 for three years. 
 
 July 18th, 1862, 300,000 for three years. 
 
 August 4th, 1862, 300,000 for nine months. 
 
 June, 1863, 300,000 for three years. 
 
DE KALB COUNTY IN THE WAR. Ill 
 
 October 17th, 1863, 300,000 for three years. 
 February 18th, 1864, 500,000 for three years. 
 July 10th, 1864, 200,000 for three years. 
 July 16th, 1864, 500,000, one, two, and three years. 
 December 21st, 1864, 300,000 for three years. 
 It must ever be a source of pride to the County ofDeKalb 
 that each successive demand made during the first three years 
 of the war, was promptly filled by volunteers. The summer 
 of 1862 — how memorable and exciting ! In the July previous, 
 a half million of men were called out, and DeKalb County 
 promptly met the call. In August, 1862, 600,000 more 
 were asked for. It was in the midst of the busy harvest 
 season. The County had already been drained of more than 
 fifteen hundred of its able-bodied men, and was suffering for 
 help to gather its bountiful harvest ; yet Avithout a murmur, 
 six hundred of the very best men of the County sprang into 
 the ranks of the 105th regiment, and perhaps half as many' 
 more into other organizations. It was not until July, 1864, 
 that a draft was finally required in this County, to fill the' 
 repeated and exhausting demands of the service. 
 
 What gallant and honorable service these citizen soldiers 
 performed for their country, let this too brief and contracted 
 record of the campaigns of the various regiments partially 
 relate. Not one of the great battles of that long and bloody 
 war was fought in which the loyal sons of DeKalb did not 
 bear a most honorable part. The history of their campaigns 
 is a history of the war. DeKalb County boys opened the 
 first battle in the seven days fight on the Virginian Peninsula, 
 and were the first to attack Lee's rebel host at Grettysburgh. 
 Some loaded their guns for the first time while under the fire 
 of Fort Donelson. They swept with the great Sherman on 
 the grand march to the sea. They were the heroes of the day 
 on the first assault upon Vicksburg. They bore a most hon- 
 orable part in its final capture. They saved by a gallant 
 charge, the defeated army of Banks' on Red River. They 
 were first at the capture of Mobile. In the campaigns in 
 
112 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and indeed wherever 
 a rebel army was to be found, there were men of DeKalb 
 County to meet them in the deadly conflict. 
 
 Volumes could hardly do full justice to the story of their 
 exploits. It has been found necessary in this work to condense 
 the history of most of them down to the dry record of their 
 principal movements. To the One Hundred and Fifth volun- 
 teers more space has been given, partly because that regiment 
 contained three times as many of DeKalb (Jounty men as any 
 other regiment, and partly because the history of the move- 
 ments of one regiment in that great campaign is substantially 
 the history of all others Avho participated in it, and will serve 
 to tell their story. 
 
 To the Eighth Illinois Cavalry has also been given an 
 unusually full record because they alone of all our regiments 
 participated in the movements of the Virginia campaigns and 
 their history is the history of the great, long- enduring, oft 
 baffled, but finally triumphant Army of the Potomac, and 
 with that of the other regiments, really completes the de- 
 scription of all of the great campaigns of the war. This 
 record gives the history of allof the full Companies formed 
 in the County. Hundreds of men however, enlisted in other 
 companies and did service no less gallant and praise-worthy. 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 113 
 
 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 
 
 SKETCH OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH REGIMENT ILLINOIS 
 INFANTRY VOLUNTEERS, FROM ITS ORGANIZATION IN THE 
 FALL OF 1862, UNTIL ITS FINAL DISCHARGE FROM THE 
 UNITED STATES SERVICE, IN 1865. 
 
 In response to the call of President Lincoln, for six hun- 
 dred thousand more men, to aid in putting doAvn armed re- 
 bellion against the National GoA^ernment, the One Hundred 
 and Fifth Regiment, Illinois Infantry Volunteers was formed, 
 embracing ten Companies, of which six were composed of 
 volunteers from DeKalb, and four from DuPage Counties 
 respectively. 
 
 The men were enlisted in July and August, 1862, and 
 Avent into camp at Dixon, 111., on the 29th day of the latter 
 month, where they rendezvoused until the preliminaries in- 
 cident to effective organization were gone through with. All 
 the line officers were elected by the unanimous vote of the 
 respective Companies, and each of the field and staff officers 
 received every vote in the entire regiment. 
 
 The Regiment was mustered into service September 2d, 
 1862, with 954 men. Col. Daniel Dustin having been by its 
 wisdom and with enthusiasm, elected and welcomed as its com- 
 manding officer. The Colonel entered the service in August, 
 1861, in the 8th Illinois Cavalry, as Captain of Company L, 
 which was raised in DeKalb County. He had been promoted 
 Major, and served with his regiment in th^ campaign on the 
 peninsular. 
 15 
 
114 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 For Lieut-Col. and Major the 105th selected Henry F. 
 Vallette. of DuPage County, and Everell F.- Dutton, of De 
 Kalb, the latter having been 1st Lieutenant of Company F. 
 in the 13th Illinois Infantry, volunteers, which Company 
 was also recruited in DeKalb County, in April 1861. He 
 had been promoted Captain of his Company in August, 1861, 
 and was Avith the 13th in all the severe marches through Mis- 
 souri and into Arkansas, under General Curtis. Lieut. -Col. 
 Vallete had not before been in the service. Lieut.-Colonel 
 Vallete and Major Dutton are in stature something 
 over five and six feet, respectively ; the former of light frame, 
 the latter large and commanding. Both are active in their 
 movements, the Major being particularly noted for those 
 qualities characteristic of the dashing soldier. 
 
 The regiment was mustered in by Captain Barri, of the 
 regular army, at Dixon, as before indicated. Companies A, 
 C, E, G, H, and K, being recruited from DeKalb county, 
 and companies B, D, F and I from DuPage. The following 
 were the ofiicers mustered at the time of organization : 
 Field and Staff, 
 
 Colonel Daniel Dustin. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Henry F. Vallette. 
 
 Major Everell F. Dutton. 
 
 Adjutant William N. Phillips. 
 
 Quartermaster Timothy Wells. 
 
 Surgeon Horace S. Potter. 
 
 Assistant Surgeon Alfred Waterman. 
 
 Chaplain Levi P. Crawford. 
 
 Com]) any A. 
 
 Captain Llenry D. Brown. 
 
 First Lieutenant George B. Heath. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Robert D. Lord. 
 
 Company B. 
 
 Captain Theodore S. Rogers. 
 
 First Lieutenant ; Lucius B. Church. 
 
 Second Lieutenant : Willard Scott, jr. 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 115 
 
 Company O. 
 
 Captain Alexander L. Warner. 
 
 First Lieutenant George W. Field. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Henry B. Mason. 
 
 Company D. 
 
 Captain Amos C. Graves. 
 
 First Lieutenant William H. Jeffres' 
 
 Second Lieutenant Luther L. Peaslee. 
 
 Company E. 
 
 Captain Thomas S. Ferry. 
 
 First Lieutenant Marvin V. Allen. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Albert C. Overton. 
 
 Company F. 
 
 Captain Seth F. Daniels. 
 
 First Lieutenant Samuel Adams. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Porter Warner. 
 
 Company Gr. 
 
 Captain John B. Nash . 
 
 First Lieutenant Richard R. WoodruiF. 
 
 Second Lieutenant John M. Smith. 
 
 Company S. 
 
 Captain Eli L. LIunt. 
 
 First Lieutenant James S. Forsythe. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Charles G. Culver. 
 
 Company I. 
 
 Captain Enos Jones. 
 
 First Lieutenant William 0. Locke- 
 
 Second Lieutenant Augustus H. Fischer. 
 
 Company K. 
 
 Captain Horace Austin. 
 
 First Lieutenant Nathan S. Greenwood. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Almon F. Parke. 
 
 The men were here inducted into the A. b. c. of the service 
 by the officers, according to "tactics," taking the first posi. 
 
116 HISTORY OF DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 tion of the soldier and going through the first exercises of 
 squad drill. 
 
 About the time the boys began to experience the sensations 
 peculiar to raw recruits, just entering on a change of life and 
 diet, the regiment was ordered to Camp Douglas, Chicago, 
 where, from the 8th to the last of September, it was busily 
 engaged in securing clothing, camp and garrison equipage. 
 "While at Camp Douglas the regiment was numerously visited 
 by its friends, who came to see how the boys looked " in 
 camp," and to exchange a few more words of parting. 
 
 The regiment was presented with a beautiful stand of 
 colors, by Hons. T. B. Bryan and H. C. Childs, of DuPage, 
 upon whose folds were inscribed, in golden letters, " Strike 
 together"' — Avords destined to become actualized in the con- 
 duct of the men before the enemy. 
 
 On the 30th of September, 1862, under orders from the 
 Governor of Illinois, the regiment left Chicago for Louisville, 
 arriving there October 2d. At Jeffersonville, Indiana, the 
 men were armed with the "Austrian rifled musket," an in- 
 ferior weapon. Reporting to General Dumont, the regiment 
 was attached to a division then under his command, and to a 
 brigade under the command of Brigadier-General W. T. 
 Ward. 
 
 At this point the trials and hardships of active soldiering 
 began, as the boys of the new regiment were immediately 
 called upon to execute a forced march to Shelbyville, Ky., 
 carrying knapsacks heavily stuffed, four days rations in haver- 
 sacks, musket in hand, and sixty rounds of ammunition. 
 Leaving Louisville on the day following their arrival at that 
 point, the regiment arrived at Shelbyville on the 4th of Oct- 
 ober, having marched about thirty-six miles in twenty-four 
 hours. For green troops who had never marched a day or 
 an hour before, this was a hard beginning. Although only 
 the first, it was the last march of some of the men. Left 
 Shelbyville on the 8th and entered Frankfort at 4 A. M. on 
 the 9th. The movement was made with the entire division. 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH, IIT 
 
 The 105tli (and the division) remained at Frankfort seven- 
 teen days, during which time it was engaged in guard and 
 picket duty, with occasional slight skirmishing with the enemy, 
 performing drill duty daily, and executing a counter raid 
 upon John Morgan and his command, marching to Lawrence- 
 burg and returning to Frankfort, a distance of about twenty- 
 eight miles, in about twenty hours. 
 
 Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky, was an interesting 
 point to the soldiers who were so fortunate as to rest there. 
 It is situated on the east bank of the Kentucky river, sixty 
 miles above its entrance into the Ohio. The site of the town 
 is a deep valley, surrounded by precipitous hills. The river 
 flows in deep limestone banks, the quarries of which yield a 
 fine stone, or marble, of which many of the houses are built. 
 It contains a State-house, Court-house, and other official 
 buildings, with many handsome private dwellings, and a pop- 
 ulation of some three or four thousand. In the beautiful 
 Cemetery, near the city, are the graves of many of Ken- 
 tucky's prominent dead ; many soldiers of the Mexican war, 
 and the tomb of Daniel Boone, the old pioneer. 
 
 Here the regiment became thinned out somewhat by dis- 
 eases peculiar to camp life. Many had to be left behind 
 when the regiment moved on for Bowling G-reen. which it did, 
 together with the division, on the 2fith of October, arriving 
 at that point November 4th. The boys still unused to millitary 
 duty, and poorly prepared to endure a forced march of so 
 great length, were, nevertheless, rushed through on foot — as 
 from Louisville to Shelbyville, with heavy loads — a distance 
 of 154 miles, in ten days. The weather was warm and the 
 roads dusty during the latter part of the march^ which added 
 greatly to its trials. Think of a column of troops, already 
 jaded, with exhausted and chafed bodies, literally enveloped 
 in dust, so that one man could not see three ranks ahead of 
 him, much less distinguish one comrade from another ! 
 
 The night before they started upon this march a furious 
 snow-storm visited Frankfort and neighborhood, making the 
 
118 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 pulling down of tents and the packing of camp equipage in the 
 morning, a cold and cheerless task. The troops left Prank- 
 fort in three inches of snow, but with confidence in their 
 ability to endure any hardships after undergoing the severities 
 of the forced march from Louisville to Shelbyville. Leaving 
 Frankfort on the 26th, as before mentioned, the command 
 moved about twenty miles and camped at Salt River. On the 
 27th, passed through a small place called " Dogwalk." On 
 the 28th, passed through Johnsonville, and Chaplin Hill, 
 camping at Sugar Grove. Passed through Bloomfield and 
 Bardstown on the 29th, camping one mile beyond the latter 
 place. Reached New Haven on the 30th, and on the 31st 
 passed near Hodgkinsville, and the birth-place of Abraham 
 Lincoln. November 1st, reached Bacon Creek Station, on 
 the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, leaving the sick and 
 sore to be sent forward by rail. November 2d, passed 
 through Mumfordsville and crossed Green River, campni gat 
 Horse Cave. The Cave was numerously visited by the 
 soldiers and pronounced a very interesting natural curiosity. 
 It lies deep down in the bowels of the earth, with a round 
 entrance like the mouth of Jonah's Whale. In its interior is 
 a stream — a deep, small, silent vein of pure water, coursing 
 beyond the vision of the seers of Horse Cave village. On the 
 3d, passed near the famous Mammoth Cave, camping within 
 a day's march of Bowling Green. Arrived at Bowling Green 
 on the 4th, camping at Lost River, several miles southwest of 
 the town. A small stream, losing itself in the broad mouth 
 of another of Kentucky's underground passages, was the 
 scene of this encampment. 
 
 As already indicated, this was a hard march. The officers 
 and men endured it with commendable patience, arriving at 
 their destination exhausted and footsore. 
 
 Here the regiment remained one week, drilling daily. On 
 the 9th, the division was reviewed by Major-General Rose- 
 crance. Riding up to the 105th during the review, the Gen- 
 eral, after being saluted, said : " Men of the 105th: When 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 119 
 
 you go into battle, fire deliberately and aim low. Remember, 
 that if each one of you hits a man you will kill and cripple a 
 great many. It is a short lesson, and I hope you will re- 
 member it." 
 
 The boys enjoyed the brief rest at this point, and under 
 direction of their good Colonel and faithful officers, rapidly 
 improved in the school of the soldier. 
 
 Here we had an opportunity of entering and exploring 
 Lost River Cave. One day a party, equipped with candles 
 and matches, penetrated far into the interior, crawling 
 through circular openings to its series of chambers, or tracing 
 the meandering passage which holds in everlasting embrace 
 the little river that is "Lost." The chambers near the 
 entrance to the Cave are oblong, with arched ceilings, and 
 barely admitiing a man in upright posture. They are empty 
 and unornamented. But the passage in which the stream 
 flows is broad, and high enough to admit the tallest man, the 
 ceiling in dome-like form, rising in many places so high as to 
 render its outlines scarcely visible withont the aid of strong 
 lights. For two hundred yards the party picked their way, 
 now and then climbing over rocky places, and on bare ground 
 treading the narrow shore. The sound of voices vibrated 
 with thrilling effect in the deep recesses of the dark cavern. 
 
 The pleasant encampment at Lost River ended on the 
 morning of November 11th, the division having been ordered 
 to Scottsville, the county seat of Allen county, a small town 
 of about two hundred inhabitants. The regiment arrived on 
 the evening of the 12th, and camped near the town. Until 
 the 25th, the regiment remained at this point, engaged in 
 drill and guard duty. Here the troops were required to turn 
 out at 5 o'clock in the mornino; and stand at arms until sun- 
 rise. This was a precautionary practice. 
 
 The boys by this time spent nearly all the money they had 
 received on entering the service, and were compelled to use 
 postage-stamps as currency. In trading with the most igno- 
 rant of the natives about Scottsville, they passed old stamps 
 
120 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 and labels for money. For instance, a "one cent" Pain 
 killer label, from a bottle of Perry Davis' or anybody else's 
 specific, would pass quite readily for a "one dollar." Thus 
 many secured the luxuries of the country thereabouts, such 
 as pies, cakes, eggs, or anything else eatable. 
 
 While here, the 105th, together with a section of a battery, 
 executed a sort of mock battle, the former manoeuvering and 
 charging before the latter while firing blank cartridges. The 
 battle was spirited, and admirably conducted by Colonel Dus- 
 tin and the commanding officers of the battery. 
 
 The first changes among commissioned officers occurred 
 November and December, 1862, as follows : 
 
 Captain Horace Austin, Company K, of DeKalb, resigned 
 November 26th, First Lieu-tenant Nithan S. Greenwood, of 
 Clinton, succeeding as- Captain. 
 
 Adjutant William N. Phillips, of W^yne, DuPage, resigned 
 December 2, Sergeant-Major David D. Chandler, of DeKalb, 
 succeeding as Adjutant. 
 
 Chaplain Levi P. Crawford, of Sandwich, DeKalb, resigned 
 December 24, Daniel Chapman succeeding as Chaplain. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Robert D. Lord, of Geneva, Company 
 A, resigned December 17, Sergeant William R, Thomas, of 
 Sycamore, succeeding as Second Lieutenant. 
 
 First Lieutenant Richard R. Woodruff, Company G, of 
 Sycamore, resigned December 2-1, Second Lieutenant John 
 M. Smith, of Burlington, Kane county, succeeding as First 
 Lieutenant. 
 
 Captain Eli L. Hunt, Company K, of Sandwich, resigned 
 December 17, First Lieutenant James S. Forsythe, of Som- 
 onauk, succeeding as Captain. 
 
 Captain Enos Jones, Company I, of Milton, DuPage, re- 
 signed December 17, First Lieutenant William 0. Lock, of 
 Addison, succeeding as Captain. 
 
 In the above instances, promotions were made according to 
 rank in the filling of the vacancies. 
 
 On the 25th moved to Gallatin, Tennessee, arriving on the 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND PIFTH. , 121 
 
 26th. Grallatin is a pleasant place, of about two thousand 
 inhabitants, the county seat of Sumner County, on the Louis- 
 ville and Nashville Railroad, distant from Nashville twenty- 
 five miles north. 
 
 The brigade to which the regiment was attached embraced 
 the following regiments : 70th Indiana, 105th, 102d, 129th 
 Illinois and 79th Ohio. About the lOtli of December, the 
 brigade was ordered into Avinter quarters at Gallatin, except 
 the 105th, which on the 11th moved to South Tunnel, six 
 miles north of Gallatin, relieving an entire brigade of Ohio 
 troops, under command of General Steadman. Here the 
 regiment remained until the 1st of February, 1863, except 
 Company A, Captain BroAvn, which was stationed during the 
 winter at a Railway bridge half-way between the tunnel and 
 Gallatin, during which time constant scouting duty was per- 
 formed. Much sickness prevailed, and many deaths occurred. 
 The camp Avas located on high, but soft ground, near the 
 mouth of the tunnel — really on the side of a mountain, Avhose 
 lofty summit overlooked the camp and railway station to the 
 north. This position Avas the scene of much suffering, and 
 varied and Avearisome duties. The regimental Surgeon II. 
 S. Potter, and Assistant Surgeon George W. Boggs, though 
 among the best medical ofiicers of the department, could 
 hardly stem the tide of disease, which seemed to SAVcep 
 through the camp at times mth the fatality of an epedemic. 
 The chief Surgeon himself narroAvly escaped death by disease. 
 
 First Assistant Surgeon Alfred Waterman had been as- 
 signed to the small-pox hospital, at Bowling Green, immedi- 
 ately after the arrival of the regiment at that point. This 
 Avas the scene of his OAvn severe illness, as Avell as important 
 service. Remaimed there until about the 18th of February, 
 1863, when he returned to the regiment, then at Gallatin. 
 He escaped the horrors of South Tunnel, but not the horrors 
 of Bowling Green, which seemed to be all hospital and noth- 
 ing else. The regiment lost a few men there. 
 
 Right here let us remark concerning the chief Surgeori of 
 16 
 
122 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 the 105th, and the Assistant Surgeons, that in the exigencies 
 of every situation they were found to be men of sterling in- 
 tegrity and large capacity. Surgeon Potter Avas a gentleman 
 of fine sensibilities, and on all occasions manifested a willing- 
 ness to go to the end of his powers of endurance in order that 
 nothing it was possible for him to do might be left undone. 
 
 First Assistant Surgeon Waterman, an officer of stronger 
 physical powers and great activity, afterward became chief 
 Surgeon, filling up the measure of his duties in whatever 
 sphere he was called to act. 
 
 Second Assistant Surgeon — afterward First Assistant — 
 George W. Boggs, a young officer of decided skill, filled his 
 position in the most creditable manner. 
 
 Grrim death bore away from that mountain height at South 
 Tunnel many a gallant soldier, and some friends visiting the 
 regiment from homes in the North, arrived after their boys 
 had been buried. Henry S. Kingsley, an honorable and 
 talented young member of Company F, Captain Daniels' 
 Company, died of typhoid fever. His father, E,ev. Mr. 
 Kingsley, hearing of his sickness, came all the way from 
 Cook County, 111., to Gallatin, Tenn., only to learn that his 
 boy was dead and buried some hours before his arrival. 
 
 In the mind of every soldier who wintered at South Tun- 
 nel the recollection of its experience will stand out in gloomy 
 relief. 
 
 The regiment was ordered back to Gallatin, February 1st, 
 1863, Avhere it remained Avith the brigade until the last of 
 May. On the 14th day of March, Companies D, F, H and 
 G were detailed as provost guard, and performed that duty 
 creditably, making friends of the citizens of Gallatin by their 
 steady habits and good behavior. 
 
 Up to this period — May 1863 — the regiment had lost 205 
 men, died and discharged on account of disability. But for 
 the exposure and the severe marches it had undergone, the 
 larger portion of those who died and those discharged, would 
 
THE ONE IIUNDEED AND FIFTH. 123 
 
 have been numbered among the effective force of the organi- 
 zation. 
 
 During the six months stop at Grallatin and the Tunnel, 
 ending the 1st of June, 1863, the regiment performed a great 
 amount of hard labor, constructing earthworks, scouting, 
 clearing the country of bushwhackers, gathering forage, 
 horses, etc., and capturing rebels. Major Button had charge 
 of all the scouts — fifty from each regiment of the post — riding 
 night and day for weeks through the country, at one time 
 (May 19), making quite a capture of prisoners on the south 
 side of the Cumberland river, attended with a skirmish, dur- 
 ing which a Lieutenant Record, of the 70th Indiana, was 
 wounded. At another time the Major captured, and brought 
 in, seventy-eight bales of cotton, from across the river, fifty 
 horses and mules, and several rebels. 
 
 The Gallatin printing ofiice was placed in charge of Private 
 Ogdon Whitlock of Company F, 105th, by Major Scarritt, 
 Provost Marshal under General Paine, Post Commander. 
 Private "Whitlock acted as Post printer, turning out a large 
 amount of Government printing in the shape of job work, 
 and together with Sergeant J. E. Harroun, of the 102d Illi- 
 nois, as senior editor, and Privates Bell and Patrick, of the 
 102d, and Company A, 105th, respectively, published a well- 
 filled and well-edited six-column weekly paper called the 
 Courier, which enjoyed a circulation of 1200, having many 
 northern exchanges, and receiving complimentary notices 
 from such papers as the Indianapolis Daily Journal, Gazette, 
 Weekly Chicago Covenant, Sycamore Republican, Wheaton 
 Illinoian, Nashville, Tenn., Daily Union, Elgin, 111., Gazette, 
 Salem, 0., Republican, Aledo, 111., Record, and many other 
 prints ; also a sarcastic notice from the Louisville Journal. 
 
 We have not yet mentioned the fact of the dissolution of 
 Gen. Dumont's division to which the regiment was assigned 
 at Louisville. On the 7th day of December 1-862, the 39th 
 brigade, which was in the division, and commanded by Colonel 
 Moore, of the 104th Illinois volunteers, was captured at 
 
124 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Hartsville, Tenn. This event seemed to disgrace, or at least, 
 was disastrous to the division, as immediately thereafter, one 
 brigade — the 40th — was assigned to Gen. Reynolds, and 
 Ward's brigade assigned to Gen. E. A. Paine, commander of 
 Post at Gallatin. 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel Vallette filled the position of Provost Marshal 
 for some time at Gallatin, and Captain A, C. Graves, of Co. 
 D, had charge of Provost guard. 
 
 Many of the officers and men received leave of absence 
 from that point, visiting their homes and returning to the 
 regiment, bearing letters and packages to those who remained 
 with the command. 
 
 Second Lieutenant Wm. R. Thomas, promoted from 1st 
 Sergant, Company A, was assigned to the position of A. A. 
 G., on staff of General W. T. Ward, commanding the brigade, 
 then called the 8th, a position which he filled with credit to 
 himself, reflecting honor on the 105th. He was afterward 
 confirmed as a staff officer by authority of the President of 
 the United States, which position he retained during the re- 
 mainder of his term of service. 
 
 First Lieutenant L. B. Church, promoted from Second Lieu- 
 tenant Company B — afterwards promoted to Captain — was 
 detailed on the staff of General Ward as A. D. C, and subse- 
 quently on the staff of General Paine, as A. D. C, which posi- 
 tion he assumed to the entire satisfaction of the commanding 
 officers in particular and the command in general. Lieutenant 
 Church was an officer and gentleman of more than usual 
 popularity, on account of his uniform conviviality and his 
 wonderful talent for sino-ing;. He has charmed Lhe senses of 
 thousands in and out of the army by his magic voice. To 
 the 105th he was a tower of strength ; as a natural born 
 singer, he possessed in ample measure the power to soothe 
 and thrill with concordant sounds the spirits of its every 
 member. Stand him on a barrel in the streets of Gallatin 
 or in any of the camps, and he would bring every regiment 
 and every detachment within the radius of a mile inside the 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 125 
 
 circle of liis song vibrations. " The Sword of Bunker Hill," 
 "Red, White and Blue," " Old Shady," and other popular 
 airs were rendered with great energy and effect. 
 
 The 105th was distinguished for its musical characters — 
 perhaps more than any other regiment in the whole Depart- 
 ment. Colonel Dustin, Lieutenant Colonel Vallette, Major 
 Dutton, Assistant Surgeon Waterman, and Lieutenant Heath, 
 of Company A, were singers, also. They participated in the 
 exercises of a grand concert given at Gallatin by a combina- 
 tion of singers and musicians of the 8th Brigade, on the 
 evening of 22d April, 1863. The entertainment was a splen- 
 did affair, and had to be repeated the second evening follow- 
 ing. The Gallatin Courier in making an extended notice of 
 the concert of the 22d, said : " The entertainment was a . 
 highly successful one in all respects, and will be remembered 
 as one of the brightest incidents in the army, long after the 
 scenes through which we are passing have flown." Among 
 the line officers and enlisted men there were also many singers, 
 and good musicians. 
 
 The Regimental Band, with Drum-Major Morrel Fuller 
 and Fife-Major Walter Van Velzer at its head, became justly 
 noted in the army for clever manipulations on the drum and 
 fife. Being expert performers on the violin, also, these gen- 
 tlemen added its charms to the list of "regimental blessings." 
 By means of industrious application during their term of 
 service, they advanced to a stage of development which gave 
 them decided character as individuals and made the regiment 
 proud of them as its principal musicians. The entire com- 
 pany of musicians attained to a high degree of efficiency, the 
 Band as a whole being excelled by none, and above the aver- 
 age in all respects of most regimental bands in the army. 
 
 Private Luther L. Hiatt, Company F, the prescription 
 clerk in regimental hospital, a most exemplary young soldier, 
 and a veritable musician, frequently furnished a guitar accom- 
 paniment to the violins and fifes, the whole making up an ex- 
 cellent combination, fully deserving the title of the " 105th 
 Illinois String Band." 
 
126 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 The old 105th owes much of its character and popularity, 
 as a whole, to the rare musical powers of those above indi- 
 cated. 
 
 Under the able management of Colonel Dustin, the regi- 
 ment rapidly attained to a degree of efficiency in drill and 
 discipline. In the manual of arms the 105th already began 
 to excel, and in the drill grounds the men were readily wield- 
 ed in the school of battalion. The Colonel early taught the 
 rules of health in his advisory speeches to the regiment, and 
 fully set forth the duty and great advantages of education in 
 all things pertaining to the service. Few regiments perhaps 
 were organized with such entire unanimity of feeling as exis- 
 ted in the 105th, and that continued to prevail from this time 
 ■ to the end of the war. 
 
 About the time the regiment returned to Gallatin from the 
 Tunnel, Surgeon Potter was detailed to act as Brigade Sur- 
 geon, 1st Assistant Surgeon Waterman shortly afterward 
 taking his place in the regiment as Acting Chief Surgeon. 
 
 While at Grallatin and the Tunnel the following additional 
 changes occurred among commissioned officers. 
 
 Captain Alexander L. Warner, Company C, of Sycamore, 
 resigned February 17th, 1863 ; First Lieutenant George W. 
 Field, Sycamore, succeeding as captain. Captain Field after- 
 ward resigned July 11th, 1863 ; First Lieutenant Charles G. 
 Culver, of Company H, being promoted to the captaincy of 
 company C. Captain Thomas S. Terry, Company E, of 
 Shabbona, resigned March 16th ; First Lieutenant Marvin 
 V. Allen, Shabbona, succeeding as captain. Second Lieut. 
 Porter Warner, Company F, York, DuPage, resigned April 
 17th ; First Sergeant Wm. M. Tirtlot succeeding as Second 
 Lieutenant. 
 
 On the 9th of April 1863, while acting as Provost guard. 
 Private Isaac Elsie, Company C, Captain A. C. Graves, was 
 accidentally shot dead by a pistol in the hands of a comrade. 
 This was one of the saddest occurrences that happened to the 
 Provost guards at Gallatin. 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 127 
 
 The regiment was paid oiF about the" middle of April, at 
 which time the boys were ready to fully appreciate those fine 
 greenbacks, having not so favorable an opportunity of passing 
 old pain-killer labels and postage stamps as at Scottsville. 
 
 Captain J. S. Forsythe, Company H, added a Mr. Samuel 
 Taylor, citizen of Sumner county, Tenn., to his gallant fam- 
 ily of boys, being probably the only regular enlistment in 
 the regiment "from a quarter least expected," during its 
 campaigning in the enemy's country. 
 
 Colored inhabitants in the country about Gallatin — then 
 called " contrabands" by the soldiers, came in daily to the 
 Post, many of whom were employed in the hospitals, and on 
 the streets and alleys, cleansing the town. Colonel B. J. 
 Sweet, commanding at Fort Thomas, near the railway depot, 
 employed a number at the fort ; and when too many accumu- 
 lated they were shipped to the front and set to work there. 
 
 There were periods of gloom among the people generally 
 Avhile the brigade was lying at Gallatin, the military situa- 
 tion East and West being unsatisfactory, and reported disaf- 
 fection in the North gave rise to the painful reflection that a 
 " fire in the rear" was about to be threatened. But to fisjht- 
 ing men the prospect had no terrors, as they were anxious to 
 finish disloyalty in front or rear, never counting the cost. It 
 was this spirit, gaining ascendency among the troops of the 
 West, which finally manifested itself in the bold movement 
 that resulted, together with the master strokes in the East, in 
 the complete triumph of the national arms. Notwithstanding 
 the dark times, more or less intensified since the starting out 
 of the 105th in 1862, the spirit of the troops, although de- 
 pressed, never despaired, and the first of May, 1863, brought 
 new victories East and West, when depression gave way to 
 revivifying hope. This was the beginning of the end. 
 
 Among the happiest of mortals were the poor, humble 
 " contrabands." Apparently oblivious to eifects which made 
 the heart of the soldier sad, they enjoyed their sports, their 
 dances, their out-door gambols. They rejoiced in perpetual 
 
128 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 youth ; neither looking forward nor backward, but living in 
 the hour — ready for any fate. Verily, the very eloquence 
 of life abode in the bosom of the blacks. 
 
 The garrison at Gallatin was subject to alarms from John 
 Morgan's raiders, occasionally, when the army wagons would 
 be quickly interlocked in the streets, forming a barricade. 
 But John never came near enough to see these formidable 
 obstructions. An offended Tennessee poetess, and a hater of 
 the Provost Marshal-' — Major Scarritt, really a wonderfully 
 austere man — made the following allusion to these alarms, in 
 a parody on " Maryland, my Maryland : " 
 
 " The Yankees they get scared at night, 
 Blockade the streets with all their might ; 
 
 Would'st know the cause — old S t's tight. 
 
 Gallatin ! My Gallatin." 
 
 On the 1st of June, 1863, the regiment and brigade were 
 transferred from Gallatin to Lavergne, by railroad, a point 
 about twenty miles south-east of Nashville, on the Nashville 
 and Chattanooga Railroad. Here the regiment was engaged 
 in guarding and drilling. Early one dark morning the camp 
 was alarmed, and the 105th sprang to their guns at the call 
 of Colonel Dustin, whose voice sounded out clearly through 
 the darkness, "One hundred and fifth ! fall in ! quick !" But 
 the alarm proved false, and the troops were ordered to their 
 quarters. 
 
 Some tedious drill exercises Avere gone through with here 
 daily, closing in the evening with dress parade. 
 
 The regiment, after stopping at Lavergne one month, Avas 
 ordered to Murfreesboro, but returned to Lavergne the last 
 of July, and from thence to the city of Nashville, on the 19th 
 day of August, relieving a brigade of troops under command 
 of General Morgan. Here the 105th Avas placed in charge 
 of Fort Negley, being quartered inside the Avorks. The regi- 
 ment Avas on constant duty here until its final departure from 
 Nashville, guarding the city and Fort Negley, and being under 
 a system of daily drill. 
 
BREVET iRIlG.GINl'^ LR DUTTQiNl 
 
 105 T.H I LL.VOL 
 
 Clii,;!-:'!' Li[li..t:i-i|iliin-i I'u.Clii 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. IIZ'J 
 
 f 
 
 Destined to remain at Nashville about six months (arriMing 
 there, as above stated, August 19th, 1863, and remaiijing 
 until Febrr"-v 24th, 1864), the regiment had time to pe^jTect 
 itself in drilJ, and make many acquaintances in the city. ^ It 
 Avas its good fortune to exchange the inferior Austrian 
 musket, with which it had been armed, for the Springfield 
 r ifled musket, a nicer and more serviceable weapon. 
 
 The brigade was attached to the Eleventh Army Corps, 
 Major- General 0. 0. Howard, commanding, while at Nash- 
 ville. 
 
 Many officers and men were detailed from the regiment for 
 special duty. Major Dutton was detailed by order from 
 Washington, on the Board to examine applicants for positions 
 as officers in colored regiments, remaining on that Board 
 from October or November, 1863, until the opening of the 
 Atlanta campaign. May, 1864. As an evidence that the 105th 
 was vfell drilled, some thirty-three of its members passed a 
 satisfactory examination, and most of them were commissioned 
 and did good service as officers in colored regiments. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Vallettc was detailed on court-martail 
 for some time ; also Captain A. C. Graves, Co. D, and Captain 
 John B. Nash, Co. G. Captain S. F. Daniels had previously 
 been detailed as Acting Commissary of Subsistence at brigade 
 eadquarters. Acting Surgeon A. Waterman was detailed in 
 a small-pox hospital. 
 
 Many enlisted men were detailed as clerks at the difierent 
 headquarters in the department, filling important places. 
 
 The following changes occurred among commissioned offi- 
 cers : First Lieutenant Henry B. Mason, of Sycamore, Co. C, 
 resigned, September 6th, 1863, Second Lieutenant John W. 
 Burst, of Franklin, succeeding as First Lieutenant. Second 
 Lieutenant Hiram S. Harrington, of Franklin, Co. G, resigned 
 August 2nd, 1863, while the regiment was stationed at La- 
 vergne, and died soon after his return home. Sergeant James 
 S. Hasburgh being brevetted Second Lieutenant June 7th, 
 1865. 
 
 17 
 
ISO HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 jWhile at Nashville the regiment was numerously visited by 
 its friends from the north, several of the officers' wives, and 
 the wives of some of the enlisted men, being among the guests 
 of ..lie regiment. While visiting at this point in company with 
 her mother, a little daughter of Chief Surgeon (Acting Brigade 
 Surgeon) H. S. Potter, died. Colonel Dustin and staif, the 
 line officers and many soldiers of the 105th, together with a 
 regular escort, attended the funeral, accompanying the remains 
 to cemetery and depositing them in a vault. She was a child 
 of some twelve summers, of almost angelic brightness, the 
 pride of a father's and mother's heart. Said she, shortly 
 before the moment of dissolution : "If I die will I see any- 
 body:" to which question the hearts of those around her 
 intuitively answered, "yes." The attendant circumstances ; 
 the time, place, manner of services, interment ; the character 
 of the mourners and sympathizers, — all together made the 
 occasion one of peculiar interest, and long to be remembered 
 for its intensified sadness. How much is wrapped up in the 
 human heart may be estimated by those who participated in 
 the solemnities of that occasion, and through their sympathetic 
 relations with the near bereaved were made to feel the uses of 
 adversity. Perhaps the recollection of similar bereavements, 
 more directly concerning them-selves, gave a finer point tO the 
 pains of the heart. 
 
 Among the sober experiences in the military school at 
 Nashrille was that of brigade drill. The evolutions of a brig- 
 ade are similar in detail to those of a battalion, a much larger 
 plat of ground being required in the execution of the move- 
 ments of the former. In these movements Greneral Ward's 
 brigade presented a scene of considerable activity and interest, 
 on the flats in the south-eastern suburbs of the city. It was 
 a pleasure, oftentimes, for the regiments to drill together ; to 
 receive instruction with each other from the same teacher, and 
 perfect themselves by united practice. Never were men more 
 agreeably associated in any cause. 
 
 Greneral Ward to us presented the appearance of a rather 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 1^1 
 
 short and chubby Kentuckian of fifty years, quite unprey'os- 
 sessing, yet it appears not without some qualifications tiSat 
 made him popular and respected throughout his command. 
 As a speaker he made up for the lack in looks by his singular 
 suavity and eloquence ; and it is said he displayed fine sensi- 
 bilities in the care for his command. Many of the boys of 
 the brigade declared that the General was an old granny : but 
 he was generally called "Old Pap Ward," or "Pappy Ward." 
 To many he was a grim -looking old General. 
 
 At a general meeting in the capitol at JSTashville, largely 
 attended by citizens and soldiers, on the night of the 8th of 
 January, in honor of the battle of New Orleans, Governor 
 Andrew Johnson, Colonel Dustin and others, made appro- 
 priate speeches. The gentlemen named were the principal 
 speakers ; their eloquent consideration of the gallant repulse 
 of the British by the Americans under General Jackson, 
 supplemented by patriotic and touching allusions to the crisis 
 of the hour, stirring up the hearts of the people to a sense of 
 the importance of preserving our national life. Expressive 
 resolutions were adopted. 
 
 A distressing occurrence on the night of the 14th February, 
 sent a thrill of excitement through the camp on the following 
 morning as it awoke to a knowledge of the shocking details. 
 Sergeant Taylor of Company E, Captain M. V. Allen, com- 
 mander, had been found in the railroad cut, dead, appear- 
 ances indicating that he was the victim of a most foul murder. 
 
 On the 23d of February, 1864, orders were received at 
 regimental headquarters to be ready to march the following 
 morning. So, at four o'clock the regiment arose at the sound 
 of drums and fifes, took a last breakfast at its pleasant old 
 camp at Fort Negley, bid farewell to Nashville at eight o'clock, 
 and with General Ward at the head of the brigade and Col. 
 Dustin at the head of the regiment, the march for Wauhatchie 
 Valley was commenced, the column moving out of town on 
 the Murfreesboro pike. The folloAving is a brief diary ac- 
 count of the march : 
 
loZ HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 J^ebruary 24th. — Moved about ten miles, the weather being 
 pletLb int, marching agreeable. Turned into camp about three 
 o'clock, afternoon. Boys had lively time catching rabbits. 
 The numerous camp fires of the brigade made a cheering 
 evening sight. 
 
 25th. Started at early dawn. Arrived at Stewart's Creek 
 where part of the 102d regiment, of the brigade, was station- 
 ed. Camped here at one o'clock, marching about ten miles. 
 
 26th. Arrived at Murfreesboro at twelve o'clock — camped. 
 
 27th. Moved about thirteen miles, camping at one o'clock 
 afternoon. After the tents were pitched. Private 0. "VVhit- 
 lock, Company F, while resting before the fire at regimental 
 head quarters, by chance espied a sack of coined silver, on 
 the surface of the ground immediately between his feet. It 
 had been partially worn away from long exposure to the ele- 
 ments, leaving the treasure bared to attract the passerby. 
 The lot embraced twenty-five dollars American money, indu- 
 ing one spurious half-dollar. It was distributed among the 
 officers and men of the regiment. 
 
 28th. Moved about seventeen miles, passing through Shel- 
 byvillc at noon, and camping five miles beyond at half-past 
 two o'clock. The people of Shelbyville seemed glad to see 
 the " Yankees." 
 
 29th. Moved about fourteen miles, through alternate rain 
 showers, turning into camp near Tullahoma at three o'clock. 
 This day's march was very severe on account of rain mud 
 and cold. In the evening the rains turned into the consis- 
 tency of sleet, making it very difiicult to start fires, the 
 country being bare of fences, the soldier's favorite fuel. 
 Great logs had to be cut, and tree tops used for kindling, 
 and some " comparative freezing" was endured before the 
 camp was made comfortable. The men slept hard, or hardly 
 slept, this night. 
 
 March 1st. Weather wet and cold — march not continued. 
 A portion of the division train stuck in the mud during the 
 storm — considerable suffering — some of the boys sick. 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 1,(33 
 
 2d. The march continued at 8 o'clock. Weather Gjomr, 
 roads muddy. Camped near Elk river bridge, after prot^eed- 
 ing about nine miles. 
 
 3d. Moved at seven o'clock — weather pleasant — roads more 
 passable. Passed through Dechard, on the N. & C. R. R., 
 turning into camp at foot of Racoon mountains, beyond 
 Cowan, at two o'clock, afternoon. Distance marched ten 
 miles. 
 
 4th. Ascended the mountains, and after proceeding several 
 miles on the wrong road, the column was turned and marched 
 down a deep ravine to the right one. Reached Tautalou 
 three o'clock, afternoon, a point on the railroad ninety-four 
 miles from Nashville. Heavy rain fell in the night. 
 
 5th. Owing to the failure of the teams to reach camp last 
 night, consequent on the blunder of starting on the wrong 
 road yesterday, the march was not continued until noon. 
 Distance made, four miles. 
 
 6th Moved at early dawn. Pleasant weather, good roads. 
 Distance about twelve miles. Arrived near Stevenson, Ala., 
 at two o'clock. Troops received their mail matter. 
 
 7th. Passed through Stevenson, proceeded to a point within 
 sight of Bridgeport, Ala., and camped. Distance twelve 
 miles, turning in at twelve o'clock. 
 
 8th. Remained in camp. 
 
 9th. Resumed the march at day-light, passing through 
 Bridgeport and across Tennessee river, reaching Shell Mound, 
 at noon. Took dinner near the mouth of Nick O'Jack Cave, 
 one of the outcropping curiosities of nature. The boys briefly 
 explored the interior of the cave entrance. It was found to 
 exceed Lost River Cave at Bowling Green in the spaciousness 
 and grandeur of its passages. During the war the Lafayette 
 Courier gave the following account of the rather thrilling 
 experience of two Indiana soldiers in this cave : 
 
 "^ While General Joe Reynolds' division was encamped 
 near Nick O'Jack Cave — about ten miles from Bridgeport, on 
 the Tennessee river — two of the boys of the 72d Indiana 
 
HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 reagment who entered the cave on a " reconnoitering expedi- 
 ti(^>n," lost their way in the mazes of the cavern and were 
 unjable to get out. They remained in the cavern two days 
 and nights, and were finally rescued from a horrible death by 
 means of a brass band playing through the long ventilated 
 chambers. The lost men hearing the music, were enabled to 
 find their way with some difiiculty to their companions. Dur- 
 ing their wanderings they had stumbled upon the bodies of 
 two men, who were afterwards searched for and brought forth 
 from what had been a living tomb. They proved to be two 
 rebel soldiers in uniform, one wearing that of a lieutenant, 
 the other in a private's dress. They appeared to have been 
 dead some time, yet their bodies were in a most complete 
 state of preservation." 
 
 10th. Continued this march at nine o'clock. Weather 
 warm after a night of rain. .Roads very rough and hilly, 
 the marching rapid and exhausting. Passed Whiteside Sta- 
 tion and Sand Mountain. Distance about sixteen miles, pass- 
 ing through romantic country, arriving in Wauhatchie Valley 
 and at the end of the tedious march. Major-General 0. 0. 
 Howard came out and met the brigade. 
 
 The next day, (March 11th,) the regiment was assigned a 
 position on a hill-slope in Lookout Valley, near Wauhatchie 
 Station, there to rest and make ready for a grand movement 
 against the Confederate army under General Joe Johnston. 
 
 The march from Nashville to Lookout Valley was accom- 
 plished in sixteen days, inclusive of two whole days on which 
 no progress was made. 
 
 The grounds of the 105th at that point was laid out with 
 nice precision, and the camp tastefully ornamented with ever- 
 green boughs throughout. The individual members of the 
 regiment visited the lofty heights of Lookout Mountain, from 
 the highest point of which the territory of seven States can 
 be seen. The eye rests upon a landscape to the north em- 
 bracing the Cumberland Mountain range, stretching from the 
 left of the Valley to the northeast, until its outlines blend 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 155 
 
 with the color of the far horizon ; the Avaters of the Tenn<:. ]see 
 next from the foot of Lookout, closely hugging the great 
 range, winding along for many miles, is finally lost among 
 its spurs ; then further east is presented an expanse of diver- 
 sified scenery, including Chattanooga city, fields, hills, valleys, 
 and woods, the smoke of distant towns rising above the coun- 
 try at various points. On the whole the view is one of inde- 
 scribable grandeur. 
 
 The brigade — now called the first — had been transferred 
 to the 11th A. C, under General Howard, as before stated, 
 and was reviewed in the valley by General's Howard and 
 Hooker on the 19th of March. 
 
 On the 22d of March a rare effect in the shape of a snow 
 storm, was produced by nature's untiring forces. Commenc- 
 ing in the night the fall of snow continued until noon of the 
 following day, covering the ground to the depth of one foot. 
 For the time and place this was something extraordinary. 
 Sometimes the weather Avas quite cold, at others disagreeable. 
 
 Adjutant David D, Chandler, one of the most energetic 
 and best looking in the Eleventh Corps, having been on duty 
 constantly, here received the favor of a detail for the purpose 
 of repairing to the north to secure instruments for the Brigade 
 Band. He performed the duty, not failing to return to the 
 regiment in time to enter on the Atlanta campaign. In every 
 battle and under the liarrassing daily skirmish fire of the 
 oppo.sing forces, during that campaign, this officer proved 
 himself to be one of the best to endure and to dare. Second 
 Lieutenant A. H. Fisher, of Company I, Captain J. 0. Locke, 
 filled the Adjutant's office until the return of the Adjutant, 
 on the first of May. 
 
 One of the thrilling incidents connected with the camp in 
 the valley, was that of a large forest tree blowing down dur- 
 ing the prevalence of high winds in the evening of March 
 28th. The tree fell across several of the tents of Companies 
 D and I, crushing them to the ground. Beyond the smash- 
 ing of a few simple articles of furniture, no further damage 
 
\ 
 
 \ 
 136 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 \ 
 
 wa^xdone, as fortunately, for the moment, the tents were un- 
 oecupied. 
 
 While in the valley drill duty, inspection and reviewing 
 was the order of the day. On the 13th of April the regi- 
 ment was visited by Major-General Joe Hooker, and during 
 the night Colonel Dustin and the regiment were serenaded by 
 the 79th Ohio regimental band. Major-General George H. 
 Thomas reviewed the brigade the following day. 
 
 About the middle of April the military designation was 
 changed, and from that time until the close of the war the 
 command was known as the Fisrt Brigade, Third Division, 
 20th Army Corps, then under General Hooker. On the 18tli 
 of April Major-General George II, Thomas, commander 
 Army of the Cumberland, embracing Hooker's corps, honor- 
 ed the camp of the 105th with his presence. The regiment 
 participated for the first time in division drill on the 21st. 
 
 On the 22d the band of the 33d Massachusetts regiment 
 of the division, very friendly to the 105th, paid the camp a 
 visit and treated it to some excellent music. The 105th 
 officers visited the 33d on the 26th of April. 
 
 Among the officers sick or disabled at this point v/ere 
 Colonel Dustin, Acting Brigade Surgeon Potter, Captain T. 
 S. Rogers, Company B, and Captain S. F. Daniels, Company 
 F, the latter having accidently broken his leg below the knee, 
 while engaged in a game of ball. The Captain, although 
 anxious to enter with his company on the approaching cam- 
 paign, Avas prevented from doing so in consequence of the 
 severity of his wound. He was sent to Camp Dennison at 
 Columbus, Ohio, where, as soon as his condition Avould allow, 
 he was detailed for duty as Post Commissary, we believe, 
 remaining; at Columbus durinn; the balance of his term of 
 service. 
 
 While in camp at Wauhatchie, or soon after, the following 
 additional changes occurred among commissioned officers : 
 
 First Lieutenant William H. Jeffers, Company D, Downer's 
 Grove, resigned May 5th, 1864, Second Lieutant Luther L. 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 137 
 
 Peaslee, Naperville, succeediDg as first lieutenant. Lieutc^^ant 
 Jeflfers resigned in order to take a position as Major in a 
 colored regiment. 
 
 Second Lieutenant John II. Swift, Company D, resigned 
 March 16th, Sergeant Jacob Ostrander, of Paw Paw, being 
 breveted as Second Lieutenant, June 7th, 1865. 
 
 First Lieutenant Samuel Adams, Company F, Wayne, Du 
 Page, resigned April 13th, Second Lieutenant William M. 
 Tirtlot, Milton, succeeding as first lieutantant. 
 
 Captain John B. Nash, Company G, Franklin, resigned 
 July 17th, 1864. First Lieutenant John M. Smith, Burling- 
 ton, was promoted captain but not mustered. 
 
 On the 25th of April the Colonel received orders to prepare 
 for active service in the field. 
 
 The regiment and brigade again participated in division 
 drill, near General Hooker's headquarters, April 28th, going 
 through the motions as a battle, firing blank cartridges. 
 
 Received marching orders on the 1st, and on the 2d of 
 May, 1864, the march for the immediate front commenced. 
 Here was the opening of one of the boldest and most remark- 
 able campaigns ever engaged in by any army, and whose 
 end resulted in the complete, great, glorious triumph of the 
 national arms. 
 
 Some of the Confederates are reported as afterwards de- 
 claring that " Old Sherman ascended Point Lookout and gave 
 the command, attention — creation ! by kingdoms right wheel 
 — march!" And then it was reported that after General 
 Johnston had followed his retreating policy, during the cam- 
 paign, the Confederates declared " that their army was com- 
 manded by ' Old Billy Sherman,' that they invariably moved 
 when Sherman gave the command, and Johnston only super- 
 intended the details of the movement. 
 
 As indicated above, the regiment and brigade broke camp 
 
 and commenced the march at six o'clock in the morning, 
 
 moving around Point Lookout, passing Chattanooga, through 
 
 Bossville, over the Chickamauga battle-ground, cf^mping near 
 
 18 
 
138\ HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Led-' and Gordon's Mills — distant from the camp at Wau- 
 hat'chie about 19 miles. 
 
 On the 3d of May the entire regiment was detailed for 
 picket duty, the command remaining at this point until the 
 following morning, when the march was resumed ; pr^'^eeding 
 about twelve miles, camped near Ringgold, Ga., within a few 
 miles of rebel pickets. Remained in camp on the 5th. On 
 the 6th marched a number of miles, camping near where the 
 rebels captured and murdered a number of national pickets 
 belonging to the 92d Illinois regiment. 
 
 On the 7th, marched rapidly and a considerable distance. 
 Passed through Nick O'Jack Gape, driving the enemy's 
 pickets. Camped in the woods in line of battle, southeast 
 of Taylor's Ridge, a precipitous range of hills. Remained 
 in camp on the 8th. Considerable skirmishing in front, at 
 Rocky Face or Buzzard's Roost. Brigade still quiet on the 
 9th, ready for battle. The roar of cannon and rattle of 
 musketry heard, and the wounded of General Geary's divi- 
 sion being brought to the rear. Advanced four miles on the 
 
 10th, camping at cross-roads. Here visited by a hard rain. 
 
 On the 11th the corps, or the greater portion of it, arrived 
 at Snake Creek Gap, halted and built a double road several 
 miles long, in about as many hours, the regiment assisting in 
 this work. While this was being done several members of 
 the 10th made a detour upon the top of the high ridge 
 which shut in the command on the right as it passed into the 
 long, deep gap. The sight from so lofty a point, of the 
 country, was only rivalled by a similar one which they had 
 witnessed at Point Lookout. On the 13th and 14th of May 
 the army moved forward slowly, skirmishing heavily and 
 fighting considerable on the latter date, the enemy making a 
 stand in and around Resaca. On the 15th the first brigade, 
 supported by the balance of the division, made a fierce and 
 determined charge upon a peculiarly strong position of the 
 enemy, near Resaca, capturing four pieces of artillery with 
 caissons complete. The pieces were marked, "Atlanta and 
 Augusta Arsenal," and weighed about 1200 pounds each. 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. il39 
 
 The battle was especially terrific, the rebels having a iiAoss- 
 fire upon our .?orce of grape, canister and musketry. Captain 
 T. S. Rogers, with Co. B, were deployed as skirmishers, cov- 
 ering^he front of the brigade. The battle commenced about 
 midday and lasted till late in the afternoon. The regiment 
 entered this fight on the "double-quick," with fixed bayonets 
 and a prolonged shout. The battle-line was deliberately 
 formed behind the brow of a hill, beyond which intervened a 
 sort of irregular ravine, next the slope of the commanding 
 hills or ridges, on whose summits, well fortified, the enemy was 
 thickly arrayed. Colonel Dustin led his men right into the 
 spirit of the conflict, and notwithstanding it was the first time 
 the regiment had been under fire, the ofiicers and men bore 
 themselves bravely and well. It was a dreadful day's work. 
 The number of casualties was about fifty in the regiment ere 
 it came out of the strife. The names of the killed and 
 wounded will be founded appended to this sketch. Lieutenant 
 Colonel Vallette was severely disabled by a bursting shell, 
 which necessitated his retirement from the service. Captain 
 W. 0. Locke, of Company I, and First Lieutenant W. M. 
 Tirtlot, of Company F, were wounded. Young Arthur P. 
 Rice, of Company F, the bravest of the brave, fell inside the 
 rebel fort. He was the first boy in Wheaton to mount the 
 stand at the call of Captain Daniels for the service of his 
 country. 
 
 Li his ofiicial report of this battle Colonel Dustin pays the 
 following tribute to the officers and men of the regiment : 
 
 "At a time when for several hours so terrible a shower of 
 musketry, shot and shell was being poured upon us from the 
 rebel forts and rifle-pits, the coolness and bravery of the 
 officers in repeating commands, correcting imperfections in 
 the lines and pressing it forward was observed by me with 
 great pride and satisfaction, and was only equaled by the 
 splendid manner in which the men overcame all obstacles, 
 obeyed promptly all orders, and at last gallantly threw them- 
 selves high up into and under the rebel fortifications." 
 
141, HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 f_\\e brigade stood at arms during most of the night, pre- 
 pared to repel a night attack. An attack being made, as 
 anticipated, it was successfully repulsed. 
 
 During the night the rebel army retreated hastily, leaving 
 their exceedingly strong works at Resaca. On the morning 
 of the '.I6th the army started in pursuit ; the first brigade 
 being left behind to bury their dead, did not follow until 
 evening, marched about twelve miles after dark, coming up 
 to the balance of the division late in the night. On the 17th, 
 marched about twelve miles, crossing Coosawater river. On 
 the 18th, moved to within four miles of Cassville, on the 
 Adairsville and Cassville road, the advance of the Third 
 Division drivino- the rebel rear o-uard before it a distance of 
 five miles. 
 
 Colonel Dustin gives the following account of the opera- 
 tions of the 19th of May, in his ofiicial report : 
 
 " On the morning of the 19th our brigade was ordered 
 forward on the Cassville road supported by other troops. The 
 105th was ordered to take the advance. Companies H and I 
 were deployed as skirmishers under Captain Forsythe ; one 
 company under Captain M. V. Allen being left in charge of 
 the ammunition train. The balance of the regiment consti- 
 tuted a support to the skirmish line. Thus formed, our 
 brigade moved rapidly forward and the skirmishers were soon 
 encountered and by a rapid skirmish fire they were driven 
 beyond Two Run Creek and to within one mile and a half of 
 Cassville, during which time the utmost regularity and good 
 order was observed both by our skirmishers and reserves. 
 At this point was developed a large force of rebel cavalry, 
 and we were ordered to halt. Very soon the enemy opened 
 a battery upon us in our front from which we were under a 
 severe fire for some two hours. We were then ordered to 
 move further to the right, connecting with our third brigade 
 in whose front the enemy seemed to be massing troops prepar- 
 atory to a general engagement. But our artillery just at 
 this time opened with deadly effect, scattering the rebels in 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. Ml 
 
 /} 
 
 all directions. This was followed up immediately by a g/;pd 
 advance of the entire Twentieth Corps. The grand c^^ mn 
 moved forward in excellent order, with colors flying, thrc igh 
 large, open fields, crossing Two Run Creek and then ascend- 
 ing a thickly wooded hill. On reaching the top of the hill 
 the artillery again took position and opened fire in good order, 
 and thus the region of Kingston and Cassville was effectually 
 cleared of rebel soldiery and the day's work for the 19th was 
 
 done.'' 
 
 A concentration of the troops occurred here on the evening 
 
 of the 19th, lying over till the 23d to rest, the enemy retir- 
 ing in the interim. 
 
 On the day following the battle of Reseca, Major General 
 Butt'erfield, commander Third Division, issued the following 
 
 congratulatory order : 
 
 " Headquarters 3d. Division 20th Army Corps, 
 Near Reseca, Ga., May 16th, 1864. 
 " Gen Orders, No. 4. 
 
 The Major-General commanding feels it a duty, as well as 
 a pleasure, to congratulate the Division upon its achievements 
 yesterday. The gallant assault and charge of the First 
 Brigade, capturing four guns in the enemy's fort ; the brave 
 support of the assault by a portion of the Second Brigade on 
 the left, with the glorious repulse it gave twice its force, proves 
 the Division worthy a high name and fame. Let every one 
 endeavor by attention to duty, obedience to orders, devotion 
 and courage, to make our record in the future as in the past, 
 such that the army and the country will be proud of us. 
 By command of Major General Butterfield, 
 
 John Speed, Captain and A. A, G." 
 
 General Sherman in his report of the operations of his army, 
 referring to the eventful days at Reseca, says : 
 
 "Nothing saved Johnston's army, at Reseca, but the 
 impracticable nature of the country, which made the passage 
 of troops across the valley almost impossible. This fact 
 enabled his army to reach Reseca from Dalton, along the 
 comparatively good roads constructed beforehand, partly from 
 
1^2 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 tWi topographical nature of the country, and partly from the 
 f(j.'isight of the rebel chief. Atall^^ents, on the 14th of May, 
 Wp found the rebel army in a strong position, behind Camp 
 Creek, occupying the forts at Reseca, and his right on some 
 high chestnut hills to the north of the town. I at once ordered 
 a pontoon bridge to be laid across the Oostenaula at Lay's 
 Ferry, in the direction of Calhoun, a division of the Sixteenth 
 Corps, commanded by General Sweeney to cross and threaten 
 Calhoun ; also, the cavalry division of General Garrard to 
 move from its position at Villanow, down towards Rome, to 
 cross the Oostanaula and break the railroad below Calhoun 
 and above Kingston if possible, and with the main army I 
 pressed against Reseca at all points. Gen. McPherson got 
 across Camp Creek near its mouth, and made a lodgment close 
 up to the enemy's works, on hills that commanded, with short 
 range artillery, the railroad and trestle bridges, and General 
 Thomas pressing close along Camp Creek Valley, threw 
 General Hooker's Corps across the head of the Creek, to the 
 main Dalton road and down to it close on Reseca. 
 
 " General Schofield came up on his left, and a heavy battle 
 ensued during the afternoon and evening of the 15th, during 
 which General Hooker drove the enemy from several strong 
 hills, captured a four-gun battery and many prisoners. That 
 night Johnston escaped retreating south across the Oostanaula. 
 
 The following letter was written by the Captain of the rebel 
 battery, which the 105th assisted in capturing at Reseca. It 
 appears the Captain designed sending it to his wife by a 
 wounded rebel, but the latter was taken prisoner, and the letter 
 fell into the hands of a member of the 105th. We give it 
 verhatim et literatim : 
 
 " Reseca, Ga. may 15 
 My Dear wife 
 
 John Thompson is going home to Cassville 
 wounded I thought I would drop you a line by him 
 The Yankees charged on my battery this P M and captured 
 2 sections of it many of our men and attendants were wounded 
 
1 
 
 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. M3 
 
 It was as daring an exploit as when my brothers was charli^ed 
 at antietam Va by Co new york Reg 
 
 They threw themselves into the front as unconscious of 
 danger as ducks into a pond 
 
 "I tell you and will to stow away every thing of value 
 fearing we shall have to fall back from here if we do the 
 yankees will get everything in reach. 
 
 We had to fight hookers command here or else the battery 
 never would have been taken. 
 
 I hear we are gaining on the yankees in Va and we would 
 have whipped them here if it had not been for Hookers 
 command 
 
 They all wore a star. 
 If we hold our ground here I will see you ere long. 
 I want you to send sis and James to grand Pas and you go to 
 uncle Johns Take all the things you can 
 I must close as the train will leave immediately your husband 
 Unto Death w w c 
 
 P S our position here was very 
 
 good but we have to fall back keep up good courage. I hope 
 what I have said will not prove discouraging to you. w w c 
 
 The term, "Ward's Ducks," originated from the Captain's 
 allusion to the men of the First Brigade in the fourth 
 paragraph, " throwing themselves into the front as unconscious 
 of danger as ducks into a pond." 
 
 After two days' rest near Kingston, theadvance was resumed 
 on the 23d, proceeded some eight or ten miles, crossing the 
 Etowah and bivouacking in the woods beyond. Oa the 24th, 
 marched to and beyond Burnt Hickory, threw up breastworks 
 and bivouacked. On the 25th, marched back through Burnt 
 Hickory and changed course somewhat, but still advancing. 
 At about three o'clock, the division met the enemy in 
 considerable force, and a sharp engagement occurred — the 
 Second and Third brigades formed the first line, and the 
 First brigade the second. The 105th, together Avith the 
 brigade, being thus under fire, from close proximity to the 
 
14(t HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 frait line, although not actively engaged, suffered severely, 
 the number of casualties being fourteen wounded. First 
 Lieutenant J. W. Burst of Company C, had his right leg shot 
 aAvay by a rebel shell. He Avas a good officer, and his loss 
 was regretted by his company and the regiment. Adjutant 
 Chandler Avas also stunned, being grazed by a shell or grape 
 shot, on the neck, and shoulder. 
 
 On the 26th the regiment and brigade laid behind breast- 
 works under fire. On the 27th, the brigade was ordered to 
 advance a few rods in front of the breastworks and throw up 
 another line of works. This was done under a severe fire from 
 the rebel sharp-shooters. The casualties in the 105th 
 amounted to fourteen including two commanding officers, 
 several of the men being killed. On the 28th they lay behind 
 the new works which had cost the regiment so much to build 
 the day before. On the 29th, the brigade was relieved and 
 moved ba k out of range, after being under fire for nearly 
 four days. But the 105th was not to rest long. The major 
 portion of the regiment was detailed for skirmish duty on the 
 olst. On the first of June skirmishers and regiment were 
 relieved and ordered to march and overtake the brigade, which 
 had moved around on the left of the lines. A five mile march 
 after dark brought the tired and worn men of the 105th up 
 with the brfgade, Avhen the men laid down on their arms. On 
 the folloAving day, June 2d, took up a position, after moving 
 several miles, preparatory as Avas thought, to a general 
 cno-ao-ement — covering the flank and supporting the left of the 
 tAventy-third Corps under General Schofield About dusk, 
 the 105th regiment was thrown out on the extreme left as 
 flankers, and ay as furiously shelled while performing this duty. 
 Taa'o companies AA'ere throAA^n out from the regiment as pickets 
 and skirmishers under Major Button. Here the regiment 
 lost its able and greatly esteemed chief surgeon, Horace S. 
 Potter, then acting Brigade Surgeon. He Avas struck by a 
 shell on the head, the frontal bone being crushed in or torn 
 from the skull. Surgeon Pottor Avas selecting grounds for 
 
n 
 
 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. ^4:5 
 
 f 
 
 a field hospital, when the missile of death took eflect. Qufirter- 
 master Timothy Wells, who was with him at the time, had the 
 remains immediately taken off the field and carried to the rear. 
 S. W. Saylor, leader of the Brigade Band, and a kinsman of 
 Surgeon Potter's, secured a leave of absence and took the body 
 home. On Sunday the 5th, Chaplain Champlin preached a 
 sermon in memory of Surgeon Potter. The entire regiment 
 listened attentively to the Chaplain's Avell-chosen Avords, and 
 all felt more or less keenly a loss wdiich could never be fully 
 repaired in the person of any other medical officer. 
 
 IPorace S. Potter was born in Chatauqua County, New 
 York, about 1834, and came to Illinois in 1838, his family 
 having settled in Warrenville, Du Page County, remained 
 there until 1867, studying medicine with Dr. L. Q. Newton, 
 a prominent physician of that place, — and graduated at loAva 
 State University. From Warrenville, moved to Danby, same 
 County, in 1851, practicing medicine until May, 1856, when 
 he moved to Chicago, where he was engaged in his profession, 
 previous to entering the public service as Chief Surgeon of 
 the 105th regiment. 
 
 Contrary to anticipations, no general engagement came off 
 on the 2d, and on the 3d the Twentieth Corps moved around 
 and beyond the enemy's right, and camped about three miles 
 from Ackworth, remaining until the 6th, when the command 
 moved forward, passing on the right of Big Shanty to neai' 
 Golgotha Church, where the entire Corps took up a prominent 
 position in line of battle and immediately threw up intrench- 
 ments. 
 
 From this time to the 15th were laying quietly behind 
 
 breastworks with no enemy close enough to skirmish with. 
 
 On the 10th, the Fourth Corps took position in front of the 
 breastworks, moving away the next morning when the First 
 division of the Twentieth Corps moved up and occupied their 
 place. While here a heavy rain, commencing in the night on 
 the 8th and continuing until the 14th, gave the troops a severe 
 drenching. On the 12th heavy cannonading was heard on 
 the right and left. 
 19 
 
146. HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 On the 15tli broke up camp and moved together with the 
 Corps beyond Golgotha Church, encountering the enemy in a 
 very strong position. The command marched up in line of 
 battle, the 105th under Major Dutton was thrown forAvard to 
 support the skirmishers which covered the front of the brigade. 
 The skirmishers, with the 105th close behind, advanced 
 promptly, soon followed by the other regiments of the brigade 
 in line of battle, when they were crowded forward until the 
 enemy's intrenchments were in full view, and his skirmishers 
 driven back close to their main Avorks. A spirited engagement 
 Avas going on, the hardest of the fighting occurring on the 
 right and left of the line. The regiment, however, was under 
 a terrible skirmish fire, which amounted to little less than an 
 engagement. Brisk firing was kept up until dark, Avhen 
 light lines of Avorks were throAvn up. On the 16th, the brigade 
 advanced and constructed strong breastworks, in the face of 
 the enemy's sharpshooters, suffering a loss of nine, and one 
 killed. The enemy shelled the regiments after dark, after 
 Avhich the brigade was relieved and ordered behind a socond 
 line of Avorks to the rear. During the night the enemy 
 retired, leaving the strongest line of fortifications the boys had 
 yet seen. The casualties of the 105th on the 15th and 16th, 
 were nineteen. 
 
 On the morning of the 17th, the national troops entered the 
 rebel entrenchments and marched on, coming up Avith the 
 enemy in the afternoon. 
 
 The division moved about tAvo miles, entering a large, open 
 field, Avhen it Avas formed into tAVo lines and plunged into a 
 thick Avood on the right, moving along until it came in contact 
 with the Twenty-third Corps, still further to the right. Being 
 then moved to the left, emerged into the open field, Avhere the 
 division Avas massed. Here the regiment camped. 
 
 On the 18th the cannoniers kept up a heavy firing. The 
 enemy moved back and took up a strong position on the top 
 of Kenesaw mountain, near Marietta, extending his lines 
 about due North and South. Our army followed him up, 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 
 
 A' 
 drove Mm back considerably on the 19tli, and pressed him on 
 
 the 20th and 21st. 
 
 From the 18th to the 21st inclusive, the troops received a 
 
 thorough drenching from a series of heavy showers. Remained 
 
 encamped on the 18th. On the 19th moved forward through 
 
 rain and mud, crossing two fords, the men getting thoroughly 
 
 wet to the knees. Rain came down in torrents during the 
 
 passage of the first stream. In the evening went into line 
 
 between the Fourth Corps on the left and the Twenty-third 
 
 Corps on the right. On the 20th and 21st, severe skirmish 
 
 firing was kept up while perfecting the lines. On the 22d, 
 
 the brigade, in conjunction with other troops, advanced the 
 
 lines and built breastworks under a brisk fire. The regiment 
 
 suffered a loss of ten, — one commissioned officer accidentally 
 
 wounded, two men killed, and seven severely wounded. 
 
 Regiment was relieved in the evening ; moved some distance 
 
 to the right, and bivouacked for the night. 
 
 The division on the 23d was again placed in the front line 
 on the right of the Corps, connecting with the left of the 23d 
 Corps. The regiment was assigned a position very near the 
 battle 'ground, and where they were burying rebel dead who 
 fell before the works the day before. Very heavy cannonading 
 was heard on Kenesaw Mountain. On the 24th, the brigade 
 lay behind a third line of works, at rest, and remained there 
 until the night of the 26th, Avhen it was moved to the front line 
 of works, relieving Colonel Coburn's Second brigade, of the 
 Third division. Here the works of the opposing forces were 
 within short musket range, and the men were obliged to keep 
 their heads down to save them from perforation. It was 
 thought the enemy was meditating an attack at this point, but 
 on the night of the 3d of July he fell back, yielding up his 
 Avhole position around Marietta, and on the commanding 
 bights of Kenesaw. 
 
 This alternative of the rebels was impelled by a brilliant 
 flank movement by the flanking army under Major General 
 McPherson. 
 
148 HISTORY OP DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Tyfte First brigade was relieved on the niglit of the 29th, 
 (June,) by the Third brigade of the division, and moved back 
 from the front line of works. In the evening of July 1st, the 
 First brigade relieved the Second brigade behind the second 
 line of works. Nothing of moment occurred until the 3d of 
 July, Avlien, leading the van, the First brigade, headed by 
 Brigadier General Ward, commanding division in absence of 
 Major General Butterfield, and Colonel Ben Harrison of the 
 70th Indiana, commanding brigade, advanced into the strong 
 works of the enemy, the latter having retreated during the 
 night, as mentioned above. The Third division advanced on 
 the Marietta road in the direction of the town, the head of the 
 column encountering the rebel rear near that place, who 
 opened vigorously with shot and shell. A section of artillery 
 was immediately detached from Captain Smith's battery, under 
 his charge. The First brigade supported the guns while the 
 gallant Captain silenced the rebel artillery. The 105th being 
 posted immediately in rear of the battery, was exposed to a 
 perfect storm of shot and shell from the enemy's guns, but 
 escaped with only one man killed, and two wounded. Several 
 of the battery boys were badly mangled by rebel shells. The 
 division left the main pike and advanced in the direction of 
 tlie Chattahoochee river, scouring the woods in a rather zigzag 
 manner until sundown. The 4th of July found the regiment 
 and division encamped about four miles from Marietta, on a 
 high open field, in sight of rebels and rebel works. Here, 
 rested until afternoon, unfurling the national colors in honor 
 of the day. After dinner a march through woods and fields 
 brought the command to a deserted farm, well shaded and 
 supplied with water. Fortunately, the 105th was assigned a 
 camping ground contiguous to an apple orchard, the trees of 
 which were hanging full of fruit. The harvest was "not long 
 suffered to remain ungarnered, and the humble collations of 
 the boys were materially improved that night, with what they 
 were pleased to call " applejack." 
 n the 5th, moved about six miles, arriving within two 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 
 
 miles of Chattahoochee river and meeting the enemy's pickets. 
 Regiment shifted its position on the 6th and went into camp. 
 An order was issued for the command to rest as much as pos- 
 sible during the time it might remain quiet. The entire corps 
 rested until the afternoon of the 17th, when orders were 
 received to cross the river. It was late in the night before 
 the corps bivauocked on the other side. The 105th was im- 
 mediately detailed for picket duty — a severe task to perform 
 after a tedious march of some ten miles. 
 
 Daring the temporary rest enjoyed by the 105th, as above 
 indicated, Colonel Dustin received a leave of absence for 
 twenty days, starting for his home in Sycamore on the 13th. 
 Major E. F. Dutton succeeded Colonel Dustin in the com- 
 mand of the regiment, and senior Captain H. D. Brown, of 
 Company A, assumed the duties of the Major. 
 
 The command moved a few miles on the 18th, reaching a 
 point on the Marietta and Decatur road, within one and a half 
 miles of Howell's mills, which, on the 20th, was the immediate 
 scene of the memorable and brilliant engagement and victory 
 of the first brigade, in the great battle of Atlanta. Here 
 the brig-ade rested on the 19th, and on the 20th moved for- 
 ward and formed in line of battle on the south side of Peach 
 Tree Creek, comprising a portion of the force which closed 
 up a gap existing in the lines, and which the rebels Avere 
 seeking with desperate eagerness. They found it, but too 
 late to answer the purpose of victory. The 102d Illinois, 
 79th Ohio and 129th Illinois formed the first line, connecting 
 with the second brigade on the left. The 70th Indiana and 
 105th Illinois formed the second line, distance from the first, 
 some two hundred yards. BetAveen two and three o'clock, 
 afternoon, the pickets on the crest of a hill in the brigade 
 front commenced firing, the enemy charging over the open 
 field in his front several lines deep. The lines of the division 
 immediately advanced in splendid order up the hill when, on 
 gaining the crest, they were so close upon the rebels that 
 several regiments were intermingled. 
 
150 HISTORY OF DE KALE COUXTT. 
 
 Major E. F. Dutton, in absence of Colonel Dustin, com- 
 manded the regiment, assisted by senior Captain II. D. 
 Brown, the former acting as Lieutenant-Colonel, the latter 
 as Major. The second brigade having moved obliquely to 
 the left, and the first line of the first briorade to the rio-ht, 
 the front of lOoth was nearlv uncovered. Seeing the enemv 
 coming in large numbers down the slope of the second hill, 
 Major Dutton ordered the men to open fire, which was 
 promptly done, the regiment advancing in good order, after a 
 brief halt on the hill. The battle now rao-ed furiouslv. the 
 troops of the regiments giving not an inch of ground, but 
 advancing, standing right up to the work. Soon the masses 
 of rebels, after making a brave fight, indeed, faltered, and the 
 national troops drove them back over the second hill and 
 open field, the 105th reaching the summit almost simultane- 
 ously with the troops of the first line, from which point the 
 regiment poured several volleys into the disordered and re- 
 treating ranks of the enemy. The fighting continued until 
 dark, when the regiment and brigade commenced throwing 
 up breastworks, and were busy at this work until nearlv 
 morning. 
 
 Major Dutton, in his report of this engagement, com- 
 plimented the bravery and endurance of the subordinate 
 officers and men of the regiment, and they in turn compli- 
 mented the gallantry and dash of the Major. Captain H. D. 
 Brown, acting Major, with an air of coolness and firmness, 
 assisted in pressing forward the line, and Adjutant D. D. 
 Chandler, always at his post, and constituted the third person 
 in the regiment's executive trinity. The splendid conduct 
 of these officers on the field was the subject of enthusiastic 
 comment on all hands, after the battle. The line officers 
 were unusually enthusiastic, and led the men forward with 
 the one idea that a victory was to be gained. And the men 
 went in to win, even if it were necessary, to close in hand to 
 hand struggle, which, indeed was done. 
 
 Among the trophies of the regiment was one beautiful 
 
1 
 
 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 151 
 
 stand of colors, said by prisoners to have belonged toithe, 
 12th Louisiana regiment, together with several swords and 
 belts. The colors were captured hj Sergeant Melvin Smith 
 and George F. Cram, of Company F, and which capture 
 was reported in the paper as " glory for the lOoth." 
 
 The colors of the 105th were pierced Avith bullets, one 
 shot going through the flag staff. The relics taken by the 
 reo-iment were sent to the headquarters of the army, with the 
 request that they be placed in the State archives at Spring- 
 field. 
 
 The casualties were fifteen, six men being killed or mortally 
 wounded, and it was miraculous that the Regiment did not 
 suffer a loss of five times that number in so long and hard 
 fought a battle, and the only manner of accounting for so provi- 
 dential an escape was, that most of the time the enemy were 
 posted on the hill above the 105th, and in firing down the hill 
 their shots were almost invariably made too high. 
 
 After the strife had died away and the moon had risen on 
 the scene, an inspection of the grounds in front of the regi- 
 ment and brigade. The sight was fearful. Dying and dead 
 rebels lay in all attitudes of suffering and death. The youth 
 and the middle-aged lay in their gore in groups or scattered 
 about where they had fallen. Two dead rebels were noticed 
 lying side-by-side. The arm of one was stretched upward 
 and the fingers pointing to the moon, as though he would in" 
 dicate to his comrade the vray to the abodes of peace. Among 
 the rebel wounded there was a young girl only nineteen years 
 of ago. A ball had struck her ankle and she was obliged to 
 have her foot amputated. She bore her suffering heroically, 
 and stated she had been in the service twenty-eight months. 
 Many interesting incidents occurred, which if detailed would 
 fill pages upon pages of history. A member of the regiment 
 casually surveyed the battle grounds, now inside the lines, 
 and offered refreshments to the suffering- and dvins;. To in- 
 quiries as to the extent of injuries, such answers as " Yes, I 
 can't live till morning" issued from tremulous lips, when life's 
 
■\ 
 
 152. HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 / . . 
 
 'fitful fever was nearly over. On the faces of the dead the 
 usual expressions of placid repose, fear, agonj or fierce 
 despair, lingered, and altogether the scene Avas one no pen 
 could portray. 
 
 The morning of the 21st dawned on one of the greatest 
 victories of the war, and the footing of the national army on 
 the south side of Peach Tree Creek was equally as secure as 
 its footing on south side of Chattahooche river. 
 
 Lieutenant Willard Scott, jr, of Captain Rogers' Company, 
 with a small party, buried the dead rebels on the morning of 
 the 21st. 
 
 During the battle General Ward, commanding the division, 
 had made his headquarters in the valley, near the creek, at 
 a point that commanded a vieAV of the ground where his 
 division fought. The old General was reported as being in 
 ecstasy of delight when the first brigade entered the contest. 
 " See my old Iron Brigade,"' said he, striking his fists together. 
 " See my old Iron Brigade — see them go in — the best d — d 
 brigade in the service I" The brigade preserved an unbroken 
 line throughout the fight. The entire Corps was elated with 
 the victory, it being gained in open field, the advantages 
 greatly in favor of the enemy. 
 
 General Hooker rode along the lines the morning of the 
 battle, receiving the enthusiastic cheers of the soldiers. lie 
 afterwards issued a congratulatory order. 
 
 General Hood, who commanded the Confederates, is re- 
 ported as having remarked to his men as they were about to 
 move to the attack, that they were going out to " gather 
 acorns ;" alluding to the soldiers of the 14th Corps, who 
 Avore a badge representing an acorn. Their purpose was to 
 break through on the left of that Corps, supposing they 
 Avould meet nothing more than a line of skirmishers in their 
 front. They were not less surprised than disappointed, 
 however, to find themselves among the "stars." 
 
 After the burial of the rebel dead by the army on the 21st, 
 the clearing up of the battle field — collection and turning 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. ,75 d 
 
 .1' 
 
 over of ordinance and other property, — the troops advail|ced 
 on the morning of the 22d toward AtLanta, the enemy having 
 fallen back and established himself behind the inner defenses 
 around the city. About one mile from the battle-field of the 
 20th, a strong line of works were found, the second line of 
 city defenses, which the enemy did not stop to occupy. 
 
 Having proceeded several miles, the sound of opposing 
 skirmishers warned the troops, who were marching by the 
 flank toward the city, that the " Johnnies" were about to 
 make further resistance. The regiments were immediately 
 formed in battle line and marched forward to within sight of 
 the rebel defenses, when a halt was ordered and strong earth- 
 works throAvn up. The country through which this short 
 advance was made was prolific of blackberries, which were 
 left to the "bummers." After the brigade was halted he 
 105th found itself on the crest of one of the numerous hills 
 for which the face of that region is noted. This position 
 proved to be the most exposed of any regiment in the brigade, 
 it being elevated and directly opposite a rebel battery. The 
 boys quickly constructed earthworks here in order to protect 
 themselves from the harrassing fire of the enemy. A battery 
 was placed immediately behind the works, which made the 
 position of the 105th an interesting one. So soon as the 
 guns were in position a deliberate fire was opened on the 
 opposing battery, which elicited immediate reply from the 
 latter. For a while the boys of the 105th found it behooved 
 them to "lie down" and "grab a root,'' until the novelty of 
 the situation wore away. After dark the rebels made two 
 dashes into the pickets in front of the brigade. And so — on 
 the 22d of July, 1864, the seige of Atlanta commenced. 
 
 The position of the command here was about one or two 
 miles north-east of the Georgia Railroad which connects 
 Atlanta with Marietta and Chattanooga. A direct forward 
 movement would have brought the brigade into the northern 
 suburbs of the city. On the 23d the enemy shelled the 
 regiment and battery at intervals all day and at night. Next 
 20 
 
l'>4 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 d/.y the same, the battery replying occasionally. The pickets 
 wjere again alarmed in the evening. The same routine of 
 artillery firing and dashing among the pickets was gone 
 through with on the 25th. 
 
 The picket line in the brigade front Avas somewhat in 
 advance of the line on the right and left. A deep ravine 
 running from the enemy's works traversed the left of the 
 brigade line, and lead into the rear of the picket reserve post. 
 The line might have been flanked here had the rebels been 
 disposed to attempt it. This made this advanced position 
 one demandino- constant and close watchfulness. The rebels 
 made a strong dash on that part of the line on the night of 
 the 24:t]i, when a heavy fire of musketry took place. 
 Lieutenant Trego, of the 102d Illinois, Avas in charge of the 
 outposts at that time, several of his men becoming frightened, 
 fled to the rear, but the Lieutenant rallied the balance and 
 under the enemy's fire gallantly urged them to stand firm, 
 which they did. Soon the rebels were repulsed, after which 
 the Lieutenant found that the reserve post had been abandoned 
 by all but Lieutenant Willard Scott of the 105th, and a few 
 men. It appears that two heavy lines of rebels were repelled 
 by a skirmish line, which had been ingloriously deserted by 
 the most of the supporting force. 
 
 The lines were advanced and new entrenchments made 
 during the first three days. On the night of the 26th the 
 division moved back some distance in reserve, the 105th 
 occupying some abandoned works. On the 28th orders were 
 received to move around to the right of the general line for 
 the purpose of supporting General Howard's forces, Avho had 
 become heavily engaged with the enemy, but before the 
 command had arrived Avithin supporting distance, word was 
 sent to return to camp ; the rebels having already been 
 successfully repulsed. 
 
 During the battle on the extreme left on the 22d, the noble 
 commander of the Army of the Tennessee, fell — James B. 
 McPherson. That command had constituted the flanking 
 
 i 
 
I 
 
 THE OXE HUNDRED AXD FIFTH. 
 
 II5 
 
 army, and on the way from Chattanooga to Atlanta applied 
 the key to the locks of rebel positions. The news of Mc- 
 Pherson's death was received along the lines amid express- 
 ions of disappointment and with feelings of sorrow. 
 
 Greneral Hooker called the officers of the Third Division 
 together on the 29th, and bade them farewell, informing them 
 that he had been ill used, and could no longer remain in com- 
 mand of the Twentieth Corps. The officers and men reluct- 
 antly parted with the dashing old General, who had seemed 
 every way worthy of his "stars." 
 
 On the 29th the Third division moved around to the right 
 ;ome six miles, to support other movements and to protect the 
 flank of the army near the Montgomery and West Point 
 Railroad. The brigade supported a division of the Fourth 
 Corps, under General Jefferson C. Davis, while the latter took 
 ap a new position. Moved in rear of that division and 
 constructed breastworks at a right angle with the main line, 
 protecting the flank and rear. Remained here doing picket 
 :luty and working on fortifications until the 2d of August, 
 svhen the command moved back along the left of the lines, and 
 Dn the 3d relieved the First division of the Fourteenth Corps, 
 behind the front line of works, and near the Georcria Railroad : 
 :he left of the 105th rested on the railroad track. 
 
 The next day (4th,) Colonel Dustin arrived from leave of 
 ibsence in improved health, and assumed command of the 
 'egiment. His return was hailed with delight by all, especially 
 is he brought with him numerous packages for distribution 
 imong the officers and men, from the friends of the regiment. 
 Major Dutton and Captain Brown were on the 4th mustered 
 n as Lieutenant Colonel and Major, respectively, having been 
 Dreviously recommended for those positions. The promotion 
 n the field of those brave and popular officers gave great 
 satisfaction to the regiment, as experience had developed in 
 ;hem rare executive powers and good soldierly qualities. 
 
 The regiment remained in the trenches until the night of 
 ;he 25th, when the entire Corps fell back to the Chattahoochee 
 
15k HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Yiv&v, and the main army moved to the right, seizing upon 
 the only raih^oad left to the rebels,' Avhich resulted in the 
 capture of Atlanta. 
 
 While lying in the trenches before Atlanta the energies of 
 the troops were severely tested by the hard labor necessary 
 for the construction of heavy works, abatis, etc. A battery 
 — being portions of Captains Smith'and Greary's — was located 
 behind the fortifications with the 105th regiment, and the 
 boys in addition to strengthening their works were detailed 
 to assist the battery men in building extra works for the bet- 
 ter protection of the gunners from the shells of the rebel 
 guns. A strong fortification, about six feet high, was con- 
 structed with logs and dirt, in the form of a semi-circle, long 
 enough to receive four guns with ease, the ofiicers and men of 
 the regiment detailed for the purpose, working at night in 
 order to avoid the fire of rebel sharp-shooters. The battery 
 frequently opened on the rebel defenses, which were in plain 
 view, making the regiment "bob" their heads down occasion- 
 ally, as the fragments of rebel iron came screaming through 
 the air in close proximity to their respective persons. Now 
 and then a shell would burst immediately over the "bummer's" 
 quarters, further to the rear, sometimes disturbing the equi- 
 librium of that class of "bummers " who would like to "get 
 through safe if they could." 
 
 Amid the perils of the situation there were always found a 
 few humorous spirits whose forte seemed to be to relieve, by 
 some timely joke or " flash of merriment," the pains of the 
 hour. Many a poor, despairing mother's boy had never seen 
 his earthly home again had he not been made to forget his 
 troubles by the wit or facetiousness of these happy fellows. 
 In the different companies of the regiment were many such 
 characters. No difficulties overcame them ; they were 
 constitutionally cheerful, and capable of extracting good cheer 
 out of every occasion. Endurance was born of cheerfulness, 
 and so they fainted not. 
 
 On the 9th, the guns along the lines opened and kept up a 
 
THE OiVE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 
 
 steady fire nearly all day, oh the rebel defenses and the^> ity. 
 The rebel battery replied in the evening to the salutations of 
 the guns of Captains Smith and Greary. Almost constantly, 
 day and night, the regiment was exposed to the fire of sharp- 
 shooters, the balls falling all about the grounds behind the 
 works, noAV and then striking a man. In this way Corporal 
 J. L. Gage, of Company H, Captain J. S. Forsythe, was 
 mortally wounded on the 12th, and a faithful colored cook of 
 Company I\, Captain A. F. Parke, instantly killed while 
 eating his dinner, on the 14th. 
 
 On the morning of the 13th, Second Lieutenant Augustus 
 11. Fischer of Company I, a most excellent young ofiicer and 
 esteemed comrade, was killed on the skirmish line in front of 
 the works. His loss was deeply felt by all the ofiicers and 
 men of the regiment ; especially by the members of Company 
 I., who had shared the dangers of conflict by his side, and 
 respected him for his bravery. Lieutenant Fischer will be 
 remembered for his genial temper, his unswerving fidelity, and 
 his self-sacrifice. 
 
 On the evening of the 16th, while superintending some 
 work near the fortification before his company (E), Captain 
 Martin V. Allen was severely wounded in his right arm, by a 
 bullet from a sharpshooter. A number of men were mor- 
 tally wounded on the skirmish line. 
 
 The skirmish line was in such close proximity to the enemy 
 that the men had to exercise the utmost caution, and expend 
 much labor in building rifle-pits for the security of the pickets 
 and skirmishers. The enemy seemed to take especial excep- 
 tions to the operations of the men at this point in the lines, 
 and kept up a steady, severe, and almost incessant fire for 
 several weeks. Being accustomed to take shelter behind cer- 
 tain houses near their own lines, they gained some advantage 
 in firing upon our men. Efforts had been made with the rebel 
 pickets to stop this firing by mutual agreement, without suc- 
 cess. On the night of the 18th Corporal Herman Furness, 
 of Company C, and two comrades of the 105th, equipped 
 
158 ( HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 with (.combustible material, proceeded cautiously out and set 
 three^of the buildings on fire, burning them to the ground. 
 It was well and bravely done, after which picket-firing w^as 
 finally stopped by mutual consent. 
 
 Just back of the lines, several thirty-two pound parrot gun 
 were operating almost continually night and day, for some 
 weeks, shelling the city of Atlanta and the rebel defenses. 
 Occasionally shells from these guns would prematurely ex- 
 plode before reaching our own lines, the pieces scattering in 
 all directions among the men of the lOSth, causing some an- 
 noyance, but no one was hurt by them. With additional 
 danger it was amusing to hear the boys crying, " Hello ! fire 
 in the rear !" " Lie down !" " Grab a root !" 
 
 On the night of the 25th, the command withdrew from be- 
 hind the works — the Brigade Band playing " Yankee Doodle " 
 and other airs byway of a parting courtesy to the " Johnnies." 
 During the night, as if suspecting the troops were retiring 
 from their front, the rebel pickets fired at the 105th skirmish- 
 ers occasionally, and inquired, " Are you there ?" To which 
 inquiry they received a ready affirmative, " Yes, we are here." 
 Whereupon the rebels would respond, " We just wanted to be 
 sure about it — don't want you to get away without our 
 knowledge of the fact." While this conversation was going 
 on the whole army was moving from behind the works, and 
 the rebels soon found themselves outwitted. The 105th 
 pickets failed to get the order to retire during ^the night, 
 and remained at their several posts until about daylight in 
 the morning, long after the troops and other ^pickets had 
 gone. 
 
 The command moved back to Chattahoochee river, after 
 being on the road all night, arriving at early dawn. On the 
 26th bivouacked on the south side of the river, and on the 
 27th crossed the river and took up a position near the rail- 
 road track, between the 33d Massachusetts and 129th Illinois 
 regiments, where the 105th went into camp. Here the regiment 
 with axes and hatchets hewed out a fine camping-place in the 
 
 4 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. ' 159 
 
 \ 
 
 woods. Together with the balance of the brigade the lOSth 
 guarded army supplies, amniunition and corps teams. 
 
 On the morning of the 2d of September, Brigadier-General 
 Ward, division commander, entered the city with a portion of 
 the Third division, and the mayor formally surrendered to 
 him all that was left of Atlanta. The regiment was moved 
 back to the south side of the river, near the railroad bridge, 
 where it remained in camp until the morning of the 16th of 
 September, when all the regiments of the brigade except the 
 I05th, moved to Atlanta and re-joined the division, the 105th 
 re-crossing the river and camping close to the railroad track 
 a few hundred yards from the river. Here, again the boys 
 fitted up good quarters, and thoroughly policed their camp 
 grounds, which were located pleasantly, facing an almost 
 unobstructed view of the Chattahoochee river and valley for 
 a distance of about eight miles. 
 
 With the capture of Atlanta, what is called the " Atl-anta 
 campaign" ended. The entire army had, amid tempests of fire 
 which burst forth at various points, and under a steady rain 
 of bullets for four long months, swept majestically down from 
 Chattanooga to Atlanta, over mountains, rivers, and a con- 
 tinuous succession of hills and ravines. The country between 
 the two places named, constituted one great battle-field for 
 upwards of an hundred miles. While in camp on the south 
 side of Chattahoochee river, on the lOtli of" September, the 
 following congratulatory order of the Major-General com- 
 manding was read to the 105th, while on dress parade for the 
 first time in four months. General Sherman in general terms 
 summed up the achievements of the army, thanked the officers 
 and men for their indomitable courage, their perseverance and 
 fidelity, and paid an eloquent tribute to the memory of fallen 
 comrades . 
 
 From the 16th of September to the 14tli of November the 
 105th remained encamped at Chattahoochee river, near the 
 railroad bridge, as already mentioned. 
 
 Colonel Dustin was placed in command of the first brigade 
 
\ 
 
 160 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY, 
 
 on the 18th of September, Colonel Harrison having been 
 ordiired to Indiana on special business. Lieutenant Colonel 
 Dutton succeeded in command of the 105th. Subsequently 
 General Ward received leave of absence for thirty days, Avhen 
 Colonel Dustin succeeded that officer in command of the 
 division, Colonel Smith of the 102d Illinois commanding the 
 brigade. 
 
 The changes occurring among the commissioned officers 
 during the campaign and while the regiment rested at Chatta- 
 hoochee river, were : 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel II. F. Vallette, Naperville, DuPage 
 county, resigned June 18th, 1864, Major E. F. Dutton, De- 
 Kalb county, succeeding as Lieutenant-Colonel ; mustered 
 August 4th, 1864. 
 
 Captain H. D. Brown, Company A, Sycamore, Avas pro- 
 moted Major June 18th, — mustered August 4th, First-Lieu- 
 tenant George B. Heath succeeding as Captain. 
 
 First Assistant Surgeon Alfred Waterman, Warrenville, 
 promoted Chief Surgeon, June "Id; Second Assistant Surgeon 
 George W. Boggs, Naperville, succeeded as First Assistant 
 Surgeon. 
 
 Captain Theodore S. Rogers, Company B, Naperville, 
 resigned September 30th, 1864, First Lieutenant Lucius B. 
 Church, Winfield, succeeding as Captain. Lieut. Church 
 had been detailed at Gallatin on General Paine's staff, where 
 he remained after the regiment moved from that point. Sub- 
 sequently he was detailed as Post-Quartermaster, and ordered 
 to Paducah, Kentucky, where he remained during the balance 
 of his term of service. Second Lieutenant Willard Scott was 
 commissioned First Lieutenant, September 80th, 1864, but 
 for some unaccountable reason not mustered until June 1st, 
 1865, within six days of the muster-out of the regiment. 
 Although entitled to enjoy such rank from every consideration 
 of merit and capacity, he sustained his original position in 
 Company B until the end of the war, being the only officer in 
 

 OF SYCAMORE. 
 
 (TiU-a^n lillu)ai:J|ilnMy liiXhicas". 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 161 
 
 the regiment remaining with it to the end, whose services had 
 not been officially acknowledged and rewarded. 
 
 First Lieutenant, John W. Burst, Company C, Franklin, 
 honorably discharged, October 19th, 1864, on account of 
 wounds received at Burnt Hickory, May 25th. First Ser- 
 geant Isaac S. Brundage, Cortland, promoted First Lieutenant 
 October, 18th. First Lieutenant William M. Tirtlot, Company 
 F, honorably discharged, November 28th, 1864, on account 
 of wounds received at Reseca, May 15th. First Sergeant 
 Melvin Smith, Winfield, promoted First Lieutenant, April 
 13th, not mustered until March 30, 1865. 
 
 Captain John B. Nash, Company G, Franklin, resigned 
 July 17th, 1864. First Lieutenant John M. Smith commis- 
 sioned Captain but not mustered. 
 
 First Lieutenant Harvey Potter, Company H, Ashbury, 
 DeKalb, resigned August 17th, 1864, First Sergeant Frank 
 H. Cole, Somonauk, succeeding as First Lieutenant. 
 
 Captain William 0. Locke, Company I, Addison, Du Page, 
 honorably discharged, August 25th, 1864, on account of 
 wounds received at Reseca, May 15th, First Lieutenant George 
 A. Bender, Chicago, mustered as Captain, October 15th. 
 
 First Sergeant Henry Reinking, Company I, Addison, 
 commissioned Second Lieutenant, June 7th, 1865, vice Second 
 Lieutenant Augustus H. Fischer, killed at Atlanta, August 
 13th, 1864. 
 
 On the 9th of September, the news of the death of that 
 famous guerrilla chief, John Morgan, was reported in camp, 
 which proved to be a true report, notwithstanding many 
 " grape-vine " dispatches were being received among the boys 
 during the resting spell of the army at Atlanta and vicinity. 
 The same day a report that the guerrilla Wheeler had cut the 
 railroad communications of the army between Atlanta and 
 Chattanooga also proved true, but the only ill effects experi- 
 enced was the temporary stoppage of the army mails, which 
 severed the sympathetic lines between the boys in camp and 
 friends at home. 
 21 
 
162 \ HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 A) report of casualties pertaining to tlie 105th was made 
 out on the 10th of September, embracing the names of oflficers 
 and 'men killed, wounded and missing during the Atlanta 
 campaign, showing the following numbers : Commissioned 
 officers killed, two ; wounded, thirteen ; enlisted men killed, 
 forty-one ; wounded, one hundred and three ; missing, t wo ; 
 total casualties, officers and men, one hundred and sixty-one. 
 
 The number of officers and men, embracing the whole 
 belonging to the regiment, present and absent, on the 30th of 
 April, 1864, amounted to six hundred and seventy-four ; on 
 the 10th of September, five hundred and eighty-seven. On 
 the former date that number was situated as follows : Present, 
 officers and men, for duty, four hundred and forty-six ; on 
 special or daily duty, seventy-two ; sick, twenty-seven — five 
 hundred and forty-five. Absent, on detailed service, eighty- 
 six ; with leave, seven ; sick, etc., thirty-three ; Avithout 
 authority, three — one hundred and twenty-nine ; present 
 and absent, six hundred and seventy-four. On the latter date, 
 September 10th, there were, officers and men : present, for 
 duty, two hundred and sixty-three ; on special or daily duty, 
 forty-two ; sick, thirty-two — three hundred and thirty-seven. 
 Absent, on detached service ninety-six ; with leave, twelve ; 
 sick, one hundred and forty-two — 250;present ; and absent, 
 five hundred and eighty-seven. 
 
 The efi"ective force of the regiment on the 30th of April, 
 1864, or just before the opening of the campaign, embracing 
 commissioned officers and enlisted men, was four hundred and 
 forty-six. On the 10th of September, or just after the close 
 of the campaign, two hundred and sixty-three. 
 
 The 1st of October, the First brigade returned from garrison 
 duty at Atlanta and took up position on the 4th, near the 
 railroad bridge on the south side of the river. Just now the 
 main army was on the lookout for General Hood's forces, who 
 seemed disposed to punish General Sherman by making a 
 formidable raid on the railroad in his rear. Cannonading 
 was heard on the 2d, in the direction of Sandtown, south of 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 163 
 
 ! 
 
 the railroad bridge, and there was considerable activity 
 manifest among the troops. The two long wagon and railroad 
 bridges were partially undermined and carried away by high 
 water, when pontoons were immediately thrown across the 
 river, over which General Howard's command crossed on the 
 4th, passing the camp of the 105th on their way for the raiders. 
 Five companies, comprising the left wing of the 105th, were 
 stationed in a strong earth fort opposite the camp on the Gth, 
 and heavy details made for work on the fortifications. Two 
 guns were placed in this fort and two in a fort near the camp. 
 After a few days of hard toil, during which the boys completed 
 the work on the forts and surrounded them y»^ith heavy abatis, 
 the.men announced themselves ready for the "Johnnie Hoods." 
 But beyond the occasional dashes of marauding parties at 
 different points on the roadnear this section, nothing transpired 
 to disturb the quiet of the brigade. 
 
 During the passsage of Greneral Howard's troops. General 
 Sherman and a portion of his staff, who were accompanying 
 them, dined at regimental headquarters by invitation of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Dutton. The General was then, to the 
 casual observer, an ordinary-appearing man, of medium height, 
 slender, unstately and wiry. He seemed absorbed and nervous. 
 Stepping up to the tent door, without ceremony, he remarked 
 inquiringly, " Is this the place ?" and in he strode, taking a 
 seat at the table. In military campaigning he was entirely 
 unassuming in his manners, but eminently practical, and 
 seemingly oblivious to everything save the work of the time. 
 As an operator in the field this plain man is one of consummate 
 skill. Atlanta is a fitting commentary on his genius. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Dutton received leave of absence on the 
 28th of September, and started for his home at Sycamore on 
 the 9th of October, Major Brown succeeding to the command 
 of the regiment. Several ofiicers receiving leave of absence 
 were detained at camp until the railroad bridge was repaired, 
 admitting the passage of upward-bound trains from Atlanta. 
 
 Captain C. G. Culver, Company C, and First Lieutenant 
 
164 ^ HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 Melvin Smith, Company F, with a detachment of men, on the 
 3d, {feting under imperative orders, destroyed a bridge over 
 a cr^ek at an important point several miles down the river, 
 remaining there on the lookout for guerrillas two days. Scout- 
 ing and foraging parties were sent out frequently from the 
 brigade. An Orderly on duty at brigade head-quarters was 
 killed bv a guerrilla while bearing a dispatch to Atlanta, on 
 the 11th. 
 
 The danger to this position contingent on the movements of 
 Hood's forces being passed, the left wing of the regiment was 
 moved back from the fort to the main camp, on the 17th. On 
 the 19th, a train of cars was partially burned by guerrillas, on 
 the road between Marietta and Chattahoochee river. 
 
 The regiment received eight months pay on the 19th. 
 
 A train on its way to Atlanta was molested by guerrillas on 
 the 20th, producing quite a panic among a number of unarmed 
 men, some striking for the woods and running several miles 
 back to the camp. This was a little rebel victory. 
 
 The regiment received an elegant new stand of colors on the 
 21st. 
 
 Major Brown was sent into the country on the 24th in 
 charge of a foraging party of some five hundred and fifty men 
 and a long train of wagons. After three days absence he 
 returned with men and train intact, having loaded his wagons 
 with corn and provisions. On the second day out the party 
 was attacked several times by guerrillas, and the Maj. narrowly 
 escaped being shot. Among the articles secured by foragers 
 in large quantities were, corn, pumpkins and sweet potatoes, 
 which, taken with " hard tack " and coffee, was deemed a 
 healthful combination for the disters of the First brigade — the 
 mules generally eating the corn ! 
 
 On the 29th, the regiment received orders to send back all 
 surplus baggage, preparatory to entering upon another active 
 campaign. Several absentees arrived reporting for duty. 
 
 Brigadier-General Ward arrived from the North, where he 
 had been on leave of absence, and re-assumed command of the 
 
 A 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 
 
 Third division on the 31st. Soon after his return, November 
 9th, Colonel Dustin was placed in command of the Second 
 brigade of the Third division, formerly commanded by Colonel 
 John Coburn, of the 33d Indiana. This command Colonel 
 Dustin retained until the close of the war. Colonel Dutton 
 then took permanent command of the regiment. Since the 
 battle of Atlanta, on the 20th of July, the Lieutenant Colonel 
 rose still higher in the estimation of the men, and was deemed 
 an officer fit to succeed the Colonel as regimental commander. 
 
 Adjutant D. D. Chandler, of the 105th, was mentioned by 
 Colonel Dustin, and also by General Ward, in connection 
 with a position on their respective staifs. No officer was more 
 assiduous in his duties, and none filled their offices with more 
 credit than this officer. 
 
 General Thomas' head-quartijr train passed the camp of 
 the 105th on the 31st, en route to Chattanooga. As General 
 Hood's command had now struck out for Nashville, General 
 Thomas moved to that point to receive him. 
 
 On the 5th of November the regiment received marching 
 orders and was prepared to move on short notice, but the 
 orders were countermanded. Considerable speculation as to 
 where General Sherman would go next, was indulged in by 
 the troops, but all in vain. Such information was "contra- 
 band of war." But every soldier knew the army was soon 
 to enter upon a long and rapid march. Accustomed to march 
 together and to "strike together," its future movements were 
 destined to be executed expeditiously and successfully. 
 Sherman's men had finally attained to that degree of bold- 
 ness and endurance, in their education and experience as 
 soldiers, as to be regarded by the rebels and the world quite 
 invincible. 
 
 The last train of cars passed up the road northward on the 
 15th, when the troops of the Fifteenth Corps tore up the 
 track from Marietta to Chattahoochee river, the men of the 
 105th assisting in the work on the 15th. The railroad bridge 
 was destroyed in the evening. On the 14th the regiment 
 
166 HISTOEY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 finally broke up camp and started at six o'clock for Atlanta, 
 dest;roying the remainder of the track on the way. Regiment 
 camlped one mile beyond the city, ready to enter upon the 
 grand march commenced by Sherman's expedition on the fol- 
 lowing day. 
 
 General Sherman's forces embraced the 14th, 17th and 20th 
 Army Corps, making over 50,000 men, besides 9,000 picked 
 cavalry under Kilpatrick. They were supplied with thirty 
 days rations for man and beast. With a scout system and 
 courier line complete, this combination swept across the State 
 of Georgia with the force of a mighty whirlwind, destroying 
 railroads, bridges, mills, cribs, gin houses, cotton screws, gins, 
 &c., carrying oif stock, provisions and negroes. The station 
 houses along the railroads were burnt, and hundreds of unoccu- 
 pied buildings of all kinds destroyed, together with large 
 quantities of lumber, fences, cotton and every kind of prop- 
 erty calculated for the comfort of rebels and the use of rebel 
 armies. The country was rich, and provisions abounded. 
 The troops subsisted on fresh pork, sweet potatoes, flour and 
 meal, with all the concomitant luxuries ; among which may 
 be mentioned turkeys, chickens, ducks, molasses, sugar, etc. 
 
 The expedition being set in motion on the morning of tlie 
 15th of November, the Twentieth Corps moved out with its 
 long wagon train on the Decatur pike in the direction of that 
 place. The first brigade fell into the column at noon. Being 
 in the rear of the Corps and behind the train, the marching 
 was during the day and night slow and tedious. About 
 thirty-four hours of such marching brought the command to 
 its. first encampment, at a point on the Atlanta and Augusta 
 K. E.., called Lithonia, having crossed a branch of Ocmulgee 
 river, near Decatur, and passed Stone Mountain. The rail- 
 road was destroyed as the column advanced. 
 
 Atlanta was left partially in flames. During the night of 
 the 15th the consuming elements cast a glare of red to the 
 heavens, grandly constrasting with the surrounding gloom. 
 Thus, the horrors of the torch was added to the powers of 
 the sword, and Atlanta brought to a flery judgment. 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 167 
 
 The march was resumed at early dawn on the 17th, the 
 
 first brigade in advance of the column. Marching rapidly 
 
 the brigade made some twenty miles, foraging off the country 
 
 as it passed. Foragers brought to camp sweet potatoes in 
 
 abundance, shotes, chickens and honey. Fine country; Avat- 
 
 ered by numerous streams. 
 
 Moved fifteen miles on the 18th, arriving at the fair village 
 
 of Social Circle, on the railroad, at noon. Passed through 
 Rutledge Station before evening. Camped beyond at seven 
 o'clock. The progress of the troops not yet impeded. Fair 
 weather. 
 
 On the 19th, moved seven miles, the first brigade being in 
 the rear. Passed through the large and beautiful town of 
 Madison, on the R. R., the county seat of Morgan county. 
 Camped several miles beyond on the Milledgeville pike. Great 
 activity among the foragers and "bummers." At Madison 
 the soldiers were received with joy by the blacks. The whites 
 looked on in silence. The regiment entered the town with 
 flag unfurled. The word among the negroes, old and young, 
 as the column was passing through the streets, was, " is you 
 gwine F" One answer, as overheard by a number of the 
 105th, was, "Gwine? I'se already gone!" Indeed many 
 followed the army from this point, men, women, children and 
 babies. The women carried their bundles on their heads, 
 their children on their backs and in their arms^as, for in- 
 stance, a AYonch following the 105th with a huge bundle of 
 clothes and traps on her head, arms full of babies and one 
 child on her back ! She wanted to see good old " Mass 
 Linkum." They advised her to return to her old haunts, but 
 the spirit of resolution said " nay." Evidently, her life was 
 set upon a cast, and she would stand the hazard of the die. 
 What became of the poor soul is not known. 
 
 On the 20th, marched at five o'clock, morning. Weather 
 cloudy and damp — considerable rain last night. Distance 
 marched about twelve miles. Camped within two miles of 
 Eatonton, a pleasant looking town of about 1,800 inhabitants. 
 Fine country. 
 
168 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 The "weatber very wet and disagreeable on the 21st. Troops 
 marched under heavy and steady rain part of the day, literally 
 wading single file, through mud. Passed through Eatonton, 
 from which place a railroad called the Eatonton branch runs 
 down through Milledgeville, connecting at Number Seventeen 
 with the Georgia Central Railroad, passed through a small 
 place called Fairfield, on the railroad. Camped at dusk. 
 Marched rapidly on Milledgeville. Entered the place in good 
 order at 4 P. M., with colors flying and bands playing. The 
 colored population received the troops with great satisfaction 
 as usual. Camped in the city limits. 
 
 Remained in camp at this .point on the 23d. In the evening 
 the regiment was detailed to assist in destroying rebel property. 
 Several thousand stands of arms, and a large amount of 
 ammunition, was committed to the flames. Also, twenty casks 
 of salt thrown into the river. 
 
 Resumed the march at dawn on the 24th, crossing the 
 Oconee river north-east of town. On the road all day and 
 night, the teams being delayed by bad roads. Camped at 
 three o'clock A. M. 
 
 On the 25th, moved only five miles, starting at noon, the 
 brigade in the rear. The rebels burned a number of bridges 
 over swampy ground and streams, the column being delayed 
 until the road was repaired. Heard cannonading in the di- 
 rection of the other columns. Column passing through swampy 
 country ; enemy seeking to retard the progress of the troops. 
 
 Passed over regular Georgia swamps on the 26th ; march- 
 ing rapidly after noon, arrived at Sanderville, a small, dull 
 place, at about 4 P. M. 105th camped close to the town ; 
 Wheeler's cavalry hovering about in front. Skirmishing for 
 two days — several killed. Sandersville is near the Georgia 
 Central Railroad, in Hancock county. The business portion 
 of the town was sacked, of course ; the troops of the column 
 in turn helping themselves to whatever they wanted from the 
 stores. In some of the towns goods had been ^removed in 
 order to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Yan- 
 
THE ONE HUNDKED AND FIFTH. ' 169 
 
 kees. In Madison the stores were found empty and deserted. 
 
 Left Sandersville at 8 o'clock, on the 27th, marching rapid- 
 ly to the railroad, which the column crossed, moving some 
 distance on the wrong road. General Slocum righted the 
 column, after parading up and down the road several times 
 in a swearing mood. Arrived at Davisboro, on the railroad, 
 at sundown, regiment camping in a peanut patch. Here the 
 boys met troops of one of the other corps. Everybody seemed 
 to be in ecstacies. The foragers, sent out daily from the regi- 
 ment, were gathering in the very fat of the land. The "bum- 
 mers," who roamed unrestrained over the country, were filling 
 their pockets with treasures, and dressing themselves up in 
 broadcloth clothes. In short, the boys felt "bully." They 
 acted on the hypothesis that " all is fair in love and war." 
 
 Citizens in the country were in the habit of secreting goods, 
 and burying valuables, to keep them from the raiders, but the 
 " Yankees " espied them out. Most everything was overturned 
 in smoke-houses and kitchens, during the search for edibles ; 
 the foragers for the yards and kitchens, and the "bummers'' 
 for the parlors, bed-rooms and bureau-drawers. Let the 
 reader imagine a house full of forage and pleasure-seekers, 
 actively manipulating the effects of the premises, and some 
 idea of a raid in war times may be gained. This is the una- 
 voidable, natural consequence of war. " Those who take up 
 the sword must perish by the sword." 
 
 On the 28th, left Davisboro at 11 o'clock, making a rapid 
 march toward Louisville, a point twelve miles north-east of 
 Davisboro. Arrived within seven miles of the town and 
 camped early in the afternoon.' The early halt at this point 
 was occasioned by the burning of bridges over swamps and 
 across a branch of the Ogeechee river, near Louisville. 
 
 *During the day Captain C. G. Culver, Company C, in 
 charge of a foraging party from the regiment, carried the war 
 to ex-Governor Herchel Van Johnson's residence, divesting 
 his cupboard of many goodly meats. The "bummers" took 
 his damask curtains. 
 991 
 
ITO' HISTORY or DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 The road having been repaired, the column moved forward 
 on the 29th, the first brigade starting at one o'clock, after- 
 noon. The 105th and a part of the 102d Illinois were thrown 
 forward a mile on the double-quick to protect the pontoon 
 train, reported to have been attacked by guerrillas. On 
 arriving near the wagons they were found safe, the enemy 
 having been easily dispersed. Crossed river branch, passed 
 through Louisville, and camped at dusk three miles beyond 
 the town. / 
 
 Remained in camp on the 30th, the bad state of the roads 
 in the swamps evidently being the cause of the delay. For- 
 agers were sent out from the regiment, coming in close prox- 
 imity with guerrillas ; but enough forage was gathered before 
 the party returned to camp. 
 
 On the 1st December, resumed the march at ten A. M., 
 moving in single file by the train, the swampy country not 
 admitting the passage of troops and the train together in many 
 places. The work of getting the trains over the roads was 
 accomplished with difficulties. Arrived in camp at nine P. M. ; 
 distance about seven miles. 
 
 The guerrillas attacked the mounted men of the first bri- 
 gate, and after a brisk skirmish fight, the latter fell back to 
 the column, losing several men. 
 
 November 2d, a clear sky and balmy atmosphere — charac- 
 teristic of fall weather of old Georgia I The command 
 marches off, full of inspiration of good weather, starting at 
 eleven A. M., and turning into camp at eleven P. M., tired 
 and hungry. Distance 14 miles. 
 
 On the 8d, proceeding a few miles through swamps, the 
 column emerged into a beautiful pine forest, near the line of 
 the Savannah and Augusta Railroad. Here the first brigade 
 left the column, and, after a rapid march of four miles north- 
 Avard, struck the railroad at a point forty-five miles from Au- 
 gusta and thirteen miles from Millen Junction. After des- 
 troying several miles of railroad track, and a large quantity 
 of lumber, moved do^n the track, and re-joined the column. 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 
 
 Arrived in camp about one A. M., after a tedious night march 
 through muddy swamps, woods, rain and pitch-darkness. 
 
 On the 4th, marched ten miles, passing through several 
 swamps and pine forests. Country well supplied with good 
 water. Cannonading heard in the direction of Millen Junc- 
 tion. 
 
 The whole country over Avhich the army passed, seemed to 
 be disfigured by fire — houses, fences, woods and grass burning 
 in all directions. Immediately along the line of the marching 
 column the fences were consumed by the fiery element, and 
 during the long night marches, on either side, the roads were 
 arrayed with lights. Frequently the tired trampers were 
 deceived by the fires ; calculating that they were drawing 
 near Avhere the advance had already gone into camp. But 
 usually a long series of lights intervened ere the object of de- 
 sire was reached. 
 
 On the 5th, moved about eight miles, passing the first divi- 
 sion encamped. Turned in at three P. M, here to await 
 the arrival of General Geary's command. The advance 
 skirmished with the enemy, pressing him right along. Passed 
 more swamps. Twelve miles to nearest point of Savannah 
 river. 
 
 Moved forward to within nine miles northwest of Spring- 
 field, on the 6th, and camped at sundown. The road obstructed 
 by felled trees, but quickly removed or evaded. 
 
 Captain Culver, in charge of a small party, captured a 
 smart looking rebel second-lieutenant. 
 
 On the 7th, pushed rapidly on, the first brigade in advance 
 of the corps. Moved five miles, when the head of the column 
 paused on the borders of a huge swamp, the road here being 
 blockaded by trees. Before the pioneers cleared and repaired 
 the road, the brigade passed over. Stripped of all encum- 
 brances the command moved briskly forward, four miles, and 
 occupied Springfield without opposition. Here turned in and 
 awaited the arrival of the column. 
 
 Springfield is the county seat of Effingham county, proba- 
 
1 72 1 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 bly twenty-five miles from Savannah; a small, (lingy-looking 
 place among the swamps. The citizens — mainly women — had 
 buried many valuables in the yards, but the soldiers exhumed 
 them. Fine dishes, silver spoons, articles of clothing, and 
 other things too numerous to mention, were carried off by the 
 boys. One man dressed himself up as a lady — his toilet 
 rather rudely "performed." 
 
 A member of the 105th entered a doctor's office in quest of 
 some improved liquors, of which he was passionately fond. 
 He unwittingly seized upon a bottle marked " Vinum Anti- 
 monia" (wine of antimony, an emetic), taking it for a supe- 
 rior quality of wine. In the ardor of self-congratulation at 
 his success, he immediately partook of the precious fluid. 
 But alas, for the infelicitous effects of vinum antimony — as a 
 beverage — upon the human organism, ere many moments 
 " Jonah" was heaved out on dry land. 
 
 Remained in camp throughout the day on the 8th. Dur- 
 ing this pause the foragers and "bummers" had an interest- 
 ing time looking over the country and overhauling " other 
 folks' things." Several miles away, a dwelling, well stocked 
 with household effects, among which was a piano-forte and 
 a large collection of books, became the scene of spoliation. 
 The foragers from the 105th found it deserted by its occu- 
 pants, and full of men ransacking the rooms, drawers, and 
 scattering the books and pictures about the floors, and even 
 in the yard. This is what war brings alike to the innocent 
 and the guilty. 
 
 At sundown the regiment and brigade fell into the rear of 
 the column, and, amid the glare of burning buildings, moved 
 slowly out of town. After a wearisome, jogging march all 
 night and after broad day-light, paused fifteen minutes for 
 breakfast. Cannonading heard in the night in the direction 
 of the river. 
 
 On the 9th the column was on the road, moving along all 
 day and until late in the night ; no sleep for forty hours. The 
 advance of the corps captured two small earthworks, located 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 
 
 several miles north of the railroad. Works defended by four 
 hundred men, with three pieces of artillery. 
 
 The first brigade in advance on the 10th, the 105th at the 
 head of the brigade. Marched up to within four and a half 
 miles of Savannah, meeting the enemy's pickets before the 
 defences around the city. The brigade was immediately 
 deployed in the line on the right of the main pike and near 
 the Savannah and Charleston Railroad, the 105th holding a 
 position on the right of the line in the brigade. There was 
 some fighting on the right by the troops of the seventeenth 
 corps. 
 
 The march was concluded on the 26th day out from Atlanta. 
 The siege of Savannah commenced, lasting ten days. 
 
 On the 11th and 12th the regiment shifted its position 
 twice during the establishment of the lines. 
 
 The Second Division, Fifteenth Corps, charged and cap- 
 tured Fort McAllister, with all its men and armament, on the 
 13th, thus opening a base at the mouth of the Ogeechee river, 
 in Ossabaw Sound. Official notice of the capture, and con- 
 sequent opening of communication with the national fleet, 
 was received along the lines on the 15th. 
 
 On the 16th and 17th the regiment threw up a heavy line 
 of works, and on the night of the 20th a line was thrown up 
 on the skirmish line. On the night of the 18th Captain J. S. 
 Forsythe, Company II, in charge of ten men, was sent out 
 on a reconnoissance to ascertain the position of the enemy in 
 front of the brigade. He proceeded to within twenty yards 
 of the enemy's lines, encountering a deep swamp. He ob- 
 served their fires and heard them talk ; after drawing their 
 fire, he returned with his party, having accomplished all that 
 was desired. 
 
 No casualties occurred in the 105th while laying before the 
 city. The enemy kept their guns at work, and occasionally 
 a shell would burst over the camp, the missiles scattering 
 among the boys ; but no one was hurt. 
 
 During the march several men were missing. Captain Geo. 
 
I. 
 
 1741 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 A. Bender, Company I, was wounded in the back and ankle 
 severely, while working on the railroad between Chattahoo- 
 chee river and Atlanta, on the 15th of November. 
 
 While before the city the army subsisted on rice and stale 
 fresh beef — a rather slim diet. The former was taken from 
 mills in large quantities and hulled by the soldiers. 
 
 As the army was about to make a general assault upon the 
 defenses, the enemy evacuated the city, and in the words of 
 the editor of the daily (Savannah) Republican, it was surren- 
 dered to "a magnanimous foe." The army entered the city 
 on the 21st inst. 
 
 A large amount of cotton, hundreds of guns, and other 
 property, fell into the hands of the national authorities with 
 the fall of Savannah. 
 
 The troops, in ecstacies over the victorious culmination of 
 the campaign, left their entrenchments early Wednesday even- 
 ing, the 21st, and marched forward to behold their capture — 
 Savannah ! 
 
 The first brigade was assigned to a pleasant camping ground 
 in the western suburbs of the city, on the 21st, and there the 
 105th rested until the beginning of the campaign of the 
 Carolinas. 
 
 The spirit of speculation Avas rife during the first days of 
 the occupation by the national troops. Soldiers from all reg- 
 iments were to be seen on the sidewalks, and even in the 
 middle of the streets, trafficking in tobacco and other articles 
 which had been easily obtained in the confusion incident to 
 the transfer of the city to national authority. Greenbacks 
 rose suddenly in Savannah, Fair damsels sat at their windows, 
 with sweet corn bread and biscuits, for greenbacks, and little 
 rebel boys paraded the streets with cigars, for greenbacks. 
 The greenback fever was communicated to the various camps, 
 and the soldiers — especially the "bummers" — fell to playing 
 "chuckaluck" for greenbacks. In a few days a general order 
 had to be issued restraining the excessive indulgence in 
 " chuckaluck," etc. 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. ,175 
 
 Confederate cuiTency went down immediately, and the 
 citizens of Savannah sold their share of it at a great discount, 
 for greenbacks, to those who desired to purchase for relics or 
 novelty. Some parted with it reluctantly, evidently still be- 
 ing fondly joined to their idols. 
 
 At the close of the campaign. Major Brown, who had 
 commanded the regiment, complimented the officers and men 
 for their good conduct throughout ; their rapid and steady 
 marching; their willingness to facilitate the passage of the 
 teams over the roads, and for the alacrity with which they 
 responded to all details. 
 
 On the 26th of December, orders were received to prepare 
 for another campaign. A little curious to know which point 
 they were to " go for" next, the officers and men set about 
 the work of preparation promptly. They easily pursuaded 
 themselves that the rebellious soil of South Carolina would 
 be their next field of operations ; and they were elated with 
 the idea of punishing that constitutionally hot-tempered 
 region. 
 
 The first brigade Avas reviewed on the 29th of December 
 by Colonel Smith, of the 102d Illinois, commanding tempo- 
 rarily. The Twentieth Corps was reviewed by General Sher- 
 man on the 30th, in the streets of Savannah. 
 
 On the morning of the 31st the third division left camp, 
 crossed the river to Hutchinson Island, opposite the city, and 
 immediately proceeded to the channel, about a mile distant, 
 next to the South Caralina side. The weather was unfavor- 
 able — the low ground and muddy roads rendering it imprac- 
 ticable to proceed with the work of pontooning, the channel 
 being broad and the waters boisterous. The second and third 
 brigades Avere ordered back to town to remain until operations 
 for crossing could be resumed as soon as the weather would 
 admit. The first brigade remained on the island. A few 
 shots were exchanged with Wheeler's men, who were on the 
 other side. A man in Company A, Corporal Spafford E. 
 Deford, was mortally wounded and died the next day. This 
 
17t\ HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 1 
 
 was the first fatal thrust from South Carolina. A gun Avas 
 planted, and a few shells sent over, when the boys had the 
 satisfaction of witnessing a stampede of rebel cavalry. 
 
 The entrance of the new year, 1865, into the annals of 
 time, and the entrance of the first brigade into the State of 
 South Carolina, came together. January 1st, the brigade 
 crossed from Hutchinson Island to the South Carolina side, 
 in small boats and barges ; proceeded some five or six miles 
 into the country, and camped at a fine but deserted place of 
 a Dr. Cheever, formly a wealthy South Carolinan. The doctor 
 (now deceased) had realized as high as $700,000 annually on 
 his rice plantation through which the brigade marched. The 
 mansion is a very large two-story gothic, and elaborately fin- 
 ished. Many of the plants and shrubs remain — fitting re- 
 minders of former elegance and refinement. Brigade head- 
 quarters were situated here. Major Brown, commanding the 
 105th, used the overseer's house for regimental headquarters 
 — a building of no mean pretensions, even for an overseer. 
 All the other buildings were pulled down for wood. 
 
 While encamped near Cheever's farm, the good Chaplaiii 
 of the 105th, Daniel Chapman, resigned, January 8th, and 
 left for his home. On the 10th the regiment shifted its position 
 in order to enjoy better grounds and more room than was 
 possible in the old fortifications. On the night of the 16th, a 
 wagon-load of shell oysters, fresh from the coast, was issued to 
 the regiment. On the ITtli the division moved on and occupied 
 Hardeeville, a point twenty milles from Savannah, on the 
 Charleston and Savannah Railroad. While here the troops 
 were treated to four days incessant rain. On the 20th the 
 camp of the 105th was so nearly inundated that it became 
 necessary to move it. At this place the regiment received 
 one hundred and forty-three new Springfield guns with 
 accoutrements, which were distributed among all the companies. 
 
 Captain Martin V. Allen Company E, was honorably dis- 
 charged, January 20th 1865, on account of wounds received 
 before Atlanta. 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. ' 177 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel Dutton, Surgeon Waterman and 
 Lieutenant John Ellis, Company K, arrived on the 22d from 
 the North, where they had been on L;ave. The Lieutenant 
 Colonel brought through two large boxes and several valises 
 of articles from the friends of the regiment, which were received 
 with great satisfaction ; much credit being due that officer for 
 their safe arrival to these apparently godless regions. 
 
 At Hardeeville, Lieutenant Colonel Dutton relieved Major 
 Brown. In this new and dangerous march the fine military 
 abilities of the Lieutenant Colonel were particularly desirable, 
 and his characteristic dash, coupled with the coolness and 
 fidelity of the Major, Avas worthy of the good cause for Avhich 
 it Avas being exercised. 
 
 The last drill of the First brigade came off on the 25th of 
 January, while at Hardeeville. Here the boys of the various 
 regiments joined in the Avork of burning more buildings. A 
 church edifice was destroyed by fire. 
 
 On the 29th, the troops moved for Robertsville, the Third 
 division in rear of the First. Marched rapidly about fifteen 
 miles, camping at sundown. On the 30th a five-mile march 
 brought the command to Robertsville, Avhere it turned into 
 camp at noon. 
 
 Finally, from Robertsville, the grand movement commenced 
 in earnest. After remaining at that place two days, the 
 Twentieth Corps "launched out" further into the native 
 regions of" Secessia," on the morning of February 2, 1865. 
 In the order of march the Army of the Tennessee, Fifteenth 
 and SeA^enteenth Corps, were on the right, the Army of Georgia, 
 Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps, on the left, and the Cavalry 
 Corps still further to the left. The Corps moved on roads 
 parallel with each other, in five columns. 
 
 The troops set out with the feeling that, inasmuch as more 
 campaigning and raiding was necessary to close up the rebel- 
 lion, they Avere rejoiced to knoAV that South Carolina was to 
 be the field of operations, and they resolved that she should 
 be pretty thoroughly overhauled, and that rebellion should, 
 23 
 
178 HISTORY or DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 soon " play out " all around. The "bummers" especially, 
 resolved themselves into a " committee of the whole on the 
 State of South Carolina," and determined to " go it on their 
 own hook," as they did through Georgia — only more so. 
 
 On the morning of the 2d, the Twentieth Corps moved 
 forward, the 105th regiment in advance of the column. The 
 regiment soon run against rebels. At two o'clock afternoon, 
 as the column was approaching the smalltown of Lawtonville, 
 the advanced two companies was suddenly fired into by a strong 
 force of Wheeler's cavalry. Immediately two more companies 
 of the 105th were deployed as skirmishers and advanced, but 
 the enemy being found strongly posted behind barricades and 
 a line of thick woods bordering a marshy creek, the entire 
 regiment, together with two companies from the 129th Illinois, 
 on its left, was deployed and Lieutenant Colonel Dutton in 
 charge, ordered to advance. With the other regiments of the 
 brigade in supporting distance, the skirmishers deliberately 
 advanced across the open fields on either side of the road, 
 under a heavy fire, driving the enemy out of his works to the 
 suburbs of the town. The skirmishers kept up a sharp fire at 
 the rebels as they advanced, and by a slight wheel to the right 
 and another advance on the run, through the swamp and 
 timber, in which was a dense growth of underbrush and running 
 vines, the enemy's position was flanked and the rebels driven 
 through, and a mile beyond the town. Some artillery was 
 used Avith good efl"ect. 
 
 This fight was almost wholly made by the 105th. The 
 advance was conducted with order and decision, and of course 
 with success. The regiment and the two additional companies 
 deployed, made a line about one-fourth mile in length, 
 which as it coolly moved forward, firing, presented the appear- 
 ance of men going through the evolutions of skirmish drill. 
 There were eight casualties in the regiment, and six men had 
 their clothes pierced with bullets. Colonel Dutton and 
 Lieutenant Melvin Smith, commanding* Company F, were 
 p,mong the lucky ones who were simply wounded in the clothes. 
 
 J 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND PIFTH. 
 
 several of the enemy's dead were left in the hands of the 
 egiment or brigade, and it was ascertained that several more, 
 nth their wounded, were carried off by them. 
 
 It was afterwards learned that the whole of Wheeler's rebel 
 avalry, three or four thousand, were posted at Lawtonville, 
 nd that they were determined to stoutly resist the passage of 
 ur troops at the swamp near the town. The enemy retreated 
 uring the night, while the First brigade camped on the famous 
 ittle battle-field of Lawtonville. 
 
 The march was resumed in the morning at 10 o'clock, the 
 egiment in the rear of column. Beyond the town a large 
 nd elegant dwelling was passed. The house was splendidly 
 urnished with rich carpets, a library of books, piano forte, 
 nd furniture of the number one kind. The grounds were 
 lid out tastefully and highly ornamented with various kinds 
 f shrubbery. This was the property of a rebel officer, and 
 ad been the headquarters of the rebel General Wheeler. Ere 
 lie rear of the column had arrived it was discovered that the 
 ouse was on fire. It seems it had been fired in accordance 
 ^ith orders given by proper authority. 
 
 The column proceeded on the Barnwell road, nine miles, 
 ,nd camped at Crossroads. 
 
 On the 4th moved ten miles. Good weather, country 
 igher ; well supplied with water. Forage in abundance, 
 ^he foragers and "bummers" in high spirits. All the country 
 or a space of about sixty miles being overrun by the army 
 s it sweeps on. The boys bring into camp at night, bacon, 
 weet potatoes — or " yams" — chicken, fresh pork, molasses, 
 utter, and many other eatables. The " bummers" help 
 hemselves to any kind of valuables within reach, people 
 urying their jewelry, watches, money, etc. 
 
 Sunday, 5th February. — Weather delightfully clear and 
 aild. The first brigade moved out in advance of division, 
 ;uarding wagon train. Proceeded ten miles, camping near 
 ifteenth corps. Better country. 
 
 On the 6th, weather cloudy and raining. Moved out late 
 
I 
 
 180| HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 1 
 in the morning. Crossed Combahee river, passing through 
 rebel fortifications, from whence the fifteenth corps had driven 
 the rebels. 
 
 Private Jenkins, of Company I, with a comrade from an- 
 other regiment, while foraging, moved ahead of the column, 
 and at sundown found themselves very near the camp of 
 the rebel General Wheeler. Having been unsuccessful forag- 
 ing, they determined not to return to camp without some 
 trophy. A rebel Lieutenant and Sergeant having rode out 
 of their camp, came near the boys, who demanded their sur- 
 render. With' reluctance- they complied, were made to di.s- 
 mount and deliver up their revolvers and sabres. Jenkins 
 and his comrads mounted their horses, requiring the "John- 
 nies" to walk into the "Yankee" camp, which they did in 
 " good order." This was a " feather in Jenkins' cap." 
 
 On the 8th the command reached the Charleston and 
 Augusta railroad near Grahams, captured two prisoners and 
 destroyed the track, heating many of the rails red hot and 
 winding them around the trees. 
 
 On moved our boys, weary but triumphant, through vary- 
 ing weather, cold, stormy and sleety on one day, mild and 
 charming with the beauties of a southern spring on the 
 next. We passed through Williston February 11th, forded 
 the icy cold South Edisto river on the 12th, near which 
 Lieutenant John Ellis of Company C, while in charge of a 
 foraging party captured three rebel soldiers. The 14th and 
 15th the rain froze as it fell, making most uncomfortable 
 marching and wretched camping. The brigade also met with 
 some resistance from the retreating enemy. We camped in 
 sight of Columbia, the capitolof South Carolina, on the 16th, 
 and after some cannonading and skirmishing, passed the city 
 on the ITth, the army burning a portion of it. 
 
 The whole surface of the country seemed on fire and the 
 smoke was dense enough to be uncomfortable. Crossed the 
 Saluda river on a pontoon bridge on the 18th, and were 
 stationed as a guard to protect the pontooneers until the 
 
 J 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. /181 
 
 bridge was removed. By this time our bummers were elegantly 
 arrayed in broadcloths and satin, and marched in carriages 
 more or less elegant, drawn by confiscated steeds. Happy 
 bummers ! Scouring the country in advance of and around 
 the army they formed a protective force of real service in 
 furnishing information and preventing attack. Reached 
 Broad river on Sunday, the 19th; and here orders were receiv- 
 ed to prepare for a continuation of the campaign for forty 
 days. All unnecessary baggage must be thrown aside, and 
 even the wall tents abandoned. Reluctantly the boys unbur- 
 dened their wagons, loaded with captured valuables, and the 
 wagons subsequently carried only army supplies. 
 
 The troops had now worn out their shoes, and many were 
 hatless, ragged, barefoot and dirty too, for the soap had 
 become exhausted. "Forty days more," and "what will Old 
 Billy do when the soles of our feet give out too?" was the 
 question, but they soon recovered from their dissatisfaction 
 and moved on jolly and contented. We guarded the pon- 
 tooneers at Broad river ; and marehed all of the night of the 
 20th, arriving at Winnsboro, where we passed in review before 
 Generals Sherman and Slocum. The 105th led the advance 
 on the 22d, encountering Butters rebel cavalry and driving 
 them. Private Fisher, of Company B, here captured a pris- 
 oner with two horses and equipments. General Sherman was 
 at our division headquarters to-day, and while there received 
 ncAvs of the capture of Charleston. Crossed the Wateree 
 river at midnight and were thoroughly drenched with a shower. 
 
 On the 24th we passed over a wretched corduroy road, 
 which had been built by our pioneers from small pines that 
 worked the mud beneath into a batter which gushed up in 
 fountains as our mules drew the heavy wagons over their 
 rough surfaces. 
 
 Right here let us give due credit to these faithful dumb 
 brutes — unhonored heroes whose toils, lacerations and star- 
 vations were so seldom thought of, yet whose services were 
 as indispensable as our own, and whose bones lie bleaching on 
 
182 I HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 all of the battle fields of the South, together with those of 
 our own comrades. 
 
 On the 25th Captain Culver with his foraging party dashed 
 into Lancaster, fifteen miles aside from our column — the first 
 to enter that city. He secured a large supply of dried fruit 
 and other luxuries. We camped for a day at Hanging Eock 
 waiting for the Fourteenth Corps to come up the river. This 
 Rock was so named from the fact that the British here hung 
 six American soldiers after one of the battles of the Revolution. 
 Hard marching for the next week ; from ten to seventeen 
 miles a day, much of it being done in the night. On the 4th 
 of March we crossed intoNorthCarolina, and rested on Sunday, 
 at Colonel Allston's plantation, where we Avere delighted with 
 the luxury of a supply of soft soap. On the 9th, reached a 
 country devoted to the manufacture of tar and turpentine — a 
 wilderness of lofty pines. Immense quantities of this material 
 were set on fire, and huge columns of black smoke rising from 
 the forests told that lava-like stream of tar or rosin were 
 burning like the emissions of a volcano. On the 9th a heavy 
 thunderstorm — a muddy stream forded and no fresh provisions, 
 — for the first time since we left Robertsville, we lived on hard 
 bread. On the 11th the 105th was detailed to work on the 
 road, and several miles were corduroyed. In camp at Fay- 
 etteville on the 12th, and from here we sent letters home and 
 were reviewed by General Sherman, passing through and 
 camping a short distance out. On the 16th we fought the 
 battle of Averysboro ; the day was stormy, the roads terribly 
 muddy. We started early on our march, and before noon 
 the troops encountered a large force of the enemy within a few 
 miles of Averysboro, when at he engagement tookplace. The 
 First brigade was deployed on the left of the forces engaged, 
 the left wing of the 105th, under Captain Forsyth e, being 
 deployed as skirmishers in front of the brigade, while the right 
 remained in column in rear of the left of the brigade. An 
 advance was immediately made, under heavy skirmish fire, for 
 about five hundred yards to the enemy's works, when a charge 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 183 
 
 ivas ordered ; at the sanie time the right wing of the 105th, 
 mder Lieutenant Colonel Dutton, was ordered to the extreme 
 eft and forward to protect the flank and strengthen the skir- 
 nish line. It moved as directed with alacrity, and cut oiF 
 irom retreat and captured a twelve-pounder Napoleon gun, 
 ivhich the Colonel, with some of his gallant men, turned on 
 :he enemy, giving him half a dozen shots in his disordered and 
 retreating ranks. The works were charged and carried in 
 splendid style, when the line halted till other troops were 
 wrought to connect with the left, prior to another advance. 
 When the brigade advanced again, the 105th moved in the 
 iecond line, the whole line pressing up within one hundred 
 md fifty yards of the enemy's main line of works, under a 
 tieavy fire of small arms and cannon. Here the regiment and 
 brigade bivouacked during the remainder of the day and night, 
 throwing up a line of works during a rain storm. The battle 
 on the right was successfully waged, and in the night the 
 enemy retreated — well whipped. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel Dutton, assisted by Major Brown and 
 Adjutant Chandler, was equal to every emergency. Captain 
 Forsythe handled the skirmish line with admirable success, 
 and the line ofiicers and men displayed their usual courage 
 and fidelity. Adjutant Chandler had the front of his hat torn 
 
 by a bullet, narrowly escaping with his life. 
 
 The regiment lost six killed and sixteen wounded, according 
 to Lieutenant Colonel Button's report. Among the former 
 was the gallant Orderly, Linus Holcomb of Company A, 
 Captain G. B. Heath, whose life gradually ebbed aAvay after 
 he was brought from the gory battle-field. 
 
 Surgeon Waterman again had his hands full, in caring for 
 the wounded. His skill was measured by the sad duties of 
 the hour, and not found wanting. 
 
 In a large dwelling in rear of the field where the brigade 
 fought, a hospital was located, where the wounded were being 
 dressed. There were numerous amputations — the yard being 
 strewn with legs and arms ; and the dead and dying were 
 lying around — a dreadful wreck of human forms. 
 
184 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. ^ 
 
 The casualties in the division numbered two hundred and 
 fifty-six : First brigade eighty-three ; Second brigade, fifty ; 
 Third brigade one hundred and twenty-three. The loss of 
 the evening was heavy. The troops buried one hundred of 
 the rebel killed. 
 
 Before the battle a party of thirty foragers from the 105tli, 
 preceding the column, charged on one of the enemy's earth- 
 works, driving him out and killing one man — a very creditable 
 affair. 
 
 The regiment did their duty nobly, and in token of their 
 gallantry at this point and in the Atlanta campaign, Colonel 
 Dutton their commander, received from the President the 
 appointment of Brigadier General by brevet, the appointment 
 dating from the date of the battle. 
 
 On the 19th the battle of Bentonville occurred at which 
 we were assigned position on the left. We threw up earth- 
 works in double-quick time, but the attack was made on the 
 night, and our line was not assaulted. The rebels were 
 defeated with fearful slaughter. 
 
 Resumed our march on the 22d and crossed the Neuse 
 river on the next day. Here we met General Terry's eastern , 
 troops, whining because they had been Avithout communication 
 and no mail for a week. We consoled them by telling them 
 we had been in the same condition fifty-one days. 
 
 We arrived at Goldsboro on the 24th, and our long march 
 for the time was ended. Wc had marched five hundred 
 miles in fifty-five days, resting only six days ; had crossed 
 twelve large rivers and numerous smaller streams. The 
 foragers of our regiment had captured, on the march, twenty 
 tons of meat, ten tons of flour, and sweet potatoes, with other 
 luxuries, to an extent that cannot be estimated. All of the 
 officers with their men by turns participated in the work of 
 foraging. 
 
 At Goldsboro the regiment was newly equipped, and that 
 portion of "Sherman's greasers" as the eastern troops 
 contemptuously called us, put on a better appearance. The 
 
OF SOMONAUK. 
 
 tllii-a^ii lUIi.i-ij-aphinj lo.Chieac". 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 
 
 "bummers" who were flush of funds having "cramped" 
 watches, jeweh-y, and money during the raid, donned the best 
 attire and patronized the sutlers' shops extensively. 
 
 On the 29th, and again on the 5th of April, parties of our 
 regiment were sent on foraging expeditions, taking forage 
 from within two miles of the fortified lines of the enemy, but 
 losing several men captured and one killed. 
 
 On the 6th of April news was received of the capture of 
 Richmond, and the joy of our boys may be more easily 
 imagined than described. 
 
 On the 10th we found another campaign begun. We moved 
 to Smithfield, where the surrender of Lee's army was 
 announced. We were after Johnston's army, and on the 13th 
 we reached Raleigh in the pursuit. Here reports were circu- 
 lated of Johnston's surrender, and amid the joyful excitement 
 came the heart-rending tidings of the assassination of President 
 Lincoln. 
 
 On the 22d the twentieth Corps were reviewed in Raleigh, 
 and on the 14th it became known that Johnston had surren- 
 dered his army upon terms that were not approved by the 
 President, and that we were about to " go for " " Johnston's 
 Johnnies " again. Next day we marched thirteen miles on 
 the road to Holly Springs, but on the day foltowing wc 
 remained in camp, as Grant and Sherman had gone forward 
 to meet the rebel General and have a new conference. On 
 the 24th we joyfully marched back to Raleigh, elated with the 
 assurance that Grant's negotiations had been successful — that 
 satisfactory terms of surrender had been made — arid that the 
 great war Avas substantially at an end. 
 
 Now " On to Richmond." 
 
 We marched gaily along, blessed with warm, bright beautiful 
 weather, pleasantly greeted by the people on the route, full 
 of gratification at the glorious termination of the war. 
 
 AVe pass Williamsborough, cross the Roanoke into Virginia, 
 cross again the Meherin and the Nottaway rivers, and on the 
 9th of May rested a day, two miles from Richmond. On the 
 24 
 
186 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 llth we passed through Richmond ; well treated by the 
 people. On the 12th crossed the Chickahominy swamp ; on 
 the 14th, crossed the Little and North Anna rivers, and 
 received orders to burn no more fences. The young daughters 
 of the Old Dominion greeted us with waving handkerchiefs, 
 and the colored people were everywhere jubilant. On the 
 15th, we camped on the Chancellorsville battle ground where 
 human bones and skulls lay bleaching in the sun. 
 
 On the 17th we were near Manassas Junction, and on the 
 18th passed through Fairfax Station, crossing the far-famed 
 Bull Run, a broad shallow stream of pure water with a hard 
 gravelly bottom. On the 19th camped three miles from 
 Alexandria where we remained till on the 24th, we took part 
 in the grand military pageant at Washington. Here Major 
 Brown, Captain Church, and Assistant Surgeon Beggs joined 
 the regiment, having been absent on leave and detached 
 service. 
 
 The army of the Potomac was reviewed by the President 
 and Cabinet on the 23d, and General Sherman's army on the 
 24th, the streets lined with immense crowds of people who 
 greeted us with constant cheers and waving handkerchiefs. 
 The Washington papers especially, commended the drill of the 
 105th, and the ladies favored us with a shower of boquets. 
 We camped four miles out of the city until the 6th, euj. 
 ploying our time in visiting Washington, and on the 7th of 
 June, 1865, were mustered out of service. 
 
 On the 8th we took cars for Chicago, arriving at Pittsburg 
 about 2 A. M., where we were met by a brass band and a 
 committee of citizens, escorted to the City Hall and entertained 
 with ample refreshments. Generous, thoughtful Pittsburg ; 
 long will you be remembered for your kindness to the war 
 worn and weary. What a contrast we met in Chicago. We 
 arrived at the same hour. It was dark and raining ; no one 
 met us or could tell where we were to go. The officers Avere 
 in a train behind, and Sergeant-Major Whitlock, who found 
 himself the ranking officer, could not find a place to put his 
 
 4 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 
 
 men. They could not be admitted to the Soldiers' Home, to 
 the Barracks, nor anywhere. The officers soon arrived and 
 found that no notice had been taken of their telegram advising 
 the coming of the regiment. The boys "adjourned" to the 
 Illinois Central Depot where a friendly policeman suiFered 
 them to lie on the floor 'till morning. Then we started for 
 the dirty barracks, to which we were finally ordered, at Camp 
 Fry. As we marched through the same streets through which 
 three years before we had gone out one thousand strong — our 
 regiment now reduced to hardly half that number, was ordered 
 off the side-walk into the streets by the police. The policemen 
 were pushed aside with hearty soldierly denunciations of all 
 policemen and Chicago generally. 
 
 At Camp Fry we were detained by Paymaster Maybourn 
 .intil June 17th, when as each company was paid it left the 
 barracks immediately. 
 
 The warm welcome which we all received as we reached 
 our homes did much to remove the unfavorable impression 
 produced by the shameful treatment that we met in Chicago. 
 
18 8 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 One Hundred and Fifth Infantry Regiment. 
 
 THREE YEARS' SERVICE. 
 
 NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF. 
 
 SERGEANT MAJORS. 
 
 David D. Chandler, De Kalb, Promoted Adjutant. ' 
 
 Jonathan G. Vallette, Milton, Discharged July 0, 1804, fo aeeept commis- 
 sion in Vol. Service. 
 Ogden Whittack, Milton, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Q. M. SEUGEANTS. 
 
 George W. Burpee, Rockford. 
 
 Henry W. Kellogg, Mayfield, Mustered out June 7, 18G5. 
 
 COMMISSARY SERGEANT. 
 
 Clinton Beach, AVinfield, Promoted 1st Lieut, and Q. M., in U. S. Colored 
 Troops. 
 
 HOSPITAL STEWARDS. 
 
 George W. Beggs, Naperville, Promoted Assistant Surgeon. 
 Simon Dockstader, Sycamore, Discharged April 8, 18G3. 
 John B. Belfarge, De Kalb, Mustered out June 7, 1805. 
 
 PRINCIPAL MUSICIANS. 
 
 Monll Fuller, Du Page county. Mustered out June 7, 1805. 
 Walter Van Vetzger, Du Page county. Mustered out June 7, 1805. 
 ENLISTED MEN OF COMPANY "A." 
 
 FIRST SERGEANT. 
 
 William R. Thomas, Sycamore, Promoted 2d Lieutenant. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 Linns Holcomb. Sycamore, 1st Serg't. Died March 10, 1805; wounds 
 Alonzo E. Carr, Genoa, Transferred July 25, 1864. 
 Henry H. Slater, Geneva, Promoted 1st Lieutenant. 
 
 Chfiuncey E. Sixbury, Sycamore, M. 0. June 7, 1865, as 1st Serg't. Cora. 
 2d Lieut., but not mustered. 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 Menzo AV. Garnet, Sycamore, Captured March 11. 1865. 
 Henry W. Kellogg, Mayfield, Promoted Q. M. Sergeant. 
 Wentworth Leveright, Mayfield, Mustered out June 7, 1865, as Private. 
 Dewitt C. Green, Genoa, Discharged May 10, 1865, as Serg't ; wounds. 
 Simon Dockstader, Sycamore, Promoted Hospital Steward. 
 Oscar C. Churchill, De Kalb county. Discharged April 25, 1865. 
 Jared J. Burdict, De Kalb county. Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 Reuben J. Holcomb, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, 1865, as Serg't. 
 

 THE OiNTE HUNDRED AND FIPTII. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Allen Cenjamin, Geneva, Discharged July IG, 1803 ; Ji.sabilKy. 
 
 Allard William A., .Sycamore, Died at Dallas, Ga., May 29, 18G4; wounds. 
 
 Buck William, De Kalb, Discharged Feb. IG, 1863 ; disability. 
 
 Black Mirium, Pampas, Mustered out .June 7, 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Bowers Hiram W., Batavia, Mustered out .June 7, 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Bailey John S., Genoa, Died Oct. 2, 18G2 ; wounds. 
 
 Burroughs James H., Genoa, Died, New Albany, Tnd., Dec. 24, 1862. 
 
 <'hurch Samuel, Genoa, Mustered out June 7, 1865 ; was pris. 
 
 Carr Patrick, Sycamore, Discharged Jan. 19, 1863 ; disability. 
 
 Clieesbro Oliver B., Pampas, Discharged May 5, 1865 ; wounds. 
 
 (Jarr Edwin, Mayfield, Mustered out .June 7, 1865. 
 
 Cummins Warren, Mustered out .lune 7, 1865. 
 
 Canady David N., Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Culver .Jeft'erson 11., Pampas, Discharged Jan. 19, 18(J3 ; disabilit}-. 
 
 Deford Spafford P>,., Pampas, Died Jan. 1, 1865 ; wounds, 
 
 Donaghue Patrick, ICi/igston, Mustered out .June 21, 1865. 
 
 Dennis Seorge W., Jr., Mayfield, Discharged May 1, 1863; disability. 
 
 Easha Joseph, liingston, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Goble Elias, Mayfield, Died, South Tunnel, T., Dec. 21, 1862. 
 
 Goble John J., Mayfield, Mustered out June 7, 1865, as Serg'i. 
 
 Goble William H., Mayfield, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Gregory Cozier, Genoa, Discharged Feb. 22, 1863 ; disability. 
 
 Ilarsha Eugene K., Pampas, Mustered out .June 7, 1865. 
 
 Hutchinson Nicholas A., Genoa, Discharged Sept. 30; wounds. 
 
 Hathaway Harrison, Pampas, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Howe George E., Mayfield, Died, Chattanooga, Aug. 15, 1861; wounds. 
 
 Hendrick Nelson F., De Kalb, Mustered out June 14. 1865. 
 
 Hollenback Alfred S., Genoa, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Holcomb Oscar, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 Jellison Alexander M., Genoa, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 Jones Charles L., Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 .Johnson Chauncey, Sycamore, Mustered out .June 7, 1865. 
 
 Kellogg Herman A., Sycamore, Mustered out .June 7, 1865. 
 
 Kunyler Jean, Kingston, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 King Lucius A., Pampas, Mustered out .June 7, 1865. 
 
 Kenyon Henry, Sycamore, Mustered out .June 7, 1865. 
 
 Kane William, Geneva, Discharged Jan. 19, 1863 ; disabilit}'. 
 
 ICesler John, Geneva, Discharged Dec. 7, 1862 ; disability. 
 
 Leonard Patrick, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, 1865, as Corpoml. 
 
 Lewis Myron W., Genoa, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Moyier George, Mayfield, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Moore Philip, Genoa, Mustered out June 7, 1S65. 
 
 Marshall Julian E., Pampas, Died at Bardstown, Ky., Dec. 6, 1862. 
 
 Martin John, Genoa, Discharged May 4, 1863; disability. 
 
 Martin Augustus, Genoa, Discharged Jan. 10, 1863; disability. 
 
 McNaughton William, Genoa, Discharged Dec. 29, 1862; disability. 
 
 Nori'is George E., Sycamore, Discharged -Vpril 8, 1863; disability. 
 
 Ousterhaut Franklin A., Mayfield, Transferred July 25, 1864. 
 
 Olin Nathaniel J., Pampas, Mustered out July 1, 1865. 
 
 Pond Americus H., Genoa. 
 
 Patterson Francis, Mayfield, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Petrie Samuel, Sycamore, Trans, to Eag. Corps, Aug. 15, 1865. 
 
 Pierce James, Genoa, Discharged Dec. 28, 1863; disability. 
 
 Patrick Albert J., Sycamore, absent, sick, at M. 0. of Regiment. 
 
 Phelps James A., Pampas, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
190 \ 
 
 HISTORY OP DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Peters Warren F., Sycamore, Mustered out. June 7, 1865. 
 
 Phelps Edgar M., Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Phelps James M., Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Peary Nehemiah, Genoa, Trans, to Eng. Corps, Aug. H, 1864. 
 
 Palmer Clark, Mayfield, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Patterson George, Genoa, Mustered out .July 8, 1865. 
 
 Robinson Cyrus H., Kingston, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Rhinehart Joseph B., Mayfield, Mustei-ed out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Rodabaugh Samuel H., Genoa, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Raymond Oliver B., Maytield. 
 
 Smith Marvin A., Kingston, INIustered nut June 7, 1865. 
 
 Sraauson John, Pampas, Died Aug. 12, 1864 ; wounds. 
 
 Shaw Cheney L., Pampas, Mustered out .luue 7, 1865, as Serg't. 
 
 Scott Albert, South Grove, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Satford Edward P., Sycamore, Pro. Capt. 14th U. S. C. T., Nov. 1, 1863. 
 
 Settle William H., Genoa, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Schwirk Joseph, Sycamore, Died at Scottsboro, Ala., Dee. 7, 1862. 
 
 Smith Chauncey, Maytield, Discharged Feb. 22, 1868; disability. 
 
 Spanton Thomas, Plato, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 rfeapey James, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Spancell George, Sycamoi-e, Accidentally killed Sept. 10, 1863. 
 
 Smith Ashael C, Genoa, Discharged April 8, 1863; disability. 
 
 Tewksburry Russell B., Sycamore, Discharged April 2, 1863 ; disabilil^^ 
 
 Westbrook Samuel D., Sycamore, Discharged April 8, 1863; disability. 
 
 Watties Sylvinis, Geneva, Died at Chattanooga, Aug. 'J, 1864. 
 
 West Elias C, Geneva, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Wilcox Aziel, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Wright VVentworth, Sycamore, Clustered out June 7, 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Wilson John, South Grove, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Woodward William, South Grove, Discharged Oct. 12, 1862; minor. 
 
 REOEUITS. 
 
 Croft J.ames, Mustered out June 7, 1865. 
 
 Jones George W., ■ Transferred to Co. K, 16th 111. luf. 
 
 Kemp John, Deserted July 10, 1863. 
 
 Rouse William H., Mustered out .lune 7, 1865. 
 
 Settle Oscar D., Pampas, Transferred to ( o. K, I6lh 111. Inf. 
 Weedon Alvin G., Pampas, A^et. reciuit. Tr. to Co. K, 16th 111. Inf. 
 
 L'XDER COOK OF A. I). 
 
 Beard Henry, absent, sick, at M. 0. of Regiment. 
 
 ENLISTED MEN OF COMPANY "C." 
 
 FIRST SERGEANT. 
 
 John AV. Burst, Franklin, Promoted 2d Lieut., then 1st Lieut. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 Charley W. Seidil, Sycamore, Discharged Feb. 14, 1864, to accept promo- 
 tion "in 16th U. S. C. T. 
 
 Charley C. Tubbs, Sycamore, Died, Vining Station, Ga., Aug. 5, 1864. 
 
 Thomas J. Albee. Svcamore, Discharged Feb. 14, 1864, to accept promo- 
 tion in 16th U. S.' C. T. 
 
 George L. Fisher, Sycamore, Disch. April 14. 1863, as Priv. ; disability. 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 William INIcLogan, Sycamore, Deserted Oct. 30, 1862. 
 
 Isaac S. Brundage, Cortland, Pro. 1st Serg't, then 1st Lieut. 
 
 Walter Harvard, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, 1865, as Serg't. 
 
 I 
 I 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. ' 191 
 
 Charlej H. Clark, Sycamore, Died Jau. 1, '(i3. 
 
 Harmon M. Stark, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Uriah Smith, Mayfield, Priv. Absent, sick, at M. 0. of Regioient. 
 
 Marils L. Mason, South Grove, Died, Savannah, Ga., June 10, "Ho; woMs. 
 
 Henry J. Merrill, Sycamore, Disch. April 28, '*Jo, as Serg't ; disability. 
 
 PKIVATES. 
 
 Allen Joseph S., Sycamore, Discharged Dec. 24, '62; disability. 
 
 Atwood Richard W., Sycamore, Corporal. Died at Chattanooga, Tumi., 
 
 June ], '64; wounds. 
 Althen John, Sycamore, absent, wounded, at M. 0. of Regiment. 
 Anlich William C, Sycamore, Discharged March 27, '63; disability. 
 Aarner Oscar, Kingston, Mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Bannister Levi, Pampas, iMustered out June 7, '65. 
 Bebee Charles, Sj'^camore, Mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Bebee Silva, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Barchfield Thomas J., Kingston, Died at South Tunnel, T., Jan. 3, '6.3. 
 Bewley John, Sycamore, Trans, to Co. C, I6th 111. Inf. 
 Burnside Delos, Sycamore, Trans, to Eng. Corps, Aug. 16, '64. 
 Bean David K., Kingston. AVas pris. Died at Chattanooga, Tenn. 
 Bates Stephen, Kingston, Mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Cole Charles W., Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, "65, as Corporal. 
 Courser Myron M.. Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 Clark William C, Sycamore, Deserted Oct. 30, '62. 
 Churchill Andrew J., Sycamore, Died at South Tunnel, T., Jan. I, '63. 
 Cameron William T., Kingston, Discharged .Jan. 11, '63; disability. 
 Collier James H., Mayfield, Discharged April 18, '64; disability. 
 Defield John, Sycauiore, JM. O. May 24. '65, as Musician. 
 l)ecker AVarren, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, "65. 
 Depue Joseph, Sycamore, Discharged Jan. 11, '63; disability. 
 Danberg .John, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Decker AA'illiam, Sycamore, .Mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Davis Edward B., Sycamore, Died at Camp Butler, 111., Oct. 17, '64. 
 Dodge Oscar, Sycauiorc, Mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Francis Stephen D., Pampas, absent, sick, at M. O. of Regiment. 
 Fetterley John AV., Sycamore, Died at Nashville, Tenn.. Feb. 14, '61. 
 Furtioss Herman. Sycamore, .Mustered out.lune 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 Forktier, or Faulkiiej-, ,M., Sycamore, Mustered out Aug. 14, '65. 
 Gardner Andrew .1., Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, "65. 
 (iardner Alonzo, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, '65. 
 tiould AVilliaiu 11., I'ampas, Mustered out June 7, "65. 
 
 tiould George H., Pampas, Corporal. Died, Nashville. Tenn., Nov. 4. "63. 
 Herren AVilliaui, Kingston, Mustered out June 7, 'd'l. 
 Hoffman AVilliam, South Grove, absent, sick, at M. (). of Regiment. 
 Hammond AVilliam W., Sycamore, Discharged Jan. 13, "63, as Corporal; 
 
 disability. 
 Hathaway Johnson, Pampas, Discharged Jan. 4. "63; disability. 
 Howden William A.. Sycamore, Died Nov. 16, '62. 
 Hade Joel AV., Sycamore. Mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 •fohn, or Johnson, Charles. Pampas, Mustered out June 7, '65. as.Corp"l. 
 Jackman Charles D., Sycamore, M. O. June 7, '65, as 1st Sergeant. Com. 
 
 2d Lieut., but not musterefl. 
 Jordan Leonard or Lem., Burlington, Discharged Jau. 16, '6.3 ; disability. 
 Jordan William, Burlington, Transferred to Co. E, 105th 111. Inf. 
 Kelsey John B., Pampas, Discharged Feb. 10, '63; disability. 
 Linderman George P., Cortland, Mustered out May 18, '65. 
 Listy i;harles, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
102 \ HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Lindsay Lyman C, .Sycamore, Mustered out June 12, 'Ho. 
 Malo Samuel, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, ''3o. 
 Morgan Bartholomew, Sycamore, Discharged March 22, '(io : disability 
 Miller William F., Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, '0-3. 
 Mason Seth M., South Grove, Dischar,2;ed Jan. •">, '63; disability. 
 Newell George, South Grove, Died at Shelby ville, Ky., Oct. 2H, '62. 
 Olney John D.. Franklin, Trans, to Eng. Corps, Aug. 10, '04. 
 I'elton Lysander, Sycamore, Mustered out .June 7, '05. 
 Pelton Leander, Sycamore, Discharged March 24. 'Oo ; disability. 
 Russell Ruthven, Cortland, Died at Gallatin, Tenn., Feb. 4, '03. 
 Rose AVilliam H., Sycamore, Wounded at Dallas, Ga., May 27, "01, Sup- 
 posed to be dead. 
 Rowen George W., Kingston, Deserted ALarch 1, '03. 
 Rapps William A., Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, '05. 
 Spohn Darius A., Sycamore, Discharged Dec. 25, '02; disability. 
 Sherman Levi, Kingston, Died at Rowling Green, Kj'., Dec. 3, '()2. 
 Schoolcroft Elinor, De Kalb, Discharged JNLiy 10, '03 : disability. 
 Stow Edwin, Sycamore, Mustered out .June 7, '05. 
 Smitli John, Sycamore, Discharged Feb. D, '05 ; disability. 
 Tliompson Henry B., Burlington, Discharged Jan. 11, '()3 ; disability. 
 Trembly George, Sycamore, Escaped pris. Rep'd at Chattanooga. 
 Trembly Alexander, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, '05, as Corporal. 
 Tibbetts Samuel E., Kingston, .Mustered out June 7, '05, as Sergeant. 
 Thompson Edwin, Sycamore, Clustered out June 7, '05, as Sergeant. 
 Wyllys George D., South Grove, Mustered out June 7, '05. 
 Wright Hiram, Burlington, Died Dec. 21, '03. 
 Wright John, Burlington, Clustered out June 7, '05. 
 Winans Clark A., Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, '05. 
 \V'heeler Lysander, Sycamore, Clustered out June 7, '05, as Sergeant. 
 Wallies Charles W., Kingston, Discharged Feb. 23, '03 ; disability. 
 Warf Henry, Kingston, Mustered out June 7, '05, as Corporal. 
 Welch Peter N., Pampas, Discharged March 23, '05 ; wounds. 
 While John P., Sycamore, Discharged Jan. 14:. '03 ; disability. 
 Worden Martin, South Grove, Died Dec. 23, '02. 
 Weber John, Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, '05. 
 Waldron Isaac H., Sycamore, Mustered out June 7, '05. 
 
 KECKUITS. 
 
 r.rula Edward, Dnnleith, Transferred to Co. C, lOth 111. lul". 
 Decker Mathias, Sycamore, Died July 'J, '04 ; wouuds. 
 
 UNDER COOK OV A. U. 
 
 Goodman Richard S., Mustered out June 7, '05. 
 
 ENLISTED MEN OF COMPANY -E." 
 
 F1R.ST SEEGEANT. 
 
 John II. Swift, Paw Paw, promoted 2d Lieutenant. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 Jonathan R. IMarryatt, Shabbona, promoted 1st Serg't, then 1st Lieut. 
 Thomas George Taylor, Shabbona, accidentally killed, Feb. 15, '04. 
 Thomas J. Pierce, Wyoming, died at Nashville, Tenn., March 3, '04. 
 William 11. 0. Stevens, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '05, as Private. 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 William II. Low, Shabbona, discharged March 23, '08; disability. 
 Jacob Ostrander, Paw Paw, M. 0. June 7, '05, as 1st Serg"t. Com 
 
 2d Lieut., but not mustered. 
 Darius Ilorton, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '05, as Sergeant. 
 
THE ONE IIUNDRE D AKD FIFTH. f 193 
 
 i^illiam E. Grover, Sliabbona, Serg't. Killed at Dallas, Ga., May 27, '04. 
 olin Thonipkins, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65, as Private. 
 >avid N. .Jackson, Shabbona, died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 19, '62- 
 'hauncey Condie, Shabbona, M. 0. June 7, '65, as Private. AVounded 
 ohu Fowler, Shabbona, died at Louisville, Ky., Oct. 27, '62. 
 
 TBIVATES. 
 
 Lmes John, Shabbona, M. 0. June 7, '65, as Corporal. AVounded. 
 
 luderson Augustus, Paw Paw, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 lowker AVilliam, Paw Paw, mustered out June 7, '65. AVounded. 
 
 telden John A., Paw Paw, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Jandfield Benjamin, Paw Paw, discharged Jan. 15, '63 ; disability. 
 
 Jaker Artemus A., Paw Paw, deserted Sept. 2, '62. 
 
 'ook George H., Paw Paw, transferred to Engineer Corps, Aug. 15, '64. 
 
 Iheney Olo D., Paw Paw, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Iross Charles C, Shabbona, died May 28, '64; wounds. 
 
 ;halland Charles, Shabbona, mustered out .June 7, '65. 
 
 ;rim Levi, Shabbona, discharged Jan. 14, '63 ; disability. 
 
 )yas Moses, Shabbona, died at Bowling Green, Ky., Dec. 2, '62. 
 
 )amon Solon AV., Shabbona,' absent, wounded, at M. 0. of Eeginient. 
 
 )amon George H., Shabbona, discharged June 9, '63; disability. 
 
 )avenport AVilliam H., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65, as Coi'poral. 
 
 )avis Albert, Shabbona, discharged Aug. 4, '63 ; disability. 
 
 )ennison .John M., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 >avendorf Augustus, Shabbona, died at Murfreesboro, T., July 10, '63. 
 
 ^ermen James B., Shabbona, mustered out .June 7, '65. I 
 
 ^owler James, Shabbona, discharged March 23, '65 ; disabilify. / 
 
 ^ripps Byron D., Shabbona, discharged April 11, '63; disability. j 
 
 Jlen John, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 lerard George AV., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. , 
 
 Joodyear Nelson, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. ' 
 
 Jriffith Henry S., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65, as Sergeant. ; 
 
 Joodyear Joseph T., Shabbona, died at Bowling Green, I^y., Nov. 21, '62. \ 
 
 lowes Philip, Shabbona, Corporal. Died May 31, '64; wounds. , 
 
 Jamlin John A., Shabbona, died at Gallatin, Tenn., Dec. 10, '62. "j 
 
 linds Austin F., Shabbona, mustered out .June 7, '65. \ 
 
 Jayes John M., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. -V 
 
 larper George C, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. \ 
 
 Junter Ptobert, Shabbona, deserted Jan. 1, '63. 
 
 Jowes Moses, Shabbona, mustered out June 12, '65. 
 
 Jalk Elijah, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 latch Charles, Shabbona, died at Nashville, Tenn., July 14, '64 ; wounds. 
 
 vers Thomas, Shabbona, discharged June 20, '63 ; disability. 
 
 fordan James, Shabbona, M. 0. June 7, '65. AVounded twice. 
 
 vennicott Ira, jr., Shabbona, discharged Jan. 14, '63; disability. 
 
 vilbouru Lyman, Shabbona, killed at Resaca, Ga., May 14, '64. 
 
 velly Daniel A., Shabbona, discharged Dec. 31, '62 ; disability. 
 
 ^anaghan Michael, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 jake Hurbert F., Shabbona, died at Bowling Green, Ky., Dec. 30, '62. 
 
 janders Ebenezer, Shabbona, mustered out June 14, '65. 
 
 liamkins Josiah B., Shabbona, deserted Nov. 21, '62. 
 
 liamkins Sidney G., Shabbona, died at Louisville, Ky., Oct. 29, '62. 
 
 Morrison AVilliam, Shabbona, killed near Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 5, '64. 
 
 VIorrison George, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Vlinnihan Michael, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65, as Sergeant. 
 
 VluUins John, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65 ; wounded. 
 
 Merwin Samuel, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 25 
 
\ 
 
 194 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Mott Jacob, Shabbona, died at Louisville, Ky., Aug. 5, '64; wounds. 
 
 Morey Hiram, Shabbona, mustered out .June 7, '65. 
 
 Matteson Egbert J., Shabbona, died at Louisville, Ky., Nov. 19, '62. 
 
 McCormick Thomas, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 McCormick John, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Marble Edmund D., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 McClymonds Thos. G., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 McFarland John, Shabbona, died at Frankfort, Ky., Oct. 27, '62. 
 
 McFarland Walter S., Shabbona, discharged June 17, '63; disability. 
 
 Norton Sidney, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Nicholson Patrick, Shabbona, deserted Sept. 2. '62. 
 
 Nicholson John, Shabbona, died at Chicago, Sept. 29, '62. 
 
 Newton Charles W., rihabbona, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 JNichols Hamilton, Shabbona, mustered out .June 7, '65. 
 
 Pattee Albion, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65 ; wounded. 
 
 Perkins John, Shabbona, mustered out .June 7, '65, as Sergeant. 
 
 Palm David, Shabbona, died at Bowling Green, Ky., Dec. 2, '62. 
 
 Randall Chai-les W., Shabbona, died at Nashville, Tenn., March 1, '64. 
 
 Simpson Seela, Shabbona, killed near Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 5, '64. 
 
 Scott Miles, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Sutliff John H., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65; wounded. 
 
 Spaulding .James, Shabbona, mustered out June 7. '65. 
 
 Swanson Charles J., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65, as (Corpora!. 
 
 Sherrill Aaron E., Shabbona, died at Giillatin, Tenn., March 3, '63. 
 
 Stansbury Tishe, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Vanpatten Abram, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 Watson Robert T., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Watson William, jr., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Wright William, Shabbona, died May 25, '64 ; wounds. 
 
 Wilson Alfred B., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 RECRUITS. 
 
 Alford Martin S., Shabbona, transferred to Co. A, 16th 111. Inf. 
 Donaldson Reuben, Shabbona, transferred to Co. A, 16th 111. Inf. 
 Donaldson Russell, Shabbona, transferred to Co. A, I6th 111. Inf. 
 Edmonds John, Shabbona, transferred to Co. A, 16th 111. luf. 
 Ellis Josiah, Shabbona, transferred to Co. A, 16th 111. Inf. 
 Ford Lyman W., Shabbona, transferred to Co. A, 16th 111. Inf. 
 Harper Andrew G., Chicago, transferred to Co. A, 16th 111. luf 
 
 Jordan William, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 McCooley John, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Sherwood Theodore J., Shabbona, transferred to Co. A, 16th 111. Inf. 
 
 Williams George, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 ENLISTED MEN OF COMPANY "G." 
 
 FIRST SERGEANT. 
 
 Hiram S. Harrington, Franklin, promoted 2d Lieutenant. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 William S. Taylor, Sycamore, discharged Feb. 19, '63; disability. 
 
 John M. Schoenmaker, Franklin, discharged for promotion as 1st Lieut'| 
 
 inU. S. C. T., June 27, '64. 
 Samuel H. Williamson, Flora, promoted 1st Serg't, then 1st Lieut. 
 John T. Becker, South Grove, commissioned 1st Lieut., but not mustered 
 
 M. 0. May 26, '65, as 1st Serg't. Wounded. 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 Henry Romyen, Tecumseh, Mich., discharged July 6, '64, for promotiol 
 as Capt. in U. S. Col. Troops. 
 
THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. '^ 195 
 
 DeForest P. Bennett, Monroe, discharged Aug. 4, '63 ; disability, 
 rohn Fox, Franklin, discharged March 17, '63; disability, 
 rames R. Williamson, Flora, M. 0. June 7, '65, as Sergeant; wounded. 
 rVilliam C. Fay, Squaw Grove, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 i*arker M. Banks, Franklin, mustered out June 7, '65, as Serg't ; wounded. 
 Vesley Witter, Monroe, died at Flora, 111., Dec. 25, '62. 
 rames Hasburg, Burlington, commissioned 2d Lieut., but not mustered. 
 M. 0. June 7, '65, as Sergeant. 
 
 MUSICIAN. 
 
 Samuel ('. Perry, Burlington, died at Cincinnati, 0% Dec. 28, '62. 
 
 PEIVATES. 
 
 3urpee George W., Rockford, promoted Quartermaster Sergeant. 
 Banks Benjamin F., Franklin, discharged April 10, '65; wounds. 
 Barker Anson B., Burlington, died at Bowling Green, Ky., Dec. 4, '64. 
 Barker William L., South Grove, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 Bradbui'n Nathan E., Burlington, transferred to Eng. Corps, July 25, '64, 
 Bock William, Burlington, died at Gallatin, Tenn., March 27, '63. 
 Baker Richard A., Squaw Grove, discharged March 30, '63, to enlist in 
 
 Miss. Marine Brigade. 
 Burbig Theodore, Belvidere, mustered out June 7, '65 ; wounded. 
 Barber William H., Malta, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 Bennett William S., Franklin, died at Gallatin, Tenn., March 24, '63. 
 Barnard John, Hampshire, mustered out June 7, '65, 
 Ilaspares Nathan S., Franklin, died at Nashville, Tenn., June 10, '63. 
 I!ostar Melvin, Squaw Grove, died at Bowling Green, Ky., Dec. 12, '62. 
 jalkins Allen S., Burlington, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 "ollins George W., Plato, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 Carlisle Hiram, Burlington, died at Bowling Green, Ky., Dec. 6, '62. 
 21ine Henry, Franklin, died at Gallatin Tenn., Dec. 22, '62. 
 J/asterline Andrew J,, Franklin, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 -hapman Charles W., Burlington, discharged Jan. 12, '63; disability. 
 r^ougle William A., Virgil, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Davenport .James, De Kalb, transferred to Invalid Corps, July 13, '64. 
 Davis Egbert V., Burlington, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Dean Charles E., Franklin, mustered out .June 7, '65. 
 Early Henry, Squaw Grove, discharged .Jan. 11, '63; disability. 
 Ellis Linneaus, Virgil, mustered out June 7, '65 ; wounded. 
 Eddy William H. L., Burlington, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 Fritz Christopher, Franklin, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Foss William L., Franklin, killed near Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 16, '64. 
 Fish Daniel W., Burlington, discharged Dec. 14, '62; disability. 
 Gorham Danford, Franklin, died at Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 18, '64. 
 Gibson Emory M., South Grove, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Gordon George N., Monroe, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Holdridge Daniel, Burlington, M. 0. .June 7, '65, as Corporal ; wounded. 
 Hinsdale William, Squaw Grove, absent, sick, at M. 0. of Regiment. 
 Ingalls William N., Burlington, died at Gallatin, Tenn., Dec. 13, '62. 
 Jones Francis A., Franklin, mustered out June 7, '65 ; wounded. 
 Lusher Anstice, Franklin, died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 22, '62. 
 McKee Alfred R., Flora, died at Gallatin, Tenn., Dec. 18, '62. 
 Miller Lester I., Monroe, supposed killed May 15, '64. 
 Moon Curtis P., Franklin, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Miller John H., mustered ©ut June 7, '65. 
 
 Miller Charles M., died at Chattanooga, June 17, '64 ; wounds. 
 
 Mack Walter S., Franklin, mustered out .June 7, '65. 
 
 Morgan Harvey M., Burlington, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 
196 
 
 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 McLelland William P., Burlington, discharged March 11, 'G3, to enlist in 
 
 Miss. Marine Brigade. 
 McLelland George W., Burlington, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Maltby Charles A., Burlington, transferred to Invalid ('orps, Oct. 20, '04; 
 
 wounded. 
 Patten Byron A., South Grove, discharged June 12, 'G5 ; wounds. 
 Planty Julius, Hampshire, transferred to Eng. Corps, July 25, 'fi4. 
 Perry Myron C, Burlington, mustered out June 7, 'G5. 
 Pritchard Hiram F., South Grove, mustered out June 7, 'G5. 
 Simmons William H., Sycamore, discharged Feb. 7, '63 ; disability. 
 Strawn Charles A., Franklin, mustered out June 7, '65 ; wounded 
 Southard Daniel R., Franklin, deserted Oct. 29, '62. Since enlisted in 
 
 14th in. Cav. 
 Samis Elijah, Burlington, died at Gallatin, Tenn., Dec. 6, '62. 
 Sylvester Lewis, Squaw Grove, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Stoker .lohn T., Gridley, died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 23, '62. 
 Smith William M., Burlington, discharged July 9, '()4, to accept promotion 
 
 as 2d Lieut, in 114th U. S. C. T. 
 Strub Peter, Pampas, absent, sick, at M. 0. of Regiment. 
 Thomas Samuel K., South Grove, discharged Feb. 19, '63 ; disability. 
 Taplin Orville H., Flora, mustered out June 7, '65; wounded. 
 Thomas David E., Franklin, mustered out .June 7, '65. 
 Wylde Thomas W., Franklin, discharged March 17, '63; disability. 
 Williams Charles W., Squaw Grove, M. 0. June 7, '65, Corp'l. Wounded 
 Wylke Herman, Franklin, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 AVilliamson Thomas E., Flora, M. 0. June 7, '65, as Serg't; wounded. 
 Young Martin, Burlington, died at South Tunnell, T.. July 11, '63. 
 
 RECRUITS. 
 
 Hapgood Julian W., mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Haller Gabriel, Flora, mustered out .June 7, '65. 
 
 Strawn Joseph H., Sycamore, killed at Peach T. Creek, July 20, 64. 
 
 Witler Oliver P., M. 0. June 7, '65 ; wounded twice. 
 
 UNDER COOKS OF A. D. 
 
 Battie Bird, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Battie Mat, absent, sick, at M. 0. of Regiment. 
 
 ENLISTED MEN OF COMPANY "H." 
 
 FIRST SERGEANT. 
 
 Walter B. Walker, Sandwich, discharged Sept. 30, '62 ; disabilit}'. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 Harvey Potter, Somonauk, promoted 2d Lieut., then 1st Lieut. 
 
 George Dean, Asbury, mustered out .June 7, '65, as 1st Sergeant. Com| 
 
 2d Lieut., but not mustered. 
 Wallace W. Moore, Freeland, discharged May 5, '65 ; wounds. 
 Frank H. Cole, Somonauk, promoted 1st Serg't, then 1st Lieut. 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 \. G. White, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65, as Sergeant. 
 Allen Edgerly, Sandwich, mustered out .June 7, '65, as Sergeant 
 Isaac Scoggin, Asbury, mustered out June 7, '65, as Sergeant. 
 Joseph P. Fulton, Freeland, appointed Hospital Steward U. S. A. 
 Israel S. Clark, Somonauk, mustered out June 7, '65, as Private. 
 Jesse L. Gage, Sandwich, died Aug. 12, '64; wounds. 
 Andrew A. Beveridge, Sandwich, discharged Dec. 18, '62; disability. 
 Thomas Mason, Sandwich, discharged Sept. 28, for promotion. 
 
1 
 
 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 r5aker Thornton, Sandwich, discharged Jan. 4, '63 ; disability. 
 
 Blackwood Robert C, Victor, died at Gallatin, Tenn., Feb. 22, 'Go. 
 
 ]?rown Robert, Freeland, mustered out June 7, '05. 
 
 Bishop Warren F., Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65 ; wounded. 
 
 liullock Rutson J., Victor, discharged Jan. 10, '63 ; disability. 
 
 Blackwood William, Sandwich, transferred to Eng. Corps. Aug. 14, "64. 
 
 Breeoher .Jacob, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 Coon H J., Freeland, discharged Jan. 13, '63 ; disability. 
 
 Corke James, Asbury, mustered out. June 7, '65. 
 
 Corke Jesse, Asbury, discharged Feb. — , '63 ; disability. 
 
 Carpenter Henry, Squaw Grove, absent, sick, at M. 0. of Regiment. 
 
 ('arr, H. H., Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Davis David, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Devine Michael, Freeland, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Fames Mott V., Sandwich, Corporal. Trans, to V. R. C, Jan. 2, '65. 
 
 Fckhart Lewis, Clinton, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Fish W. J. M., Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Forsyth Andrew G., Somonauk, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 Ferguson Robert, Freeland, transferred to Eng. Corps, Aug. 15, '64. 
 
 Freeland E. K., Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Gurnsey Samuel, Sandwich, died at South Tunnel, Tenn., Dec. 27, '62. 
 
 Graves William H., Sandwich, died at South Tunnel, Tenn., Dec. 29, '62. 
 
 Grear A. L., Asbury, killed at Peach T. Creek, July 20, '64. 
 
 Graham, Andrew H., Freeland, mustered out June 7, '65, as Sergeant. 
 
 Husted Peter, Sandwich, mustered out July 3, '65. 
 
 Howard James A., Somonauk, mustered out Oct. 9, '65. 
 
 Henry .John V., Somonauk, discharged March 28, '64, for promotion R. 
 Q. M., 17th 111. Cav. 
 
 Hamlin Almon, Sandwich, Sergeant. Transferred to V. R. C, May 15, 
 '64, on account of wounds. 
 
 Hall Zera W., Sandwich, died at Gallatin, Tenn., March 28, '63. 
 
 Hall Harlow, Sandwich, mustered out May 19, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 Hall William T., Sandwich, discharged Dec. 4, '62 ; disability. 
 
 Harrington George, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Kirkpatrick R. D., Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 Kirkpatrick M. C, Sandwich, discharged April 16, '63; disability. 
 
 Kirtland Jerome, Sandwich, absent, wounded, at M. 0. of Regiment. 
 
 King Michael, Saadwich, died at Louisville, Ky., Nov. 15, '63. 
 
 Redder H. E., Sandwich, died at Louisville, Ky., July 8, '63. 
 
 Lamb Stillman C. Sandwich, discharged May 21, '63 ; disability. 
 
 Mills Benjamin, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Morgan E. H., Sandwich, discharged May 20, '64; disabilily. 
 
 McCauley M., Sandwich, discharged Nov. 4, '64 ; wounds. 
 
 McBride Samuel, Sandwich, discharged April 24, '63 ; disability. 
 
 Martin David, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Mitten Samuel, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Miles Joseph, Sandwich, discharged March 5, '63 , disability. 
 
 Mead Jonathan, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Merwin George B., Sandwich, mustered out .June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 McAllister William J., Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Miller William, Sandwich, transferred to V. R. C, Jan. 2, '65. 
 
 Nichols George, Sandwich, mustered out June 21, '65. 
 
 Poplin Jesse F., Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65 ; wounded. 
 
 Piatt David, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Rogers Stephen, Sandwich, discharged .June 15, '64 ; wounds. 
 
 Riddle C. B., Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
¥ 
 
 198 \ 
 
 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Rumsey Robert, Sandwich, discharged May 9, 'G5 ; wounds. 
 
 Samples Nelson, Sandwich, deserted Sept. 8, '62. Enlisted in Cavalrj"^ 
 
 deserted. Was arrested and shot. 
 Springer Thomas, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 Smith Stephen, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Skinner Eldridge, Sandwich, M. 0. June 7, '65, as Corporal: wounded. 
 Schroder William, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Stall J. W., Sandwich, discharged Feb. 3, '63 ; disability. 
 Smith Isaac, Sandwich, mustered out .lune 1, '65 ; pris. war. 
 Stevens A. V., Sandwich, died at Bowling Green, Ky., Dec. 18, '62. 
 Tomlin George, 'Sandwich, discharged Oct. 18, '64, as Corp'l; disability. 
 Tracy Charles, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Wells Leonard B., Sandwich, mustered out .June 7, '65. 
 Woodward R., Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 AVhilmore Charles W., Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Wagner Homer A.. Sandwich, discharged Feb. 6, '63 ; disability. 
 AVhite William C, Sandwich, mustered out .June 7, '65. 
 Wilcox 0. A., Sandwich, discharpjed April 17, '63 ; disability. 
 Wright Carter E., Sandwich, mustered out jVIay 20, '65. 
 
 Burgin .Jesse, Victor, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Taylor Samuel, Gallatin, Tenn., transferred to Co. C, 16th 111. Inf. 
 
 UNDER COOK OF A. D. 
 
 Polk Peter, Nashville, Tenn., mustered out June 7, '65. 
 ENLISTED MEN OF COMPANY " K."' 
 
 FIRST SERGEANT. 
 
 John Ellis, Clinton, promoted 2d Lieut., then 1st Lieut. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 Emerson T. Knights, De Kalb, 1st Serg't. Died at Gallatin, Feb. 28, '63 
 George G. Congdon, Clinton, discharged March 25, '63 ; disability. 
 Charles H. Salisbury, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, "65, as 1st Sergean^ 
 
 Com. 2d Lieut., but not mustered. 
 Joel A. Gleason, Clinton, mustered out June 7, '65, 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 Truman Pritchard, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65, as Sergeant. 
 .Jerome Perry Clinton, M. 0. .June 7, '65, as Sergeant ; wounded. 
 Albert H. Rolph, De Kalb, discharged Dec. 2, '63, as 1st Sergeant. 
 Byron S. Barnes, Clinton, mustered out .June 7, '65, as Private. 
 Fordys A. Gates, Pierce, died at Gallatin, Tenn., Feb. 13, '63. 
 Almon M. Ingalls, Clinton, mustered out June 7, '65, as Sergeant. 
 Wilbur Earl, Afton, mustered out June 7, '65, as Private. 
 Delano M. Williams, Clinton, discharged Jan. 3, '63; disability. 
 
 MUSICIANS. 
 
 Elijah Fields, Clinton, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Thomas Green, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 WAGONER. 
 
 William B. Aldrich, De Kalb, discharged Dec. 21, '62 ; disability. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Almberg Andrew, De Kalb, absent, sick, at 'M. O. of Regiment. 
 Akerman August, Clinton, mustered out .lune 7, '65. 
 Alford Buell G., Clinton, absent, sick, at INI. 0. of Regiment. 
 Albert Henry, Afton, mustered out June 7. "65. 
 

 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 199 
 
 Allen ira, Clinton, transferred to Eng. Corps, July 2, '04. 
 Bathrick Byron, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Bowerman Freeman, Milan, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Belfrage John B., De Kalb, promoted Hospital Steward. 
 Chandler David D., De Kalb, promoted Sergeant Major. 
 Carlton Ezra D., De Kalb, discha.rged Jan. 30, 62 ; disability. 
 Carlton David H., De Kalb, mustered ®ut June 14, '65. 
 Cardell John, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Campbell James W., De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Duffy Christopher, Clinton, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 Dunbar Eugene W., De Kalb, discharged April 24, '63 ; disability. 
 Denison Eugene R., Afton. mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 Duffy Joseph, Afton, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Dunbar Solomon T., De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65 ; wounded. 
 Elliott Charles, Afton, killed at Kenesaw Mt., June 22, '64. 
 Eaton Joseph R., De Kalb, died at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 16, '62. 
 Foote Ebenezer, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Flanders Charles M., Clinton, discharged April 11, '63; disability. 
 Fullerton C. Taylor, Clinton, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Gamble Alexander, De Kalb, died at South Tunnel, Tenn., Feb. 3, '63. 
 Gardner Horace, Clinton, M. 0. June 7, '65 ; wounded twice. 
 Garlock Joseph W., Afton, transferred to Miss. Mar. Brig., Jan. 19, '63. 
 Green John A., Victor, discharged June 3, '65 ; wounds, 
 (lihson James, Clinton, died at Kingston, June 1, '64 ; wounds. 
 Hayman Alexander, Afton, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Houghton Joseph, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 llawley Matthew S., De Kalb, discharged Jan. 11, '63 ; disability. 
 Hughes Elias, Clinton, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Hall John, Milan, deserted Sept. 10, '62. 
 
 Huffman John, De Kalb, killed at Averysboro, N. C, March 16, '65. 
 Handy Jerome, Clinton, mustered out June 7, '65 ; wounded. 
 Johans John P., Afton, killed at Resaca, May 15, '64. 
 Johnson John, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Kellogg Henry, Clinton, died at Gallatin, Tenn., Dec. 12, '62. 
 Kruetsfield Peter T., Afton, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Kimball Joseph A., Clinton, transferred to V. R. C, March 13, '64. 
 Lindsay Jeremiah B., Malta, deserted Sept. 30, '62. 
 Lamb John E., Victor, absent, wounded, at M. 0. of Regiment. 
 Low James, Ctinton, died nt Gallatin, Tenn., March 3, '63. 
 ■ McCollum Joseph W., De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 Milton George, Milan, killed at Pine Hill. Ga., June 15, '64. 
 Martin J. Wesley, Milan, deserted Sept. 15, '62. 
 McCabe James, De Kalb, discharged March 11, '63 ; disability. 
 Morrill Jonathan M., Clinion, died at South Tunnel, Tenn., Jan. 26, '63. 
 Manning Luke, Clinton, M. 0. June 7, '65; wounded three times. 
 Martin Thomas H., Afton, Corporal. Transfex'red to Eng. Corps, March 
 
 13, '64. 
 Mennis William W.. Clinton, absent, si^;k, at muster-out of Regiment. 
 Nichols Edwin, De Kalb, accidentally killed, June 5, '64. 
 Newton George, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Olverson Lewis, Afton, died March 25, '65; wounds. 
 Parr Edwin, Clinton, discharged Dec. 26, '62 ; disability. 
 Pearson Edward, Clinton, mustered out June 22, '65 ; wounded. 
 Peterson Lewen, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Palquert Liven, Mayfield, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Purcell Ehomas, De Kalb, died at Gallatin, Tenn., April 17, '63. 
 Phillips William H., De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
200 "^ HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Preslon Stephen F., De Kalb, deserted Oct. 29, 'H2. 
 
 Smith Andru.?, Clinton, mustered out June 7, '(35; wounded. 
 
 Seeley Anson, Clinton, discharged May 1-3. '(5-3; cisability. 
 
 Schroeder Charles N., Clinton, transferred to Eng. Corps, July 2, '(34. 
 
 Satford Charles B., Malta, detached at M. 0. of llegiment. 
 
 Scott George H., Afton, mustered out June 7, '(35, as Corporal. 
 
 St. Leger Richard V., Afton, discharged May 15, 'Go ; disability. 
 
 Sullivan John, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '(35. 
 
 Telford Robert, Clinton, discharged Jan. 12, '63 ; disability. 
 
 Tliompson Robert, Do Kalb, discharged March 7, '(35 ; disability. 
 
 Townsend Robert, Milan, mustered out June 7, '65 ; wounded. 
 
 Unvvin Emanuel, Victor, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Wheeler Dempster, De Kalb, killed near JMarietta, Ga., July 3, '61. 
 
 Woodruff" Felix, Victor, discharged June 3, '65. 
 
 Wakefield George W., Clinton, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 Wakefield Horace, (^linton, mustered out June 7, 't>5 ; wounded. 
 
 Walker Robert, Clinton, mustered out June 7, '65, as Corporal 
 
 Whitmore Thomas C, De Kalb, discharged April 24, '63 ; disability. 
 
 Wheeler William, Clinton, mustered out June 7, 'l'>5 ; wounded. 
 
 Wiliberger William H., Clinton, mustered out June 7, '^^), as Corporal. 
 
 Whitmore Silas A., De Kalb, died at Gallatin, Teuu., Feb. 10, '63. 
 
 IIECIIUITS. 
 
 Lamb ("iirtis A., Victor, tranferred to Co. A, I6tli 111. Inf. 
 Pearsons Judson 31., Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 UNDER COOK OF A. D. 
 
 Fisher Wyatt, killed at Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 16, "6-1. 
 
 ROSTER OF OFFICERS. 
 
 Colonel. 
 Daniel Dustin, Sycamore, promoted Brevet Brigadier General, March 16, 
 '65. Mustered out June 7, 'G5. 
 
 Lieutenant Coloneli-. 
 Henry F. Vallette, Naperville, resigned June 18, '64. 
 
 Everell F. Dutton, Sycamore, promoted Brevet Brigadier General, March 
 16, '65. Mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Majors. 
 
 Everell F. Dutton, Sycamore, promoted. 
 
 Henry D. Brown, Sycamore, mustered out June J, "65. 
 
 Adjutantn. 
 William N. Phillips, AVayne, resigned Dec. 2, "62. 
 David D. Chandler, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Quartermastc?-. 
 Timothy AVells, Sycamore, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Surffcons, 
 
 Horace S. Potter, Chicago, killed in baitle, June 2, 61. 
 Alfred Waterman. Wiirrenville, mustered out June 7, 65. 
 
 lirst Assistajit Surgeons. 
 Alfred Waterman, Warrenville, promoted. 
 George W. Beggs, Naperville, mustered out June 7, 'Go. 
 
 Second Assistant Surgeoii. 
 George AV. Beggs, Naperville, promoted. 
 

 THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH. 201 
 
 Chaplains. 
 Levi P. Crawford, Saiidwicli, resigned December 24, '62. 
 
 Daniel Chapman, resigned January 8, '65. 
 
 COMPANY "A."— ftyjdaww. 
 Henry D. Brown, Sycamore, promoted Major. 
 George B. Heath, Sycamore, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 First Lieutenants. 
 George B. Heath, Sycamore, promoted. 
 Henry H. Slater, Genoa, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Second Lieutenants. 
 Robert D. Lord, Genoa, resigned December 17, '62. 
 
 W. Robert Thomas, Sycamore, promoted, by Pres., A. A. G., July 15, '61. 
 Chauncfy E. Sixbury, Sycamore, mustered out as Sergeant June 7, '65. 
 
 COMPANY ''C."— Captains. 
 Alexander L. Warner, Sycamore, resigned February 17, '63. 
 Seorge W. Field, Sycamore, resigned July 11, '63. 
 Charles G. Culver, Sandwich, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 First Lieutenants. 
 George W. Field, Sycamore, promoted. 
 Ilenry B. Mason, Sycamore, resigned September 6, '63. 
 John W. Burst, Franklin, honorably discharged October 19, '^1. 
 Isaac S. Brundage, Cortland, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Second Lieutenants. 
 Henry B. Mason, Sycamore, promoted. 
 John W. Burst, Franklin, promoted. 
 Charles D. Jackman, Sycamore, mustered out as Sergeant June 7, '65. 
 
 COMPANY '"'E^."— Captains. 
 Thomas S. Terry, S'labbona, resigned March 16, 63. 
 Marvin V. Allen, S.jd,bbona, honorably discharged January 20, '65. 
 
 First Lieutenants. 
 Marvin V. Allen, Shabbona, promoted. 
 
 Albert C. Overton, Shabbona, honorably discharged August 13, '64. 
 Jonathan D. Marryott, Shabbona, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Second Lieutenants. 
 Albert C. Overton, Shabbona, promoted. 
 John H. Swift, Paw Paw, resigned March 16, '64. 
 Jacob Ostrander, Paw Paw, mustered out as Sergeant June 7, '65, 
 
 COMPANY " G."— Captains. 
 John B. Nash, Franklin, resigned July 17, '64. 
 
 John M. Smith, Burlington, honorably discharged as 1st Lieutenant De- 
 cember 24, '64. 
 Samuel H. Williamson, Flora, commission returned. Canceled. 
 
 First Lieutenants. 
 Richard R. Woodruff, Sycamore, resigned December 24, '02. 
 John i\I. Smith, Burlington, promoted. 
 Samuel H. Williamson, Flora, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 John T. Becker, South Grove, mustered out as 1st Sergeant May 26, '65. 
 
 Second Lieutenants. 
 John jM. Smith, Burlington, promoted. 
 Hiram S. Harrington, Franklin, resigned August 2, '63. 
 James S. Hasburgh, Burlington, mustered out as Sergeant June 7, 't'5. 
 26 
 
202 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 COMPANY ''B.r— Captains. 
 Eli L. Hunt, Sandwich, resigned December 17, '62. 
 James S. Forsythe, Somonauk, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 First Lieutenants. 
 James S. Forsythe, Somonauk, promoted. 
 Charles G. Culver, Sandwich, promoted Captain Company C. 
 Harvey Potter, Ashbury, resigned August 17, '64. 
 Frank H. Cole, Somonauk, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 Second Lieutenants. 
 Charles G. Culver, Sandwich, promoted. 
 Harvey Potter, Ashbury, promoted. 
 George W. Dean, Freeland, mustered out as Sergeant June 7, '65. 
 
 COMPANY ''¥.."— Captains. 
 Horace Austin, De Kalb, resigned November 26, '62. 
 Nathan S. Greenwood. Clinton, resigned December 2, '62. 
 Almon F. Parke, De Kalb, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 
 First Lieutenants. 
 Nathan S. Greenwood, Clinton, promoted. 
 Almon F. Parke, De Kalb, promoted. 
 John Ellis, Clinton, mustered out June 7, '65. 
 Second Lieutenants. 
 Almon F. Parke, De Kalb, promoted. 
 John Ellis, Clinton, promoted. 
 Charles H. Saulsbury, De Kalb, mustered out as Sergeant June 7, '65. 
 
1 
 
 Eighth Illinois Cavalry. 
 
\ 
 
 EIGHTH TLLTNOTS CAVALRY. 
 
 When the defeat of the Union armies, at the first battle of 
 Bull Run, in July, 1861, had shown the loyal men of the 
 north that the rebellion was far more stupendous in its power 
 than had at first been supposed, and the first soldiers enlisted 
 for three months, and whose time was expiring, were preparing 
 to return home, the country became roused to the necessity 
 of renewed exertions, and prepared to recruit an army of 
 greater magnitude and more thorough organization. The 
 Hon. John F. Farnsworth repaired to Washington, and ob- 
 tained permission to recruit a cavalry regiment of 1200 men 
 for the three years' service. 
 
 The military authorities heretofore had discouraged the 
 raising of cavalry, but the successes of the Rebel Black Horse 
 Cavalry had shown their necessity, and a few regiments were 
 rather reluctantly authorized. No sooner had Col. Farns- 
 worth received this permission than the young men of this 
 section of the country hastened to join it. Applications for 
 commissions to raise companies poured in, and Col. Farnsworth 
 remarked that, if permitted, he could raise a brigade in a 
 month. Capt. Lorenzo II. Whitney, of Kingston, in De Kalb 
 County, first had a company at the rendezvous, where they 
 took quarters, at the Howard House, St. Charles. 
 
 The limits of this work do not admit of a detailed account 
 of the experience of the regiment at Camp Kane, St. Charles, 
 its first rendezvous, — of the kind attention to our needs of 
 
206 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY, 
 
 the ladies of the place, of the meetings and the speeches, of 
 the destruction of rum shops, the drills and the discipline. 
 
 On the 18th of September, 1861, the regiment was mus- 
 tered into the United States service, after a very insufficient 
 surgical examination. Nearly all were received, but if a rigid 
 examination had been made, according to army regulations, a 
 great deal of suiFering would have been avoided, and the 
 Government would have been saved a great expense. They 
 were a very intelligent class of men, capable of performing 
 any labor; could build railroads, run mills, build wagons, 
 carriages, bridges, "run'' newspapers, or labor in the depart- 
 ments of any of the professions, and in the fine arts. Most 
 of their accomplishments proved useful in the course of their 
 career ; but many of them were too old, many too feeble, and 
 many too young, to endure the hardships incident to the sol- 
 dier's life. 
 
 On the 14th of October, 1861, the regiment marched to 
 Geneva, and took cars for the seat of war about Washington ; 
 the horses had been sent on a few days previously, in charge 
 of Maj. Beveridge. On all the long journey to Washington 
 our passing train was greeted with shouts and cheers, and 
 waving handkerchiefs, until we arrived in Maryland ; there, 
 all was sullenness and gloom. We had an especially warm 
 welcome at Pittsburg, and a bountiful collation given us, in a 
 spirit of kindness that will long be remembered. Arriving 
 at Washington, on the morning of the 18th of October, we 
 found the whole country about, covered with camps; and at 
 the Soldiers' Rest we were furnished with refreshments, as 
 were all other newly arrived regiments. As we marched up 
 Pennsylvania Avenue, past the White House, President Lin- 
 coln, who stood upon its piazza, remarked: "There goes 
 Farnsworth's big Abolition Regiment," — a name by which 
 we were always after known. 
 
 We went into camp on Meridian Hill, two miles north of 
 the White House, after having lost our Avay and marched till 
 almost exhausted, and there awaited for many weeks a supply 
 
THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY 207 
 
 of arms. There was a good deal of sickness, owing to tha 
 marked change in our mode of life and the unfavorable season 
 of the year. 
 
 Around Washington Gen. McClellan had now collected the 
 largest army that had ever been brought together upon this 
 continent, and the country became clamorous because it lay 
 inactive, while the rebels were almost surrounding Washington. 
 
 On the 21st of October we heard the cannon and even the 
 musketry of the battle of Ball's Bluif, in which a portion of 
 our army suffered a disastrous defeat ; and we wondered much 
 that this should have been permitted while an hundred thou- 
 sand troops lay idle within hearing distance. 
 
 Grand reviews of tens of thousands of troops were of con- 
 stant occurrence, but still there was no advance upon the 
 enemy. Large numbers of our troops fell sick, or were found 
 too infirm from age to endure the hardships of life in camp, 
 and many were discharged and sent home. 
 
 We were brigaded with the 1st Michigan and 4th Pennsyl- 
 vania cavalry, forming the First Brigade of Cavalry in the 
 U. S. A., and we were finally assigned to duty under the 
 noble and much-loved old Gen. Sumner, who had just arrived 
 from California, and been given a command in Virginia, in 
 front of Alexandria; but, not having received arms, we did 
 not move to our newly selected camp until the 13th of Decem- 
 ber. We had then eighty-five sick, but few of them were 
 willing to go to the general hospital, and all who could sit on 
 a horse went with the regiment. 
 
 Thousands of spectators crowded the streets of Washington 
 as we passed through, for such a body of mounted men had 
 never before marched through Washington. Our new equip- 
 ments and our well-fed and well-groomed Western horses made 
 a fine appearance. We had eighty-one army wagons to carry 
 what we then thought were the mere necessaries of life; but 
 before the close of the war we found that twelve were really 
 sufficient, — so little did we then know of the real Life of the 
 soldier. 
 
\ 
 
 208 ' HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Established in camp, our regiment was almost daily called 
 on for detachments to do escort duty, and during the fine 
 Aveather our life was very pleasant ; but after the festivities of 
 Christmas the rain fell in torrents, the red clay soil became 
 knee-deep with half-frozen mud, the tents, some of which had 
 umvisely been dug below the surface to give a greater height 
 within, became saturated with water; sickness began to in- 
 crease, and our discomforts seemed unendurable. During 
 January more than five hundred of our boys were on the sick 
 list, mostly from typho-malarial fever, and the two comfortless 
 hospital tents being over-crowded, many were sent to the 
 General Hospital at Alexandria, where several died. 
 
 About a mile from camp was a handsome mansion, owned 
 by a rebel, but occupied by another family. This we finally 
 took forcible possession of, and it made us an excellent hospital. 
 
 On the 24th of January permission Avas obtained to move 
 the regiment to Alexandria, and shelter it in the vacant houses; 
 abandoned by the "secesh," while our horses could be quar- 
 tered in deserted foundries. This Avas a great improvement, 
 both for our OAvn safety and for our horses, who, left shelter- 
 less upon the open country, had suffered more than we, and 
 it Avas really necessary to prevent our destruction by disease. 
 
 We noAV began to live in greater comfort, but our regiment 
 Avas far from popular among the secesh of Alexandria, or Avith 
 Gen. ^Montgomery, a superannuated old army officer, who Avas 
 Military Governor of the city, and a great favorite Avith the 
 rebels of the city, especially the ladies. But there were many 
 cood, earnest Union men and Avomen in the city, who Avere 
 Avarmly our friends, although not popular at Montgomery's 
 headquarters. 
 
 On Sunday, February 9th, Capt. Elon G. Farnsworth, of 
 our regiment, — a member of the Episcopal Church, — was at- 
 tending worship with some of our men, when he discovered 
 that the secessionist clergyman, Stewart, omitted the prayers 
 for the President. He arose and demanded that they be read 
 as usual, and, on refusal, he arrested the clergyman in 
 
 i 
 
\ 
 
m yiiT=LA\,mijTre:imiD). 
 
 Cliica^o Lithoei-aphin^ Co, Chicago. 
 
\ 
 
 THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 209 
 
 pulpit, and took him to headquarters. Gen. Montgomery, of 
 course, released him. 
 
 Petty difficulties were constantly arising between our regi- 
 ment and the Military Governor, who was trying the concilia- 
 tory policy with the rebels, and he endeavored to have us, 
 who had come to fight rebels, removed from the city. The 
 Union people of the city, however, were anxious that we 
 : should remain, and in token of their good will they formally 
 ] presented us with a beautiful silken banner, the presentation 
 i being made the occasion for numerous friendly speeches. 
 
 There was evidently no prospect of an advance of the army 
 before spring, but frequent scouting parties of our regiment 
 were sent out, in which we generally exchanged shots with 
 the rebels, and captured some of them. 
 
 On the 19th of March the long inaction of the army was 
 ended, and we were ordered to advance upon the enemy. We 
 started at five o'clock, and marched in the cold rain nineteen 
 miles upon that day. The movements of our vast army, as 
 from some favorable height we occasionally caught sight of it, 
 was a spirit-stirring spectacle, and at night its thousands of 
 camp-fires, lighting up the country as far as the eye could 
 reach, was beautiful indeed. Next morning we moved forward 
 to Langster's Station, and there learned that the enemy had 
 evacuated Manassas, and retreated toward Richmond. March- 
 ing on to Bull Run, on the 12th, we found abundant evidence 
 of the hasty retreat of the enemy, — their burned wagons and 
 camp equipage being strown around. 
 
 A portion of our regiment was now ordered to Gen. How- 
 ard's command, another portion to Gen. French's, and a part 
 remained to guard the wagon trains at Union Mills. Scout- 
 ing through Centreville, we found its famous fortifications 
 mounted with wooden guns, and the village of Manassas 
 burned to the ground. 
 
 The roads were terrible, and it being found impossible to 
 forward provisions so far in advance, we were moved back to 
 
 Fairfax Station, where we encamped in a grove in the midst 
 
 27 
 
210 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 of a pitiless rain storm. The horses were knee-deep in mud, 
 and without forage. Soon after we were ordered back to 
 Union Mills in the night, and the railroad having been re- 
 paired, so that supplies could be forwarded, the greater part 
 of the regiment remained on the plains of Manassas with Gen. 
 Howard, occupying the deserted rebel huts. Here we re- 
 mained ten days. 
 
 On the 28th we moved forward in advance of a strong re- 
 connoisance under Gen. Howard, and drove a considerable 
 force of rebels, who burned a large quantity of forage and 
 stores to prevent their falling into our hands. We retraced 
 our steps to Warrenton on the next day, and found that our 
 Adjutant, Lumbard, Sergeant Major Raysworth, and three 
 privates of our force, were missing. We moved back over 
 the ground next day in search of them, and found that they 
 had been captured in a house at which they had stopped, after 
 making a lively resistance, in which one of their number was 
 wounded. 
 
 On the 31st scouts came in, reporting the advance of a 
 brigade of rebel cavalry. Our regiment started out to attack 
 them, when, much to our annoyance, they proved to be a party 
 of our own regiment, loaded with bundles of hay. 
 
 April 2d our scouting parties had a lively skirmish with a 
 force of rebels, wounding several of them. Lieut. Hotop, 
 while alone in advance, narrowly escaped capture by a display 
 of great gallantry. 
 
 April 7 th the third battalion of our regiment, under Major 
 Dustin, with five companies of infantry and two pieces of ar- 
 tillery, were ordered forward on a mission which we understood 
 to be a surprise upon the enemy. Col. Lucas was in command 
 of the expedition, but lost his road; and arriving late at the 
 Rappahannock, we drove some rebels across, and threw some 
 shells into their fortifications, scattering them, Avhen we re- 
 turned to our camp in a drenching rain, and with roads almost 
 impassable. 
 
 During the previous two weeks McC'l^Us.ii's grand strategic 
 
N 
 
 THE EiaHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 211 
 
 inovement on Richinond, by way of the peninsula, had com- 
 ;nenced, and we who had been retained as a kind of rear guard 
 livere now ordered back to Alexandria, to embark for the pe- 
 Ijiinsula. 
 
 The march to Alexandria was one of the most difficult in 
 !)ur experience. We were everywhere surrounded by streams 
 hvollen by the long-continued rains till they had become im- 
 passable torrents. The bridge at Cedar Run had been burned 
 by the enemy, but we connected a few floating timbers, so 
 ihat, by unremitting labor, we got our numerous sick men 
 ijicross, and then the regiment was marched to the Junction, 
 vhere the stream was forded with difficulty ; and we proceeded 
 JLS far as Owl Run, which we found could only be crossed by 
 iiwimming. A part had succeeded in gaining the opposite 
 ihore, when Lt. Col. Gramble gave the order to countermarch, 
 LS it was impossible to get our baggage across, and dangerous 
 'or the troops. The scene of a thousand horsemen floundering 
 n the turbid water of a rapid and dangerous stream was one 
 ;;hat we never desired to see again. Back we turned to our 
 I'ormer camp, which we reached as the rain had turned into 
 mow, and in the midst of darkness. To add to our discom- 
 brts, we found that the slight means of shelter which we had 
 ,h(;re provided, by piling up logs, driving stakes and fastening 
 )n them our rubber blankets, had been appropriated by other 
 Iroops, and nothing but destitution greeted us. We built 
 res with difficulty, gathered snow to make coff"ee, and sat up 
 11 night, trying to dry our clothing. Notwithstanding our 
 esperate situation, which was increased by our being short 
 f rations, an universal shout of joy went up when we received 
 the news of the capture of Island No. 10, and we were in- 
 jspired with fresh courage. Next day the storm still raged, 
 jVnd weary and exhausted, with scanty rations and no shelter 
 put our blankets, the horses shivering as if they would fall in 
 ■oieces, our distress was extreme. 
 
 On the 10th we started again, and by another road. After 
 larrowly escaping drowning in Broad Run, we reached the 
 
212 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 old Bull Eun battle-field, but finding that stream still too 
 dangerous to cross, we encamped on that memorable ground, 
 amid the bleaching bones of our fallen braves. Next day, 
 after several abortive efforts to cross, ^e found a rickety 
 bridge, over which we passed, and moving through Centreville 
 and Fairfax C. H., reached Alexandria. It was just one 
 month since we started out, with good health, high spirits and 
 admirable equipments. We had marched hundreds of miles, 
 endured untold hardships, and now returned, jaded and ex- 
 hausted, two hundred less in number. 
 
 In Alexandria we took our old quarters, and commenced 
 to recruit, preparatory to our peninsula campaign. Here we 
 again had difficulty with the new Military Governor, Col. 
 Viele, an abusive, intemperate man, which was ended by Col. 
 Farnsworth ordering his guard to shoot him if he attempted 
 to abuse or interfere with his command. 
 
 On the 24th our regiment embarked for the voyage to the 
 peninsula. Two steamboats, one steam tug, and twenty 
 transports were required for our conveyance, and we made a 
 large fleet by ourselves. Anchoring each night for greater 
 safety, it was not till the 2Tth that we arrived at Shipping 
 Point, our place of disembarkation, where an immense fleet 
 of all kinds of vessels made a scene of life and animation 
 long to be remembered. Our turn to land did not come till 
 the 29th, and was not completed till the 1st of May. The 
 horses were pushed overboard and swam ashore, and the stores 
 and men passed on a dock formed of canal boats. The coun- 
 try was all low, and the water we used came from springs 
 that were overflown at high tide. It was very poor and 
 brackish, and numerous cases of diarrhoea were caused by it 
 among our men. 
 
 The army was now stretched across the narrow peninsula, 
 between the York and James rivers, besie^inof Yorktown. 
 Zior-zag trenches were dug; at night, in which our men lay 
 during the day, and earthworks were constructed at intervals, 
 mounted with heavy guns. The cannonading was constant 
 
\ 
 
 THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. ' 213 
 
 and terrific. We were attached to Gen. Richardson's division, 
 of Sumner's Corps. 
 
 On the morning of May 4th the enemy evacuated York- 
 town, and our regiment was soon in pursuit. We passed 
 amono- their frowning earthworks, where hidden torpedoes, 
 left by the base foe, occasionally exploded, killing and wound- 
 ing some of our army, and where the ground was strewn with 
 overcoats, which our infantry, owing to the heat, had thrown 
 away. Pushing forward over muddy roads, we were formed 
 for battle at Lebanon Church, where our advance cavalry, — 
 a regular regiment under Stoneman, — had been ambushed 
 and repulsed. But we were soon ordered back to make way 
 for artillery and infantry, who engaged the enemy. At night 
 Lebanon Church was full of those of the wounded who had 
 not fallen into the hands of the foe, and our medical staff 
 spent the night in operating on them, the surgeon properly in 
 charge being intoxicated and incapable. 
 
 Next day, May 5th, occurred the famous battle of Wil- 
 liamsburg, in which, after long and desperate fighting, Hook- 
 er's gallant corps, reinforced after long delay by Kearney, 
 drove the enemy from their thickly wooded position, and 
 cleared the way to Richmond. But alas, our advantage was 
 not vigorously followed up. Cavalry not being suited to this 
 battle, we were in the rear. One company was employed in 
 overturning army wagons to permit the advance of Kearney; 
 and in the afternoon we were moved to the right of the line, 
 where the balls from Magruder's batteries came tearing in 
 among us. Hancock's grand charge finally put an end to the 
 fight, and moving back, we encamped for the night. Our 
 horses, without food for two days, were very restive, and, 
 breaking their fastenings, ran frantically about. Every 
 building was filled with wounded, whose shrieks could be heard 
 over the sound of the raging storm. It was a fearful night. 
 
 Early next morning we advanced over the battle-field, 
 among the piles of dead, and occupied Williamsburg. The 
 medical director was without bandages and dressings for the 
 
214 "'v HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 \ 
 
 wounded, the supply not having come up, and was in great 
 distress for want of them. We supplied him from the stores 
 packed for us by the good ladies of St. Charles, and their 
 bounty no doubt saved many valuable lives. Lieutenant and 
 Commissary Chamberlain, and three of our men, were here 
 captured, while out in search of forage, and for years after 
 suffered the horrors of Libby prison. 
 
 The army remained four days inactive, and our regiment 
 was employed in scouting, capturing many prisoners. 
 
 On the 9th we advanced five miles, and were just going 
 into camp when we Avere ordered to the relief of Gen. Stone- 
 man, who, with one regiment, was twenty miles in advance. 
 It was a terribly weary and exhausting night march. 
 
 Next day we moved to New Kent, were divided into two 
 columns, and one under Col. Farnsworth had a sharp skirmish 
 with the enemy, who retreated. The other, under Lieut. Col. 
 Gamble, also encountered the rebels, and drove them, without 
 loss. On the 11th a part of our regiment moved forward, 
 and drew the fire of rebel batteries, and on the 13th reached 
 the "White House," on the Pamunkey. 
 
 The infantry in immense numbers now came up, and Ave 
 moved to Black Creek, where we remained till the 17th, the 
 entire army delayed for want of a bridge over that stream. 
 The West Point engineers had taken a survey of the spot, 
 made a profile view of the structure to be erected, with esti- 
 mates, etc., and had sent this to headquarters for approval. 
 When Col. Farnsworth learned the cause of delay, he went to 
 Gen. Stoneman's headquarters, and learned that several days 
 would yet be consumed in constructing the bridge. "With 
 my Western boys I can build a bridge in six hours," said 
 Col. Farnsworth. "Will you do it?" said Gen. Stoneman; 
 "if you will, take all the men you can use.'' "I want no 
 men but my own regiment," said Col. Farnsworth. 
 
 In two hours and a-half a squad of our 8th Illinois Cavalry 
 had constructed a substantial bridge of logs, over which Ave 
 passed, and soon captured some prisoners. Stoneman's troops 
 
^1 
 
 THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY ^ 215 
 
 followed, and he immediately sent Avord back to Gen. McClel- 
 lan that he Avas beyond Black Creek, and moving on to Rich- 
 mond. The whole army crossed Avithout difficulty, but the 
 engineers^ Avho soon after arrived, Avere incensed because they 
 had not been permitted to construct the bridge according to 
 the rules of their profession. 
 
 On the 19th Ave advanced to Coal Harbor, driving the rebel 
 cavalry before us. The First Battalion, under Major Clen- 
 denin, near here captured eighty-five mules and horses, Avith 
 ten loaded Avagons. Many negroes joined us. The better 
 class of Avhites had fled, and the poorer were so abject and 
 ignorant as to be objects of pity. 
 
 On the 20th the 6th U. S. Cavalry, which had just arrived, 
 took the advance Avhich we had previously held, and, advanc- 
 ing Avithout the precaution of throwing out skirmishers, they 
 were ambushed, and had several killed and Avounded. Our 
 regiment moved forward to the scene of conflict, and encamped 
 at Gaines' Mill. On the 21st Companies E and K had a 
 smart skirmish with the enemy, driving them still nearer to 
 Richmond. On the 23d all advanced with Gen. Smith's di- 
 vision till within six miles of Richmond, when a rebel battery 
 opened on us and scattered shell among us, killing some horses, 
 but fortunately none of our men. One of our batteries came 
 up and silenced the rebel artillery. Our men stood to horse 
 all of that night. 
 
 May 24th occurred the battle of Mechanicsville. This 
 village is five miles from Richmond, a half-mile north of the 
 Chickahominy. The fight was a desperate one, and the little 
 village was almost torn in pieces. Our Second Battalion, 
 under Major Dustin, supported both flanks, and the remainder 
 of the regiment Avere engaged in picket duty. After the rebs 
 were driven across the river, Capt. Rapelje, Avith Company I, 
 performed the perilous task of destroying the bridge by Avhich 
 they crossed. Four of our men chopped ofi" its timbers, and 
 escaped unharmed, although rapidly fired upon by the enemy's 
 sharp-shooters. The First Battalion destroyed a portion of 
 
216 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 the railroad and burned a bridge, and in an encounter with 
 rebel cavalry killed and wounded several. The rebels seemed 
 to fear our carbines, which were more efficient than theirs. 
 
 We were now in sight of Richmond, distant five or six 
 miles, and the Chickahominy was the dividing line between 
 the forces. A large number of our regiment were now em- 
 ployed as orderlies and scouts under Gen. Keys. On the 
 11th we captured fourteen rebels, without losing a man. On 
 the 23d another advance of our army brought on an engage- 
 ment, in which the enemy were forced back beyond Savage 
 Station. The line of our army was now about ten miles in 
 length, crossing the Chickahominy, which here ran south- 
 easterly, and the 8th occupied the right flank. On the 27th 
 Fitz John Porter's Corps moved toward Hanover C. H., and 
 had a severe engagement. We followed in supporting dis- 
 tance, and captured a train of cars trying to escape from 
 Hanover to Richmond. We ran it up the road some distance, 
 to reconnoiter, then returned and burned it. We tore up the 
 road, — the Virginia Central, — and then were ordered in the 
 thick darkness of the night to proceed ten miles to the Rich- 
 mond and Potomac road, and destroy that. In the murky 
 darkness, without guide or compass, we soon came upon the 
 rebel pickets. We had been ordered not to fire, but capture 
 pickets if possible; but soon they fired on us, roused their 
 camp, and we were forced to retire from our perilous expedi- 
 tion. We slept in the storm beside our saddled horses, several 
 miles in advance of the main army, and only escaped capture 
 by good luck. 
 
 Our regiment now guarded the right wing of the army for 
 ten miles along the Chickahominy and the Virginia Central 
 Railroad, having picket stations and reserves at various points. 
 
 On the 31st and the following day was fought the battle of 
 Fair Oaks, or Seven Pines. On the morning of the 31st 
 Major Beveridge crossed the Chickahominy to take command 
 of his battalion on that side of the stream, but before joining 
 his men heard rapid firing, and advancing, found Gen. Carey's 
 
1 
 
 THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 
 
 troops falling back before an impetuous attack of overpowering 
 numbers, and Gen. Keys advancing to their support. lie 
 supported Gen. Keys, and was directed to keep his men well 
 in hand, and as near him as possible. Companies D and F 
 acted as orderlies, were much exposed, and highly comj)li- 
 mented for their bravery. Two were killed and one wounded. 
 These companies lost all of their clothing, camp equipage and 
 stores. The loss to our army in this terrible battle was 5739 ; 
 the enemy acknowledged a loss of 4233. Reinforcements 
 enabled us next day to remain victors of the field. 
 
 Our boys, while on this picket line, kept up a lively trade 
 with the ignorant people of the country, who were anxious to 
 get Confederate currency, but would not take greenbacks. 
 Our boys got hold of a supply of the rebel currency, and 
 lived high upon their purchases Avith it. Capt. E. J. Farns- 
 worth one day gave a splendid dinner party at his picket post, 
 which was an elegant mansion, splendidly furnished, and 
 where all the luxuries of high life, together with costly wines, 
 Avere served up by colored waiters ; and the Captain subse- 
 quently took his guests back to their stations in elegant car- 
 riages. 
 
 Gen. Sumner's opinion of the daring of our boys may be 
 learned from the following incident : 
 
 A Lieutenant commanding a New York battalion Avas or- 
 dered to go to the front, and if possible ascertain the position 
 of the enemy. "Hoav far shall I go?" said he. "As far as 
 you dare go," was the reply; "and you will there find the 
 boys of the 8th Illinois miles ahead, stealing horses !" 
 
 On the night of June 3d our army repulsed a severe assault 
 of the enemy, in which our regiment was engaged, but Avith- 
 out loss. 
 
 The news-boys circulated frequently among our men, selling 
 New York dailies at twenty-five cents each, filled with rumors 
 of a grand advance, and the speedy capture of Richmond, 
 but no advance Avas made. 
 
 Passing the battle-ground of Fair Oaks on June 10th, Ave 
 28 
 
218 ' HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 1 
 
 found hundreds of the rebel dead festering in the hot sun, 
 and the stench from their bodies was intolerable. The rebel 
 prisoners had been ordered to bury them, but had thrown only 
 a few shovelsfull of earth on them, and this had been washed 
 away by the rains, leaving them exposed and putrefying, — a 
 horrible sight. 
 
 Our army had now lain nearly a month in about the same 
 position, fighting some terrible battles, but gaining no marked 
 advantage. Supplies were Avith difficulty brought from the 
 White House, twenty-five miles distant. Stonewall Jackson, 
 victorious in the Shenandoah, had now returned to the defence 
 of Richmond. 
 
 On June 26th occurred the memorable second battle of 
 Mechanicsville, and the first of the famous seven-days fight, 
 in which the army, cut off from its base of supplies at the 
 White House, executed a change of base to the James River, 
 at Harrison's Landing, — a movement among the most import- 
 ant of the war. Upon the morning of this day. Major Dus- 
 tin's battalion was on picket duty, with reserve posts at Atlee's 
 Station, Mrs. Crenshaw's farm, Shady Grove Church, and 
 the Cross Roads ; and at an early hour the Major, in company 
 with Captain Hooker and Orderly Armsby, left Atlee's Sta- 
 tion, and after visiting Company H, rode beyond the videttes 
 toward Hanover C. H. Half a mile on they passed through 
 a gateway toward a farm-house, then, starting to return, they 
 were fired on by what proved to be the advance guard of the 
 rebel army, in ambush. Captain Hooker was shot through 
 the body, but clinging with difficulty to his horse, the party 
 endeavored to reach the reserve post by a circuitous route. 
 After gaining about half the distance, his strength failed, and 
 he was assisted to dismount. Major Dustin ministered to his 
 wants as well as he was able, but despairing of getting him 
 within our lines, and knowing that his duty required him to 
 reach his command as soon as possible, he told the suffering 
 man that he must leave him. But in vain the Major urged 
 his imperative duty to his battalion. " Oh, Major !" he cried, 
 
^ 
 
 THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 219 
 
 '•I would not leave you if you were in my situation." Prom- 
 ising to return for him, if possible, Major Dustin hurried back 
 to the Cross Roads, ordered out a line of skirmishers, and 
 ent men to bring in the wounded Captain. But the enemy 
 advanced so rapidly that this was found impossible. The 
 Captain fell into the enemy's hands, and was placed in charge 
 of a Dr. Overton of that neighborhood, and died soon after. 
 Thus the 8th Illinois received the first fire and made the first 
 mortal sacrifice in the memorable seven-days battles. 
 
 Most of this country is traversed by small streams, running 
 into the Chickahominy, and lined with swamps thickly covered 
 with timber and underbrush. The roads, running parallel 
 with the main river, thus crossed alternate woods and open 
 f farms. Our pickets were thrown out at the edge of the woods 
 and swamps, to watch the approaches of the enemy. The 
 men of Companies C, G, and H, thus thrown out, sent many 
 a leaden messenger of death into the ranks of the foe as they 
 ■slowly advanced, and the other companies on the other roads 
 pursued the same course, as all retired before the advancing 
 army, also falling trees to retard their march. By noon the 
 infantry had reached the front and engaged the enemy, retard- 
 ing their further approach till three o'clock. 
 
 Company B was on the road leading to Pole Green Church, 
 and vigorously resisted the approach of the enemy, in which 
 resistance William Chambers was shot through the heart; but 
 : one of his comrades instantly avenged his death by shooting 
 i his adversary. This man's horse was now killed and he se- 
 : verely injured by the fall, and reported killed. As the rebels 
 advanced he adroitly counterfeited death till the rebels passed ; 
 then arose, and escaped to our lines. As our regiment was 
 drawn up in line awaiting orders, we were surprised at the 
 appearance of the venerable ex-Governor John Wood, of Ill- 
 inois, who, equipped in captured rebel accoutrements, contin- 
 ued with us during all the long and memorable series of en- 
 gagements, exposing himself to the bullets of the enemy, and 
 pheering us by his courage and devotion. 
 
220 ' HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 We were soon ordered to support a battery near Pole 
 Green Church, but the expected enemy did not attack us, but 
 directed their attacks to Mechanicsville, where the fighting 
 was terrific, and our troops gradually gave way before superior 
 numbers. They were finally stopped for the night by a stub- 
 born resistance near Beaver Dam Creek, in which the slaugh- 
 tered rebels were piled in heaps, and the fight did not cease 
 till nine o'clock at night. A little before dark our position 
 became critical ; a cannon ball struck the anvil of McGregor, 
 our old Scotch blacksmith, our camp was broken up, our hos- 
 pital evacuated, and with one ambulance, a two-wheeled cart, 
 and one army wagon as our only means of transportation, we 
 loaded in such of our numerous sick ones as were unable to 
 walk, and moved four miles across the creek, near Gaines' 
 mill. Before our hospital was cleared of its sick, a cannon 
 ball had struck it and shattered it severely. 
 
 Early next morning ayc shipped our sick and wounded to 
 White House Landing, on the last train that passed over the 
 road before that base of supplies was captured. 
 
 Next day occurred the battle of Gaines' mill. Our forces 
 were admirably posted, and long and bravely resisted the 
 enemy. But Stonewall Jackson's forces came up in the after- 
 noon, with his fresh troops, and our reserves under General 
 Slocum were advanced, and for the time drove back the foe; 
 but fresh columns of rebel troops were pushed forward; our 
 lines became thinner and weaker; thousands of wounded and 
 stragglers poured to the rear, and the day seemed lost. 
 Colonel Farnsworth now formed our regiment across the 
 field, and ordered that none but the wounded be permitted to 
 pass. We soon had a compact line formed, and they moved 
 forward, cheering, with but the bayonet as a defence, and 
 held the ground till darkness put an end to the carnage. 
 
 Detachments of our regiment under Captain Kelly and 
 Lieutenant W. M. Taylor had been sent out, and had severe 
 skirmishes with the enemy, succeeding in destroying our sup- 
 plies to prevent their capture. 
 
THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY / 221 
 
 In the morning of the 28th we found the railroad had been 
 cut in our rear. A train loaded with wounded was being 
 unloaded and laid on the ground, covering several acres, and 
 our regiment was ordered to take the advance in the retreat 
 to Harrison's Landing. We selected our own wounded, and 
 placed them in ambulances, but were forced to deny the re- 
 quest of hundreds of poor fellows who piteouslj begged to be 
 taken with us, so that they should not fall into the hands of 
 the enemy. 
 
 General McClellan, now desiring to prevent our immense 
 accumulation of stores at the White House from falling into 
 the hands of the foe, sent to our regiment for three discreet 
 men to penetrate to that point, through the intervening coun- 
 try now occupied by the enemy, and bear orders for their 
 destruction. Colonel Farnsworth selected Sergeant Bushnell, 
 Private Beckwith, and another of our men, who, guided only 
 by the stars and a pocket compass, swam the Chickahominy, 
 threaded the forest, and after an arduous and dangerous night 
 march, reached the White House in safety, and delivered 
 their message. The sick and wounded were speedily placed 
 j on steamers, millions of dollars' worth of stores were loaded 
 upon transports, and millions more committed to the flames, 
 just as the enemy's advance, who had counted much upon 
 their capture, made its appearance. 
 
 Now commenced our disastrous retreat through White Oak 
 Swamp. Wagon trains, ambulances, artillery, infantry, and 
 cavalry, crowded every road and path through field and forest. 
 All day and through the night the teamsters struggled and 
 worked to get their loads through the mud, and over the one 
 rickety bridge, while the wounded hobbled along, — a terrible 
 procession. On this afternoon occurred the battle at Savage 
 Station by our forces, under General Sumner, who covered 
 our rear. Dense clouds of smoke and terrific explosions in- 
 dicated the destruction of our stores at that point. 
 
 Next day our regiment was ordered by General Keys to 
 conduct a train of seventy ambulances and many hundreds of 
 
222 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 wagons, loaded with wounded, to James River. They were 
 loaded to their utmost capacity, while hundreds of sick and 
 wounded hobbled along beside them, begging and beseeching 
 to be permitted to ride. All through that dreadful night we 
 moved on ; harrassed by squads of rebel cavalry on our flanks, 
 disputing our advance; forbidden to light even a lantern, lest 
 we makea mark for the enemy; lighted on our road only by 
 flashes of lightning, whose peals of thunder, mingled with the 
 roar of the rebel artillery in our rear, added intensity to its 
 horrors ; often forced to dismount and pull the exhausted and 
 wounded from under our horses' hoofs, where they had sunk 
 upon the road, too much exhausted to crawl out from beneath 
 the wheels of the train. The horrors of that dreadful night 
 will never be known till those swamps give up their dead who 
 sank that night to rise no more. 
 
 About three o'clock next mornino; we reached the James 
 River, near Ilaxall's Landing. The teams were driven into 
 some wheat fields, and the tired drivers sank down for a brief 
 repose. 
 
 Soon after General McClellan arrived, and went on board 
 the gunboat Galena. Mrs. Fogg, an agent of the Sanitary 
 Commission, who had occupied with Mrs. General Richardson 
 one of our ambulances, and embarrassed us by their shrieks 
 of terror on the march, now proceeded to use up the delicacies 
 of the commission in a nice breakfast for themselves and some 
 of the oflicers, while the wounded, fed on hard-tack and coffee, 
 looked hungrily on. 
 
 A severe cannonading, heard in our rear on this day, we 
 afterwards learned was caused by a contest with the enemy, 
 known as the battle of Glendale, or Frazer's farm, and said 
 to be the severest fight since Gaines' mill. The enemy was 
 repulsed, but our retreat was still continued. 
 
 The commander of the gunboats concluding from the steep- 
 ness of the banks of the river at this point that he could not 
 protect us with his guns, we now moved down eight miles to 
 Harrison's bar, through a country full of waving wheat fields, 
 
THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 223 
 
 and rich in fruit and other resources. We occupied the Har- 
 rison mansion for our hospital, and soon had two hundred of 
 the wounded within, and the fields around strewn with thous- 
 ands, tortured as much with hunger as with wounds. We 
 soon found a half-dozen heef cattle, slaughtered them, hunted 
 up kettles, made soup, and distributed it with hard-tack to the 
 famishing men. Soon two steamboats from the White House 
 arrived, with fifteen surgeons and six cooks, and the wounded 
 were transferred to the hospital boats. During this day the 
 roar of the battle of Malvern Hill was heard at our landing, 
 and the wounded still came pouring in upon us, all day and 
 the night following. The rain fell in torrents, making mud 
 unfathomable, but relieving the distresses of the thirsty men. 
 
 Up to July 4th our camp was in the utmost confusion, but 
 the wounded having been mostly sent oif, some order was res- 
 tored, our camp was fortified, and we had time to take a long 
 breath. 
 
 The camp having become more systematized, the regiment 
 was moved out about four miles, and kept busy in picketing 
 and arranging the lines, while a number of our men were em- 
 ployed as orderlies, carrying dispatches both by day and by 
 night. In collisions with rebel scouts about this time several 
 were wounded. General Farnsworth, suffering severely from 
 a diseased leg, received leave of absence on the 8tli of July, 
 and Major Clendenin took command. Some dissatisfaction 
 had occurred between members and officers of the regiment, 
 and several officers resigned, among them Adjutant Gifford, 
 Captain Dana, Chaplain Matlack, and Captain Cleveland, 
 whose loss was deeply regretted by most, if not all, of the 
 regiment. A great many fell sick with dysentery and kindred 
 diseases. 
 
 On the 20th a large detachment of the regiment, under 
 Majors Beveridge and Clendenin, proceeded toward Malvern 
 Hill, driving the rebel pickets and drawing their artillery fire. 
 Sylvanus Brott had his horse killed under him, and was 
 wounded by a fragment of shell. 
 
224 IICST0R7 OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 On the 22d another reconnoisance of the rebels' position on 
 Malvern Hill was made by two detachments under Major 
 Beveridge and Captain Waite, in which four of our men were 
 wounded. On the next day Clendenin drew the enemy into 
 an ambush, and, getting a cross-fire on them, emptied many 
 of their saddles, and sent them flying in retreat, when a large 
 force of rebel cavalry approaching, our regiment returned to 
 camp. 
 
 On August 2d Ave reported to General Hooker, and moved 
 out Avith a large force to repel an expected attack of the enemy; 
 but the expected foe did not approach. Next day Companies 
 H and K penetrated far into the enemy's lines in the neigh- 
 borhood of Malvern Hill, and some of our men, disguised, 
 entered houses, and from their inmates gained important in- 
 formation about the position of the rebels' pickets. 
 
 On the 5th a large force under Hooker, Sedgwick, Kearney 
 and Couch, captured Malvern Hill, the rebels escaping by a 
 road unknoAvn to our forces. When their escape was discov- 
 ered, our regiment charged on their rear. The rebel cavalry 
 broke and fled, but the infantry poured on us a severe volley, 
 killing Sergeant Moss, of Company L, Duggan, of Company 
 C, and severely wounding Lieutenant Colonel Gamble and 
 four of our men. We captured seventy-five prisoners. 
 
 A detachment of our forces under Captain Forsythe had a 
 sharp encounter Avith rebels about this time, and soon after 
 Sergeant John A. Kinley, Ira Kennicott and Ira Pettys pen- 
 etrated the rebel lines to reconnoiter. They were detected 
 Avhile climbing trees to get a good look-out, and the rebels 
 advanced in line of battle, supposing there was a large force. 
 They escaped barefooted, and Avithout their coats and arms, 
 after obtaining valuable information, but were very closely 
 pursued. 
 
 Soon after our capture of Malvern Hill our army retreated 
 from Harrison's Landing to Yorktown, the 8th bringing up 
 the rear. The boys had been terribly irritated by McClellan's 
 policy of protecting rebel property, especially by being forced 
 
THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALllY. 226 
 
 to protect the property of one Bill Carter, livini^ in tliufc vi 
 cinity, Avho had two sons fighting us in the rebel army, while 
 jhis 1200 bushels of corn and fat horses were protected, and 
 tbur horses were sometimes starving. When we left, by some 
 Itnysterious stratagem, three of Carter's horses went with us, 
 ifind did excellent service for us for a year after. 
 jl The army crossed the Chickahominy near its mouth, the 
 iSth Illinois being the last regiment to cross, then passed 
 gloomily through Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown, — 
 the ground we had gained at such a fearful cost, — and on the 
 j30th of August took shipping for Alexandria, where we ar- 
 rived on the 1st and 2d of September. 
 
 i The rebels' main army was now advancing rapidly on 
 Washington, hoping to overpower our forces under General 
 Pope, and capture our National Capital. The second disas- 
 iprous battle of Bull Run, and the subsequent one at Chantilly, 
 (Vere fought while we were in transit to Alexandria. 
 
 All was dismay. Treachery among our Generals, and tri- 
 imph on the part of the rebels, seemed to be leading us to 
 
 mmediate ruin. 
 General Farnsworth joined us at Alexandria, with several 
 
 lew recruits, and we were at once ordered to Munson's Hill? 
 vhere we performed duty as videttes and scouts. On the 2d 
 md 3d we skirmished with the rebel advance, and had some 
 •iien wounded. On the night of the 4th, as we were lying 
 lown on the ground, we received orders to march; passed 
 icross the Potomac, through Washington and Tenallytown on 
 ,;he north, and, marching all night, reached Darnestown, 
 Maryland, at 10 o'clock A. M. But we were at once ordered 
 |>ut on a scout, although we had marched forty-six miles with- 
 imt food for ourselves or horses. 
 
 11 The rebels had gone up the Potomac, and were making 
 lashes into Maryland, and it was our duty to repel them, 
 rhe 3d Indiana Cavalry, — a splendid regiment, admirably 
 nounted, each man furnishing and owning his horse, — here 
 lecame associated with us, and during a long subsequent 
 
 fampaign became to us like brothers. 
 
 I 29 
 
226 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 On the 7th a detachment of our regiment under Captain 
 Farnsworth, — the model of the daring cavalry officer, — dashed 
 into Poolesville, and captured two rebels with their accoutre- 
 ments. 
 
 Major Dustin, who had been absent at home, and while 
 there had been chosen Colonel of the 105th Infantry, now 
 returned to take leave of his regiment. Colonel Farnsworth 
 was put in command of th(; Cavalry Brigade, and Major 
 Medill assumed the command of our regiment. 
 
 On the next day our brigade moved into Poolesville, after 
 a severe fight, in which the enemy were driven from the field, 
 leaving eight dead and twenty wounded. 
 
 On the 9th we moved toward Barnesville in detachments. 
 One, under Captain Farnsworth, dashed upon the 9th Virginia 
 Cavalry, drove them, and charging furiously upon them in 
 their retreat, killed some of their horses, whose falling bodies, 
 undistinguishable amid the clouds of dust, brought pursuers 
 and pursued together in heaps upon the road. We captured 
 eight prisoners and the rebel colors. On another road an- 
 other detachment under Captain Kelley drove the rebels two 
 miles beyond Barnesville, capturing thirteen prisoners. On 
 this charge it is related that Corporal George M. Roe, of 
 Company B, mounted on a splendid horse, well known in 
 Shabbona, in this County, as "Lamkin's Billy," and sold for 
 incurable viciousness, dashed uncontrollable beyond a party 
 of rebels, and when he finally was stopped, and the four gray- 
 backs approached, with revolver in hand Roe demanded their 
 surrender. One moved to get out his pistol, and Roe shot 
 him; then, covering the others with his revolver, he held them 
 in the road till Captain Kelly's company coming up, they 
 were all taken prisoners. Captain Kelly had a personal en- 
 counter with a rebel Lieutenant Williams, and gave him a 
 mortal wound. 
 
 Our regiment halted at Barnesville, when the rebs again 
 advanced upon our men, who were drawn up to receive them. 
 Our artillery in thg rear scattered them. One shot took off 
 
THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CA^^ i 227 
 
 the nose of the horse on which Solomon Jewell, of our regi 
 
 ment, was seated. 
 
 On the 12th we marched in a severe storm to Frederick 
 City, meeting General Banks' Corps on the way, and encamped 
 in sight of rebel camp-fires on the neighboring hills. 
 
 Moving forward again next day, we found the pass in the 
 mountains defended by the enemy's artillery, and an encounter 
 with our artillery and infantry lasted till noon, but ended in 
 the rout of the foe, when our cavalry dashed forward in pur- 
 suit. We dashed on to Middletown, where the rebs burned a 
 bridge to impede our pursuit, and where the people received 
 us joyfully, supplying us with refreshments. We forded the 
 river, and again came up with them near South Mountain. 
 A detachment under Major Medill went out on the flarper's 
 Ferry road, and had a fight with a very superior force, in 
 which we lost eight men wounded, and the 3d Indiana lost 
 many more. F. B. Wakefield, of Company Cr, was captured 
 by a party of rebels, who subsequently attempted to kill him 
 by sabre cuts on his head. They left him for dead, but he 
 subsequently returned to our lines and recovered; but in his 
 subsequent career he amply avenged this brutal treatment. 
 
 On the 14th occurred the memor Me battle of South Moun- 
 tain, fought among mountain fastnesses, where cavalry could 
 not be used. Posted in the rear, we watched the varying 
 issues of the conflict with eager interest; and when at dusk 
 Hooker's Corps gained the crest of the mountain, and put the 
 foe to flight, we shouted with glad joy. Next day the enemy 
 retreated, and we followed in pursuit, passing where every 
 house, barn and shed was filled with neglected wounded men. 
 
 At Boonsboro a cavalry brigade under Fitz Hugh Lee 
 jlmade a stand. Colonel Farnsworth ordered a charge, and so 
 impetuous was it that the enemy broke and fled. Several 
 times they attempted to rally and form a new line, but our 
 pursuit was too sharp. For two or three miles we kept up a 
 hand-to-hand fight, in which great gallantry was displayed by 
 both sides, and we finally scattered them among fields and 
 woods, where they could not be followed. 
 
228 HISTu^-<o^Y OP DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Pages might be filled with incidents of thrilling interest 
 and daring displayed on this charge. One member of Com- 
 pany B shot down a rebel who had his sabre uplifted in the 
 act of striking down Colonel Farnsworth, while the Colonel 
 was chasing another rebel, whom he shot from his horse. Fitz 
 Hugh Lee was unhorsed, and escaped in a cornfield. We had 
 twenty -four killed and wounded: among the latter was Cap- 
 tain Kelly. 
 
 At another point on this day four men of the 8th Illinois — 
 Brown, Morris and Maccham, under command of Sergeant 
 W. A. Spencer — captured a rebel picket post of fourteen men, 
 beside taking several other stra^^gling rebels, all fully armed 
 and equipped. The whole number captured that day by this 
 detachment of the 8th Illinois alone was about five hundred. 
 The history of the war furnishes no instance of a more bril- 
 liant or more successful cavalry charge, nor of one that re- 
 flected more honor upon this branch of our service. 
 
 On the 17th, our immense army having come up, the battle 
 of Antietam commenced. We were ordered across the stone 
 brid«"e over Antietam creek, to support Robinson's battery, 
 which we crossed under a terrible fire, and were sheltered 
 somewhat in a shallow ravine, over which the balls of both 
 armies were flying. The armies swayed to and fro over a 
 field which was repeatedly won and lost, and which was soon 
 thickly strewn mth the dead and dying. At the lower bridge, 
 where Burnside was engaged, the slaughter was still more 
 fearful. Night closed in, and we thought our army had won 
 the battle. 
 
 Next morning, to our astonishment, no orders came for a 
 renewal of the fight. In the afternoon our surgeons attempted 
 to relieve the distresses of the wounded' in a lane near by — to 
 moisten their lips with a little water — but the rebels fired on 
 them, and forced them to retire. As they left the field the 
 wounded set up such a terrible wail of despair that the recol- 
 lection of it has ever since haunted those of us who heard it. 
 When they next visited the ground not one was found alive. 
 
\ 
 
 THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY 229 
 
 From this lane, eighty rods in length, nearly one thousand 
 dead bodies were buried. 
 
 On the 19th we received orders to advance, but the enemy 
 hkd escaped across the Potomac, with all their stores. 
 
 On the 20th we crossed the Potomac at Shepardstown, but 
 while fordinor the stream received orders to return, for the 
 enemy soon approached, and a heavy artillery fire was kept 
 up across the fiver. 
 
 >7e now lay quiet several days, — a much-needed rest. 
 On the 25th, under command of Colonel Farnsworth, we 
 made a reconnoisance across the river, driving the rebels from 
 Shepardstown, and capturing several prisoners of rank ; and 
 I on the 29th we participated in another reconnoisance in force, 
 under command of General Pleasanton. 
 
 On the 30th a squadron under Captain Waite made a dash 
 into Shepardstown, and had a lively skirmish. Soon after 
 we dashed into Martinsburg, after driving the rebs with our 
 cavalry and artillery for several miles, and capturing a num- 
 ber of prisoners. 
 
 We were now far into the enemy's country, had gained 
 valuable information, and soon learned from a Union man 
 that the rebel commander was moving his army with the view 
 of capturing our whole force. 
 
 The 8th Illinois, under Major Medill, acted as rear guard 
 on our return ; and as we left the town the streets were com- 
 pletely filled with rebel cavalry, who poured in after us. Our 
 artillery held them in check, but they advanced on each side 
 of the road and in our rear. Our men, now thoroughly dis- 
 ( ciplined by long service, behaved splendidly, and were highly 
 I praised, both by our superior ofiicers and by the rebels. 
 j Some of our men were captured and paroled by the rebels. 
 I The rebel General J. E. B. Stuart told them that he knew 
 (that he was fighting the 8th Illinois, by the vigor and courage 
 t with which they resisted his charges ; that he knew no good 
 reason why he had not captured them ; that they called the 
 8th Illinois the best, and the 3d Indiana the next best, cavalry 
 
230 ' HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 regiments in the federal army. One rebel officer sent his 
 compliments to Captain Clark, saying that he liked his style, 
 but that saucy little cuss with him (Captain Waite) was a very 
 devil. 
 
 After a long and perilous retreat night came on, and our 
 little band of 800 men escaped in the darkness. Official re- 
 ports showed the enemy's loss to be one hundred and fifty 
 men. Our regiment lost twelve wounded and four captured. 
 
 On the 3d of October occurred one of McClellan's grand 
 reviews, President Lincoln being present. 
 
 On the 11th we were ordered in pursuit of Stuart's cavalry, 
 who had started on a raid around the rear of our army. 
 Greneral Pleasanton accompanied us, and Captain Clark was 
 in command of that portion of our regiment that was in con- 
 dition to move. We passed through Hagarstown to Williains- 
 port, then back to Hagarstown, then along the base of the 
 Blue Ridge, then over it, and down into the valley of Mono- 
 cacy to Mechanicsville. On we rode at a brisk pace all night, 
 passing through Frederick City, to the mouth of Monocacy 
 river, where, at nine o'clock, we found the rear guard of the 
 confederates. They had captured at Chambersbury a large 
 amount of our army clothing, and immediately exchanged it 
 for their rags, thus deceiving our men. Captain Forsythe, 
 Avith a few men, overtook a company of them, and on demand- 
 ing who they were, was answered by a shower of bullets. 
 There was a lively skirmish, and some of them were captured. 
 But Stuart, with his main force, had escaped across the Poto- 
 mac, with several hundred stolen horses. 
 
 We lay down in a field of grain, utterly exhausted, having 
 ridden eighty-six miles in twenty-six hours, which was, per- 
 haps, the best marching made by any command during the 
 war ; but we were depressed by our want of success. The 
 mistake was in sending us after the great raider, instead of 
 trying to intercept him. We marched back to our camp, and 
 next day, without a day of rest, we were moved to Knoxville. 
 
 On the 17th Major Beveridge arrived, and relieved Major 
 
\ 
 
 THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 281 
 
 Medill, wlio had been in comma).id during the whole Maryland 
 campaign. 
 
 On the 27th, after a delay of a month sinc'e the great battle 
 of Antietam, the army crossed into Virginia, and we, in ad- 
 vance, drove the rebels into Purcellville, capturing three. 
 This section of country was thoroughly foraged during our 
 stay, and those secessionists who supposed we came there to 
 protect their pigs and poultry were thoroughly undeceived. 
 
 By November 1st most of our infantry had arrived, and, 
 as van-guard of a mighty army, Ave moved along the eastern 
 base of the Bltte Ridge. , 
 
 Next day we had a severe artillery and cavalry fight for 
 several hours, near Uniontown. Samuel McGowell, of Com- 
 pany A, was killed by a cannon ball, but so well trained were 
 the horses that his riderless horse did not move out of rank, 
 but continued to move with his squadron. 
 
 We next day moved forward, skirmishing sharply all day, 
 to Ashby's Gap, where the rebels thought themselves secure, 
 and on November 5th had a severe engagement near Barber's 
 Cross Roads. Companies B and E made a brave assault on 
 phe rebel batteries, but they were defended by barricades of 
 rails, and, not being supported by sufficient force, they with- 
 jdrcw. Desperate fighting, — charge and counter-charge, — 
 jfollowed, but the rebels finally fled, leaving many wounded 
 and prisoners in our hands. William Mace and John Brown, 
 of our regiment, were killed, and Josiah Richardson, Charles 
 Plant, George S. Sager, B. F. Homer, E. H. Burdick, Mar- 
 tin Fancher, James McConnell, and Harrison Hoker, most of 
 them De Kalb County men, were wounded. 
 
 The army moved on next day, leaving the wounded, some 
 thirty in all, in a hospital building at Markhani Station, under 
 charge of S. K. Crawford, Assistant Surgeon. The subse- 
 quent adventures of these wounded are sadly exciting. Some 
 days after this fight they were captured and paroled by two 
 companies of Virginia cavalry, who robbed them of their 
 clothing, money, and the barest necessaries of life, stripping 
 
232 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 them of their clothes, blankets, etc., with a cruel violence 
 that drew from them shrieks of anguish. They carried off 
 all of their provisions, leaving only five pounds of hard bread, 
 and forbid the use of any fire wood to supply warmth to their 
 naked and chilled limbs. Destitute of food, of clothing, 
 helpless with wounds, and momentarily expecting death, what 
 situation could be more deplorable ? 
 
 On the night of the second day after this raid of the brutal 
 rebels, an old black woman appeared, loaded with provisions 
 contributed by the negroes around the place for their relief; 
 and they were supported solely by contributions from the 
 same generous source till the 16th, when they received per- 
 mission from Stonewall Jackson to remove within our lines. 
 They procured a broken-down hand-car, fitted it with an ex- 
 tended platform, so that by close packing all could sit or lie 
 upon it, and started for Siegel's headquarters at Gainesville, 
 forty miles distant. Dr. Crawford drawing the car with a rope, 
 while his attendants aided by pushing. 
 
 The road and bridges were in a terrible condition, and as 
 they travelled in the night, they were in constant alarm lest 
 their precious load should be precipitated into the abysses 
 beneath them. After thirty hours' toil, they procured a little 
 hard bread and coifee, — the first food taken since leaving 
 Markham's Station, — and on the evening of the second day 
 arrived at their destination, from whence a special train con- 
 veyed them to Alexandria. 
 
 To return to our regiment. On the day after the fight at 
 Barber's Cross Roads we moved toward Chester Gap, in hopes 
 of preventing the escape of the rebel army through that pass. 
 But we were too late, and returned to Orleans. 
 
 On the 7th we crossed the Rappahannock, and Major Bev- 
 cridge, with a detachment of the 8th, had a sharp skirmish at 
 Sperryville. Companies A and G, in another direction, cap- 
 tured ten prisoners, the snow at this time falling so rapidly 
 that the rebels did not discover our boys till too late to escape. 
 
 On the 8th our regiment dashed into Little Washington, 
 
^1 
 
\ 
 
 BREVET BRIG. GENV CHAS-WAITE 
 
 OF SYCAMORE 
 
 nuL'j^n Lithu^dpliiff^ Cu.Chicus". 
 
1 
 
 THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. , 233 
 
 fter a sharp skirmisli, nearly capturing Wade Hamptonf or, 
 whom, Avith his officers, a bountiful dinner had just been pre 
 pared by the citizens. Colonel Farnsworth, with our officers, 
 sat down, and with a hearty relish devoured the luxurious 
 dinner prepared for his adversary. The fighting on this day 
 Avas most gallantly conducted, and won for our regiment high 
 commendation. 
 
 At Annissville we found a thousand rebel tents stored in 
 buildings, and marked "Small Pox." Our boys, seeing 
 through this dodge, took what they wanted, and burned the 
 remainder, assuring the protesting citizens that it was abso- 
 lutely necessary to prevent the spread of the disease. 
 
 General McClellan was now removed from command of the 
 army, and Burnside was appointed in his place. 
 
 November 22d we reached the Rappahannock, opposite 
 Fredericksburg, which place we had hoped to occupy before 
 the enemy ; but we found the rebels in possession of the city. 
 Our regiment encamped at Belle Plain, the new base of sup- 
 plies for the army. 
 
 On the 9th of December Colonel Farnsworth w^as made a 
 Brigadier General, Avhich made occasion for many promotions 
 in the regiment. Surgeon Hard was also made Surgeon-in- 
 Chief of the Cavalry Brigade, on the staff of General Pleas- 
 anton. 
 
 On the 11th Fredericksburg was bombarded, and at night 
 some of our troops crossed on pontoons into the city. Major 
 Beveridge, in command of a portion of our regiment, crossed 
 the pontoons next day under a heavy fire, and on the 13tli 
 the terrible struggle at Fredericksburg really commenced. 
 With Avhat interest we watched it cannot be described. Cav- 
 alry could take no part in such an assault on fortifications ; 
 but one-third of our regiment was under fire during most of 
 the three days' fight. Our army w^as defeated, and retired 
 across the river with fearful loss. 
 
 The army, now fast in Virginia mud, went into winter 
 
 quarters ; but our regiment did picket duty in King George 
 oO 
 
234 V HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 County, preferring this duty, where foraging was good, to 
 living in camp on hard-tack and pork. 
 
 In January General Burnside moved the army up the 
 Rappahannock, intending to cross at another point, and take 
 Fredericksburg. But a terrible storm came on, the army 
 was fast in the mud, and we were forced to return to the old 
 camps. 
 
 Burnside was now relieved, and General Hooker appointed 
 to command the army. 
 
 On the IGth of February the cavalry changed its base to 
 Acquia Creek, to which point we marched in a severe snow 
 storm, and, arriving late, lay down for sleep in the snow, eight 
 inches deep. Awaking in the morning, we found ourselves 
 covered by three inches more of the fleecy covering, which 
 had fallen in the night. 
 
 The difficulty of obtaining supplies here was equally great 
 as before. They were brought three miles on the backs of 
 mules, through unfathomable mud, in which mule and load 
 often sank out of sight together. 
 
 On the night of the 25th, in a furious rain storm, we were 
 ordered to march and attack Stuart's raiders, Avho were oper- 
 ating at Warrenton. We marched forty miles, but were a 
 day too late. He had escaped with a supply of horses and 
 prisoners from a Pennsylvania regiment, which he captured. 
 He paroled some prisoners, and sent them, with his compli- 
 ments, to General Hooker, requesting that he would keep his 
 horses in better order, as he was depending on the Pennsyl- 
 vania cavalry to supply his with horses. The regiment re- 
 turned to its old quarters, and to its laborious picket duties. 
 
 With weary days and sleepless nights, hard Avork, and frc- 
 
 (i[uent attacks by guerrillas, the Avinter wore away. Many 
 
 were permitted to absent themselves on furloughs of fifteen 
 
 days. 
 
 On the 6th of April another of those grand reviews, so 
 
 wearisome to the soldiers, was held at Falmouth, at which the 
 
 whole cavalry force was present, — the largest body of cavalry 
 
 ever assembled on this continent. 
 
THE EiaHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY 235 
 
 On April 13th our regiment moved off under Stoneman, on 
 he famous great raid around the rear of the rebel army. We 
 Snoved to Warrenton, where Captain Farnsworth's company 
 aptured eight of the rebels; and pressing rapidly on, we 
 amped at ten o'clock at night, too weary to prepare supper. 
 '^ext day we crossed the Rappahannock, but while detached 
 Vom the brigade came near being captured by a superior 
 brce, and re-crossed the river. Mosby and White's cavalry 
 vere out in force in the valley above, and we were detached 
 "rom the raiding force to attend to them. Every portion of 
 hat country was thoroughly scouted over by our force, who 
 )ften marched day and night, and fared sumptuously off of 
 he rebels' supplies. 
 
 On the 29th we crossed the Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford, 
 nd after a lively skirmish passed on through Culpepper, to 
 he Rapidan river, where we woke up the rebel artillery, and 
 ested for that night. A desultory fire was kept up all of the 
 lext day, and we expected to ci'oss, drive off the small force 
 apposing us, and join the main raid. But General Averill, 
 Sur present leader, gave no such orders. 
 
 A rebel Colonel, with a squad of thirty men, captured 
 Japtain Waite, by killing his horse while he was at our ad- 
 vanced picket post; but our picket reserves made a gallant 
 ^.harge and recovered their Captain. 
 
 On the 1st of May we passed down the river again, crossing 
 it U. S. Ford, greatly disappointed at not being permitted to 
 50 on the great raid. 
 
 The raid was unsuccessful in its main purpose of cutting 
 the railroad connection with Richmond, but destroyed millions 
 A' dollars' worth of rebel property. 
 
 On this day the great battle of Chancellorsville commenced, 
 in which, after a three days' struggle, our great army Avas 
 tigain defeated with tremendous slaughter, and driven across 
 [the river again. We did not return in time to take any active 
 part in this engagement. 
 
 On the 7th and 8th of May detachments of our regiment 
 
236 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 were employed in digging rifle-pits to defend Kelly's and 
 Norman's fords; and at night Stoneman's force readied the 
 ford opposite us, and we returned down the river, terribly 
 jaded. 
 
 On the 11th we were paid off, and our boys sent home 
 $25,000 from their wages, — $32 to each man. 
 
 Much to our delight we were ordered on the ITtli to make 
 a reconnoisance in King George County and the Northern 
 Neck, a great refuge for smugglers. Marching in three bat- 
 talions, under Colonel Clendenin, Major Beveridge and Major 
 Medill, respectively, we scoured every nook and corner of that 
 country, capturing and destroying immense quantities of rebel 
 property, burning one hundred sloops, yawls and ferry-boats, 
 with their valuable contents, consisting of whisky, salt, leather, 
 stationery, boots, shoes, clothing, and almost every conceiva- 
 ble article of supplies. 
 
 On returning, the negroes from the plantations joined the 
 regiment, fifteen hundred strong, with women, children, horses, 
 carts, and all the movables that they could carry. We also 
 brought off five hundred fine horses and mules, and one hun- 
 dred prisoners, returning on the 27th, — all in all the most 
 ludicrous procession we had ever seen. At Belle Plain the 
 negro men were retained and set to work, and the women and 
 children transported to Washington. There Avas little or no 
 smuggling across that neck after that raid of the 8th Illinois. 
 
 On the 5th of June Lee commenced his grand march to the 
 north, and the grand invasion of Pennsylvania, which was de- 
 feated and hurled back at Gettysburg. 
 
 The cavalry corps under Pleasanton was now pushed for- 
 ward to ascertain his position, Captain Clark, who had just 
 been appointed Major, being in command of our regiment, 
 which was in Buford's division. We crossed Beverly Ford 
 in the advance, the enemy being very near, and there we had 
 one of the most severe fights we had ever engaged in, and 
 one which was said to be, up to that time, the hardest-fought 
 cavalry engagement in the war. But the cavalry were finally 
 compelled to withdraw across the river. . ./. 
 
\ 
 
 THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. / 237 
 
 In this engagement Captain Clark and J. G. Smith were 
 mortally wounded, Captains Forsjthe and Haynes severely 
 wounded, and we lost thirty-six men by wounds, among them 
 W. H. ShurtlefF and George M. Perry, of Company B, and 
 Henry Aiken, William Snively and Thomas Bolter, of Com- 
 pany L. It was a noteworthy fact that the lives of both 
 George M. Perry and Plarry Pearsons were saved at this en- 
 gagement by Testaments which their mothers had given them, 
 and which, carried in their breast-pockets, stopped the force 
 of the bullets. 
 
 Most of the other regiments engaged suffered very severely, 
 the enemy being defended by breastworks, behind which ar- 
 tillery was strongly posted. 
 
 We moved to Catlett's Station on the 10th, and on the 17th 
 started for Pennsylvania. 
 
 At Aldie we met the enemy, and the rash Kilpatrick or- 
 dered a charge over a stone wall upon them with sabres. It 
 was gallantly made, but we lost far more than the rebels. 
 
 Next day, skirmishing near Goese Creek, in which our 
 regiment drew high compliments from Generals Buford and 
 Kilpatrick, some officer, unnecessarily alarmed, foolishly 
 burned the bridge in our rear, compelling us to swim the deep, 
 cold stream on our return. 
 
 On the 21st we had a fight at Middlebury, driving the 
 rebels, who rallied behind every stone wall until, near night, 
 our little force had pressed them to the mountains. Here we 
 suddenly came upon some six thousand of them, drawn up in 
 line of battle, and defended by artillery. General Buford 
 ordered a charge, and it Avas led by Lieutenant-Colonel Clen- 
 denin and the 8th Illinois, through a storm of grape and can- 
 ister. At the first fire Colonel Gamble and Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Clendenin had their horses shot under them, and 
 Major Medill took command. 
 
 Forward was the word, and the gallant 8th, that never 
 quailed before the rebels, advanced to within a short distance, 
 when, at the word, our seven hundred good carbines blazed 
 
238 \ HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 \ 
 
 away at them, sending many a grayback to his last account. 
 Then at them we went, with revolvers cracking away in all 
 directions. They broke and fled, but were reinforced again ; 
 and our regiment, with some of the 3d Indiana and 12th Illi- 
 nois, formed a new line behind a stone wall. After receiving 
 their fire, Major Medill ordered another charge, and we drove 
 them again from the field. Three times more did the rebels 
 attempt to drive us, and as often were they repulsed. We 
 killed and wounded more than two hundred of the graybacks, 
 and remained masters of the field, the rebels retreating 
 through Ashby's Gap. 
 
 Innumerable instances of individual heroism upon this oc- 
 casion are related. 
 
 Next day we returned to Aldie, and remained till the 2l)th, 
 when we crossed the Potomac, and marched over the Katochin 
 mountains to Middletown, where we learned that General 
 Hooker had been removed, and General Meade appointed to 
 command of the army; also, that Lee was already before us 
 in Pennsylvania. 
 
 On the 29th we camped twelve miles from Gettysburg, and 
 next day encountered the enemy in force at Fairfield. We 
 had a sharp skirmish, and then Avent to Gettysburg. 
 
 Next day, July 1st, the enemy advanced in force, the great 
 decisive battle of Gettysburg began, and our regiment, as in 
 several other of the greatest battles of the war, received the 
 first fire and shed the first blood. We alone resisted the 
 onset of the enemy for several hours ; and when the infantry 
 came up we operated upon the flanks. Night found our army 
 driven a mile out of the town. 
 
 Next day the battle raged still more fiercely, but we were 
 
 ordered to protect the army supplies. 
 
 Our gallant Captain E. J. Farnsworth, who had just been 
 made a Brigadier-General, was on this day ordered by Kil- 
 patrick on a rash, useless, desperate charge. He said he 
 could never come back alive, bid his comrades farewell, dashe<l 
 at the head of a small force upon the enemy, and was at once 
 riddled with bullets. 
 

 THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY 239 
 
 Upon the defeat of Lee, next day, we were sent to intercept 
 his retreat through Frederick City, and Boonsboro, and Wil- 
 liamsport, where we had a very sharp fight, in which several 
 of our men^ among theui our gallant Major Medill, were mor- 
 tally wounded. 
 
 On the 8th the enemy drove one regiment of our cavalry, 
 and the 8th was ordered to re-take the lost ground, which we 
 did, with the highest compliments of Buford and Kilpatrick, 
 the latter of whom bitterly cursed his men for not being able 
 to do their duty in the same brave manner. 
 
 On the 9th and 10th more sharp fighting, and more of our 
 men killed and wounded. 
 
 We constantly expected another advance and a consequent 
 apture of Lee's army, but a council of Avar decided to rest 
 riwhile, during which rest we were actively employed till the 
 14th, when, advancing, we found that Lee's main army had 
 escaped across the river. Our cavalry came upon two brig- 
 ades of the rebels behind earthworks, two miles from Falling 
 Waters, and at once attacked them. Our division, under 
 Buford, went round to flank them on the left, but before we 
 L-ould arrive at our position the impetuous Kilpatrick ordered 
 in unnecessary assault by his division, which was repulsed, 
 lis brave boys being slaughtered by scores. AVe were soon 
 [a on their flank, however, and after a desperate fight, in 
 which we lost severely, we captured four hundred prisoners, 
 jKilpatrick's division also taking over six hundred. 
 
 On the 18th we again crossed the Potomac, following over 
 he same ground that we had passed over after the battle of 
 jAntietam. We attempted again to intercept the rebels before 
 hey reached Chester Gap, but were too late as before. 
 
 On the 22d we had quite a sharp fight at Lovetsville, in 
 ivhich Ave gained some laurels, and lost several good men. 
 
 On the 27th Ave marched to Rappahannock Station, the 
 Rappahannock river being, as before, the dividing line between 
 ;he hostile forces. 
 
 On the 1st of August we crossed the river for a reconnoi- 
 
240 ^ > HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 sance, and had a severe engagement near Culpepper, on the 
 plantation of John Minor Botts. We gained the information 
 needed, but our forces engaged lost twenty killed, one hundred 
 "wounded, and one hundred and forty-eight in missing. 
 
 From the 15th to the 31st of August we remained near 
 Dumfries, doing picket duty. 
 
 On the 13th of September our regiment, dismounted, 
 climbed up and captured Pony Mountain, a signal-station of 
 the enemy, and on the 14th lost some of our men in a desul- 
 tory fight near that point, which lasted all day. 
 
 On the 18th an infantry force relieved us from picket duty, 
 and we marched to Stevensburg. 
 
 On the 22d occurred the fight at Jack's Shop, a little vil- 
 lage near Madison. It commenced by some shots from rebel 
 artillery, and a demand for our surrender, which we answered 
 by a volley from our pistols that staggered the foe. We dis- 
 mounted and went at them through the woods. After waiting 
 some time for Kilpatrick to cut off their retreat, which he 
 failed to do, our boys finally pitched into them, and drove 
 them in the greatest confusion. It was one of the most hand- 
 somely fought engagements in Avliich we participated. We 
 drove the graybacks across the Rapidan, and on the next day 
 returned to Culpepper, and subsequently to Stevensburg. 
 
 This was the last of our severe engagements in the autumn 
 of 1863. 
 
 We moved back through Culpepper to Hazel river, where 
 we had a smart skirmish with the enemy, Avho resisted our 
 passage. Several of our division were killed, but the enemy 
 was driven back. 
 
 Mosby, the fearless and impetuous guerrilla, who kept that 
 whole section of the country in constant alarm, was now 
 scouring the hills and valleys of Virginia, and we were in 
 pursuit of him. We proceeded to Fairfax Court House, and 
 thence to Culpepper. There we remained a month in camp, 
 and there the regiment re-enlisted as veterans. 
 
 The 8th Illinois Cavalry has the honor of originating the 
 
THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY 241 
 
 system of veteran re-enlistment. As early as July, 1863, a 
 majority of the regiment had offered to re-enlist as a regiment ; 
 but the Department, always behind the people in their de- 
 mands for men, discouraged the offer. But after the regiment 
 had lain at Culpepper in winter quarters, the permission was 
 received, and the regiment went home on a veteran furlough 
 of thirty days. About one hundred and fifty declined to re- 
 enlist, and were sent on detached duty as body-guards, and 
 in service of that character, till the expiration of their three 
 years' service in September, 1864. 
 
 Headquarters were now at St. Charles, Illinois, and there, 
 after their short furlough, the regiment re-enlisted in Febru- 
 ary, and reached Washington again in March. We were en- 
 camped at Giesborough Point, near Washington, for about 
 two months, and then crossed to Washington, where we were 
 employed on patrol duty in and about the city. 
 
 The grand army under Grant was now making its way on 
 the great final campaign to Richmond, and a rebel force under 
 Early again crossed the upper Potomac, through Maryland, 
 and endeavored to effect the capture of Washington. A 
 comparatively small force could only be spared from the grand 
 army to resist this attack. It was placed under the command 
 of General Lew Wallace, and the 8th Illinois acted as his 
 cavalry support. 
 
 We fought the enemy in the engagements at Middletown 
 and Monocacy, and at Urbana our regiment held in check 
 two rebel brigades, resisting their approach till the bleeding 
 and shattered forces of General Wallace could be rallied and 
 saved from rout and destruction. It was a service whose 
 value could hardly be over-estimated. 
 
 The Sixth Corps were summoned to the defence of the 
 Capital, and drove Early back into Virginia. 
 
 We were now stationed at Washington, and employed in 
 the comparatively light and easy duties of patrolling the city. 
 
 In August we crossed over into Yirgmia, and during the 
 autumn, and, indeed, long after we had gone into winter 
 
HISTORY OF DB KALB COUNTY. 
 
 quarters at Fairfax, we were employed in scouting and scour- 
 ing the country after the ubiquitous Mosby, whose forces, 
 sometimes three hundred strong and sometimes not more than 
 a dozen, were constantly committing depredations on the 
 Union armies and the Union people, yet vanishing as a vapor 
 when pursued. His depredations were usually committed at 
 night, and on many of those cold, wintry nights we were 
 roused from our slumbers to pursue him, but he always eluded 
 pursuit, and was never captured. 
 
 When, in the following April, President Lincoln was assas- 
 sinated by the actor Booth, our regiment was dispatched to 
 the peninsula to assist in searching for the infamous assassin 
 and his associates, who were supposed to be a formidable band. 
 
 The assassins captured, the regiment remained in King 
 George and St. Mary's Counties, Maryland, engaged in the 
 prevention of smuggling, and in making prisoners of all those 
 of the inhabitants who declined to take the oath of allegiance. 
 All of this class who refused the oath were sent to the Capital 
 prison at Washington. 
 
 In June, of 1865, the regiment was again encamped at 
 Fairfax Court House, and the great rebellion having finally 
 been crushed, they were ordered to the West to operate against 
 the Indians, who were then threatening serious trouble upon 
 the Western plains. 
 
 They reached St. Louis in July, but on the passage met 
 with a serious misfortune by the overloading of the boat on 
 which they were transported. In the darkness of the night 
 of June 28th the steamer ran aground, and careened upon 
 her side. Eight members of Company L, roused from their 
 slumbers by the alarm, threw themselves into the water, and 
 five of them were drowned. 
 
 The order to move out upon the plains was very decidedly 
 opposed to the wishes of the men of the regiment. For nearly 
 five years they had been fighting the rebellion, and now that 
 it was finally and gloriously ended, they thought they were 
 entitled to return to their long-lost homes. A vigorous pro- 
 
THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRl 243 
 
 it was made against the order, and, thanks to influential 
 ends, it was successful. 
 
 After remaining a short time at St. Louis the regiment was 
 dered to Chicago, and there, on July 17, 1865, was finally 
 istered out. 
 
 'The service of the 8th Illinois Cavalry had been long, ar- 
 
 [ous, dangerous, and brilliant, with many gallant and noble 
 
 fpds. It had shed lustre upon our State, and its memory 
 
 1 ever be preserved as among the choicest, proudest trophies 
 
 the great State from which it sprang. Friends and foes 
 
 e have described it as the best cavalry regiment in the 
 
 at army of the Potomac. The writer has heard this high 
 
 pliment paid it from too many different members of the 
 
 el cavalry, so long opposed to it, to doubt the candor or 
 
 cerity of their statement. 
 
 he following is the roster of the ofiicers and men in the 
 
 panics that went from De Kalb County, as taken from 
 
 official reports : 
 
 / 
 
The Eighth Cavalry Eegiment. 
 
 COMPANY A. 
 Harvey A. Humphrey, Franklin, 1st Lieut. Promoted Capt. Co. I). 
 Shields Joseph, Franklin, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Eurmier John, Franklin, mustered out July 17, '65, as teamster. 
 Fisher Charles, Franklin, mustered out July 17, '65, as Corporal. 
 Hoffman Valentine B., Franklin, mustered out July 17, '65, as Corporal. 
 Smith Leonard G. , Cortland, promoted 2d Lieut. 
 <irashaber Franklin, Franklin, prisoner of war. 
 Phillips Joseph, Franklin, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Stevens Isaac ^Y., Franklin, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 OFFICERS OF COMPANY B. 
 
 CAPTAINS. 
 
 Lorenzo H. Whitney, Kingston, resigned July 15, '62. 
 John G. Smith, Sycamore, died of wounds June 16, 63. 
 John A. Kelley, Sycamore, term expired September 18, '64. 
 George W- Corbit, Afton, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 FIRST I-IEUTEXANTS. 
 
 John G. Smith, Sycamore, promoted. 
 Jchn A. Kelley, Sycamore, promoted. 
 
 SECOND i,iei;tenants. 
 
 Jacob M. Siglin, Sycamore, resigned .Tuly 15, '62. 
 S. Spencer Carr, Genoa, promoted. 
 George W. Corbitt, Afton, promoted. 
 
 riRST sergeant. 
 John A. Kelley, Sycamore, promoted 2d Lieut. 
 
 y. M. SERGEANT. 
 
 J. J. Woodruff, Clinton, discharged Oct. 14, '62; disability, and died. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 E. B. Wright, Genoa, mustered out September 28, '64. 
 
 J, William Moody, Burlington, discharged January 16, '62; disability"^ 
 
 W. H. Whitnej^ Kingston, discharged April 17, '62; disability. 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 Spencer S. Carr, Genoa, promoted 2d Lieut. 
 
 Adin F. Cowles, Genoa, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 George M. Roe, Shabbona, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 George W. Corbitt, Afton, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 E. H. Burdick, Sycamore, discharged December 28, '62; disability. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Allen Abner, Genoa, died at Alexandria, Va., February 9, '62. 
 Blakesly James N., Sycamore, mustered out September 28, '64. 
 Baxter Charles, Be Kalb, mustered out September 27, '64. 
 Bannister Charles F., Malta, died at Alexandria April 13, '62. 
 
THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 245 
 
 fedee Joseph, Sycamore, discharged May 15, '63. 
 
 tailey William, Clinton, mustered out September 28, "64. 
 
 •oon Shubble S., Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 • ell James M.; Clinton, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 "ollins C. H., Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 'ook S. W. L., Genoa, transferred to V. K. C, March 14. 'fi4. 
 
 'aless John, Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 ilose Robert, De Kalb, re-enlisted as veteran 
 
 ilampbell William L., De Kalb, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Chambers A. B., De Kalb, killed at Mechanicsville June 'Ifj, '(i2. 
 
 ■utshaw B. F., Burlington, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 )oney Davis S., Genoa, transferred to Invalid Corps. 
 
 >ennis Lyman, Mayfield, mustered out September 28, 'G4. 
 
 |)avis Samuel, Shabbona, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 barrel Edward, Al'ton, died at Alexandria, Va., February 21, 'G2. 
 
 p arnam Simon, Sycamore, mustered out September 28, '64. 
 
 t'radenburg Gf.rritt, Sycamore, discharged September 18, '64. 
 
 freeman Watson, Genoa, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 I'ancher Martin, Clinton, discharged April 6, '64 ; wounds. 
 
 raser Thomas, Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 lillott Robert M., Genoa, Corporal. Died at Alexandria April 12, 't)2. 
 Tall George, Sycamore. 
 
 laskins Elmer, Sycamore, died at Alexandria February lu, '62. 
 lolderness Elisha, Malta, discharged November 8, '62 ; disability, 
 litt Wesley, Genoa, discharged April 17, '62; disability. 
 (I owe James M., Mayfield, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 errick William, Clinton, mustered out September 28, '64. 
 
 ill Henry, Clinton, mustered out September 28, '64. 
 ngols Charles, Burlington, died on the road to N. Y. May 10, '62. 
 Losee Rufus, De Kalb, discharged December 28, '62 ; disability. 
 Mnce William, De Kalb, Corporal. Killed November 5, '62, at Barbers X 
 
 Roads. 
 Miller Solomon, De Kalb, deserted Aiigust 30, '02. 
 Maclan James, De Kalb, mustered out September 28, '64. 
 Morse C. Wesley, Milan, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 O'Connor Daniel, Genoa, re-enUsted as veteran. 
 Parkhurst A. M., Sycamore, mustered out September 28. '64. 
 Porter George, Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 jPartlow James F., Burlington, discharged April 17. '62; disability, 
 ii'erry George W-, Burlington, mustered out September 28, '64. 
 ;?ittenger Reuben S., Burlington, discharged May 2, '62; disability. 
 Pierce Washington F., Afton, discharged May 8, '62 ; disability. 
 'Peavey Ira W-, Genoa, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 jjReeves Robert L., Burlington, mustered out September 28, '64. 
 |ShurtleiF W. H., Genoa, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Thomas Julius 0., Clinton, discharged May 15, '62. 
 Weaver Isaac, Sycamore, died at Camp California January 21, '62. 
 
 I Wilcox Daniel, Genoa, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 VETERANS. 
 Bell George H,, Sycamore, mustered out as Sergeant July 17, '65. 
 I'Bell James M., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 Boon Shubble S.. Sycamore, Corporal. Absent at muster-out. 
 Banner George P., Burlington, mustered out July 17, '65, as Corporal. 
 {Corbitt George W., Sycamore, promoted 2d Lieutenant. 
 Collins Charles H., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 Crouk Cyrus H., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65, as Sergeant- 
 Cowles Adin F., Sycamore, transferred. 
 
 
246 ^ HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Close Robert J., Sycamore, died at Washington March 13, '64. 
 
 Campbell W- L., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65, as bugler. 
 
 Callies .John, Sycamore, mustered out .July 17, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 Dewitt Hiram S., Sycamore, mustered out -July 17, ',65, as Sergeant. 
 
 Dunning Dyer D., Sycamore, promoted Sergeant, then 2d Lieutenant. 
 
 Dake Oliver S., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Davis Samuel, Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Fraser Thomas, Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Fassett Ceylon A., Sycamore, hospital steward. 
 
 Freeman Watson L., Sycamore, mustered out -July 17, '65. 
 
 Graves Martin, Sycamore, mustered out .July 17, '65. 
 
 Hokes Harrison, Sycamore, promoted 1st Sergeant, then 1st Lieutenani. 
 
 Howe James M., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '05, as Sergeant. 
 
 Hollister Henry, De Ka,lb, mustered out .July 17, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 Maynard James M., Sycamore, mustered out .lulj^ 17, '65, as Sergeant. 
 
 Morse Charles W., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65, as blacksmitli. 
 
 McGregor George, Sycamore, killed at Monocacy July 9, '64. 
 
 O'Connor Daniel, Sycamore, killed at Cockeysville July 18, '64. 
 
 Porter George, Sycamore, mustered out -July 17, "65. 
 
 Peavey Ira W-, Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Roe George M., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Kemmington Darius H., Sycamore, Sergeant. 
 
 Reynolds Andrew A., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65, as Sergeant. 
 
 Shurtletf W- H., Sycamore, mustered out .July 17. '05. 
 
 Starkey Simon P., Sycamore, mvistered out .July 17, '65, as Farrier. 
 
 Wilcox Daniel, Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '05. 
 
 Weed John, Burlington, commissioned 2d Lieutenant. 
 
 RECBUITS. 
 
 Albert William T., S3'camore, deserted September 27. '62. 
 
 Baker Fred W., Genoa, transferred to Co. D. 
 
 Banner George, Genoa, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Brooks Rufus, Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '05. 
 
 Butler W- A., Cortland, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Buck Ellis, Genoa, died at Washington April 28. '64. 
 
 Campbell George N., De Ivalb, discharged January 1, '64: disability. 
 
 Campbell George N., Sycamore, mustered out .July 17, '65. 
 
 Denton Isaac G., Afton, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Davis Reed, Burlington, mustered out June 22, '65. 
 
 Disbron Edward, Alden, died at Fairfax December 13, '64. 
 
 Everetts Aranthus, Burlington, mustered out July 17, "65. 
 
 Fraser Alexander, Sycamore, discharged July 17, '62 ; disability. 
 
 Freeman Wilbert S., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65, as bugler. 
 
 Fleet Charles, Afton, mustered out .June 27, '65. 
 
 Gregory William, Sycamore, mustered out .July 17, '65. 
 
 Hyland George G., De Ivalb, died at Washington September 5, '64. 
 
 Hollister Henry D., De Kalb, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Hatch Simeon P., Burlington, mustered out July 17, 65. 
 
 Percival .Judson, Clinton, mustered out .July 17, '65. 
 
 Percival Stephen, Clinton, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Partlow Calvin, Burlington, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Reeves John SY., Burlington, mustered out July 17, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 Roach .John, Genoa, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Starkey Henry S., Genoa, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Snyder S. S., Cortland, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Thomas Isaac E., Cortland, mustered out .July 17, '65. 
 
 Thomas Edwin J., Cortland, discharged January 29, '65 ; disab lity. 
 
THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 247 
 
 Van Amburg Matthew, Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Weed John J., Burlington, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Westbrook Charles, Genoa, mustered out July 17, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 COMPANY I. 
 Aldrich Charles, Somouauk, mus ered out July 17, '65. 
 Gates Orlando L., Shabbona, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 Rockwell Hamlin J., Somonauk, discharged July 19, '62, for promotion in 
 
 colored regiment. 
 VVinans Wesley J., Somonauk, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 COMPANY K. 
 Brown Charles D., Victor, Sergeant. Mustered out September 28, '64. 
 Wesson Silas D., Victor, Corporal. Re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Gould George, Victor, Corporal. Mustered out Sept. 28, '64, as private. 
 Beckwith John, Victor, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Bond Charles, Victor, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Bullock Daniel, Victor, mustered out September 28, '64, as Corporal. 
 Burnham Samuel M., Victor, discharged March 8, '62 ; disability. 
 Bacon Lawrence T., Somonauk, discharged May 1, '62 ; disability. 
 Dean De Grass, Victor, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Button Whitney, Somonauk, discharged September 29, '62 ; disability. 
 Greenville Charles, Victor, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Hall Jacob M., Somonauk, killed at Hazel River October 17, '63. 
 Kennicott Ira, Victor, re-enlisted as veteran 
 Moore Wallace M., A^ictor, discharged May 9, '62; disability. 
 Mead Chauucey. Somonauk, mustered out September 28, '64. 
 Schoville Fred E., Victor, I'e-enlisted as veteran. 
 Snydam Cornelius R., Victor, died at Alexandria January 27, '62. 
 Snydam Simon, Victor, mustered out September 28, '64. 
 Stockham Dewitt C, Victor, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Tripp Calvin, Somonauk, nuistered out September 28, '64. 
 Van Fleet Alfred, Victor, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Voorhees Peter, Victor, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Willard William, Victor, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 YBTEKANS- 
 
 Beckwith John S., Victor, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Brown Alden, Victor, mustered out July 17, '65, as Sergeant. 
 
 Hond Charles T., Victor, died at Pittsburg March 16, '64. 
 
 Dean De Grass, Somonauk, mustered out August 3, '65. 
 
 Kennicott Ira, Victor, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Scoville Fred E., Victor, mustered out April 12, '65. 
 
 Van Fleet Alfred. Victor, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Voorhees Peter, Victor, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Wesson Silas D., Victor, mustered out July 17, '65, as Sergeant. 
 
 Willard AVilliam, Clinton, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 EECEUITS. 
 
 Baker George L., Somonauk, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Bigelow W. H., Somonauk, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Bennett James, Somonauk, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Baker John T.. Somonauk, killed at Frederick July 8, '64, 
 
 Brown Alden, Victor, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 iJe Forrest William, Afton, died at Camp Stoneman, D. C, Nov. 9. '64. 
 
 Frank Frederick, Sycamore, killed, March 30, '63. 
 
 Graham Forrester, Sandwich, deserted October 6, '62. 
 
 ^luntington Averell, Somonauk, mustered out July 17, '65, as bugler. 
 
 Kirkpatrick Isaac, Somonauk, discharged July 22, '62 ; disability. 
 
HISTOKY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Kimball Xathan G- Somonauk, transferred to Co. G. 
 
 Mack Samuel J., Somonauk, mustered out July 17, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 McBrayton George, Somonauk, mustered out July 17. '65, as bugler. 
 
 Felling William, Somonauk, mustered out July 17. '65. 
 
 Ryan Horton, Afton, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Ryan John. Aftou, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 
 Wilson .Tames H., Somonauk, mustered out July 17. '65. 
 
 COMPANY L. 
 
 CAPTAINS. 
 
 Daniel Dusiin, Sycamore, promoted. 
 
 John M. Waite, Sycamore, promoted. 
 
 James F. Berry, Sycamore, term expired December 28, '66. 
 
 FIRST LIEUTESANT. 
 
 John M. Waite, Sycamore, promoted. 
 
 SECOXD LIErXEXANTj 
 
 John M. Waite. Sycamore, promoted. 
 
 Q. M. SERGE AST. 
 
 Phillip McRae, Sycamore, discharged, and promoted 2d' Lieutenant in 
 17th Cavalry. 
 
 SERGEANT. 
 
 .Tames F. Berry, Sycamore, promoted 2d Lieutenant. 
 
 rORPORAT,.s. 
 
 William S. Thompson, Dement. 
 
 •Sidney S. Sessions. Sycamore. Sergeant. Accidentally killed May 15, 'Ci. 
 
 Edward .T. Blanchard. Maytield. died at Alexandria, February 12, '62. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Albro .Simeon, South Grove, mustered out September 28, '64. 
 Burzell Arick H., Genoa, re-enlisted as veteran, 
 liutler Thomas, kiouth Grove, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Carr James H., Franklin, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Carr "Winslow A., Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 f'ole Amos R., ^ mustered out September 28. '615, as Corporal. 
 
 Countryman James. Franklin, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Depue James S., Sycamore, discharged December 28, ''6]. 
 
 Ui.xon .Tuseph E., Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Edson Samuel L., Sycamore, transferred to Invalid Corps. Feb. 7, '64. 
 
 .McKinney A. C., Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 itosbach William H.. Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 .'^tevens .Tudson A., Genoa, promoted 2d Lieutenant. 
 
 Young Walter "\V.. Maytield, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 VETERANS. 
 
 Butler Ihomas L., Sycamore, transferred to U. .S. }\a,vj, Sept. 21, "64. 
 Burzell Arick H., Genoa, Sergeant. Drowned in Mississippi river, June 
 
 28, '65. 
 Crosby James A., Sycamore, absent, sick, at muster-out of regiment. 
 Carr James H.. Frunklin. mustered out July 17, '65, as Sergeant 
 Carr Charles M., Franklin, mustered out July 17, '65. as Farrier. 
 Dixon Joseph E., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65. as Sergeant. 
 McKinney Artemus, Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65. as Corporal. 
 Rosback Wallace H., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, 65. 
 "Waldron Isaac X., Sycamore. See Co. B. 
 Young Walter W., Sycamore, mustered out July 17, '65, as bugler. 
 
 
THE EIGHTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY 249 
 
 BZCEUITS. 
 
 idams Eli, Pierce, mustered out July 17, '60. 
 Uakely John, Pierce, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 iirosby James A., Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 arr J. A., Franklin, killed at White Plains, in a charge, Oct. 11, '64. 
 i.ogan Elias, Cortland, mustered out July 17, '65. 
 iiichols George A., Malta, re-enlisied as veteran. 
 I'orter Leroy L., Sycamore, discharged March 10, '62. 
 |Valdron Isaac N., Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 COMPANY M. 
 irownell Joseph 0., Somonauk, mustered out July 13, '65. 
 -eason William, Somonauk, mustered out July 13, '65. 
 tverocker M. D., South Grove, mustered out Sept. 28, '64, as Corporal. 
 Villiams Joseph, Somonauk, mustered out June 21, '65. 
 
 aiding Herman, Sycamore, mustered out June 3, '65. 
 'rouk Eugene, Somonauk, veteran. Deserted. 
 )ouglas Edward A., De Kalb. 
 [elly Thomas, Cortland, deserted. 
 
 32 
 
Seventeenth Illinois Cayalry. 
 
THE ITTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 
 
 In the autumn of 1863, when the hearts of the lovers of 
 the Union had heen cheered by the great victory at Antietam, 
 which sent Lee and his mighty invading horde of rebels flying 
 back across the Potomac, yet had been depressed again by 
 the fact that he had been permitted to escape without the 
 destruction of his army, which they had confidently anticipated 
 as the result of this great victory, and when it was evident 
 that still more of the country's brave boys must be called 
 from civil pursuits, to give what was fondly hoped would be a 
 final death-blow to the rebellion. Colonel John F. Farnsworth, 
 who was then acting as Brigadier-General of cavalry upon the 
 Potomac, was authorized by the ^ar Department to raise a 
 fresh brigade of cavalry. 
 
 Upon Colonel Farnsworths recommendation a commission 
 was issued to Major John L. Beveridge, of the 8th Cavalry, 
 to raise one regiment of that brigade at his own home in Illi- 
 nois. He proceeded at once to this State, and began the 
 work of recruitment, establishing his rendezvous at St. Charles, 
 Kane County. 
 
 Captain Jesse D. Butts, of Be Kalb County, who had been 
 forced by one of those chronic ailments which beset the soldier 
 to resign his office as Captain in the 42d Infantry, and had 
 been at home a few months, commenced, on the 1st of October, 
 to recruit a company for that regiment, — a work in trhich he 
 
N 
 
 THE SEVEXTEEyTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 25B 
 
 ras most efficiently aided by Jasper H. "Waite. of Sycamore, 
 scholarly young man ■\vlio left Beloit College to do liis share 
 Q the defence of his country, and by Sergeant Phillip 'Slc- 
 lae. of Mayfield. a dashing trooper who had seen some two 
 'ears' service in that excellent school for the cavalry soldier. 
 
 he 8th Illinois. 
 
 I The recruitino' for this regiment was conducted under one 
 narked disadvantage: To fill up the thinned ranks of the 
 i'eteran reo^iments then in the field the Government had offered 
 \ bounty of 8300 for recruits. For those who enlisted in 
 he new regiments, then forming, only $100 bounty was at 
 irst allowed. The service in the veteran regiments was more 
 irduous, the chances of speedy promotion very much less, 
 pd the new regiments were decidedly the favorites ; so that, 
 jn spite of this drawback, the regiment mustered five hundred 
 pen in two months from the first attempt to recruit, and was 
 mustered in January 22, 1864. 
 
 I Subsequently the bounty of 8300 was extended to all who 
 jsnlisted for three years, and their ranks filled up more rap- 
 idly, so that, on the 12th of February, the whole number of 
 :welve companies were in camp at St. Charles, and preparmg 
 ;or duty in the field. 
 
 The recruits had been encouraged by the Government to 
 
 'select and furnish their own horses, for each of which the 
 United States allowed them Si 30. This permission was a 
 sreat favor. The farmer lads of Illinois. — a land in which 
 there were more horses than children in each family, and 
 where each young man had his favorite steed, who was as 
 dear as a brother to him, — felt that with his own horse as his 
 constant companion he would not be quite alone any where, 
 iand, engaged in the service, they cared for their steeds with 
 'a thoughtfulness and tenderness that they could never have 
 felt for such an one as might have fallen to their lots by the 
 chance distribution of the United States officer. 
 
 The men of Company C, which was Captain Butts' com- 
 pany, were well mounted. Many a superior horse, costing 
 itwice the Government price, had been purchased and given 
 
254 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 to the young troopers by their good friends at home, and bj 
 the close of April six hundred and fifty horses had thus been 
 brought in by the men and sold to the Government. 
 
 The form of election of officers was usually gone through 
 with by the new companies, and there was generally some 
 sharp contests for the positions ; but without much opposition 
 the Be Kalb County Company (Company C) selected Jesse 
 D. Butts as Captain, Jasper H. Waite as 1st Lieutenant, and 
 Phillip McRae as 2d Lieutenant. They proved to have been 
 excellent selections, and in all the vicissitudes through which 
 this company passed there was little or no inclination to regret 
 their choice. 
 
 The field officers of the regiment were: Colonel, John L. 
 Beveridge; Lieutenant-Colonel, Dennis J. Hynes: Major, 
 Hiram Hilliard; 2d Major, Lucius C. Matlack; 3d Major, 
 Phillip E. Fisher; Adjutant, Samuel W. Smith; Quarter- 
 master, Philo P. Judson ; Commissary, John A. Colton; Sur- 
 geon, Samuel K. Crawford; Assistant-Surgeon, Samuel A. 
 Dow; Chaplain, Edward O'Brien. 
 
 On the 1st of May the regiment, eager for active service, 
 and wearied with the monotony of camp-life, was pleased to 
 receive orders to break camp at St. Charles, and report for 
 duty to General Rosecrans, commanding the department of 
 Missouri. 
 
 They proceeded to Jefferson Barracks, twelve miles below 
 St. Louis, where their outfit was completed ; and they were 
 ordered to Alton, where for a month they were employed in 
 doing guard duty over a large body of rebel prisoners confined 
 in the deserted State prison at that place. 
 
 The regiment was divided into three battalions, and each 
 battalion into two squadrons of two companies each. 
 
 Lieutenant- Colonel Dennis J. Hynes, an experienced and 
 dashing officer who had served in the 8th Illinois Cavalry, 
 commanded the 1st Battalion, which was composed of Com- 
 panies A and B, who constituted the 1st Squadron, and was 
 under command of Major H. Hilliard, and of Companies C 
 
\ 
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. ' 255 
 
 id D, who constituted the 2d Squadron, which was com- 
 anded by Captain Butts. 
 
 Major L. C. Matlack, formerly a chaplain of the 8th Illinois 
 avalry, commander of the 2d Battalion, was assigned by 
 eneral C. B. Fisk to the post at Glasgow, Missouri, and for 
 lur months subsequently the three battalions were separated 
 id remote from each other. 
 
 The De Kalb County company was, with the remainder of 
 le 1st Battalion, moved to St. Louis, where it was assigned 
 , and for three months mostly employed in, escort and pro- 
 )st guard duties in North Missouri. Their headquarters 
 ere at St. Joseph, in iSTorthwestern Missouri, whither they 
 !ere conveyed by steamer. 
 
 , Northern Missouri was at that time terribly scourged by 
 :bel guerrillas, and on their way up the river they heard of 
 e near presence of the guerrilla Bill Anderson, with a large 
 jirt of his gang. The boat was stopped, one hundred and 
 I'ty of the 17th were landed, and attacked his force with 
 f.ccess, driving them into the interior. 
 
 In this engagement Henry Eeed, a worthy member of 
 •ompany C, from De Kalb, lost his life, — the first casualty 
 i the regiment. 
 
 I While posted at St. Joseph Captain Butts was detailed as 
 •idge Advocate, and Lieutenant Waite as Assistant Adjutant 
 • eneral, on General Fisk's staff. 
 
 The company was selected as a body-guard of General Fisk, 
 lit was constantly on duty, scouting through the country, 
 uder command of Lieutenant Phillip McKae, who proved 
 Imself one of the most dashing and efficient officers in the 
 frvice; often routing the guerrillas, and terrifying them into 
 teir dens. 
 
 About the middle of September the company was again 
 (dered out in pursuit of the notorious Bill Anderson, who 
 Id just committed a shocking massacre of Union men at 
 <3ntralia. The rebel band was discovered near Fayette, and 
 Jter a long and desperate contest were driven from their 
 |ounds and dispersed. 
 
256 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. ^ 
 
 Soon after this the Companies C and D, forming the 2d 
 Squadron of the 1st Battalion, under Captain Jones, "were 
 ordered to Jefferson Citj, the capital of Missouri, which was 
 threatened by the rebels under Price, who was scouring the 
 country with his accustomed vigor and energy. They moved 
 across the country by land, and on the 6th and 7th of October 
 assisted in the defence of the capital. 
 
 The 3d Battalion, which, with the regimental headquarters, 
 
 had remained at Alton, Illinois, until September, now joined 
 
 the 1st and 2d at the capital, and for a long period conducted 
 
 a very active campaign under Colonel Beveridge, in which 
 
 the regiment was a unit. 
 
 About this time Colonel Harding, who was commander 
 
 a Missouri regiment, with a force of about five hundred men, 
 had been surrounded by a much larger force of the enemy, 
 and after having contended for five hours with a greatly su- 
 perior force, was compelled to surrender. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Hynes, Commissary Colton, Lieutenant 
 Eldridge, and three men of Company C, who had been away 
 on leave of absence, and being prevented from reaching their 
 regiment had taken service on this expedition with him, were 
 among the captured upon this occasion. 
 
 On the 19th of September the regiment, under Colonel 
 Beveridge, reported to General McNiell, at Rolla, an import- 
 ant strategic point in Southwestern Missouri, then the termi- 
 nus of a railroad, and constantly threatened by the vigilant 
 and active rebel Price, whose name in the West had a power 
 and popularity equal to that of Lee in Virginia. 
 
 Soon after their arrival there all communication with St. 
 Louis was cut off by Price, and a force commanded by Colonel 
 Ewing, and stationed at Pilot Knob, some sixty miles farther 
 to the southwest, had, after a brave resistance, been driven 
 from its post, and was retreating on Bolla. 
 
 At noon of the 28th the 17th, under Colonel Beveridge, 
 was sent out to their relief, and after meeting and routing a 
 cavalry force that appeared near Cuba, it pressed on to Lees- 
 burg, thirty-three miles distant. 
 
 I 
 
' THE SEVENTEENTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY ' ZO ( 
 
 ) 
 
 J In the morning it reached the little army of General Ewing, 
 'composed of only eight hundred men. It was hastily en- 
 'renched, expecting constantly an attack from the overwhelm- 
 ing force of the enemy, and anticipating either capture or 
 |lestruction. The joy of the little army of General Ewing at 
 Ihe sight of the friendly blue coats of the I7th, which assured 
 hem of safety and succor, may readily be imagined. They 
 peedily moved back to Rolla. 
 
 Arrived there, they found that the rebel forces under the 
 Sgilant General Price had cut the railroad, destroyed the 
 [elegraph, and were reported moving with an army of twenty 
 thousand men upon Jefferson City. 
 
 General Sanborn had now come up to Rolla from Spring- 
 |eld, to avoid being surrounded and captured at that distant 
 nd exposed point. 
 
 No orders could be received from headquarters, nor definite 
 
 inowledge of the plans of the rebels could be procured. 
 
 irenerals McNiell and Sanborn, however, concluded upon 
 
 hat happened to be the wisest plan they could pursue. They 
 
 ruck out at a venture for the State capital, wisely judging 
 
 at Price was aiming for that point ; and thus commenced 
 y far the most exciting episode in the history of the 17th 
 j^avalry, and one of the most thrilling events of the war. It 
 ras the famous movement known as the Price raid, — a move- 
 iient in which the endurance of which human nature was 
 lapable was put to the severest possible test, in which the 
 legiment lost five hundred horses from utter exhaustion, and 
 ji which, at one time, they were for fifty-six hours in the 
 laddle, with orders to lose not even time enough to water 
 fieir horses, but press on the enemy at every hazard; a 
 jiovement which resulted in a complete baffling of the plans 
 !f the vigilant enemy, and his final ruin. 
 I On the second day's march, October 2d, the scouts reported 
 |iat Price's army, only five miles distant, was pressing for- 
 ward with all possible haste on a parallel line with ours, for 
 le capital at Jefierson City. 
 33 
 
258 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 The population, generally favorable to the rebels, furnished 
 them all possible aid, while they hindered and obstructed our 
 forces as far as they dared. 
 
 The rebel veterans, inured to hardship, born and brought 
 up in the bush, accustomed to coarse and scanty rations, were 
 among the most effective troops in the world. But the brave 
 boys in blue, marching with all possible speed, finally baffled 
 their foes, and reached the capital a few hours in advance of 
 the rebels. 
 
 Hasty preparations for a vigorous defence were made. 
 The men worked with energy, for the rebs outnumbered them 
 three to one. The 17th had the post of honor and of danger 
 upon the extreme right of the city, — a position on which, 
 from the nature of the ground, the principal attack was 
 expected. Breastworks were thrown up, and General Neill 
 addressed the 17th, warning them to expect a fierce onset 
 from the enemy, and to stand their ground bravely. 
 
 Price, finding our troops prepared to make a brave defence, 
 after an attack upon the center, on the 4th, withdrew his 
 forces in the night, and moved northwestwardly upon Boone- 
 ville. 
 
 Colonel Beveridge, scouting with a few attendants early on 
 the morning of the 5th, discovered the new movement of the 
 enemy, and in a few hours the whole Federal army was in 
 hurried pursuit. General Pleasanton having now arrived, the 
 whole cavalry force was organized as one division, with Gen- 
 eral Sanborn in command. Colonel Beveridge having charge 
 of the 2d Brigade of four regiments, and Major Matlack 
 under him of the 17th regiment. 
 
 Hard marching for six days brought our cavalry upon the 
 rebels, posted in strong force at Booneville. Their shirmish- 
 ers were driven in, and a strong line of battle being developed, 
 our forces aAvaited the morning, at which time Colonel Bev(jr- 
 idge was ordered to attack. The 5th Missouri and the 17th 
 Illinois attacked at four o'clock in the morning. The 5th, in 
 advance, found the sleepless rebel foe prepared for the onset; 
 
THE SEVENTEENTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY 259 
 
 t the rebels were driven more than a mile, with great loss 
 them, and many wounded on our side. 
 The 17th now had the advance, and the foe, reinforced, 
 I.S detained by its assaults till the main army, a day behind, 
 iild be brought up. The 17th retired beyond a bridge when 
 3 fight had commenced, tearing it up on their passage, and 
 re amused at seeing the rebel artillery playing for some 
 urs upon the line where they had been posted, and where 
 ij supposed them still located. The Federal reinforcements 
 w coming up, the enemy evacuated Booneville, and fled 
 vard Lexington. 
 
 A re- organization of the cavalry now placed Colonel Bev- 
 dge in immediate command of the 17th, and moving rapidly 
 •ough Lexington, they overtook the enemy near Inde- 
 adence. Here the 17th, dismounted, was deployed on the 
 t, while a dashing charge of the Missouri and Kansas cav- 
 \j captured a number of the rebel cannon. 
 JAt midnight of the 22d the brigade left Independence going 
 ivards Hickman, where the rebels were encountered next day 
 noon. Pleasanton, at this point, had arranged for and 
 jticipated the entire destruction of the rebel army. But a 
 lay in the advance of McNiell's brigade of cavalry disap- 
 nted their calculations, and it was allowed to escape. 
 When the main column of the brigade under McNiell finally 
 acked the head of the rebel column, the 17th was ordered 
 form a separate column, and strike them on the flank. 
 The boys of the 17th, who had been terribly chafed by the 
 accountable delay, received this cheering order with delight, 
 ith shouts they rushed a half-mile over a plain, then down 
 ■ugged ravine, slowly climbed a hill beyond, on through the 
 ods, and then were preparing to capture Price's wagon 
 in, the main-stay of his army, slowly passing before their 
 es, when, to their infinite chagrin, a positive order from 
 ^Niell re-called them to support a battery in front, and 
 ij were forced to relinquish the coveted opportunity for 
 'h distinction and most effective service. 
 
260 ' HISTORY or DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Late on the next day the brigade joined Pleasanton, still 
 pursuing the retreating Price. The tired and exhausted army 
 still made sixty miles on that day, passing Curtis, with his 
 reinforcements of Kansas troops. 
 
 The enemy was finally encountered again, and after a cold 
 and rainy night, without supper or breakfast, at early dawn 
 of October 26th, the army again attacked the enemy, and on 
 this day fought the battle of Mine Creek, capturing the rebel 
 Generals Marmaduke and Cabel, with a thousand prisoners, 
 and ten pieces of artillery. 
 
 Still the brave boys of the 17th pressed forward, buoyed 
 with the hope of capturing the whole rebel army, and ending 
 the war in Missouri. 
 
 For fifty-six hours they were in the saddle. The rebels 
 preceding them captured all the fresh horses in the country, 
 and rtill kept in advance. Hundreds of our horses, after 
 being kept on the gallop till they could go no longer, would 
 fall into a slow trot, and then either fall to the ground or 
 stand stock still, refusing for the spur or the most furious 
 beating to move another step. The dismounted trooper would 
 strip his saddle and accoutrements from his horse, and carry 
 them on his own back, hoping to find a fresher horse to place 
 them on. Jack Houghton, of De Kalb, one of the best of 
 soldiers, once carried his saddle fourteen miles before he got 
 another horse. 
 
 The scattered remnant of the rebel forces finally escaped 
 over the line into Arkansas, and the brigade ceased the pur- 
 suit at Springfield, Missouri, and soon returned to Rolla, 
 which place was reached November 15th, 1864. During the 
 previous forty-three days the regiment had marched one 
 thousand miles and lost six hundred horses. Less than one 
 hundred and fifty mounted men came back from that terribly 
 destructive, continuous pursuit of this untiring foe. 
 
 The winter now set in. 
 
 Colonel Beveridge was brevetted Brigadier-General, and 
 put in command of a military district in the department of 
 
THE SEVENTEENTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. ■' 261 
 
 Missouri. Lieutenant-Colonel Hynes, Chief of Cavalry of 
 Ijrth Missouri district, on General Fisk's staff, was relieved, 
 id returned to the regiment, for a time being in command 
 
 a military. sub-district, with headquarters at Pilot Knob, 
 iajor Hilliard, on duty in North Missouri, was re-called to 
 :e regiment and put in command. Major Matlack was de- 
 iled by order of General Dodge as Provost Marshal of the 
 strict of St. Louis, and by the same officer Major Fisher 
 us made Chief of Cavalry for the district of Rolla. 
 
 The spring of 1865 found the regiment, under the command 
 : Lieutenant-Colonel Hynes, at Cape Girardeau, Missouri. 
 
 At this time the armies of the East, under Generals Grant, 
 iierman and Sheridan, had crushed the rebellion east of the 
 assissippi. West of the great river the nearest rebel force 
 'IS that of Jeff. Thompson, reported at sixty thousand men- 
 
 Early in May Major-General Dodge sent out commissioners 
 
 I offer Thompson terms of surrender, and the 17th was 
 iiosen as an escort. Four companies, under Lieutenant- 
 blonel Hynes, crossed the St. Francis river at Chalk Bluffs; 
 lur companies, under Major Hilliard, with a section of ar- 
 lilery, encamped twelve miles in the rear ; while the commis- 
 fbners went forward to Jonesboro, Arkansas, and returned 
 
 II the 9th of May with Jeff. Thompson, who arranged the 
 f rrender of his forces. 
 
 It took place at Wittsburg May 25th, and at Jacksonport 
 -me 5th, the total being six thousand men, — just one-tenth 
 i' what was reported. 
 
 : This was the last of the rebellion, and the last time that 
 je 17th met the foe in arms. 
 
 Late in May the regiment, re-mounted, was shipped to 
 
 ansas City to guard a portion of Missouri, containing five 
 ounties, from which the entire population had been driven 
 it on account of their furnishing a harbor for guerrillas. 
 
 After remaining about five months Major Butts, with three 
 ')mpanies, was ordered to Fort Earned. Company C, now 
 ider Captain Waite, had been stationed at Trading Post, a 
 
262 HISTORY OF DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 small village near Fort Scott, — a very unhealthy location,- 
 and most of its members had become ill. They were report 
 unfit for duty, and ordered to Fort Leavenworth to recri 
 their health. 
 
 The men of the 17th were sadly disappointed at not bei: 
 discharged when the war was over, and some of the compani 
 had some trouble in maintaining discipline and preventi: 
 desertion; but the men of the De Kalb County Compai 
 made no opposition to the orders of their officers. It was n 
 till the winter of 1865-66 that the regiment was finally mi 
 tered out at Fort Leavenworth, and the men returned to th( 
 homes. 
 
 From the ranks of Company C nine commissioned office 
 were promoted. Its Captain, J. D. Butts, was commission 
 Major in April, 1865, and subsequently, in December, bi 
 vetted Lieutenant-Colonel of U. S. Volunteers, Itfurnishe 
 also, a 1st Lieutenant, in the person of D. E. Butts, of ] 
 Kalb; a Quartermaster, Philo Judson; a Commissary, Jol 
 A. Colton, of Genoa ; and five 2d Lieutenants, — Robert So 
 ders, Albert V. Ammet, Thomas Hickman, Egbert Johnso 
 and Thomas Searle. 
 
 The service performed by the 17th has been a most hone 
 able one ; their record may well inspire its members with prid 
 

 Enlisted Men of DeKalb County, 17th Illinois Cav. 
 
 SERGEANT MAJOR. 
 
 John V. Henry, Somonauk, promoted from 105th Illinois Infantry. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Charles Price, Sandwich, died at Weston, Mo., Sept. 18, 1864. 
 Edward Baker, Squaw Grove, deserted Sept. 10, 1865. 
 COMPANY C. 
 
 COMMISSARY SERGEANT. 
 
 Charles Chapel, South Grove, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 Joshua R. Nichols, Mayfield, promoted 2d Lieutenant. 
 
 Charles Goodrich, DeKalb, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. private. 
 
 Daniel H. Lindsay, Mayfleld, mustered out Nov. 24, 1865, private. 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 George L. Fisher, Sycamore, mustered out July 20, 1865. 
 John A Trude, Mayiield, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865, private. 
 Jonathan Houghton, DeKalb, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865, private. 
 Charles H. Green, Sycamore, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865, private. 
 
 FARRIERS. 
 
 Horace Tennant, DeKalb, mustered out Nov. 28. 1865. 
 Benjamin F. Harroun, Sycamore, mustered out Aug 8, 1865. 
 
 BUGLERS. 
 
 W. H. Lindsay, Mayfield, absent sick at muster out. 
 Charles A. Brett, DeKalb, mustered out as private. 
 
 SADDLER. 
 
 Joseph Cheesbro, Sycamore, mustered out June 5, 1865, private. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Ames Oliver, Malta, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
 Beardsley Elijah, Mayfield, mustered out Nov. 28, 1865. 
 
 Beeniis Henry, DeKalb, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
 Benedict Alfred N., Cortland, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
 Cunningham Thomas, Pierce, died at DeKalb April 6, 1864. 
 
 Croff' Cyrus E., Cortland, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
 (•oUson M. E., Cortland, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
 Cnrver Charles B., Malta, died in Lee county, Illinois, August 10, 1864. 
 
 Courser Milton, Sycamore, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
 Churchill Menzo, Cortland, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
 Colton John A., Genoa, promoted 1st Lieutenant. 
 
 Dowd Frank, DeKalb, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
 Downs Charles M., Cortland, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
 Daily Francis, Sycamore, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
 Gardner Alfred, Sycamore, died at St. Joseph August 10, 1864. 
 
 Gardner James, Sycamore, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
264 ^ HISTORY OF DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 Gage Aniaza, Squaw Grove, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Holderness J. C, Malta, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Harding Zora, Afton, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Ingham Ellis, Cortland, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Johnson Charles, DeKalb, mustered out Nov. 28, 1865. 
 Lamb James, Sycamore, died at Alton July, 1864. 
 Losee Rufus, DeKalb, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Moxom P. S., DeKalb, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Muzzey Ira C, DeKalb, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Price Rensellaer, DeKalb, died at Alton, Illinois, June, 1864. 
 Peterson Anderson, detached at muster out of regiment. 
 Perkins John N., Sycamore, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Reid Henry, DeKalb, died July 20, 1864. 
 Rogers Charles, Sycamore, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Sipp Samuel L., Malta, deserted Nov. 1, 1865. 
 Stewart James H., Sj'camore, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Wager Ira, DeKalb, mustered out May 25, 1865. 
 Whitmore Charles, DeKalb, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 VanOlinder E. E., Somonauk, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 
 KEt'RUITS. 
 
 Beardsley Earl A., Somonauk, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865, as Sergeant. 
 Burofess Albert, Somonauk, absent sick at muster out. 
 Brookins .lames, Somonauk, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Brown Hamilton, Victor, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Beardsley W. H., Victor, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Baker Alonzo L., Shabbona, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Freer H. T., DeKalb, mustered out July 5, 1865. 
 Griffin Justus, Afton, mustered out Oct. 4, 1865. 
 Uaibh Abram, Pierce, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 Labrant L, Pierce, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865, as Sergeant. 
 Patridge Zelotas, Pierce, mustered out Oct. 4, 1865. 
 Ramer Anthony, Pierce, mustered out as Co. Q. M. Sergeant. 
 Schoonover John A., DeKalb, mustered out July 5, 1865. 
 Townsend Solomon, Somonauk, mustered out Nov. 23, 1865. 
 COMPANY D. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 John M. Osborn, Clinton, mustered out as private. 
 
 John F. T. .J. McKinney, Clinton, discharged October, 1864. 
 
 Harrison S. Andrews, Clinton, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865. 
 
 PEn'ATES. 
 
 Bechtel Samuel, Sandwich, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865. 
 
 Cunningham John, Clinton, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865. 
 
 Field Robert, Clinton, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Gorham Ed. E., Sandwich, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865. 
 
 Lillard Joseph Xj., Clinton, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865. 
 
 Ledbetter Job, Clinton, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865. 
 
 Lillard William E., Clinton, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865. 
 
 Morse William H., Clinton, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865. 
 
 Polan Samuel, Clinton, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865. 
 
 Snowball Charles, Kingston, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865. 
 
 Wimer John R., Clinton, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865, as Q. M. Sergeant. 
 
 Williams Lewis, Clinton, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865, as Q. M. Sergeant. 
 
 Clemmens A. .J., Clinton, mustered out Dec. 20, 1865. 
 
 COMPANY E. 
 Emerson Freeman, Sycamore, discharged for disability. 
 
BRiEve e:cot.j. p. butts 
 
 OF DEKALB. 
 
 Cluc.ii.i Lilli..-ip-..i.liiri-; d.-Cliicjis... 
 
THE SEVENTEENTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY 265 
 
 3anfield Benjamin, Malta, dishonorably discharged. 
 Depue Richard D., Sjcamore, mustered out Dec. 16. 1865. 
 lear Benjamin, Cortland, mustered out Dec. 18, 1865. 
 >iglin Isaiah, Sycamore, mustered out Dec. 18, 1865. 
 ■^iglin Joshua, Sycamore, mustered out Dec. 18, 1865. 
 Censcott Richard, Sycamore, mustered out Dec. 18, 1865. 
 l^anDeusen John A., Sycamore, mustered out Dec. 18, 1865. 
 Wright Halbert, Sycamore, mustered out Dec. 18, 1865, as Corporal. 
 "ubner Charles, mustered out Oct. 3, 1865. 
 
 COMPANY H. 
 
 Bailey Austin R., Genoa. 
 
 (Bailey Frank H., Genoa. 
 
 I'hase Jacob H., Genoa, died at Kansas City, July 11, 1865. 
 
 jDewberry Joseph, Pawpaw, deserted Sept. 11, 1861. 
 
 Hill George, Genoa, mustered out Oct. 20, 1865. 
 
 COMPANY I. 
 
 Stewart Morris, Pierce, mustered out Oct. 9, 1865. 
 pepue Nicholas, Genoa, mustered out Oct. 9, 1865. 
 Morris S.. W., Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 9, 1865. 
 
 34 
 
n 
 
Fifty-Eighth Illinois Infantry. 
 
Fifty-eighth Illinois Infantry. 
 
 Few regiments in the service saw more hard fighting, or 
 endured a more varied and severe experience, than the 58tli 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry. It was organized at Camp 
 Douglas, in Chicago, and mustered into the service on the 25th 
 of December, 1861. 
 
 Its first field officers were : Colonel, William F. Lynch 
 Lieutenant-Colonel, Isaac Rutishauser ; Major, Thomas New- 
 Ian. Colonel Lynch was a resident of Elgin, Kane County, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Rutishauser of Somonauk, DeKalb County, 
 and Major Newlan of Aurora, Kane County. 
 
 Company C of this regiment was raised in the town of 
 Shahbona and its neighborhood. Its officers were : Captain, 
 Gr. W. Kittell ; 1st Lieutenant, S. W. Smith ; 2nd Lieutenant, 
 Joseph Gr. Burt of Chicago. 
 
 A portion of Company G was also from DeKalb County. 
 
 Its Captain was Bewley of Dement. Rev. Job Moxom, 
 
 an eloquent preacher and a heroic soldier, recruited a large 
 portion of Company G, but was mustered into Company I as 
 2nd Lieutenant. A part of Company E was also from this 
 County : so that our County was well represented in the 58th 
 regiment. The regiment remained at Camp Douglas until the 
 month of February, 1862, when it was removed to Cairo, 
 where it was embarked on a steam tran^ort for Fort, Donel- 
 son, at which place it arrived on the morning of the 14th, just 
 
THE FIFTY-EIGHTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 269 
 
 1 time to participate in the capture of that place, which sent 
 uch a thrill of joy all over the land. 
 
 Disembarked at sunrise, the regiment was marched imme- 
 liately to the scene of the conflict, thus being ushered into the 
 kidst of blood and carnage in three days from the time it left 
 iome. A few of the men had seen some service, but most of 
 hem were entirely unused to the duties of the soldier, and 
 resb from civil life. Arms were furnished them for the first 
 ime while at Cairo, and accoutrements and ammunition while 
 >n the boat. One-half the men until that time had never 
 leen a cartridge, and many of them had never loaded a gun 
 until they loaded them for service against the enemy. For- 
 Ipunately the regiment saw no severe service on the first day, 
 but was employed in skirmishing and maneuvering. On the 
 second day they were iu the midst of the fight, and behaved 
 remarkably well for green troops. Three of them were killed 
 and nine were wounded. 
 
 The fort was surrendered, and, following its fall, the 58th 
 marched with the army to Fort Henry, participated in the 
 capture of that fort, and remained there until under General 
 Grant it moved up the Tennessee river to Shiloh or Pittsburg 
 Landing. It now formed a part of General H. L. Wallace's 
 division. In the ever-memorable battle which occurred a 
 this place, the division was in the center of the line of battle 
 on the first disastrous day, and held the main Corinth road to 
 the landing. It is a matter of history that this division did 
 some of the hardest fighting on that day. 
 
 At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, all the field officers and 
 about two-thirds of the line officers, with two hundred of its 
 men, were taken prisoners, and for many months after, endur- 
 ed the horrors of the rebel prison-pens at Mobile, Cahaba, 
 Selma, Macon, Montgomery, Griffin, and finally in Libby 
 Prison in Richmond. Companies A, C and G were on the 
 skirmish-line at this time, and most of them escaped capture. 
 Fifty-nine were killed and wounded, and two hundred and 
 twenty were captured. The loss of Company C was two men 
 
270 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 killed and thirteen wounded. Oliver B. Wilson of Malta was 
 the first man killed from our County. Captain Bewley of 
 Company Gr was killed, and Captain K. P. Rutishauser of 
 Somonauk met the Same fate. Corporal William F. Williams 
 of Company C lost an arm, and subsequently died of the 
 wound ; and Lieutenant Moxom was severely wounded. He 
 managed to crawl behind an old log which lay on 
 the field, across which the fight was kept up for several 
 hours, and, in spite of his efforts, was twice again wounded 
 while he lay there ; but, after remaining there two days, lie 
 was rescued and recovered, and is now doing good service as 
 pastor of a large and flourishing church in Michigan. 
 
 The Union line of battle was formed by the side of this 
 cleared field, and that of the rebels was in the timber on the 
 opposite side, which was about four hundred yards distant. 
 The rebels made several attempts to cross this field, but were 
 each time driven back with great slaughter. A rebel battery 
 posted in the woods opposite this regiment annoyed our force, 
 and Companies C and E were ordered forward as skirmishers 
 to some buildings which stood near the center of the field, with 
 orders to silence the battery if possible. This work was soon 
 accomplished, but the battery was now moved around to the 
 right, and commenced an enfilading fire upon our men behind 
 the building. A retreat was ordered ; but, in the confusion? 
 five men who were in a cotton-house at the left of the others 
 failed to hear the order, and remained at their posts. When 
 the companies had retired, the rebels moved forward and held 
 the same ground that our men had abandoned. The men in 
 the cotton-house were now cut off from the opportunity to 
 retreat, and seemed to be obliged to surrender ; but, to avoid 
 this, three of them jumped into the building, and concealed 
 themselves beneath the mass of loose cotton. Sergeant Chas. 
 0. Wheaton of Company C remained outside, but stepped 
 around the corner of the house. Five rebs came around 
 where Wheaton stood, gun in hand, with fixed bayonet. One 
 says: "You are our prisoner." Wheaton replied that he 
 
THE FIFTY-EIGHTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 271 
 
 ipposed SO, for he saw no use in further resistance. Anothar 
 
 lys . "D n him, let us shoot him!" and both raised their 
 
 iuns to fire. Wheaton, seeing this, thought he would sell his 
 ife as dearly as possible, made ready, and the three fired at 
 hce. One rebel fell dead : one ball passed through Wheaton's 
 lothing, carrying away his canteen, and the other shattered 
 is left hand, and glanced from his gun-barrel. The living 
 ebel now made a bayonet thrust at Wheaton, which he dodged, 
 hd, before the grayback could recover, ran his bayonet through 
 is heart. 
 
 Three rebels now lay dead at his feet ; and, seeing no more 
 n that side of the house, he also jumped into the cotton, and 
 oncealed himself, thinking that the rebels might be driven 
 ack, and all could escape to our lines. But they had not 
 bis good fortune. Our troops were steadily driven back, 
 ,nd, two hours after, our boys were discovered, marched back 
 Monterey, and placed in a log house which was used for a 
 ospital. Sergeant Wheaton and Job Davis of Company C — 
 ne of the boys who hid in the cotton — concluded that they 
 ould go no farther unless they were carried : so Davis bound 
 p his leg with bloody bandages, made an artificial bullet-hole 
 
 his pants, and enacted the part of a soldier wounded in the 
 leg. On Monday morning all the prisoners who could walk 
 were ordered to fall in, and were marched ofi"; but Wheaton 
 md Davis, who appeared unable to march, were left behind ; 
 ind, in the general stampede which ensued, when the rebel 
 irmy was beaten on that day, they escaped in the confusion, 
 [and both reached our camp — Davis on Tuesday night and 
 pheaton on Wednesday. 
 
 Following the fight at Shiloh, the shattered remnant of the 
 58th was united with similar fragments of the 8th, the 12th 
 find the 14th Iowa, and called the Union brigade. Three 
 baptains, G. W. Kittell and E. W. Healy, of the 58th, and 
 jCaptain Fowler of the 12th Iowa were detailed to serve as 
 field officers. 
 
■m 
 
 272 HISTOKY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 The Union brigade formed a part of the 2nd Division of the 
 Army of the Tennessee, commanded by General Davies. The 
 grand army commenced the advance upon Corinth on the 20th 
 of April, and the 2nd Division served in the advance during 
 the siege that followed. Being placed in the center of the 
 line, the regiment was as much exposed and saw as much 
 skirmishing as any portion of the army. It lost a number of 
 good men who were killed and wounded. 
 
 Corinth was at last evacuated by the rebels, and our regi- 
 ment followed the foe to Boonville, and then, as they seemed 
 to have escaped us, returned to Corinth, where it remained 
 doing garrison duty till October 3d, 1862, when the great 
 battle of Corinth was fought and won. The rebels under 
 Price, A'^anDorn and A^ilapyne were severely whipped and fol- 
 lowed up to Hipley. 
 
 Our 2nd Division was in the front of the battle on both 
 days, and sufiered severely. The division numbered only 
 3100 men, and of these they lost 1040 in killed, wounded and 
 prisoners, of whom only fifty were prisoners . All the brigade 
 commanders were either killed or wounded. The Union brig. 
 ade had only 350 men engaged, and lost 110 killed and 
 wounded and seven prisoners. Of the men of Company C, 
 four were wounded, among them Sergeant J. C. Wright of 
 Shabbona, who had his leg shattered by one ball and his arm 
 broken by another. He was left on the field, and picked up 
 by the enemy, who amputated his leg and dressed his wounds, 
 but left him when they retreated. He was wounded on Fri- 
 day, and was not found till Sunday night, and meantime had 
 nothing to eat or drink. 
 
 After remaining at Corinth till December, the 58th was 
 ordered to Springfield, Illinois, to reorganize and recruit, and 
 remained guarding rebel prisoners and filling up its depleted 
 ranks till June 20th, 1863, when it was sent to Cairo. One 
 company was then sent to Mound City, and three — A, B and 
 C — to Paducah, Ky., under command of Captain Kittell of 
 Company C. Here they were constantly engaged in scouring 
 
\ 
 
^^^ 
 
 2=? ILL. ARTriLERY. 
 
 djii-.-!!*!' Lillu.-iniplimi; InChit-a^o. 
 
\^ 
 
 FIFTY-EIGHTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 273 
 
 ie country for bushwhackers, and had many startling adven- 
 tres and hair-breadth escapes. 
 
 On the 28th of January, 1864, the regiment, which had 
 ]en reunited at Cairo, started by steamer for Vicksburg. It 
 Tis now in the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division of the 16th Army 
 ()rps, and under command of General A. J. Smith. 
 
 On the 2nd of February it started on Sherman's great raid 
 i Meridian, returning March 6th, after having marched four 
 lindred miles, destroyed one hundred miles of railroad, and 
 Ibd daily skirmishes with the enemy, in which it lost two 
 ■'junded and six prisoners. 
 
 I On the lOfch of March, the 16th and 17th Army Corps left 
 ir Red river, where the troops were disembarked in the night 
 {' the 13th, and commenced a march across the country to 
 ^ort DeRussey. Arriving there at five o'clock in the after- 
 }])on, the fort was immediately stormed and captured by our 
 |t and 2nd Brigades, with a loss of sixty-five killed and 
 bunded, the 58th regiment losing seven of the number. Next 
 kj it embarked for Alexandria, where the army awaited the 
 ifrival of General Banks from New Orleans. 
 
 Now, after many delays, commenced the grand expedition 
 General Banks up Red river. Accompanied by Commo- 
 bre Porter's gunboats, the army proceeded, a part by land 
 id a part by water, to Grand Ecore, at which point all fit for 
 laty, disembarked and marched for Shreveport. The fleet, 
 ith the sick and disabled on board, proceeded up the river 
 ) the same destination. 
 
 ! On the 8th of April our army met the enemy at Sabine 
 ;|ross-Roads, and suffered a repulse. Our forces were scat- 
 jred along the road for twenty miles, the 13th Corps in the 
 dvance, the 19th following it, and the 16th Corps in the rear. 
 >efore assistance could arrive, the 13th was overpowered and 
 riven from the field in great confusion, losing 500 killed and 
 ■ounded, 1000 prisoners, 80 wagons and 18 pieces of artillery. 
 .Text day, however, we made a stand at Pleasant Hill, and won 
 
 handsome victory. Skirmishing commenced at daylight 
 35 
 
274 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 and continued till five A. M., when the rebels, strongly rein- 
 forced, made a desperate charge upon the center of our hne; 
 and at the first fire, a brigade of eastern troops broke and 
 ran. In a pine thicket at the left of this brigade the o8tli 
 was posted. It immediately changed front to the right, and 
 charged upon the flank of the pursuing foe. The charge was 
 so well executed, and so unexpected, that they faltered, turn- 
 ed back, and, at a much quicker rate than they came, they 
 turned and fled to the woods, closely pursued by the gallant 
 little band. Here they turned, and were about surrounding 
 our solitary regiment, when it fell back in good order to escape 
 capture. While this was being done, our flying troops "were 
 rallied, our reserves brought up, a grand charge made by our 
 whole line, and the enemy was routed and pursued till dark- 
 ness put an end to the fight. 
 
 In this charge over over one thousand prisoners were cap- 
 tured, the 58th taking more than its own number. In this 
 action the 58th won great honor. General Stone says thai 
 but for the valor of this regiment, the battle of Pleasant Hill 
 would have been a disastrous defeat. Its loss was 35 killed 
 and wounded, of whom Company C lost only two wounded 
 — a remarkably small loss, considering that, for over an hour, 
 it was in a hand-to-hand fight, and that nearly every man had 
 his clothing pierced with bullets. 
 
 To our great surprise, although the rebel army was routed, 
 and running like frightened sheep. General Banks ordered a 
 retreat before daylight next morning, leaving our dead and 
 wounded, with several batteries of artillery, and the small 
 arms of the numerous dead and wounded of both armies. 
 
 Two days of hard marching brought the army back to 
 Grand Ecore, from whence we fought our way back to Alex- 
 andria. Here the river, which had fallen since the gunboats 
 ascended, was dammed to enable them to pass over the falls : 
 and two weeks were required to accomplish this work, during 
 which time we were engaged in defending ourselves from rebel 
 attacks, and collecting forage. 
 
 1 
 
PIFTY-EIGHTH ILLINOIS INFANTEY. ^75 
 
 'he 58th was frequently engaged in severe skirmishes, 
 amounting almost to battles. 
 
 On the 14th we began fighting our way down the river 
 a^in ; and, on the 18th, while Banks was crossing the Atch- 
 allaya, which was now very high, the 16th Corps lay at Yel- 
 1(V Bayou, three miles distant, as rear guard. The rebels 
 hte drove in our pickets. General Mower now crossed the 
 byou and drove them back ; and the rebs in turn sent a large 
 ijantry force, with twenty pieces of artillery, which opened 
 u;|on our corps at short range. General Smith now brought 
 uj three batteries of artillery, another brigade of infantry 
 ap some cavalry, to protect our left flank, and sent to General 
 links for reinforcements, stating that the whole rebel army 
 hjd attacked him, and that if he would send the 19th Corps 
 t turn the enemy's right flank, a complete victory could be 
 citained. Banks answered that General Smith had gone into 
 te fight without orders, and must get out the best he could. 
 le enemy had taken a strong position behind a breastwork 
 c rails. General Mower ordered a charge ; and, amid fearful 
 siughter, the rebels were driven out of their works and back 
 t| their reserves. In this charge Colonel Lynch of the 58th 
 ms wounded, and four color-bearers were successively shot 
 (twn ; but, as often as they fell, other hands were ready to 
 tike them, and bear them on to victory again. 
 
 The artillery now opened upon our forces more fiercely 
 Ijan ever ; and a large force endeavored, amid sharp resist- 
 ice from the cavalry, to turn our left flank. In fine order 
 (Ir forces now fell back and left the field they had so dearly 
 pn, carrying ofi" all their wounded and most of their arms, 
 ifie enemy followed up to their former breastworks ; and, as 
 ij|on as our wounded were removed, another charge was made 
 pon them. This proved more desperate than the former : 
 Ijr they had formed a double line of battle, and were deter- 
 jined to resist the charge. Our men swept over the breast- 
 'orks like the rush of a tornado, and the rebels flew like 
 aves before the gale. In this last charge, four more of the 
 
276 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 color-bearers of the 58th were shot down ; and, the last time, 
 the colors were taken by a commissioned officer, and borne 
 over the rebels' works. 
 
 The battle raged till sunset, when fighting ceased by mutual 
 consent. Our men bore away their wounded and their arms, 
 and then crossed the bayou. The day was intensely hot, and 
 many were overcome by the heat and carried from the field. 
 The loss of the 58th was sixty-five in killed and wounded, 
 among whom was Sergeant Elijah Curtis, who was here 
 wounded for the third time — first in the foot at Shiloh, second 
 in a leg at Corinth, and now a ball passed through both thighs. 
 
 General Banks reported this battle as an artillery duel of 
 little consequence, which took place while he was crossing the 
 Atchafalaya. 
 
 Next day the 15th Corps followed Banks across the river, 
 and on the 20th the whole army reached the landing at the 
 mouth of the Mississippi. 
 
 This ended the disastrous Banks expedition up Red river. 
 From the 14th of March, when we captured Eort DeRussey, 
 till we arrived at Red river landing, on the 20th of May, not 
 a day passed without more or less of fighting. The total loss 
 of the 58th Regiment was one hundred and ten men in killed 
 and wounded. 
 
 On the 22d day of May, the 16th Army Corps embarked 
 on board the transports that had accompanied them in this long 
 and disastrous expedition, and started up the river. They 
 arrived at Vicksburg in due time. Here the veterans of the 
 58th were mustered into the United States service for three 
 years more, about two hundred having re enlisted. After 
 remaining here four days, the army started for Memphis, but 
 found the river blockaded by the rebel General Marmaduke 
 at Columbia. The army landed at daylight one morning in a 
 furious rain-storm, and found the rebels about three miles from 
 the place of landing, posted in a heavy timber lining the west 
 bank of a lagoon too deep to be forded. The only crossing- 
 place was a narrow bridge, which was swept by shell and 
 
THE riFTT-EIGHTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 277 
 
 nister shot from a rebel battery at sbort range. A cbarge 
 orderel, aad tli3 brIJ^3 was crossed, with a loss of thirty 
 len killed and seventy wounded. As soon as the bridge was 
 f-ossed, the enemy fled, leaving a part of their dead and 
 jounded on the field. Their loss was small compared with 
 !irs, as they fought under cover. Our men pursued them 
 ibout ten miles, then turned their course for the transports. 
 j We arrived at Memphis just as the stragglers from the Gun 
 Jown fight, under General Sturgis, were coming in. The 
 bterans of the 58th received their furloughs, and started for 
 ome June 28lh, and the remainder of the army under A. J. 
 jmith, started in pursuit of the rebel General Eorest, who, 
 ■eing encouraged by his victory over Sturgis, and out-gener- 
 led by the strategy of General Smith, was compelled to fight 
 Tupello, Miss. The action commenced at daylight by the 
 Qemy's skirmishers and artillery which continued until about 
 iiO A. M., when the rebs charged with their whole force. 
 flhen within a few rods of our men, they were met with a 
 lounter-charge which they could not stand, they turned and 
 led from the field in great confusion, followed closely by our 
 jaen. The dead and wounded of the enemy fell into our 
 lands, and about two hundred prisoners ; a few wagons and 
 great numbers of small arms. 
 
 I Our loss was about two hundred killed, wounded and miss- 
 pg ; that of the 58th was five killed and ten wounded. Com- 
 pany C lost none, as there were only fifteen present, the oth- 
 ers being home on veteran furlough. 
 
 j The army returned to Memphis, as the rebel army now broke 
 fip into small parties and scattered through the country, ready 
 to be whistled together again as soon as the danger was over. 
 Smith and his troops had not been in Memphis over a week 
 ibefore Forest and his graybacks were within twenty miles of 
 that place, as saucy as ever, but more cautious. 
 ! On the 6th of August, the veterans of the regiment, who 
 had been at home enjoying the usual veteran furlough granted 
 po all who re-enlisted, returned to the regiment, and, on the 
 
m 
 
 278 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTT. 
 
 following day, were sent out on the Oxford raid, returning on 
 the 30th. 
 
 On the 5th of September we began a campaign against Price 
 in Missouri, and reached Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, on the 
 29th of September. On the 2nd of October we left St. Louis, 
 marching on the long and arduous campaign known as the 
 Price raid, through Missouri to the borders of Kansas. This 
 the veterans of the 58th, although inured by long service to 
 every hardship, found to be one of the most severe and 
 laborious of all their campaigns. They marched with great 
 rapidity, were frequently in action, and most of the time were 
 poorly supplied with rations. 
 
 Returning to St. Louis, November 18th, it was now ordered 
 to Nashville, Tenn., which place it reached on the 1st of De- 
 cember, and on the 15th and 16th was eno-aged in the severe 
 battles at that city, and, on the 17th, joined in the pursuit of 
 the retreating army of Hood, following it as far as Eastport, 
 Mississippi. 
 
 The term of the original organization expiring on the 6th 
 of February, 1865, those who had not re-enlisted were order- 
 ed home, and the veterans and recruits, amounting to 390 
 men, were consolidated into four companies, and known as the 
 "Battalion of the 58th Illinois Infantry." Major R. W. 
 Healy being retained in command, the battalion left for New 
 Orleans, and in March joined Canby's army in its operations 
 against Mobile. On the 9th of March it was in the front hne 
 in the grand charge which captured Fort Blakeley. While at 
 Mobile it was joined by six new companies, raising it to a full 
 regiment aorain. 
 
 The last of April it was stationed at Montgomery, Alabama, 
 and continued in service there until April 1st, 1866, when it 
 was finally mustered out of the service, after having been on 
 duty more than four years and a half. The record of no reg- 
 iment in the service is more brilliant, nor will redound more 
 to the honor of its members, than that of the brave, hard- 
 worked old 58th Illinois Volunteers. 
 
! 
 
 VLen of DeKalb County in the 58th Illinois Inf. 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 LIETJTENANT-COLONEL. 
 
 saac Rutishauser, Somonauk, honorably discharged, Jan. 27, 1865. 
 COMPANY B. 
 
 FJRST LIEUTENANT. 
 
 ,ob Moxom, DeKalb, wounded, resigned March 2, 1863. 
 COMPANY C. 
 
 CAPTAIN. 
 
 eorge W. Kittell, Shabbona, mustered out; time expired. 
 
 FIRST LIEUTENANTS. 
 
 anford W. Smith, Shabbona, resigned May 10, 1862. 
 lenry Smith, Shabbona. transferred as consolidated. 
 COMPANY E. 
 
 FIRST LIEUTENANT. 
 
 Larl A. Rutishauser, Somonauk, died of wounds, St. Louis, May 18, 1862. 
 
 SECOND LIEUTENANT. 
 
 oseph Staulfer, Somonauk, resigned May 21, 1862. 
 
 ENLISTED MEN. 
 
 COMPANY A. 
 
 E.ECRUITS. 
 
 iLosle 'VVilliani, Cortland, Sergeant, killed at Shiloh, April 6, 1862. 
 Packard Dwight, Cortland, killed at Shiloh, April 6, 1862. 
 Packard W. 0., Cortland, discharged for disability. 
 
 
 COMPANY C. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 Henry Smith, Shabbona, promoted 2nd Lieutenant. 
 
 Charles 0. Wheaton, Shabbona, discharged for wounds received at Shiloh. 
 Sosiah C. Wright, Shabbona, discharged April 10, 1863, for disability. 
 'James M. Round, Shabbona, died July 29, 1862. 
 
 i Franklin 0. Stephens, Shabbona, discharged June 17, 1862, for disability. 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 Cyrus A. Nelson, Shabbona, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 iLevi W. Park, Shabbona, deserted Jan. 31, 1865. 
 
 "William F. Williams, Shabbona, died June 13, 1862, of wounds. 
 
 Lyman Grover, Shabbona, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
280 HISTOEY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Baker John L., Shabbona, discharged for disability. 
 
 Blair Labon, Shabbnna, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Ball Daniel F., Shabbona, deserted at Camp Douglas, 111. 
 
 Cook Henry H., Shabbona, trans. Jan. 4, 1864, to Bat. H, 1st Mo. Lt. Art 
 
 Curtii? Elijah, Shabbona, mustered out Feb. 7, 1865, as Sergeant. 
 
 Cornish John W., Shabbona, trans Feb. 1, 1864, to Bat. H, Mo. Lt. Art. 
 
 Davis Joseph, Shabbona, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Damutli George, Jr.. Shabbona, re-enlisted as -veteran. 
 
 Flick George, Shabbona, deserted at Camp Douglas, 111. 
 
 Filkins Nelson, Shabbona, died at St. Louis May 21, 1862. 
 
 Goodell Henry C. Shabbona, discharged as a minor. 
 
 Horton William, Shabbona, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Hunt Theodore H.. Shabbona. discharged for disability. 
 
 Hinds William W., Shabbona, deserted July 1. 1862. 
 
 Hamblin John A., Shabbona, discharged May 20, 1862. 
 
 Johnson Charles, Shabbona, discharged August 25, 1862, for disability. 
 
 Kelly James, Shabbona, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Liimbkins Josiah, Shabbona, dr-serted. • 
 
 Muzzy John A., Shabbona, died at Brownsville, ]\Iiss., March 6, 1864. 
 
 Morris John, Shabbona, mustered out Dec. 11, 1864. 
 
 Nichols Byron, Shabbona, died at Paducali, Ky , Jan. 1, 1864. 
 
 Perkins George, Shabbona, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Price Richard C, Shabbona, deserted. 
 
 Ruddy Anthony, Stiabbona, deserted Dec. 1, 1862. 
 
 Scott ^liles D., Shabbona, deserted. 
 
 Simpson William, Shabbona, trans. Feb. 14, 1864, to Bat. K, Ist Mo. Lt. Art. 
 
 Shehan Timothy, Shabbona, re-enllsted as veteran. 
 
 Todd Owen, Shabbona, detached in 1st i\Iissouri Light Artillery. 
 
 Tompkins John, Shabbona, deserted. 
 
 TJnwin William, Shabbona, deserted July 20, 1862. 
 
 VanDeventer Erwin, Shabbona, captured at Shiloh, April 6, 1862. 
 
 VanVoltenburg John, Shabbona, mustered out Feb. 7, 1865. 
 
 Witherspoon Frederick, Shabbona, discharged as a minor. 
 
 Williamson William. Shabbona, trans. Jan. 4, 1864, to Bat. H, 1st Mo. Art. 
 
 Witherspoon Edmund, Shabbona, mustered out Feb. 7, 1865. 
 
 Whitbeck James, Shabbona, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Weston Edson H., Shabbona, discharged June 20, 1862, for disability. 
 
 AVoodward William, Shabbona, deserted July 20, 1862. 
 
 Wigton Charles C Shabbona, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Nelson Cjrus A., Shabbona, Sergeant, trans, to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Harris Orange P., Afton, Sergeant, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Perkins George, Shabbona, Serejeant, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Horton William, Shabbona, Corporal, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Grover James. Shabbona, Corporal, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Kelly James, Shabbona, Corporal, deserted Dec. 1, 1864. 
 
 Whetbeck James, Shabbona, Corporal, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Blair Laban, Shabbona, deserted Dec. 1, 1864. 
 
 Damuth George, Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Davis Job, Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Grover Lyman, Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Shehan Timothy, Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Williams .John, Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Wigton Charles C. Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Club Charles, Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Clapsaddle Henry L., Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Dugan James, Shabbona, discharged Nov. 7, 1863, for disability. 
 
FIFTY-EIGHTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 281 
 
 Davis Harvey ]M., Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 DeWglf William W., Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Gates Cliarles, Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Hamlin Horace A., Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Harris Orange P., Aft on, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Kennicutt Daniel, Shabbona Grove, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Kettle John N., Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Lilly Charles, Shabbona, discharged June 17, 1862, for disability. 
 
 Martin Daniel, Shabbona, discharged Jan. 20. 18(52 ; minor. 
 
 Norton Francis, Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Palm Dennis G., Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Price George N., Shabbona, mustered out Feb. 7, 186-5. 
 
 Rowe William H., Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Simpson Elmer G., Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Smith Joseph Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Town Russell, Shabbona Grove, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Town Daniel, Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 Wright Eugene, Shabbona, transferred to Co. C as consolidated. 
 
 COMPANY D. 
 
 Brigham John, Somonauk, mustered out Feb. 7, 1865. 
 Nielly Simon, Somonauk, killed at Shiloh, April 6, 1862. 
 
 COMPANY E. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 Henry Duft, Somonauk, died at Macon, Ga,, Oct. 1-5, 1862, while prisoner. 
 Philip Haibach, Somonauk, deserted from Camw Butler, 111. 
 
 CORPOKALS. 
 
 Joseph Savasin, Somonauk, deserted Feb. 15, 1363. 
 
 Friedrich Wehrle, Somonauk, discharged for disability. 
 
 Henry Miller, Somonauk, died at Macon, Ga., Sept. 24, 1862, a prisoner. 
 
 Rudolph Seidel, Somonauk, deserted June 20, 1862. 
 
 Gustavus Seller, Somonauk, mustered out Feb. 7, 1865. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Anders Charles, Somonauk, discharged for disability. 
 
 B ootz Joseph, Somonauk, mustered out Feb. 7. 1865. 
 
 Biehlman Samuel, Somonauk, mustered out Feb. 7. 1865, 
 
 Conway Denis, Somonauk, died at Camp Butler, 111. 
 
 Dooley William, Somonauk, discharged Dec. 2, 1862, for disability. 
 
 Gerold John, Somonauk, discharged Jan. 1, 1864, to re-enlist in 1st Mo. Art. 
 
 Graf Samuel, Somonauk, mustered out Feb. 7, 1865. 
 
 Goodrich Christopher, Somonauk, discharged for disability. 
 
 Hasken James, Somonauk, discharged for disability. 
 
 Hecker Anton, Somonauk, discharged for disability. 
 
 Henry William, Somonauk, discharged for disability. 
 
 Krissman Louis, S omonauk, deserted Oct. 15, 1862. 
 
 Steinbiss Frederick, Somonauk, deserted Feb. 15, 1863. 
 
 Thomnson William, Somonauk, mustered out Feb. 7, 1865. 
 
 RECRUITS. 
 
 Beck Louis, Somonauk, died at Camp Butler, 111., May 5, 1863. 
 Bradley Edward, Somonauk, died in rebel prison. 
 Frank Philip, Somonauk, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 36 
 
282 
 
 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 COMPANY G. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 i 
 
 Artlip Edward, Cortland, deserted Jan. 25, 1863. 
 
 Artlip John, Cortland, discharged July 5, 1862, for disability. 
 
 Albright Adelmar, Cortland, deserted June, 1862. 
 
 Croft James, Somonauk, deserted May 1, 1862. 
 
 Chamberlaiu Ebenezer L., Somonauk, discharged June 2, 1862 ; disabilitj 
 
 Erkhort Daniel, Cortland, deserted Feb. 6, 1862. 
 
 Grey Stephen, Pierceville, deserted Sept. 1, 1862. 
 
 Hogan "William, Clinton, tranferred to Co. I, Jan. 5, 1862. 
 
 Johnson Stephen, Pierceville, disc. Jan. '62, for prom, as Hosp. Stew.U.S.A 
 
 Johnson Sylvester M., Squaw Grove, transferred to Co. B as consolidated 
 
 Labrant Charles, Pierceville, died at St. Louis May 12, 1862, from wound 
 
 Labrant Jonathan, Pierceville, mustered out Feb. 7, 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Earner Philip, Pierceville, discharged Oct. 13, 1862, for disability. 
 
 Kaymond Henry E., Cortland, discharged Nov. 14, 1862, for disability'. 
 
 Smith Moses, Pierceville, discharged Jan. 8, 1863, for disability. 
 
 Walker William P. J., Clinton, mustered out Feb. 7, 1865: was prisoner. 
 
 Wells Royal, Pierceville, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 COMPANY H. 
 
 chwartz Michael, Clinton, deserted April 6, 1862. 
 Schefnerr Alonzo, Clinton, mustered out April 17, 1865. 
 
 COMPANY I. 
 
 Chamberlain Daniel, Somonauk, transferred to Co. G, Jan. 5, 1861 
 Fargo William P., DeKalb, transferred to Co. G, Jan. 5, 1862. 
 Griffith Horace, DeKalb, transferred to Co. G, Jan. 5, 1862. 
 Hooker Lewis H., DeKalb, transferred to Co. G, Jan 5, 18(i2. 
 Parker John C, DeKalb, transferred to Co. G, Jan. 5, 1862. 
 Paisley Sylvester, DeKalb, transferred to Co. G, Jan. 5, 1862. 
 Turner Henry, DeKalb, transferred to Co. G, Jan. 5, 1862. 
 Wolrod Charles, DeKalb, transferred to Co. G, Jan. 5, 1862. 
 
\ 
 
 Tenth Illinois Infantry. 
 
f 
 
 TENTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 
 
 The 10th Illinois was first organized as a three-months 
 regiment at Cairo, April 29th, 1861, under the command of 
 Colonel B. M. Prentiss, and subsequently as a three-years 
 regiment under Colonel James D. Morgan. Company C, of 
 Sandwich, DeKalb County, is said to be the first full company 
 raised in the United States under the first call of President 
 Lincoln. 
 
 Two weeks after the fall of Fort Sumter, this company was 
 ready for service, fitted with quaint home-made uniforms by 
 the citizens of Sandwich, and on the 22nd of April was order- 
 ed to, and started for, Cairo, an important strategic point, 
 which was quickly seen to be of immense importance to the 
 loyal cause. The occupation of Cairo was not effected a day 
 too soon, for the country around it swarmed with disloyahsts, 
 and in a few days it would have been fortified by the traitors. 
 The 10th remained engaged in fortification and garrison du- 
 ties at Cairo during its first three months' service. The regi- 
 ment consisted of seven companies of infantry and three of 
 artillery, and, during its brief term of service, engaged in 
 expeditions to the rear of Columbus, in June, and to Benton, 
 Missouri, in July. 
 
 On the 29th of July it was re-organized, and mustered into 
 the United States service for three years, with Colonel Morgan 
 as its commander. 
 

 THE TENTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. ' 285 
 
 I On the 10th of January, 1862, it started on a raid through 
 ijat portion of Kentucky which lies adjacent to Cairo, and 
 ilcomplished the destruction of a large amount of property 
 tat was giving suppost to the rebels. 
 
 On the 1st of March, in connection with the 7th cavalry, 
 
 lie regiment scattered Jeif. Thompson's guerrillas at Sykes- 
 
 n, Mo., taking several prisoners and two guns. 
 
 On the 10th of March it left Bird's Point, joined General 
 
 pe at JSTew Madrid, driving the enemy's pickets and losing 
 
 'aptain Carr and two men, and took part in frustrating the 
 
 ians of the rebels, who were endeavoring to escape from Island 
 
 lumber Ten, causing the surrender of Greneral Mackall and 
 
 00 men. 
 
 On the 10th of April it returned to New Madrid, thence 
 
 ent to Osceola, near Fort Pillow, and from thence to Pitts- 
 
 irg Landing, which it reached soon after the great battle at 
 
 at point. It then took part in the siege of Corinth, and was 
 
 jremost in pursuit of the flying rebels to Booneville. The 
 
 giment lay at Big Springs during June and July, and from 
 
 e 13th of July till the 28th of August it was at Tuscumbia, 
 
 la., and was then sent via Florence and (Columbia to Nash- 
 
 lle, losing, on the way, five men killed. This place it guard- 
 
 from September 12th till relieved by the army of General 
 
 osecrans. During this time, it was fighting almost constant- 
 
 , for a part of the time being on one-half rations, then one- 
 
 urth, and finally almost without rations at all. On Novem- 
 
 er 15th it lost, in a repulse of the enemy, two men killed. 
 
 jTet the boys found time to build Fort Negley. Assigned to 
 
 |reneral Mitchell's corps, it remained at Nashville till July, 
 
 863, and then, under General Thorne, went through the 
 
 ampaign in Alabama and Mississippi, reaching Bridgeport 
 
 iugust 24th. October 1st, in Sequatchie Yalley, in connec- 
 
 ion with McCook's cavalry, it drove Wheeler's cavalry from 
 
 ihe valley. November 24th, it crossed the Tennessee River 
 
 in pontoons, supporting General Sherman's attack on the left 
 
 If Mission Ridge. 
 
286 HISTORY OF DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 On the 26tli it pursued Hardee's retreating column, and 
 captured twenty of their rear guard at Chickamauga Station. 
 It followed the retreating enemy to Ringold, thence to the 
 relief of Burnside, marching in mid-winter without blankets, 
 shoes or tents, — thence back to Chattanooga, and went into 
 winter-quarters at Rossville, Ga. Xo sterner trials, no more 
 heroic sacrifices, were ever made by any soldiers of any age 
 than in this campaign of the 10th Illinois. 
 
 On the 1st of January the regimer t, reduced to 394 men, 
 re-enlisted as veterans, and started for home on January 11, 
 1864. 
 
 The regiment left Illinois for the field again in February 
 commanded by Colonel John Tillson, and, under Sherman, 
 joined in the advance on Atlanta, and in Sherman's grand 
 march to the sea. 
 
 It reached Beaufort, South Carolina, on January 9th, and 
 on the 13th started to cross the Salkahatchie, but failed, on 
 account of high water and the resistance of the enemy, until, 
 on the 3d of February, it effected its purpose in spite of the 
 obstinate opposition of the rebel foe. It here lost forty men 
 in killed and wounded. The swamp upon the banks of the 
 river was a mile wide, and the regiment was in its ice-cold 
 water from one to five feet deep from T A. M. till dark. Gen. 
 Howard, who was present, pronounced this engagement " the 
 best thing of the war." 
 
 On the 9th it crossed the South Edisto, throwing a pontoon 
 in the face of the enemy, and, after wading a half-mile in the 
 darkness of night, attacked the enemy in the flank, and drove 
 them from their entrenchments, capturing many prisoners. 
 
 Passing through Columbia and Cheraw to Fayetteville, and 
 tearing up railroads on the way, the regiment was there de- 
 tached to lay a pontoon over Cape Fear river ; and it drove 
 the enemy from the opposite bank, losing six men. Then on 
 toward Goldsboro : and when the 14th Corps was attacked at 
 Bentonville, it made a forced night march, and took part in 
 the battles of the 20th and 21st. On this latter day the reg- 
 
 1 
 

 THE TFNTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 287 
 
 merit got on the enemy's flank, and captured his headquarters 
 'aaterial. The division successfullj withstood the attack of 
 Pardee's whole corps, losing sixty men of the 10th and over 
 me hundred in the brigade, being one-fourth of the loss of the 
 [v'hole army. ■ 
 
 Thence it passed on to Raleigh ; and, after the final collapse 
 f the rebellion, by the surrender of Johnson's army, it moved 
 Richmond, Fredericksburg and Washington, participating 
 n the grand review. 
 
 On the 4th of June it was moved to Louisville, Ky., and 
 .'as mustered out of service July 4th, 1865, receiving its final 
 lischarge and pay at Chicago, July 11th. 
 
 The regiment, in its last campaign, was commanded by 
 ieutenant-Colonel Gillespie, and was attached to the 17tli 
 Lrmy Corps under General F. P. Blair, in the Army of the 
 -"'ennessee, commanded by Major-General 0. 0. Howard. It 
 3 a regiment whose long services, whose great sacrifices and 
 ^hose heroic achievements, merit a more extended history ; 
 Jut the materials are not at hand. The brief record of its 
 ufl"erings and its exploits must ever be a crown of honor to 
 ,11 its members, and a source of pride to the County of • De 
 Calb. 
 
Men of DeKalb County in the 10th Illinois In; 
 
 COMPANY H. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 Daniel R. Ballou, Sandwich, promoted 1st Lieutenant. 
 Franklin Munson, Sandwich, promoted 1st Lieutenant. 
 Hubert Carwer, Sandwich, mustered out Aug. 28, 18(34. 
 Edward Hoag, Sandwich, died Feb. 6, 1862. , 
 Charles Kenrill, Sandwich, mustered out Aug. 28, 1864. 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 M. R. VanNostrand, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 George Woodward, Sandwich, promoted 1st Lieutenant, 
 .lohn Culver, Sandwich, mustered out August 28, 1864. 
 Cornelius Haggerty. Sandwich, died August 31, 1862. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Brucham William, Sandwich, mustered out August 28, 1864. 
 
 Baldwin John, Sandwich, discharged INIarch 9, 1862. 
 
 Baldwin Kipps, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Baniield John, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Baker Thornton, Sandwich, discharged May 26, 1862. 
 
 Corke Thomas, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Canliam William, Sandwich, mustered out August 28, 1864. 
 
 Colgrove Franklin, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Davis Washington, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Drujar William, Sandwich, died Feb. 25, 1864. 
 
 Estabrook Edwin, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Fuhr Adam, Sandwich, mustered out August 28th, 1864. 
 
 Faxon Samuel, Sandwich, re -enlisted as veteran. 
 
 (Jodfrey Charles, Sandwich, mustered out August 28, 1864, 
 
 (lilbert Franklin, Sandwich, discharged March 12, 1862. 
 
 Hamlin Charles, Sandwich, mustered out August 28, 1864. 
 
 Hamlin William H., Sandwich, mustered out August 28, 1864. 
 
 Hinkins Andrew, Sandwich, mustered out August 28, 1864. 
 
 Hart Henry, Sandwich, mustered out August 28, 1864. 
 
 Hammer Francis, Sandwich, discharged March 11, 1862. 
 
 Ise Henry, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Judd Albert, Sandwich, mustered out August 28, 1864. 
 
 Lacey Michael, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Mullin Nathaniel, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Miller James, Sandwich, mustered out August 28, 1 864. 
 
 Miller George C, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Miller William, Sandwich, mustered out August 28, 1864. 
 
 Rose Andrew, Sandwich, mustered out June 15, 1865. 
 
 Sanders Milton, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Snyder Augustus, Sandwich, died March 4, 1864. 
 
 Stall John, Sandwich, mustered out August 28, 1864. 
 
THIRTEENTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. f 289 
 
 l^pp Herman, Sandwich, died Nov. 6, 1862. 
 orget Henry, Sandwich, discharged Nov. 20, 1863. 
 'ait Lorenzo, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran, 
 jhitney Edward, Sandwich, deserted Nov. 27, 1861. 
 
 VETERANS. 
 
 Mdwin Kipps, Sandwich, died July 20, 1864, from wounds, 
 infield John, Sandwich, mustered out July 4, 1865, as Corporal, 
 •jlgrove Franklin, Sandwich, discharged June 23, 1865, for disability. 
 t|irke Thomas, Sandwich, transferred to non-commissioned staff. 
 jivis Washington, Sandwich, mustered out July 4, 1865, as Corporal, 
 jtabrook Edwin, Sandwich, mustered out July 4, 1865, as Corporal. 
 jiXon Samuel, Sandwich, mustered out July 4, 1865, as Sergeant, 
 limmer Francis, Sandwich, mustered out July 4, 1865. 
 jbcey Michael, Sandwich, mustered out July 4, 1865, as Sergeant. 
 UUer James, Sandwich, mustered out July 4, 1865, as Sergeant. 
 ;3se Andrew, Sandwich, wounded. 
 
 lipp Herman, Sandwich, mustered out July 4, 1865, as Sergeant. 
 jnslat Eugene, Sandwich, mustered out July 4, 1865, as Sergeant. 
 inNostrand M. R., Sandwich, transferred to non-,ommissioned staff'. 
 it Lorenzo, Sendwich, transferred to non-commissioned staff". 
 
 RECRUITS. 
 
 )ster Nicholas, Sandwich, mustered out Sept. 5, 1864. 
 
 pbbin David, Sandwich, mustered out Sept. 27, 1864. 
 
 ivis Henry, Sandwich, died May 8, 1862. 
 
 jtabrook Adelbert, Sandwich, mustered out July 4, 1865. 
 
 ietty George, Sandwich, mustered out Dec. 28, 1864. 
 
 iietty Jacob, Sandwich, died Jan. 29, 1862. 
 
 !ough George A., Sandwich, discharged July 19, 1863. 
 
 olden William, Sandwich, mustered out Dec. 28, 1864. 
 
 oefner Antonio, Sandwich, transferred to Mississippi Marine Brigade. 
 
 litham Thomas A., Sandwich, mustered out Dec. 28, 1864. 
 
 jlorrison Thomas, Sandwich, transferred to Mississippi Marine Brigade. 
 
 baton Leonard B., Somonauk, mustered out July 4, 1865. 
 
 rouslatt Eugene, Sandwich, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 37 
 
i 
 
Thirteenth Illinois Infantry. 
 
Tnirteentli Illinois Infantry. 
 
 The ^agbarj c£ die eaofy paut of the war for the Unioa iii 
 
 reeoid of a persisleBt eftst hj the pec^tle to proeare fin 
 
 their gorensBent the pnwi^egs dT plaang enongli armed ma 
 
 in :-i z^ 11 irdi ovei' all oppoation. and a constant reset 
 
 " T ^ -'le goTcniiBen[t.iiiiidi desired to cany • 
 
 " T :.-_- ^ :ic-kziMiie«mZE^dian the case danandei 
 
 to eondnet it in a ddibsate, eantiaiis war, with as asall ■ 
 army and as littfe naterial as possible. 
 
 When Fort Somtia- had £dkn, and that indignant npria^ 
 of the peofile had oeesrred whkh cre ry whe re folloired it, i 
 erery toim and hamlet of loral Ulinms die notes of nuatii 
 ]M%para£k« were heard, and little bands of men, gatha^ ti 
 gether, b^ara drilfing, and damorooslj demanded of the gvf 
 enuBM&t to be led again 5: :le iz.iz:Lj. The Preadoit sou 
 called for To.'Xhj tr ^ 1 ' -. feding varraato 
 
 by the lavs as they iz_:- _ :__- jl i-ll-zg out tixwps for Ai 
 length of time. This eaQ was filled : and still hundred « 
 thovamds of skb, anzioBS to do thdr duty upon the batA 
 field, were left out of dte ranks. 
 
 Upon the 4th of May. the President made a new call fc 
 42,000 more men, to serve three years ; and niimns was giwJ 
 the jHirilege of fgrwiahipg six regiments of them. Then k 
 gan sbA a aerambfing lisr the pawfiege of Cnming a part • 
 these regimeBls as was pvobabty nerer seen before in as; 
 
THE THIRTENTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY, / 293 
 
 ountry. Places were sought in these regiments with as much 
 :ddity as civil offices are now struggled for. All manner of 
 (hemes, combinations and strategems were used to affect the 
 inds of the authorities, so as to gain the boon of a place in 
 i.ese regiments. 
 
 A convention of claimants for this honor in this congres- 
 lonal district was held at Geneva, and every one who had any 
 fluence or acquaintance with any person in authority was 
 .^ged to attend and secure a recognition for these companies, 
 he convention accomplished nothing ; but soon after, an order 
 as procured for the creation of one regiment, the 13th Illi- 
 oi^, in this 2nd congressional district. Of its ten companies, 
 le from Sycamore and one from Sandwich were fortunate 
 lough to secure a place and a right to serve their country. 
 Tost of the companies had been filled up to the number of 
 fie hundred privates, besides the officers, when an order came 
 ■om the War Department, still bent on diminishing the force, 
 ) reduce the company to eighty -four privates. 
 
 This was a sore disappointment to those who were excluded. 
 n some of the companies the men drew lots to determine who 
 aould remain ; and in others, by some kind of authority, the 
 larried men of the company were forced to fall out of the 
 anks and stay at home, the single men only being accorded 
 ie privilege of remaining. It is also a noteworthy fact that 
 lany men purchased the right of those who had been fortu- 
 ate enough to be accepted, paying from $20 to $50 for the 
 /rivilege of taking their places. 
 
 ; The Sycamore company had for several weeks been drilling 
 i.aily under charge of Z. B. Mayo, a decrepid old soldier who 
 ad seen service in the Mexican war ; and many will recollect 
 ow, being without arms, they daily went through the manual 
 a the streets of Sycamore with broomsticks and hoe-handles. 
 
 When the permission was really gained to join the regiment, 
 he people of the place, anxious to do something for these men, 
 'ssembled in the Court House, and the ladies busily employed 
 hemselves and their sewing machines in makinn uniforms. 
 
294 . HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 The citizens were ignorant of any army regulations of cloth- 
 ing ; but gray was thought to be a desirable color ; and the 
 boys were equipped in full suits of gray, the gifts of the 
 ladies and gentlemen of the place. With a vague idea that 
 each company required a banner, a beautiful silk flag was 
 prepared and presented to our company by one of the young 
 ladies, before an immense crowd gathered to witness the novel 
 scene. 
 
 On the 9th of May, 1861, the 13th regiment was organized 
 at Camp Dement, Dixon ; and on the 24th it was mustered 
 into the service. It is said to have been the first regiment to 
 organize under the President's call for three years men, and 
 the first to enter the United States service. 
 
 The regiment remained at Dixon for a few weeks engaged 
 in improving its drill and discipline ; and here lost its first 
 man. Sergeant Berry, a young gentleman of fine promise, who 
 was shot by one of the sentinels. 
 
 The regiment was soon after ordered to Caseyville, Illinois, 
 and in July moved forward to Rolla, Missouri, an important 
 strategic point, the termination of a railroad, and the depot of 
 supplies. It was the first regiment to cross the Mississippi 
 river, and move into the hostile region of Missouri. 
 
 The regiment did excellent service in suppressing the plun- 
 dering bands of guerrillas who infested that region for forty 
 miles around. They also served to inspire with courage the 
 Union people of the country, who had been cowed by the 
 prevalent disloyalty. While they were stationed here, Colonel 
 Wyman organized many of the Union citizens of the neighbor- 
 hood into cavalry companies, who afterwards, under General 
 Curtis, proved themselves the most efficient cavalrymen in the 
 southwestern army. While at this point, Captain Z. B. Mayo 
 resigned his captaincy, and was succeeded by 1st Lieutenant 
 E. F. Dutton. 
 
 Engaged in this duty until October 25th, the regiment was 
 then ordered forward to join the army which was forming 
 under Fremont at Springfield, in southwestern Missouri. The 
 
THE THIRTENTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 295 
 
 loops were still comparatively unused to long marches ; yet 
 Hey were urged forward with great rapidity, marching, on the 
 kond day, thirty-four miles, and reaching Springfield, a 
 (istance of one hundred miles, in four days. Gen. Fremont, 
 ■arning the speed on which it had come to his assistance, 
 imed it his "Flying Infantry," and, noting its superior dis- 
 (Spline, assigned it the highest post of honor and danger in 
 s army. 
 
 But Fremont was now removed from command, the plan of 
 ie campaign was changed, and the 13th returned to Rolla. 
 1 the retrograde movement, on the night of November 11th, 
 very sudden death occurred at Camp Plummer, proving that 
 .6 skeleton-king oft comes when least expected — passing from 
 ;e blazing battery to strike his victim in the midst of security 
 
 td peace. 
 A young man, Henry Holt, bugler of Major Power's caval- 
 , attached to the 13th regiment, was complaining of feeling 
 ither ill, when the Quartermaster, Captain Henderson, who 
 iid a passion for aught like fun, proposed to bury the musi- 
 lan ; and, in the spirit of merriment, seized a spade, and, 
 fter measuring the complainer, dug a grave of his exact pro- 
 artions. 
 
 I The bugler laughed, as did his companions, at the humor of 
 :ie officer, and soon after went away to discharge some duty 
 [ith which he had been intrusted. 
 
 About nine o'clock the same evening. Holt was sitting, with 
 even or eight of his company, about a camp-fire, within a few 
 iiet of the grave, when some one pointed to it and remarked. 
 It a tone of badinage : 
 
 I " Come, Harry, get ready for your funeral ! " 
 i The youth looked over his shoulder at the gloomy cavity in 
 le earth, put his hand to his head, and fell from his stool. 
 lis companions laughed at the little piece of acting, as they 
 'apposed it, and were surprised that he did not rise from the 
 
 iarth. 
 i 
 They went up to him, asking, "Are you asleep, Harry ? " 
 
296 \ HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 He made no answer, and yet his eyes were open. 
 
 They shook him in vain. 
 
 His friends grew alarmed. One placed his hand upon 
 Harry's heart. It was still : he was dead ! 
 
 He had perished of a stroke of apoplexy, and was buried at 
 midnight, in the grave made for him in jest by a merry-heart- 
 ed friend. 
 
 And so the droll jest was drowned in the hollow sound of 
 the earth falling upon a rude coffin, and solemnly waking the 
 stillness of the night-morn amid the solitude of a broad prairie 
 of the southwest. 
 
 The regiment remained at Kolla till, on December 12tb, it 
 moved to Salem, where guerrillas were reported to be infesting 
 the country, and, after remaining two weeks, returned to 
 Rolla. 
 
 Here the cold dreary winter was spent until, on the 6th of 
 March, 1862, the regiment was sent to join the army of Gen. 
 Curtis, who was threatened by Price's rebels, and who, before 
 our regiment could reach him, had fought the famous and 
 sanguinary battle of Pea Ridge. It was a terribly severe 
 march. Through constant rain and mud, and amid want and 
 destitution, it pressed on from twenty to thirty miles a day, 
 living upon most scanty rations, and forbidden to forage upon 
 the country — as the policy of the higher powers was still to 
 please instead of punish the foe. 
 
 On the 14th it passed over the battle-field of Wilson's Creek, 
 and on the 17th camped on the battle-ground of Pea Ridge. 
 The ground was strown with shot, shell, and other remains of 
 the conflict. The odor of the decaying bodies was still ex- 
 tremely offensive. In one spot the bodies of seventy hostile 
 Indians lay festering in corruption : there was such a bitter 
 feeling toward the savages who had scalped and plundered our 
 men, that they were refused interment. 
 
 On the 18th the regiment joined Curtis' army, but next day 
 moved back again some ten miles, Price being reported within 
 
THIRTEENTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 297 
 
 renty miles with 50,000 men. But Price s army was too 
 
 lidly shattered by its late terrible conflict to dare to attack us. 
 
 We lay encamped till the 8th of April, and then commenced 
 
 llong, tedious and laborious movement across the country to 
 
 jielena, Arkansas, No one who was engaged upon that ter- 
 
 Ible march can ever forget its painful weariness, the cold, the 
 
 linger, the drenching, chilling rains, the dangers from flooded 
 
 livers, the perils from hovering guerrillas and armed bands of 
 
 le enemy, the destitution from scanty rations, and, at times, 
 
 torn thirst. Terrible suff"erings were caused during the latter 
 
 ]irt of the march by this cause. The weather had become 
 
 Itensely warm, streams were very rare, the rebel inhabitants 
 
 lied up and destroyed their wells upon our approach, and 
 
 (.r troops often were without water for a day at a time. 
 
 en could be seen struggling along in the intense heat, their 
 
 Ingues swollen and hanging out of their mouths. Yet guards 
 
 United States troops were sent forward every day to guard 
 
 ery rebel's house that we passed, and prevent foraging upon 
 
 e inhabitants. The march lasted for more than three 
 
 months; and it Avas not till the last of July that our army 
 
 ]j ached the Mississippi at Helena, and again was furnished 
 
 jth the necessaries of existence from the stores of the United 
 
 |ates. 
 
 We reached the river accompanied by an immense train of 
 Dgroes, the slaves of the rebels, who followed the army loaded 
 'ith such provisions and property as they could secure — a 
 ibst ludicrous procession. 
 
 I After some desviltory service about Helena, the regiment 
 ^is attached to General Steele's division of Sherman's army, 
 !ien assembling for the movement upon Vicksburg. 
 
 On the 22nd of December the regiment, with an immense 
 fiet, moved down the Mississippi, and, on the 26th, under 
 < nvoy of the gunboats, moved up the Yazoo river to the at- 
 Ick on the city in the east. 
 
 On the morning of the 27th, the whole army was drawn up, 
 1|e 13th, in Steele's division, on the left. Durinar the after- 
 38 
 
298 HISTORY OF LE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 noon the rebel pickets were driven in, and the regiment we 
 into camp for the night in a furious rain-storm. In t 
 morning the regiment was engaged in skirmishing, and durii 
 the afternoon a dashing charge w^as made upon a rebel battel 
 by the 13th and 16th Illinois, under General Wyman. I 
 had placed himself at the head of the 13th, and the regime: 
 Avas moving on the battery, and had arrived at a small bayo 
 silenced the rebel guns upon the opposite side, and lay dov 
 and began firing on the sharpshooters who swarmed in tl 
 woods. As General Wyman rose up to move among his me 
 he Avas struck by a rebel bullet in the right breast and mo 
 tally wounded. The fall of the General was a terrible sho( 
 to the regiment. Several officers rushed to his assistance, bi 
 he cried, " For God's sake leave me and attend to the men, 
 The regiment remained there some time, and were subsequen 
 ly moved to another part of the field. At this time Porti 
 D. West and Isaiah Babcock of Company F were severe] 
 Avounded. ,M 
 
 On that night the men lay on their arms in line of battl 
 destitute of blankets, although the weather was freezing. 
 
 On the 20th occurred the grand desperate charge upon tl 
 rebel Avorks on Chickasaw Bayou, in which the regiment lo; 
 one-third of its number. 
 
 About nine o'clock a line Avns formed for an assault upo 
 the batteries. They stood on eminences, in horse-shoe form 
 and, in the terrible abyss into Avhicli i^liot and shell fromthre 
 sides Avere pouring, the regiment Avas formed for a charg* 
 There Avere three brigades ; and the 13th Avas in the brigad 
 under command of General Frank P. Blair. Most of thi 
 brigade Avas composed of ncAv troops : so that the veterans € 
 the 13th Avere required to lead the charge. 
 
 Into all this terrible storm of shot and shell the 13th march 
 ed without faltering. They captured two lines of rebel rifle 
 pits; and Avhen they reached the third line, very feAv remaiiiei 
 of this brigade but a scattered remnant of the 13th. 
 
 They were noAv Avithin thirty rods of the fortifications. 
 
THE THIRTEEXTII ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 299 
 
 e 600 men Avho started, 177 were either killed, Avounded or 
 ,ptured. Of 63 men of Company F, 22 were killed, wounded 
 ;^d missing. Captain R. A. Smith, who had gallantly led his 
 ([mpany to the third rifle-pit, lost his arm while in the ad- 
 Tice, but bound it up and continued with the troops until 
 e charge was over. 
 
 If we could have captured the fortifications, which we had 
 
 lUv so nearly accomplished, the road to Vicksburg would have 
 
 heri open to us, and all the loss of life and property that 
 
 bsequently occurred in the struggle for its capture would 
 
 Ive been saved. 
 
 But the day Avas full of misfortunes ; the divisions moved 
 
 thout concert of action. No reinforcements were sent for- 
 
 ird, and, after holding their ground for half an hour, the 
 
 der came to retire ; and, as similar misfortunes had occurred 
 
 other points, the day was lost. 
 
 But the 13tli Illinois were the heroes of the day. Tliey 
 ught with magnificent bravery, reckless of all danger. No 
 oner Avere their lines formed than they fell before the pitiless 
 arm of shot and shell, like grass before the scythe of the 
 ower ; yet they held their position like Spartans, although 
 posed to this terrible fire from batteries against Avhicli tlieir 
 fn fire was harmless. 
 
 The colors of the regiment Avere left upon the field of battle, 
 
 iiid afterAvards sent as a trophy to Richmond. They lay there 
 
 .1 the final capture of that city, when they Avere found by 
 
 jie of the first of the Union troops Avho entered, and were 
 
 rown to the breeze — the first Union flag that had been seen 
 
 that rebel capital since the fall of Sumter. 
 
 The grand attack upon Vicksburg had failed, and the 
 
 untry AYas much depressed. 
 
 Up the Arkansas river Avas Arkansas Post, a strong fortifi- 
 tion to protect that river, and to McClernand AA^as assigned 
 ^e task of capturing it. Steele's division, in Avhich Avas the 
 kh Illinois, Avas among his troops. After a day of hard 
 ;hting, Arkansas Post Avas forced to surrender to the Union 
 
1 
 
 800 HISTORY or DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 arms ; and with it five thousand prisoners were taken, and a 
 hirge amount of munitions of war. It was a victory that 
 raised the hopes and the spirits of the country, and greatly 
 cheered the hearts of the soldiers. 
 
 Upon the fall of Arkansas Post, the regiment accompanied 
 General Steele to Greenville, Miss., where an immense amount 
 of stores were captured and destroyed. Passing then under 
 the immediate command of General Grant, it marched across 
 Milliken's Bend to Grand Gulf, and, making a detour, took 
 part in the capture of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi. 
 Orders from the General authorized the 13th to inscribe upon 
 its banners, with Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post, the 
 word Jackson, as a token of its participation in that achieve- 
 ment of our troops. 
 
 From Jackson the regiment moved upon Yicksburg, and 
 engaged in the siege of that place until its final fall on July 
 4th, 1863. In the trenches, in the deadly assault, in the 
 dangers and sufferings of that long siege, the 13th bore its 
 full share ; and Vicksburg was also inscribed upon its banners 
 and its list of triumphs. 
 
 It was the grandest triumph yet vouchsafed to the Union 
 cause : for it bisected the Confederacy and restored to us the 
 control of the Mississippi, the great Father of Waters. 
 
 Two days after the surrender, the 13th were again moving 
 upon Jackson, which had been re-occupied by the enemy; 
 and, upon the 10th of July, that city Avas again in possession 
 of our boys, and Jackson, July 10th, was added on our ban- 
 ner to the list of our victories. 
 
 For a few weeks the regiment was rested, encamped upon 
 Black river, in the rear of Vicksburg. There George Carr 
 and Samuel Bryant were captured by the enemy, and for 
 many long months endured the horrors of captivity in rebel 
 prisons. 
 
 Then under the great Sherman, it moved on Chattanooga. 
 Arriving at Bridgeport, on the Tennessee river, Col. Gorgas 
 turned over the command to Lieutenant-Colonel Partridge, 
 
THE THIRTEENTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 301 
 
 ij 
 
 M departed on recruiting service, appearing no more with 
 te regiment until after its active campaigns had ceased. 
 iThe regiment now engaged in the active operations for the 
 cpture of Chattanooga. They acted as rear guard for the 
 Jth Army Corps on its march from Corinth to Tuscumbia, 
 id for one week were every day engaged in severe skirmishes 
 p'th the enemy, who was striving to cut off its wagon-train. 
 Ibon the capture of Tuscumbia, the name of that phice was 
 ]'iered to be placed upon its banner. 
 
 .'In Lookout Valley the regiment was placed in the command 
 > Fighting Joe Hooker, and participated in the memorable 
 !!pture of Lookout Mountain, and, on the 25th, in the still 
 ffiater victory of Mission Ridge, where the 13th captured 
 j)re prisoners of the 18th Alabama regiment than it had men 
 lilts own, and carried off in triumph from the field the battle 
 :g of that regiment. 
 
 jHere the rebel foe was defeated and routed, flying in de- 
 lair across the Chickamauga, and burning the bridge in its 
 jir. The 13th was among the troops sent in pursuit of them, 
 eburne, who, among the rebels, was called the Stonewall 
 ckson of the west, was in command of the rear of Bragg's 
 ing host, and, at Ringold Gap, determined to make a stand 
 d resist his pursuers. 
 
 (The 13th, upon that bloody day, was the first to engage the 
 |emy and the last to leave the field. It was sent forward 
 ^er an open plain to seize an important position. Of their 
 rvice on this occasion. General Osterhaus officially says : 
 The 13th Illinois executed the order in magnificent style, 
 ley charged through a hail-storm of balls, and gained the 
 isition assigned to them — held it, although the enemy pour- 
 a murderous fire into their brave men, both from the gorge 
 lOve and the hill upon the right." 
 
 The rebels rallied and made a desperate charge upon its 
 •sition, but the charge was repelled with heroic courage, 
 eneral Hooker says : " The position was heroically taken 
 id held by that brave regiment, it all the time maintaining 
 
302 HISTORY OF DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 its position with resolution and obstinacy. It has never been 
 my fortune to serve with more zealous and devoted soldiers." 
 Xo small praise, tliis, from the most famous fighting general 
 of the war. S 
 
 Many instances of individual heroism upon this occasion 
 might be related. Patrick Riley, the color-bearer, while car- 
 rying the flag across the open plain, Avas strucic in the breast, 
 and fell to the ground, the flag bespattered with his blood ; 
 but he still held it firm and erect, until his successor was 
 obliged to wrench it from his dj'ing grasp and pass on. The 
 regiment gained undying fame by its valor at this fight ; but 
 it was at a fearful cost. It lost, in dead and wounded, one- 
 one-seventh of the entire loss of the desperate battle ; but the 
 victory was won, and Cleburne driven from his position. 
 
 Among its dead was Major D. R. Bushnell, and of Its 
 Avounded Avere Colonel Partridge, Captain AValter Blanchanl, 
 and Captain James M. Beardsley. Major Bushnell was a 
 citizen of Sterling — one of the noblest and manliest of all our 
 citizen soldiers, ilis loss Avas sadly deplored. Captain 
 Blanchard, who subsequently died of his Avounds, was an aged 
 man, a judge of DuPage County Court, and President of the 
 Naperville Bank ; had tAvo sons in the army, but endured all 
 the hardships of the service Avith a heroism that nothing could 
 overcome. 
 
 On the ITth of April, Avhen the time of the regmient Avould 
 have expired in a week, it Avas posted at ]Madison Station in 
 Alabama. The rebel Boddy's command, outnumbering it five 
 to one, came upon it disguised in the blue uniforms of our 
 own army, and completely surprised and surrounded it. The 
 regiment at this time had only 350 men fit for duty. Tho 
 rebels had three pieces of artillery and 1500 caA^alry and in- 
 fantry. After two hours hard fighting against these odds, the 
 regiment was obliged to abandon the station, fighting its way 
 through its foes, losing sixty-six men prisoners in their hands. 
 The enemy's loss, as reported 1)y flag of truce, \vas sixty kill- 
 ed, wounded and missing. 
 
THE THIRTEENTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 303 
 
 In the summer of 1864, worn down with the hazards and 
 wardships of three years of very active service, having travel- 
 ed through seven Southern States, marched more than three 
 housand miles, fought twenty pitched battles and innumerable 
 kirmishes, the scarred and war-worn veterans of the 13th 
 Jlinois came back to their homes, and were received with a 
 vclcome such as their heroism deserved. 
 
 A large number of the regiment re-enlisted, and were con- 
 olidated with the oGth Illinois Infantry, being there known 
 ''S Company I ; and for another year they fought the rebel- 
 ion till its close. 
 
 Of the remainder of tlie regiiient, full one-half subsequently 
 e-enlisted in other regiments, and again took tJie field. The 
 egiment entered the service with 1010 men. It received 5o 
 ecruits, but, when mustered out, its whole force was 500. It 
 ad lost from the various casualties of war 565 men. 
 
Men of DeKalb County in the 13th Illinois In; 
 
 COMPANY E. 
 
 SERGEANTS. S 
 
 E. W. Duvey, Sandwich, deserted Jan. 1, 3S().3. 
 
 B. W. Clifford, Piano, promoted 2d Lieutenant. 
 
 Zenas S. Harrison, Sandwich, discharged Nov. 3, 1861, for disability, 
 
 William Wallace, Sandwich, promoted 2d Lieutenant. 
 
 f ORPORALS. 
 
 James y\. Dobbin, f reeland, died Jan. 12, 1863, of wounds. 
 
 William K. T^nderwood, Satidwicli, mustered o^t Jan 8, 1865, as Sergeam 
 
 .Ml'SIClANS. 
 
 E. T. Bowers, Somonauk, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 8. W. West, Somonauk, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 
 nilVATES. ^ 
 
 Ankle Henry, Somonauk, mustered out June 18, 1864. ^ 
 
 Bish Lewis, Squaw Grove, mustered out June 18, 1864, as Corporal. 
 Bashew Joseph M., Sandwich, died Jan. 21, 1863, of wounds- 
 Brookins James, Squaw Grove, mustered out June 18, 2864. 
 Brainard Jacob, Squaw Grove, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 Doolittle Marcus B., Sandwich, died March 7, 186 ". 
 Fitch Albert C, Somonauk, mustered out June 18. 1864. 
 Hermis Lewis, Sandwich, prisoner, mustered out June 10, 1865. 
 Joles William, Sandwich, nuistered out June 18, 1864. 
 Judge Michael, Somonauk, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 Kelly James, Somonauk, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 Kouth Michael, Somonauk, deserted July 4, 1861. 
 y Liter Nicholas, Squaw Grove, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 Miller Nicholas, Squaw Grove, m. o. June 18, '64, Corporal; was a prisoner 
 Mullin Andrew, Sandwich, killed at Chickasaw Bayou, Dec. 29, 1862. 
 Mattison Joseph D., Sandwich, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 Nicholas Thomas, Somonauk, died August 16, 1863. 
 Orr Alfred B., Somonauk, discharged Sept. 8, 1863, for disability. 
 Patch William B., Clinton, deserted March 10, 1862. 
 Potter Thomas B., Somonauk, killed at Chickasaw Bayou, Dec. 29, 1862. 
 Palmer Camillas L., Squaw Grove, died June 16, 1863. 
 Pierce Benjamin. DeKalb, died Jan. 7, 1862. 
 Stewart Daniel, Sandwich, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 VanVelzer Lucien L., DeKalb, deserted April 24, 1862. 
 Wilcox Otis, Sandwich, deserted July 4, 1861. 
 
 RECRUITS. 
 
 Alger William H., Somonauk, transferred to Company I, 56th Illinois Inf- 
 Mullin John, Sandwich, prisoner, mustered out May 30, 1865, as Corporal. 
 Trapp Frederick, Somonauk. died March 7, 1863. 
 

 y-^f^s^'^^Z. 
 
 R lYET BRJG..GEm F. W. PART Rl DGt 
 
 OF SAII(»riCH-. 
 
 Chcay lil^ I ;i iifiMlli J. Ci>flie»6»- 
 
THIRTEENTH ILLIN01> IVFAyiET. 305 
 
 (.OMPANY F. 
 seb<:eaxts. 
 Jhn ?. If arroun. Sycamore, ab^^ent : not nuistcifil in. 
 , ro A. Buck. Sycamore, jiromoted Captain, 
 irenzo H. Whitney, Sycam.jre, discharged .Sept. 1<». ISfil. 
 |ios Churchill. Cortland, mustered out June IS. 1H.>4. 
 >rter 1). Hall, Cortland, absent wounded since ^ov. ISfio. 
 
 j CORPORALS. 
 
 iron F. Wymau, Sycamore, mustered out June lb, ]>-64. as l=t Sergeant. 
 
 knsom F. Burleigh, Sycamore, mustered out June IS, ]Sn4. as Sergesini. 
 
 'illiam S. Smith, Sycamore, died September ll*. 1864. 
 
 Jlward W. Olney, Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1>«>4. as Sergesrit. 
 
 ■\oraas Hogan, Sycamore, died ^lay 2oth, 1803. of wounds. 
 
 Tesley !•- Russell, Sycamore, died June 'J.6, 1863. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 -len William, Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1861. 
 'wood Moiris, Sycamore, discharged Sept. '■). I860, for disability, 
 •yant Samuel T., Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 '.bcock Isaiah. Sycamore, mustered out June 1864. 
 adley Daniel, Sycamore, prisoner, mustered out May 8. ISfio. 
 irkee Cyrus C. mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 irgess Lewis, Cox'tland, discharged Jan. 1. 1861^. 
 irton Anthony, Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 18''4. 
 irnes l)aniel A. A. B., Sycamore, mustered out June 18. lSfi4. 
 'logle John, Sycamore, deserted August 18, 1861. 
 < rr George, Sycamore, prisoner, mustered out June 6. I860. 
 
 • urtwright Cyrenus S., Cortland, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 'cwson Leonard S.. Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 'liver Harlan, Cortland, discharged Jan. 1. 1862. 
 
 'Dipbell George. Sycamore, prisoner, mustered out June, l-^'^o. 
 'swell Charles H., Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 
 • osby (^harles E.. Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 'arke John. Cortland, discharged Dec. 10, 1861. 
 
 ■pue Nicholas. Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1864. as Corporal. 
 
 •ily Jacob S., Sycamore, wounded since Dec. 29, 1862. 
 
 dan Thomas, Sj'camore, discharged July 1. 1862. 
 
 dermont Samuel, Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 ■indy Wayne, Cortland, discharged May 4, 1863, for disabiliij, 
 '•eeue Andrew J., Sycamore, died Oct. 2, 1862. 
 
 irtman Philo D., Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 18'U. 
 
 trrison Charles, Sycamore, mustered out July 25, 1864. 
 
 jughton Alonzo, Sycamore, mustered out July 25, 1864. 
 
 evenor Reuben M., Malta, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 
 11 John, Malta, deserted April 28, 1863. 
 'lodrich George, Cortland, died Feb. 16, 1863. 
 
 ?rr William C, Sycamore, died Jan. 5, 1863, of wounds. 
 
 ?ppell Isaac, Kingston, died May 17, 1862. 
 
 >ring Theodore, Cortland, promoted Lieutenant. 
 
 >see Joshua. DeKalb, prisoner, mustered out June 6, 186>. 
 
 j'ers Frederick C, Sycamore, veteran, prisoner, mustered ou( June, 1 ?'">■?. 
 
 cLaughlin Thomas, Sycamore, deserted Feb. 28, 1863. 
 
 illigan Robert. Sycamore, deserted April 28. 1863. 
 
 ulligan Albert, Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 
 igreen Jose^jh, Sycamore, absent sick since October 21. 1863. 
 
 Drris Sj'lvester W., Sycamore, mustered out June 18. 1864. 
 
 30 
 
306 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. J 
 
 Nichols John W., Sycamore, mustered out jMay 30, 1865, as Sergeant. 
 
 Orr Thomas J., Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 
 Orritt John, Malta, discharged November, 1862, for disabilitj. 
 
 Oleson Hans, Cortland, died Nov. 2, 1863, of wounds. 
 
 Peck Charles V., Sycamore, killed at Ringold Nov. 27, 1863. JS 
 
 Partridge Zelotes B,, Sycamore, discharged May 6, 1863. V 
 
 Phelps William A., Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 18ii4. 
 
 Potter Seneca, Sycamore, discharged July 25, 1862, for disability. 
 
 Robbins Alfred, Sycamore, discharged Oct 28, 1862. 
 
 Russell Gustavus F., Cortland, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 
 llamer Henry, Pierce, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 
 Siglin Jacob, Sycamore, discharged Sept. 12, 1861. 
 
 Stark W. H., Cortland, died Dec. 15, 1861. 
 
 Smith James M., Sycamore, deserted May 31, 1862. 
 
 Spiking .John H., Sycamore, mustered out June, 1864. 
 
 Smith Henry, Pierce, killed at Ringold Nov. 27, 1862. 
 
 Stafford Seymour, Sycamore, transferred to Invalid Corps. 
 
 Thompson Julius, DeKalb, mustered out June, 1864. 
 
 Secord Francis, Sycamore, sick since Oct. 1, 1863. 
 
 Smith Oliver AV., Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 
 Waldron John. Sycamore, discharged December, 1862, for disability. 
 
 West Asa P., Sycamore, discharged June 6, 1863, for wounds. 
 
 Wing Vintner B., Sycamore, died September, 1862, of wounds. 
 
 AVillis Moses B., Sycamore, discharged August 11, 1862. 
 
 Young John, Sycamore, died Jan. 13, 1864, of wounds. 
 
 VETERANS 
 
 Harrinij;ton Nelson H., Sycamore, Corporal, transferred to o6th Infantry 
 Houghton Alonzo, Sycamore, transferred to 56th Illinois Infantry. 
 Myers Frederick, Sycamore, transferred to 56th Illinois Infantry. 
 Ofvis Chas. W., Sycamore, tr. to 56th 111., prisoner, mustered out June, "6 
 
 RECRUITS. 
 
 Adams John, Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Burbank Horace C, Sycamore, transferred to Invalid Corps Sept. 1863. 
 
 Burbank Elbert, Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 1864. 
 
 Berogan John, Pierce. 
 
 Brown George, Cortland, prisoner, mustered out June 6, lS6.'i. 
 
 Freeman William, Sycamore, deserted Jusy 31, 1861. 
 
 Could BenJMmin L., Cortland, discharged Jan., 1863, for di.^ahilifj^ 
 
 Harrington Nelson R., Sycamore, re enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Kingsley Albert F., Sycamore, promoted Corporal. 
 
 Lawrence John M.. Ccrtland. 
 
 Nichols Stephen. Sycamore, discharged Feb., 1863, for disability. 
 
 Orvis Charles W., Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Patten David H., Sycamore, mustered out June 18, 18(54. ^ 
 
 Russell Alphonso. Cortland, killed Dec. 2!», 1863,, at Chickasaw Bayou. 
 
 Sprague Edward F., Sycamore, transferred to 56th Illinois Infantry. 
 
Fourteenth Illinois Cavalry. 
 
1 
 
 Fourteentli Uliaois Cavalry. 
 
 Recruiting lor t]ie 14th Cavalry was l)egun, under very 
 •liscouraffinu- circumstn.nces, in the .summer of 1862 ; hut an 
 oi-ga-nization was not eflected until January Tth, 1863, when 
 the first and second battalions were mustered in. This was 
 done by the consolidation of the nuclei of three regiments, 
 then in camp at Peoria — Colonel Capron's, Colonel Hancock's 
 and Colonel Jenkins'. On the 6th of February, the third 
 battalion Avas mustered in. The regimental muster-in rostej* 
 was as follows : Colonel, Horace Capron ; Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 David P. Jenkins ; 1st Major, Francis M. Davidson ; 2nd 
 Major, David Quigg ; 3rd Major, Howland Tompkins; Adju- 
 tant, Henry W. Carpenter ; Quartermaster, Samuel F. True; 
 Commissary, Bruce C. Payne ; Surgeon, Preston H. -Bail- 
 hache; 1st Assistant Surgeon, George A. Wilson; 2nd As- 
 sistant Surgeon, John Ivory Wilkins ; Chaplain, Samuel Chase, 
 
 During the months of February and March, 1863, the reg- 
 iment received its horses and equipments, and was thoroughly 
 drilled in cavalry tactics. On the 28th of the latter month, 
 it broke camp and started for Kentucky, reaching Glasgow, 
 in tlie southern portion of that State, at noon on the ITth ol 
 April. Two hours later it started upon the march for the 
 Cumberland Eiver, traveling day and night. It reached Ce- 
 lina the next evening, where, on the succeeding day (the 19th,) 
 
THE FOURTEENTH ILLTNOT,^ CAVALRY. 309 
 
 toad a brief skirmisli with the enemy, driving them from the 
 )ice, and afterward burned tlie town and destroyed one hun- 
 l.kl thousand dollars' worth of army stores. It then return 
 'tto Camp Boyle, at Glasgow, where it remained some months. 
 . re it received four six-pounder mountain howitzers. 
 While stationed here, it was engaged in scouting through 
 I country. In June it pursued the rebel Colonel Hamilton 
 (the river, effected a crossing, and surrounded his camp, 
 !i)turing a number of prisoners, their train, two cannon, six 
 liidred stand of arms, and all the rebel commander's papers 
 Ce doughty Colonel escaped, amid a perfect showei- of bullets, 
 » putting spurs to his blooded iron-gray horse. 
 Nothing more of particular note occurred until the famous 
 ' d of Morgan across the Ohio Eiver. The 14th, under the 
 ; nmand of Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins, was engaged in the 
 ii'suit and capture of the bold rider and his crew. It then 
 urned to Glasgow, having traveled during this expedition 
 ,3r 2,100 miles. 
 
 (>a the 18th of August, it started for East Tennessee, 
 fching Burnside's army, at Montgomery, on the 30th, leav- 
 i;^ him the next day at Emery river, and hastening on to 
 noxville, which place it reached on the 1st of September, 
 :3turing the rear guard of the enemy, and a considerable 
 i|iount of stores. 
 
 The regiment was the first to enter this city, the only con- 
 ijlerable town in the south then devoted to the Union ; and 
 was received with cheers, waving handkerchiefs, ringing of 
 lis, refreshments of fruit, etc., from the ladies, a genera] 
 rplay of the Union flag, and every other demonstration of 
 y. Captain Burpee was here made Quartermaster of the 
 igiment. 
 
 The regiment was present at the surrender of Cumberland 
 ap, September 9th, and was then sent across the Clinch 
 puntains, and placed at guarding railroads, having about one 
 (indred and fifty miles of track in charge. While here, it 
 jis frequently engaged in skirmishing with the enemy, and 
 
1 
 
 310 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 often suffered for food. On the 18tli it pursued the routed 
 forces of the rebel Colonel Carter for nearly ten miles toward 
 Bristol, capturing and killing many, taking their train and a 
 large quantity of arms, ammunition and camp equipage. On 
 the following day it drove them from Blountville through 
 Bristol, into Virginia, destroying at Bristol a large depot of 
 army supplies. 
 
 On the 20th it again engaged the enemy at Zollicoft'er. 
 Zollicofter was situated upon a high eminence, and it was of 
 especial value to the rebels, on account of its salt works, that 
 supplied the Confederacy with that necessary article, for the 
 w^ant of which they suffered severely. 
 
 There was a sharp resistance at this point, and we lost two 
 men killed ; but during most of our encounters, the rebel cav- 
 alry fled at our first onset. Our mountain howitzers, moved 
 by two horses, and loaded as we moved along, could be wheel- 
 ed in an instant and discharged into their ranks, before they 
 could get their heavier pieces in position. 
 
 On the 22nd, it met the enemy at Blountville, and, after 
 four hours' hard fighting, drove them back. On the 11th of 
 October, it had another severe engagement with the enemy, 
 gaining great credit for boldness and skill. At Blountville, 
 on the 14th, it fought them for five hours, driving them toward 
 Bristol. 
 
 After this it returned to the vicinity of Knoxville, from 
 whence it was ordered to Loudon, V^a., a force of rebels being 
 reported to be concentrating at that point. It was a very 
 severe march, the mud being very deep and the weather cold 
 and stormy. It is worthy of remark that, from the time the 
 regiment first entered on active service until mustered out, it 
 had no shelter, in summer or winter, other than the scanty 
 dog-tents — a narrow covering about four feet wide by seven 
 long, open at the sides and ends. 
 
 The siege of Knoxville by the rebels changed the plans of 
 our commanders ; and the 14th was employed in harassing 
 the besieging forces. 
 
THE FOURTEENTH ILLINOIS CAVALR-S . 311 
 
 On the 19tli of December, the brigade was attacked by an 
 lerwhelming force of rebels, and compelled to retreat ; but 
 iie latter operation was conducted a la Sigel — whipping the 
 jiemy while itself in retreat- The losses of this affair were 
 ory severe on both sides. 
 
 I After the raising of the siege of Knoxville, the 14th was 
 igaged in the pursuit of Longstreet's forces up the Richland 
 jalley. 
 
 On the 14th of J,)eccnd3er, our forces were attacked at 
 jean's Station by liongstreet's corps. Although the odds 
 ■jjainst them were well-nigh overwhelming, our boys main- 
 ined their position with great boldness and success. The 
 fiemy Avere repulsed with a loss of eight hundred men. On 
 e following day, the fight was rencAved seven miles below 
 ban Station, with a similar result. 
 
 Dec. 24th the 14th moved across Holston river, and was 
 corporatcd Avith General Sturgis' cavalry corps, and was 
 ereafter engaged in campaigning against Longstreet, Avho 
 IS attempting to re-invest Kroxville. 
 
 In •Januar}'', 1864, the brigade of Avhich the 14th had long 
 rmed a part was broken up, and the regiment was for a time 
 igaged in guarding railroads. Before the month was ended 
 was rc-uiiited, and joined in driving the enemy to Dandridge, 
 bere a severe battle Avas fought. Immediately afterward, 
 Itli General Sturgis' corps, it crossed a spur of the mountains, 
 d camped at Tuckaleehee Cove, January fSOth. 
 The 14th Avas noAV chosen for an expedition into North 
 arolina, to punisli a noted band of robbers, known as 
 Thomas' Legion," composed of one hundred Avhites and tAvo 
 indred Cherokee Indians. The expedition Avas begun on 
 e 31st of January, and, on the 2d of February, after march- 
 g' day and night through the most rugged and mountainous 
 rgion in the country — a region that is justly characterized as 
 |e SAvitzerland of America — the regiment came upon the 
 »ject of its search, Avhom it completely routed, killing sixty 
 id capturing fifty-six of the band. The 14th lost four killed 
 
1 
 
 312 HISTORY OF PE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 and five Avounded. One of the latter— the lamented Lieuten- 
 ant Horace Capron, son of Colonel Capron — died a few days 
 later. 
 
 (Jn the Ath, the regiment reached the valley at the foot of 
 the Smoky Hill range in Tennessee. 
 
 A few reconnoissances, with a great deal of hard marchintT, 
 filled the time till March 13th, when the regrment was found 
 at Madisonville. This point was made headquarters, while 
 the regiment was hroken up into detachments, and employed 
 in guarding fords and mountain passes. While thus engaged, 
 a band of Thomas' Legion, consisting of about one hundred 
 and fifty Indians, planned the capture and slaughter of the 
 detached companies. 
 
 Their first attempt was made u[)on Company E, at Cittico, 
 May 2Tth. Our boys were warned of the expected attack by 
 a friendly negro ; and, leaving camp-fires lighted, and lights 
 in their tents, as if all unconscious of danger, they concealed 
 themselves near ])y, and saAV the rebels rush into the camp 
 and prepare to slaughter our men. They heartily enjoyed 
 the surprise and discomfiture of the rcbs when they found tho 
 occupants all gone. They had planned to attack their enemy 
 at this time, and capture them ; but they were found to be .so 
 numerous that it was thouirht best to retire a few miles, to 
 gain the help of another compan}', when, joining forces, they 
 advanced on the rebels and drove them back into tho monn 
 tains. 
 
 In .June the lltli was ordered to join Sherinan, and on the 
 I3th began its march, camping near Lost Mountain on the 
 20th. The next day it joined General Stoneman's cavalry 
 corps, and remained with it through the Ceorgia campaign, or 
 until bis capture. 
 
 It participated in the famous movement on Atlanta ; and. 
 to insure the speedy capture of the city, it was sent under 
 Stoneman, with six other regiments of cavalry, to cut the rail- 
 road farther in the rear ; but he failed in his attempt, and 
 when our boys reached Macon, after three days and nights 
 
THE FOURTEENTH ILLINOIS CAVALR-J . 313 
 
 ird riding, they were astounded by the sight of an immense 
 fantry force in their front, while a large body of rebel cav- 
 •ry swung around in their rear, to cut off all escape. General 
 toneman now tried to return ; but, after a terrible fight at 
 ijmshine Church, he gave up the attempt, and surrendered 
 ^3 forces to the enemy. 
 
 : Colonels Capron and Adams, however, thinking the surren- 
 r unnecessary, determined to cut their way through. This, 
 i:er a hard fight, they succeeded in accomplishing. They 
 oke through the rebel lines at several points, and subse- 
 1 ently united in the rear. 
 
 jA dispute now arose between the two Colonels about Sen- 
 |ity of rank and the proper course to pursue ; and, after 
 ipther day's marching, at the banks of a creek that ran at 
 B base of Hogback mountain, the two regiments parted, 
 jlonel Adams at once crossed the stream, and subsequently 
 iched the Union lines in safety. Colonel Capron's men had 
 ij|w been in the saddle for seven days and nights. Their 
 rses were fresh, as they had all been exchanged for horses 
 iptured in the vicinity. Captain Burpee's men at one time 
 tbught in one hundred fresh horses, and mounted his me^ 
 Lpn them, turning out his exhausted animals. 
 iJBut the men who had had no sleep, except what they took 
 ale riding, were completely exhausted, and could be kept on 
 |ir horses no longer. Supposing himself safe, he ordered a 
 it at one o'clock on the morning of August 3d, and suffered 
 ij men to lie down. But, unknown to them, a regiment of 
 |el cavalry were near that place, engaged in guarding the 
 |d. Some farmers in the vicinity gave them notice that 
 ke Union troops were there asleep ; and about daylight, 
 ?pe our boys were in the deep slumber induced by their 
 :;!essive labors, the rebel cavalry dashed in upon them, 
 Gchering a large number of them before they could be 
 akened. Not one man could mount his horse or secure his 
 ;^s. Those who escaped fled on foot to the woods, and for 
 eeral days, while entirely unarmed, were pursued and 
 40 
 
31-4 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 slaughtered by rebel citizens, guerrillas, soldiers and blood- 
 hounds. Not one-half of the regiment ever reached the Union 
 lines. The recital of their dangers, their sufferings, their 
 hair-breadth escapes, would fill a volume. 
 
 During the raid upon Macon, the first battalion of the 14th, 
 under Major Davidson, left the main command July 29th, and 
 "marched over one hundred and sixty miles in less than three 
 days and nights, destroying four depots, forty engines, five 
 hundred freight and passenger cars, many miles of railroad, 
 thousands of cords of wood, public buildings and large stores 
 of military property, with a number of important bridges, in- 
 cluding the great Oconee bridge. On several occasions it 
 passed near large bodies of the enemy — once attacking, rout- 
 ing and chasing for miles the rear guard of a large force that 
 was marching to guard the Oconee bridge, which our troops 
 had just destroyed ; and once they passed between Milledge- 
 ville and the rebel picket, not more than a half mile from the 
 city, and finally joined the main command August 1st, in time 
 to share the great disaster of the 3d. For this exploit the 
 Major was recommended for promotion by General Stoneman." 
 
 After the scattered fragments of the brigade of which the 
 14th was a part were re-united, being dismounted and unarm- 
 ed, they were furnished with muskets, and sent to the Chatta- 
 hoochee river. On the 15th of September, the brigade was 
 S3nt to Kentucky to be remounted, which was effected at 
 Louisville October 16th, still retaining its muskets. It was 
 then sent to Pulaski, Tennessee, arriving November 3d, and 
 on the 18th marched to Waynesboro, to oppose Forrest. 
 
 For three days the ground was contested against over- 
 whelming odds, our troops slowly retiring, and fighting a se- 
 vere battle below Mount Pleasant on the 23d. The 4th Corps, 
 under Schofield, was filling back, the cavalry brigade guard- 
 ing the rear, and holding Forrest in check. On the 24th the 
 rebels succeeded in flanking the cavalry, who were driven in 
 disorder ; but the 4th Corps came up on the double-quick, and 
 repulsed the enemy. 
 
FOURTEENTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY. 315 
 
 iNovember 29th, the cavalry brigade was sent up the north 
 :'nk of the Duck river, to prevent Forrest's crossing. Here 
 lagain narrowly escaped capture, being at one time entirely 
 irrounded by three rebel divisions. Colonel Capron with a 
 ',v companies cut his way out. This movement was followed 
 I a similar one by the 14 th regiment, under the lead of 
 Iptains Jenkins and Connelly, who thus saved the brigade. 
 I'le brigade then joined the cavalry corps, and aided in check- 
 ig the advance of the rebels. During the battle of Franklin, 
 JWas on the left wing, in sight of the town. 
 'Arriving at Nashville, the 14th turned over its remaining 
 
 ises to other regiments, and in the battle at that place 
 ved on foot, performing important service. It then joined 
 ;he pursuit of Bragg' s retreating forces, returning to Nash- 
 e, where it remained till April 1st, 1865, when it was or- 
 3|red to Pulaski. Here it remained till July 31st, when it 
 m mustered out of the service. 
 
 IWhile the regiment was at Nashville, Colonel Capron and 
 leutenant-Colonel Jenkins resigned, and Major Davidson 
 fjiS promoted to the Colonelcy, Major Quigg being appointed 
 leutenant-Colonel. Captains Dent, Connelly, Jenkins and 
 Jinford received Majors' commissions. 
 
 'The aggregate of all the marches by the regiment in force 
 sis 10,000 miles. This is exclusive of marches by detach- 
 fents. 
 
n 
 

 orty-Second Illinois Infantry. 
 
Forty-Second Illinois Infantry. 
 
 COMPANY K. 
 
 For several months before the great war of the rebeUion 
 had commenced, an independent company of artillery had 
 been organized at the village of DeKalb. under the command 
 of Captain J. D. Butts. It was really intended more for or- 
 namental duties than for the stern service of actual warfare. 
 Its services had been confined to the management of a field- 
 piece used for salutes upon the anniversaries of the country's 
 birthdays and like joyful occasions. 
 
 But upon the first day after the thrilling news of the cap- 
 ture of Fort Sumter had echoed over the land, rousing all the 
 warlike spirit of the peaceful north, and summoning it to resist 
 the traitors and revenge the insult to the flag, Captain Butts, 
 after consulting with the members of his company, promptly 
 telegraphed a message to the Governor of the State, offering 
 its services to aid in the work of conquering the rebellion. 
 
 When in a few days, the first call of the President for 75,000 
 troops was sent out, and Illinois was granted the privilege of 
 furnishing 6,000 of the number. Captain Butts was answered 
 that the services of this company, now full in numbers, were 
 accepted ; that they should perfect themselves in drill, and 
 await further orders. 
 
 But the further orders did not come. Other companies 
 poured into the rendezvous without waiting for orders, and 
 were accepted : the DeKalb company, in spite of all their 
 efibrts, were at last excluded. 
 
THE FORTY-SECOND ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 319 
 
 Foreseeing that their services would yet be required, they 
 itained their organization, and calmly awaited their time, 
 hat time came at length; and the 1st day of August, 1861, 
 .w the boys of DeKalb in camp for instruction at Chicago — 
 
 component part of the 42d Regiment of Illinois Infantry, 
 id ranking as Company K. 
 
 The Colonel was William A. Webb ; Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 avid Stuart ; Major, George W. Roberts. Its company 
 .ficers were : Jesse D. Butts, Captain ; Joseph W. Foster, 
 it Lieutenant ; Gilbert L. Barnes, 2d Lieutenant. 
 '! On the 17th of September, the regiment, numbering 1051 
 .en, was mustered into service, and, immediately thereafter, 
 :ft for St. Louis, and there remained in a camp of instruction 
 ;r seventeen days, when it received orders to proceed to Tip- 
 ;jn, Missouri, to join General Fremont in his great expedition 
 gainst the rebel General Price. 
 
 The emergencies of the situation seemed to call for the 
 
 eatest possible haste ; and the regiment was forced through 
 ; a rate of speed that almost destroyed it. They Avere nearly 
 ftstitute of wagons for the transportation of supplies, without 
 iggage, except what they carried on their backs, no rations, 
 rcept a small supply of hard-tack and a few cattle driven 
 ong and killed each night, and often eaten raw by the fam- 
 hed and exhausted soldiers ; yet they marched from twenty- 
 ve to forty miles each day, for about ten days, and reached 
 pringfield on the 4th of November, stacking their arms, then 
 ,ie hundred muskets, the remainder of the regiment having 
 lien out exhausted. 
 
 These simple words : " they marched from twenty-five to 
 rty miles per day," look common-place enough upon paper; 
 lit they convey no adequate idea of the toil, the suJOfering, 
 le exhaustion which such a march requires. Any person 
 ho chooses may determine by personal experience that to 
 alk two and a half miles an hour is rapid movement : four 
 iles an hour is a run. To move at such a rate for ten hours 
 day, loaded down with muskets, accoutrements and rations, 
 
 more fatal to an army than the severest battles. 
 
320 HISTOEY OF DEKALB COUXTT. 
 
 The men may start out in the morning fresh and stronw', 
 they go for "wearv miles with the rapid step required. Soon 
 the "weaker ones begin to slacken their pace, and straggle in 
 the rear. The rules require imperatively that there shall be 
 no straggling : and the officers now run back and urge them 
 on. Stimulated by threats, importunities, and sometimes by 
 blows, they struggle on a while longer ; but soon exhausted 
 nature can hold out no longer : they fall in the rear and sit 
 down exhausted, the picture of despair. The regiment moves 
 on ; and, before night, a small company only reaches its camp- 
 ing-ground, and. utterly exhausted, sink to the earth for a 
 moment's repose. Then they proceed to prepare something 
 to satisfv the cravincjs of hunerer : and verv slight indeed are 
 these preparations. The food is devoured almost raw : and 
 they then sleep as only those can whose power of endurance 
 had reached its limit. The stragglers now begin to come in : 
 and, before dawn, perhaps half of them have reached their 
 companies, when the unwelcome drum-beat of the reveille 
 rouses them again to the march, and thev commence again the 
 weary onward movement. 
 
 Many fields of sorghum had been planted upon this route ; 
 and the men sustained nature by the stimulating pieces of its 
 stalks which they chewed as they moved along. Two hundred 
 men of this regiment were permanently disabled by this terri- 
 ble march, and multitudes more acquired chronic diseases 
 from which they never fully recovered. 
 
 Lieutenant Gilbert L. Barnes and nine privates of Company 
 K died on the march. 
 
 The sufferings of the regiment upon this march were not 
 recompensed by the consideration that they had proved of 
 much value to the cause. Arrived at Springfield, Fremont 
 was superceded by General Hunter, the plan of the campaign 
 was changed. Price retired to his mountain fastnesses, at a 
 short distance ; and when the regiment had remained a few 
 weeks encamped at Springfield, it marched back again to Tip- 
 ton, Price's army following ours back to Springfield, and then 
 
REUBEN (VI.PRITCHARD 
 
 -r c Li NiTON. 
 
 (lu.-as.. Ullu>-/;.|ih„|t: i\^nai: 
 
1 
 
 j THE FORTY-SECOND ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 321 
 
 ) Osceola, where it wintered within thirty niles of our own. 
 
 The regiment went into winter-quarters at Smithton, an 
 iitpost of Otterville, where was located the headquarters of 
 
 eneral Pope's army. Our company, on the 15th of De- 
 jmber, occupied for winter quarters an old and roomy ware- 
 buse, colder than any ordinary barn ; and amid more than 
 
 le usual discomforts of army life in Avinter, it passed the time 
 „ guard duty. 
 
 ji On the 3d of February, 1862, we moved to St. Charles, 
 - issouri, north of St. Louis — a very exhausting march of 
 iven days — where we took steamers, and, on the 20th, arrived 
 i Fort Holt in Kentucky, whence we moved by steamers to 
 blumbus, Kentucky. 
 
 On the 4th of March it occupied Columbus, Ky, and on the 
 '.jth moved down to Island Number Ten — a march of forty- 
 re miles, during which we were constantly in conflict with 
 te enemy. In the reduction and capture of that important 
 jjSt the 42d bore no unimportant part. 
 
 i|On the night of April 1st, Colonel Roberts, its commander, 
 y%h fifty men of the regiment, spiked a battery of six guns 
 o| the rebels that had hitherto done a good deal of injury to 
 or troops. 
 
 jOn the 11th of April this formidable fortress surrendered 
 tthe Union arms, and on the 14th our regiment, under Gen- 
 eil Pope, moved to Fort Pillow and thence to Shiloh, arriving 
 t'» late for the great battle. 
 
 The regiment was engaged in the famous siege of Corinth, 
 ai shared the glory of the capture of that important point ; 
 a 1 it led the advance of the Union forces in pursuit of Beau- 
 r yard's flying host, as far as Booneville, Miss. 
 
 During this siege Captain Butts, who had been in charge 
 
 the Surgeon since the 1st of March, was forced to resign 
 h command, and Robert Raney, a Lieutenant of Company 
 
 1 was chosen Captain in his stead. 
 
 [n the battle of Farmington, on the 9th of May, the regi- 
 BDQt lost two men killed, twelve wounded and three missing. 
 41 
 
322 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 The 42d occupied Courtland, Alabama, from July 25th to 
 September 3d, 1862, when it left for Nashville, Tenn., by way 
 of Decatur, Alabama. It had a battle at Columbia, Tenn., 
 September 9th, 1862, and lost one man killed. The regiment 
 arrived at Nashville September 13th. 
 
 It remained in Nashville during the siege. On December 
 10th it marched out six miles on the Nolensville pike. On 
 December 26th it engaged in the Murfreesboro campaign. 
 It skirmished with the enemy December 30th, and was en- 
 gaged in the battle of Stone River, December 31st, with a 
 loss of 22 killed, 116 wounded, and 85 prisoners. 
 
 On the 5th of March, 1863, the 42d engaged in the pursuit 
 of VanDorn to Columbia, returning to camp at Murfreesboro 
 on the 14th. On June 24th it entered upon the Tullahoma 
 campaign, camped, July 31st, at Bridgeport, Alabama, and on 
 September 2d engaged in the Chattanooga campaign. It then 
 marched to Alpine, Georgia, thence to Trenton, and crossed 
 Lookout Mountain. It engaged, September 19th and 20th, 
 in the battle in the battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, losing 28 
 killed, 128 wounded, and 28 prisoners, and retreated to Chat- 
 anooga. 
 
 On the 28th of November the regiment was engaged in the 
 battle of Mission Ridge, losing five killed and forty wounded, 
 the 42d being on the skirmish-line during the whole engage- 
 ment. It pursued the enemy to Chickamauga creek and re- 
 turned. It then entered the East Tennessee campaign, and 
 on the 27th of December camped at Stone's Mill. 
 
 On the 1st of January, 1864, the regiment re-enlisted as a 
 veteran volunteer organization, and on the 15th it moved to 
 Dandridge. It started for Chattanooga on the 21st, arriving 
 on the 2d of February, whence it moved by rail to Chicago on 
 the 21st. On the 2d of March the men received thirty day 
 furloughs, and, on their return, arrived at Chattanooga April 
 27th. 
 
 The regiment entered the Atlanta campaign on the 3d of 
 May, and was engaged at Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, Adairs- 
 
1 
 
 THE FORTY-SECOND ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 323 
 
 [lie, New Hope Church, Pine Mountain, Kenesaw Mountain, 
 each Tree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, and Lovejoy Station, 
 icamping at Atlanta, September 8th. The total loss on the 
 impaign was twenty killed, eighty-nine wounded, and seven 
 fisoners. On the 25th it moved, to Bridgeport, Alabama, by 
 lil, and, October 19th, to Chattanooga, whence they marched 
 I Alpine, Georgia. On the 30th of October, it moved by 
 iil to Athens, Alabama, and marched thence to Pulaski, 
 ennessee, arriving November 5th. 
 
 , It commenced its retreat for Nashville on the 22d, engaging 
 ith the enemy at Spring Hill and Franklin, and losing twen- 
 f-four killed, ninety-five wounded, and thirty prisoners. It 
 jas engaged in the battle of Nashville on the 15th and 16th 
 j December, losing two killed and eleven wounded, and pur- 
 eed the enemy eighty-two miles, camping at Lexington, Ala., 
 jecember 31st, whence it marched to Decatur, Ala., arriving 
 :|.nuary 6th, 1865. 
 
 I The 42d remained at Decatur till April 1st, when it pro- 
 [jeded by rail to Bull's Gap, Tenn., and thence marched to 
 ],lue Springs, where it remained two weeks, and then proceed- 
 f; by rail to Nashville. 
 
 On the 15th of June it moved by rail to Johnsonville, Tenn., 
 ad thence by water to New Orleans, and camped at Chal- 
 t,3tte, June 23d. On the 18th of July it proceeded to Port 
 Iivaca, Texas, whence it went to Camp Irwin, where it re- 
 nined a month, and then returned to Lavaca and went on 
 [ st duty. 
 
 The regiment was mustered out on the 16th of December, 
 V.t Indianola on the 20th and New Orleans on the 24th, ar- 
 ifing at Camp Butler, Springfield, Illinois, January 3d, 1866. 
 (i the 10th it received its final pay and discharge. 
 
Men of DeKalb County in the 42d Illinois Inf. 
 
 I 
 
 COMPANY K. 
 
 CAPTAINS. 
 
 Jesse D. Butts, DeKalb, resigned April 8, 1862. 
 
 Joseph W. Foster, DeKalb, honorably discharged May 15, 1865. 
 
 FIRST LIEUTENANTS. 
 
 Joseph W. Foster, DeKalb, promoted. 
 
 James N. McClellan, South Grove, term expired Feb. 20, 1865. 
 
 Jeremiah G. Beard, Somonauk, mustered out as Sergeant Dec. 16, 1865. 
 
 SECOND LIEI'TENANTS. 
 
 Gilbert S. Barnes, Kingston, died Oct. 24, 1861. 
 James N. McClellan, South Grove, promoted. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 James N. McClellan, South Grove, promoted 2d Lieutenant. 
 Shuin W. King, DeKalb, killed at Chickamauga, Sept 20, 1863. 
 James H. Dupee, Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Perry Rowan, Franklin, killed at Stone River, Dec. 31, 1862. 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 Moses L. Benies, DeKalb, mustered out September 16, 1864, as private. 
 
 Charles H. Stuai-t, Kingston, muslered out Sept. 16, 1864. 
 
 Robert Lenox, DeKalb, discharged Nov. 15, 1863, for disability. 
 
 John Lundall, DeKalb, trans, to Vctpnin Reserve Corps, March 15. 1865. 
 
 Lyman H. Needham, DeKalb, died in Andersonville prison, Sept. 1, 1864. 
 
 Orlando M. Benson, kill.>d at Stone River, Dec. 31, 1862. 
 
 Henry B. Gurle. DeKalb, discharged Nov. 14, 1862, for disability. 
 
 Stephen Olney, Kingston, discharged Feb. 14, 1863, for disability. 
 
 MUSICIANS. 
 
 Ethan Allen, Sycamore, discharged INIarch 26, 1862, for disability. 
 Ephraim II. Hornbeck, Maylield, deserted Nov. 7, 1861. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Austin Amasa C, DeKalb, discharged Jan 5, 1862. 
 
 Arst Frank, Kingston, died at Chattanooga, March 13, 1863. 
 
 Alba George, Pampas, deserted July 3, 1862. 
 
 Aurner William R., Kingston, mustered out Sept. 16, 1864. 
 
 Brainard Anson, Kingston, died at St. Louis Dec. 11, 1861. 
 
 Bates Stephen H., Kingston, discharged May 12, 1862, for disability. 
 
1 
 
 THE FORTY-SECOND ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 325- 
 
 Barber Daniel, DeKalb, mustered out Sept. 16, 1864. 
 Benies Aaron B., DeKalb, mustered out Sept. 16, 1864. 
 5ro*vn James W., DeKalb, nuistered out Sept. 18, 1864. 
 Brigham Artiraus, Somonauk, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Srigham Jeremiah G-, Somonauk, re-enlisted as veteran, 
 'oilier John, Kingston, died at Evansville, Ind., June 11, 1862. 
 ■onnaughton Thomas. Kingston, deserted June 11. 1862. 
 ■onnaughton Roger, Kingston, deserted June 11, 1862. 
 Conner Allanson, Malta, discharged Jan. 19, 1863, for disability. 
 Campbell David, Milan, missing after the battle of Chickamauga. 
 )ecker William H., Kingston, died at Farmington May 29, 1862. 
 )airs William, Kingston, died at Tipton. Mo , Dec. 4. 1861. 
 |)eLaTour George W., Milan, transferred to Company B. 
 ildmonds John D., Milan, killed at Chickamauga Sept. 20, 1863, 
 jldmunds Edward B., Milan, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 'ish Mortimer A., Sandwich, mustered out Sept. 16, 1864. 
 
 ish Enos, DeKalb, died at Smithton, Mo., Jan. 11, 1862. 
 
 'ish Chester, DeKalb, transferred to 55th 111. Inf. Sept. 5, 1861. 
 
 rost George K.. Clinton, trans, to Sappers and Miners, August 29, 1861. 
 tj'owler Jay, DeKalb, transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps, Feb. 22, 1864. 
 ijarlock Wm. E., DeKalb, discharged April 26, 1864, as Sergeant, wounded, 
 [reen Israel .J., Sandwich, trans, to Veteran Reserve Corps, Feb. 10, 1864. 
 jiorham Edward, South Grove, re-enlisted as veteran, 
 jfanson Peter, South Grove, mustered out Sept. 16, 1864. 
 
 endrickson Oscar, DeKalb, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 annegar Nathaniel, DeKalb, mastered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 
 lodges John H., mustered out Sept. 16. 1864. 
 
 imball Lorenzo, DeKalb, disch. Nor. 25. 1862. to enlist in 4th U. S. Cav. 
 
 ennady IMelvin, Squaw Grove, missiii"; after rbe battle of Chickamauga. 
 
 emley Peter, Kingston, nuisiered onf Sept. Li, 1864. 
 ;[artin Daniel (I., Ai'ion. discharged Jan. Ji', 1862. 
 IcGlin Edward. Al'ion, deserted -hrie 1 i, ISIVJ. 
 
 tcCann .John F., Coviland. nui'^l.Tcd vut Vny 12. 1865. 
 
 ■iller August, Afton, ir, ■■isfpvvi^d lo S.-.npov- .-ml ^itne\s, August 29, 1861. 
 
 iiott William, Sycnmore, disr-!)avj;-ed July 5, I^^Cj:. for disability. 
 
 jierry Henry, Sycnmo e, disch;iv;;pd July 8. I.S61:. lor 1862, for disability. 
 
 erry William N., Sycamore, died at Sf. f!,nni", jMu., May 23, 1862. 
 
 lerry Hale, Sycamore, died at Nashville, Toun.. Nov. ](>. 1862. 
 
 eterson John, DeKalb. die 1 nt Smiihlou, ]\Tr.., .Ian. 6. 1S62. 
 
 atterson John W.. DeKalb, mastered out Se|)i. 16. 1864. 
 
 edding .John, DL-Kalb, ma^iered out Sept. li'i. 186!. 
 
 oleson Lewis, Kiuf'stoa, ti-ans. to Sappers and ^liners, August 29, 1861. 
 
 ussell Robert W.. Genoa, discharged Dec. 26, 1862, to enlist in 16th U.S. 
 
 ogers Richard S., South Grove, trans, to Vet. Reserve Corps, July 15, '64. 
 
 ostrop .J. Peters, DeKalb, re -enlisted as veleran. 
 
 pToup Julius, DeKalb. dlsch. Nov. 25, 1802, to enlist in 4th U. S. Cavalry. 
 
 i:.ephenson Fi^ancis, DeKalb, mustered out Sept. 16, 1864. 
 
 lell Benjamin. ]MayiieUl, deseried August 23, 1861. 
 
 ims Henry, Maylield, ro-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 aannon Gilbert, South Grove, mustered c\v Ser>t. 16, 1864. 
 
 iout Aaro'i, DeKalb, discharged Jan. 13, 1862, for disability. 
 
 iibbetts Aaron G., Kingston, discbai-ge<l Jvdy 12, 1862, for disability. 
 
 iyler William P.. DeKaU), died at Tipton, Mo., Dec. 31, 1861. 
 
 lylor Joseph, Mayfield, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 .'dburgh Addison', Mayfie'd, discharged Feb. 11, 1862, for disability. 
 
 pNess Oscar, Afton, discharged Jan, 26, 1862, to enlist in 16th U. S. A. 
 olrod Charles, Afton, discharged March 24, 1862, for disability. 
 
326 
 
 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Wright Benjamin, DeKalb, mustered out Sept. 28, 1864. 
 
 Wright George H., DeKalb, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Wittemore Anson W., DeKalb, discharged March 26, 1862, for disability. 
 
 Wilson Charles S., Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 16, 1864. 
 
 Wright William, DeKalb, mustered out Sept. 16, 1864. 
 
 Yarwood N. B., Kingston, discharged Dec. 26, 1862, to enlist in 16th U. S. 
 
 VETERANS. 
 
 Beard Jeremiah G., DeKalb, mustered out Dec. 16, 1865, as 1st Sergeant. 
 Brigham Artemus, Victor, mustered out Dec. 16, 1865, as Sergeant. 
 Depue James H., Spcamore, 1st Sergeant, died at home March 22, 1864. 
 Edmonds Edmond B., DeKalb, mustered out Dec. 16, 1865, as Corporal. 
 Nichols Charles, DeKalb, mustered out Dec. 16, 1865, as Corporal, wounded. 
 Sams Henry, DeKalb, mustered aut Dec. 16, 1865. 
 Taylor Joseph, Mayfield, mustered out Dec. 16, 1865, wounded, 
 Wright Geo. H., DeKalb, mustered out Dec. 16, 1865, as Sergeant, wounded. 
 
 I 
 
P'ifty-Second Illinois Infantry. 
 
Fifty-Second lUiuois Infantry. 
 
 The o2d Illinois Infantry Regiment was organized at Ge- 
 neva, Kane County, Illinois, under the superintendence of 
 Colonel I. G, Wilson, and was mustered into the United States 
 service as an organization, November 19th, 1861, by Lieuten- 
 ant J. Christopher, U. S. A. 
 
 The regiment left Geneva with 945 men. under Colonel I. 
 G. Wilson, with orders to proceed to St. Louis, Mo., via Chi- 
 cao-o, Alton c^ St. Louis Railroad, Xovember 28th, 1861. 
 They arrived at St. Louis Xovember 29th, and went into 
 quarters at Benton Barracks. While at Benton Barracks, 
 Colonel Wilson's resignation was tendered and accepted. On 
 the 8th day of December, the regiment, under command of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel J. S. Wilcox, embarked on the cars for 
 St. Joseph, Mo., by way of Hannibal it St. Joseph Railroad, 
 and arrived at St. Joseph December 10th, 1861. H 
 
 The several companies of the regiment were stationed along 
 the road from St. Joseph to a point four miles east of Came- 
 ron, making a distance of thirty-five miles to be kept open by 
 our regiment. The regiment was thus employed until Janua- 
 ry 16th, 1862, the headquarters being at St. Joseph. The 
 duty performed was hard and tedious, owing to the intense 
 cold weather and the limited supply of camp and garrison 
 equipage. 
 
FIFTY-SECOND ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 329 
 
 \ On January IGth, 1862, we left St. Joseph, under command 
 
 tf Lieutenant-Colonel Wilcox, with orders to proceed to Cairo- 
 
 IV^e went hj rail to Palmyra, Mo., and from there marched to 
 
 Juincy, on the railroad, covered with nine inches of snow, and 
 
 ie underneath. Many of the men came near perishing on 
 
 16 way, and undoubtedly would, but for an engine being sent 
 
 'ack several miles to pick up the stragglers. We left Quincy 
 
 anuary 19th, and arrived at Cairo on the 20th. On the 24th 
 
 e were ordered to Smithland, Ky., where we arrived on the 
 
 6th, and went into camp. 
 
 On the 7th of February, Colonel T. W. Sweeney of the 
 
 gular army assumed command of the regiment, and on the 
 
 [)th, in obedience to orders received, we embarked on boat 
 
 r Fort Donelson, Ky., where we arrived early on the morn- 
 
 g of the 17th, just in time to be assigned to the unpleasant 
 
 ity of guarding rebel prisoners. 
 
 On the morning of the 18feh, the regiment, on several dif- 
 
 rent boats, loaded with prisoners, started down the river for 
 
 i;. Louis, where we arrived on the 20th, and were then order- 
 
 ». to proceed with the prisoners to Springfield and Chicago. 
 
 fter delivering the prisoners at the above places, the regiment 
 
 Indezvoused at St. Louis, March 7th. 
 
 On the 13th of March, we left for the army of the Tennes- 
 
 ib, via Cairo and Paducah, arrived at Pittsburg Landing, 
 
 larch 18th, landed on the 20th and went into camp. The 
 
 iment was here attached to the 3d Brigade, 2d Division, 
 
 lonel Sweeney commanding the brigade and General Smith 
 
 je Division. 
 
 iOn the 6th and 7tli of April, 1862, the regiment was en- 
 
 ged in the bloody battle of Pittsburg Landing, or "Shiloh," 
 
 jor Henry Stark commanding until 3J P. M. of the first 
 
 y, when Captain E. A. Bowen assumed command in obedi- 
 
 ce to orders from Colonel Sweeney, commanding brigade. 
 
 le regiment distinguished itself on several occasions during 
 
 is battle. It was in the hottest of the fight during a great 
 
 rt of the first terrible day. While gallantly urging on his 
 42 
 
330 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY, 
 
 men, with an utter disregard of his own safety, Captain E. M. 
 Knapp of the DeKalb Co. company was shot through the body 
 and mortally wounded. Our loss was 170 in killed, wounded 
 and missing, outof 500 who went into the fight. 
 
 At the siege of Corinth, the regiment took an active 
 part, Colonel Bowen remaining in command from April Tth 
 to May 8th, at which time Lieutenant-Colonel Wilcox return- 
 ed from the north. About May 8th, we were transferred to 
 the 1st Brigade, 2d Division, commanded by Colonel Sweeney. 
 
 During the siege of Corinth, the regiment became very 
 much reduced by sickness, wounded, death, &c. ; could carry 
 no tents, and were consequently exposed to the heavy rain- 
 storms of that season. 
 
 May 30th, after the enemy had evacuated Corinth, the 
 division was ordered to Farmington to join General Pope. 
 The following day we started in pursuit of the enemy ; pro- 
 ceeded to Boonville, twenty-five miles south of Corinth ; re- 
 turned to Camp Montgomery, two miles south of Corinth, 
 June 13th, 1862 ; went into camp ; remained here until after 
 the battle of Corinth, October 3d and 4th, 1862. 
 
 The 2d and 6th divisions, constituting the garrison of Cor- 
 inth, August 11th, under command of Major E. A. Bowen, 
 proceeded to Pocahontas, Tenn., to disperse Colonel Faulk- 
 ner's rebel cavalry, and to seize and bring in all cotton found 
 in the country. They found no camp of the enemy, as re- 
 ported, but secured fifty-five bales of cotton, and returned to 
 Corinth on the 17th of August. The distance marched was 
 fifty miles, and, owing to the extreme hot weather and dusty 
 roads, it was very fatiguing. 
 
 September 17th, all the forces stationed at Corinth moved 
 out to attack the rebel force under General Price, at luka, 
 Miss. On the night of September 19th, we bivouacked in 
 line of battle three miles east of Burnsville. The next morn- 
 ing we advanced three miles, formed in line of battle, threw 
 out skirmishers, and found that the enemy had left our front; 
 then marched without interruption to luka. General Rose- 
 
 i4 
 
THE FIFTY-SECOND ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 331 
 
 ;rans, advancing on another road, met the enemy before, and 
 lefeated him, driving the rebels out of luka early in the 
 iQorning before our arrival. After a short rest at luka, the 
 ntire command made a forced march back to Burnsville. 
 peptember 21st, fearing that Price might attempt to reach 
 porinth before our return, we made another forced march to 
 porinth, arriving at four o'clock that afternoon. The last 
 .ay's march was very severe on the men : the day was hot, 
 nd many became utterly exhausted. The total distance 
 fiarched was fifty-six miles. The regiment took an active 
 iart in the battle of Corinth. 
 
 Early in the morning of October 3d, we left Camp Mont- 
 
 iomery. Colonel Sweeney commanding the regiment; marched 
 
 iarough Corinth and formed in line of battle one and a half 
 
 idles from the town, where the combined forces of Price, Van 
 
 |orn, Villipugue and Lovell attacked our forces. During the 
 
 l^st day's fight, four separate lines of battle were formed : 
 
 lie enemy, by dint of superior numbers, forcing us to retire 
 
 ptil the fourth line was formed in front of Port Robinett. 
 
 he fighting was most desperate through the day : the heat 
 
 as intense, and many of our men were sun-struck. At one 
 
 me the whole command seemed nearly overpowered by the 
 
 xtreme heat of the sun. 
 
 The most desperate engagement of the day took place at 
 
 i.e third line, in the afternoon, the rebel force being com- 
 
 etely scattered by the galling fire poured into them. They 
 
 •on threw in fresh troops, however, and forced us from that 
 
 i)sition. 
 
 During the engagement at the third line. Adjutant Brainard 
 as killed, also General Hackleman, commanding the brigade, 
 olonel Sweeney was then assigned to the command of the 
 •igade, and Lieutenant-Colonel Wilcox assumed command of 
 
 e regiment. During the night of the 3d, we changed posi- 
 3ns several times, thus preventing all possible chance of 
 !)taining the rest so much needed. Before daylight of the 
 
 h, the enemy commenced shelling the town, and having 
 
332 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 obtained the exact range, their shots were effective. In half 
 an hour, their guns were silenced by our batteries. At 10 A. 
 M., the enemy emerged from the woods in two columns, one 
 upon Fort Robinette and the other upon redoubt liichardson, 
 Avhere the 52d was posted. Rapidly they came, in splendid 
 style, firing as they advanced, and taking advantage of the 
 ground to our front and right, succeeded in gaining possession 
 of the redoubt, causing the artillery horses with caissons to 
 stampede in great confusion. Finding the troops on the right 
 ot the redoubt had given awa}^, the o^d was ordered back, 
 and soon after, the entire division followed its example. Re- 
 tiring some two hundrid yards, the r)2d rallied Avhile yet ex- 
 posed to the fire of the enemy, and immediately began to ad- 
 vance, followed by the entire brigade. The ground lost was 
 retaken, all the guns recaptured and turned upon the enemy, 
 and successfully worked by men of the r)2d. The entire 
 command bivouacked on the ground that day and night. The 
 loss of the regiment during both days' fight, was seventy killed 
 and wounded. 
 
 On the morning of October 4th, we started in pursuit of 
 the enemy, proceeding as far as Ruckerville, and returned on 
 the 12th. The total distance marched was seventy-five miles. 
 
 On the 13th, the regiment was ordered to the hills of the 
 Hatchie river, to pick up tents, &c., abandoned by the enemy 
 in their flight. The regiment started, tired and foot-sore, 
 having been constantly on duty since the battle of Corinth. 
 It returned October IGth, having marched forty miles. 
 
 On December 9th, 18G2, the regiment, Major Bowen com- 
 manding, started with an expedition into northern Alabama, 
 to disperse a force of 2,000 cavalry and mounted infantry 
 under Roddy, Our whole force of nnfantry were in army 
 wagons, twelve men to a team. For ten miles after passing 
 Big Bear Creek occurred one of the most exciting running 
 fights ever witnessed. The enemy were driven from every 
 position, until they fell back upon their large reserve force of 
 artillery and infantry, stationed on the opposite bank of Little 
 
THE FIFTY-SECOISrD ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 333 
 
 3ear Creek. The enemy burned the bridge, and retired from 
 mr front. Having exhausted our ammunition, and deeming 
 urther pursuit useless, we returned to Corinth, arriving on 
 ihe 14th of December, having traveled one hundred and twen- 
 iy miles in five days, fighting the enemy one day, and driving 
 lim before us for fifteen miles. 
 
 i On the 19th of December, the regiment, under command of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Wilcox, left Corinth with an expeilition, 
 inder command of General I. M. Dodge, to intercept the rebel 
 Ireneral Forrest, supposed to be marching on Jackson, Tenn. 
 ')f all the marches ever made by the regiment, this was the 
 lost trying and fatiguing. Over one hundred miles were 
 'larched in four and a half days, the first forty of which were 
 liade without sleep and but little rest. Nearly every man in 
 lie regiment returned to Corinth foot-sore and rao;ged. The 
 •cpedition served to drive General Forrest northward ; and 
 hen returning, the Jackson forces intercepted him at Park- 
 ■ s Cross Roads, and defeated him. 
 
 On the 2nd of January, 1863, under command of Major 
 owen, we started, with an expedition of General Dodge, to 
 
 tercept Forrest in crossing the Tennessee river. Ascertain- 
 g that General Forrest had effected a crossing at Crump's 
 anding, we returned January 3d, having marched twenty- 
 ur miles, mostly in the rain. 
 
 January 26th, Captain Joseph T. Brown commanding, left 
 orinth with an expedition commanded by Colonel E. W. Rice, 
 h Iowa Volunteers, for Hamburg, Tenn., arriving that even- 
 jg. We took quarters on board of trans23orts, the men being 
 1 owded so close as to be unable to lie or sit down, and a cold 
 lin falling all night. It was ve?-^ hard on the men. On 
 ie 27th we started up the Tennessee river, but soon returned 
 <. account of the incapacity of the boat to carry so large a 
 lumber of troops. We returned to Corinth on the 28th, hav- 
 ig marched thirty-five miles — the object of the expedition 
 1 [known. 
 • 'February 14th, Major Bowen commanding, left wuth two 
 
334 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY, 
 
 other regiments, all under the command of the Lieutenant- 
 Colonel of the 39th Ohio Infantry, for a point four miles south 
 of Burnsville, Miss., with wagon train, to procure lumber. 
 We reached the mills in the afternoon of the 15th, but owing 
 to the heavy rains which had been falling for two or three 
 days, only two hundred feet of lumber could be hauled in 
 each wagon, and, even with this small load, it was almost im- 
 possible to get through the swamps, so that we were ten hours 
 in going four miles. 
 
 On the 16th we left Burnsville, Miss., for Corinth, on the 
 Farmington road, at four o'clock P. M. About dark a steady 
 rain set in, and continued during the night. The commanding 
 officer continued the march during that day and until ten 
 o'clock at night, halting at Farmington. At times the dark- 
 ness was intense, the men constantly falling down, being un- 
 able to select good stepping-places. We reached Corinth on 
 February 17th, dirty, tired and hungry, having marched for- 
 ty-six miles. 
 
 February 25th, 1863, the regiment under command of Ma- 
 jor Bowen, started with an expedition, under Colonel T. W. 
 Sweeney, for Jacinto, Miss., and beyond if necessary, to assist 
 Colonel Cornyn and the 10th Missouri Cavalry in bringing in 
 prisoners, stock, &c., captured by them. We started during 
 a terrible rain-storm. All the gulches were full of water, and 
 the small streams flooded. Soon after leaving Corinth, we 
 were obliged to wade in water waist-deep. 
 
 We reached Jacinto on the 27th of February, after turning 
 several times from impassable streams and taking new roads. 
 The rain fell in torrents all the time. The roads were in such 
 a condition that we could proceed no further than Jacinto, 
 nor could we return until the storm should abate. We took 
 up quarters in unoccupied houses, and remained until March 
 4th, when Colonel Cornyn and command came up, and we 
 returned to Corinth, marching sixteen miles in five hours. 
 The total distance marched was sixty-four miles, including 
 twenty-five miles foraging from Jacinto. 
 
THE FIFTY-SECOND ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 335 
 
 ] 
 
 I The 52d Illinois left Corinth April 15th, 1863, under com- 
 'nand of Lieutenant-Colonel John S. Wilcox, with an expedi- 
 kon composed of four brigades of infantry, one brigade of 
 tavalry and fourteen pieces of artillery, all under the corn- 
 hand of Brigadier-General G. M. Dodge — destination north- 
 ilrn Alabama. We marched to Burnsville on the 15th, and 
 'n the 16th passed through luka and camped within two miles 
 f Big Bear Creek. April 17th, we were all day crossing the 
 reek : had some skirmishing in the morning to gain posses- 
 ion of the ford. 
 
 During the afternoon of the 17th, the cavalry, under Colonel 
 
 hrnjn, had several engagements with the enemy, and at one 
 
 me came near being defeated, losing one gun and seventy 
 
 risoners. The 52d, with the 1st Brigade, was ordered to 
 
 le support of the cavalry. We arrived at their camp at 
 
 velve o'clock on the night of the 17th, and on the morning 
 
 , r the 18th advanced cautiously, but found no enemy. At 
 
 pon we started back to rejoin the main force at Big Bear 
 
 reek, arriving in the evening, nearly worn out. During the 
 
 'ternoon of the 20th, while on Oats Hill, Colonel Sweeney 
 
 jceived his commission as Brigadier-General of Volunteers. 
 
 On the 23d the whole force advanced, the 1st Brigade lead- 
 
 g and the 52d deployed as skirmishers. We drove the en- 
 
 ny steadily as Ave moved on, the artillery keeping up a ter- 
 
 lic fire over our heads. We bivouacked that night in line 
 
 battle near Little Bear Creek, Ala. 
 
 April 24th, we resumed the march at daylight, arriving in 
 ascumbia at half-past one P. M. We went into camp just 
 •st of the town, and remained until the 27th. The cavalry, 
 iring this time, was skirmishing with the enemy in the front. 
 April 27th, the entire command moved forward in the 
 rection of Courtland and Decatur. We came upon the en- 
 ay in force upon the opposite side of Town Creek, having 
 s force' augmented by the arrival of General Forrest with 
 le thousand men. After a half-hour's skirmishing, we biv- 
 lacked for the night, April 28th. Heavy skirmishing and 
 
336 HISTORY OF DE KALB COU]\^TY. 
 
 artillery firing continued without interruption from daylight 
 until noon. Gaining possession of the railroad bridge, Ave 
 effected a crossing, and advanced in line of battle for three 
 miles, driving the enemy. We then returned, re-crossed the 
 bridges, and bivouacked in the same place as the night before. 
 
 April 29th, we moved back en route for Corinth. At 
 Burnsville we obtained rations, which were fully appreciated 
 by the men, having been for several days subsisting on limited 
 rations. We arrived in Corinth May 2nd, 1863, fully pre- 
 pared to enjoy good quarters and rest, having marched one 
 hundred and sixty miles. 
 
 July 7th, 1863, the regiment, under command of Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Wilcox, was ordered to Burnsville, Miss., to sup- 
 port our cavalry, then engaging Roddy, near luka, Miss- The 
 enemy foil back before we came up. We returned to camp 
 the next day. 
 
 August 18th, 1863, Colonel Wilcox commanding, we moved 
 to Germantown, Timn., by the Memphis and Charleston Rail- 
 road. Our headquarters and nine companies were stationed 
 at Germantown, (fifteen miles from Memphis,) and Company 
 B at White Station, five miles Avest on the same railroad. 
 
 October 29th, Colonel Wilcox commanding, we left Ger- 
 mantown via Memphis and Charleston Railroad, for luka, 
 Miss. October 31st, Ave bivouacked three and a half miles 
 east of luka, and remained until November 6th, 1863. At 
 this date the Avhole left Aving, 16th Army Corps, under com- 
 mand of General Dodge, moved eastAvard to folloAv General 
 Sherman to Stevenson, Ala., as we then supposed. 
 
 We arrived at Eastport at noon of the 6th, and crossed the 
 Tennessee river in transports. That night, November 7th, Ave 
 marched only eight miles. November 8th, we resumed the 
 march at daylight, and continued until eleven o'clock at night, 
 making but sloAV progress in crossing numerous streams and 
 swamps. We marched only fifteen miles that day. We ar- 
 rived in Pulaski, Tenn., forty-five miles west of Decatur, Ala., 
 on the 11th of November, 1863. On the 12th of November, 
 
THE FIFTY-SECOND ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 337 
 
 ^^e were informed that we should stay here some time ; and 
 !!olonel Wilcox was appointed post commander. The regi- 
 lient was assigned to provost duty, Lieutenant-Colonel Bowen 
 ammanding. The total distance marched from luka, Miss., 
 ) Pulaski, Tenn., was eighty miles. 
 
 January 9th, 1864, three-fourths of the regiment having 
 i-enlisted as veteran volunteers and mustered as such, Lieu- 
 inant-Colonel E. A. Bowen, with three hundred and four 
 3terans and twenty-seven oiEcers, left Pulaski for Nashville, 
 enn., en route to Illinois for furlough and re-organization. 
 ^e arrived in Chicago at noon of the 17th, and, after partak- 
 ig of a splendid repast prepared by the ladies of the Soldiers' 
 . ouse, the regiment proceeded to Geneva, Kane County, Illi- 
 ]iis. Here, on the 20th, the men received furloughs for 
 mrty days ; and many of the oflScers were placed on recruit- 
 ing service. 
 
 The 52d rendezvoused at Elgin, February 19th, 1864, the 
 cy on which the men's furloughs expired. February 23d, 
 (iptain Pomeroy mustered into service the recruits, and paid 
 tsm each one month's advance pay and sixty dollars ad- 
 VQce bounty. While the men were on furlough. Colonel 
 Ailcox superintended their recruiting for the regiment, with 
 ladquarters at Elgin. 
 
 February 24th, Colonel J. S. Wilcox, having tendered his 
 rignation, issued an order placing Lieutenant-Color el E. A. 
 iwen in command of the regiment, then under marching 
 olers to proceed immediately to Nashville, en route for the 
 any. It left Elgin on the 24th of February, aud arrived in 
 Cicago at one o'clock P. M. Transportation not being in 
 •< diness, the command marched to the Soldiers' Rest, where 
 it-emained until the next morning. 
 
 ,rhe regiment proceeded to Pulaski, Tenn., via Louisville 
 ^il Nashville, arriving on the 29th, and there took its former 
 pdtion in the 1st Brigade, 2d Division, left wing of the 16th 
 Amy Corps. 
 
 [t returned to the field with one hundred and seventy-three 
 
 1 43 ^ 
 
338 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 fresh recruits, who increased its strength to six hundred and 
 
 seventy-three men. 
 
 From November 19th, 1861, to March 1st, 1864, it had 
 
 traveled 5575 miles, in the following manner : on transports 
 
 by river, 994 miles; by railroad, 3500 miles; on foot, 1081 
 
 miles. 
 
 On May 4th, 1864, the veteranized regiment proceeded to 
 
 Chattanooga by rail, and commenced the campaign which re- 
 sulted in the capture of Atlanta. It marched through 
 Gordon's Mills below and Snake Creek Gap to Resaca, 
 where it came under fire of the enemy. 
 
 On the 14th and 15th it was engaged in skirmishing, with 
 slight loss ; and with tedious and laborious night-marching, 
 reached Kingston on the 23d, Dallas on the 26th, and, on the 
 27th, lost three men of Company F on the skirmish-line. At 
 night they constructed earth-works which protected them in 
 the battle of the subsequent day. 
 
 On the 30th they moved forward to the front line of works, 
 where they spent two days constantly exposed to fire. In 
 three subsequent days, they constructed eight hundred yards 
 of formidable breastworks. 
 
 The history of the regiment from this time till, on the 7th 
 of September, the rebels evacuated Atlanta, is a story of con- 
 stant toil, frequent skirmishes, severe marches, constant labor 
 in the construction of earthworks by night, in which they were 
 partially sheltered from the enemy's fire by day. Happy 
 were they when a good ditch could be their shelter from the 
 missiles of the foe. In this time they had marched 442 miles, 
 constructed 2285 yards of breastsworks, and expended 46,500 
 rounds of ammunition in contests with the enemy ; they had 
 lost six killed and thirty-two Wounded ; they had captured 
 thirty-eight prisoners and one hundred and seventy-five stand 
 
 of arms. 
 
 After the close of the siege of Atlanta, Colonel Bo wen, 
 
 whose term of service had expired, was mustered out, and 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel J. D. Davis, who had fought his way up 
 
 from the ranks, became its Colonel. 
 
THE I'IPTY-SECONi) ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 339 
 
 A recapitulation of the history of the regiment at this time 
 showed that the regiment had taken an honorable part in 
 twenty pitched battles and sharp skirmishes ; had lost sixty- 
 one by death in battle and from wounds ; had had two hun- 
 dred and six wounded, and had constructed over four thou- 
 sand yards of breastworks. 
 
 After the capture of Atlanta, the regiment moved back to 
 ■Rome, and then, with Sherman's grand army, struck out 
 iacross the country for Savannah. Savannah was captured 
 un the 20th of December, and, on the 5th of February, the 
 iregiment, again on the march, crossed into South Carolina 
 iWith yells of triuinph as they landed on the soil of the mother 
 i>f the rebellion. They moved on through Columbia, its capi- 
 tal, on the 17th, and saw with satisfaction the fine city burned 
 that night to the ground. 
 
 With arduous marching and severe labor, but abundant 
 provisions and excellent health, the regiment moved on to 
 I 'amden, Fayetteville and Raleigh, and there, when Johnston's 
 irmy had surrendered and the military power of the rebellion 
 lad been finally destroyed, they commenced their march 
 hrough Petersburg, Richmond and Fredericksburg to Wash- 
 rigton, which they reached in time to participate in the grand 
 eview. This homeward march is described as the most severe 
 lad exhausting of any that they had made during their four 
 )'ears of service. 
 
 After ten days of rest in camp at Georgetown, the regiment 
 A'as transported to Louisville, where it lay in camp nearly a 
 nonth, and was then moved to Chicago, where it was paid o^ 
 )n the 11th of July, and, after four years of arduous and hon- 
 )rable service, its members were mustered out, and joyfully 
 j)ecame private citizens once more. 
 
 i 
 
Men of DeKalb County in the 52d Illinois Inf. 
 
 COMPANY C. 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 CAPTAINS. 
 
 John S. Brown, South Grove, resigned Feb. 18, 1802. 
 E. M. Knapp, Sycamore, killed at Shiloh. 
 
 FIRST LIEUTENANTS. 
 
 Edward M. Knapp, Sycamore, promoted. 
 
 Erskin M. Hoyt, Sycamore, resigned July 15, 1862. 
 
 Oscar VV. Phelps, Sycamore, resigned Jan. 12, 1863. 
 
 Albert C. Perry, Sycamore, promoted Major. 
 
 Alexander B. Ross, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
 SECOND LIEUTENANTS. 
 
 Erskin M. Hoyt, Sycamore, promoted. 
 Oscar W. Phelps, Sycamore, promoted. 
 Albert C. Perry, Sycamore, promoted. 
 John Purcell, South Grove, mustered out as Se'-geant, July 6, 1865. 
 
 ENLISTED MEN. 
 
 SERGEANTS. 
 
 Lewis A. Jones, Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 Alonzo J. Foster, DeKalb. 
 Ralph Vanhouten, DeKalb. 
 Jerry C. Marvin, Sycamore. 
 Alonzo E. Carr, Genoa. 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 William H. Simmons, Sycamore. 
 
 Michael Courser, Sycamore. 
 
 Frederick J. Craft, Sycamore, re-enlisted as a velerait. 
 
 Leonard J. Stults, DeKalb. 
 
 Albert C. Perry, Sycamore, promoted Sergeant, and 2d Lieuteuant. 
 
 Alexander B. Ross, Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 William Fountain, DeKalb, discharged Nov. 19, 1864; term expired. 
 
 Charles White, Sycamore, discharged Nov. 19,1864. 
 
 MUSICIANS. 
 
 Goram B. Smith, DeKalb county (Co. H.) 
 
THE MFTY-SECOND ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 341 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Ames Therman, South Grove. 
 
 Arnold James, Soutn Grove, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Aburn Robert S., Sycamore, deserted Dec, 12, 1863; deranged. 
 
 Brown .Tobn J., DeKalb. 
 
 Black Alva M., South Grove. 
 
 Brisbin Philander, South Grove, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Burns Michael, Sycamore, discharged Nov. 19, 1864 ; term expired. 
 
 Bermander Charles, Sycamore. 
 
 Boylen Thomas, South Grove, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Bowman Edward, South Grove, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Bowley William, Huntley. 
 
 Chien John, South Grove, deserted Dec. 10, 18G1. 
 
 Campbell Henry, Sycamore. 
 
 Cheasbro Joseph I\l., Sj^camore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Clemmense Eli, Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Clemniense James, Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Carver Henry, Sycamore, 
 
 Dickson Sheriden, Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Deyoe William P., South Grove. 
 
 Deane David, South Grove. 
 
 Davenport William, DeKalb, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Garey James, DeKalb, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Gibbins George, Sycamore. 
 
 Goold Lurher C, Sycamore. 
 
 Gage Hiram, Sycamore. 
 
 Gamage Alden B., Malta, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Gieger George, South Grove, re enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Grout Henry P., Sycamore. 
 
 Halwick Sidnej'^ W., Malta, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Hall Reuben G., Sycamore. 
 
 Hall William A., Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Hoaglen Michael, South Grove, discharged Nov. 19, 1864 ; term expired. 
 
 Kittle James, Sycamore. 
 
 Maranville Irving, DeKalb. 
 
 Morehouse Charles, Malta. 
 
 McCarty Allen, South Grove, discharged Nov. 19, 1864 ; term expired. 
 
 Mullen Martin, South Grove, transferred to Company E, Jan. 1, 1862. 
 
 Milen Patrick, South Grove, discharged at Geneva, 111. 
 
 Percell John, South Grove, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Pierce Charles J., Genoa, discharged Nov. 19, 1864 ; term ex])ii'ed. 
 
 Petrie Joseph, Sycamore. 
 
 Petrie James, Sycamore. 
 
 Penney Frederick, South Grove. 
 
 Phelps Oscar W., Sycamore, promoted Sergeant, then 2d Lieutenant. 
 
 Rogers Albert, Sycamore, discharged Nov. 19, 1864 ; term expired. 
 
 Rhoades Henry, DeKalb, re enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Stanley Charles ^L, Sycamore, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Scally James, South Grove, transferred to Company E, .Ian. 1, 1862. 
 
 J'mith John, South Grove, discharged Dec. 16, 1861. 
 
 Thomas Leroy E., South Grove, discharged No. 19, 1864 ; term expired. 
 
 Taylor William, DeKalb, 
 
 Taylor Daniel, DeKalb, re-enlisted as veteran. 
 
 Taylor Philander, DeKalb. 
 
 Vaahonten Bradley, DeKalb. 
 
 Tanhonten Bradford, DeKalb. 
 
 Walker George, Sycamore. 
 
S42 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 J 
 
 VETERANS. 
 
 Arnold James, Sjcamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
 Brisbin Philander, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
 Boylen Thomas, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Bowman Edward, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
 Cheasbro Joseph M., Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865, as Sergeant. 
 
 Clemmens Eli, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
 Clemmens James, Syoamore, mustered out July 6. 1865 — absent w. leave. 
 
 Dickson Sheriden, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
 Davenport William, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
 Gamage Alden B., Sycamore, m. out July 6, 1865, as Sergeant ; abs. w. leave. 
 
 Geiger George, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Gary James, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
 Hall William, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
 Hatch Daniel P., Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
 Hill John, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865 ; was prisoner. 
 
 Halwick Sidney W., Sycamore, killed on skirmish line, August '20, 1864. 
 
 Jones Lewis A., Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Lawless Charles, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Purcell John, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865, as 1st Sergeant. 
 
 Ross Alexander B., Sycamore, promoted Sergeant and 1st Lieutenant. 
 
 Rhoads Henry, Sycamore, mustei-ed out July 6, 1865. 
 
 Stanley Charles M., Sycamore, mustered out July 15, 1865; was prisoner. 
 
 Taylor Daniel, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
 Whitehead Malvin B., Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
 EECRUITS. 
 
 Black David T., Sycamore, nuistered out July 6, 1865. 
 ('ongdou William, Sycamore, mustered o>it July 6, 1865. 
 ('unuingham jSlichael, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 i^ampbell Andrew ,]., Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 Hall Reuben G., Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 Hampton Benjamin M., Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 Morgan John R., Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 Nagle William, Sycamore, mustered out July 6, 1865. 
 
The 132d Illinois Infantry. 
 
 The 132d Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment was organ- 
 ized at Canap Fry, Chicago, Illinois, by Colonel Thomas J. 
 Pickett, and was mustered in for one hundred days from June 
 1st, 1864. 
 
 On the 6th of June it started for Columbus, Kentucky, and 
 arrived on the 8th, reporting to Brigadier-General Henry 
 Prince. On the 15th of June, it moved to Paducah, Ken- 
 tucky, and reported to Colonel S. G. Hicks. 
 
 The regiment remained on duty at Paducah until the expi- 
 ration of its service, when it moved to Chicago, and was mus- 
 tered out October 17th, 1864. 
 
 The commissioned officers of Company F were : Captain, 
 Isaac S. Bunnel ; 1st Lieutenant, Jonathan Dow ; 2nd Lieu- 
 tenant, Albert A. Sanborn. 
 
 COMPANY F. 
 
 SEKGEANTS. 
 
 William Raymond, Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. \ 
 Jackson Denyo, Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Eli H. Burdick, Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 William H. Beavers, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Mark G. Collson, Coi;tland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 Charles L. Flower, Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Ethan P. Allen, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 John Young, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Fervis Potter, Paw Paw, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 James H. Connell, Chicago, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Eugene H. Jarvis, Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Charles W. Bellis, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17. 1864. 
 Walter Olmstead, Genoa, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 
344 THE 132d ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 
 
 MUSICIANS. 
 
 William H. Deily, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 
 William H. Willmarth. DeKalb county, mustered out Oct. 17, 1804. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Burgess Lewis, (wagoner) Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Atwood Morris, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1863. 
 Allen Benjamin, South Grove, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Artlepp Homer, Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Anderson Frank, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Brown Depue, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Brown Herbert E., Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Beeson William H., Sycamore, rejected. 
 Crosby William, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Cobb Henry, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Davis Orville, Sycamore, mustored ont Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Dayton Lewis, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Fields Delancey, Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Flood Matthew, Lodi, musteced out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Granger Eugene, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Gilbert Leonard, South Grove, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Gieenfield I. Squire, DeKalb, mustered out Oct. 17, 1804. 
 Hibbard Alfred, Sycamore, nnistered out Oct. 17, 1804. 
 Holcomb Orator, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Hampton William S., Paw Paw, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Haish Christian, Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Haish Henry W., Corthmd, mustered out Oct. 17, 1804. 
 Hathaway William C, Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Johnston James B., Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Kellogg Homer W., Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Lester Almiraem, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Lott Frank W., Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Lindsay William, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Llnderman Levi, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Lloyd Louis, Malta, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Marshall Lucius W., Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Mason Seth M., South Grove, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Partridge Zelotes B., Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Perry Ambrose S., Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Richmond Merwin, Lodi, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Reef Jobn, Cortland, mustered out Oct. 17. 1864. 
 Spring Herbert, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Smith Charles. Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Smith Enoch, DeKalb, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Stephenson Charles Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Snyder William, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Stone Almond D., South Grove, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864, 
 Stanton Oliver J., Paw Paw, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Tewkesbury Charles, Soutb Grove, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Tewkesbury Warren F., Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Talbot William, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Williams Theodore, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Warren Daniel F., Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1804. 
 Warren George M., Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Willis Henry B., Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 Wilkins Joseph, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1804. 
 Wright George, Sycamore, mustered out Oct. 17, 1864. 
 
The 156th Illinois Infantry. 
 
 Company H of this regiment was raised principally by 
 Hon. William Patten of Sandwich, who was made its Captain. 
 It was one of several hundred regiments called out for one 
 year's service, and to which was assigned the duty of guarding 
 the communications of the great armies at the front, and, 
 while they swept on the foe, preventing the ravages of rebel 
 iguerrillas in their rear. 
 
 j It was mustered into service March 9th, 1865 ; and the 
 rebellion having been crushed about three months after, it 
 was discharged from service on September 20th of the same 
 Jrear. 
 
 The commissioned officers of Company H were : Captain, 
 William Patten ; 1st Lieutenants, William Jobs and Eugene 
 M. Fuller ; 2nd Lieutenants, Caleb Walker and John W. 
 [iibley, — all of Somonauk. 
 
 SEEGEANTS. 
 
 Eugene Fuller, Somonauk, promoted 1st Lieutenant. 
 
 Sdmund B. Newton, Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, 1865, as private. 
 
 i'ames C. Darnell, Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, 1865. 
 
 lenry Wright, Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, 1865. 
 
 CORPORALS. 
 
 Varren Walker, Somonauk, mustered out May 16, 1865. 
 jlomer A. Wagner, Somonauk, mustered out May 20, 1865. 
 ifeorge A. Smith, Somonauk, mustered out .July 29, 1865, as private. 
 jVilliam T. Shiland, Somonauk, mustered out Aug. 18, 1865. 
 i)avid 0. Cole, Somonauk, absent sick at muster out of regiment. 
 Tenry C. Medebach, Somonauk, mustered out Aug. 1, 1865. 
 
 MUSICIANS. 
 
 yilliam Corke, Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, 1865. 
 lames M. Skinner, Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, 1865. 
 
 • 44 
 
346 HISTORY OF DE KALE COUXTT. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 
 Adams Marcellus D., Somonauk. mustered out Sept. ilO, 1865, as Sergeant. 
 
 Armstrong John J.. Somonauk, mustered o-t Sept. 20. 1865, as Corporal. 
 
 Bishop Grin S., Somonauk. mustered out Sept. 20. 1865. 
 
 Burk Robert £.. Somonauk. mustered out Sept. 20. 1365. 
 
 Covell Simeon L., tfomonauk, mustered out Sept. 20. 1865. 
 
 Campin Svlvester. Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20. 1865. 
 
 Deem Henry E., Somonatik, mustered out Sept. 20, 1865. 
 
 Daniels Harmon. Somonauk, died at Memphis, Aug. 27, 1865. 
 
 Dennewitz Henry. Somonauk. mustered out Sept. 20, '65. 
 
 Hough Martin L., Somonauk. mustered out Sept. 20, '65. 
 
 Hamlin Benjamin, Somonauk. mus'ered out Sept. 20, '65. 
 
 Hartshorn Manly W.. Somonauk. mustered out Sept. 20, '65. 
 
 Hough Calvin, Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, "65, 
 
 Harrison William H.. Somonauk. mustered out Sept. 20, '65. 
 
 Jacobs John. Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, "65. 
 
 Leavitt Levi, Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, '65. 
 
 Manning Henry. Somonauk. absent sick at mustering out of regiment. 
 
 Manning John C, Somonauk. mustered out Sept. 20, '65. 
 
 Miller Henry, Somonatik, mustered out Sept. 20, '65. 
 
 Owen TVilliam R., Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, '65. 
 
 Rogers Daniel H., Somonauk. mustered out Sept. 20, '65. 
 
 Smith Albert, Somonauk, promoted principal musician. 
 
 Smith Clark A.. Somonauk. mustered out Sept. 20, '65. 
 
 Seaton Nelson J.. Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, "65. 
 
 Tripp John M., Somonauk. mustei'ed out August 1, '65. 
 
 Van Fleet Victor D.. Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, '65, as Corporal. 
 
 VanDerveer Ferdinand, Somonauk. died at Louisville, Ky., March 30, "65. 
 
 Wilder Alexander, Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, '65. 
 
 Wagner George. Somonauk. died at Nashville, Tenn.. May 4, '65. 
 
 Weisbeck Heinrich. Somonauk, mustered out Sept. 20, "65. 
 
 The remainder of the compaDy were from other counties. 
 
PART SECOND. 
 
 ANNALS OF DEKALB COUNTY, 
 
ANNALS OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Although the annals of DeKalb County might more properly 
 commence with the organization of the County which occurred 
 in the year 1837, yet many events of interest and importance 
 occurred before that time, which ought properly to be recorded. 
 
 As the territory from which this County was subsequently 
 formed was remote from all water communication, and from 
 the customary routes of the earliest travellers, it is probable 
 that no white man had ever made even a temporary sojourn 
 within its borders, until in the year 
 
 1832, 
 a little army of United States troops under command of 
 General Winfield Scott, passing from their head-quarters at 
 Fort Dearborn, or Chicago, in pursuit of Black Hawk's 
 marauding bands, crossed the Fox River near the present site 
 of the village of St Charles, and encamped on the banks of 
 the Kishwaukee in the present town of Kingston. Their 
 camp was made near the outlet of Deer Creek, on lands now 
 belonging to the estate of George L. Wood. The trail which 
 the army made, was broad and plainly marked, and three 
 years later, when the first settlers moved in, coming with 
 but vague ideas of what direction they had best pursue, many 
 followed Scott's trail for want of something better to follow, 
 and, finding upon the banks of the Kishwaukee, or Sycamore 
 river, as fertile and beautiful a region of country as they 
 could desire, they made their homes there. 
 
 I 
 
EIGHTEEN THIRTY-THREE AND FOUR. 349 
 
 The battle of Stillman's Run, in which an advanced and 
 too ambitious portion of our army organized to drive out 
 Black Hawk's forces, were defeated and driven back, occurred 
 in this summer, as elsewhere related, near the north-western 
 portion of this County, and the entire army of volunteers 
 returning for re-organization to Ottawa, passed through 
 Pawpaw Grove and, encamped there. 
 
 1833. 
 
 In the autumn of this year, some hunters from Ottawa or 
 that region which was one of the earliest settled points of the 
 country, report having penetrated into the southern portion 
 of the County in pursuit of game. They found the Indians 
 still sore over their defeat, and still sufficiently numerous and 
 irritable to cause their yarty to make a speedy evacuation 
 of the country. 
 
 1834. 
 In the spring and summer of this year, we have accounts 
 of exploring expeditions into this section of the country, by 
 three or four individuals. Among them was Frederic Love, 
 who subsequently became a leading citizen, and a Mr. Hol- 
 lenback, from near Ottawa. Love soon returned to his 
 temporary home upon the Fox River, and did not move to this 
 place until a year or two later. Hollenback, who had been 
 driven from his home near Newark during the Indian war, 
 came north through Newark, Somonauk, and Lost Grove, as 
 far as the " Big Woods " in Sycamore, and on his return, 
 made a claim in settlers' fashion, to a portion of the fine grove 
 since known as Squaw Grove, and to which he gave that name, 
 because of the large numbers of Squaws that were encamped 
 there, the male Indians being off on a hunting expedition. 
 A mail route from Chicago to John Dixon's residence on the 
 Rock River was this year established, which crossed the 
 southern end of the County ; and during the summer, a log 
 hut was built for a station house on this line at the crossing 
 of Somonauk Creek. This was probably the first habitation 
 
S60 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 of a white man, erected in the County. Whoever it was that 
 first inhabited it, he abandoned it in the autumn, for when 
 Mr. William Sebree, who had been charmed by the description 
 that Hollenback had given of the attractions of this section of 
 country moved in from the South and settled at Squaw Grove 
 in the fall, this cabin stood vacant. A short time after, it 
 was occupied by a Mr. Robinson, who occupied it a few 
 months, then sold to Mr. Reuben Root Avho kept a tavern in 
 it, during the following year. It subsequently became, and 
 still remains the property of the Beveridge family. 
 
 Mr. Sebree seems to have been the first settler who became 
 a permanent resident of the County. He was a Virginian, 
 brought a large family with him, and a considerable drove of 
 stock. He lived for a few days in a deserted Indian wigwam, 
 then, with crotches for a frame, and the bark of which a 
 number of these wigwams were composed for a covering, he 
 built a shelter, slightly more convenient, in which he lived Ji 
 few weeks ; then, as winter came on, put up a solid, substan- 
 tial double-loo; cabin, which remained the home of a numerous 
 family, and a stopping place for travellers for nearly twenty 
 years. d| 
 
 1835. ^ 
 
 It was in the spring of this year when the treaty with the 
 Indians which followed the Black Hawk war had bound them 
 to leave this country for the wilderness beyond the great. 
 Father of Waters, that the first considerable body of white 
 settlers came into the County. So soon in the early spring- 
 time as the groves began to put out their leaves, and tht» 
 emerald grass of the beautiful prairies afforded food for the 
 travellers' teams, the gleam of the white-topped wagon of the 
 early settler might have been seen moving over the prairie 
 to hesitate, stop, and finally encamp near some grove, spring 
 or stream, that seemed to afford the requisites and advantages 
 of a good claim. The wagon was generally propelled by 
 three or four yoke of oxen, and canopied with white cotton. 
 It contained the family clothing, bedding, and provisions. It 
 
EIGHTEEN THIRTY-FIVE. 351 
 
 was garnished on its exterior, with pots, pans, pails, and other 
 cooking utensils ; generally, also, by a coop of chickens and 
 a diminutive pig or two : and it was usually followed by a 
 small drove of colts, cows, sheep, calves, and other young 
 stock. Early settlers say that it was not uncommon in those 
 days for the careful mistress of the wagon to milk the cows 
 ia the morning, place the milk where the motion of the wagon 
 would churn it during the day, and thus keep up a supply of 
 fresh butter ; while the poultry in the coops did not refuse to 
 contribute a supply of eggs, which with other substantial from 
 the wagon, enabled the emigrant's wife to " scare up " a 
 pretty good meal at short notice. Each night they camped, 
 made a fire, partook of the evening meal and then retired into 
 the recesses of the wagon to sleep the sletjp of health, of hope 
 and innocence. 
 
 Hundreds of such wagons passed into DeKalb county in 
 the early months of this year, and many went beyond its 
 boundaries, to the Rock River country, which was first set- 
 tled during this year. An.ong the occupants of one of 
 these was Ambrose Spencer, Esq., who, after thirty 
 years of eventful life in various sections of the country, has 
 now returned to take up his residence on the identical spot 
 in the thriving village of DeKalb, where thirty-three years 
 ago he pitched his tent, in what was then a complete solitude. 
 
 The first work of the new comer, after having selected a 
 spot of land that suited him, was to stake out, or with a plow 
 to furrow around, as much of the prairie as he wanted, and 
 to "blaze" the trees in a line surrounding a sufficient quan- 
 tity of timbered lands. These processes gave him what was 
 icalled a squatters claim to the land that he thus enclosed, and 
 his claim, if not too unreasonably extensive, was regarded as 
 sacred by all who came after him. His next work was usually 
 to construct a dwelling of some kind. Some commenced at 
 3nce to build good solid substantial dwellings of logs, notched 
 at the ends and laid up thoroughly and durably ; finished 
 with a roof of shakes or split staves, and made convenient 
 
352 EIGHTEEN THIRTY-FIVE. 
 
 with a window and door. But to many of the new comers, 
 hurried with the imperatively necessary duties of breaking 
 up the land and planting a crop for future subsistence, this 
 was thought to involve too much labor ; such houses were a 
 little extravagant. Many of the homes in which settlers, 
 now wealthy, spent the first months of their residence here 
 were built entirely of shakes and saplings. 
 
 A tall straight oak was felled, cut into four or five foot 
 lengths, then split in broad thin sections, and when a cord or 
 two of these was prepared and a few crotches and poles were 
 cut, the material was all ready. Four crotches were set in 
 the ground, poles laid across, shakes laid up perpendicularly 
 against these poles and fastened with withes, enclosing a space 
 about eight by twelve feet. Then a roof of these shakes was 
 laid on and made secure by the weight of heavy poles or 
 boulders from the prairie. One end was of tenleft open for 
 an entrance, and the shanty, although without floor, door or 
 window, was complete. A person could stand erect in the 
 middle but not at the sides. It furnished little more 
 space than was necessary for the bed and family valuables : 
 the cooking was done out of doors. 
 
 The new comers were generally young ardent and hopeful. 
 Most of them had been accustomed to the comforts, and in- 
 deed, to the luxuries of life. The founders of a new settle- 
 ment, they looked forward with eagerness to the time, when 
 their fertile acres should be transformed into finished and 
 well stocked farms, their wretched shanties and log stables, 
 into elegant dwellings and spacious barns. They regarded 
 their present comfortless habitations, with that peculiar pleas- 
 ure which every person feels for work that his own hands 
 have made, and hopeful for the future, they looked upon their 
 present discomforts with that cheerful indifference that robs 
 trouble of its sting, and wards off the annoyances of the 
 present with a panoply of confident hopes for the future. 
 
 It was in the summer of this year, that the new settlers, 
 now become comparatively numerous, felt the want of some 
 
 I 
 
EIGHTEEN THIRTY-FIVE. 353 
 
 kind of courts and civil officers. It is true that as a general 
 rule, the best of good feeling prevailed among them. Every- 
 body regarded everybody else with a friendliness, and each 
 treated the other with a degree of kindness and good fellow- 
 ship that old settlers now recall with warmest satisfaction. The 
 troubles of one were shared by all his neighbors, and every 
 mans necessities were supplied with a generosity and unsel- 
 fishness that is now remembered almost with tears of gratitude. 
 But there were some black sheep in the flock. It was plain 
 that they could not always live in this style of Arcadian sim- 
 plicity. 
 I j This section of country was then known as the Kishwaukce 
 I country, and was a part of the great county of LaSallc, 
 i which extended from the Illinois river on the south, to the 
 line of Wisconsin territory on the north, and on the east to 
 Cook county. A commission was procured from Ottawa, 
 then as now, its ccunty seat, for the election of two Justices 
 of the peace, and in June of this year an election was held. 
 Stephen Mowry and Joseph Collier were chosen Justices, 
 the first public officers ever elected in this section of country. 
 It is Avell remembered that the terrors of the law to be admin- 
 istered by these formidable courts induced a very prompt and 
 satisfactory settlement of many little debts that had been in- 
 curred by some of the new comers. There were not many 
 suits commenced, but there was a general liquidation of ac- 
 counts, and that instanter. 
 
 But the most troublesome and weighty controversies that 
 vexed the souls of the Squatters upon these new lands, were 
 the disputes about the boundaries of claims and the rights of 
 claimants. How much land might a man claim ? Might he 
 make a claim for himself; another for his brother ; a third for 
 his maiden aunt, and so through his family ? Might he sell 
 his claim ? Must he reside upon it in order to hold it ? 
 
 These and like questions, threatened to make serious 
 trouble, and to avert threatened conflict upon these questions, 
 a meeting of settlers was held on the 5th of September, at 
 11 45 
 
354 HISTOET OF DEKALB COrXTY. 
 
 the shanty of Harmon Miller upon the east bank of the Kish- 
 ■R-aukee or Sycamore river, at which a Claim Association -n-as 
 organized to decide such disputed questions as should arise, 
 and a constitution was di-awn up and signed by most of the 
 settlers, in which all agreed to abide by the decision of the five 
 Commissioners then selected, and to aid in enforcincf their 
 decisions. 
 
 Another means of keeping peace and promoting tranquil- 
 ity was the establishment of religious services. In the autumn 
 of this year almost before the new comers had got a roof 
 over their heads : before the Indians had removed ; before 
 the first semblance of civil government had been established ; 
 the devoted missionaries of the Methodist Church made their 
 way into the country, gathered together little audiences of 
 eight or ten, wherever in grove, hut or shanty, they could be 
 found, preached, prayed, sang hymns, and exhorted the new 
 comers to found a community of christian people, and amid 
 the pressing cares of this, not to forget to prepare for another 
 — an immortal life. Rev. Leander Walker, now an eminent 
 clergyman of the Methodist denomination, was probably the 
 pioneer preacher of DeKalb county. 
 
 As winter approached and the discomforts of their new 
 houses became less endurable, large numbers of the new 
 comers seeing no especial necessity for remaining, moved 
 back to more comfortable residences on the Fox river, to 
 Joliet or whatever places might have been their former 
 homes. 
 
 Of those who remained and spent this winter at the north 
 part of the county, were Dr. Xorbo, a Norwegian, after whom 
 xSorwegiau Grove was named, and who made some pretense 
 of being a physician, Mr. Charters, a Frenchman, who gave 
 name to Charters Grove, Dr. Lee, Avho first claimed the farm 
 since occupied by Ephraim Hall; Rufus Colton, Lyman Judd, 
 Eli Barns, Phineas Stevens, Alpheus Jenks, Shubael Jenks, 
 James Root, Levi C. Barber, James Peaslee, Xorman C. 
 Moore, Stephen Sherwood, W. A. Miller, Henry Madden, 
 
 I 
 
ErOHTEEN" THIRTY-FIVE, 355 
 
 p . J i.6is, Lysander Darling, Robert Robb, Isaiah Fair- 
 
 1 armon Miller, James Green, Nathan Billings, Lewis 
 
 rt gs, Benj. Schoonover, John, Frail and Morris, Erasmus 
 
 /d George Walrod. At Squaw Grove were William Sebree 
 
 and sons, Samuel Miller, Jacob Lee, John Esterbrooks and 
 
 David Leggett. At Somonauk were David and William SI j, 
 
 Reuben Root and Dr. Arnold. 
 
 Late in the autumn of this year Mr. Edwin Town and his 
 brother David Town, established themselves at Shabbonas 
 Grove, lived for a few weeks in the deserted wigwams of the 
 Indians, and on the first day of January 1836, raised the first 
 log cabin and became the first white settlers of Shabbona's 
 j Grove. Peter Lamois, who, with Jesse C. Kellogg and 
 i Lysander Darling were among the first settlers of what is 
 now the town of Sycamore, remained to spend the winter in 
 iKellogg's cabin. Peter was a shrewd, speculating, half-yan- 
 |keefied Frenchman, and had with him, as companion and 
 ihelp, a half-civilized Indian lad called Shaw-ne-neese. It 
 j'occurred to him, that -with the help of the boy, who had re- 
 lations living near what is now Aurora, and of course spoke 
 ithe language of the Indians around, a good trade could be 
 ■established with the straggling Indians who still remained in 
 the sale of whisky. So off' goes Peter with his oxen and 
 iwagon, and soon returned with a barrel of whisky, which was 
 duly broached and advertised among the Indians in all the 
 country round. Little money had the poor Indians, but they 
 bad ponies and blankets, and trinkets to sell, so that a 
 nourishing trade was speedily established ; the Indians 
 oromising to deliver ponies when they had received the 
 ^^quivalent in whisky. The whisky went off rapidly, yet so 
 :;onvenient was the spring to Peter's shanty, that the quantity 
 n the barrel was not seriously diminished ; he filled water at 
 :he bung as freely as he drew good ne tosh from the spigot, 
 3oon Peter's best customers had each become indebted to him 
 n the sum of a pony or tv/o, and he began to hint that it was 
 fime to settle. Peter unfortunately, broached the subject 
 
356 HISTORY OF DE KALB COlTNTl. 
 
 at a time when a party of them were present, all wethe Kish- 
 up with good ne tosh. The Indians held an Indian was 
 meeting, at once and on the spot. They put in a piKise, 
 failure of consideration — the good ne tosh that Peter had soV 
 them was no good — he had cheated them — had sold bad liquor. 
 Peter attempted to explain, hut the thing could not be 
 explained. They grew madder and madder. Shaw-ne-neese 
 and Peter each fell under their indignation. Soon an old 
 Indian snatched up Shaw-ne-neese upon the pony behind him 
 and galloped off. Then a real old fashioned Indian war-whoop 
 burst from the drunken group, and drawing their knives, they 
 rushed upon the first original liquor-dealer of DeKalb County, 
 like so many fiends from the pit. 
 
 Peter had a good pair of legs, and he used them. lie made 
 tracks for the brush, and was fortunate enough to hide from 
 their search, until tiring of the chase, they went back to the 
 shanty, absorbed the remainder of the whisky, appropriated 
 Peter's little stock of clothing, provisions, and cooking utensils, 
 and than left the premises. When darkness came, the friendly 
 voice of Shaw-ne-neese, calling cautiously through the brush, 
 delighted the ears of the discomfitted Peter, and working 
 together, they got the oxen yoked, loaded up what little 
 remained of their wordly goods, and made tracks for Walker's 
 Grove, the settlement from which they came. So it happened 
 that the first white man's house in Sycamore Avas a whisky 
 shop, the first settler a rum-seller, and the first row a whisky 
 riot. 
 
 In September of this year the Indians were removed west of 
 the Mississippi, in accordance with the provisionsof the treaty 
 made at Prairie du Chien 1832, at the close of the Black 
 Hawk war. They were gathered together at Pawpaw Grove, 
 by a government contractor named Rogers. They there re- 
 ceived a large payment from the government, then sorrowfully 
 loaded their property upon their ponies and left for their new 
 homes farther toward the setting sun. 
 
 Some white men of Sycamore who went to the rendezvous 
 
EIGHTEEiSr THIRTt-SiX, 35? 
 
 Ppfp T ^, J rove to get by gambling, the glittering coin paid 
 
 1 TT^^.ns, were successful in that object but were set upon 
 
 n • se Avhom they had cheated and narrowly escaped with 
 (jrrigr '^ . J i- 
 
 ix lives. Straggling bands of Indians travel through the 
 country even to this day, but this was the end of Indian 
 occupation of the country. 
 
 1836. 
 
 For man}^ reasons the year 1836 could hardly be reckoned 
 as a bright one in the annals of this section of country. 
 Comparatively few settlers came in ; the timbered lands of 
 the county had nearly all been claimed during the previous 
 year, and those who were not able or willing to pay the prices 
 demanded by claimants were forced to go further to the west. 
 Although the changes of ownership were many, yet the ad- 
 ditions to the number of the population were few as compar- 
 ed with the previous twelve months. Provisions also grew 
 more scarce. The supplies of flour, sugar, salt and other 
 articles, now reckoned as the necessaries of life, which the 
 new comers had brought with them, had been consumed. 
 
 Hurried by the arduous and constant labors incident to 
 making comfortable homos and planting their first crops, 
 they found no time to go to distant markets to renew their 
 supplies, and, indeed, most of the new comers had exhausted 
 their stock of ready money, and had as yet raised nothing 
 with which to exchange for, or purchase these commodities. 
 They had little or no wheat. The corn raised the previous 
 year alone furnished them with bread, and as Green's mills, 
 near Ottawa, fifty miles distant furnished the nearest oppor- 
 tunity for grinding, many of the settlers pounded their corn 
 with pestle and mortar, rather than go so far to convert it 
 into meal. 
 
 Their clothing was also in a most dilapidated condition ; 
 but worse than all, it was a year of sickness. Most of the 
 settlers had built upon or near the banks of the streams, and 
 in the shelter of the groves. The decaying sod of the newly 
 broken prairie, which surrounded their dwellings, filled the 
 
358 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTS. 
 
 air with malaria. From the streams, whose sluggishness was 
 a main characteristic of this level country, there also arose a 
 constant and palpable effluvium that was a fruitful source of 
 disease. The ague, that curse of new lands in the fertile 
 west, this year became the prevalent complaint. 
 
 Poverty, rags, a scanty diet and the shakes were the fashion 
 of the times. 
 
 At a general election held in August of this year, Henry 
 Madden, a well known citizen of intelligence, education and 
 shrewdness, who resided in what is called the Brush Point 
 settlement in the present town of Mayfield, was elected as 
 Representative to the State Legislature. Ilis district was 
 immense in extent if not in population. Most of the popu- 
 lation of the State at this time was in its southern portion. 
 Excepting the old French settlements at Ottawa, LaSalle? 
 Joliet, and the mining town at Galena, there were no large 
 towns in northern Illinois. Chicago then consisting only of a 
 few log houses, clustered around Fort Dearborn upon the 
 banks of the sluggish Chicago river, was indeed now making 
 some boastful promises of future commercial importance, but 
 they were ridiculed by the incoming settlers ; who hurried 
 through the wretched little hamlet of mud and misery to take 
 up lands more pleasant to look upon, on the banks of the Rock, 
 the Fox, or the Kishwaukee rivers, while they might have 
 obtained at the same low rate, those portions of Chicago which 
 tens of millions could not now purchase. 
 
 When Benjamin Worden came through the place during 
 autumn, and Mark Beaubien, the French trader who kept the 
 hotel then, offered to trade him his own claim to eighty acres 
 of land near the present Court House, for a pair of French 
 ponies that Worden had just before purchased while coming 
 through Michigan, for $130, uncle Ben laughed at the idea, 
 and told him that he wouldn't take the whole town as a gift 
 if he should be required to live in it. 
 
 The whole of northern Illinois was still very thinly settled, 
 and Mr, Madden's district extended from what is now Iroquois 
 
EIGHTEEN THIRTY-SIX. 359 
 
 County on the south, to the Wisconsin line upon the north, 
 embracing land enough to make a half dozen respectable 
 States — land which was fertile and productive, enough to 
 support a population of millions. The County of Kane had 
 been created during the previous session of the Legislature. 
 It was thirty-six miles square, embracing the present County 
 of DeKalb, and part of Kendall. But the people of this 
 western portion of Kane (Jounty, found that Geneva, then as 
 now, the County-seat, Avas too far from their settlement. The 
 difficulties of travelling were much greater than at present. 
 The country was much more wet, the streams and sloughs 
 the great obstructions to prairie travel, were more full of 
 <\-ater than now. It was a long day's journey to Geneva, and 
 to go that distance to try suits, record deeds, and examine 
 titles, was too severe a tax upon their resources, of time and 
 money. But the more powerful inducement for the erection 
 of a new County in this district Avas, that several embryo 
 villages about this region, Avere ambitious of acquiring the 
 added glories of being made the seat of justice for the new 
 County, and the people of each, confident that it Avould be 
 selected, worked zealously to secure as a necessary preliminary, 
 although a matter of secondary importance to them, the 
 erection of a new County. Having within their borders the 
 home of the Representative for this district, they felt that this 
 Avas the time to strike for independence. 
 
 The creation of new Counties was then a principal item of 
 business of the State Legislature, and so soon as Mr. Madden, 
 after a weary horse-back ride of tAvo hundred and fifty miles 
 across the country, reached Vandalia, then the Capital of the 
 State, he speedily set himself to introduce and secure the 
 passage of, a bill for the creation of a new County, and the 
 location of a County-seat. He was stimulated to zeal in 
 this work, by the fact that his own farm at Brush Point, noAV 
 
 in the township of Mayfield, Avas rather favorably and cen- 
 trally situated in the proposed ncAV County, and he hoped. 
 
360 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 planned, and expected, to secure upon it the location of the 
 seat of justice. 
 
 1837. 
 
 On the 4th day of March, 1837, the act for the creation of 
 the County of DeKalb was passed, and in the same bill the 
 Counties of Stephenson, Winnebago, and Boone were created 
 if this should be sanctioned by the whole body of voters in 
 the respective Counties from which they were detached. The 
 Avhole act, although containing some irrelevant matter, ig^ 
 here given : I 
 
 "an act to create certain counties therein named. 
 
 " Sec. 1. Be it enaotsd hy the people of the State of 
 Illinois represented in the Creneral Assembly, That all that 
 tract of country Avithin the following boundaries, to wit : com- 
 mencing on the northern boundary of the state where the 
 section line between sections three and four, in town twenty- 
 nine north, range five east of the fourth principal meridian,,* 
 strikes said line, thence east on the northern boundary of the 
 State, to the range line between ranges nine and ten east, 
 thence south on said range line to the northern boundary of 
 Ogle County, thence Avest on the northern boundary of Ogle 
 County to and passing the north-west corner of the county to 
 the line betAveen sections thirty-three and thirty-four in town- 
 ship twenty-six north, range five east, thence north to the 
 place of beginning, shall form a County to be called Stephen- 
 son, as a tribute of respect to the late Colonel Benjamin 
 Stephenson. 
 
 " Sec. 2. That the boundaries of Winnebago County shall 
 be as follows, to Avit : commencing on the state line at the 
 north-east corner of the County of Stephenson, thence cast on 
 the state line to the section line between sections five and six, 
 in toAvnship forty-six north, range three east of the third 
 principal meridian, thence south on said section line to the 
 south boundary of township forty-three north, range three 
 east, thence west on said township line, to the third principrl 
 meridian, thence north on said meridian to the south-east 
 
HlONl. GEORGE Hi. HILL 
 
 OF Kl NGSTON. 
 COUNTY JUDGE. 
 
 Hui-a^o Liiiio^raphinii Co.rhicnen. 
 
EIGHTEEN THIRTY-SEVEN. 361 
 
 corner of township twenty-six north, range eleven east of 
 fourth principal meridian, thence west on said line to the 
 range line between ranges nine and ten east, thence north to 
 the place of beginning. 
 
 " Sec. 3. And that all that tract of country beginning at 
 the north east corner of township forty-six north, range four 
 east, thence south with the line dividing range four and five 
 east, to the sonth-west corner of township forty-three north, 
 thence west on said line to the south-east corner of Winnebago 
 County, thence north to the place of beginning on the north 
 boundary of the State, shall form a County to be called 
 Boone, in memory of Colonel Daniel Boone, the first settler 
 of the State of Kentucky. 
 
 " Sec. 4. That all that tract of country beginning at the 
 south-east corner of township thirty-seven north, range two 
 east of the principal meridian, thence north to the north-east 
 corner of township forty-two north, range two, east of the 
 third principal meridian, and thence along the northern 
 boundary of township forty-two in ranges three, four, and 
 five, east of the third principal meridian, thence south on the 
 south-cast corner of township thirty-seven north, range five 
 east, thence west on said township line, to the place of begin- 
 ning, shall form a County to be called DeKalb. 
 
 " Sec, 5. The Counties of Stephenson, Boone, and DeKalb 
 hereby created shall be organized in the following manner, 
 to wit : for the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of jus- 
 tice of Stephenson county, the following persons are appoint- 
 ed commissioners, viz : Vance L. Davidson and Isaac Cham- 
 bers, of Jo Daviess county, and Minor York of Ogle county, 
 who, or a majority of them, being duly sworn before some 
 justice of the peace of this State, faithfully to take into view 
 the convenience of the people, the situation of the settlements, 
 with an eye to future population and eligibility of the place 
 shall meet at the house of William Baker in said county, on 
 the first Monday in May next, or as soon thereafter as may 
 be, and proceed to examine and determine on a place for the 
 46 
 
362 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 permanent seat of justice for said county, and designate th( 
 same : Provided, that said county seat shall be located oi 
 lands belonging to the United States, not occupied by thi 
 citizens of said county, if a site for said county seat on sucl 
 lands can be found equally eligible, or upon lands claimed b^ 
 citizens of said county ; but if said location shall be madi 
 upon land claimed by any individual in said county, or anj 
 individual having pre-emption right or title to the same, thi 
 claimant or proprietor upon whose lands, claim or pre-emp 
 tion right the said seat of justice may be located, shall mak( 
 a deed in fee simple to any number of acres of said tract 
 not less than twenty to the said county ; or in lieu thereo 
 such claimant or owner or owners of such pre-emption righ 
 shall donate to the said county at least three thousand dollar 
 to be applied to building county buildings, within one yea 
 after the locating of said county seat, and the proceeds o 
 such quarter section, if the county seat shall be located upoi 
 government lands as aforesaid, or the proceeds of such twent; 
 acres of land if it be located on lands claimed or owned b; 
 an individual or individuals ; or the said three thousand do] 
 lars in case such claimant, or owner or owners shall elect t 
 pay that sum in lieu of the said twenty acres, shall be appro 
 priated to the erection of a sufficient court house and jail ; am 
 until public buildings are erected for the purposes, the court 
 shall be held at such place as the county commissioners shal 
 direct. 
 
 " Sec. 6. An election shall be held at the house of Williaii 
 Baker in said county, on the first Monday of May next, fo 
 one sheriff, one coroner, one recorder, one county surveyor 
 three county commissioners, and one clerk of the count 
 commissioners' court, who shall hold their offices until th 
 next succeeding general elections, and until their successor 
 are elected and qualified ; which said election shall be con 
 ducted in all respects agreeably to the provisions of the la^ 
 regulating elections : Provided that the qualified voter 
 present may elect from among their own number three quah 
 
EIGHTEEN THIRTY-SEVEN. 363 
 
 fied voters to act as judges of said election, who shall appoint 
 wo qualified voters to act as clerks. 
 
 Sec. 7. For the purpose of fixing the permanent county 
 seat of Boone county, the following named persons are hereby 
 appointed commissioners, viz : John M. Wilson of Will county, 
 James Day of LaSalle county, and James H. Woodworth of 
 Cook county, who or a majority of them being first duly sworn 
 before some justice of the peace of this State, as required in 
 the fifth section of this act, shall meet at the house of Simon 
 P. Doty, in said county, on the fourth Monday in April next, 
 or as soon thereafter, as may be, and shall proceed as is 
 required in the fifth section of this act, to locate the county 
 seat of said Boone County. 
 
 Sec. 8. For the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of 
 justice for the county 'of DeKalb, Benjamin Thruston of 
 LaSalle county, James Walker of Cook county, and German- 
 icus Kent of Winnebago county, are hereby appointed com- 
 missioners, who or a majority being first duly sworn before 
 some justice of the peace of this State, as is required by the 
 fifth section of this act, shall meet at the house of Frederick 
 [Love in said county, on the first Monday in June next, or as 
 isoon thereafter as may be, and shall proceed in all respects 
 as is required in the fifth section of this act. Provided, That 
 the qualified voters of Kane county shall meet at the usual 
 places of holding elections in said county, on the first Monday 
 in May next, and vote for or against the county of DeKalb, 
 .and if a majority of said voters shall be in favor of making 
 the said county, then the county of DeKalb shall be created, 
 but if it shall appear that there is a majority against the 
 division, then the said county shall remain as it now is. 
 
 Sec. 9. The county and circuit courts of said Boone and 
 DeKalb counties, shall be held at such place as the county 
 commissioners' courts shall respectively appoint, until the 
 county buildings are erected, and the times of holding the 
 circuit courts in the counties hereby created, shall be fixed by 
 
364 HISTORY OP DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 the circuit Judges in whose circuits the counties respectively 
 are situated. 
 
 " Sec. 10. And elections shall be held in said Boone and 
 DeKalb counties, for county officers in the following manner 
 viz : In the county of Boone, at the house of Simon P. Doty, 
 on the first Monday in May next, and in the county of 
 DeKalb at the house of Frederick Love, on the first Monday 
 in July next, and shall be required and conducted in the same 
 manner as is prescribed in the sixth section of this act, when 
 the same is applicable. 
 
 " Sec. 11. It shall be the duty of the clerks of the county 
 commissioners courts of the counties hereby organized, to give 
 notice at least ten days previous to the elections to be held as 
 is above provided in said counties, and in case there shall be 
 no clerk in said counties, it shall be the duty of the clerk of 
 the commissioners' court of Winnebago county, to give notice 
 of the elections to be held in the counties of Stephenson and 
 Boone, and for the election to be held in the county of DeKalb 
 notice shall be given in like manner, by the clerks of the com- 
 missioners' court of Kane county. 
 
 Sec 12. The citizens of the counties hereby created, are 
 entitled in all respects to the same rights and privileges as 
 are allowed in general to other counties in this State. 
 
 " Sec. 13. The counties of Stephenson and Boone shall 
 continue to form a part of the county of Jo Daviess, until 
 organized, and when organized according to this act, shall 
 continue attached to the county of Jo Davies in all general 
 elections, until otherwise provided by law. The county of 
 DeKalb shall continue to form a part of the county of Kane, 
 until it shall be organized, and shall vote with the county of 
 LaSalle in all general elections, until otherwise provided by 
 law. 
 
 " Sec. 14. The commissioners appointed to locate said 
 county seats, shall receive the sum of two dollars per day for 
 each day necessarily spent by them in discharging the duties 
 imposed on them by this act, to be allowed by the county 
 
EIGHTEEN THIRTY-SEVEN. 365 
 
 commissioners, and to be paid out of the county treasuries 
 respectively. 
 
 " Sec. 15. The judges of elections shall deliver to each 
 officer elected, a certificate of his election. The poll books 
 shall be retained by them until the clerk of the county com- 
 missioners' court shall be qualified, and then deliver the said 
 poll books to such clerk, who shall make and transmit to the 
 Secretary of State an abstract of the votes given at such 
 election, in the same time, manner, and form as is required of 
 clerks of county commissioners courts in elections in other 
 counties in this State. 
 
 " Sec. 16. After the election of county officers as herein 
 provided, the persons elected county commissioners, are here- 
 by authorized to administer the oaths of office to each other, 
 and they are severally authorized to administer the oaths of 
 office to all other county officers. And said commissioners 
 shall within ten days after their election, meet together as a 
 court, and lay off their county into justices districts, and order 
 elections to be held for justices of the peace and constables at 
 a time to be fixed by them ; and justices of the peace and 
 constables elected and qualified, shall hold their offices until 
 others are elected and qualified under the law providing for 
 the election of Justice of the Peace. The clerks of the county 
 commissioners' courts shall deliver to each person elected 
 justice of the peace and constable, certificates of such elections ; 
 and each person elected justice of the peace is hereby author- 
 ized, upon executing bonds as required by law to enter upon 
 the duties of his office, and to exercise and perform all the 
 duties of justice of the peace as fully as though such person 
 had received a commission from the governor. This act shall 
 be in force from and after its passage. 
 
 Approved 4th March, 1837." 
 
 This year, 1837, was noted as the first in the series of the 
 regular Septennial wet seasons that have recurred every seven 
 years since that time. From the first breaking up of winter, 
 the rain poured down daily, with very few days exception. 
 
366 HISTORY OF DEKALB. gOUNTY. 
 
 until late in the autumn. The windows of heaven were 
 opened, the rain descended, and the floods came. The country 
 was inundated : the roads would have been impassable if there 
 had been any roads : the crops were poor and sickly, for want 
 of sufficient sunshine. Shabbona, the sagacious old Indian, 
 had predicted the wet season. He had asserted that as far 
 back as Indian tradition reached, every seventh year had been 
 similarly visited with a superabundance of rain — with almost 
 constant storms and flood, and swollen streams. Seven years 
 before, the soldiers at Fort Dearborn, then the only white 
 inhabitants of the country, had made record of a similar year 
 of constant storms and endless floods ; and it is certain that 
 on every succeeding seventh year, such seasons have recurred. 
 All of those who have resided in the county during the suc- 
 ceeding four septentriades, will testify that 1844, 1851, 1858 
 and 1865, were each seasons of extraordinary moisture, and 
 noted as wet summers. Whether there may or may not be 
 anything mystical or magical in the number seven, whether 
 this recurrence may have anything to do with the Scriptural 
 seven years of plenty and seven years of famine, with the 
 seven days of the week, the seven ages of man, the seven vials 
 of wrath, the seven seals, seven trumpets, seven witches, or 
 seven Pleiades, certain it is, that most of the old residents 
 admit the regular return of this seventh year of floods and 
 storms, and plan their farming operations with reference to it. 
 It is worthy of remark, however, that the last of these wet 
 seasons, which occurred in 1865, was but a comparatively 
 moderate specimen of the kind. The floods began in July, 
 and would have attracted no very marked attention, but for 
 the general looking for and expectation of it. 
 
 A wet season in those early times, was different from what 
 it is at present. It caused far greater inconvenience. Then, 
 the country had no artificial drains, no broken and open soil 
 to drink up the showers ; it was all covered by the thick, 
 tough sod of the native prairie, into which the rain penetrated 
 with difiiculty. It flowed off" into the lowlands or sloughs, 
 
. EIGHT-fcElSr THIllTY-SEVEiSr. 367 
 
 and being undrained, remained there, 'till evaporated by the 
 summer's sun, making them almost impassable for teams. The 
 country, ever since its first settlement, has been growing more 
 and more dry. Lands that ten, or even five years ago, could 
 not bear a team at any season of the year, now are constantly 
 passable : and that is remarked, even in places where there is 
 no artificial drainage or cultivation of soil in the vicinity to 
 account for it. This year is also memorable in the annals of 
 the country, as the occasion of one of those commercial crises, 
 when speculation and extravagance having reached its culmi- 
 tion, there comes a financial revulsion which sweeps fortunes 
 away like autumn leaves before the whirlwind. Thousands of 
 embryo cities had been laid out all over this western country, 
 and lots were sold in them at enormous prices. Chicago, 
 which during this and the previous year, had been rapidly 
 settled and built up to a city of several thousand inhabitants, 
 had excited the amazement of the country by stories of the 
 immense fortunes so suddenly made by the advance in her 
 ands. What had occurred there, it was argued, would soon 
 occur in all the young cities farther west. The legislature of 
 the previous winter had chartered thousands of miles of rail- 
 road which it was expected would stimulate an almost magical 
 growth of cities and towns. Chicago became a market for 
 the sale of towns. They were sold there at auction. Eastern 
 people caught the mania, and town plats were sent to them 
 for a market, and were greedily purchased. But now came 
 the crash. Multitudes of men, ambitious of making a speedy 
 fortune, had gone into debt for the purchase of these inchoate 
 cities. They were unable to meet their obligations, and una- 
 ble to dispose of the lands. Confidence was now gone, and 
 with it, the beautiful castles they had built in the air vanished 
 like the mists of the morning ; the brilliant-hucd bubbles 
 burst and disappeared. The nation was whelmed in general 
 bankruptcy. But the spirit of speculation had not j-ot reached 
 the section of country embraced in this County. The storms 
 of the commercial world swept harmlessly by the little commu- 
 
368 HISTOKY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 nity of quiet farmers gathered here to make their living by 
 the peaceful pursuit of agriculture. There were indeed some 
 embryo towns laid out, and their proprietors were contending 
 for the location of a county seat, but lots were cheap as yet. 
 Any man could have one or more if he would build upon it 
 and become a resident. A village palt was staked out on the 
 north side of the Kishwaukee — then called the Sycamore 
 river — and another about the residence of Rufus Colton at 
 Coltonville. The Kishwaukee river then, like all of the 
 streams of the conntry, much larger, more rapid in its flow 
 than now, was supposed capable of furnishing good water 
 power. A tract of two miles square, enclosing the present 
 village of Sycamore, had been claimed by an association un- 
 der the name of C. Sharer & Co. It was composed of Chris- 
 tian Sharer, a wealthy capitalist of N. Y., Clark Wright, E. 
 Wherry and Mark Daniels. They built a dam and a large 
 mill race, whose channel is yet to be seen, and upon it Robt. 
 Crawford had commenced to build, a factory, designed to 
 manufacture chairs and other articles of furniture. Eli G. 
 Jewell had a blacksmith and wagon shop in the borders of the 
 grove, near the present residence of Roswell Dow, and had, 
 also a small collection of goods for sale in his little log house. 
 It was regarded as one of the smart rising towns of the county, 
 and as a possible county seat. At Coltonville also, the 
 proprietor had a little store, and his spacious log house was 
 a well known point for travellers. Colton and the few settlers 
 who lived in the vicinity, were confident that there would be 
 the future seat of justice for the County. 
 
 On the first Monday in May of this year, in accordance 
 with the provisions of the bill, an election was held in the 
 thirty-six square miles, composing Kane County, to determine 
 whether the new County of DeKalb should be set oif. The 
 Geneva interest favored the division, as it made that town 
 more central in that County, and would make its continuance 
 as the county seat, more probable, but a part of the present 
 Kane County was opposed to the division. It was so contrived 
 
 I 
 
EIGHTEEN THIRTY-SEVEN. 369 
 
 however, that they had no opportunity to express their 
 opposition by their votes. The traveling this spring, was 
 extremely bad. The mud was unfathomable, the rain 
 continuous. The Sherifi" of Kane County was unwilling to 
 start out on the long and tedious journey necessary to post 
 the notices of this election, and readily accepted the offer of 
 Mr. Madden, who was going that way, to do it for him. 
 Report says that the shrewd Madden was careless about post- 
 ing notices of the election in precincts unfavorable to the 
 division of the county, while all of those precincts in favor 
 of it, were fully notified. The result was a huge majority in 
 favor of division, no vote whatever being held in considerable 
 parts of that county. It having been decided that the 
 new County was duly set off, the Clerk of Kane County issued 
 a call for an election to be held at the residence of Frederic 
 I Love, at which there should be chosen three County Commis- 
 sioners, one Sheriff, Recorder, and Coroner. It was held on 
 Monday, the 3d of July, 1837. The two parties which as is 
 well known, are indispensable to every well-arranged and 
 conducted election, went by the name of claim-jumpers and 
 anti-claim-jumpers, and divided on the question of sustaining 
 ior abolishing the claim associations. The people came from 
 all parts of the County, and in large numbers. With their 
 wagons and horses distributed over a large space, they 
 ipresented the appearance of an animated camp-meeting. After 
 the usual amount of log-rolling, caucusing, and liquoring, the 
 polls were opened, the votes cast and counted, and a large 
 [majority were found to be in favor of the Anti-Claim- Jumpers' 
 'ticket. This was : 
 
 Oounty Commissioners — Rufus Colton, Robert Sterrett, 
 Levi Lee. 
 
 Sheriff — Joseph C. Lander. 
 
 Recorder — Jesse C. Kellogg. 
 
 Surveyor — Eli Barnes. 
 
 Treasurer — Lysander Darling. 
 
 They were an excellent and able body of officers ; probably 
 47 
 
370 HISTORY OF DE KALE COUXTY. 
 
 none more intelligent or better adapted to their work, have 
 since filled those offices, 
 
 Rufus Colton Avas an active, stirring, shrewd iSTew Englander, 
 formerly editor of a Vermont paper — a warm friend — a fair, 
 uncompromising enemy. R. Sterrett ofSomonaukwas of Penn. 
 origin, always a decided Democrat — an honest, reliable, true 
 man. Levi Lee of Kingston, was a shrewd, intelligent man, 
 active in the temperance cause. He filled many public offices, 
 and was of late, a member of the Legislature of Wisconsin. 
 Jesse C. Kellogg, the Recorder, was of Vermont puritan stock, 
 has been for thirty three years, and still is one of the worthiest 
 citizens of DeKalb County, active in every good work, the 
 uncompromising foe of all wrong and oppression. Captain 
 Barnes, for over thirty years a venerated citizen of this County, 
 died in 1867, leaving a large family of descendants here. 
 Sheriff Lander, an honest, pleasant old Indianian, had 
 all of the peculiarities of speech and dialect of the Iloosicr 
 race. Lysander Darling was a pleasant, kind-hearted, honest 
 popular citizen, said to be the first settler in Sycamore. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 11th of July, 1837, the first regular 
 session of the County Commissioners' Court for DeKalb 
 County was held at the house of Rufus Colton. The selection 
 of a place of holding Courts before the county seat was fixed 
 and buildings erected, was left to the decision of the County 
 Commissioners ; and they concluded that no more convenient 
 place could be found than the spacious and comfortable log 
 house belonging to the head of the Board of Commissioners. 
 It was a substantial structure, eighteen feet by twenty-four, 
 made of hewn logs, furnished with doors and a window, 
 chinked up with none of your common mud, but with good 
 lime mortar. Altogether, it was a spacious and superior 
 buildin«y for those times. But liberal as were the accommo- 
 dations, they were yet rather too limited for the convenient 
 transaction of public business, in addition to the ordinary 
 routine of the housekeeper's duties. So as the day was fair 
 and warm, a table was placed out of doors on the shady side 
 
EIGHTEEN THIRTY-SEVEN. 871 
 
 of the house, at which the Commissioners being seated, the 
 Sheriff made proclamation in goodHoosier style, of the opening 
 of the Court, and they proceeded to business. This Commis- 
 sioners' Court was not intended for the trial of suits. Its 
 duties embraced those which are now accomplished by the 
 Board of Supervisors. The County had been ransacked to 
 find a suitable book for Record, but at last Mr. Clerk had 
 procured an old merchant's ledger, a little used, and in it the 
 first recorded transactions were minuted. The first formal 
 action of the Board was to select and appoint Jesse C. Kellogo- 
 as Clerk of their Court, and the next was the important 
 business of laying out five election precincts, and justices' 
 districts. They were : 
 
 First, Kingston district and precinct, commencing at the 
 northwest corner of the County running south twelve miles, 
 thence northeast crossing the Sycamore river so as to include 
 Benjamin Stephens' land, and then north to the County line. 
 It was ordered that elections be held in this precinct at the 
 residence of Levi Lee. George H. Hill, John Whitney 
 and Jonas Halt were appointed its judges. 
 
 The second was Sycamore precinct, including the northeast 
 corner of the County, and extending as far south as Charter 
 Grove, but not including the present village of Sycamore. 
 The elections were to be held at a school house near Lysander 
 Darling's, and William A. Miller, James A. Armstrong and 
 Samuel Cory were made its judges. 
 
 The third was named Orange district, and comprised the 
 
 i territory south of the Sycamore district as far as Lost Grove, 
 
 ^ in the present town of Cortland. Elections for this district 
 
 were ordered at Rufus Colton's house, and Frederic Love 
 
 James Root, and Eli Barnes were made its judges. 
 
 The fourth was named Somonauk district, and comprised 
 the territory south of Orange district, ten miles in width, and 
 I about twenty in length to the south line of the County. 
 Elections were ordered to be held at the house of Woodruff 
 and Lane; William Davis, Frederic A. Witherspoon, and 
 Simon Price were made judges. 
 
872 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 The fifth district was called Paw Paw, and comprised the 
 southwest portion of the County. No recorded provision was 
 made for elections in this district, and it was subsequently 
 abolished, but afterwards upon the indignant protest of some 
 of its people, was re-established. 
 
 In October, the Commissioners appointed by the Legislature 
 to fix the County seat, met at the house of Mr. Prederic Love 
 as directed by the law of organization. They were received 
 by the citizens representing the three competing points with 
 all of that cordiality that was to be expected toward men upon 
 whose decision important interests depended. Escorted by a 
 large number of residents of the County, and men who were 
 interested in the decision of the question, they spent most of 
 three days in riding about the region, viewing the country and 
 comparing the advantages of the rival locations. There seemed 
 to be little to choose between them. One of the Commission- 
 ers, Mr. Walker of Plainfield had been a member of the Leg- 
 islature with Mr. Madden. He was also an intimate friend 
 of Mr. Harvey Maxfield, who had recently visited this section 
 of country and came back with a glowing account of its 
 attractions, and of the advantages of the present location for 
 a county seat. He had also reported to Walker a remark 
 said to have been made by Madden to the effect that he had 
 secured Walker's appointment as Commissioner, and expected 
 to control him so far as to induce him to locate the County 
 seat upon his own claim at Brush Point. This naturally 
 aroused opposition in the mind of Mr. Walker. 
 
 Much to Madden's chagrin, he found his friend prejudiced 
 against his own point, and unable to see its advantages. The 
 inhabitants of the little collection of log houses on the bank 
 of the Kishwaukee north of the present County seat where 
 the village had been laid out, had become convinced that their 
 village was upon ground too low to secure its location as the 
 seat of justice, and they combined to assure the Commission- 
 ers that the place where they intended the village should be, 
 was on the higher ground upon the other side of the stream. 
 
EIGHTEEN THIHTY-SEVEN. 37-3 
 
 j ] f his being agreed upon, on the third day of their travels and 
 txplorations, the Commissioners determined upon placing it 
 ■where the (Jourt House now stands, and in the presence of 
 quite a crowd of interested observers, they set a long pole 
 upon the green prairie, placed on it a streaming flag, and 
 declared it to be the location for the County seat of the new 
 County of DeKalb. Captain Eli Barnes now advanced, and 
 christened the new town by the name of Orange. No objection 
 was raised to this, and for some years thereafter, the point 
 was called by that name. Some objection had been made to 
 the exact spot selected, by parties who thought the land a 
 half mile south more favorable. This was admitted, but it 
 was decided that this spot was as far out on the broad prairie 
 as the center of the town ought to be placed, and here it was put. 
 
 It did indeed seem to be, in the phrase of the country, 
 "clear out of sight of land," a lonely, windy, grassy, deso- 
 late spot. The inhabitants of the rival locations, disappointed 
 at the result, ridiculed and denounced the selection, chiefly 
 for this reason. It was argued, however, that the great 
 State Road from A^andalia, the Capital of the State, north to 
 Lake Superior, passed through this place, that the State Road 
 from Chicago to Galena would cross here, and that it would 
 consequently be more accessible than the Coltonville and 
 Brush Point settlements, which were further to the West. It 
 was also held that there was a great deal more timber on the 
 eastern side of the county than on the western side ; and as 
 of course the settlements must always be near the timbered 
 lands, the center of population would be rather at the east 
 than at the west. The location was made north of the center 
 of the county, partly because it was thought that the south- 
 ' ern end, divided from the north by a broad stretch of bare 
 prairie, would ultimately be set ofl" into some other county, to 
 be formed at the south of it. 
 
 1838. 
 
 The county machinery was now fairly set in order, but, to 
 complete the dignity of the new county, it was necessary 
 
374 HISTORY OF DE KALB COtJNTT. 
 
 that a term of the Circuit Court should be held, for the trial 
 of civil and criminal suits ; and at the February term of the 
 Commissioners' Court, it was ordered, that, as no court-house 
 was yet provided, the first term of the Circuit Court should be 
 held at Rufus Colton's residence, and the next term of the 
 County Commissioners' Court, should be held at the residence 
 of Riley Hall in Sycamore precinct. 
 
 As Jurors for the first term of the Circuit Court, the follow- 
 ing list was selected. 
 
 GRAND JURORS. 
 
 George II. Hill, Nathan Billings, William A. Miller, Ly- 
 sander Darling, John Whitney, John Esterbrooks, William 
 Miles, Plenry Madden, Eli Barnes, Phineas Stevens, Alpheus 
 Jenks, Russell I). Crossett, John Maxfield, • William Davis, 
 Maltby B. Cleveland, D. S. Bullard, Zachariah Wood, Ralph 
 Wyman, Benjamin Stephens, Joseph A. Armstrong, Henry 
 B, Barber, Reuben Nichols, Justin Crafts. 
 
 PETIT JURORS. 
 
 C. W. Branch, E. F. White, Abner Jackson, Peter Lamoise, 
 Clark Wright, John Elliot, Clark L. Barber, Jos. A. 
 McCollum, Russell Huntly, Ora A. Walker, John Corkins, 
 Solomon Wells, H. N. Perkins, Jacob Cox, Lyman Judd, 
 Henry Durham, F. A. Witherspoon, John Sebree, Marshall 
 Stark, Jeremiah Burleigh, John Riddle, William Russell, 
 Watson Y. Pomeroy, Ezra Hanson. 
 
 As the coming Circuit Court was expected to cause an 
 unusual demand for stationery, the Clerk of the County Com- 
 missioners' Court was authorized to purchase two dollars' 
 worth, and in addition was voted the sum of ten dollars to pay 
 for a book of record. 
 
 Three tavern licenses were granted this year — one to 
 Russell Huntly, at what is now the village of DeKalb, one to 
 John Esterbrooks at Squaw Grove, and one to II. N. Perkins 
 at the present village of Genoa, and to guard against extortion 
 the Board 'enacted " that the rates for the government of 
 tavern-keepers for the ensuing year be as follows viz ; For 
 
EIGHTEEN THIRTY- EIGHT. 375 
 
 each meal of victuals, thirty-one cents, for lodging each person 
 twelve-and-a-half cents; for each horse to haj over nio-ht 
 twelve-and-a-half cents ; for each bushel of oats, seventy-five 
 cents." These were great prices in those days, and were more 
 than were usually charged. Two years later, the price of a 
 good dinner at a first-class hotel in DeKalb County, was 
 twelve-and-a-half cents, and a man was boarded for a week, 
 for one dollar. 
 
 The total County tax levied on the first yearof its existence 
 as a County, was $216,50, but Mr. James Phillips, the deputy 
 Sheriff who was also Collector, reported that after a hard 
 winter's Avork in collecting, he had been able to get together 
 and pay into the Treasury only $84,37. 
 
 There was a new election of County Commissioners in 
 August, and by a change in the law, three new Commission- 
 ers were elected, instead of one as had hitherto been provided. 
 E. G. Jewell, Burrage Hough, and Henry Hicks were elected. 
 They were warmly in favor of the County seat then located, 
 and issued an order that the October term of the Circuit 
 Court be held at a house now being erected by Eli Barnes 
 at or near the seat of Justice of this County. But it was not 
 held there. Tbe house as yet, existed only in imagination. 
 There was no sign of civilization, except a fence enclosino- a 
 field nearly two miles long and sixty rods wide, built this year 
 by C. Sharer & Co., the New York Company, who claimed 
 this location. Mr. Colton who had been appointed Clerk of 
 the Circuit Court, had made all processes returnable at his 
 own residence. He hoped that before any suitable County 
 buildings should be erected at this point he would obtain a 
 vote to change its location to his own place. In addition to 
 the other attractions of his own village, a lawyer, one John 
 M. Crothers, had taken up his abode there, and opened an 
 office in a corner of one of the three or four houses that con- 
 stituted the village called Coltonville. With a store, a tavern, 
 a blacksmith's shop, a doctor, a lawyer, and a distillery in 
 
376 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUISTTY, 
 
 expectation, Coltonville was indeed a prominent and promising 
 village. 
 
 Another meeting of the Commissioners was held in Septem- 
 ber, at which they proceeded to consider the expediency of 
 erecting a Court House and Jail at the seat of justice, but no 
 definite plan was devised. 
 
 They were engaged in negotiating with Captain Eli Barnes 
 for the erection of buildings, but it was evident that no 
 provision could be made for the coming term of Court, and it 
 was accordingly by general consent, held at Coltonville. 
 About this time, a new disturbing element had been intro- 
 duced into the affairs of the new County. 
 
 Madden and Colton both being sorely vexed at being over- 
 ruled in their choice of a County seat, had put their heads to- 
 gether to procure a rcmovalby combining against Orange the two 
 parties who favored Brush Point and Coltonville : and they 
 managed it in this wise. Mr. Madden, who was still a mem- 
 ber of the Legislature, had during the last winter's session, 
 procured the passage of an act providing that a vote should 
 be taken first for or against the removal of the County seat 
 from Orange. It was presumed that the two parties favoring 
 Brush Point and Coltonville would combine and could carry 
 this measure, for removal, m that case a second vote was 
 to he taken upon Coltonville or Brush Point, and the place 
 receiving the highest number of votes was to be the County 
 Seat. 
 
 Madden returned, and made no public mention of the 
 passage of this act, but it was strongly suspected by the 
 Orange men, that something of this kind had beea done, and 
 was to be "put through on the sly." It was finally discov- 
 ered in this Avay. A certain bachelor of Genoa, Gleason by 
 name, who was attached to the Orange party, invaded the 
 Brush Point settlement one Sunday night, in search of a wife. 
 From his fair Dulcinea, he learned to his surprise, that on 
 the next Monday week, an election was to be held in that 
 settlement to remove the County seat. Gleason informed his 
 
 I 
 
EIGHTEEN THIRTY-EIGHT. 377 
 
 friends of what be had learned, and it was agreed that the 
 Orange men should meet them at the polls and vote the 
 removal project down. J. C. Kellogg and E. G. Jewell were 
 dispatched South in the night, to rouse their friends in Som- 
 onauk. 
 
 In due time the polls were opened, and to the surprise of 
 the Brush Pointers, were opened in those precincts opposed 
 to the change, as well as those which favored it. The unfair- 
 ness of the secret conspiracy was so apparent that in Somon- 
 auk precinct, which then included six townships, forty-five of 
 the forty-seven votes cast were against removal. The project 
 was voted down by seventeen majority, in the whole County. 
 
 Coltonville had grown since the summer before when the 
 first term of the County Commissioners Court was held there. 
 There were four or five houses there now, but how the crowd 
 of people that assembled on this memorable occasion was pro- 
 vided for must ever be a mystery to future generations. The 
 first term of the Court was held in a small framed house one 
 story and a half in height, which, a few years after, Avas 
 moved down to Sycamore, and is now the residence of Dr. 
 W. W. Bryant and standing nearly opposite the Universalist 
 Church. Hon. John Pearson, the Judge, resided in Danville, 
 Vermillion County, and the extent of his circuit may be 
 judged from this fact. He was subsequently removed for 
 incompetency. Rufus Colton was the clerk, and Amasa 
 Huntington States Attorney. There were but twenty suits 
 upon the docket, none of them sharply contested cases. The 
 first suit was one in which Erasmus D. Walrod was plaintiff" 
 and Stephen Harwood was defendant, but before the trial 
 commenced it was settled by agreement of parties — a good, 
 first example which has not since been followed so closely as 
 would have been to the advantage of the County. 
 
 The duty of the twenty-four Grand Jurors and the States 
 
 Attorney, were ended when they had found an indictment 
 
 against one William Taylor for passing counterfeit money. 
 
 Taylor was supposed to be one of an organized gang that 
 
 48 
 
378 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 even at this earlj day was infesting the country, and swind- 
 ling the honest citizens. Not being ready for trial, he was 
 retained in charge of the County until the next term. After 
 being comfortably boarded for several weeks by the Barber 
 family the County Commissioners ordered him to the Will 
 County jail, at Joliet, which was then the nearest available 
 place of confinement ; and out of the scantily furnished 
 treasury of the County they paid $45 to a guard for convey- 
 ing him there. When he was next brought out for trial he 
 escaped from the guard and was seen no more in this section 
 of country ; and when in addition to this misfortune, the Will 
 County jailor sent in a bill for $25 for his board, it bank- 
 rupted the Treasury ; the commissioners indignantly refused 
 to allow it and demanded the items. After this dear experi- 
 ence in the capture of criminals it became the policy to over- 
 look all crimes that were not too public and heinous, and 
 when an oifence had been committed that could not be over- 
 looked, the County officers sometimes contrived that a hint 
 should be given to the offender that he would probably be 
 arrested, and that it would be expedient for him to leave the 
 country before that event should occur. In this way they 
 rid themselves of the elephant. In December of this year, a 
 meeting of County Commissioners provided for ascertaining 
 upon what section of land the County seat had been placed. 
 The County had not yet been surveyed by the United States. 
 Nobody knew where the boundaries of the County were, nor 
 were any other lines definitely ascertained. It was necessary 
 that the County should first make its pre-emption claim to the 
 quarter-section that the law required it should own, as private 
 individuals made their claims, and then should survey and sell 
 the village lots : out of the proceeds of which sale the public 
 buildings were to be erected, guarantying of course to the 
 purchasers, that when the land came in market the County 
 would purchase and pay for it. 
 
 For this purpose the Commissioners duly authorized and 
 directed Mr. Eli Gr. Jewell to obtain the services of a surveyor 
 
1I®HTEEN THIRTY-E1&HT. 879 
 
 and bring a line or lines from some survey made under the 
 authority of the General Government down to the County 
 seat, and there cause a number of town lots not exceeding 
 eighty, to be laid out, platted and recorded ; the expense of 
 which survey it was prudently provided should be paid out of 
 the proceeds of the sale of the lots. At this term the rate of 
 compensation to jurors was fixed at seventy-five cents per day, 
 but as this rate was found to cause a heavy drain upon the 
 Treasury, it was subsequently reduced to fifty cents. 
 
 Frederick Love was appointed first School Commissioner 
 for the County, and was also granted a license to keep tavern. 
 Love's capacious cabin was as public a place as any in the 
 County. He called it Centerville, and hoped that at some 
 time it would become the County seat. Henry Durham of 
 Genoa, was granted a merchant's license at this term of the 
 Court, A few years later, the village at that point had become 
 the largest and most lively in the County. In September 
 1838, Shabbona, the old Indian, employed Mr. James S. 
 Waterman to survey the two sections of land which the Gov- 
 ernment had granted him in that section of country. During 
 this year a company under the name of Jenks & Co., 
 representing considerable capital, constructed a mill upon the 
 Kishwaukee, in the present town of DeKalb on the land now 
 occupied by Mr. Albert Schryvers farm, and projected a 
 village which however, was never built up. The large barn 
 now standing upon that farm was one of the first framed 
 'buildings in the County, and was used on several occasions 
 for the religious services of the quarterly-meetings of the 
 Methodists. 
 
 Since the departure of the Indians, game had rapidly 
 increased in this district of country. Deer became very 
 numerous. Mr. R. F. Watson, who was one of the first 
 inhabitants of the northern portion of the County, states that 
 during this winter he, hunting in company with Solomon 
 Wells and William Driscoll, killed more than one hundred 
 I of these animals, and at times had counted one hundred and 
 
380 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 twenty-five in one drove. They ran them down with grey 
 hounds. The deer, fleet as they were, were no match for the 
 hounds, who would often catch them hy the throat hefore they 
 had run a quarter of a mile. But the hounds frightened the 
 deer from the country, and for many years subsequently 
 they became very scarce. 
 
 1839. 
 
 The year 1839 was memorable as one of great suffering 
 among the new settlers, from sickness. During the spring 
 and autumn months, over most of the County, there were 
 hardly enough of the well to take proper care of the sick. 
 Ague and billions fevers were the prevailing diseases. They 
 resulted from the close proximity to the groves and streams 
 to which the new comers all built their houses, and were aided 
 by the insufiicient and comfortless little dwellings ; also by 
 the bad surface water from the sloughs which they used in 
 the want of wells of proper depth to supply pure water. It 
 was difficult also, to secure medical attendance, and the phy- 
 sicians who practiced through the country, rarely had a 
 sufficient supply of medicine. A citizen relates his disap- 
 pointment when after having gone shaking with ague seven 
 miles on foot to a doctors for a dose of quinine, the doctor 
 told him solemnly, " No young man, I cant't let you have it ; 
 you are young, and can wear out the disease. I must save 
 my little supply for cases in which it is needed to save life, 
 for I don't know when I shall be able to obtain any more." 
 
 Deaths were numerous, and the few carpenters in the 
 country who were able to work, were at times busy night 
 and day in making coffins. It was noticed that one settle- 
 ment on the borders of the County, in Franklin, afterwards 
 known as the Pennsylvania Settlement, was quite free from 
 the prevalent diseases. The three or four houses that com- 
 posed this little village, were built by Dr. Hobart, Albert 
 Fields, and William Ramsey, two miles from the timbered 
 lands and in the middle of the prairie. To this was due their 
 exemption from disease. 
 
 i 
 
EI6HTEEX THIRTY-NINE. 881 
 
 . But the citizens in the vicinity of the County seat found 
 time to build a new Court House. The survey lines ordered 
 by the County Commissioners, had been brought down from 
 the neighborhood of Rockford, where some Government 
 surveying had already been done, and the village of Sycamore 
 was staked out. The inhabitants of this place for all future 
 time, may thank Captain Eli Barnes and James S. Waterman 
 for the broad streets that now add so much to the beauty of 
 the village. To many of the people, they seemed at the time 
 unnecessarily wide, but the sensible plea that there Avas a 
 whole continent of prairie before them, and that when Syca- 
 more became a city they would be needed to accommodate its 
 business, prevailed, and they were all laid out one hundred 
 feet wide. From the time the village was laid out, its original 
 name of Orange was dropped, and Sycamore adopted by 
 common consent. 
 
 During the previous winter, Captain Barnes had got 
 together materials for building a spacious tavern at the new 
 County seat, and early in the spring it was erected— the first 
 building put up in this village. It is still standing, directly 
 east of the Public Square, and has ever since been occupied 
 as a Hotel. As an inducement for building it, it was agreed 
 that the block on which it stands should be given to the Cap- 
 tain, free of cost. The village having been laid out, the 
 Commissioners directed Mr. Jewell to proceed to sell lots 
 at public auction, and with the proceeds to contract for build- 
 ing a Court House and Jail, 
 
 The auction was held, and the bidding was spirited. Some 
 fifteen or twenty lots were sold at prices ranging from twenty 
 to fifty dollars. Among the purchasers were Frederick Love, 
 J. C. Kellogg, James S. Waterman, Harvey Maxfield, Daniel 
 Bannister, Almon Robinson, Erastus Barnes, and Timothy 
 Wells. 
 
 The proceeds of the sale constituted a little fund out of 
 which, some of the materials for the Court House were pur- 
 chased. Those most interested in the matter, then took teams 
 
 I 
 
882 HISTORY Ot DE KALB COtJNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 and drove to all the saw-mills in the country round, 
 and begged or bought, or traded for the necessary lumber. 
 The labor upon the building Avas done by voluntary contribu- 
 tion. Every one could do something, and all worked with 
 a will. 
 
 By the time fixed for the June session of the Circuit Court, 
 a two-story building twenty feet by thirty had been enclosed, 
 and the County Commissioners, who were hastily summoned 
 together, ordered their Clerk of the Court to notify the Judge 
 of the Circuit Court that they had erected a Court House at 
 the County seat, and that it was ready for occupancy, and 
 requested that he direct the Circuit Clerk to keep his office 
 there. 
 
 Captain Barnes served the order upon the Judge now sitting 
 in Court at Coltonville, and the crowd of attendants, augmented 
 by a large body of citizens assembled to see what action 
 would be taken upon this order, awaited with great interest 
 the argument upon the proposition to remove to Sycamore. 
 When the Judge decided that the Court must be removed 
 thence, a shout of triumph went up from the Sycamore party, 
 Avhile the opponents of removal were correspondingly depressed. 
 Judge Ford took his record under his arm. States Attorney 
 Purple bundled up his papers, the Sheriff, the lawyers, juries 
 parties and witnesses followed suit, and led by Captain Barnes, 
 on that well-known spotted horse that he rode upon all public 
 occasions for more than twenty years later, all took up their 
 line of march through the thick woods and across the green 
 prairie, to the new seat of empire at Sycamore. The assem- 
 blage was entertained at a grand public dinner at the new 
 tavern, where all the luxuries that the country afforded were 
 freely provided by the successful party. 
 
 When the Court repaired to the new Court House, it was 
 found that the declaration of the Commissioners, that the 
 Court House was ready for occupancy, was rather more than 
 its condition warranted. It had a frame, a roof, and some 
 siding upon it, but there were no doors nor windows, and the 
 
EIGHTEEN THIRTY-NINE. 383 
 
 only floor was some loose boards covering one half of the 
 upper story. When the officers of the Court had clambered 
 up to the seat of justice in the second story, it found furniture 
 somewhat scarce. A tilting table was the Judges desk, and 
 a broad, rough board was provided for the Clerks and attor- 
 neys' tables — et praeterea nihil. Itwas a rough and primitive 
 arrangement for the entertainment of the blind goddess, and 
 if she had had her eyes about here she would have fled from 
 the spot in alarm. A question arose whether process having 
 been made returnable at Coltonville, suits could be tried at 
 another locality, and except a few agreed cases, no litigation 
 was carried on. William Taylor, the only criminal, having 
 fortunately run away, and the arrest of all others being care- 
 fully avoided, there was no use for a Grand Jury, and it had 
 been at once dismissed, and the Court speedily adjourned. 
 
 The Commissioners' Court at the June session, divided the 
 County into three Assessment districts. 
 
 The districts of Franklin, Kingston, and Kishwaukee con- 
 stituted the first, and of this H. F. Page was chosen Assessor. 
 Sycamore, Orange, and Ohio districts made the second, and of 
 this, Austin Hayden was Assessor. Somonauk and Pawpaw 
 made the third, and of this Stephen Arnold was Assessor. 
 The three Assessors were each paid for three days' service in 
 assessing the entire property of the County. 
 
 At the August election, Mr. John R. Hamlin was chosen 
 Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court, and Lysander 
 Darling County Treasurer, in place of George H. Hill. 
 William M. Maxfield was chosen County Collector, Alpheus 
 Jenks, Recorder. 
 
 In this year, the land in the three Northern townships 
 which had previously been surveyed by the United States, 
 [and put in market. It was a part of what was called the 
 Rockford or Polish survey. 
 
 I The United States Government, in sympathy with the Poles 
 who had just been overwhelmed in their contest for their 
 independence by the power of Russia, had made a grant of a 
 
384 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 large tract of land on the banks of the Rock River to such of 
 that nation as chose to settle upon it. It was accordingly 
 surveyed some years earlier than most of this part of the State. 
 Very few of that nation however, availed themselves of this 
 privilege. Claims had been made on the same land by other 
 and earlier settlers. These combined to drive away the new 
 claimants. Numerous little stockade forts were built with 
 loop holes for muskets, and a determintion was expressed to 
 drive the Polish emigrants out of the country, and they were 
 entirely successful. They never occupied their grant. 
 
 At Coltonville, the large two-story house still standing there 
 was built this year for a tavern, and was opened with a grand 
 ball in the autumn. To make a sufficient party, the whole 
 country was summoned. Some twenty of the guests came 
 from Oregon, thirty miles west, and as many more from 
 St Charles, twenty miles to the east. It was a noted event. 
 
 In the summer of the previous year, a convention was held at 
 Ottawa to nominate candidates for the Legislature. Delegates 
 went from Orange, now called Sycamore, to see that men 
 favorable to their point as the County seat should be nominated, 
 and they selected William Stadden for Senator, and J. W. 
 Churchill for the Assembly. But they were disappointed in 
 their men. At the winter's session, another act was passed 
 authorizing a vote upon the removal of the County seat. 
 
 The Session Laws in these times, were not circulated 'till 
 six months after the sitting of the Legislature, and before 
 any opponents of removal were aware of the existence of such 
 an act, the time had arrived for a vote upon the question. A 
 poll-book was opened at Coltonville, a dozen votes or so were 
 cast for removal to that place, and the terms of the law were 
 considered to be complied with. The seat of justice technically 
 was removed. 
 
 But Kellogg, the County Commissioners' Clerk refused to 
 deliver the books. He was arrested and tried before Justice 
 Harvey Maxfield, and after a savage, wordy warfare, was 
 discharged. 
 
I 
 4 
 
 -•■-i^<io-,» %, - , 
 
 13l^ ILL. VOL. INFANTRY. 
 
 t)y CORD.AMD. 
 
 f-liica^o Lilho-iJ^phill'^ Cn. Chicago. 
 
EIGHTEEN FORTY. 66D 
 
 The total receipts and expenditures of the County this year 
 amounted to the sum of $452,15 a very moderate amount 
 considering that a Court House had been constructed, and 
 that, although built from another fund, it naturally increased 
 some of the County expenses. 
 
 1840. 
 
 The year 1840 found the County of DeKalb increasing in 
 population, if not in wealth. Around all of the groves which 
 dotted the prairies like oases in a desert, or like islands in tl e 
 blue ocean, little communities of farmers were gathered, full of 
 ambition and hope for a prosperous future for this new coun- 
 try, but grievously oppressed with poverty in the present. 
 They raised bountiful crops of the finest winter wheat and the 
 fresh virgin prairie soil produced of all kinds of grain such 
 crops as have never since been equalled; but nothing found a 
 market. They drew their wheat to Chicago over roads that 
 were passable only in a time of drought, and when drawn 
 there it was sold at from thirty to forty cents per bushel. lie 
 was a lucky man who made from his load more than enough 
 to pay the expenses of the journey. There was little encour- 
 agement for energetic systematic labor. 
 
 Many of the settlers were from the Southern States, a 
 
 pleasant, hospitable generous people, but lacking the energy 
 
 and shrewdness of the New Englanders, and other citizens of 
 
 Northern origin. Mr. James H. Furman, now editor of the 
 
 Sandwich Gazette, who had just moved from the city of New 
 
 York, taught school in a settlement of Virginia and North 
 
 Carolina people at Squaw Grove during this winter. There 
 
 was one framed house in the settlement — Jack Sebrces. All 
 
 others lived in log cabins. One large double log house was a 
 
 favorite resort for all the neighborhood, and there he spent 
 
 most of his time. Huge roaring fires of logs upon the broad 
 
 open fire-places at each end, could hardly keep the winter 
 
 chill out of the ill-constructed dwellings. At night they slept 
 
 between two feather beds, as was the custom of the Southern 
 
 country. There was no furniture to speak of; most of them 
 49 
 
386 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 sat upon the floor or on slab benches, and at meal time went 
 out doors from the sitting-room door to the kitchen, where 
 bountiful meals were provided, for provisions were abundant. 
 The women of this house spun and wove woolen garments for 
 the whole family beside doing the household duties and carirm 
 for a large dairy. They only complained that their husbands 
 would not raise flax so that they could have some tow to spin 
 when they had nothing else to do. At Franklin, in the Nortt 
 part of the County, at Somonauk at the South end, and a1 
 Paw Paw, were similar settlements of Southern people, bul 
 most of the new settlers were from New York and Ne"w 
 England. 
 
 The country was over-run with horse-thieves and counter- 
 feiters. There being no jails, the labor of confining the pris- 
 oners in Sheriffs' houses and such other places as could be 
 found for them was so burdensome that few arrests were made, 
 and when criminals were imprisoned the great effort was, tc 
 get them to run away, so as to relieve the County of th( 
 expense of their keeping. 
 
 The County Treasury was generally empty. Countj 
 orders were issued for all expenses, and they were at a greal 
 discount, but as they were receivable for taxes, little else coulc 
 be collected and no money went into the Treasury. 
 
 At the County seat, a little village was being built up. Ii 
 now contained twelve houses. The Mansion House kept b^ 
 Captain Barnes, was the great center of population. It was 
 crowded with occupants. In one corner was the store kepi 
 by John and Charles Waterman, who had moved their goods 
 from the place north of the river where the town had first beer 
 started, and where in a little log cabin sixteen feet by eighteer 
 they had first established business. The house was over 
 crowded with boarders, mostly young men who had come oui 
 seeking their fortunes ; many of them have since becom( 
 particularly well known, and prominent in the history of the 
 County. Among them were John, James, Robert and Charles 
 Waterman, Reuben Ellwood, Dr. H. F. Page, Frank Spencer, 
 
EIGHTEEN I^OH'TY. 387 
 
 Jesse Rose, John R. Hamlin, E. P. Young. They were a 
 gay set, as full of pranks and fun, and practical jokes, as 
 ever a dozen wild fellows could have been. For some reason 
 the hotel came to be called the Nunnery, and went by that 
 name for many years. It was a most inappropriate title as 
 there was nothing more like a nun about it than the one hired 
 girl in the kitchen. Indeed, there were but three marriage- 
 able women in the place, and when dances and parties were 
 made, the country for twenty miles around was scoured in 
 search of lady partners. 
 
 The school was kept in the Court House by Dr. Bill, and 
 it was well attended. The same building also furnished a 
 place for religious meetings, but when Dr. Whitney of Belvi- 
 dere came to deliver a great Whig speech, he gathered his 
 mass-meeting in Carlos Lattin's log cabin. At the time of 
 the election of Harrison and Tyler, there was a grand jollifi- 
 cation. The United States Surveyor, who Avas working 
 through the County, furrish free liquor to all the town and 
 country round. 
 
 A stage route was established duriug this year, running 
 from St. Charles to Oregon. Timothy Wells and Charles 
 Waterman were the proprietors of the line. They had an 
 elegant four-horse coach, and carried a large number of pas- 
 sengers. 
 
 The Circuit Court which met in June, of this year, disposed 
 of one hundred cases in five days. Among the lawyers were 
 some names that have since become eminent. J. Y. Scammon 
 and N. B. Judd came from Chicago. Norman H. Purple and 
 Judge Peters from Peoria, W. D. Barry and S. S. Jones from 
 St. Charles, Chapman and Allen from Ottawa, Nathan Allison 
 from Naperville, and Asa Dodge from Aurora. 
 
 The first indictment for selling liquor without a license was 
 tried, and resulted in acquittal — a precedent that has since 
 been most faithfully followed. 
 
 The County Commissioners' Court in. this year, created 
 twenty-four road districts for the growing County, and raised 
 the license for grocery-keepers to twenty-five dollars. 
 
388 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 School Trustees for the Northern townships seem to have 
 been elected at some previous time, for it is recorded that 
 Frederick Watkins and Andrew Miles, former trustees oi 
 Township forty-two, range three, resigned their offices, and 
 Daniel Cronkhite was appointed in their places. Trustees oi 
 school lands were also appointed for Townships thirty-seven 
 thirty-eight, and forty-one, in range five. The place of voting 
 in Somonauk precinct was changed from the house of E,. 
 Woodruff, to that of Burrage Hough. 
 
 The grand struggle for the establishment of the County 
 seat was finished at the August election of this year, by a 
 Waterloo defeat of the opponents of Sycamore. 
 
 The County seat seems to have been technically considered 
 to have been removed from Orange or Sycamore, 
 by the vote of the dozen or so who had assembled 
 and voted that it should be removed to Coltonville, in an 
 election held in pursuance of the law, but kept secret from the 
 great mass of the people. 
 
 On January 3d, of this year, another act had been passed 
 by the Legislature " permanently to locate the seat of justice 
 for the County of DeKalb." 
 
 The following report was ordered by the County Commis- 
 sioners 1o be placed upon their records, and explains the 
 final result : 
 
 State of Illinois, | 
 DeKalb Co. j "^• 
 
 I, John R. Hamlin, Clerk of the 
 County Commissioners' Court of said County, and Frederic 
 Love Probate Justice of the Peace, and Harvey Maxfield, 
 Justice of the Peace in and for said County of DeKalb, do 
 hereby certify that at an election held in the several precincts 
 of said County, on the Third Monday in August, A. D. 1840, 
 in pursuance of an act entitled an act permanently to locate 
 the seat of Justice of the County of DeKalb approved January 
 3d, 1840, there were given two hundred and forty votes in 
 favor of the removal of the seat of Justice of DeKalb County 
 
EIGHTEEN FORTY. 389 
 
 from Coltonville. There were given one hundred and fortj- 
 three votes against the removal of the seat of Justice from 
 Coltonville ; showing a majority in favor of the removal of 
 the seat of justice from Coltonville, of ninety-seven votes. 
 And there were also given at said election two hundr(3d and 
 seven votes in favor of Sycamore to be the seat of justice of 
 DeKalb County. And there were given at said election one 
 hundred and thirty-seven votes in favor of Brush Point to be 
 the seat of Justice of DeKalb County. Showing a majority 
 of seventy votes in favor of Sycamore to be the seat of justice. 
 This was the last formal attempt to change the location of 
 the County seat, and as it is likely that a local contest of 
 this kind brought out all of the voters, it is probable that 
 three hundred and eighty-four was about the number of voters 
 then in the County. Morris Walrod was at this time, the 
 Sheriff of the County, and a very efficient officer he proved 
 to be. To induce him to take and keep open the hotel at the 
 County seat, he was promised this office of Sheriff. The 
 horse-thieves and counterfeiters who infested the County 
 found in him a dangerous foe. It was during this spring that 
 he arrested one Winthrop Lovelace, who was supposed to be 
 one of that gang. He was bound over for trial, but it was sev- 
 eral weeks before his trial could be held. Walrod kept him 
 securely ironed, and by day chained to a bed-post in a little 
 back room of his tavern. At night he was secured by irons, 
 to constable Alvah Cartwright, who slept by his side. One 
 night Cartwright attended a grand ball at Coltonville, and 
 coming home fatigued, slept unusually soundly. When he 
 awoke his prisoner was gone. A well-known citizen, and a 
 suspected associate of the gang had supplied him with a' file, 
 with which he had cut his bracelets and escaped. But as he 
 fled northward across the mill-dam, daylight had come and he 
 was discovered. A party was soon got out to surround and 
 search the Norwegian Grove, and the hunt was kept up all 
 day as it was certain that he could not have escaped from it, 
 but the search was without success until toward evening a 
 
890 HISTORY 01 DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 place was discovered where the tall grass of the mill-pond had 
 been parted. The trail was followed, and the poor shivering 
 wretch finally discovered sitting nearly chilled to death, in the 
 cold shallow pond. It took some hours of smart rubbing to 
 save his life. When he was finally brought to trial, he 
 escaped from the Court House, probably amid a crowd of his 
 fellows of the banditti, and was seen no more in this County. 
 
 For many years, it was the custom for the Sheriff to keep 
 his prisoners manacled, but to board them at the same table 
 with his other guests at the hotel. They came shuffling in at 
 the first table, usually took the head and did the honors to 
 travellers and other guests, in their best style. It sometimes 
 astonished strangers, but was considered all right by the 
 regular boarders. 
 
 John Riddle, one of the first settlers of Franklin, Avas this 
 year appointed Assessor of District No. 1, F. Love of District 
 No. 2, and Stephen Arnold of District No. 3. It took them 
 six days each to assess the County, and as the result, a tax of 
 three hundred and thirty-four dollars and seventy cents was 
 collected. 
 
 Amos Story was Collector for the County. 
 
 1841. 
 
 The first resident lawyer in the County was admitted to 
 practice during this year, the County Commissioners Court 
 certifying that he was a man of good moral character. His 
 name was Andrew J. Brown. He settled in Sycamore, but 
 the most of the practice at the bar at this time, was monopo- 
 lized by W. D. Barry, A. N. Dodge, B. F. Fridley, and 
 Crothers Champlain. 
 
 Sylvanus Ilolcomb was elected County Commissioner, the 
 other two members of that Board being Martin M. Mack and 
 David Merritt. 
 
 The great State Road from Ottawa to Beloit, was laid out 
 this summer. It was made eighty feet in width. It is de- 
 scribed as entering the County at Somonauk, passing Sebra's, 
 Esterbrooks, and Lost Grove, to the south-east corner of the 
 
EIGHTEEN FORTY-IWO. 391 
 
 Public Square, thence to H. Durham's, to Deer Creek, and 
 north to the County line. 
 
 The winter of 1841-42, was one of uncommon severity. 
 A heavy coating of snow fell on the 8th of November, and it 
 remained on the ground until April 14th, during all which 
 time, with the exception of the usual January thaw, the 
 sleighing was excellent. For a winter of such unusual length 
 and severity, no sufficient provision had been made. Forage 
 for the stock became very scarce, and hundreds died of starv- 
 ation. Hay sold at twenty dollars per ton. The snow be- 
 came crusted over, and the deer entrapped in it could be 
 slaughtered with axes and clubs. They would "yard" 
 together in large numbers in the woods, where they lived on 
 the bark of trees. If driven out into the crusted snow, they 
 could make no progress, and were easily killed. Five hun- 
 dred of these animals are said to have been killed this winter 
 in the northern part of this County, and in the woods of 
 Boone County. 
 
 ' 1842. 
 
 The terrible winter ended in the middle of April, and the 
 spring bright, balmy and beautiful, opened at once. The 
 crops were all sown in good season, and produced abundantly. 
 In this year for the first time, the bright steel scouring 
 ploughs came into use, and proved one of the most important 
 improvements ever invented for the prairie farmer. Previous 
 to this, the soil had in the expressive phrase of the country, 
 been "buggered over" with the old cast-iron plows, or some 
 strange-looking contrivances of iron rods with a plough-share 
 — tools that would not scour, that must be cleaned every few 
 rods, and that were quite ineffective for the work required of 
 them. Nothing but the extraordinary fertility of the fresh 
 prairie soil enabled the settlers to raise any crops with such 
 culture. 
 
 During this year we find E. L. Mayo was certified to be a 
 man of good moral character, and admitted to practice at law. 
 
392 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 He has been ever since a leading lawyer, and has held many 
 public offices. 
 
 Under date of March 11th, 1842, is the following official 
 record : 
 
 " This day in pursuance of an act entitled an act perma- 
 nently to locate the seat of Justice of the County of DeKalb, 
 approved January 30th, 1840, the Commissioners of said 
 County have selected one hundred and sixty acres of land for 
 County purposes, bounded as follows to-wit : From a point 
 which bears N o4i° W. 10 R. 21 Links from the S. W. cor- 
 ner of M. Walrod's dwelling house and S. 70° East 4 E. 22 
 Links from the S. E. corner of Carlos Lattin's house, running 
 thence N. 9° E. 80 R. thence S. 81° E. 160 R : thence S. 
 9° W. 160 R. thence N. 81° W. 160 R. thence N. 9° E. 80 
 R. to the place of beginning, containing 160 acres. 
 
 J. S. Waterman, Surveyor. 
 
 Lysander Darling as Treasurer of DeKalb County, pre- 
 sented the following account which is interesting as showing 
 the amount of taxes then collected : 
 
 Amount of taxes of 1839, $249,82. 
 
 " " 1840, . 282,98. 
 
 1841, 328,31. 
 
 Fines delivered by Clerk, 53,16. 
 
 Docket fees delivered by Clerk, 61,50. 
 
 These amounts are small as compared with the present 
 revenues of the county, and smaller yet when it is remem- 
 bered that they were all collected in County orders and 
 Jurors certificates, which could hardly be sold for fifty cents 
 on the dollar. 
 
 This was the time of very deepest depression in the finan- 
 cial condition of the State as well as of the county. The 
 failure of the State Bank, which occurred in February, had 
 overwhelmed the people with destitution and ruin. When 
 Governor Ford entered upon the duties of his office during 
 this year, he stated formally that in his opinion there was 
 not enough good money in the hands of all the people in the 
 
EIGHTEEN FORTY-TWO. 393 
 
 State to pay the interest which then came due upon the State 
 debt. The public officers found it difficult to get enough 
 money from the Treasury to pay their salaries and the postage 
 on their letters. The State failing to pay the interest on its 
 debt became the subject of most bitter aspersion and reproach 
 through all of this country, and even in England where some 
 of its bonds were held. It was taunted as a Repudiator, and 
 indeed a considerable party in favor of repudiation was grow- 
 ing up in the State. Its name became a hissing and a bye- 
 word in distant lands. Illinoisans travelling; in eastern States 
 or foreign countries Avere ashamed to acknowledge the State 
 that they came from. 
 
 Mr. John R. Hamlin who held the offices of Clerk of the 
 County Commissioners' Court, Recorder, and Postmaster and 
 out of the whole of them managed to make only about enough 
 to pay his board — cheap as boarding was — at the June term 
 of the County Commissioners' Court of this year, was granted 
 the privilege of advancing twelve dollars to purchase a Book 
 for Records, with the promise that it should be paid for out 
 
 I of the first money received into the Treasury, Mr. Hamlin 
 always a gentleman of genial, kindly, temper, an universal 
 favorite, subsequently became a wealthy merchant of Chicago, 
 
 j and still later removed again to this County where he became 
 
 ' an extensive land-owner, but it is reported that about this 
 time, he was accustomed to travel through the County to 
 
 [ collect deeds for record and urge upon those who had deeds 
 the necessity of having them placed upon record, and it is said 
 that for convenience and economy, he often went bare-footed. 
 But current rumors are not always true. Certain it is that 
 all of these offices at that time were not enough to give one 
 man a living. A dozen years later, the Recorders' office alone 
 constantly employed four or five men, and was reported to be 
 worth eight thousand dollars a year to the fortunate holder. 
 Such facts, better than any array of figures, give an idea of 
 the remarkable growth and increase in the population and 
 j business of the County. 
 50 
 
394 HISTORY OF DEKLB COUNTY. 
 
 The elections, at this period in the history of the County, 
 were generally held at the residence of some citizen centrally 
 located in the precinct, and right glad was he, after a year or 
 two of experience of the annoyance and trouble of such gath- 
 erings to procure the removal of the place of election to some 
 other location. The place of election in Orange precinct, was 
 at this term, changed from the residence of W. A. Fairbanks 
 to Calvin Colton's spacious and comfortable hotel ; and in 
 Franklin precinct it was changed from the mill of Henry 
 Hicks to the residence of Theophilus Watkins. 
 
 Martin M. Mack Avas re-elected County Commissioner at 
 the August election of this year, and I). W. Lamb was made 
 County Surveyor, an office which he held with occasional 
 intervals during the next twenty-two years. 
 
 The chief matters of record of the County Commissioners' 
 Court still continued to be the location of new roads ; but 
 about this time their breadth, which had hitherto been only 
 fifty feet, was enlarged to sixty-six, and in some cases to 
 eighty feet. The Oregon State Road was laid out one hun- 
 dred feet in width. The Circuit Court this year held but one 
 session, and that in September. It was presided over by John 
 D. Caton, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court. S. B. 
 Farwell was States' Attorney, J. C. Kellogg, Clerk, and 
 Morris Walrod Sheriff. Among the leading practitioners at 
 its bar were T. Lyle Dickey, E. L. Mayo, B. F. Fridley, W. 
 D. Barry, N. H. Peters, ^Y. R. Crothers, and A. J. Brown. 
 
 1843. 
 
 The finances of the County were now in a situation of great 
 embarrassment. A report of a committee appointed to make 
 a careful examination of its afiairs, reported that it had issued 
 orders which were still outstanding, to the amount of nine 
 hundred and seventy-two dollars and thirty-seven cents, and 
 the taxes to be collected to pay them would only amount to 
 four hundred and eighty-three dollars, and twenty-nine cents, 
 leaving the County in debt to the amount of four hundred and 
 eighty-nine dollars and eight cents. Small as this amount 
 
EIGHTEEN FORTY-TWO. 395 
 
 seems now, it was a troublesome load for the young County 
 to carry, and M. M. Mack and Sylvanus Holcomb were au- 
 thorized to endeavor to eflfect a loan. For this purpose they 
 made several journeys, but to no avail. So large an amount 
 of capital could not be obtained. But the County was gen- 
 erous enough to alloAv them fifteen dollars each for their 
 expenses, and in place of putting them oflf with County orders 
 which were of little value, it allowed them to endorse the 
 amount upon their indebtedness to the County for the lots 
 that they had purchased on the town plot. 
 A tax of one-half of one per cent, was ordered for the ensuing 
 year, but the duties of Mr. John Waterman the County. 
 Treasurer, must have been small and the danger of robbery 
 still less, for nearly all of the tax was collected in Jurors' cer- 
 tificates and County orders. 
 
 The land in the central towns of the County came in market 
 during this year. This was an important era in the afiairs of 
 the settlers. Many had for years previous been hoarding the 
 money that they had been able to save, in anticipation of this 
 important event. From the old stockings and secret recesses 
 of their log cabins, the glittering gold was drawn out and they 
 started in a strong company for the land sale in Chicago. The 
 land was sold oif at auction, and from each neighborhood one 
 trusty man was selected to bid off the property as it was 
 offered, while the remainder stood around, armed with clubs 
 and a most ferocious aspect, ready to knock down and execute 
 summary vengeance upon any speculator who should dare to 
 bid for lands that had been claimed and occupied by any of 
 their party. Few were bold enough to attempt it. One 
 [Unlucky fellow, who committed this offense through mistake, 
 thinking that he was bidding upon another piece of land, was 
 [seized in an instant by the crowd of excited squatter-sover- 
 eigns, hustled away and nearly torn in pieces, before he could 
 {explain the occurrence and express his readiness to correct 
 the mistake. 
 
 But the settlers on this occasion suffered more by the dep- 
 
396 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 redations of pick-pockets than from anything else. Such a 
 crowd furnished a harvest-field for these gentry, and several 
 of our citizens who had come with pockets well lined with 
 gold, found them emptied when they wanted to pay for their 
 land and were obliged to go home moneyless and landless. It 
 was a severe loss. Years of labor would be required to re- 
 place it, and before that time they would lose their land and 
 the improvements which they had spent years in effecting. 
 Simultaneously with the land sale, a number of new claim 
 associations were formed throughout the County, to prevent 
 persons who moved in, from purchasing of Government, lands 
 which those then living near, chose to claim by plowing around 
 them. They were no doubt useful in preventing many from 
 entering farms, to which the expense of improvement and long 
 occupation gave the squatter an equitable title, but they were 
 also in many cases a means of injustice. Men banded them- 
 selves together in such organizations, in order to keep by the 
 force of mob law, other settlers from occupying and holding 
 lands, while they themselves held tracts of enormous extent 
 and paid for none of it. 
 
 The County now found itself in a fresh quandary. The 
 one hundred and sixty acres, upon which the village at the 
 County seat had been built, now came in market and was 
 subject to entry. It had pre-empted the quarter-section, 
 but had never proved up its pre-emption right. It had sol- 
 emnly bound itself, in giving deeds of its lots, to acquire the 
 title so soon as the land should come in market, but now that 
 this time had come, it found itself destitute of money and 
 utterly unable to borrow. Any speculator was at liberty to 
 buy and take the best of titles to the town by paying to th( 
 Government one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for it. 
 Few of the citizens had money enough to enter their owr 
 claims, and none were willing to lend money to the County. 
 In this dilemma three of the neighboring inhabitants, Jesse 
 C. Kellogg, Carlos Lattin, and Curtis Smith who had an 
 interest in adjoining lands came forward and furnished the 
 
EIGHTEEN FORTY-TWO. 397 
 
 necessary funds, entered the lands in their own names and 
 promised to wait for re-payment until the time in which it was 
 supposed the County would he ahle to return the money. 
 This lifted the County out of this temporary embarrassment, 
 but it subsequently happened that the County failed to get 
 back the title from some of these parties, and finally lost a 
 part of the land. 
 
 The whole amount of tax collected this year was three 
 hundred and eighty-six dollars and fifteen cents, and of this 
 one hundred and seventy-eight dollars was paid in Jurors' 
 certificates and one hundred and forty-nine in County orders. 
 
 The County during this year, commenced a suit with Amos 
 Harman, whom it required to open the Ottawa State Road, 
 and was defeated. It was compelled by the Circuit Court, 
 to allow him thirty-five dollars for damages. This bankrupted 
 the Treasury, and nine patriotic citizens stepped forward and 
 contributed the amount, taking County orders in payment. 
 The Justices elected this year were George II. Hill, Isaac 
 Crampton, Abner Jackman, James Byers, Aaron Randall^ 
 Kimball Dow, George Flinn, Russell Huntley, and Z. B. 
 Mayo. 
 
 Reuben Pritchard, J. R. Hamlin, and B. F. Hunt, Com- 
 missioners appointed-by the State, laid out the Chicago and 
 Grand-de-Tour State Road, past H. Dayton's, P. Holcomb's, 
 M. Walrod's, Phineas Stevens', Calvin Colton's and thence to 
 the west line of the County. Robert Sterrett built a mill 
 this year on Somonauk creek, and E. P. Gleason and W. A. 
 Miller built others at or near the present village of Genoa. 
 This village was at this time and for many years after, the lar- 
 gest and most lively in the County. There were several stores, 
 a line of stages running through from Chicago to Galena, and 
 H. N. Perkins this year built a fine large hotel which has 
 
 been a famous resort for balls and parties even to this day. 
 A handsome framed school-house also replaced the shabby old 
 log structure heretofore used for that purpose. 
 
S9B HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 1844. 
 
 This was the second since the settlement of the County, of 
 the regular septennial wet seasons. The floods began early 
 in summer, but not early enough to ruin the splendid crops of 
 winter wheat which were everywhere abundant. Some farmers 
 report that they cut and bound their wheat while standing 
 ankle-deep in water, and then carried it out on the high knolls 
 to dry before stacking. When they went to Aurora to mill, 
 four yoke of cattle were required to draw a moderate grist. 
 A great many cattle and horses feeding upon the prairies 
 became mired inextricably, and the calls were numerous for 
 teams to attach long ropes or chains to them and draw them 
 out. Most of the crops were seriously damaged by the floods 
 and storms. All of the bridges that surrounded the County 
 seat were carried away by the flood, and the same was true of 
 the bridges all over the country. The Mississippi was swollen 
 to four times its usual size, and steamboats moved freely 
 through the streets of St. Louis, Kaskaskia, and other cities 
 upon the rivers. Houses, fences, and stock of all kinds were 
 swept away, and when the water subsided, the soil of the 
 valleys was covered with sand so as to ruin the land for cul- 
 tivation. The grist mills were almost universally swept away, 
 and there was a great destitution of meal and flour. It was 
 a severe blow to the prosperity of the young, growing State. 
 One good growing out of this evil was that the war with the 
 Mormons which was then in active progress, was stopped — 
 neither party being able to continue it through such endless 
 storms, and seas of unfathomable mire. 
 
 At the August election, Carlos Lattin was chosen County 
 Treasurer ; Marshall Stark, School Commissioner ; E. L. 
 Mayo, Recorder ; A. J. Brown, Probate Justice, and Morris 
 Walrod Collector for the County. E. P. Young resigned his 
 office of Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court, and W. 
 H. Beavers was appointed in his stead. 
 
 The land having now become the property of the occupants 
 was subjected to a tax, and the Assessor was paid for half his 
 
EIGHTEEN FORTY FIVE. 399 
 
 expenses by the State. But County indebtedness was still 
 purcbaseable at a large discount. When one of our since 
 prominent citizens was fined ten dollars for assault and bat- 
 tery, he was glad to be allowed to pay it with a County order 
 of thirty dollars. 
 
 1845. 
 
 The settlement of DeKalb County at this period progressed 
 very slowly. Indeed, emigrants avoided the whole State of 
 Illinois, and passed west to Missouri, or north to Wisconsin. 
 Illinois had a bad reputation. The State was overwhelmed 
 with a vast unwieldy debt. It was unable to pay even the 
 interest upon it. Taxes were high, money scarce. Repudiation 
 was talked of, and by many was thought to be inevitable. 
 DeKalb County furnished no especial attractions to the few 
 settlers who came into the State. The beautiful valleys of 
 the Fox and Rock Rivers were far more alluring to the few 
 emigrants who at this period, made their homes in the debt- 
 ridden, heavily-taxed, much-abused State of Illinois. Many 
 of those who came to make their homes in this section, were 
 of a lawless class who were hardly fit for better settled and 
 better regulated communities. 
 
 Settlers were also deterred by the acts of the claim associ- 
 ations who boldly banded together and threatened the lives of 
 any who should enter lands around which any of their gang 
 had ploughed the furrow which constituted the commonly 
 received marks of a claim. Some account of these contests 
 — these intestine wars, may be found in other portions of this 
 Avork. 
 
 There was little money in the country. Of the three hun- 
 dred and seventy-five dollars collected in taxes this year, one 
 hundred and forty-three dollars was in Jurors certificates, and 
 two hundred and nineteen dollars in County orders. Few 
 debts were prosecuted by law, for the policy of the laws 
 favored the debtor, and rendered it almost impossible to col- 
 lect a claim by legal process. More settlers were anxious to 
 leave the country than to move into it. 
 
i 
 
 400 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 1846. 
 
 In May, 1846, the President called for four regiments of 
 volunteers, for the war with Mexico. Nine regiments speedily 
 offered their services. Most of them were of course disap- 
 pointed in their hope to serve their country thus and win 
 glory upon the battle-field, but among those accepted, was a 
 company raised by Captain Shepard of Belvidere, from the 
 Counties of Boone and Northern DeKalb. Early in June, 
 Captain Shepard marched his Company across the country 
 from Belvidere to Sycamore, paraded them through the streets 
 of the village during two or three days, and enlisted in the 
 ranks about twenty recruits. They were mostly from the 
 northern towns or precincts of the County. 
 
 From Shabbona, Somonauk, and Paw Paw districts, a num- 
 ber of recruits were enlisted in a regiment that rendezvoused 
 at Ottawa. Among them were Thomas S. Terry, and Horace 
 Austin, who subsequently raised and commanded Companies 
 in the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment, during the war of 
 the Great Bebellion. Only a comparatively small number of 
 those who thus Avent out, ever returned. Some lost their 
 lives upon the Mexican battle-field, some died of the diseases 
 incident to camp life, and some, who had no especial ties to 
 bind them to this country, found other homes after their dis- 
 charge from the service. 
 
 At the March term of the County Court, the Paw Paw 
 district and election precinct was divided by the creation of a 
 new precinct, called Shabbona. It comprised the territory 
 now contained in the four towns of Shabbona, Clinton, Milan, 
 and Afton. Elections Avere ordered to be held at the house 
 of William Marks. 
 
 A report on the County finances exhibited the discouraging 
 fact that there were outstanding twelve hundred and ninety- 
 nine dollars in County orders, and but one hundred and 
 twenty-six dollars of available means. Five hundred and 
 seventy dollars of tax was collected, all of it in Jurors' certi- 
 ficates and County orders. 
 
COUNTY J UDGE. 
 
 Chicago LilliogralJhmi^ CoXMcago. 
 
EI(3IITEliN FORTY-SEVEN. 401 
 
 xlustin Ilayden, George H. Hill, and Joseph NewbeiTv 
 were elected County Commissioners ; James Harrington, 
 School Commissioner ; John A. Waterman, Treasurer ; E, L. 
 Majo, Probate Justice. Jacob A. Simons and William Ford- 
 ham each served as County Clerk. The Justices of the Peace 
 elected, Averc George Flinn, Isaac Campton, Simon Young, 
 Aaron Hand, David Merritt, G. T. Sandborn, Wheeler 
 Hedges, Samuel Stevens, B. F. Johnson, Pussell Huntley, 
 Joseph A. Bilks, Z. B. Mayo, John Byers, George H. Hill, 
 and William Marks. The first brick dwellings in the County 
 Avere built this year at Sycamore by the brothers Mayo, and 
 although they now look humble enough when compared with 
 many of the more spacious and elegant residences of the pres- 
 ent day, they Avere then decidedly the best houses in the 
 County, and attracted a great deal of attention and admiration. 
 
 184T. 
 
 The financial aflFairs of the County improved during this 
 year, and its indebtedness Avas reduced one half. This was 
 in sympathy and accord Avith the general condition of the 
 State which Avas noAV rapidly improving. Four years before, 
 the State officers Avere sometimes troubled to get money to 
 pay even the postage on their letters ; the credit of the State 
 Avas gone, its Treasury Avarrants sold at fifty cents on the 
 dollar, it A^'as a hissing and a bye-word both in America and 
 England. Noav, it had paid or satisfactorily provided for, 
 about eight millions of its debt, and had been able to borrow 
 money enough to finish the Illinois Canal, which Avas noAV in a 
 fair way to completion. Emigrants came into the County 
 more rapidly, but still the settlers were very poor. Good 
 Avheat sold in Chicago at thirty cents per bushel, and many 
 drcAv it there from near the Mississippi river. Considerable 
 amounts AA'ere also draAvn to OttaAAa and Peru, upon the canal. 
 A very fair team of horses could be bought for eighty dollars. 
 It Avas a diflicult matter to collect taxes. They were all paid 
 in specie, and to pay a tax of six or seven dollars, distressed 
 the payer more than one of forty times that amount would at 
 51 
 
402 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 the present time. The collector would have to call again and 
 again for it. The roads were alive with teams loaded with 
 grain, and the taverns were crowded every night. Fifty cents 
 was the regular charge for supper, lodging, breakfast and the 
 feed for a team. At the August election of this year, William 
 Young was chosen County Commissioner, and William H. 
 Beavers, Clerk of that Court. Sheldon Crossett, School 
 Commissioner ; E. L. Mayo, Probate Justice ; William Ford- 
 ham, Recorder ; William Shepardson, Treasurer ; E. P. 
 Young, County Collector. 
 
 The first recorded allowances for the care of paupers were 
 made during this year. Before that time there either were 
 no paupers or they were otherwise provided for. 
 
 1848. 
 
 A new Constitution for the State was formed during this 
 year. 
 
 The increasing population demanded a division of the 
 County into more election precincts and Justices' districts. 
 Squaw Grove precinct was formed out of the present town of 
 Squaw Grove, and the south half of Pierce. 
 
 Somonauk precinct was changed so as to include Somonauk 
 township and four tiers of sections off of Victor. 
 
 The name of Wooster precinct was changed to Genoa, which 
 had for twelve years been the name of the thriving village at 
 its center. 
 
 For County Commissioners this year, Messrs. William 
 Young, John S. Brown, and Arunah Hill were elected. The 
 old Court House, a shabby two-story building, now standing 
 nearly opposite the present one, was still almost the only 
 building in the little village for public use. The County eked 
 out its petty finances by letting it for various uses. The 
 Congregational and Universalist Churches held alternate or 
 occasional services there. Mr. Roswell Dow occupied it on 
 week days for a select school, and the Sons of Temperance 
 held evening meetings, paying twenty-five cents rent each 
 evening. 
 
EIGHTEEN FORTY-NINE. 403 
 
 But itwas evident that the County demanded a better build- 
 ing. The subject was much canvassed and discussed all over 
 the County. A large portion of the people of the County 
 were unwilling to be taxed for the expense of a suitable 
 building. The population at the County seat were willing to 
 bear some share of the expense, but not the whole. After a 
 great deal of discussion at the March term of the County 
 Commissioners' Court in 
 
 ]849, 
 The three Commissioners appointed Messrs. E. P. Young, 
 Kimball Dow, and J. C. Kellogg, to contract for building a 
 new Court House. It was to be placed in the center of the 
 public square, to be of brick, sixty feet long and forty feet 
 wide, and to cost not exceeding six thousand dollars. But 
 this was to be done only upon condition that individual citizens 
 should contribute fifteen hundred dollars of this amount. This 
 they were authorized to pay in notes ; two-thirds of which 
 should be paid November 1st, 1849, and one-third November 
 1st, 1850. And the order of the Commissioners farther states, 
 that it is expressly agreed, that in case the County seat shall 
 ever be removed, the County shall pay back to said individu- 
 als, the amount of said notes with interest. It was ordered 
 that the notes be registered on the Court records, and be 
 evidence of the liability of the County for the re-payment of 
 this advance. 
 
 At the same term another order was passed authorizinof the 
 erection of a jail by the same agents at a cost not exceedino- 
 fifteen hundred dollars. Nothing seems to have been done 
 under this order. An active canvass of all those who felt an 
 especial interest in the prosperity of the village now rapidly 
 growing at the seat of justice was now commenced and 
 more than the necessary fifteen hundred was subscribed as a 
 free gift toward the erection of the present handsome Court 
 House. The subscriptions of the principal donors were as 
 follows : 
 
 Harvey G. Barns, $100 ; Amos Story $20 ; John Maxfield 
 
404 niSTORT or deeale county. 
 
 I 
 
 $40 ; Thomas Woolsej $20 ; Kimball Dow $50 ; E. P. Young 
 $150; TV. II. Beavers, $37 ; W. J. Hunt $50; Ellsworth 
 Rose $25 : E. Hall $25 ; E. II. Barnes $25 ; Alonzo Brown 
 $20 ; 0. P. White $25 ; Z. B. Mayo $50 ; E. L. Mayo $50 ; 
 John Chatfield $20 ; J. S. & J. C. Waterman $150 ; M. 
 Stark $50 ; 0. M. Bryan $30 ; Thomas II. Wood $25; E. 
 Wharry $20: E. G. Jewell $20 Darius Williams $25; E. 
 Wyman $20 ; William Connell $20 ; J. C. Kellogg $25 ; R. 
 Hopkins cV: W. P. Datton $75 ; Decatur Esterbrook $25 ; A. 
 Jackman 20 : Homer Roberts $20 ; Sylvanus Holcorab $25 ; 
 W. ForJham $30 : G. W. Kretsinger $20. 
 
 The ajjents for buildino; were also authorized to sell the old 
 Court House, and all town lots owned by the County at auc- 
 tion, and that the proceeds were to be applied religiously to the 
 payment of the forty-five hundred dollars of County orders 
 issued for the erection of the new building. The lots were 
 however, apprized at prices varying from ten dollars to four 
 hundred. 
 
 It was during this year, that the wonderful stories told of 
 the discovery of the gold fields of California, began to make 
 a stir among the hardy pioneers of this section of country. 
 The people were still very poor. Money was scarce — a dollar 
 looked to them as large as a cart-wheel. Why should they 
 spend their lives in ekeing out a poor and insufficient support 
 ill the shabby log dwellings and amid the inevitable hardships 
 of pioneer life in this new country, when an abundance of the 
 yellow, glittering metal that was the representative of all 
 wealth, lay open to any one who chose to gather it, upon the 
 pleasant shores of the Pacific. They were used to hardship : 
 they were accustomed to pioneer life ; the settlement of a new 
 country had no terrors for them. Urged by these considera- 
 tions, large numbers of men, among the best of the citizens of 
 the County, formed themselves into companies, rigged out 
 their old pioneer wagons, and settling their affairs as best they 
 could, started on the long and weary march for the golden 
 shores of California. Many came back in a few years mate- 
 
EIGHTEEN FORTY XIXE. 405 
 
 rially enriched, and used their means to fie up their old farms 
 ■with fine buildings and comfortable surroundings. Many 
 died on the way, and some still remain in the Golden State, 
 and are among her best and most prosperous citizens. 
 
 At the election of this year Marshall Stark was chosen 
 Sheriff: AV. H. Beavers, County Clerk; William Fordham, 
 Recorder ; Sheldon Crossett, School Commissioner and E. L. 
 Mayo, Probate Judge. But a new election was held Xovem- 
 ber 6th, under the provisions of the new Constitution, at 
 which M. M. ]\Iack was made Circuit Clerk and Recorder; 
 U. B. Prescott, County Clerk ; Wm. Shepardson, County 
 Treasurer, and James H. Beveridire and Georire H. Hill 
 County Justices of the Peace. 
 
 Seven hundred and fifty votes were cast in favor of the 
 adoption of the Township Organization, and only one against 
 it. The County School Superintendent was paid twenty-eight 
 dollars for his year's services, and the County Judge received 
 seventy-five dollars for the performance of the duties of his 
 office for six months. 
 
 The County Commissioners, at the December term, appoint- 
 ed Messrs. William A. Miller, William J. Hunt, and Robert 
 Sterritt, to divide the County into townships, in preparation 
 for a new organization, under the Township Organization 
 law. They visited the different sections of the County, heard 
 the statements of those citizens who met them, and divided oft' 
 the County into thirteen towns, named as follows : Genoa, 
 Kingston, Franklin, Yernon, Liberty, Svcamorc, Richland, 
 Orange, Shabbona, Clinton, Squaw Grove, Somonauk, and 
 PawPaw. Most of these names still adhere to the towns to 
 which they were originally given, although most of these towns 
 have been diminished in extent by the creation of new town- 
 ships Of those names which have been abandoned, Yernon 
 belonged to the present town of South Grove ; Orange to 
 DeKalb and some adjoining territory ; Liberty to Mayfield : 
 Richland to Cortland and Pierce. The County tax of 1840 
 amounted to two thousand eight hundred and eighty-three 
 dollars. 
 
406 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 I 
 
 1850. 
 
 The County was now divided into Tot^nships, and organized 
 with Town governments. Each of the towns chose a Super- 
 visor as the head of its town government, and also as its rep- 
 resentative upon the County Board, which met for the trans- 
 action of the business which had hitherto devolved upon the 
 County Commissioners. It is a question, however, among the 
 thoughtful men of the County, whether its business under this 
 more expensive and more ambitious method of administration, 
 is any better managed than under the old Board of three 
 County Commissioners, and there are not a few, who still think 
 it would be wise to discard the Township organization and go 
 back to the old method. 
 
 The first meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held at 
 Sycamore, October 7th, 1850. The Board consisted of thir- 
 teen members, viz: Henry Durham, representing Genoa; 
 John Sheely, Kingston ; Clark Bliss, Franklin ; John S. 
 Brown, Vernon ; Mulford Nickerson, Liberty ; James Har- 
 rington, Sycamore ; D. F. Finlcy, Richland ; Thomas R. 
 Hopkins, Orange; William Marks, Shabbona ; Reuben 
 Pritchard, Clinton; Abram L. Hemenway, Squaw Grove; 
 Lyman Bacon, Somonauk ; Pierpont Edwards, Paw Paw. 
 
 James Harrington was chosen Chairman. Among the first 
 acts of the Board, was the passage of an order changing the 
 names of Orange to DeKalb ; of Richland to Pampas ; of 
 Liberty to Mayfield ; and of Vernon to South Grove. 
 
 Other towns in the State had already appropriated the first 
 chosen names, and to prevent confusion, the Board of Super- 
 visors were authorized and directed to select others. Having 
 accomplished this duty, the Board plunged at once into the 
 business of auditing bills, arraigning delinquent collectors, 
 appointing places for town meetings, and all of those multifa- 
 rious duties that have ever since engrossed the attention of 
 that body. 
 
 Work upon the new Court House had been in progress for 
 nearly two years and in the winter of 1850, it was completed, 
 
EIGHTEEN FIFTY-ONE, 407 
 
 and presented an appearance of which the people of the 
 County were justly proud. 
 
 1851. 
 
 Ever since the first settlement of the County, the custom 
 seems to have prevailed, of inaugurating all new public build- 
 ings with a public ball; exceptions only being made with the 
 churches ; so in accordanc(} with the custom, a grand ball was 
 given in the new Court House in February, 1857. It was a 
 notable occasion. The company was gathered from all over 
 the country, a considerable party coming even from Chicago, 
 fifty-five miles distant. The building was not yet however 
 entirely completed or partitioned below. That was done dur- 
 ing the summer, under direction of the Board of Supervisors. 
 
 The regular seven years flood and subsequent long wet 
 summer, came again this year. There had been no snow 
 during the previous winter, but a great amount of rain. On 
 the first Sunday in April, one of the most furious snow-storms 
 ever known in this country, set in and more than fifteen inches 
 fell in the course of the day. On the Sunday following, came 
 another similar storm of equal severity. About a month after 
 and before the soil had become sufficiently dry for farming 
 operations, a heavy rain set in and continued with but occa- 
 sional intervals, for more than two months. It is related that 
 at one time the sun did not shine through the clouds for ten 
 days. The plowed ground became covered with a green 
 mould. The wheat crop was all scabbed. Little or none was 
 raised that was really fit for flouring, and in some cases it 
 sickened and apparently poisoned those who were compelled 
 by the prevalent destitution, to use it. 
 
 The roads became impassable and continued so during most 
 of the season. It became evident tnat something must be 
 done to secure means of communication with the outside world 
 and transportation for the products of the country, to market. 
 The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was now in 
 process of construction, and this promised relief to the south- 
 ern portion of the County. 
 
408 HISTORY OF DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 The Galena and Chicago Ilaih'oad was also being built, and 
 a branch of it was this year extended to St. Charles, which 
 was then a very flourishing little city, and the principal mar- 
 ket for all the northern part of the County. Eut our people 
 were too poor to extend that road to this County, and the 
 main road was laid several miles to the north of the County 
 line. The project of building a plank-road to St. Charles was 
 .started. Plank roads were then very popular in the eastern 
 States, and during the first year or two of use they furnished 
 the smoothest and most agreeable of highways. When more 
 worn, they were found to be more a source of danger and dis- 
 comfort than of advantage, and their use was abandoned, 
 A subscription was started for the construction of a plank 
 road from Sycamore to St. Charles. A large amount of 
 money Avas raised, the road was graded, the plank laid down 
 and toll-gates established. For about one season the road 
 was a decided convenience, but soon the hard wood plank 
 became warped by the sun ; the road was as rough as the 
 old-fashioned corduroy ; no one used it when they could avoid 
 it; the neighboring inhabitants finally confiscated the plank 
 and the road was abandoned. 
 
 1852. 
 The Assessors' reports for this year valued the total personal 
 property of the County at three hundred and twenty-five 
 thousand three hundred and fifty-three dollirs, and the real 
 estate at seven hundred and sixty-seven thousand four hun- 
 dred and eighty-seven dollars. The prospect that the country 
 would soon be'made accessible to market by railroads, had 
 induced a great many speculators and settlers to purchase the 
 wild prairie land. We find that two hundred and ninety-one 
 thousand, five hundred and nine acres were assessed this year, 
 which would indicate that only about twenty thousand acres 
 still remained in the hands of the government. 
 
 The elections of this year were very exciting. The County 
 was overwhelmingly Democratic in politics, but there was a 
 very strong and active Free-Soil party, and a sturdy and 
 
EIGHTEEN FIFTY-THREE. 409 
 
 enterprising minority of Whigs. The office of Circuit Clerk 
 and Recorder had with the increase of population, become the 
 most valuable office in the County. James H. Beveridge, a 
 merchant at Freeland corners in the town of Somonauk, was 
 the nominee of the Free-Soil party for this office, and E. P. 
 Young, of the Democracy. By a combination of the Whig 
 and Free-Soil vote, Mr. Beveridge was elected, and he held 
 the office for the eight years succeeding. Joseph Sixbury 
 was chosen County Treasurer, Jacob R. Crossett, School 
 Commissioner, and Herman Furness Sheriff. 
 
 Bills for the care of paupers were paid by the County to 
 the amount of six hundred and thirteen dollars. It was dur- 
 ing this year that the Chicago, St. Charles and Mississippi 
 Air Line B. B. was first projected, to run through St. Cnarles, 
 Sycamore, South Grove and Oregon to the Mississippi river 
 at Savannah. Messrs. Waterman and Fordham, of Sycamore, 
 first proposed the matter, and began correspondence with 
 E. S. Litchfield, the manager of the Michigan Southern 
 Railroad. He Avarmly favored the project ; a large meeting 
 was held at Sycamore; about twenty thousand dollars in stock 
 was taken in the northern part of the county ; a company 
 was organized ; it seemed certain that a railroad would be 
 built. 
 
 During this year the first Agricultural Society of the County 
 was organized and held an exhibition in marked contrast with 
 the extensive collections of the present era. One old white 
 bull Avas chained to a stake in the center of a vacant open lot, 
 and two or three stallions with as many cows and colts, and a 
 few beets and pumpkins completed the amusing exhibition. 
 
 1853. 
 But the newly proposed railroad promised to be an active rival 
 to the Galena road ; and that Company was anxious to pre- 
 vent its construction. They procured a charter authorizing 
 them to build an air line road to the ^Mississippi, passing 
 through the central portion of the county to Dixon, and 
 thence to the Mississippi river at Fulton and Lyons. Agents 
 52 
 
410 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 of this Company visited Sycamore and endeavored to induce 
 its people to take stock in it to a sufficient amount to ensure 
 its being built through that town. Had the citizens of Syc- 
 amore been able to foresee the future they would have con- 
 sented to this arrangement, in which event the now flourishing 
 villages of Cortland or DeKalb would never have had an 
 existence, and Sycamore would probably have become one of 
 the largest towns in northern Illinois. But Sycamore was 
 full of hope and interest in the rival road and scouted the idea 
 that any other would be built. This, the St. Charles Road 
 was now being graded, and during the summer the work was 
 completed for some forty miles. But now, trouble arose. The 
 contract had been let to Litchfield at the high rate of twenty- 
 four thousand, five hundred dollars per mile. The Board of 
 Directors had promised to raise three hundred thousand dollars 
 more stock upon the line of the road, payable at the rate of 
 five per cent per month, which payments Litchfield was to 
 receive on his contract. This was contrary to the advice of 
 Directors J. S. Waterman and H. A. Mix, who knew that in 
 this poor and thinly settled country, the amount could not be 
 raised. Their surmises proved to be correct. The stock was 
 never taken, the payments were not forthcoming, and the 
 contractor refused to proceed with the work. But in the 
 mean time the company had acquired a large amount of valu- 
 able real estate in Chicago for depot grounds. 
 
 At a sale of canal lands they had purchased all of those 
 lots which they needed to secure the right of way, and had 
 bought at a very low rate sixty acres additional. This had 
 appreciated enormously in value — far more than enough to 
 pay for all of the work that had been done upon the Road. 
 E. S. Litchfield and Ira Minard of St. Charles, now bought 
 up all of the stock which they could purchase^ at a low rate, 
 obtained control of the Company, sold its real estate and 
 barter to the Galena Company, and it was reported? 
 made a profit of over four hundred thousand dollars by the 
 transactioij. The embankments on the line of the road, and 
 
EIGHTEEN EIPTY-THREE. 411 
 
 the piers of the bridges built but never used, only remain as 
 mementoes of this project whose failure nearly ruined the 
 business of several thriving towns and drained the country of 
 a large amount of money. 
 
 Meantime the construction of the Dixon Road was pushed 
 forward at a rate that had never before been equalled. The 
 charter required that it should be so completed that a train 
 could be run through to Dixon by January 1st, 1854, and it 
 is certain that before midnight of that day a train was run 
 over the road. But such a road ! For many miles of its 
 course, no grading whatever was done. The sleepers were 
 laid down upon the bare grassy prairie and leveled up with 
 stove wood. It had neither station-houses, freight-houses, 
 engine-houses, nor any other buildings. It was necessary 
 that every thing should be built over from the foundation. 
 But the road gave a powerful forward impulse to the country. 
 It brought a market for all the abundant produce of this 
 fertile country to the doors of its growers. It seems incredi- 
 ble now that speculators could not foresee the immense advance 
 in the intrinsic value of the lands that was caused by this 
 revolution in affairs, but yet large tracts of land which 
 could be purchased with land-warrants at seventy-five cents 
 per acre still lay open to entry. 
 
 The expense of supporting the paupers which had now run 
 up to about six hundred dollars per year, was considered to 
 be a heavy burden upon the County, and in the hope of les- 
 sening it somewhat, the Board of Supervisors resolved to pur- 
 chase a County poor farm upon which some of this class of 
 unfortunates could be made useful and contribute to their own 
 maintenance. Messrs. Tappan and Tindall were authorized 
 to contract for such a farm, which was to be located in one of 
 the two middle tier of townships, and Mr. Plarrington who 
 was still Chairman of the Board advertised for a loan of three 
 thousand dollars with which to purchase it. In September, 
 the farm of A. H. Cartright, on the road between Sycamore 
 and DeKalb, was purchased for this purpose, the County 
 
412 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 i 
 
 borrowing the purchase moneyat the rate of ten per cent 
 interest. Some applications for a license for the sale of liquors 
 were also made at this session of the Board, but were promptly 
 squelched by a resolution offered by H. S. Champlin, and 
 carried unanimously, that this Board would grant no license 
 for that purpose. 
 
 A little hamlet of houses had now sprung up at the present 
 location of DeKalb. Indeed there had been a couple of stores, 
 a tavern, and a blacksmith's shop for two or three years. The 
 village was called Buena Vista, and went by that name for 
 several years. ^ 
 
 1854, 1 
 
 On the 31st of May, 1864, appeared in Sycamore the first 
 number of the first newspaper ever printed in DeKalb county. 
 The first number of this paper which was ever printed, is 
 now in the possession of Jabez Gwinnup, of Cortland, who 
 prizes it as a valuable relic. It was called the Republican 
 Sentinel, and edited and published by H. A. Hough. The 
 editor announced that the politics of the paper would be 
 "Republican Democratic," which sounds oddly enough at 
 this day ; but before the year was over, he was publishing in 
 his columns the proceedings of the Conventions of two parties, 
 the Republican and the Democratic. The Sentinel gave a 
 vigorous and enthusiastic support to the Prohibitory Liquor 
 Law presented to the people of the State that year for adop- 
 tion or rejection, and from its columns one would have inferr- 
 ed that the politics of the county, that season, hinged on the 
 question of prohibition. And indeed, the people of DeKalb 
 county went into this canvass with deep earnestness. On the 
 29th of June 1854, a Main Law Alliance was formed, and a 
 thorough canvass of the county commenced. It cannot be 
 stated with truth that there was an unusual amount of drunk- 
 ness in our county ; but they fought the dragon with weapons 
 of flaming fire, and if it had depended upon the vote of De- 
 Kalb county, the vending of ardent spirits would have been 
 forever silenced in the State of Illinois. But two towns in 
 
EIGHTEEN FIFTY-FOUR. 413 
 
 the entire county — Kingston and Pierce — voted against pro- 
 hibition. The following is the vote by towns : 
 
 FOR. AGAINST. 
 
 Franklin, 49 53 
 
 Shabbona, 48 20 
 
 Paw Paw, 90 18 
 
 South Grove, 56 3 
 
 Somonauk, 135 19 
 
 Clinton, 59 9 
 
 Genoa, 64 42 
 
 Pampas, 136 10 
 
 Kingston, 55 70 
 
 Pierce, ....28 32 
 
 Squaw Grove, 43 7 
 
 Mayfield, 67 14 
 
 Victor, 32 1 
 
 Sycamore, 207 38 
 
 DeKalb, 140 21 
 
 1189 357 
 
 Majority for Prohibition, 832. 
 During the year 1854 the land speculators seem to have 
 been fully aroused to the sense of the value of the prairie 
 lands of DeKalb county, and nearly all of them were entered. 
 Messrs. C. C. Shepard, H. A. Mix, J. M. Adsit, Mark How- 
 ard and a number of others entered with land warrants 
 which cost them about eighty cents per acre, immense tracts 
 of the richest land in the world, and which they are now 
 selling at twenty dollars per acre. 
 
 In glancing over the files of the Sentinel, we find the ac- 
 count of a trip made by the editor into the southern portion 
 of the county ; and in this article he made the prophecy 
 about one of our towns which the reader will perceive has 
 been more than realized. He said : " We next visited New- 
 ark Station, three miles east of Somanauk Depot. This is 
 also a brisk little town and improving rapidly. It is in the 
 [ midst of a beautiful farming country, and does the railroad 
 I business for Newark in Kendall couKty. It will be a formi- 
 dable competitor of Somonauk." When we consider that 
 
414 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 " Newark Station" has become a town of twenty-five hun- 
 dred inhabitants — Sandwich by name — and that instead of 
 being distinguished simply for "doing the railroad business 
 for Newark in Kendall county." she is the centre of a rich 
 and populous region, shipping annually hundreds of thous- 
 ands of dollars worth of her own manufactures, and re- 
 ceiving annually a million dollars worth of merchandise for 
 her own trade, we can form some conception of how DeKalb 
 county has increased in wealth and population within a few 
 years past. 
 
 On the 14th of September 1854, there was held at Syca- 
 more a political mass meeting of such a peculiar nature that 
 a part of the record of its proceedings are worth perpetuating. 
 It was the organization of a new party out of the three old 
 parties, and from this meeting may be dated the existence of 
 the Republican party in DeKalb county. At this meeting 
 delegates were appointed to attend a Republican Convention 
 called to meet at Aurora ; and these delegates were thus ap- 
 portioned among the three old parties represented. As most 
 of the names are prominent ones in our present politics, the 
 reader may be interested in seeing their former affinities. 
 
 Democrats. — Horace W. Fay, G. A. Colton, Joseph Six- 
 bury, James Harrington and Royal Crossett. 
 
 Free Soilers. — Pierpont Edwards, Stephen Townsend, 
 Thurston Carr, David West, James H. Beveridge, E. S. 
 Gregory. 
 
 Whigs. — Reuben Pritchard, W. J. Hunt, H. A. Joslyn, 
 William Byers, Dr. E. Rose, and John N. Braddock. 
 
 Tlie Third Annual Agricultural Fair of DeKalb County 
 was held on the 11th and 12th days of October of this year. 
 It was a very tame and spiritless affair, only twenty-six pre- 
 miums being awarded in all, and these being divided among 
 eighteen persons. Those of our citizens who participated in 
 the demonstration were mortified at the poor display of the 
 industry of the country, and at the close of the Fair a meeting 
 of the County Agricultural Society was held, at which it was 
 
EIGHTEEN FIETY-FOUE, 415 
 
 resolved to put forth every effort to enlist a deeper interest in 
 the Annual Fairs among the farmers of the County ; and from 
 the success which has attended subsequent Fairs, it is evident 
 that their resolution was carried out with energy. 
 
 At the County election this year, William Patten of Som- 
 onauk, was chosen Representative in the Legislature, William 
 Phelps, of Sycamore, Sheriff, and Lorenzo Whittemore, Cor- 
 oner — the latter office having been held by Mr. Whittemore 
 uninterruptedly up to the present time. 
 
 John Settle, the Treasurer of the County, an old and re- 
 spected citizen, died on the 22d of October of this year, in 
 the township of Pampas ; and the vacancy in the office occa- 
 sioned by his death was filled by the County Court by the 
 appointment of Joseph Sixbury. 
 
 The assessment of personal property in the County for 1854, 
 was six hundred and forty-two thousand, five hundred and 
 thirty-four dollars ; the total taxable property was one million 
 nine hundred and fifty-two thousand, eight hundred and two 
 dollars. The total tax levied was twenty-five thousand, three 
 hundred and seventeen dollars. The number of horses in the 
 County was four thousand and ninety ; the number of neat 
 cattle, fifteen thousand, seven hundred and forty ; sheep, 
 eight thousand, five hundred and eight. 
 
 An act of Congress passed in September, 1850, had dona- 
 ted to certain States the swamp and overflowed lands within 
 their borders for educational purposes, and this State had 
 decided to transfer this property to the several Counties to be 
 Icxpended at their discretion. The land had been surveyed 
 and a Commissioner of Drainage appointed as early as 1853. 
 A special session of the Board of Supervisors of this County, 
 was held in September of this year to take measures to dispose 
 of these lands. On motion of Supervisor William Patten it 
 was voted, that the net proceeds of the sale of these lands, 
 3hould be paid to the County School Commissioner, and by 
 ^lim to the Township Treasurers, to be loaned out for the 
 benefit of the school fund, in the same manner as were the 
 
416 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 proceeds of the sale of the 16th. or school section in each town. 
 The price of the first-class land was fixed at six dollars ; of 
 the second class at three dollars and fifty cents, and of the 
 third class at one dollar and twenty-five cents. But no small 
 amount of these lands had been purchased of Government, by 
 individuals, before the report of the Surveyor, designating 
 the lands selected as swamp lands had been received by the 
 United States authorities. It was provided that titles to these 
 lands should be confirmed to the original purchasers upon 
 their paying the County the purchase money or relinquishing 
 the warrant used in the entry, it being understood that the 
 United States would refund the purchase money to those who 
 had thus entered them- At this session a petition was received 
 for the organization of the town of Afton which was duly 
 accepted. 
 
 A smart enterprising village had grown up about the rail- 
 road station at Buena Vista or DeKalb, during the preceding 
 two or three years. It had grown up with Avonderful rapidity, 
 and promised ere long to become the largest village in the 
 County. Being the most centrally located, its people looked 
 upon it as likely to become at an early date the seat of justice 
 for the county, and with good reason, as there was then no 
 railroad to Sycamore, and people were extremely impatient 
 of traveling to the county seat, through the almost unfathom- 
 able mire that always impeded the traveler at the time of 
 holding courts. A sharp contest over this question arose at 
 the September term of the '' Supervisors' Court " as the records 
 then described that body, upon the proposition to build a jail 
 for the use of the County. There Avas a pressing necessity 
 for such a building however, and an order was passed to 
 appropriate thirty-fivo hundred dollars for that purpose if the 
 citizens of Sycamore Avould subscribe fifteen hundred 
 additional. 
 
 The County tax for 1855 amounted to eight thousand two 
 hundred and fourteen dollars, and a committee of the Board 
 reported that the County owned a poor farm valued at four 
 
EIGHTEEN FIFTY-SIX. 417 
 
 thousand four hundred and five dollars, and County town lot 
 valued at one thousand one hundred and thirty-five dollars. 
 
 Roswell Dow was elected County Treasurer, and Jacob R. 
 Crossett School Commissioner. 
 
 In 1855, the relative population of the three principal 
 villages in the northern portion of the County was : Sycamore 
 eight hundred and sixty-six, DeKalb five hundred and fifty- 
 seven, Cortland one hundred and eighty-six. 
 
 The census of 1855 showed the following population in the 
 several towns : 
 
 Genoa, 895, Kingston 874, Franklin 837, South Grove 400, 
 Mayfield 835, Sycamore 1646, Pampas 1182, DeKalb 1588, 
 Pierce 627, Squaw Grove 515, Clinton 867, Shabbona 966, 
 Paw Paw 944, Victor S99, Somonauk 1121—13,636. 
 
 The town of DeKalb at this time embraced within its bor- 
 ders the present town of Malta, and a part of Afton. 
 
 1856. 
 
 This year may be marked with a white stone in the annals 
 of our County. It was one of extraordinary prosperity and 
 remarkable increase of population. The new comers now 
 became fully satisfied that farms could be advantageously 
 occupied and worked upon the broad prairie at great distances 
 from timber. Proximity to a railroad and consequently to a 
 market for their produce, they concluded was of greater im- 
 portance than proximity to their supply of fuel and fencing. 
 Many new settlers began farming without any timber at all. 
 They fenced their farms with wire, and bought coal for fuel. 
 
 The Crimean war was in progress and created an extensive 
 demand in Europe for the wheat which those countries could 
 10 longer procure from the ports of the Baltic. The spring 
 ivheat, which old residents had been accustomed to sell at 
 ihirty and fifty cents, now rose in price to one dollar and a 
 lalf per bushel. Lands rose in value ; but still the produce of 
 me acre in a single year would often pay the cost often acres of 
 and. The real intrinsic value of lands so productive, with an un- 
 inlimited market in the immediate vicinity, seemed enormously 
 53 
 
418 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 above the price at which they were sold. E very farmer bought 
 more land. Men entirely without capital bought wild lands on 
 credit and commenced the expensive process of improving 
 them entirely with borrowed money. In spite of the great 
 amount of money received for the sale of produce, the people 
 of the County were more deeply in debt at the end of this 
 year than ever before. The merchants, stimulated by the 
 flourishing condition of the people, gave credit to every one 
 and sold enormous quantities of goods " on tick." When the 
 time of payment came in the autumn, but few were willing to 
 pay. They wanted to use their money in payments upon 
 their land or for other purposes, and the merchants generally 
 took notes for the indebtedness and extended the time of 
 payment. Everybody was " good," and everybody got credit 
 for all they wished to buy. The results of this unlimited 
 extension of the credit system will be found in the record of 
 the following years. 
 
 At the January term of the Board of Supervisors the 
 Committee appointed to solicit subscriptions from the citizens 
 of Sycamore for the erection of a County Jail reported no 
 success in their mission, and recommended that the County 
 proceed to build a jail without their aid. After a heated 
 discussion and considerable filibustering in opposition, the 
 Board appropriated five thousand dollars for this purpose and 
 appointed J. S. Brown, James Harrington, and Alonzc 
 Ellwood a building committee. Supervisors G. H. Hill ol 
 Kingston, J. S. Brown of South Grove, William Patten ol 
 Somonauk, I. W. Garvin of Genoa, W. T. Kirk of Franklin, 
 H. S. Champlin of Pampas, James Parker of Mayfield, C. M, 
 Humiston of Pierce, and James Harrington of Sycamore. 
 voted in favor of this action, and T. S. Terry of Shabbona, 
 and Alonzo Converse of DeKalb opposed it. The work was 
 at once begun and after twenty-one years passed without thai 
 convenience, DeKalb County had its Jail. 
 
 William Eordham, Drainage Commissioner, reported thai 
 he had sold lands to the value of twenty-three thousand seven 
 
EIGHTEEN FIFTY-SE"V"EN. 419 
 
 hundred and eighty-three dollars and seventy-six cents, and 
 received in cash fourteen thousand, five hundred and seventy- 
 five dollars and eighteen cents, and in notes nine thousand, two 
 hundred and sixteen dollars and fifty-eight cents. The Com- 
 mittee report that they are satisfied with the course of Ford- 
 ham in the matter. 
 
 The town of Malta was created at this meeting of the Su- 
 pervisors under the name of Milton, which was subsequently 
 changed to ^tna. The north half of the township at the 
 south of it, now called Milan, was made a part of this new 
 town. 
 
 The County tax for 1856 was $6,851.95. The assessed 
 value of real estate of the County was $2,245,614.00; town 
 lots, $174,983; personal property, $1,143,887; railroads, 
 $285,753. 
 
 The winter of 1855-56 was signalized by the most furious 
 snow-storm ever before known in the country. For three 
 weeks no trains ran through upon the railroads, and not a 
 mail was received in the County. 
 
 1857. 
 The year 1857 opened very auspiciously, and business of 
 all kinds was prospering. The credit of the people of the 
 County was good, the crops were bountiful and abundant, but 
 about the middle of the summer came a crash in the financial 
 affairs of the country. Business of all kinds all over the 
 country had become expanded to an unusual extent, and it 
 was flush and easy times everywhere. With the sudden fail- 
 ure of the Ohio Life and Trust Company, confidence in every 
 banking or commercial institution of the country became de- 
 stroyed, and they fell into bankruptcy by hundreds. The 
 hard times fell upon no part of the country with more sever- 
 ity than upon this new and enterprising County of De Kalb. 
 Nearly every merchant in the County was forced to suspend 
 payment. They urged the payment of their claims upon the 
 farming community, but grain had fallen in price. Good 
 
420 HISTORY OP DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 "wheat, which had been worth $1.50 per bushel during the pre- 
 vious year, now fell to forty and fifty cents, and the farmers, 
 who had based their calculations upon the large prices of 
 the previous year, now found themselves unable to meet their 
 engagements. Large numbers made assignments, othtirs 
 covered their property with mortgages to favored friends, so 
 as to keep their numerous creditors in the background, and 
 many others gathered together what they could convert into 
 money, and fled the country. The business of chasing down 
 run-away debtors was an important pursuit during the fall 
 and winter of that sad, disastrous year, 1857. One of the 
 prominent business men of Sycamore, an extensive manufac- 
 turer of carriages and wagons, a generous, high-spirited man, 
 harrassed by the necessities of a number of his workmen whom 
 he was unable to pay, and the importunities of other creditors 
 who were equally urgent, after a day spent in scouring the 
 country in the vain endeavor to collect money due him, and a 
 night of sleepless anxiety over his want of success, rose before 
 daylight, and plunged headlong into his own well, whence he 
 was dragged out a few hours after, a suicide's corpse. He 
 was a citizen who could ill be spared, a firm friend, an affec- 
 tionate husband and parent. The event deepened the general 
 gloom that hung over the town, and scarce a ray of light 
 pierced the dark clouds of adversity that obscured the pros- 
 pect. 
 
 The Board of Supervisors during this year devoted much 
 of their time and attention to an investigation of, and an 
 endeavor to arrange, the vexed and intricate matter of the 
 swamp-land fund, so as to make it a source of some profit to 
 the County, but without much success. They, however, sold 
 the claims of the County to W. W. Heaton for eight thousand 
 five hundred dollars, but Heaton subsequently failed to pay 
 for it. A summary of their proceedings will be given at a 
 later date. Roswell Dow was re-elected County Treasurer, 
 and James Harrington School Commissioner, both gentlemen 
 of the highest character, whose long connection with its polit- 
 
EIGHTEEN FIFTY-EIGHT 421 
 
 ical affairs was always a benefit to the County, and who per- 
 formed their duties with scrupulous exactness and strict 
 integrity. 
 
 The township of Milan was organized during this year, which 
 completed the organization of the County into eighteen town- 
 ships, each six miles square. 
 
 The Republican Sentinel^ the only newspaper in the County, 
 was purchased, during this spring, by the political friends of 
 Senator Douglas, and under the editorial care of E. L. and 
 Z. B. Mayo, and Jacob A. Simons, began to teach the politi- 
 cal doctrines of the Douglas Democracy. Political feeling 
 was excited at this time, and the Republicans, under the lead 
 of C. M. Brown, James H. Beveridge, D. B. James, and 
 others, at once took measures to start a Republican paper. 
 Their efforts resulted in the establishment of the True He- 
 publican, which, for years, continued to be one of the best 
 country weeklies in the State. Its editor, Mr. C. W. Waite, 
 was a facile and fluent writer, with a good deal of literary 
 taste and talent, and a remarkable enthusiasm in politics. 
 
 1858. 
 
 This year was another in the regular course of those wet 
 seasons which have been noted as coming every seventh year. 
 The spring weather was tolerably fair, and promised well; but 
 before the season for planting corn arrived, floods of rain 
 drowned vegetation, enveloped the country in seas of mud, and 
 rendered it almost impossible to conduct farming operations 
 with any degree of profit. 
 
 The wheat crop had become well started and near harvest 
 time was promising an abundant yield when a series of moist 
 hot days blighted it and in a few days' time destroyed its 
 value. There was less than half a crop. 
 
 This was a staggering blow to the farming community who 
 had depended upon the promising crop to tide them over and 
 out of the depths of depression to which the financial crisis of 
 the year before had consigned them. In June the village of 
 Sandwich which had growu up like Jonah's gourd, into one 
 
422 HISTOEY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 of the largest villages in the County, was visited by a destruc- 
 tive fire which consumed a considerable portion of the business 
 buildings of the place, and caused a very serious loss to the 
 thrifty little town. But the recuperative energies of its citi- 
 zens proved equal to the emergency, and in a few months, that 
 part of the town was rebuilt, and the prosperity of the place 
 seemed greater than before. The citizens of Sycamore con- 
 vinced that they must secure a connection with the great 
 railroad system of the country in order to maintain the vitality 
 of the town and retain its position as the seat of justice for 
 the County, during this year commenced the construction of 
 a branch railrood to connect with the Galena Railroad at 
 Cortland. It was completed during the following year. 
 
 The first Teachers' Institute ever held in the Couuty 
 assembled in October, and had a successful and profitable 
 session. It gave an impetus to the educational interests of 
 the County, and stimulated its teachers to improve their 
 systems of instruction. 
 
 The County Agricultural Society held a very flourishing 
 fair during this year, and at its regular meeting decided to 
 locate a Fair ground permanently upon the grounds adjoining 
 the Trishwaukee river directly north of the village of Sycamore. 
 
 William Patten of Somonauk, was re-elected Representative 
 to the Legislature from this Couuty, which at this time was 
 districted with the neighboring County of Kane. A. K. 
 Stiles was chosen County Clerk, and held the office for the 
 following eight years. Henry Safi"ord was chosen Sherifi". 
 
 At the December session of the Supervisors, the name of 
 ths town of Etna was changed to Malta. A strong report 
 was presented in favor of erecting a fire-proof building for 
 Court Records, but the proposition was voted down. 
 
 During the year 1860, four weekly papers were published 
 in DeKalb County. There were the True Republican edited 
 by Daniel Dustin ; the Sycamore Sentinel edited by E. L. 
 Mayo, who had lately succeeded Charles M. Chase ; the 
 DeKalb Times edited by ,and the Prairie 
 
EiaHTEEN FIFTY-EIGHT. 425 
 
 Home^ which was published at Sandwich. The three first 
 named papers were edited Adth unusual ability. The Sentinel 
 and Times were Democratic in politics, the Prairie Some 
 was neutral, and the True Republican, as its name would 
 indicate, was devoted to the principles of the Republican party. 
 
 Some idea of the scarcity of money and the pressure of the 
 times may be inferred from the fact that the list of lands ad- 
 vertised as delinquent for taxes this spring comprised about 
 four thousand tracts. Upon petition of the Board of Super- 
 visors, our Representative procured the passage of an act 
 suspending the collection of taxes for two months. 
 
 A tornado swept through the Northern portion of the 
 County during the month of April, prostrating broad belts of 
 heavy timber like grass before the scythe of the mower. Many 
 lives Avere endangered, but none were lost. 
 
 A remarkable meteor during the succeeding winter excited 
 some attention. It appeared to have fallen to the ground a 
 mile or so north of the village of Sycamore, and a party went 
 to find it. Their explorations failed to bring to light any 
 portion of the expected ^rolite, but unwilling to be laughed 
 at for their pains they brought back some glassy fragments 
 from a brick kiln with which, they so far succeeded in imposing 
 upon public credulity, as to induce a visit from a scientific 
 gentleman connected with the Smithsonian Institute, who came 
 post haste from Washington to examine and report upon the 
 phenomenon. 
 
 The total tax raised in the County during this year was 
 sixty-nine thousand, nine hundred and five dollars, of which 
 about seventeen thousand was State tax, seven thousand 
 school tax, eight thousand County tax, and the thirty-eight 
 thousand Town, Road, Bridge and other taxes. The total 
 s valuation of the property of the County was three million, 
 ll five hundred and fifty-six thousand, nine hundred and forty- 
 one dollars. 
 
 1859. 
 
 The afiairs of our County of DeKalb and its people moved 
 54 
 
42G HISTORY OF DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 on quietly during this year 1859. Tlie country was con- 
 stantly improving and increasing in population in spite 
 of the hard times which had continued since 1857 to 
 oppress the energies of the people. The crops of this year 
 were seriously injured by a prolonged drought which was so 
 severe that large numbers of cattle were reported to have 
 perished for want of water. The prices of produce were still 
 low, the people were still deeply in debt, and many who had 
 weathered the storm till this time now fled before it and ran 
 away from their accumulating debts. 
 
 The papers contained column after column of advertise- 
 ments of sales by the Sheriff, and foreclosures of mortgages. 
 Money was readily loaned on good security at twenty-five per 
 cent per annum. Indeed this had been a common rate for 
 many years before, and to this in a great measure was due 
 the present distress of the people. 
 
 The poor farm was filled w^ith paupers Avhose support upon 
 that place had become more costly than before the farm had 
 been purchased. Twelve hundred dollars were, appropriated 
 out of the Treasury for the support of paupers in addition to 
 what had been raised upon the farm. 
 
 Hiram Ellwood was chosen County Treasurer, N. S. Green- 
 wood School Commissioner, and J. W. Reid County Surveyor. 
 
 Mr. Roswell Dow ran as an independent candidate against 
 Mr. Ellwood and one of the most sharply contested elections 
 ever known in the County was held. Ellwood received nine 
 hundred and eighty-five votes, and Dow nine hundred and 
 sixty-two. jj 
 
 1860. S 
 
 This was a somewhat noted year in the history of our peo- 
 ple. One marked and pleasant incident in its record was, that 
 it gave to the hard-Avorking and long-suffering farming com- 
 munity, the most bountiful crop of every kind of grain that 
 had ever been raised in the County. The severe drouth of 
 the previous year, drawing all the moisture of the sub-soil to 
 the surface from an unusual depth, and with it the fructifying 
 
 I 
 
EIGHTEEN SIXT7. 427 
 
 substances held there in solution, seemed to have covered the 
 whole country with a coating of manure, and stimulated the 
 yield of every crop to unusual productiveness. The aver- 
 age yield of wheat was estimated at thirty bushels to the acre, 
 and all other products of the soil were equally remarkable. 
 Daring a few weeks of the early autumn, prices ruled high ; 
 money poured into the County in liberal quantities, and the 
 debt-ridden farmers began to feel that they had cast off the 
 heaviest of their burdens. But a new difficulty arose to com- 
 plicate their affairs — one which during the following five years 
 engrossed almost the entire thoughts of the people. It was 
 tlie year of the Presidential election — the first triumph of the 
 Republican party in the election of a President. DeKalb 
 County gave to Abraham Lincoln three thousand and forty- 
 nine, out of her four thousand and fourteen votes, and the old 
 guard of the Anti-Slavery party were filled with rejoicing at 
 the final triumph of their principles. But in the midst of 
 these rejoicings came the assurance that the South was deter- 
 mined to secede from the Union. In December, South Car- 
 olina adopted an ordinance of secession, and Mississippi soon 
 followed, blockading the Mississippi river at Vicksburg, and 
 preventing the outflow of the immense crops of corn down the 
 river. The threatened war reduced the price of every species 
 ■of produce. Corn sold in the markets of our County at ten 
 cents a bushel, and large quantities of the bountiful grain was 
 burned for fuel, it being considered cheaper than coal or 
 wood. Hard times speedily came back again upon the agri- 
 culturists of this County. 
 
 One notable event of the year was the gathering of a col- 
 lection estimated at thirty thousand persons at a great politi- 
 cal meeting at DeKalb, when Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, 
 Isaac N. Arnold, of Chicago, who was at this time elected to 
 Congress from this district, John F. Parnsworth, and 
 other eminent speakers addressed the vast gathering. 
 An ox was roasted whole at this meeting, and distributed free 
 to the attendants. The Wide Awakes, an uniformed political 
 
428 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 body, with torches and banners, attended in large numbers ; 
 nearly half the young men in the county being members of 
 this organization. 
 
 The contest for the nomination of the Republican party, 
 (now equivalent to election) to the office of Circuit Clerk and 
 Recorder, which had been well filled for eight years by Mr. 
 J. H. Beveridge, was a very exciting one. The candidates 
 were Silas Tappan, Roswell Dow, J. H. Beveridge and C. M. 
 Brown. Mr. Brown was nominated and elected. Thos. S. 
 Terry, of Shabbona, was chosen Representative in the Leg- 
 islature, Baldwin Woodruff, Sheriff, and Lorenzo Whittemore, 
 Coroner. Four thousand and nine votes were given in favor 
 of a convention to form a new constitution. 
 
 1861. 
 
 The year 1861 will be ever remembered as the first year of 
 the great wai* with the Southern rebellion. The part per- 
 formed by the gallant soldiers of DeKalb County in the great 
 contest with the enemies of the Union, has been fully related 
 in another portion of this work. 
 
 No portion of the country gave a more prompt response to 
 the call to arms. In nine days after the fall of Fort Sumpter, 
 a company of troops from Sandwich under Captain Carr was 
 garrisoning the fortifications erected at Cairo, and on the 10th 
 of May, a company of which Z. B. Mayo was Captain and E. 
 F, Dutton and R. A. Smith were Lieutenants, left Sycamore 
 to join the famous Thirteenth Illinois, at Dixon. Patriotic 
 citizens raised subscriptions amounting to over thirty thousand 
 dollars, which they pledged themselves to pay if required, to 
 maintain the families of volunteers, while they were absent in 
 the service. The Board of Supervisors subsequently met and 
 passed liberal appropriations for this purpose. In October, 
 nine companies of DeKalb County men had gone into the 
 service. Two were in the Thirteenth Regiment under com- 
 mand of Captains Partridge and Dutton, one under Captain 
 Carr in the Tenth, one under Captain Stolbrand in the Second 
 Artillery, one under Captain Butts in the Forty-second, one 
 
EiaHTEEN SIXTY-ONE. 429 
 
 under Captain Fox, two in the Eighth Cavalry under Cap- 
 tains Dustin and Whitney, and one in the Fifty-second under 
 Captain Stark. 
 
 In the work of raising and equipping troops for the defence 
 of the country, men of both political parties united, and in 
 the selection of candidates for civil oflBces, no distinction of 
 party was made. A Union Convention was held, at which 
 the Republicans, although three times as numerous as the 
 Democrats, divided the County offices equally with them, 
 giving the office of County Judge to E. L. Mayo ; that of 
 County Surveyor to Orange Potter ; that of School Commis- 
 sioner to Dwight Crossett ; all of them members of the Dem- 
 ocratic party, and awarding the office of County Treasurer to 
 Hiram Ellwood, of County Clerk to Aaron K. Stiles, and of 
 member of the Constitutional Convention to S. B. Stinson, 
 all of whom were of the dominant Republican party. They 
 were all elected without opposition. 
 
 The financial affairs of the people of the County were very 
 seriously deranged during this year by the general depreciation 
 and final failure of most of the banks of issue in the State. 
 The security for the issue of the bills which constituted the 
 principal currency of the people, had been the bonds of the 
 several States, deposited with the State Auditor. Many of 
 these were the bonds of Southern States which, when the 
 States seceded, sank immensely in value, and consequently 
 depreciated the value of their bills. The decline began in the 
 winter of 1860, and culminated in the following autumn, dur- 
 ing which time the people had money, varying daily in value 
 and which no one dared to keep on hand lest it should next 
 day become worthless. Finally the entire currency in common 
 use became useless as money, and gold became again the only 
 money in circulation. 
 
 The census taken during this year by Mr. Z. B. Mayo, for 
 the use of the United States Government, showed a population 
 of nineteen thousand, four hundred and eleven, distributed as 
 follows : 
 
430 "EISTOKY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Genoa, 1000; Kingston, 1060; Franklin, 943; Soutli 
 Grove, 787 ; Mayfield, 1040 ; Sycamore, 2280 ; Pampas, 
 1310 ; Malta, 620 ; Milan, 263 ; Afton, 545 ; Pierce, 950 ; 
 Squaw Grove, 800 ; Clinton, 997 ; Shabbona, 963 ; Pawpaw 
 1107 ; Victor, 766 ; Somonauk, 2240. 
 
 1862 
 Was a year of general gloom. In place of the speedy and 
 certain success of our armies which our people had confidently 
 anticipated, we met defeat and disaster. The hideous 
 monster of Rebellion confronted our forces at every point with 
 unexpected strength and resisted our efforts with a vigor 
 which we had not foreseen. None of our vast armies attained 
 any marked success, while the victories of the rebels were 
 numerous and disheartening. The bodies of the slain came 
 back, and troops of the sick, the maimed, and the wounded 
 victims of the Rebellion were to be seen about our streets. 
 Still the Government asked for more troops to fill up the de- 
 pleted ranks of our defeated armies, and most nobly did the 
 gallant boys of DeKalb County respond to the call. In the 
 midst of the busy labors of the harvest-field, a new call came 
 and in a few days eight hundred of the best men of the County 
 enrolled themselves in the ranks of those who were ready to 
 endure toil and hardship, to sacrifice life itself if need be, for 
 the defence of their country. In October, one thousand one 
 hundred and thirty-three men had enlisted from this County 
 and an enrollment made at this time with reference to a pos 
 sible draft showed that only three thousand three hundred 
 remained who were able to do military service. The enlist- 
 ments were distributed as follows : 
 
 No. enrolled. No. in Service. 
 
 Genoa, 146 90 
 
 Shabbona, 257 123 
 
 Pawpaw, 282 114 
 
 Somonauk, 624 234 
 
 Clinton, 250 93 
 
 Squaw Grove, 253 97 
 
 Sycamore, 574 179 
 
EIGHTEEN SIXTY-TWO. 431 
 
 Franklin 208 64 
 
 Malta 210 64 
 
 Milan, 96 27 
 
 Mayfield, 203 58 
 
 South Grove, 213 - 58 
 
 Kingston, 258 73 
 
 DeKalb, 429 107 
 
 Pampas, 383, 88 
 
 Victor, 201 43 
 
 Pierce, 221 41 
 
 Afton, 120 16 
 
 In every portion of the County the ladies united to form 
 Soldiers' Aid Societies, and labored with zeal and energy in. 
 the work of providing those comforts and luxuries that army 
 regulations did not supply. The total number of bounty or- 
 ders paid from the County Treasury at the close of this year 
 was 3466. 
 
 The assessment made this year placed the total value of the 
 property of the County at $2,712,534, of which $1,975,881 
 was in farms, $190,009 in town property, and $546,664 in 
 personal property. The actual value of the last class was 
 probably ten times, and of the former classes about five times, 
 the amount at which they were assessed. The returns showed 
 that there were 10,734 horses, 24,884 cattle, 16,020 hogs, 
 5092 sheep, and 138 mules, owned in the County. 
 
 At the November elections party lines seem to have again 
 been drawn, and none but Republicans were elected to office. 
 W. W. Sedgwick Avas chosen a member of the Legislature, 
 Henry Safford was made SheriiF, and Jacob R. Crossett Cor- 
 oner. 
 
 At the autumn session of the Board of Supervisors the 
 claim of the County against the United States, under the 
 swamp-land grant, was offered at auction. W. T. Kirk offered 
 $1500, A. K. Stiles offered $1925, Reuben Ellwood offered 
 $2020, W. J. Hunt offered $2045, and Benjamin Page $2050, 
 all upon credit. R. Ellwood then amended his bid to $2020 
 cash, and it was struck off to him. 
 
 Five Supervisors voted against the proposition to sell, and 
 
432 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 their written protest against it was recorded. They were 
 Messrs. C. Winne, R. M. Pritchard, T. J. Vandevere, G. W. 
 Culver, and S. Denton. Soon after it was reported that in- 
 justice had been done to the County by this sale, and the 
 Board was called together for an investigation. A committee 
 of the Board presented an elaborate report, giving the full 
 history of the swamp-land matter, which was to the following 
 effect : 
 
 They report that in 1852 John L. Beveridge had been ap- 
 pointed Drainage Commissioner, with authority to drain and 
 sell the swamp-lands, but that he was soon after succeeded by 
 William Fordham. By April, 1853, Mr. Lamb, the County 
 Surveyor, had selected as swamp-lands 31,153 acres, but none 
 of these lands had been conveyed to the County until 1858, 
 when only 5741 acres were conveyed, the remainder, about 
 25,000 acres, having meanwhile been sold by the United States 
 to individuals. The policy of the United States in regard to 
 lands selected as swamp-lands, but which it had thus sold, 
 was to return to the County the money paid in cases in which 
 money had been used in paying for these lands, and to give land 
 warrants in cases in which the lands had been paid for in 
 warrants. The United States had accordingly paid into the 
 State Treasury for the benefit of this County $6786 in money, 
 and a claim for about 20,000 acres in land warrants. 
 
 Mr. EUwood had gone to Springfield immediately after the 
 sale by the County, and had drawn $6543.19 in money. The 
 land warrants he had not yet received. Messrs. Kirk anc' 
 Stiles testified before the committee that they did not kno) 
 that the money was at Springfield at the time of the sale 
 Mr. EUwood testified that he did not know that it was, but 
 supposed it was, or would be soon. He supposed, however, 
 that it was a smaller amount. He offered to re-convey all 
 the land warrants to the County if it would pay the expenses 
 of the trip he had made to Washington to procure them. 
 
 For the land sold by Fordham nothing had been paid into 
 the Treasury. He had removed from the County in 1855, 
 
EIGHTEEN SIXTY-THREE. 433 
 
 but reported that he had received from the sale of these lands 
 $14,578.18; that he charged for his services $3443; and had 
 paid for ditching $6000, leaving $5000 in his hands. The 
 committee thought that very little of this ditching was ever 
 done. He had sold for the County 8731 acres, a large por- 
 tion of which was land subsequently sold by the United States 
 to individuals. Upon such sales the County had been com- 
 pelled to refund to those who purchased from it, and had 
 already raised by taxation and paid over $6000 for this pur- 
 pose. The County had commenced suit against Fordham's 
 bondsmen, but had settled it for $1300. 
 
 Thus this rich heritage intended for the benefit of the 
 
 County, and which, had it been retained and wisely managed, 
 
 Avould now have been worth more than half a million dollars, 
 
 . had really cost the County several thonsands of dollars more 
 
 than it had received from it. 
 
 1863. 
 
 The year 1863 was, pecuniarily, a prosperous season for 
 De Kalb County. Although it had been drained of a large 
 portion of its laboring population by the demands of the mili- 
 tary service, and although many rich farms lay waste and 
 untilled for want of men to work them, yet the country began 
 to feel the stimulus of the inflation of the currency, caused 
 by the necessities of the war ; the productions of the farm 
 commanded higher prices than heretofore; farmers began to 
 pay off their old debts ; the goods in the hands of the mer- 
 chants began to rise in value ; all parties felt richer than 
 heretofore. 
 
 The Board of Supervisors voted an appropriation of $4500 
 
 for the construction of an extensive fire-proof addition to the 
 
 Court House. Following the example set by the village of 
 
 De Kalb, whose beautiful school-building was then the most 
 
 costly and elegant owned in the State by any village of equal 
 
 size, the village of Sycamore completed one this year equally 
 
 tasteful and admirable in its plans. Many other places since 
 
 that time have followed the example set by these two riva 
 55 
 
434 HISTORY OF DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 towns of our County, and have erected similar or more ex- 
 pensive structures for common educational purposes; but at 
 this time these buildings, in their style, elegance, and perfect 
 adaptation to the wants of the scholars, were unique. No 
 other places, except the larger cities, had ventured upon such 
 an expenditure for the purpose of common-school education. 
 
 During this year 600,000 more troops were called out by 
 the President, for various terms of service, and although it 
 seemed impossible that so many could still be raised by vol- 
 untary effort in this County as were required to fill its quota, 
 yet the quota was filled, and the County and the State were 
 still free from the terrors of the draft. 
 
 The Board of Supervisors in December offered a bounty of 
 $100 to each recruit from this County, and appropriated $25 
 for each family of absent soldiers requiring aid. 
 
 At the Republican Union Convention of this year ther^ 
 was a sharp contest for the nomination for County Treasurer. 
 Mr. William C. Tappan, of Squaw Grove, was chosen upon 
 the sixth ballot, but one of his defeated competitors. Captain 
 R. A. Smith, came out as an independent candidate, and was 
 elected by the people, receiving 1571 votes to 662 given to 
 the regular nominee. Captain Smith had lost an arm, and 
 been otherwise severely wounded while in command of his 
 company in the 13th regiment, in its assault upon Vicksburg, 
 and this sacrifice appealed strongly to the sympathies of the 
 people. He has been twice re-elected to the same ofiice. Mr. 
 Hiram C. Beard, of Victor, was chosen School Commissioner, 
 and D. W. Lamb Surveyor. 
 
 The amount of the County indebtedness at this time was 
 $43,827, mostly arising from the payment of bounties to vol- 
 unteers. Its debt for other purposes was $5825. The County 
 tax levied this year was $26,340. 
 
 The jurisdiction of the County Court, which had previously 
 extended only to probate matters, was this year enlarged so 
 as to give it authority to try civil suits as in the Circuit Court. 
 In place of the per diem allowance hitherto paid tojthe Judge, 
 
EIGHTEEN SIXTY-FOUE. 435 
 
 he was now remunerated with a salary which was fixed at 
 $1000 per annum. 
 
 The high prices for sugars and syrups had at this time 
 greatly stimulated the culture of the sorghum plant, then a 
 new discovery, and large steam factories for manufacturing 
 this syrup were established at Sycamore and Sandwich. 
 Smaller establishments were in operation in various portions 
 of the County. Isaac Crisman, an indefatigable worker and 
 pioneer in this branch of manufacture, had several mills in 
 operation. 
 
 1864. 
 
 The year 1864 came in with a storm, more terrible in its 
 fury than the "oldest inhabitant" had ever before known. 
 Heavy, lowering, black clouds seemed to descend in a mass to 
 the earth in prodigious drifts of snow, which were driven with 
 great force by a powerful southwest wind. The country was 
 buried beneath these drifts, and the mercury sunk to thirty- 
 two degrees below zero. This severity of cold was intensified 
 by a fierce gale, which blew for three days with extraordinary 
 fury. Many persons were frozen to death, and cattle per- 
 ished in great numbers. More than one-half of the fowls in 
 this County were frozen; the railroads were blocked up, and 
 multitudes of passengers were compelled to remain in the 
 cars for several days. Thousands of animals, in course of 
 transportation upon stock trains, perished, and were brought 
 to market a stifi", stark, frozen mass. None who lived through 
 that fearful storm can ever forget its terrors. 
 
 The arrival of the re-enlisted veterans of Farnsworth's 
 Cavalry, upon the usual veterans' furlough, was an event of 
 interest to their friends. They came back in February, upon 
 a furlough of thirty days, and were most hospitably welcomed. 
 
 Horace W. Fay, an early settler of Squaw Grove, died in 
 April, at Vicksburg. He had been elected in 1848 a Repre- 
 sentative of this County in the Legislature, had been County 
 Surveyor, and held other public offices. Although old and 
 grey, he early enlisted in the war for the Union, and after 
 
436 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 some years of service was made Chaplain of a colored regi- 
 ment, in which service he lost his life. 
 
 William Young, of Sycamore, a former County Commis- 
 sioner, after a prolonged suffering from hypochondria, com- 
 mitted suicide by morphine. 
 
 Another extensive fire at Sandwich destroyed several ware- 
 houses, with heavy loss. 
 
 A favorite shade-tree in this County had always been the 
 rapidly-growing locust, and thousands of acres of them had 
 been planted for the purposes of timber and as screens from 
 the fierce winds of the prairie. During this year they were 
 entirely destroyed by a species of borer, which left hardly 
 one tree alive in the country. 
 
 The rapid rise in the value of gold, caused by the immense 
 issues of bills required by the necessities of the government 
 during this year, caused an equally rapid appreciation in the 
 value of all kinds of property. Money was plenty, trade 
 was lively, — every person seemed to be growing wealthy. 
 Gold rose during the year to $2.40, wheat sold at $2.00, corn 
 at $1.20, and barley at $1.90 per bushel. Those in trade 
 rapidly made money by the inevitable rise in value of every- 
 thing that they purchased, and large numbers, attracted by 
 the profits of trade, moved into the villages, and filled every 
 department of business. The wheat crop of this season was, 
 however, a failure; it was destroyed by the ravages of the 
 chinch bug. 
 
 In February the President made a call for 200,000 troops 
 for three years, or during the war, and in April came a de- 
 mand for 300,000 more, for one hundred days. The Super- 
 visors met, and extended the bounty of $100 to all who should 
 enlist upon the first call, and offered $35 to those who went 
 upon the second. Two or three companies were raised for 
 the latter term of service, and were soon garrisoning the 
 forts and guarding the communications in the rear of our 
 great armies of veterans, now marching under Grant and 
 Sherman upon Richmond and Atlanta. 
 
EIGHTEEN SIXTY-FOUR. 437 
 
 But the repeated calls for volunteers had exhausted the 
 supply. In the autumn the long-threatened draft came upon 
 some of the towns of the County. An enrollment was made, 
 and the following official statement'gives its result : 
 
 TOWJUB. QUOTA. CREDITS. DEFICIT. * 
 
 Pampas 118 101 17 
 
 Shabbona 122 93 29 
 
 Milan 37 31 6 
 
 Malta 86 72 14 
 
 South Grove 94 76 18 
 
 Franklin 90 75 15 
 
 Kingston 100 70 30 
 
 Mayfield 93 76 17 
 
 DeKalb 196 192 4 
 
 Afton 81 66 15 
 
 Clinton 102 84 18 
 
 Victor 87 79 8 
 
 Somonauk 265 248 17 
 
 Squaw Grove... 86 64 19 
 
 Pierce 92 75 17 
 
 PawPaw 124 110 14 
 
 Sycamore 250 291 
 
 Genoa 100 85 15 
 
 2123 1888 273 
 
 The people of Sycamore found to their surprise that their 
 town was credited with forty-one more men than their quota 
 required. This was probally due to the fact that early in 
 the war men from other towns, who joined companies formed 
 at Sycamore, recorded their names as coming from that town, 
 thus unwittingly defrauding their own towns of the proper 
 credit. This created a great deal of complaint, and a con- 
 vention of the County was held at Cortland, to endeavor to 
 devise some means of remedying the wrong; but nothing of 
 any avail could be done. In some of the towns, meetings 
 were called by the town officers, at which large sums of money 
 were voted as a tax on the property of the town, it being un- 
 derstood that the next Legislature would legalize these irregu- 
 lar taxes. Money was advanced by citizens upon these 
 
438 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 promises, and by offering large bounties recruits were procured, 
 and the draft averted ; but in others the conscription came, 
 and fell with great severity upon many citizens. It singled 
 out many men whose absence would leave their families desti- 
 tute and dependent, and who, in some cases, were obliged to 
 pay $1000 to secure substitutes. But most of the drafted 
 men went willingly, and served their time most faithfully. 
 
 At the election this autumn General F. W. Partridge, of 
 Somonauk, was elected Circuit Clerk and Recorder, I. V. 
 Randall, of De Kalb, Representative to the Legislature, and 
 H. A. Joslyn, of Sycamore, Sheriff. James H. Beveridge 
 was elected State Treasurer, — the first person ever elected 
 from the County to any public office whose duties were not 
 exercised entirely in the County. The County gave 2985 
 votes for the re-election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency, 
 and 741 for General George B. McClellan. 
 
 The Union League, a secret semi-political organization, 
 established lodges in most of the towns of the County, and 
 held frequent meetings. 
 
 A great deal of excited feeling against the railroad com- 
 panies grew up this year, because of the high prices of freight, 
 and a vicious system of warehousing and grain inspection. 
 A County Convention was held at De Kalb upon the subject, 
 and a committee was sent to confer with the companies. Some 
 unimportant concessions were made to the demands of the 
 public. 
 
 Captain J. M. Hood, of Sycamore, was appointed United 
 States Consul to Siam — the first foreign appointment received 
 by a citizen of this County. 
 
 1865. 
 
 During the winter of 1864-65 a bill for the removal of the 
 (Jounty Seat from Sycamore to De Kalb was introduced into 
 the State Legislature by Mr. Randall, of De Kalb. A com- 
 mittee of the citizens of Sycamore immediately repaired to 
 Springfield, to endeavor to defeat its passage. The number 
 of names upon the petitions for its passage, and the remon- 
 
EIGHTEEN SIXTr-FIVE. 439 
 
 strance against it, was greater than the number of voters in 
 the County, and many of the names were those of persons 
 who had been dead for several years. 
 
 After an exciting discussion before the committee to whom 
 the bill was referred, they reported against its passage, and 
 the opponents of the measure returned home. The bill was 
 subsequently, however, taken up by the House and passed to 
 a third reading, but it was finally defeated in the House. 
 
 The quotas of soldiers demanded of the several towns, to 
 answer the requisition of the call of December previous, were 
 reported in February, as follows : 
 
 Afton, 15; Clinton, 20; De Kalb, 2T; Franklin, 16; 
 Genoa, 16; Kingston, 14; Mayfield, 13; Milan, 3; Malta, 7; 
 Pampas, 23; Paw Paw, 26; Pierce, 17; Sycamore, 1; South 
 Grove, 16; Squaw Grove, 19; Somonauk, 46; Shabbona, 22; 
 Victor, 17. Total, 323. 
 
 Most of the towns, since the call was made, had partially 
 filled their numbers by enlistments of citizens and raising 
 funds by taxation to procure substitutes in the cities and 
 elsewhere. Sycamore had raised money, and put into the 
 service twelve men, which was eleven more than its quota. 
 From $400 to |600 was usually paid to each recruit. In 
 several towns, however, a draft became necessary, and some 
 of the drafted men paid nearly $1000 for substitutes. 
 
 To meet the expense caused by the taxation for procuring 
 these men, the taxes levied this year were enormous. The 
 percentage levied by the several towns of the County for all 
 purposes Avas as follows : 
 
 Paw Paw, 10 per cent. ; Shabbona, 7; Milan, 6|; Malta, 
 4|; South Grove, 6|; Franklin, 5|; Victor, 6J; Clinton, 
 101; Afton, 6; De Kalb, 7i; Mayfield, 6; Kingston, 6; 
 Somonauk, 7; Squaw Grove, 6J; Pierce, 7; Cortland, 6^; 
 Sycamore, 8J; Genoa, 6. 
 
 But all now felt that the great war was nearly ended. The 
 confederacy had been again bisected by the march of Sher- 
 man's grand army to the sea, at Savannah; Hood's army 
 
440 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 had been destroyed by the gallant boys under General Thomas ; 
 Grant was holding Lee in his death-like grasp at Richmond ; 
 and at last, early in April, came the glad news that Richmond 
 had fallen, and the rebel army was flying in dismay. This 
 was soon followed by the stiil more joyous intelligence that 
 peace, — the bright-winged, beautiful dove of peace, — so long 
 wooed, was at last won. How every heart rejoiced, how every 
 eye brightened, how every household was gladdened, by the 
 delightful assurance that the most terrible of all wars had 
 ended ! and gloriously ended ! that the last loyal son of De 
 Kalb had fallen by rebel bullets ! that the husband, the father, 
 the son, would soon be home again on a long, — a perpetual 
 furlough! that the cankering fear of the lonely watchers at 
 home, lest he come shattered with wounds, or a mangled, 
 loathsome corpse, had passed away forever ! None can forget 
 the glad rejoicings of that joyous occasion. Hundreds of the 
 brave boys were soon among us again, and were received with 
 that glad welcome which their sacrifices and sufferings deserved. 
 
 About three thousand men had been furnished by the 
 County for the great war now gloriously ended. The oiEcial 
 records of the State credit them to the various towns in the 
 following numbers, probably reducing the number by estimat- 
 ing and averaging them as if furnished for three years' service: 
 
 Paw Paw, 136 ; Shabbona, 137 ; Milan, 38 ; Malta, 94 ; 
 South Grove, 103 ; Franklin, 99 ; Kingston, 98 ; Mayfield, 
 103; De Kalb, 223; Afton, 89; Clinton, 111; Victor, 103; 
 Somonauk, 311 ; Squaw Grove, 93 ; Pierce, 100 ; Pampas, 
 134 ; Sycamore, 30T ; Genoa, 109. Total, 2388. 
 
 With the close of the rebellion came a prodigious fall in 
 the value of gold, and a consequent fall in prices of farm 
 products. Wheat fell to seventy cents per bushel, and this 
 was a criterion of the value of other property. The crops 
 were very poor. This was the occasion of the return of the 
 regular Septennial wet season. There was a drouth in the 
 summer, but at harvest time the floods poured down, destroy- 
 ing a large portion of the ripened grain, and covering the 
 
i' 
 
EIGHTEEN SIXTY-SIX. 441 
 
 country Avith a coating of slimy mud, so deep that the reapers 
 would not operate upon it (when this was attempted in the 
 intervals of the showers). The wet season continued during 
 the fall. 
 
 At the autumn elections there was no opposition to the 
 election of the following County officers: General Daniel 
 Dustin,; as Clerk; Captain R. A. Smith, as Treasurer; M. 
 Y. Allen, as Superintendent of Schools, and D. W. Lamb, as 
 Surveyor. Colonel D. B. James was chosen County Judge 
 by a small majority over Hon. E. L. Mayo. 
 
 The census, taken during this summer by Mr. Timothy 
 Wells, gave the following population : 
 
 Sycamore, 2587 ; Genoa, 1027; Kingston, 1181; Frank- 
 lin, 951; South Grove, 789; Mayfield, 1029 ; Cortland, 1324; 
 De Kalb, 1976 ; Malta, 849 ; Pierce, 975 ; Afton, 672 ; 
 Milan, 524 ; Squaw Grove, 679 ; Clinton, 1016 ; Victor, 
 835 ; Shabbona, 1165 : Paw Paw, 954 ; Somonauk, 2636. 
 Total, 21,168. 
 
 1866. 
 
 The war ended, the return of the soldiers ^to their homes 
 increased the population, and gave new life to all branches of 
 business. Many of the newly returned veterans crowded 
 into the villages and cities, and filled to repletion every branch 
 of trade. It was really a year of pros-perity. In 
 anticipation of a decrease of prices, the people had pru- 
 dently kept out of debt, paid cash for their purchases, and, 
 foreseeing and preparing for a financial storm, all danger 
 from its effects was averted. 
 
 Many elegant churches were erected throughout the 
 County, pre-eminent among them the fine Gothic structure of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Society at Sycamore, the finest tem- 
 ple of worship in the County. It was dedicated in May, 
 1866, and over $5000 was raised at the dedication to clear 
 ofi" the debt incurred in its construction. 
 
 About two hundred Sweedish emigrants came from the land 
 
 of their birth, and settled in and about the village of De Kalb 
 56 
 
442 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 during this summer. They were a sober, industrious, peace- 
 ful, frugal race, and constitute a valuable addition to the 
 population. 
 
 On the 8th of August a most desolating hail-storm swept 
 through a belt of the northern and central portions of the 
 County, beating every species of vegetation into the earth, 
 as would the tramp of an army. Farmers had just commenced 
 harvesting their wheat and oats, and with the exception of 
 that which stood in the shock every acre of it was rendered 
 utterly worthless. Thousands of acres of corn were beaten 
 to bare stalks. Hail-stones, measuring six and seven inches 
 in circumference, fell by millions. Children were knocked 
 senseless ; pigs, fowls and birds were killed by hundreds. 
 The loss, which was principally in the destruction of vast 
 fields of grain, was estimated at a quarter of a million of dol- 
 lars. In most portions of the County this storm was a 
 drenching rain, which continued for several days, and threat- 
 ened the destruction of the ripened grain. 
 
 The cholera prevailed to an alarming extent in the cities 
 during this summer, and there were a fcAV cases in this County. 
 
 The failure of the Sycamore Bank, on the 2d of November, 
 was the cause of a great deal of embarrassment to the people 
 of northern De Kalb County, Hon. James H. Beveridge, 
 its President, and William J. Hunt, its Vice-President, with 
 E. T. Hunt, its Cashier, were the only stockholders. The 
 people had confidence in the honesty, skill and integrity of 
 the two former, and all classes dealt freely with the Bank. 
 But upon the failure it was discovered that these men owned 
 but eight shares in the institution, while the remainder was 
 in the hands of E. T. Hunt, an amiable young man of pleas- 
 ant manners, with whom people liked to do business, but 
 whose expensive habits and reckless management, together 
 with a number of unfortunate speculations, had sunk the cap- 
 ital of the concern, and brought it down in ruin. Mr. Bev- 
 eridge had for three years been absent at Springfield, in the 
 performance of the duties of his office as State Treasurer, 
 
EIGHTEEN SIXTY-SIX. 443 
 
 A public meeting of the depositors appointed a committee to 
 examine its aflfairs, and they made a full report. They re- 
 ported its debts at $95,000, and assets at less than $10,000. 
 During the following year a settlement was made with its de- 
 positors, by which they received fifty per cent, of their claims. 
 
 At the November election, William Patten, of Somonauk, 
 was chosen State Senator, Robert Hampton, of PawPaw, 
 Representative, Morris Holcomb, of Sycamore, Sheriff, Lo- 
 renzo Whittemore, of Sycamore, Coroner, and V. D. Miller, 
 of De Kalb, Surveyor. The total vote cast was 3049, — the 
 smallest for many years. 
 
 The Assessor's report for this year valued the taxable per- 
 sonal property of the County at $754,771, and the total 
 value of real and personal property at $3,068,322. The 
 total County tax levied was $76,733.05, and the entire tax of 
 the County was $208,030.74. The towns, which were most 
 of them paying ten per cent, interest upon the indebtedness 
 incurred for payment of bounties to soldiers, showed a com- 
 mendable degree of determination to clear themselves of their 
 debts. Their total taxes during this year were as follows : 
 
 Paw Paw, $10,524,81; Shabbona, $8,207.62; Milan, 
 $7,024.90 ; Malta, $7,790.38 ; South Grove, $10,982.25 ; 
 Franklin, $10,793.42; Victor, $10,378.29; Clinton, $6,628.99; 
 Afton, $7,252.12; De Kalb, $14,995.15; Mayfield, $11,- 
 780.06; Kingston, $10,102.26; Somonauk, $21,410.76; 
 Squaw G-rove, $11,274.52; Pierce, $8,720.70; Cortland, 
 $14,490.12; Sycamore, $20,557.54; Genoa, $7,462.29. 
 Total, $200,376.45. 
 
 It may be added that this tax, burdensome though it was, 
 was more easily borne than would have been a tax of one- 
 hundredth of that amount twenty years before. 
 
 The indebtedness of the County, reported in February at 
 one hundred and eighty thousand one hundred and fifty-one 
 dollars, of which one hundred and sixty thousand seven hun- 
 dred and fifty-three dollars was bearing interest, had been 
 increased in December to one hundred and ninety-two thous- 
 
444 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 and seven hundred and sixty-two dollars, of wliich one hun- 
 dred and fifty-five thousand six hundred and seventy-nine 
 dollars was bearing interest. 
 
 A great many cases of destruction of sheep by wolves were 
 reported, and the Supervisors increased the bounty to twenty 
 dollars upon each animal killed, with the prudent proviso 
 that, as some had been detected in the profitable business of 
 keeping tame wolves, and raising them for the bounty, no 
 claims thus originated should be paid. 
 
 1867. 
 
 The business interests of De Kalb County have alwaj^s 
 been to such an extent agricultural in their character that 
 upon the abundance of crops and enlargement of prices all 
 of its pecuniary prosperity has directly depended, and no 
 record of its history for 186T would be complete without 
 mention that this was the third and the most fortunate of 
 years of great prosperity among the farmers, and consequently 
 with all classes of the population. With the opening of spring 
 grain commanded the highest prices ever known in the County. 
 Spring wheat readily suld at two dollars and seventy-five 
 cents per bushel, which a few years before has been a drug 
 at fifty and sixty cents. Corn, which six years before was 
 burned for fuel, was now worth one dollar and twenty cents 
 per bushel. Cattle and other farm productions were equally 
 high in price. Beef, which five years before was retailed at 
 five cents per pound, now brought twenty cents. The farm- 
 ers, who had since the war been expecting a great decline in 
 prices, and had consequently been very cautious in their deal- 
 ings, now began to place a higher value upon their lands. 
 Durins: the war no considerable rise in the value of real estate 
 had been accomplished, but now there was a material advance. 
 The beautiful prairies about Malta and Milan were fully 
 doubled in value, and sold readily at twice the price of three 
 or four years before. All over the County there was a simi- 
 lar advance, stimulated by a promising prospect for a very 
 large crop of grain. 
 
ElaHTEEN SIXTY-SEVEJiT. 445 
 
 During this spring a new method of solving the vexed 
 question of the location of the County Seat was invented. 
 Upon the petition of citizens of Sandwich, which had now 
 become the largest village in the County, Senator Patten, 
 who was a citizen of that place, had during the previous win- 
 ter introduced a bill into the Legislature, known as the Half- 
 Shire bill. It provided for a re-location of the County Seat 
 at Sycamore and Sandwich. The latter place was to be the 
 seat of justice for the six southern towns of the County, and 
 the former for the twelve northern towns. It was argued in 
 its favor that the business of the County, dividing in the 
 thinly settled country in the central portion of the County, 
 naturally flowed to the railroad towns at the northern and 
 southern ends, and that neither De Kalb nor Sycamore af- 
 forded a convenient place for the transaction of the public 
 business of the southern portion of the County. 
 
 One of the most exciting elections ever held in the County 
 followed. To oppose this measure the citizens of De Kalb 
 and its vicinity formed a stock company, and contributed 
 nearly five thousand dollars to establish a newspaper office in 
 that town. In March the De Kalb County News was issued. 
 It was edite(? by Aaron K. Stiles, the former County Clerk — 
 a man of remarkable tact, shrewdness and energy. For a 
 week or two preceding the election the paper was issued daily, 
 and denounced, ridiculed and caricatured the measure without 
 stint. The people and the papers at Sandwich and Sycamore 
 supported it. Excited meetings were held in every portion 
 of the County. But it turned out that a majority of the 
 people in the six southern towns, who were supposed to be 
 benefitted by the change, were opposed to it, and a final 
 quietus was given to the measure by the efforts of a delega- 
 tion from that section, composed of Messrs. Beard, Woodruft', 
 Pritchard, McEwen, and Ball, men who commanded the per- 
 fect confidence of the people, who traveled through the 
 northern portion of the County, undeterred by storms which 
 enveloped the country in seas of unfathomable mud, and ad- 
 
446 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 dressed meetings in every town, beseeching the people not to 
 impose this measure upon them. It was defeated by a large 
 majority, only the three towns of Sycamore, Somonauk and 
 Mayfield giving a majority in, its favor. 
 
 During this season the attention of the citizens of the vil- 
 lages of the County was turned to the subject of the estab- 
 lishment of manufactories, as necessary to increase the busi- 
 ness of the towns. The people of Sandwich established a 
 stock company, with a capital of seventy-five thousand dollars, 
 which on the following year was increased to one hundred 
 and fifty thousand dollars, for the manufacture of agricultural 
 machinery. A flax factory, foundry and cheese factory were 
 started at Sycamore, a planing mill and manufactory of sash, 
 doors and blinds, at De Kalb, and a large flouring mill at the 
 rapidly growing village of Malta. A beautiful public school 
 building was erected at Cortland. 
 
 The subject of hedges for the prairie farms began to attract 
 a great deal of attention, and over tAvo hundred miles of osage 
 orange hedge were set out during this spring. 
 
 Among the meteorological phenomena of the year were 
 unusually heavy falls of snow in January, a prodigious flood 
 in February, extraordinary and long-continued storms in 
 March, and a very destructive hail-storm in July. 
 
 Captain R. A. Smith was re-elected County Treasurer, and 
 V. D. Miller Surveyor, without opposition. 
 
 Since the close of the war an unusual number of burglars 
 had infested the country, and our County was not exempt 
 from their ravages. Sandwich, Cortland and De Kalb suf- 
 fered most from thei^ depredations. 
 
 The County Agricultural Society, which held its fairs at 
 Sycamore, was revived this year, and held a flourishing exhi- 
 bition. A Farmers' Club was also established, which held 
 weekly meetings of decided interest and value to the agricul- 
 tural portion of the community. 
 
 The total tax of the County was $191,301, of which 
 13,173 was for County purposes, $51,664 for schools, and 
 
 T,128 for payment of bounties. 
 
EIGHTEEN SIXTY-EIGHT. 447 
 
 1868. 
 
 No notable events have yet occurred in the history of our 
 County of De Kalb during this year. Perfect peace, general 
 prosperity, and extraordinary quietude have been the charac- 
 teristics of the year. The crops were excellent, their prices 
 fair, the people industrious, and well repaid for their labor. 
 The County debt has been reduced to $85,350. The taxable 
 property has been increased to $3,308,330. The assessors 
 report that there are owned in the County 14,019 horses, 
 27,792 cattle, 375 mules, 33,849 sheep, and 20,823 hogs. 
 The number of acres of wheat grown was 46,949, of corn 
 49,344, and of other field products 38,826. 
 
 De Kalb County, at theCongressional convention of the Re- 
 publican party this year, gave her vote for the first time for 
 one of her own citizens, Hon. Reuben Ellwood, of Sycamore. 
 
 At the election General E. E. Dutton was chosen Circuit 
 Clerk and Recorder ; C. W. Marsh, Representative to the 
 Legislature ; Captain Edward Safford, Sherifi"; Lorenzo 
 Whittemore, Coroner; Charles Kellum, States- Attorney, and 
 W. M. Simmons, member of the State Board of Equalization. 
 The largest vote ever cast in the County was given at this 
 Presidential election. Its total was 4331, of which 3441 were 
 given to General Grant and 890 to Horatio Seymour. 
 
 The publication of this History of the County may be an 
 event not unworthy of mention in the annals of our County, 
 and with it this record is completed. It is a picture of 
 growth, progress, and prosperity, not unprecedented in this 
 growing West, but yet sufficiently remarkable to fill the minds 
 of its first settlers with surprise In the thirty years of 
 its existence as a County, its population has increased from a 
 few hundreds to nearly thirty thousand. Its progress in 
 wealth has been yet more remarkable. To the early settlers 
 it seems but yesterday that the County was dependent on 
 charity for the $200 necessary to procure the title to the 
 lands on which its County Seat was located. Now it pays 
 an annual tax of $200,000 without embarrassment. 
 
448 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 The log cabins of its first settlers have been replaced by 
 farm dwellings as elegant as any section of the country can 
 boast. The broad, open prairies have all been converted into 
 handsome farms, and peopled with a dense and prosperous 
 population. Its numerous villages are the centres of refine- 
 ment and wealth. Over the smooth, iron railway its people 
 now travel farther in an hour than they could then go in a 
 day, and the telegraph places them in instant communication 
 with the whole civilized world. Their energy and enterprise 
 have- converted the desolate waste of thirty years ago into 
 the abode of refinement and luxury, and surrounded them 
 with the numberless advantages of old and highly cultured 
 communities. 
 
 May the future of this people be as glorious as its past has 
 been prosperous, and its present is auspicious. 
 
PART FOURTH 
 
 TOWN HISTORIES. 
 
 67 
 
TOWN HISTORIES. 
 
 GENOA. 
 
 Few townships in this County of ours have more natural 
 attractions than Genoa. The rolling prairie land which occu- 
 pies the greater portion of the township is diversified by more 
 than the average extent of natural groves, and is watered by 
 several fine streams. The Kishwaukee flows "^through a por- 
 tion of the town, giving a tolerable water-power, — not so 
 powerful as at an earlier day, when, as everywhere, the streams 
 were larger and their flow more constant, — but capable of 
 being put to use, and contributing to the growth of the town 
 and convenience of the people. Wood and Avater are the two 
 great wants of this land of the prairies, and these Genoa 
 possesses, if not in abundance, yet in much more liberal 
 quantities than most parts of the County. 
 
 The first white inhabitant of the town was Thomas Madison? 
 who came to the place in 1836, and built a spacious log cabin 
 on the spot where, for thirty years after, a hotel was kept by 
 H. N. Perkins and Luke Nichols. Mr. Perkins moved to 
 the place in the autumn of 1837, and he, with Samuel Corey, 
 Thomas Munnahan, and Henry Durham, bought the claim of 
 Madison, who moved off to Texas. It was said to embrace 
 two sections of land, and they paid $2800 for it. 
 
 In the spring of 1837 Mr. Henry Durham had moved into 
 Madison's cabin, and opened a small stock of goods for sale 
 to the few settlers who were now rapidly filling up the country. 
 He was a sharp, shrewd, energetic citizen, lived in the place 
 for nearly thirty years, and died there, having accumulated 
 
TOWN OF GENOA. 451 
 
 a considerable fortune by trade, bv hotel-keeping, and by well 
 managed speculation in lands. He, with Samuel Corey, 
 Henry Preston, and Daniel T. Whittemore, were among the 
 first comers. 
 
 Whittemore had the reputation of being a leading member 
 of the gang of horse-thieves, counterfeiters and burglars who 
 infested the country at this early day. Genoa was always 
 one of the headquarters of the gang. 
 
 In the spring of 1838, Mr. Perkins' house was entered by 
 a party of them, who robbed him of $300. He had good 
 evidence that it was taken by the Brodies, of Brodies' Grove, 
 who were understood to be confederated with Whittemore and 
 others at Genoa, but no prosecution was made, nor was any 
 of the money recovered. 
 
 During the year 1838 many new settlers came in, and Genoa 
 became quite a lively little village. Dr. H. F. Page com- 
 menced the practice of medicine there, James S. Waterman 
 opened a stock of goods, and one E. P. Gleason, who after- 
 wards figured extensively as a leader of the banditti, came in, 
 and bought the claim of Whittemore and Corey. He had 
 the reputation of being a man of wealth, and began to talk 
 about building flouring mills, starting stores, and otherwise 
 contributing to the growth and enlargement of the business of 
 the place. During the spring of 1838 he set out that fine 
 row of maples that now constitute a conspicuous ornament of 
 the village. 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1888, a great celebration was held at 
 Genoa, at which George H. Hill delivered an oration to an 
 audience of over a thousand people, gathered from Rockford, 
 Aurora, St. Charles, and all the country round. Genoa was 
 then as large and as promising a town as any of these places. 
 Belvidere contained only two houses, and was by no means so 
 important a place. 
 
 Gleason, in his subsequent career, acquired an unenviable 
 notoriety. Not long after his arrival, while he was boarding 
 at Perkins' log tavern, a carpet-sack well filled with counter- 
 
452 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 feit money was found in his possession, and, the fact becoming 
 notorious, his wealth was easily accounted for. He was a 
 man of fine appearance, agreeable manners, fair in his dealing 
 with his neighbors, and generally liked. He never passed 
 bad money in his ordinary business transactions, but had it 
 manufactured, and wholesaled it to his confederates. In 1839 
 one of his gang, a traveling pedlar, was arrested in Chicago, 
 and during his confinement confessed his guilt, and implicated 
 Gleason as one of the chiefs of his gang. Gleason was ar- 
 rested, but, although the testimony of this witness had been 
 promised, when the trial came on he could not be procured, 
 and Gleason was set at liberty. 
 
 Not long after, a message was again sent from Chicago, 
 saying that if our officers would again arrest Gleason, the 
 evidence against him should be forthcoming. Three or four 
 deputies were now duly commissioned to go to Genoa, and 
 eifect his arrest. They reached his place at midnight, and 
 after watching till dawn, had the satisfaction of seeing him 
 come to the door of his dwelling, when they approached and 
 captured him. But Gleason hospitably insisted that his cap- 
 tors should stop and get breakfast before they started away, 
 and they consented. Meantime, he took them out into his 
 garden to show them his fine crop of corn, of which he was 
 justly proud. In an instant he had disappeared in the tall 
 corn, and for several years after was not seen in this country. 
 
 Some months after, when the evidence against him had 
 again become unattainable, Gleason came back, and started 
 business again. He had a store, and a saw-mill, and a fine 
 farm, all in full operation. He had married a respectable 
 young woman of the neighborhood. 
 
 A few years after, he became ill, and a traveling doctor, 
 named Smitch, who had boarded in his family, and was re- 
 ported to be attached to his wife, attended him. He grew 
 worse without any evident cause. After eating one day of 
 some porridge, prepared by his wife and the doctor, he com- 
 plained that it did not taste quite right, but ate heartily, and 
 soon after died in convulsions and delirium. 
 
TOWN OF GENOA. 453 
 
 Not long after his burial, the doctor and Mrs. Grleason were 
 arrested on a charge of murdering him by poison. The body 
 was exhumed, and the contents of the stomach examined. A 
 special term was held for their trial, but the evidence of guilt 
 was insufficient, and they were discharged. 
 
 They were soon after married, and moved to La Salle 
 County, where the doctor died, under circumstances that led 
 to the suspicion that he too had been poisoned. His wife 
 soon after died very suddenly. 
 
 Such was the miserable end of one who undoubtedly was a 
 leader in much of the crime that disturbed the early settlers 
 of this County. He escaped the punishment of his crimes 
 against the law, only to meet a more terrible fate. 
 
 Genoa was established as a post-office in 1836. It was 
 named by Madison, its first settler, who was also its first post- 
 master. He came from Genoa, in jSTew York, and finding 
 here, as there, a Geneva and Batavia, he concluded to carry 
 out the parallel by giving it this name. For many years it 
 was decidedly the most flourishing village in the County. 
 
 In 1848 its trade supported four large dry goods stores, 
 each of them doing a larger trade than any other in the 
 County. They were kept by E. A. Durham, Eobert Water- 
 man, W. H. Allen, John N. Maxfield and John Ball. There 
 were two large, well-built taverns, kept by Henry Durham 
 and H. N. Perkins, at which a line of stages from Elgin to 
 Galena made a stopping place. 
 
 Elgin was then the market for this section of country, and 
 to enable benighted travelers to keep that road on the broad, 
 unbroken prairie, they annually plowed up a series of parallel 
 furrows on each side of the track, and this was about all of 
 the road work that was done. 
 
 The population of Genoa in 1855 was 895 ; in 1860, 985 ; 
 in 1865, 1027. 
 
 Genoa furnished the Union army with 109 men, and at the 
 time of the first enrollment for a draft had already sent out 
 sixty-eight per cent, of her arms-bearing population. Of 
 those who lost their lives in the war were : 
 
454 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 J. H. Chase, who died at Kansas City, Mo., June 11, 1865. 
 
 R. M. Gillett, Alexandria, Va., April 9, 1862. 
 
 Ellis Buck, Washington, D. C, April 28, 1864. 
 
 A. H. Burzell, who was lost off steamboat Olive, below St. 
 Louis, on the Mississippi, June 28, 1865. 
 
 Augustus Martin, at Genoa, February 13, 1863. 
 
 Sergeant J. H. Depue, at March 21, 1864. 
 
 J. S. Bailey, at Chicago, 111., October 1, 1862. 
 
 J. H. Burroughs, at New Albany, Ind., December 24, 1862. 
 
 The Supervisors of the town have been : For 1850, Henry 
 Durham; 1851, G. F. King; 1852,1. W. Garvin; 1858-54, 
 A. M. Hollenbeck ; 1855, I. W. Garvin ; 1856, Jesse Doud ; 
 1857, Daniel Buck; 1858-59, John Heth ; 1860, J. L. 
 Brown; 1861-62, John Heth; 1863, J. L. Brown; 1864-65, 
 Daniel Buck; 1866-67-68, Henry K Perkins. 
 
 The water-power near the village has been employed in 
 operating a flouring mill and a distillery, but neither are now 
 in operation. 
 
KmasTON. 
 
 In the spring of 1835 the only human inhabitants of 
 Kingston were the Pottawattamie Indians, who occupied a 
 considerable village upon the farm since claimed by Lewis 
 Driggs, and who, upon the low-lands near the Kishwaukee 
 river, had two or three flourishing fields of corn, cultivated 
 by the squaws, and protected from the depredations of their 
 ponies by a shabby defence of stakes and poles. 
 
 But the report had gone abroad that the Indian occupancy 
 of this section of country must cease with the fall of this 
 year, and a number of white men, attracted by the story that 
 timbered land, not claimed, could be found upon the banks of 
 the Kishwaukee, made their way into this section, and speedily 
 claimed all of the timber in the town. Among these first 
 comers were: Thomas Robb, George H. Hill, Isaiah Fairclo, 
 Harmon Miller, Lewis Driggs, John Judd, Benjamin Schoon- 
 over, James Green, l^athan Billings, and John Freel. They 
 built for themselves rude shanties, somewhat like the Indian 
 Avigwams, of poles and bark, and lived in them until the ap- 
 proach of winter compelled them to erect substantial, though 
 small, log cabins. 
 
 Mr. George H. Hill, who was always a favorite among the 
 people of the County, for his candor, intelligence, and integ- 
 rity, was stripped of his entire property this winter by the 
 destruction of his house by fire. 
 
 Kingston, in addition to the benefits of the rich, black, 
 fertile soil that is common to all the land in this County, has 
 more than one-third of its surface covered with excellent tim- 
 ber, and is remarkably well watered. These advantages early 
 
456 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 attracted settlers, and it was among the first inhabited towns 
 in the County. 
 
 But poverty and destitution were the prevalent complaints 
 of the early inhabitants. They started in life without much 
 property, and for many years found it difficult to acquire it. 
 
 They raised small crops. In 1837 Mr. W. A. Miller raised 
 ten acres of corn, and he had then the largest crop in the 
 County. Mills were to be reached only by traveling long 
 journeys, and the people avoided this necessity by pounding 
 corn or buckwheat in a mortar, and living upon the rough 
 cakes made from this coarse provender. Fish was a great 
 resource. They were taken in great abundance, and, bar- 
 relled for future use, they constituted a permanent article of 
 diet. Gradually the new comers acquired the comforts of 
 life, but nearly a score of years elapsed before the real hard- 
 ships incident to the new settlement were ended. 
 
 An unusual proportion of the first settlers now remain 
 upon the lands which they first occupied, and enjoy that 
 wealth and comfort to which the hardships endured in the 
 early times have given them the best of titles. 
 
 The population of Kingston in 1855 was 874 ; in 1860, 
 1094; in 1865, 1181. 
 
 In April, 1860, a fearful tornado swept through the town. 
 It was first seen as a black cloud, in tunnel shape, sweeping 
 along at the rate of a mile a minute. Huge trees were taken 
 up in the air, and carried off like straws. A house belonging 
 to Isaac McCoy was torn in fragments, and not a stick of it 
 was left near its former position. Even the stones of its cellar 
 were carried off. It was occupied by Mr. Weaver, but for- 
 tunately empty at the moment. The earth, in the course of 
 the tornado, was swept and hollowed out so that it resembled 
 the bed of a rapid river. Large stumps were torn out by 
 the roots. Mr. Luke Penwell, seeing it approach, ran to 
 avoid it; but being caught, seized a sapling, to which he clung 
 with the energy of despair, while the wind whipped his legs 
 around his head with great violence. 
 
TOWN OF KINGSTON. 457 
 
 A similar tornado, passing in the same direction, sAvept 
 through the town seven years before. 
 
 In April, 1862, Mr. George Magenety was killed by being 
 shot by Asa Baldwin, a wealthy money-loaner of Belvidere, 
 while resisting Baldwin's attempt to take possession of some 
 property conveyed to him by a chattel mortgage. Baldwin 
 was arrested for murder, and lay in jail for many months : 
 but obtained a change of venue to Belvidere, and was finally 
 acquitted. 
 
 Kingston, from a population of 1094, gave 105 soldiers to 
 the ranks of the defenders of the Union. 
 
 Among the dead of the war from this town Avere three sons 
 of John Russell. They were : Wesley Dickson Russell, of 
 Company F, in the Thirteenth Infantry, R. W. Russell, of 
 Company K, Forty-Second Illinois Infantry, who was wounded 
 at Stone River, remained seven days on the battle-field, was 
 then re-taken, and died of his wounds, and D-ivid F. Russell, 
 of the Ninety-Fifth Infantry, who died at Yicksburg. Rich- 
 ard W. Atwood, of Company C, in the One Hundred and 
 Fifth, lost an arm and leg at Dalton, Georgia, and after in- 
 tense suifering, died two weeks after. Ira G. Burzell, of 
 Company L, Eighth Cavalry, was drowned in the Mississippi. 
 Arba Lankton, of the Ninety-Fifth, died in hospital at Vicks- 
 burg. 
 
 John Swanson, at Atlanta, August 12, 1864. 
 
 David Bear, at Chattanooga, December 27, 1864. 
 
 Levi Sherman, at Bowling Green, December 3, 1862. 
 
 Gilbert Barnes, at Jefferson City, Mo., October 24, 1861. 
 
 Abner Westbrook, at Memphis, Tenn., October 22, 1864. 
 
 James Collier, at Evansville, Ind. 
 
 Frank Artz, at Chattanooga, October 15, 1863. 
 
 J. B. Blake, died at home, December 1, 1862. 
 
 Abner Dalby, at Vicksburg, November 2, 1866. 
 
 Anson Brainard, at St. Louis, December 12, 186 L 
 
 Henry Potter, at Natchez, Miss., July 29, 1863. 
 
 William H. Branch, at home, December 29, 1861. 
 58 
 
458 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNT"^. 
 
 E. H. Branch, Pontotoc, Miss., July 12, 1864. 
 
 William Davis, at Tipton, Mo., October 15, 1861. 
 
 Lewis Miller, at home, December 4, 1864. 
 
 William Middleton, at Milligan's Bend, February 5, 1863. 
 
 Andrew Raymond, at home, April 24, 1864. 
 
 George Ayres, at home, November 8, 1864. 
 
 Thomas Burchfield, at South Tunnell, Tenn., Jan. 3, 1863. 
 
 C. N. Brown, at Paducah, Ky., March 22, 1865. 
 
 Isaac Kepple, at Batesville, Ark., May 15, 1861. 
 
 George Palmer, at Chickamauga, September '20, 1863. 
 
 Frank McMann, not known. 
 
 The names of a large portion of the enlisted men will be 
 found in the roster of those regiments to which they belonged. 
 Amoug the commissioned officers were : Colonel Lorenzo H. 
 Whitney and Lieutenant William Whitney, of the Eighth 
 Cavalry, Lieutenant William Hill, of the Ninety-Fifth In- 
 fantry, Lieutenant John Hickman, of the Ninety-Fifth, and 
 Captain J. W. Foster, of the Forty-Second Infantry, who 
 was desperately wounded and reported dead, but survived to 
 suffer the horrors of a rebel prison. The story of his suffer- 
 ings, escapes, re-captures, and final flight to the Union lines, 
 is of thrilling interest. 
 
 The Supervisors of Kingston have been : For 1850, John 
 Sheely ; 1851, C. W. Branch ; 1852, W. A. Miller ; 1853- 
 54_55_56-57, George H. Hill; 1858, George L. Wood; 
 1859-60, James McAllister; 1861-62, Phillip Heckman ; 
 1863, George H. Hill; 1864-65, C. W. Branch; 1867, 
 Phillip Heckman ; 1868, C. W. Branch. 
 
 A small hamlet, called Stewartville, consisting of a store, 
 post-office, wagon and blacksmith shop, and a handsome Ma- 
 sonic hall, is the only village in the town. 
 
 Among the many wealthy farmers of the town, Messrs. 
 N. Saum and John and James Russell have been long noted 
 for the encouragement they have given to the Agricultural 
 Societies, and for their noble herds of high-bred Devon cattle. 
 There are three good churches in Kingston, at which public 
 worship has for many years been regularly maintained by the 
 Methodist denomination. 
 
FRANKLIN. 
 
 This town, the northwesternmost of the County, contains 
 more running streams and a larger surface of timbered land 
 than any other town in the County. It has also some quarries 
 of stone, mostly a soft, inferior limestone, which is used for 
 building, and is also converted into very good lime. 
 
 Andrew and William Miles and Samuel Corey were proba- 
 bly the first settlers in the town They came m 1836, follow- 
 ing close upon the footsteps of the Indians, who had been 
 removed but a year before. Mr. Miles brought the first fruit 
 trees, and the fine orchard on the Humphreys place was a part 
 of this first importation. 
 
 Other settlers who followed soon after were D. M. Gilchrist, 
 T. H. Humphreys, Theophilus Watkins, Elder Barrett, and 
 John M. Riddle. 
 
 Hicks' mills were built in 1837, by the Hicks brothers and 
 Gilchrist. They did both the sawing and grinding. The 
 water-power was pretty good, and the mills have been in use 
 till this day. In 1838 these mills were kept busy in sawing 
 lumber to build the new town of Kishwaukee, which was pro- 
 jected and designed to be an important place. It was located 
 at the mouth of the Kishwaukee river. Several buildings 
 were constructed, stores, shops, etc., started, but the town 
 never acquired any considerable size, and is now abandoned. 
 
 The early settlers were all quite poor; indeed, many of 
 them were thriftless and improvident. Some, who are now 
 wealthy, subsisted for the most of the time, during their first 
 residence, principally upon suckers, which they caught in 
 immense numbers in the neighboring streams. 
 
460 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 The builders of the mill were desperately poor, and when 
 their land came in market, they were unable to purchase the 
 title to their mills, and they became the property of Dr. Ho- 
 bart. He was a marked character, — a man of much general 
 information, — and thoroughly educated, and enthusiastic in 
 his profession, of fine appearance, and possessing great ambi- 
 tion, he played a prominent part in the affairs of the town in 
 its early history, and acquired a large amount of property ; 
 but, to the surprise of all who knew him, died of delirium- 
 tremens at last. 
 
 This township, with the other two which form the northern 
 tier of the County, was surveyed and put in market some five 
 years earlier than the twelve towns south of it. This accounts 
 for the fact that the survey lines do not coincide with those 
 of the towns below it. 
 
 Very little of the land, however, was entered at this early 
 date. It was held by means of claim associations, composed 
 of men Avho were banded together to lynch any one who should 
 enter lands held by claim title. In 1845 Dr. Hobart was 
 President of such an association. Its by-laws provided that 
 any person entering land claimed by any of its members 
 soould be compelled to deed it back to the claimant, on pay- 
 ment of the price ($1.25 per acre) paid for entry, or should 
 pay the claimant the same sum, in addition to what he had 
 already paid the government, and take the property. This 
 association, holding vast tracts in this manner, kept many 
 who otherwise would have become permanent residents from 
 settling there. 
 
 Many of the first settlers of the town were from the South- 
 ern States. Among them were William T. Kirk, one of the 
 most extensive and wealthiest of the farmers in the County, 
 and who has borne a prominent part in its political affairs ; 
 Spencer Myers, an energetic, wealthy farmer : the Riddles, 
 men distinguished for sound judgment and good sense ; and 
 the Rowins, extensive, spirited, and wealthy farmers. 
 
 D. B. Kingsbury, an intelligent and worthy citizen of this 
 
TOWN OP FRANKLIN. 461 
 
 town, came from New Hampshire in 1844. He bought a fine 
 farm of one hundred and forty-four acres for one thousand 
 dollars, and has since added largely to its extent. At that 
 time most of the town was not settled, or entered. There 
 was but one house between Kingsbury's grove and the little 
 town of Belvidere. 
 
 Thomas J. Humphrey, a gentleman of education and cul- 
 ture, and a lawyer by profession, came in 1843. He died 
 soon after his arrival, leaving a large family of children. 
 The pildest male member of this family was Thomas W. 
 Humphrey, who was then but eight years of age. Although 
 left thus early, struggling with the hardships of frontier life 
 in Illinois, he acquired a superior education for his circum- 
 stances, passed through the scientific course at Beloit college, 
 subsequently became deputy Circuit Clerk of De Kalb County, 
 married at twenty-one, and purchased the Humphrey home- 
 stead. He was always a bold, brave, ventursome youth, 
 whose intelligence, integrity, and manliness of character made 
 every one his friend. He crossed the plains to California in 
 1861, and on the expedition heroically rescued a wounded 
 emigrant and his family from a tribe of hostile Indians. 
 
 Returning in 1862, he raised a company of volunteers from 
 about the borders of De Kalb, Boone and McHenry Counties. 
 This company was made a part of the 95th Illinois Infantry, 
 of which he was chosen Lieutenant-Colonel. Devoting him- 
 self with characteristic ardor to his new profession, he was 
 from the first really its first officer. 
 
 At the storming of Vicksburg, on the 19th and 22nd of 
 May, 1863, he was wounded on the first day, but, continuing 
 at the head of the regiment, was on the 22nd stunned by the 
 explosion of a shell, and reported killed, but crawled back 
 to camp in the night. 
 
 At the disastrous battle of Guntown he lost his life, and 
 with that loss the army lost one of its most distinguished and 
 most fearless officers, and De Kalb County one of the most 
 heroic of her sons. 
 
462 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 His body was returned to Franklin, and beneath the grand 
 old oaks of the family home the largest concourse ever as- 
 sembled in the town gathered to honor the memory of their 
 martyred hero, by one of the grandest of funeral ceremonies. 
 
 A younger brother of General Humphrey, Captain James 
 Humphrey, enlisted early in the war as private, in the Eighth 
 Cavalry, and fought his way up to a Captaincy. 
 
 Of the ninety-nine men enlisted from this town seven be- 
 came commissioned officers. They were, in addition to those 
 mentioned, Captain John B. Nash, Lieutenants Hiram Har- 
 rington, Samuel Williamson, John M. Schoonmaker, and 
 John W. Burst, all of the One Hundred and Fifth. Lieu- 
 tenant Burst first entered the Fifteenth Infantry, but lost 
 his sight while on duty in Missouri, by the poison of a scor- 
 pion. After nearly six months of blindness, he recovered; 
 and, full of ardor for the great cause, he re-enlisted in the 
 One Hundred and Fifth, and after two years faithful service 
 at the battle of New Hope church, he lost his leg, whic'^ 
 was three times amputated before it finally healed. 
 
 Of the martyred dead of the war from this town were: 
 
 Hiram S. Harrington, who died August 27, 1863. 
 
 W. Miles, at home, December 2, 1862. 
 
 Wesley Witter, at home, December 25, 1862. 
 
 John Stoker, in hospital. Bowling Green, Nov. 23, 1862. 
 
 Eustice Lusher, in hospital, Bowling Green, Nov. 21, 1862. 
 
 Henry Cline, at Gallatin, December 22, 1862. 
 
 Alonzo Randall, near Memphis, March 1, 1863. 
 
 J. H. Strawn, at Gallatin, July 20, 1864. 
 
 W. L. Foss, at Atlanta, August 16, 1864. 
 
 C. E. Foss, at home, April 20, 1865. 
 
 A. G. Foss, at Chattanooga, 1862. 
 
 S. L. Cronkhite, at home, August 24, 1865. 
 
 Isaac Weaver, at Alexandria, Ya., January 21, 1862. 
 
 P. C. Rowin, at Stone River, December 31, 1862. 
 
 Danford Goralum, December, 1863. 
 
 J. G. Griffin, in hospital, N. Y., May 25, 1865. 
 
 John Eckert, at Paducah, March 9, 1862. 
 
TOWN OF FRANKLIN. 463 
 
 A terrible tornado passed through the northern portion of 
 the town of Franklin on one Sunday in May, 1853. It 
 prostrated immense trees, fences, buildings, and everything 
 that stood in its course. The first house struck was Mr. John 
 Youngs'. It was a large building, but in an instant it was 
 lifted up, shattered to splinters, and considerable parts of it 
 carried off so far that they were never found. Mrs. Young 
 was killed instantly. The residence of Mr. Ira Dean was 
 next struck. It was torn in pieces ; and a lady relative, 
 who chanced to be visiting there, had her back broken, and 
 died soon after. In a chamber were two boys, engaged in 
 playing cards. Both were blown out of the window, but not 
 seriously injured. Several other houses were unroofed, and 
 some barns destroyed. 
 
 In 1860 another tornado passed through the central por- 
 tion of the town, passing, like the former, from the southwest 
 to the northeast. It carried off one house, of which the oc- 
 cupants were absent, and twisted off and carried away huge 
 trees, which could never after be found. Some electric force 
 seemed to be at work in this terrible gale. It tore the iron- 
 work from tools and machinery, and played numberless 
 strange pranks. 
 
 Upon Mr. Charles Buckman's place may be seen a curious 
 relic of the Indians. It is a stout stick of timber, about 
 eight inches square, hewn out so as to resemble an Indian 
 with four faces. It is reported to be an Indian idol. 
 
 The population of the town was 837 in 1855, 936 in 1860, 
 and 951 in 1865. The town was organized under the present 
 form of government in 1850. 
 
 The names of its Supervisors have been : For 1850, Clark 
 Bliss; 1851, John Riddle; 1852-53-54, Jonas Height; 
 1855, William T. Kirk ; 1856, W. L. King ; 185T-58-59- 
 60-61, William T. Kirk ; 1862-63-64, J. W. Ellithorpe ; 
 1865-66, D. B. Kingsbury: 186T-68, Stephen Q. Rowin. 
 
MAYFIELD. 
 
 This pleasant farming town, with its pretty name, so sug- 
 gestive of green fields, May-flowers, and all of the beauties 
 of spring-time, was first settled in 1835. The valuable tim- 
 bered lands upon the shore of the Kishwaukee, which courses 
 along its eastern border, early attracted settlers, and it was 
 claimed and occupied by adventurous white men even before 
 the departure of the Indians. A large Indian village then 
 occupied the present site of Coltonville. 
 
 John Tower, John Thom, Morris and Erasmus D. Walrod, 
 James and Samuel Gilbert, Ira Douglas, Robert Graham, 
 James McCollum, and Henry Madden, were among the first 
 to occupy this very attractive section of the County ; but 
 with them were a number of rough fellows, who made claims 
 of great extent for the purpose of selling them out, and who 
 defied the regulations of the claim association, and kept up a 
 war which drove emigrants away. 
 
 Stephen Mowry first settled the place afterwards purchased 
 by Kufus Colton, and which, a few years after, was known 
 as Coltonville. This, about 1838, became a smart little vil- 
 lage, at which the courts of the County were first held, and 
 which it was supposed would be the County Seat. Mr. Cox, 
 Mr. Peaslee, Spafford and Curtis Smith, Phineas Stevens, 
 and Timothy Richardson, first settled this southern portion of 
 
 the town. 
 
 Dr. Henry Madden, an active and intelligent citizen at 
 Brush Point, was the first Representative to the Legislature 
 from this district, and labored hard to secure the location of 
 the County Seat at his place. 
 
 Before Sycamore had an existence there was a lively vil- 
 
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TOWN OF MAYFIELD. 465 
 
 lage of a dozen houses at Coltonville, with a lawyer and a 
 doctor, a store, a tavern, post-office, and shops. 
 
 A distillery was built by Phineas Stevens and Rufus Col- 
 ton in 1840, but it never was a source of much profit. The 
 proprietors could n't prevent their fattening swine from get- 
 ting drunk ; and when Stevens finally barreled them up, took 
 them one hundred and fifty miles north to the pinery for a 
 market, and then obtained only two cents a pound for his 
 pork, the distillery was abandoned. 
 
 The little village at Coltonville gradually declined, its 
 buildings were removed, and now the entire town contains 
 no village, nor even a post-office, being better accommodated 
 for these purposes by the neighboring village of Sycamore. 
 
 Liberty was the name given to the town upon its organiza- 
 tion in 1850. It was selected by the Townsends, Nichols', 
 and Nickersons, — those earnest, active members of the Lib- 
 erty party of those times, who were neither ashamed nor 
 afraid to be known as station-agents on the underground 
 railroads, — but the name had probably been previously given 
 to other townships; for a few months after, it was changed 
 to Mayfield. 
 
 Deer, wolves, and massasaugers (or the prairie rattle- 
 snakes), were particularly numerous in the first years of its 
 settlement. In the autumn of 1837, Mr. Godfrey Carnes 
 killed twenty-five deer on his farm, and one new comer was 
 startled, on finishing up the center furrow on a ten-acre 
 "land" which he was breaking, to find twenty-five lively 
 massasaugers hissing and rattling their warnings at him. 
 
 The town was kept in a broil for many years by claim 
 jumpers; but when the claim wars were settled by the perfec- 
 tion of their titles through purchase from government, and 
 the claims of the rival points for the seat of justice had been 
 'lisposed of, the aifairs of the town moved on the even tenor 
 )f their way. with perfect quiet. The old settlers gradually 
 acquired the comforts of life, the outlying prairie became 
 settled, and the country increased in population and wealth. 
 59 
 
466 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 In 1855 its population was 835, in 1860, 998, and in 1865, 
 1029. 
 
 Mayfield sent 103 men to fight the slaveholders' rebellion, 
 and scarcely any town in the County was more prompt in 
 responding to the calls of the government. 
 
 Those who gave their lives to the country in the war were : 
 
 J. P. Young, who died at Camp Nelson, March 5, 1864. 
 
 W. n. Decker, at Farmington, May 16, 1862. 
 
 G. G. Farewell, at Shiloh, Tenn., April 6, 1862. 
 
 J. Patterson, at Camp Sherman, Miss., August 25, 1868. 
 
 Turner Wing, at Mayfield, May, 1862. 
 
 Alonzo Houghton, in rebel prison, Cahaba, Ala., Septem- 
 ber, 1864. 
 
 Wm. Stevenson, at Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., June 27, 1864. 
 
 Joseph Piper, at Quincy, 111., April 23, 1862. 
 
 Samuel Piper, at Youngs' Point, La., April 1, 1863. 
 
 Edward Howe, at Chattanooga, Tenn., August 15, 1864. 
 
 Elias Goble, at Gallatin, Tenn., December 21, 1862. 
 
 Marvin Dennis, at Smithland, Mo., December 31, 1861. 
 
 William Kerr, on steamer City of Memphis, Jan. 5, 1863. 
 
 The assessment of 1868 shows that it is one of the most 
 wealthy of the towns of the County, in proportion to the 
 number of its inhabitants. 
 
 The first religious meetings in the County were held in 
 Mayfield, by the Methodists, and for a year or two they were 
 held regularly at Mr. Ira Douglas' house. They were sub- 
 sequently continued at the school houses ; and in 1860 a fine 
 church was built at Pleasant Hill, by that denomination, the 
 inhabitants contributing with unusual liberality for its con- 
 struction. 
 
 The town Supervisors have been : For the year 1850, 
 Mulford Nickerson ; 1851, Willis Lott ; 1852, James Siv- 
 right; 1853-.54, Agrippa Dow ; 1855, James Parker ; 1856, 
 Henry Madden ; 1857-58, W. A. Nickerson ; 1859-60, 2V. 
 B. Crippen; 1861-62, James Sivright; 1863-64, T. Wyn- 
 koop ; 1865-66-67-68, Curtis Smith, 
 
SOUTH GROVE. 
 
 This township, which was organized in 1850, was first 
 called Yernon. It had previously been known as Driscoll's 
 Grove ; but the name it now bears was, soon after its organ- 
 ization, agreed upon bj the settlers. 
 
 It is considered one of the best farming towns in De Kalb 
 County. The land is very pleasantly undulating; the subsoil 
 seems peculiarly adapted for the drainage of the surface, and 
 vegetation is early and rapid. There is scarcely an acre of 
 waste land within its borders. 
 
 The highest point of land between Chicago and the Missis- 
 sippi river is in the southern portion of this town. 
 
 A pleasant little stream of water, called Owen's Ureek, 
 following a meandering course, passes nearly through its 
 whole length, rising in the southeast portion, and flowing 
 towards the northwest, where, in the adjoining town of Frank- 
 lin, it empties into the Kishwaukee river. In its course the 
 stream widens several times, forming miniature lakes, which, 
 in the warm season of the year, with their wide borderings 
 of deep green, the many flocks of water-fowl, hovering hio-h 
 above them, or settling down into the clear waters where the 
 pickerel and a variety of smaller fry abound, form pictures 
 not only very attractive to the lover of nature, but to the eye 
 of the sportsman and angler. 
 
 Uniting the two groves, and running away over the prairie, 
 on the one hand to Brodie's Grove, and the other to the 
 Kishwaukee timber, the early settlers found the Indian trail 
 over which, it is said. Big Thunder sometimes led his braves, 
 more than once making the larger of the two groves a place 
 of temporary encampment. But the deer had well-nigh '^is- 
 
468 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 appeared before the bowstring of the dusky hunter had 
 snapped for the last time in these regions, though the howl 
 of the prairie wolf has, until within a few years, been almost 
 nightly heard. 
 
 On the borders of the creek are two bodies of fine timber, 
 one, called Orput's grove, containing about sixty acres, and 
 the other, South Grove, formerly called Driscoll's grove, of 
 three hundred, or more, acres. 
 
 The groves abound in a variety of wild fruits : the native 
 plum, sometimes very sweet and rich, the wild crab and thorn 
 apples, the mandrake, gooseberry, etc., and nuts of various 
 kinds. 
 
 In 1851 Ichabod Hichmond, an erratic, though enterprising 
 genius, built a saw-mill and grist-mill on Owen's Creek, in 
 section twenty-six ; but a quantity of water sufficient to ope- 
 rate it was never found, except in the time of a freshet. 
 A similar experiment, and with like success, was made by 
 Mr. Barney Hatch, farther down the stream. 
 
 The first settlements in this town were on the east side of 
 the grove, and as late as in 1853, though portions of land, 
 scattered wide apart, had been pre-empted and purchased of 
 the government, the most of the inhabitants were still in the 
 neighborhood of the grove, and it was a question whether 
 these broad prairies, destitute of timber or surface water, 
 would ever be converted into farms. 
 
 In 1853, when it became certain that a railroad would be 
 built near, or through, the town, the land speculators became 
 purchasers of nine-tenths of what remained in government 
 hands, entering with land-warrants which were bought at 
 eighty cents, or less, per acre, — lands which are now worth, 
 with the improvements made upon them, thirty or forty dol- 
 lars per acre. 
 
 During the past five years nearly all of this land has been 
 purchased of these speculators, and made into farms, leaving 
 but very little unbroken prairie ; but no village has ever ex- 
 isted in this rich, long-settled, and flourishing town. 
 
TOWN OF SOUTH GROVE. 469 
 
 The population of South Grove is made up of several na- 
 tionalities. The majority of the present inhabitants were 
 originally from the State of New York; a few came from 
 New England ; and the foreigners are Scotch, English, and 
 Irish ; there are, also, a few families of German descent. 
 
 In 1838 came the first settler, William Driscoll, from 
 Ohio, who built him a log cabin on the east side of the grove, 
 near the spot where is now situated the pleasant residence of 
 his estimable widow and her son. He was followed by his 
 father and brothers. The subsequent career of these men, 
 and their tragic fate, will be found, described at length, in a 
 foregoing chapter. 
 
 The second arrival was also from Ohio, — Mr. Solomon 
 Wells, — who purchased of Driscoll the south end of the grove 
 — a hundred acres or more — for sixty dollars. He was en- 
 titled, of course, to all the adjacent prairie he chose to claim. 
 
 In 1840, or the year previous, came the Orput family, who 
 settled near the smaller grove which has since been called by 
 their name. 
 
 The Beeman and Hatch families arrived during the same 
 year. A few members of the last named family still reside 
 in the town. 
 
 In 1841— -there were then six families of actual settlers — 
 came Mr. James Byers, Mr. Tindall, and Mr. Benjamin 
 Worden; and in 1843, Mr. Jonathan Adee and Mr. Matthew 
 Thompson, — the four families, Byers, Worden, Adee, and 
 Thompson, emigrating from the same neighborhood in "York 
 State" ; and they and Mr. Tindall still remain on the same 
 farms they first purchased. These early settlers, by their 
 industry, enterprise, and good management, have given tone 
 and character to the town. Their married sons and daughters 
 have, with few exceptions, settled not far from the old home- 
 steads. 
 
 In 1846 Mr. John S. Brown purchased the Beeman place, 
 on the northwest side of the grove, and settled there with 
 his family. He became a prominent actor in politics of 
 
470 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 the town and County, and in 1862 assisted in the raising of 
 a company of soldiers for the Fifty-Second regiment. He 
 was made Captain, but soon resigned his commission. 
 
 In 1845 came the Safford family, and settled in the east 
 part of the town. Mr. Henry SaiFord, belonging to the 
 dominant party in politics, has been twice elected sherifl' of 
 the County; and a nephew, — who, with a brother, came to 
 the town several years later, both enlisting in the One Hun- 
 dred and Fifth regiment, both afterwards created Captains, 
 and both dangerously wounded in battle, — was elected sheriff 
 of the County in 1868. 
 
 A little later came Mr. Deyo and Mr. W. H. Stebbins. 
 Their farms were two miles west of the grove. 
 
 After that the emigration was more rapid ; the Rickard 
 and Becker families in the west part of the town ; the McLel- 
 lan and Mason families in the north; E. Currier in the east; 
 and in the south several families from New England. 
 
 The first school in South Grove was taught by Mr. James 
 Byers, senior, who furnished a school house for his twenty-five 
 pupils, — the second room in his double log cabin, — and boarded 
 himself, for ten dollars per month. A dollar was a dollar in 
 those days, for it would buy twenty pounds of coffee in Chi- 
 cago; but Mr. Byers' salary was paid in potatoes "and such." 
 
 The young men and women about the grove will never for- 
 get that school, — how the kind, genial voice of the teacher, 
 softening down its rugged Scotch, cheered them over the 
 frightful Alps of "a, b, ab," and "two times one are two," — 
 how the eyes were always blind to any fun, and the laugh 
 was ever as long and loud as that of the merriest urchin. 
 No wonder that those boys and girls, a portion of them, 
 "played the mischief" with some of the teachers who suc- 
 ceeded this model one. 
 
 The first school house was erected in the grove. It was of 
 logs, but nicely built, and considered quite a capacious one ; 
 though it was, after a time, pretty well filled with its sixty 
 scholars. It was twenty by twenty-two feet, and well lighted, 
 
TOWN OF SOUTH GROVE. 471 
 
 having a window five or six panes in width and two in height 
 at each end of the building. 
 
 Mr. H. C. Beard and Mr. T. K. Waite, of Sycamore, were 
 among the successful teachers in the log school house. 
 
 The second school house was built on a fine site donated to 
 the district by Mr. James Byers, senior, in 1854, and in 1868 
 another, — a very pleasant and commodious one, the former 
 having been destroyed by fire, — was erected in the same place. 
 
 There are now seven schools in the town, all furnished with 
 comfortable school houses. The number of pupils in the dis- 
 tricts in 1868 is 248 ; and the amount paid to teachers is 
 ^834.31. Total expenditures for school purposes for the year 
 ending September 30, 1868, $1676.97. 
 
 During the time when a large portion of the land belonged 
 to speculators, the people adopted a shrewd device for build- 
 ing their school houses with slight cost to the inhabitants. 
 They attached the sections thus owned, successively, to every 
 district which wished to build a school house, promising the 
 few scattered inhabitants that the taxes levied on them should 
 be refunded by contributions out of their own pockets. Then 
 levying the highest possible taxes on the speculators' lands, 
 they supplied themselves, cheaply, with school buildings, as- 
 tonishing the said speculators, who could not understand how 
 they were taxed, for several successive years, for the construc- 
 tion of those buildings, and yet have not one within miles of 
 their lands. 
 
 Churches are yet to be built, — the people, some of them at 
 least, evidently thinking, with Horace Greeley, that it is best 
 for a man to attend first to the business of the world he 
 lives in. 
 
 There are now two religious bodies in town. The Meth- 
 odist church was organized in 1855 by Kev. Mr. Jennings, a 
 man of good abilities, and evidently a very sincere and de- 
 voted Christian. This church and Sabbath-school holds its 
 religious services in No. 1 school house. The Advent church, 
 with which is also connected a Sabbath-school, was organized 
 
472 HISTORY OF BE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 in 1867. Their place of worship is school house No. 2. 
 
 In 1842 was organized a Freewill Baptist church, under 
 the care of Rev. Mr. Norton. This church did not keep up 
 its organization. 
 
 A great camp-meeting was held at the grove in 1860, at 
 which leading ministers from abroad addressed vast audiences, 
 and much religious interest was aroused. At a much earlier 
 day there were occasional religious revivals, which were re 
 markable for the great earnestness exhibited by the converts 
 among that primitive population; and, it may be added, by 
 extraordinary and exciting scenes in their meetings. 
 
 Among many anecdotes still related, with great gusto, is 
 the following : A very worth}^ but previously profane, con- 
 vert, rising to his feet to urge his hearers to greater zeal and 
 earnestness in religious duty, fell, unconsciously, into his old 
 mode of expression, and exclaimed: 
 
 ''Brethren, I like to see a man, if he pretends to be a man, 
 to be a h-11 of a man ; and if he pretends to be a Christian, 
 to be a h-11 of a Christian I" 
 
 The first post-ofiice was established in 1841, called the 
 South Grove Post-office, the postmasters of Avhich have been, 
 successively, Timothy Wells, James Byers, senior, H. Safford, 
 E. Currier, Jonathan Adee, and Mrs. E. A. Palmer. 
 
 The second one was established in 1858, called Deerfield 
 Prairie Post-office ; postmaster, P. Waterman, succeeded by 
 Mr. Wiltse ; and Dustin Post-office, established in 1868, — 
 Henry Crisman, postmaster. 
 
 Hotels are things of the past, but they were "institutions" 
 in their day, when the St. Charles and Oregon State Road, 
 running through South Grove nearly at its centre, was the 
 great highway of the region, and traveled by teams heavily 
 loaded with grain, even from so far west as the Mississippi 
 river. 
 
 One of the hotels, that which stands on the farm of Mr. 
 Masterson, and occupied by him as a dwelling house, was 
 kept, for a while, by Mr. Beeman. It is still in a good state 
 
TOWN OF SOUTH GROVE. 473 
 
 of preservation, especially the hall, which was dedicated to 
 the goddess Terpsichore ; and many a resident of De Kalb 
 County will remember, as long as he lives, the pleasant gath- 
 erings at Beeman's, when what was wanting in elegance was 
 made up in merriment. 
 
 The other was kept by Mr. Adee, near the grove ; and it 
 is not to be wondered at that that gentleman is now so well 
 off in life, when it is remembered how exorbitant were his 
 charges, — forty or forty-five cents being required for only 
 supper, lodging, breakfast, and hay for a span of horses or a 
 yoke of oxen. 
 
 But while the hotels were so well patronized, it was a hard 
 time for the farmers. Again and again the teamsters who 
 had taken the loads of grain — the product of the whole sea- 
 son's hard toil — over that long, weary way to Chicago, would 
 not bring back money enough even to pay their trifling bills, 
 — a few groceries, a little bundle of cloth, perhaps a pair or 
 two of cheap shoes, besides food for their families, being all 
 the avails of a year's hard strugglings. But the men and 
 women of this region put their shoulders to the wheel, and 
 called upon the gods ; and by-and-by Hercules came, in the 
 form of a railroad. 
 
 ^"T And then, very speedily, the prairie fires went out ; for the 
 lands which they had swept over, in the autumn of so many 
 years, were being crossed here and there by "highways and 
 hedges"; and dwelling houses, not very imposing structures 
 many of them, but vastly superior to the log cabin, and built 
 with reference to the addition which would soon appear, in 
 the shape of a handsome front, with Stables, and young or- 
 chards, and a variety of fruit-bearing shrubs and shade-trees, 
 were springing up in all directions. 
 
 The log cabins of the earlier settlers had then mostly dis- 
 appeared, and the dwellings were being enlarged and improved; 
 new stables were being built, the old "Virginia rail-fence" 
 was fast disappearing, and the town was losing its uncomfort- 
 able look of newness. 
 60 
 
474 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 At the present time South Grove has many well-enclosed 
 and highly cultivated farms; commodious, pleasant dwelling 
 houses, and large and convenient stables and granaries; fine, 
 bearing orchards, and handsome shade-trees. In 1868 about 
 one hundred miles of hedge were set in town, and hedging is 
 just commenced. 
 
 In 1857 it was estimated that more than 100,000 bushels 
 of wheat were raised in this town; and in the third year 
 after, the yield was supposed to be still greater; though it is 
 not thought, by the best informed farmers, that wheat-raising 
 is a remunerative business. 
 
 Since 1860 other cereals, with grass seed and flax, have 
 been more extensively grown, and stock-raising has consider- 
 ably increased, the farmers every year improving their breeds 
 by the introduction of fine, blooded animals. 
 
 There are in South Grove one carriage and two blacksmith 
 shops, but no village. 
 
 The population of South Grove in 1855 was 400; in 1860, 
 662 ; in 1865, 789. It is credited upon the records of the 
 State with 103 soldiers furnished for the great war. The 
 town raised by taxation for war purposes $11,127. 
 
 Its first Supervisor was John S. Brown, who served in 
 1850. He was followed by W. M. Byers in 1851-52 ; by 
 Jesse Tindall in 1853-54 ; John S. Brown in 1855-56 ; by 
 James Byers, Jr., in 1857-58 ; by John S. Brown in 1859 ; 
 by W. T. Adee in 1860-61 ; by W. M. Byers in 1862-63 ; 
 by George A. Gillis in 1864-65 ; by James Byers, Jr., in 
 1866-67; and by A. C. Thompson in 1868. 
 
SYCAMORE. 
 
 The annals of the County, whose incidents naturally group 
 themselves about the County Seat, have already given a pretty 
 full history of this town. It is a pleasant town, unusually 
 favored by nature with an abundance of timber and running 
 streams. Its soil is particularly rich, black and unctuous, 
 destitute of sand or gravel, and hardly as productive as that 
 of some other portions of the County. This may, however, 
 be due to its having been longer tilled; for when Erasmus 
 Walrod first came here, in 1835, he raised ninety bushels of 
 corn to the acre, on the upturned prairie sod. 
 
 The first settler of the town was probably Lysander Dar- 
 ling, who came in 1835. Dr. Norbo, a Norwegian, came the 
 same year, and claimed ISTorwegian grove, which thus received 
 its name. Also, Mr. Chartres, a Frenchman, who gave name 
 to Chartres' grove. J. C. Kellogg, E. E. White, Zechariah 
 Wood, and Peter Lamois, were also among those who made 
 their homes within the borders of what now constitutes this 
 township, in this first year of its settlement by the whites. 
 
 In 1886 the ]^ew York Company, composed of Christian 
 Sharer, a wealthy New Yorker, Evans Wherry, Clark Wright, 
 and Mark Daniels, under the firm name of C. Sharer & Co. 
 claimed two square miles of land, running from Marshall 
 Starks' farm on the north to the south line of the town. 
 They laid out a village plot at the north of the creek, damned 
 the Kishwaukee river, built a mill, enclosed with a high 
 heavy rail fence a tract sixty rods wide and two miles long 
 
476 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 whose west line was on what is now Somonauk street, and 
 prepared to build up a town. 
 
 This was in the flush times, when wild-cat money in abund- 
 ance filled every ones pockets, and the speedy growth of great 
 cities in the west was confidently expected. 
 
 When these bubbles had burst, and hard times came on, 
 the company, although they had expended a large amount of 
 money, abandoned their claim, dissolved their co-partnership, 
 and never "entered" their land. 
 
 The old town of Sycamore, north of the creek, consisted of 
 two or three log cabins, in some of which Esquire Jewell kept 
 a blacksmith and wagon shop, and J. C. and Charles Water- 
 man kept a store. It was abandoned next year for the higher 
 land where the present village of Sycamore stands. 
 
 Captain Eli Barnes built the first house in this village, — 
 the large tavern now the Sycamore Hotel. The construction 
 of so extensive a structure was considered a wild, extravagant 
 expenditure of his means ; but it did much to establish the 
 town, and retain the County Seat, which it was then thought 
 would soon be removed. The Captain was fall of zeal for 
 the welfare of this village, and for years labored, perhaps 
 more than any other man, to secure friends and votes to 
 counteract the numerous efforts to procure the removal of the 
 seat of justice. 
 
 A little framed house had before this been moved down 
 from the Hamlin farm, and was occupied by Dr. Barrett, the 
 first physician of the place. It stood, till 1855, where D. B. 
 James subsequently built a handsome residence, and was then 
 burned down, on suspicion that it had been used for the sale 
 of liquor. 
 
 The old Court House was built in 1839, nearly opposite 
 the present structure, and in 1840 the dreary little village 
 consisted of a dozen houses, scattered over considerable land, 
 but without fences, and with but one well. 
 
•TOWN OF SYCAMORE. 
 
 477 
 
 SYCAMORE IN 1840. 
 
 * SylTanus Holcomb. 
 
 k 
 
 Mansion House. * 
 
 * D. Bannister. 
 
 * J. C. Waterman. 
 
 C. Lattin. * 
 
 E. P. Youuo-. 
 
 Court House 
 
 
 J. Sixbury. 
 
 The Mansion House, called the Nunnery, then kept by 
 Morris Walrod, contained a large part of the population of 
 the place. 
 
 A Congregational church was organized in 1840 with eleven 
 members, and, with Rev. David Perry for pastor, held services 
 in the Court House. Captain Barnes gave the church the 
 lot on which their handsome church edifice now stands, and 
 the building was erected in 1844, but not completed till two 
 
478 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 years after. A Methodist church was "built the same year, 
 on a lot given by Carlos Lattin. The Episcopal church was 
 built in 1856, and the Baptists, Uniyersalists, and Roman 
 Catholics, built churches two or three years after. 
 
 Marcus Walrod was the first boy born in the place, and 
 Mrs. W. R. Thomas the first girl. 
 
 Eli G. Jewell and Captain Barber did most of the law busi- 
 ness for many years ; but in 1841 Andrew J. Brown opened 
 an ofiice, — the first regular lawyer. He was succeeded by 
 Mr. Masters, and he, in 1842, by E. L. Mayo. W. J. Hunt 
 practiced law here in 1844. There were then eighteen houses 
 in Sycamore. 
 
 In 1848 the population of the village was 262 ; in 1849 it 
 was 320 ; in 1850, 390 ; and in 1851, 435. 
 
 Much of the land now included in the village was still 
 owned by government in 1848. During that year, Mr. J. S. 
 Waterman entered his fine farm, and W. J. Hunt took up a 
 half-section north and east of the village. 
 
 In 1855 there were in Sycamore six dry goods stores, two 
 hardware stores, two cabinet ware-rooms, one drug store, four 
 grocery and provision stores, two saloons, three taverns, one 
 banking and exchange ofiice, two wagon shops, one livery 
 stable, two harness shops, two tin shops, one jeweler shop, 
 three shoe shops, four blacksmith shops, one shingle manufac- 
 tory, one tailor shop, one meat market, one cooper shop, seven 
 lawyers, four physicians, ten carpenters, four painters, three 
 circulating libraries, three churches, and one steam saw-mill. 
 The population of the township at this time was 1646. 
 
 In 1858 Mr. D. B. James erected the fine brick block now 
 called George's blo.ck, which was dedicated with an old-set- 
 tlers' celebration and festival. During the same winter a 
 series of interesting lectures were delivered there by Horace 
 Greeley, Bayard Taylor, George Sumner, and other distin- 
 guished speakers. 
 
 In the following year the Sycamore and Cortland Railroad 
 was built, at a cost of about $75,000. Its cost was a heavy 
 
TOWN OF SYCAMORE. 479 
 
 expense to the citizens, for the times were hard and money 
 scarce; but it has proved a source of great advantage to the 
 business and growth of the town, which has steadily flourished 
 and increased from that time to the present. The receipts of 
 the road, which were only $4500 in 1860, have increased to 
 over $12,000 in 1867. 
 
 The village of Sycamore is one of the most attractive of 
 its size in the western country. It contains many fine resi- 
 dences, and a population wealthy, enterprising, and remark- 
 ably social. 
 
 Among its leading citizens are the brothers Waterman, five 
 of whom have, at times, resided here, and been among its 
 most active business men, since the first settlement of the 
 County. Mr. James S. Waterman, the" first merchant in the 
 place, and the first banker in the County, has become its 
 wealthiest citizen, and his elegant mansion has ever been the 
 seat of an hospitality almost unlimited. 
 
 Of the Ellwood family of six sturdy brothers, noted for 
 unbounded energy and enterprise, shrewdness and bonhomie, 
 four have resided here, and two at De Kalb. Mr. Reuben 
 Ellwood was a citizen of the place in 1838, but subsequently 
 removed to jSTew York, where he filled some important public 
 positions. He was presented as the candidate of this County 
 for Congress, in 1868. 
 
 Hon. E. L. Mayo, a lawyer of marked ability, moved to 
 this place from Vermont in 1842, has held many public oflBces, 
 and was a candidaie for Congress in 1854. 
 
 Hon. D. B. James, formerly a lawyer in Lyndon, Vermont, 
 removed to this place from California in 1852. He built a 
 number of the best buildings in the place; has been an espec- 
 ially active member of the Republican party of the County 
 since its organization; was appointed Aid-de-Camp to Grov- 
 ernor Oglesby, with the rank of Colonel, delegate to tht 
 National Convention of 1864, and was chosen Judge of tht 
 County Court in 1865. 
 
 General Daniel Dustin, formerly a physician of Lyndon, 
 
480 HISTORY OF DE KALE COUNTY. 
 
 Vermont, removed to California in 1850 ; was a member of 
 the Legislature of that State; moved to Sycamore in 1856; 
 raised a company for Farnsworth's Cavalry in 1862; was 
 chosen Colonel of the One Hundred and Fifth Infantry in 
 1863; served two years as commander of a brigade, and made 
 one of the most faithful and popular officers in the service. 
 
 Greneral Charles Waite, one of six worthy sons of Hon. 
 Daniel Waite, of Sycamore, enlisted, at twenty-three years 
 of age, as a private in the Twenty-Seventh Michigan In- 
 fantry, fought his way up to the Colonelcy of that rough, 
 ungovernable band of miners, whom he alone ever succeeded 
 in reducing to proper discipline, was severely wounded in 
 service in Virginia, and received the star of the Brigadier for 
 gallantry displayed in the battle of the Wilderness. 
 
 General Charles Stolbrand, a Colonel in the revolutionary 
 forces of Sweeden, and an eminently skilful military officer, 
 was engaged in making an abstract of titles to the land of this 
 County when the war broke out. He raised a company of 
 artillery in this County, which, under command of Captain 
 John W. Lowell, did excellent service in the Second Illinois 
 Artillery. General Stolbrand was speedily promoted to 
 Chief of the Artillery in the Army of the Tennessee, and he, 
 with General Tom Humphrey, of this County, bore the repu- 
 tation of being the coolest, bravest officers in that army. He 
 is now a resident of Beaufort, South Carolina. 
 
 General E. F. Dutton enlisted, at twenty-two years of age, 
 in (Jompany F, of the Thirteenth Infantry, of which he was 
 made First Lieutenant. In 1863 he was chosen Major of 
 the One Hundred and Fifth, rose to the rank of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel, and served through the war with that regiment. He 
 was brevetted Brigadier for gallantry on the march to Atlanta, 
 and in the battle of Goldsboro, North Carolina. 
 
 Sycamore is credited on the State record with 307 men 
 furnished for the suppression of armed rebellion. Many gave 
 their lives to their country, and many have returned maimed 
 and crippled; but the record of casualties is not now attain- 
 able. 
 
I 
 

 M. E. Church at Sycamore. 
 
TOWN OF SYCAMORE. 481 
 
 Of the Supervisors of this town, Dr. James Harrington 
 served from its organization in 1850 until 1856, when E. L. 
 Mayo was elected. D. B. James succeeded him, serving in 
 1857-58 ; James Harrington followed in 1859—60-61 ; Ros- 
 well Dow in 1862-63-64; Samuel Alden in 1865-66; Henry 
 Wood in 1867; and N. S. Cottrell in 1868. 
 
 In 1858 the village of Sycamore was incorporated, and in 
 accordance with the provisions of its charter, has been repre- 
 sented upon the Board of Supervisors by the President of its 
 Board of Trustees. These have been: For 1859, E. L. 
 Mayo; 1860, C. M. Brown; 1861, Alonzo Ellwood; 1862, 
 C. 0. Boynton ; 1863, Alonzo Ellwood ; 1864-65, Charles 
 Kellum; 1866, Luther Lowell; 1867-68, C. 0. Boynton 
 
 61 
 
I 
 
 CORTLAND. 
 
 It was on one mild day in October, 1835, that a party of 
 emigrants, pushing rapidly northward from Ottawa, on the 
 line of an Indian trail, and traveling after darkness had set 
 in, suddenly, and to their surprise, found themselves in the 
 midst of an Indian village, situated on what is now Section 
 Three, in the toAvn of Cortland. They halted for the night, 
 and in the morning, pleased with the appearance of the coun- 
 try, proceeded to make claims, and ultimately to build houses, 
 and surround themselves with some of the comforts of the 
 pioneers' home. 
 
 The party consisted of George W. and Isaac Gandy, John 
 and Perry Ellet, David Wood, and Henry Smith, with their 
 families, who thus became the first settlers of this township. 
 They lived for the winter in close and peaceful proximity to 
 the Indians, a few of whom remained in the grove, and in the 
 spring they were joined by a considerable number of new 
 settlers. These were the Springs, Crossetts, Hale Perry, 
 Norcutts, Alvin Dayton, Kites, Dowries, Osgoods, Ralph 
 Wyman, John Champlin, Peter Young, and Elias Hartman. 
 They all settled as near as possible to the borders of the Ohio 
 Grove, which gained its name from the fact that most of the 
 new comers were from Ohio, and which borders the eastern 
 line of the township. 
 
 A small grove in the centre of the town, which had the 
 appearance of having strayed away from the main body of 
 timber, and which, for this reason, was named Lost Grove, 
 was claimed at an early date by James and Joseph Roberts, 
 two old bachelors, who for many years entertained travelers 
 
 ( 
 
TOWN OP CORTLAND. 483 
 
 in their little log house, fourteen feet square ; but most of the 
 remainder of the town remained unsettled and the property 
 of the government until about 1852, when a number of dwell- 
 ings were built on the open prairie, and the population of the 
 town was considerably increased. A Baptist church was 
 built near the grove during this year. 
 
 About this time a little village of a half-dozen houses, with 
 a tavern, a store, and the usual shops and dwellings, was 
 commenced at Luce's Corners, a half-mile south of the present 
 location of the village of Cortland; but most of the buildings 
 were subsequently moved to the railroad station. 
 
 The railroad was built in 1853, and a smart little village 
 soon grew up around the station. But its prospects seem to 
 have been not considered brilliant, for in the following year 
 the railroad company bought the farm of Marcenus Hall, upon 
 which the eastern part of the village now stands, at ten dollars 
 per acre, and laid out a village upon it; and when, in the 
 terrible storm of the following winter, Mr. S. L. Porter, one 
 of their engineers, had his leg crushed, while endeavoring to 
 force his engine through a snow-bank in this vicinity, the 
 company made him a present of the village. The Hersha 
 farm, upon which Artlipp's and Croft's additions were laid 
 out, was sold about this time at twenty-five dollars per acre. 
 In 1856 a very lively village had been built up, inhabited 
 by a smart, enterprising population, among whom were a good 
 many young men, full of enterprise and full of fun. 
 
 But the hard times of 1857 checked its prosperity, and the 
 construction of the Sycamore and Cortland Railroad in 1858 
 cut off some of the grain trade from the north. Its increase 
 has not been rapid since that time. 
 
 The population of the township in 1855 was 1182; in 1860 
 1298 ; and in 1865, 1324. Only the three towns of Somo- 
 nauk, De Kalb, and Sycamore, have a larger population, or 
 a larger amount of taxable property. 
 
 The first name given the town was Bichland. This was 
 soon after changed to Pampas, a name suggested by J. R. 
 
484 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Crossett, from the resemblance of its prairies to the pampas 
 or plains of South America. In 1864 this name was changed 
 by the Legislature to Cortland, the name of its village and 
 postal station. 
 
 The first school house in the town was a log hut, built in 
 Ohio Grove about 1838, and the first teacher was Rev. Castle 
 Churchill, who was succeeded by Miss Mary Ann Hamlin. 
 
 In 1866 the spacious and elegant edifice, a view of which 
 is here inserted, was built by the village of Cortland. Its 
 cost was $7000. It is a conspicuous ornament to the town, 
 and honors the enterprise and liberality of its people. 
 
 Cortland gave liberally, of the best blood of her township, 
 to the country, in the defence of the flag, when traitors assailed 
 it. One hundred and thirty-four of her sons enlisted in the 
 Union army, and the names of sixteen who lost their lives in 
 the service have been preserved. These are : 
 
 Ruthven and Alonzo Russell, Robert Close, W. Stark, and 
 Charles Plopper, the date and place of whose death is not 
 ascertained ; Spafford Deford, who died at Savannah, Georgia, 
 January 20, 1865 ; John Young, at Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 
 March 5th, 1864 ; Charles F. Bannister, at Alexandria, Vir- 
 ginia, April 11, 1863 ; Charles V. Peck, at Ringgold, Geor- 
 gia, March 27, 1864; Oliver Wilson, at Shiloh, July 6, 1862; 
 Emery Marshall, at Beardstown, Kentucky, December 6, 
 1862; George H. Gould, at Nashville, Tennessee, November 
 4, 1853 ; T. D. Packard, at Shiloh, April 6, 1862 ; W. II. 
 Rose, at Kingston, Georgia, January 6, 1864 ; and Morris 
 R. Wilson, at Corinth, Tennessee, June 23, 1862. The last 
 mentioned was but a lad of fifteen, when a rebel bullet ended 
 his career. 
 
 Among her townsmen who served most honorably, and suf- 
 fered most severely, was Captain R. A. Smith. 
 
 When an apprenticed lad in Chenango County, N. Y., he 
 twice ran away to enlist in the Mexican war, but his regiment 
 was not admitted to service. Removing to Cortland in 1856, 
 he engaged in the grain trade, and worked as a mason, until, 
 
TOWN OF CORTLAND. 485 
 
 at the first breaking out of the war, he raised a number of 
 recruits, and enlisted in Company F, of the Thirteenth In- 
 fantry. After two years of very hard service, during most 
 of which time he commanded that company, the regiment was 
 thrown into the terrible abyss of fire and death which met the 
 first assault on Vicksburg; and there he lost his right arm, 
 and was fearfully wounded in the thigh. 
 
 Returning home, he was elected County Treasurer, which 
 office he has filled by three successive re-elections, till the 
 present time. 
 
 The Supervisors of Cortland have been: For 1850-51-52, 
 David F. Finley ; 1853, Austin Hayden; 1854, David F. 
 Finley; 1855-56-57-58, Horace S. Champlin; 1859-60-61, 
 AlonzoL. Lovell; 1862, P. S. Coolidge; 1863-64-65, Jacob 
 R. Crossett; 1806, Edwin Gilson; 1867-68, John Wright. 
 
 The village of Cortland was incorporated in 1866, and T. 
 T. Peck in 1867, and John King in 1868, have, as President 
 of its Board of Trustees, been members of the Board of Su- 
 pervisors. 
 
 Cortland raised by taxation $12,103 for war purposes. 
 
DE KALB. 
 
 The town of De Kalb, located near the centre of the 
 County, is second to none other in the County in its natural 
 advantages, and in its prospects for future growth and wealth. 
 
 The surface of the town, like the remainder of the County, 
 is mostly occupied by handsome rolling prairie; but, unlike 
 some others, it is favored with a handsome stream, — the head 
 waters of one branch of the Kishwaukee, — and is liberally 
 supplied with timber from an extensive grove bordering this 
 stream, formerly known far and wide as Huntley's Grove. 
 
 The first settlers of this township were John B. Collins and 
 Norman C. Moore. Collins settled the farm now owned by 
 Captain Burpee, and Moore made a claim a mile or two north 
 of him. They came in the spring of 1835, and during that 
 summer all of the timbered land in the town was claimed. 
 McClellan claimed the south end of the grove afterward held 
 by Mr. Huntley. James Cox claimed a farm now owned by 
 C. W. Marsh, and James Paisley the place on which some of 
 his family now reside. 
 
 There was a large Indian village at Coltonville, on the 
 northern border of this township, but during this fall they 
 were removed bej^ond the Mississippi. 
 
 It was probably a company of United States mounted 
 troops, engaged in assembling these Indians at their rendez- 
 vous at PawPaw Grove, preparatory to removal, that passed 
 along the east side of the grove during this fall, and camped 
 for the night on the site of the present village of De Kalb. 
 
 While here, one of their number attempted to desert, and 
 he paid McClellan a sum of money to secrete him; but being 
 threatened by the ofl&cer in command, McClellan gave him up 
 
TOWN OF DE KALB. 487 
 
 again, and he was tied to the rear of the armj wagon, and 
 dragged on foot through the remainder of the route. The 
 neighbors, indignant at McClellan's treachery, threatened to 
 lynch him, and he was obliged to fly the country to secure 
 his safety. 
 
 In the autumn of 1835, Messrs. Jenks & Co. claimed the 
 land now occupied by Albert Schryver, damned the creek, 
 built a mill, and projected a town in the vicinity. The 
 streams were much larger then than now, and it was thought 
 that the water-power would be of permanent value ; but a dry 
 summer or two convinced them of their mistake, and they 
 never completed their proposed village. 
 
 In February, 1837, Mr. Russell Huntley, representing a 
 company of capitalists, who designed to build mills and carry 
 on farming, moved to the south end of the grove, and bought 
 the claim of James Root, who had succeeded McClellan. 
 Wild-cat money was plenty then, and claims sold at higher 
 prices than they would bring ten years after. Mr. Huntley 
 bought all of the south part of the grove, paying $5300 to 
 the several claimants. His purchase embraced about five 
 hundred acres of woodland, and as much of the prairie as he 
 chose to call his own. As it seemed desirable, however, that 
 each should know where his line was, he made an agreement 
 with the Brodies, of Brodie's Grove, about ten miles west of 
 him, that the division line between them should be half way 
 between the two groves: and he made a similar verbal ar- 
 rangement with the inhabitants of Shabbona Grove on the 
 south. 
 
 In the autumn of 1836 was the first election held in the 
 County. It was held in Captain Eli Barnes' house, in this 
 town, and the voters came from all parts of the County. It 
 was an election for Justice of the Peace. Mr. Samuel Miller, 
 of Squaw Grove, relates that ten dollars was sent down to 
 him by one of the candidates to pay him for bringing up ten 
 voters, and that these ten voters carried this election. It was 
 
488 HISTOKY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 probably the first ten dollars spent to carry an election in this 
 County, but not the last, by thousands. 
 
 After the first two years, settlers came in very rarely. 
 Hard times came on, money became very scarce, the people 
 grew poor; and in 1843, when the land, for the claims to 
 which they had paid such liberal prices, came in market, most 
 of them found great difficulty in raising the money to enter 
 it. As late as 1850, Mr. Huntley was off"ering half of the 
 land upon which De Kalb village now stands to any man who 
 would furnish $1.25 per acre to enter it. 
 
 For nearly twenty years he kept an excellent tavern at 
 this place, and in the busy season it was constantly crowded 
 by teamsters from the west, as far as the Mississippi river, 
 who were on their way to Chicago with grain. The proceeds 
 of the load, oftentimes, did not pay the expenses of drawing 
 to market. For this reason, thousands of bushels of excellent 
 Avheat raised in this town were fed to cattle without threshing. 
 This poverty among the people continued until the railroad 
 Avas built through, in 1858. 
 
 In 1850 the township was organized, with the name of 
 Orange, and Thomas M. Hopkins was chosen its first Super- 
 visor. In that year the first store in the place was opened 
 by J. M. Goodell, in one end of the dwelling now owned by 
 llufus Hopkins. In 1852, J. S. Waterman and Alvah Cart- 
 Avright started another, and they, with Goodell and Ruby's 
 store, Huntley's tavern, and a blacksmith's shop, constituted 
 the village in 1853, when the railroad Avas built, revolutioniz- 
 ing the business affairs of the country. After this, a large 
 and flourishing village was speedily built up at this place. Its 
 progress was remarkable. Houses sprang up as by magic. 
 The neighboring farmers who visited it one month would 
 hardly recognize the place when they visited it the next. 
 Mr. Huntley sold part of his land to three directors of the 
 railroad company, — Holland, Robinson, and Van Nortwick, — 
 and they together laid out the village, and speedily sold the 
 lots at good prices. Stores, shops, warehouses, hotels, and 
 
TOWN OF SYCAMORE. 489 
 
 dwellings, filled up the village plat, and the evidences of taste 
 and refinement were to be seen in its streets and dwellino-s. 
 For several years it went by the name of Buena Vista. 
 
 In 1855 its population was 557. It was confidently ex. 
 pected that, owing to its central location and its being upon 
 a railroad, it would soon be made the seat of justice for the 
 County. 
 
 The financial crash of 1857 impeded the progress of the 
 thriving little village. Money scarce, trade dull, credit gone, 
 prices low. Like all new totvns, it was settled by a population 
 full of enterprise, but of small capital, and the destruction 
 of confidence and depression of trade was a serious injury to 
 ts progress. But its people were full of enterprise, courage 
 and enthusiasm for the prosperity of their town. They taxed 
 themselves heavily for all needed improvements, and worked 
 with a will for the good of their town. 
 
 In 1860, a County Society for the promotion of agriculture 
 and the mechanical arts was established, beautiful grounds 
 selected and handsomely furnished, and flourishing annual 
 fairs have ever since been held. 
 
 In 1361, the elegant brick building was erected for a 
 Graded School, — for many years the finest common-school 
 building in any town of its size in the State. It was designed 
 to cost $8000, but its total expense has been over $25,000. 
 The first school house in the town was a small structure built 
 of bass-w^ood logs, and roofed with shakes, which stood near 
 the grove, and near the line of the railroad, and for many 
 years served both as school house and church. 
 
 In 1854, churches were built by both the Baptist and 
 Methodist societies; in 1860 the Catholics constructed a spa- 
 cious church, and in 1864 the Sweedish population, a large 
 number of whom had gathered around this place, built a 
 small church, in which worship is conducted in the Sweedish 
 form and language. A number of the niost reputable citizens 
 have embraced the Mormon faith, and the services of that 
 sect have frequently been held in the place. 
 62 
 
490 . HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNY. 
 
 In 1858 a newspaper, under the name of the Western 
 World and Be Kalb Review, was published in De Kalb by- 
 Mr. Andrews. This was succeeded in 1860 by the De Kalb 
 Leader, edited by E. B. Gilbert; and this, in 1861, by the 
 De Kalb Times, edited by G. D. R. Boyd. In 1867 the 
 De Kalb County News was started, and now publishes a su- 
 perior country journal. 
 
 The first lawyer in the place was Marcus White, who com- 
 menced practice in 1855. The first resident physician was 
 Dr. Hyslop. In 1859, Dr. Rufus Hopkins, of Sycamore, 
 who had always had a considerable practice in that town, re- 
 moved to the place, and as a physician, banker, and active 
 man of business, has been a prominent actor in the affairs of 
 the town. The first bank Avas established here in 1859, by 
 J. R. Hamlin and E. T. Hunt. 
 
 The four brothers Glidden, who first settled here in 1811, 
 have been among its most worthy and active citizens. E. B. 
 Gilbert, Esq., who came to Sycamore in 1847, and to DeKalb 
 in 1852, was elected Justice in 1853, and by successive re- 
 elections has ever since held that office. Harvey Thompson, 
 J. M. Glidden, and Jabez L. Cheesbrough, have long been 
 among the most popular and reliable grain dealers in the 
 County. The brothers Isaac L. and Hiram Ellwood have 
 been among its most active business men. R. K. Chandler 
 has long been a merchant in whom all have confidence. It is 
 such enterprising men as these, with the Vaughans, Smulls, 
 Roberts, Millers, and others that might be mentioned, that 
 have given tone and character to the town. 
 
 The Supervisors of De Kalb have been : For 1850, Thomas 
 M. Hopkins : 1851, Joseph F. Glidden ; 1852, Thomas M. 
 Hopkins ; 1853, Alonzo Converse ; 1854, Luman Huntley ; 
 1855, Alonzo Converse; 1856, Marcus White; 1857, E. P. 
 Young; 1858-59, Hiram Ellwood; 1860, Silas Tappan ; 
 1861-62, J. F. Glidden; 1863, Harvey Thompson; 1864-65, 
 Thomas M. Hopkins ; 1866, J. F. Glidden ; 1867, Harvey 
 Thompson ; 1868, W. C. Tappan. 
 
TOWN OF SYCAMORE. 491 
 
 The village was incorporated under a general act in 1856, 
 and in 1860 bj a special charter, which made the President 
 of the Board of Trustees a member of the Board of Super- 
 visors. This position has been filled by W. H. Allen in 
 1861-62 ; Silas Tappan in 1863 ; Leonard Morse in 1864 : 
 S. 0. Vaughan in 1865 ; E. B. Gilbert in 1866 ; and W. H. 
 Allen in 1867-68. 
 
 De Kalb furnished 223 men for the war for the preservation 
 of our nation from the armed rebellion. The story of their 
 toils, their losses, their sufferings, and their triumphs, will be 
 found in the record of the part that De Kalb County took in 
 the war of the great rebellion. 
 
 The population of De Kalb in 1855 was 1588 ; in 1860, 
 1900; and in 1865, 1976. 
 
MALTA. 
 
 This town, situated far out upon the billowy prairie, remote 
 from groves, and streams, and other attractions to the early 
 settler, was one of the later-settled townships of the County. 
 Its first inhabitant was Mr. Ezekiel Whitehead, who com- 
 menced a farm in 1851. A large portion of the land was at 
 this time in the hands of the government ; but was entered, 
 during this and the following year, by C. C. Shepard, II. A. 
 Mix, Mark Howard, and other speculators, who have since 
 gained great wealth by the rise in their value. 
 
 In 1854 the citizens of South Grove, which lies directly 
 north of this town, petitioned the Galena Railroad Company, 
 which had built the Dixon branch through the town, to estab- 
 lish a station for their accommodation; and after some 
 months' delay, the company acceded to the request. The 
 station once established, settlers rapidly filled up the township. 
 It had been a part of the town of De Kalb, but in 1855, a 
 sufficient number having moved in to give them a right to a 
 separate town organization, a petition was presented to the. 
 Board of Supervisors, asking this privilege, which was granted; 
 and the new town, under the name of Milton, embracing this 
 township and one-half of that one south of it, was admitted 
 into the Union. The village at the station was named Malta, 
 and a thriving town rapidly grew up at this point. 
 
 The name of Etna was, soon after its organization, substi- 
 tuted in place of Milton, and this, a few years later, was 
 chano-ed to Malta, the name of its village and post-office. 
 
 The financial storm of 1857, which prostrated the value of 
 every kind of property, and ruined the currency of the coun- 
 
TOWN OP MALTA. 493 
 
 try, reduced the vitality of this ambitious little village, and 
 gave it a blow from which it was many years in recovering. 
 Building was stopped; houses were vacant and valueless; 
 merchants and grain dealers failed; every body grew poor, 
 and multitudes left the country. 
 
 In 1857 a large steam mill was built, but it was never a 
 profitable property; and four years later it was burned down, 
 under circumstances that led to the suspicion that it was 
 burned by the lessees. Suits growing out of this charge are 
 still pending before the courts. 
 
 In 1867, aided by a liberal subscription of the citizens of 
 the village, Mr. Abraham Peters erected another large and 
 substantial steam grist mill, which is now doing a good busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Toward the close of the great war, Malta again acquired a 
 fresh increase of growth and prosperity. The high prices of 
 grain attracted settlers, and gave increased value to her new 
 prairie lands. Money became plenty, business increased, new 
 buildings were erected, real estate doubled in value, and sales, 
 which for many years were impossible, now became frequent. 
 
 Malta is now on the high tide of prosperity. The village 
 is the natural center for a large extent of very rich country, 
 which, filled up with the substantial farming population which 
 now is rapidly centering there, will support a town of three 
 or four times its present population. 
 
 The first census of the town was taken in 1860, when it 
 was found to have 620 inhabitants. This number, in 1865, 
 had increased to 849, and is now probably over 1200. 
 
 Malta furnished 94 soldiers for the war of the rebellion. 
 
 Its Supervisors have been : For 1856, E. Whitehead ; 
 1857-58, T. C. Wetmore; 1859-60-61, Henry Madden; 
 1862-63-64-65, M. C. Dedrick; 1866, G. W. Smiley; and 
 1867, D. F. Pease. 
 
 In 18 — the Congregational church was organized, with 
 
 Rev. as pastor. In 1867 the Baptist and 
 
 Congregational societies each built handsome churches. 
 
MILAN. 
 
 Milan, the youngest of our sisterhood of towas, was born 
 into the family in 1857. Its parents were Malta and Shab- 
 bona, who each contributed three square miles to the endow- 
 ment and j&tting out of their newly-born sister. 
 
 Mr. Lewis McEwen was the first inhabitant of Milan, and 
 although a bachelor then, and for many years after, he may 
 properly be called the father of the town.- lie came here in 
 1852. At this time not a foot of the land in the township 
 had been entered from government. He built a small house, 
 broke up his land, and for two or three years spent most of 
 the winters in hunting. In the winter of 1853-54, more than 
 one hundred deer were seen from his cabin door, and wolves 
 were extremely troublesome. The deer disappeared as soon 
 as the railroad was built. 
 
 Benjamin Banfield moved into the town in 1852, and 
 Reuben Dodd in the following winter. 
 
 Most of the land of the township was "entered" in 1853. 
 Before that time it was considered of no value, being so far 
 removed from timber that purchasers thought it doubtful if it 
 ever would be settled. But during the last five years its set- 
 tlement has been very rapid. Nearly every acre is now occu- 
 pied as a farm, and land sells at as high a price as in any part 
 of the County. 
 
 In 1853, Gurdon Hewitt entered nine sections in one day, 
 with warrants w^orth eighty cents per acre. This land was 
 purchased by settlers at from eight to thirteen dollars per 
 acre, and all of the land in the town has now passed into the 
 hands of actual residents. 
 
 The School Section Avas sold in 1865, and produced a 
 
TOWN ~0F MILAN. 495 
 
 township school fund of over |8000. The first school house 
 was built in the center of the town in 1855; but before that 
 time schools had been kept in private houses. 
 
 In the summer of 186 8, a handsome two-story building 
 was erected at the center, the upper part of which belongs to 
 the township, and is used as a town hall and place of worship, 
 while the lower story is used as a district school. 
 
 A large colony from Norway own and occupy the south- 
 west portion of the township, and constitute a very honest, 
 industrious, frugal, and respectable population. 
 
 The monotony of the prairies, which occupy the entire 
 surface of this town, has of late been broken by miles of 
 hedges of the rapid growing willow, which tend to diversify, 
 and beautify the landscape. 
 
 Mr. Lewis McEwen, who stood godfather to the town at its 
 first creation, has ever since been its Supervisor, except in 
 1861, when Mr. John Banfield was elected. 
 
 The population of Milan was 262 at the time its first census 
 was taken, in 1860, and five years after had increased to 524. 
 It now probably contains 800 souls. Its property is assessed 
 at $158,266. It furnished 38 soldiers for the Union army in 
 the late great war. 
 
AFTON. 
 
 Afton is yet a stripling in our family of tov/ns. Its brief 
 existence has been so little chequered with incident that it can 
 hardly be said to have a history. It is one of those towns 
 that, being far removed from natural groves, and rich only in 
 a- soil of unsurpassed fertility, were considered by the early 
 settlers undesirable for farming purposes, and consequently 
 remained unsettled. 
 
 The emigrants from the heavily wooded Eastern States, 
 accustomed to eight-rail Virginia fences, huge wood fires, and 
 an abundance of timber for building, could not at first believe 
 that farming could be carried on successfully without large 
 tracts of woodland in the immediate vicinity of their cultivated 
 fields; but they have discovered their mistake. No farms in 
 the County are more profitable than those in Afton, and towns 
 of like character, ten, fifteen, or twenty miles removed from 
 Avoodland. 
 
 Afton is one unbroken prairie, very undulating in its sur- 
 face, with an abundance of gravelly knolls, and with some 
 ledges of stone, which, however, have not yet been worked. 
 It has one handsome stream. The head waters of the Little 
 Rock Creek, a fine stream of pure water, burst from the 
 ground on Section Fourteen, and run southeastwardly through 
 Squaw Grove. 
 
 This stream suggested the pleasing name adopted for the 
 town. Mr. John A. Hayden, one of its first settlers, was a 
 great admirer of the song, "Flow gently, sweet Afton," and 
 while at work breaking up and preparing to cultivate his 
 farm, he was continually singing it. He insisted upon calling 
 
a 
 o 
 
 Q 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 Id 
 
TOWN OF AFTON. 497 
 
 the stream " Sweet Afton," and this suggested the musical 
 name for the town. 
 
 Afton was organized in 1854. Previous to that time the 
 northern half had been attached to De Kalb, and the southern 
 half to Clinton. Mr. W. E. Campbell was probably the first 
 white resident of the place, and John A. Hayden the next. 
 Other early settlers were Daniel Washburne, Timothy Pier- 
 son, John McGirr, Benjamin Muzzy, Charles Ward, Francis 
 Bemis, and Alex Folger. 
 
 In the autumn of 1854, Mr. Ezekiel Noble, who, with Silas 
 Tappan and Oscar Tyler, had just moved into the place, 
 erected temporary shanties, and commenced breaking their 
 land, canvassed the township with a petition for its organiza- 
 tion as a town, and obtained the signatures of twenty-three 
 male inhabitants. It was admitted by the Board of Super- 
 visors at their next session. 
 
 At the election next spring, Mr. Noble was chosen Super- 
 visor, and has ever since, by successive re-elections, held the 
 same office. Timothy Pierson and Orson Pearl were elected 
 Justices ; Sanford A. Tyler, Town Clerk ; Clark Glidden, 
 Assessor and Collector. 
 
 In 1855 the first school was held, in a private house be- 
 longing to Mr. Goodell. It was kept by Mr. Lord. Next 
 year the school section was sold, the town was divided into 
 two school districts, and a good school house was built on the 
 northeast corner of Section Twenty-Four, in District One, 
 which comprised the east half of the town. In 1858 the 
 town was divided into nine school districts, to which one has 
 since been added. 
 
 A spacious and beautiful church was built in 1867, by the 
 sect called Second Adventists, — the only church in the place. 
 
 The first elections were held at Sanford A. Tyler's house, 
 on Section Fourteen. They have since then been held at the 
 Center School House. 
 
 Afton manfully did its part in the war of the rebellion. 
 Eighty-one men went from that thinly populated town, to fill 
 63 
 
498 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 the ranks of the Union army. Its total population, by the 
 census of 1860, was but 516. Fifty-nine men had volunteered, 
 when, the necessities of the government calling for more men, 
 a tax was levied upon the town, and seven more were procured. 
 In the summer of 1864, an additional tax was voted upon the 
 town, amounting in all to $14,000, and fifteen more recruits 
 were enlisted. 
 
 Among those who gave their lives m the defence of their 
 country were Charles Elliot, Dempster Wheeler, Alexander 
 Campbell, Emerson T. Knight, and Lewis Olverson, who went 
 out in the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment, and L. Deforest, 
 of the Eighth Cavalry. 
 
 Among the leading citizens of Afton are Mr. Ezekiel Noble, 
 a shrewd, intelligent iSTew Yorker, who has alwavs been active 
 in its public affairs, and may be said to be the father of the 
 town, and Mr. C. W. Broughton, one of the wealthiest and 
 most extensive farmers of the County. 
 
CLINTON. 
 
 Clinton is now one of the populous and prosperous towns 
 of our County, but was not settled so early as those towns 
 which were more favored with timbered lands. One small 
 grove of about one hundred acres borders the Little Indian 
 Creek, which has its head in the town; the remainder is 
 handsome rolling prairie. 
 
 In 1835, when old Deacon Pritchard came through this 
 section of country, on foot and alone, prospecting for a home 
 in the west, he found at this grove just the spot he desired, 
 and he resolved to possess it; but returning next year with 
 his family, after a journey of forty days by wagon from New 
 York, he was disappointed by finding it claimed and occupied 
 by Mr. 0. P. Johnson, who has given his name to the grove. 
 Pritchard moved on to Grand de Tour, on Rock River; but 
 eight years after, returned and bought the property, and upon 
 it he and his sons, — among the worthiest and best citizens of 
 the County, — have ever since resided. 
 
 In 1843, nine families constituted the population of the 
 town. These were the families of W. B. Fields, Parker 
 Thomas, Alexander McNish, Silas Hines, John and James 
 Walker, Preston Curtiss, William Robertson, and C. B. 
 Whitford, most of whom still reside in the place. In 1845 
 and 1846j came Shelburne J. and Tracy Scott, Felix and 
 Baldwin Woodruif, and Sylvester Hall; and in 1847 and 
 1848, when Shabbona's Grove (which is on the west line of 
 this town) was sold by the old chief, and divided into lots by 
 the wily speculator Gates, so that all could procure timber, a 
 dozen more settlers made claims on the prairie, and became 
 
500 HISTOEY OF DEKALB COUNY. 
 
 permanent inhabitants of the township. Among these were 
 N. S. and Thomas J. Greenwood, Benjamin Matteson, William 
 Sherman, Sylvester and Elbert Hall, J. L. Bailey, J. L. 
 Mighell, Aruney Hill, and John Secor. 
 
 In 1850, when the township organization was adopted, the 
 boundaries of Clinton included one-half of Victor and of 
 Afton, as well as its present territory. In 1853 it was re- 
 duced to its present dimensions. 
 
 The commissioners appointed to organize and give names 
 to the towns found that the citizens of four of the original 
 thirteen had selected the nanie of Clinton, and it was awarded 
 to this town by lot. The Scotts and a uumber of other set- 
 tlers had migrated from the vicinity of Clinton, in New York, 
 and retained an attachment to the name. 
 
 In 1855 the population of Clinton had increased to 867 ; 
 in 1860 to 1006 ; and in 1865 to 1016. 
 
 In 1847 the first school was opened in the township, and 
 was taught by Mr. H. C. Beard. 
 
 The Baptists and Presbyterians organized the first churches, 
 and for several years had regular services, which were well 
 attended. But the Methodists have since been in the ascend- 
 ancy, and in 1867 built an elegant ' Gothic church, near the 
 center of the town, — one of the finest church edifices in the 
 County. 
 
 Claim wars were not unfrequent in the early history of the 
 town, and the sacredness of the claimants' rights was rigidly 
 enforced by the people. As late as 1851, some of the settlers 
 had not yet paid for their lands, but held them by claim only. 
 In that year occurred the last of the claim wars. One Hugh 
 McKerg had deeded some land claimed by John Secor. The 
 people df the town rose in a body, and chose a committee to 
 demand of him a release of the land, threatening to destroy 
 his property if he refused. But Hugh's heart was hardened, 
 and he refused to let the land go, but watched his property 
 by day and by night. After several nights' watching, he 
 ventured to sleep ; but woke to find his fences on fire, his well 
 
TOWN OF CLINTON. 501 
 
 filled up, and much of his moveable property carried off. He 
 found it politic to settle that claim without further delay. It 
 would hardly seem that land at that time was worth fighting 
 for. It kept the people, however hard they worked, yet mis- 
 erably poor. They raised fine crops ; old settlers speak of 
 having raised forty-two bushels of choice winter wheat to the 
 acre, but it brought them little money. When they had car- 
 ried it sixty miles to market, over roads almost impassable, it 
 sometimes failed to bring enough to pay the teamsters' bills. 
 It is as easy to raise five hundred dollars now from a farm as 
 it was to raise fifty in years from 1840 to 1850. 
 
 About one person in nine of the total population of Clinton 
 enlisted in the Union army during the war of the rebellion. 
 She sent 111 men, and raised by taxation and contribution 
 $13,746 for war purposes. 
 
 The names of those who lost their lives in that war were: 
 
 Jonathan Morris, who died at Tunnel Hill, January 26, 1863. 
 
 Egbert Matteson, at Louisville, Ky., November 19, 1862. 
 
 M. C. Kirkpatrick, at home, April 10, 1863. 
 
 Seeley Simpson, at Atlanta, August 5, 1865. 
 
 Henry Kellogg, at Bowling Green, November, 1862. 
 
 James Low, at Gallatin, March 3, 1863. 
 
 Ashael Childs, at LaGrange, Tenn. 
 
 C. Kose, Jr., at Camp Butler, January 19, 1862. 
 
 Corydon Heath, at Milliken's Bend, July, 1862. 
 
 Alfred Hodgekin, at Meriden, Miss., August 7, 1864. 
 
 Charles Nears, in Virginia, June, 1864. 
 
 E. A. Pritchard, at home, July 29, 1865. 
 
 The latter, a Captain in Company H, of the Thirteenth 
 'Infantry, was a bright example of the Christian soldier. A 
 native of Malone, N. Y., he moved with his father's family to 
 Clinton in 1845, pursued the study of law at Aurora and 
 Cincinnatti, and obtained a good law practice at Aurora; but 
 impelled by motives of purest patriotism, he left his young 
 family at the first outbreak of the war, served for three years 
 most honorably in the gallant old ThirteQnth, fighting its 
 
502 HISTORY OP DB KALB COUNTY. 
 
 every battle; but lost his health in the service, and returned, 
 to fall a victim to consumption, just when the people of De 
 Kalb County were about to elect him to an honorable civil 
 oflBce. He was, — in intelligence, in culture, in every manly 
 virtue, — one of the very foremost men of our County. 
 
 Reuben M. Pritchard, his brother, a gentleman of ability 
 and high integrity, has been for six years Supervisor of the 
 town, and one of the leading citizens of the County. 
 
 Charles Wesley and William Wallace Marsh, who settled 
 in Clinton in 1850, have gained both fame and fortune by the 
 invention of the famous Marsh Harvester. The first machine 
 was used and first patent obtained in 1858. The first made 
 for sale were used in 1864, when twenty-five were manufac- 
 tured. Five thousand will be built for the harvest of 1869, 
 and the admirable invention promises to supercede all other 
 modes of harvesting grain. 
 
 The Supervisors of Clinton have been: For 1850, Reuben 
 Pritchard; 1851, James R. Eastman; 1852, Arunah Hill; 
 1853, C. B. Whitford ; 1854, Arunah Hill ; 1855, Reuben 
 Pritchard; 1856, Reuben M. Pritchard; 1857, 0. A. Tubbs; 
 1858-59, K S. Greenwood; 1860-61-62, R. M. Pritchard, 
 1863-64, W. C. Macey; 1865, R. M. Pritchard; 1866, J. 
 L. Mighell ; 186T-68, Robert Humphrey. 
 
PIERCE. 
 
 Pierce is a prairie town, remote from woodland. The head 
 waters of Big Rock Creek rise in the eastern part of the town, 
 bursting from the side of a natural elevation sixty feet above 
 the lowlands near it. The spring is impregnated with sulphur. 
 
 The northern portion of the town is very undulating, the 
 southern portion very level. Its soil is particularly adapted 
 to wheat, and for the past eight years it has probably produced 
 more of this cereal than any other town in the County. The 
 towns of Pierce and South Grove have been the principal 
 wheat-growing towns of the County; and although it has been 
 the fashion to decry the raising of wheat as an unprofitable 
 business, yet the people of these towns have in ten years been 
 elevated, — principally by the production of this crop, — from 
 a condition of poverty and destitution to comparative inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 Three-fourths of the population of Pierce are natives of 
 Germany and Ireland. A considerable portion of the Ger- 
 mans are, however, from Pennsylvania, but speak the German 
 language, and preserve the German customs. The only 
 church in the town is a Lutheran church, in which, for ten or 
 twelve years, a German minister has been maintained, and 
 religious services conducted in the German language. The 
 Germans occupy the level plain in the southeastern portion of 
 the town, while the Irish are principally in the rougher land 
 of the north. They are generally an industrious and econom- 
 ical population, who came here twelve or fifteen years ago 
 with nothing, but have now grown independent, if not wealthy. 
 They are fast buying out the farms of the adjoining American 
 
504 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 settlers, and promise soon to monopolize the whole township. 
 They are a prolific race, and raise more babies to the acre 
 than any other town in the County ! 
 
 The first settler of Pierce was Elder Nathan Wilcox, who 
 made a farm in the northern part of the town in 1848. In 
 1850, Harrison and Horace S. Champlin bought 1100 acres 
 in this and the adjoining town of Afton, and running thirteen 
 breaking teams, they broke up over 600 acres during that 
 summer. Their friends called them crazy for settling so far 
 from woodland, and predicted that they would not see that 
 section of the County settled for thirty years, if ever. There 
 was then not a house between them and the Somonauk tim- 
 ber, ten miles south. Levi and Moses Hill at that time re- 
 sided in this town, and during the same season came Thomas 
 Halloran, P, Home, P. Dunn, L. Hennegan, John Ferrick, 
 the Butlers, and the Dillons. 
 
 In the eastern part of the town the German settlement 
 was started by Christian Myers, Henry Ramer, Josiah Jacob, 
 and George Eberly. Most of the land was "entered" in 
 1852, and the remainder was bought up in the following year. 
 
 The School Section was sold in 1857 at $1.25 per acre ; 
 but the purchasers were an improvident population, who failed 
 to pay even the interest upon their purchases, and the land 
 reverted back to the school fund, and was again sold in 1858 
 for from $5 to $6 per acre. All predicted that the latter 
 purchasers would fail to pay, as their predecessors had done. 
 No man, they argued, could afford to pay so large a price. 
 It was as hard to raise $100 then as to raise $1000 now. 
 But that land is now worth $40 per acre, and the purchasers 
 have grown rich upon it. 
 
 For many years the interest upon the fund created by this 
 sale paid all the expenses of the schools. The first school 
 was kept in the German settlement, and was opened in 1853. 
 
 This section of country was at first included in Somonauk 
 precinct, subsequently in Orange precinct, and before the 
 township organization was adopted, was incorporated with 
 
TO^YN OF PIERC E. 
 
 i05 
 
 Cortland (or Pampas) in iiicliland precinct. Until 1853 the 
 north half was attached to Pampas, and the south half to 
 Squaw Grove. In that year it Avas organized into a township, 
 and named Pierce, in honor of the President. The name was 
 selected by Mr. Champlin and that jolly eccentric, George 
 W. Ivretsinger. 
 
 The majority of the population of this town were not en- 
 tliusiastic in favor of the war; but when a draft was made, 
 they promptly raised nearly $11,000, and filled their quota; 
 $4500 of this sum being contributed by subscriptions of the 
 citizens, and $6000 borrowed upon a note signed by twenty 
 of the wealthy towns-people. This sum was subsequently 
 paid by a tax upon the town. To the two last men procured 
 as substitutes $1400 was paid by the town, in addition to 
 $600 of County bounty and the same by the United States 
 government; and both of these substitutes deserted as soon 
 as they reached Chicago. The total number of men furnished 
 was 100. 
 
 The population of the town in 1855 was 667 ; in 1860, 
 945 ; in 1865, 975. 
 
 The first Supervisor of Pierce was 11. S. Champlin, who 
 served in 1853-54. He was succeeded by C. M. Humistor, 
 Avho served till 1860, when B. Milnemow Avas elected. S. 
 Denton filled the office in 1861; Thomas Gormley in 1862-68; 
 K S. Cottrell in 1864; G. W. Slater in 1865-66; and C. 
 M. Humiston in 1867-68. 
 
 64 
 
I 
 
 SQUAW GROVE. 
 
 Squaw Grove was probably the first township settled in 
 De Kalb County. In the summer of 1834 one Hollenbeck, 
 who lived near Ottawa, made a journey into this terra incog- 
 nita as far as the present town of Sycamore, and on his return 
 made a claim to the fine grove in this town. This he called 
 Squaw Grove, because he found here, alone, a large number 
 of squaws, whose dusky partners had gone on a hunting ex- 
 pedition. He made his claim at the north side of the grove 
 where Mr. Oscar Tanner now resides, and this was proba'-jiy 
 the first land claimed in the County. 
 
 He did not remain on his new claim, but, returning to 
 Newark, in La Salle County, told such a flattering tale of 
 the charms of this newly discovered country, that William 
 Sebree, an old Virginian with a large family, who was looking 
 for a place to settle, started at once to possess it. 
 
 In September, 1834, he reached the spot, and, camping 
 down in the midst of the Indians, he built a temporary shel- 
 ter of crotches and poles, which he covered with bark taken 
 from their forsaken wigwams; and there housed his family 
 until he could construct a small log house for the winter, 
 which was now rapidly approaching. 
 
 It was a very cold winter. When he went on Christmas 
 day to cut the slough grass for his famishing cattle, he had 
 his ears and nose frozen. The family lived principally upon 
 deer and prairie fowl for the first six months. The latter 
 game were not so numerous as they were in after years, when 
 grain fields were more plenty; but wolves abounded, and 
 were very troublesome, snatching up everything eatable that 
 chanced to be left out of doors. 
 
TOWN OF SQUAW GROAE. 507 
 
 A man named Robson lived this fall in a log cabin at the 
 crossing of Somonauk Creek, a few miles south, but aban- 
 doned the place at the approach of winter, and left Sebree 
 the only white inhabitant of this section of country. 
 
 In the following spring a hoosier, named Leggett, claimed 
 and settled upon the farm long afterward occupied by the 
 Wards; and in October, 1835, Mr. Samuel Miller, a Ken- 
 tuckian, moved to the grove, and commenced a farm. Jacob 
 Lee and John Easterbrooks came in January, 1836, and 
 William Ward in the autumn following. 
 
 The new comers lived in the most primitive manner. Most 
 of them had cattle, horses, sheep, and swine, and Sebree re- 
 joiced in the possession of a pair of hand mill-stones, with 
 which the settlement all ground the corn that they raised. 
 They made clothing from the wool of their sheep. For three 
 years the only plow in the place was one owned by Sebree, 
 and made with a wooden mould board. They broke up the 
 prairie, sowed oats, and planted sod corn; and in the fall of 
 1836, Miller went with four yoke of cattle carrying thirty 
 bushels of oats to Chicago. These he sold for fifty cents a 
 bushel, returning with salt and boots for the settlement. 
 
 Their nearest neighbors at the north were upon the banks 
 of the Kishwaukee, twenty miles distant, and in 1835 they 
 went, as a neighborly act, to raise the first log house in that 
 country, on William A. Miller's claim in Kingston. 
 
 Many of the first settlers still remain upon their land, and 
 have grown rich with the rise in the value of lands, and from 
 the results of their industry. 
 
 Mr. Miller, who paid his first tax in 1837, to B. F. Fridley, 
 and paid sixty-two and-a-half cents, now has the doubtful 
 pleasure of paying yearly over $200 in taxes; and his prop- 
 erty, then worth $600 or $800, would now sell for $20,000. 
 The Sebrees, Wards, Lees, and other families, have been 
 equally fortunate. They have lived through times of great 
 destitution, but have been rewarded with the possession of 
 abundance. 
 
508 HISTORY OF DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 The first child born in the town was John Miller. The 
 first death was that of the energetic and industrious old Mrs, 
 Sehrec. 
 
 The first school was taught in Mr. Lee's house, by a lady ; 
 and ia the winter Mr. Cleveland, a farmer of the town, taught 
 ia the same place. In 1838, a log school house was built 
 in the grove, in which Mr. James H. Furman kept an excel- 
 leiit school. There are now nine school districts, in each of 
 which are handsome and convenient school houses. There is 
 no church edifice in the town. A store, a tavern, a black- 
 smith's and a shoemaker's shop, constitute the little village. 
 
 The town is now all settled, mostly by farmers of wealth, 
 whose handsome farm houses and barns indicate the possession 
 of taste, as well as wealth, and excite the admiration of the 
 traveler. The assessed valuation of the property of the town 
 in 1868 was $242,290, which is a larger amount, in propor- 
 tion to its population, than any other town in the County. 
 
 The population in 18G5 was 515; in 1860, 795; in 1865, 
 679. jS^inety-three men were furnished by this town for the 
 war of- the great rebellion. 
 
 The Supervisors of the town have been: .For 1850-51-52, 
 A. L. Heminway ; for 1853-54-55-56, W. C. Tappan ; for 
 1857-58, Philo Slater ; for 1859, W. (J. Tappan ; for 1860- 
 61, Philo Slater; for 1862-63, W. C. Tappan; for 1864, D. 
 C. Winslow; for 1865-66-67-68, C. II. Taylor. 
 
PAWPAW. 
 
 PawPaw is the southwest corner town of De Kalb County. 
 Most of its surface is occupied by rolling prairie, — some por- 
 tions of it rather flat, yet none so much so as to render it 
 unfit for the plow. There is no waste land in the township, 
 and its deep, black soil, resting over a subsoil of clay, is 
 extremely productive. The Big Indian Creek and its tribu- 
 taries, which run through the township in various directions, 
 furnish a good supply of pure, running water. Ross Grove, 
 Coon Grove, and a portion of PawPaw Grove, lie in this 
 town, and supply its inhabitants with a considerable portion 
 of their fencing and fuel. These, and other natural advan- 
 tages, attracted those seeking homes in the West at a very 
 early date. 
 
 The first settlers in this township arrived in the autumn of 
 1834. David A. Town came first, and was soon after joined 
 by Edward Butterfield and Benjamin Harris. In the family 
 of Mr. Harris was his aged father, Benoni Harris, a Method- 
 ist clergyman, who immediately began to preach the doctrines 
 of the Cross to the few scattered settlers, who gathered to- 
 gether from great distances, coming on foot, on horseback, 
 and with ox teams, to hear the word. 
 
 A plain marble slab, erected on the east side of PawPaw 
 Grove, and bearing Masonic emblems, marks the last resting 
 place of this pioneer minister in De Kalb County. He died 
 at the age of eighty-four. His wife, Thankful, whose remains 
 repose beside him, was the first white person buried in this 
 town. 
 
 In the summer of 1835, several additional families moved 
 
510 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 into the township, among them David A. Town, Mr. Baldwin, 
 and Mr. Ross, who first settled and gave name to Ross Grove. 
 PawPaw Grove took its name from the abundance of pawpaw 
 apples found there, and which grow there to this day — a fruit 
 small, juicy, and luscious, found nowhere else in this vicinity. 
 
 At this grove the celebrated Shabbona, chief of the Pota- 
 wattamies, with his tribe, was accustomed to make long stays. 
 The old inhabitants say he about divided his time between 
 this and Shabbona's Grove. Here was their burying ground 
 for common Indians, and the place where, between two half 
 logs, dug out in the center, they stood up their noted dead in 
 the crotches of trees. Here, too, lived the chief Wabonsie, 
 concerning whom but few of the oldest citizens knew anything, 
 and they but little, as he soon disappeared. 
 
 For some services in the Indian war, the government gave 
 a reservation at this grove to one Le Clair, a half-breed 
 Frenchman. Most of this is in Lee County. 
 
 Game was found quite plentiful at that early date. Deer, 
 prairie wolves, wild cats, and an occasional bear, with wild 
 turkeys, geese, ducks, and prairie chickens, Avere the principal 
 species. 
 
 The first white child born was Caroline, daughter of Rus- 
 sell and Roxana Town, in the spring of 183G, now the wife of 
 James Kern. 
 
 PawPaw Grove has the reputation of having been, during 
 early times, one of the principal rendezvous of the horse- 
 thieving and counterfeiting fraternity. Wyram, or "Bogus," 
 Gates, John Bryant, Bill Rogers, and one Webber, with 
 others, who resided at a small grove west of PawPaw, gained, 
 by means of the suspicious circumstances which surrounded 
 them, the reputation of belonging to that gang, and of pro- 
 curing by these means those large amounts of money which 
 their neighbors saw them to possess, and knew no other way 
 to account for their possessing. 
 
 A citizen relates that, coming on horseback from the north, 
 he endeavored to relieve his lonely way by overtaking two 
 horsemen in advance. But the faster he rode, still faster 
 
TOWN OF PAW PAW. 511 
 
 rode thej, till the pursuit became a chase, and they hid in the 
 woods. The horses were next day found in Gates' barn, the 
 men arrested, tried, and sent to the penitentiary, from whence 
 they soon escaped. 
 
 Bill Rogers was a marked character. He was bold as a 
 lion, tall, and straight as an Indian. He sometimes acted as 
 detective of criminals, and sometimes, it is said, in the char- 
 acter of principal. An exciting story is told of his arrest of 
 a huge, powerful negro, who had hitherto defied all efforts to 
 capture him. Rogers met him on the prairie, when both were 
 unarmed, and after a fight, lasting over an hour, succeeded in 
 pinioning his arms, handing him over to the officers, and secur- 
 ing the large reward offered for his capture. 
 
 Rogers was the contractor to remove the Indians from this 
 country to their new homes west of the Mississippi. Five or 
 six years ago, an early citizen of this County, crossing the 
 plains to California, was astonished to meet him far beyond 
 civilization, dressed in Indian costume, and mounted on a wild 
 mustang with long hair and beard as white as snow, still hale 
 and hearty, and still a pioneer. 
 
 All of this class of population moved from the grove, far- 
 ther to the west, upon the approach of the refining influences 
 of civilization. 
 
 Ten or twelve years after, two of the new settlers discovered 
 on the prairie a buried deposit of some eight hundred dollars 
 in silver coin, which it was surmised had been hidden there 
 by one who had been many years imprisoned in the peniten- 
 tiary. 
 
 In 1850 the township organization was adopted, and the 
 first town meeting was held at the residence of Shadrac Bas- 
 ley. Sixty votes were cast, and Pierpont Edwards was elected 
 Supervisor; George V. Miners, Town Clerk; Stanley Rug- 
 gles. Assessor ; W. J. Merritt, Collector ; William Shepardson 
 and Daniel Rexford, Justices of the Peace. The Supervisors 
 subsequently chosen were : Pierpont Edwards in 1851; Wil- 
 liam Shepardson in 1852 ; Pierpont Edwards in 1853 ; Wil- 
 
512 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 liam Sliepardson in 185-1 ; llobert Hampton in 1855-56-57- 
 58-59; Alonzo Dole in 1860-61; Robert Hampton in 1862- 
 63-64-65-66-67; and N. II. Powers in 1868. 
 
 Hon. William Sliepardson and Hon. Robert Hampton have 
 represented the district in the State Legislature. 
 
 As the population increased, and the poverty usually ac- 
 companying new settlements began to disappear, and after the 
 broad prairies had, to a considerable extent, been converted 
 into farms, the people began to turn their attention to their 
 educational interests. Accordingly, in the summer of 1854, 
 a building was erected at South PawPaw, standing on the line, 
 one-half in De Kalb and one-half in Lee County, for a semi- 
 nary. 
 
 A kind of rivalry sprang up at East PawPaw, so that, 
 during the same summer, a similar building was also erected 
 there. Soon after, the same spirit erected a third building at 
 West PawPaw, in Lee County. So there were three semina- 
 ries, occupying the three angles of a nearly equilateral trian- 
 gle, the sides of which were about two miles. Of course, they 
 destroyed each other, by dividing the patronage that should 
 have been received by one; and all ultimately became common 
 schools. 
 
 Later, in the summer of 1866, a second seminary was built 
 at East PawPaw, which is now (1868) in operation as such. 
 
 The first church was built at Ross Grove, by the United 
 Presbyterian church, in 1861. There are at present three in 
 the town, — a second one near Ross Grove, and the third at 
 East PawPaw. 
 
 The population of PawPaw in 1855 was 944 ; in 1860, 
 1007 ; in 1865, 954. 
 
 PawPaw sent 136 men to crush out the slaveholders' rebel- 
 lion. Most of them went into Captain Terry's Company, of 
 the One Hundred and Fifth Infantry, into the Fourth and 
 Seventeenth Cavalry, the Fifty-Second, Thirty-Fourth, Sev- 
 enty-Fifth, Eighty-Eighth, and the One Hundred and Second 
 Infantry regiments. They were men who did the hard fight- 
 
TOWN OF PAW PAW. 
 
 513 
 
 ing, and but a single pair of shoulder-straps was awarded to 
 the soldiers of the town. 
 
 Of the fifteen citizens of PawPaw who went out in Com- 
 pany I, of the Fourth (Colonel Dickey's) Cavalry, five, who 
 were of the best men of the 'place, gave their lives to their 
 country. Three of these were of the highly respected family 
 of Hydes, and each left a wife and two children. 
 
 Lycurgus Hyde was killed on a reconnoissance in Tennes- 
 see ; Elliot L. Hyde was killed at Cofi"eeville, Mississippi, 
 December 5th, 1862; Edwin Thomas, brother-in-law of the 
 two former, 4ied at Pittsburg Landing, two weeks before that 
 great battle. Other members of that regiment, who died 
 martyrs to the cause, were Henry Doty and Henry Jones. 
 
 John Densmore Dole, of the Thirty-Fourth Infantry, fell 
 at the battle of Stone River, December 31, 1862, a rebel 
 bullet piercing his brain. He was a youth of fine promise, 
 who left his preparation for college at the call to arms, and 
 after doing gallant service as a brave soldier, gave his life to 
 his country. His body was recovered, through the entreaties 
 of his mother to General Rosecranz, and was buried by Spar- 
 tan Lodge of Odd Fellows, at PawPaw, February 10, 1863. 
 
 JOHN D. DOLE. 
 
 60 
 
VICTOR. 
 
 The town of Victor Avas organized in 1853. For many 
 years previous it had been, with Clinton and half of Afton, 
 in one town organization, which held its town meetings in 
 Deacon Pritchard's large barn until the school house was 
 built, near by, when they were convened at that place. 
 
 It was one of the prairie towns, remote from woodland, and 
 consequently was not occupied by settlers until those sections 
 of the country which were better favored by timber had passed 
 out of the hands of the United States, and could not be pur- 
 chased at "government price." In 18-17 and 1848 some of 
 the lands were first entered, and during the next five years it 
 was all taken up. 
 
 Among the first settlers were: Jeremiah Mulford, — first 
 post-master at Van Buren, and who named the post-office 
 after his favorite President, — ^Y. PI. Keene, Aruna Beckwith, 
 James Green, Newton Stearns, Peleg Sweet, Jerome Baxter, 
 George N. Stratton, Simon Snydam, II. C. Beard, and W. 
 R. Prescott, 
 
 When the railroad was built, in 1851, there was a large 
 influx of new settlers. Many Irish and Germans purchased 
 lands, and a considerable colony of Norwegians soon moved 
 in. These are now among the most thriving and prosperous 
 of its townspeople. There is now no land in the town that is 
 not occupied by actual residents. 
 
 Ross Grove and Shabbona Grove furnish some of its people 
 with timber, but most ,of them own no woodland. They pur- 
 chase coal from Kewanee for fuel, and lumber from Michigan 
 for fencing and building. The Little Indian Creek waters 
 the township. 
 
TOWN OP VICTOE. 515 
 
 There is no village in the town. Lelancl, a thriving railroad 
 village in La Salle County, about one mile and a-half south 
 of the south line of the town, is the principal center for the 
 trade of its people, and for those conveniences and accommo- 
 dations which villages furnish. 
 
 The first school house in the place was built in 1850, by 
 Mr. Newton Stearns, on Section Eight. The school section 
 was sold in 1855. 
 
 In 1855 the population of Victor was 399; in 1860, 746; 
 in 1865, 835. 
 
 This town gave 103 soldiers to the war of the rebellion, and 
 taxed itself $10,858 for war purposes. 
 
 Those who lost their lives in the service were : Ferdinand 
 Van Derveer, Avho died at Louisville, Kentucky, March 30, 
 1865; E. T. Pierce, at Alexandria, Virginia, AjDril 23, 1861; 
 C. T. Bond, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, March 17, 1865; 
 C. R. Snydam, at Alexandria, Virginia, January 26, 1862. 
 
 The Supervisors of Victor were : For 1853, Benjamin 
 Darland; 1854-55-56, Samuel Lord; 1857, George N. 
 Stratton ; 1858-59-60, H. C. Beard ; 1861-62-63-64, J. S. 
 Van Derveer; 1865-66, H. C. Beard; 1867-68, W. R. 
 Prescott. 
 
SOMONAUK. 
 
 The town of Somonauk for ten years past lias contained a 
 larger population, and a larger amount of taxable wealth, 
 than any other in the County. It occupies the southeastern 
 portion of the County. Its surface is rather level; it has a 
 good supply of timber, and is well watered by Somonauk 
 Creek, a handsome stream, which turns two mills. 
 
 The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad runs diago- 
 nally through the southern portion of the town, and upon it, 
 four miles apart, but within the township, are the thriving 
 villages of Sandwich and Somonauk. 
 
 In this town the first white man's habitation built in the 
 County was erected. It was a small log house, built in the 
 spring of 1834, on the bank of Somonauk Creek, and was 
 used as a station house on the mail route between Chicago 
 and Galena, by way of John Dixon's ferry, which route was 
 first started during this year. The house was abandoned in 
 the autumn, was used during the winter by one Robinson, 
 and next year was kept as a tavern by James Root. It was 
 afterwards occupied by John Easterbrooks, and subsequently 
 became the property of the Beveridge family. 
 
 In 1835, a number of families moved into the town, and 
 claimed the fine timber land upon the borders of the stream. 
 Among them were Dr. Arnold, Joseph Sly, Thomas Brookes, 
 and Simon Price. 
 
 In 1839, there were about thirty houses in the township. 
 Among them were two taverns, one kept by John and Henry 
 Lane, the other by Mr. Hummell. Robert Sterrett had a 
 mill erected this year ; Mr. Easterbrooks kept the post-ofiice 
 upon the Beveridge place; and among the householders upon 
 
 i 
 
TOAVN OP SOMONAUK. , 517 
 
 the east of the creek were: Burrage Hough, Frank Dale, 
 Joseph Sly, Frederick Witherspoon, Hubbard, Joseph, and 
 Thomas Latham, Harvey Joles, George S. Pierson, Captain 
 William Davis, Alvin Hyatt, David Merritt, and Francis 
 Divine. On the west of the creek were: Mr. Burchim, Owen 
 and Simon Price, Dr. Thomas Brooks, William Poplin, Con- 
 way B. Rhodes, Amos Harmon, and Messrs. Frisby, Dobbins, 
 Bliss, and Townsend. 
 
 The settlers were all poor. Their dwellings were nearly 
 all of logs, covered with shakes, and floored with puncheons. 
 Many of them were ill constructed, cold and comfortless. 
 This was a sickly season, and in many of the little cabins the 
 puncheon floor was at times covered with the beds of those 
 suffering from various illnesses, leaving hardly enough of well 
 persons to take proper care of the sick. The wealthiest 
 among them hardly had a sufficiency of comfortable clothing. 
 Every body was shaking with ague, and the new comers, most 
 of whom were accustomed to the comforts and luxuries of life 
 in their eastern homes, felt that the hardships of frontier life 
 in the new settlements were severe indeed. Nothing that 
 they produced was saleable, except winter wheat, and although 
 they got fine crops of this cereal, it hardly paid the heavy 
 expense of drawing it to the Chicago markets, over sixty 
 miles of almost trackless prairie, and through the unbridged 
 streams. 
 
 The land sale in 1843, when this section of country came 
 in market, and when their farms must be paid for or lost, 
 drained the township of nearly every dollar remaining, and 
 left the people poor indeed. Many a fine claim of timbered 
 land was given away to friends who were able to "enter" it, 
 and most of the prairie land remained the property of the 
 government till about the year 1850. But the settlers main- 
 tained the kindliest feelings among each other, and aided one 
 another with a generosity that is now most gratefully remem- 
 bered. 
 
 They met for worship at the school houses, and their spirit- 
 
518 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 ual necessities were ministered to bj Father Abram Woolston, 
 a Methodist preacher, a good surveyor, and a shrewd man of 
 business, who boasted, as not the least of his many accom- 
 plishments, that he could kill and dress a four hundred pound 
 hog in fifty-seven minutes. 
 
 Father Lumrey, an Episcopal Methodist, was another favor- 
 ite preacher, and Joseph Sly's comfortable cabin was always 
 hospitably open to as many preachers as could make it con- 
 venient to stop with him. 
 
 David Merritt, the post-master at Freeland Corner, came 
 regularly to the meetings, bringing his mail in his hat; and 
 much shrewd financiering was often required to raise the 
 twenty-five cents in postage that was required to obtain the 
 letter from his custody. 
 
 In 1851 the railroad, — that great life-giving stimulant to 
 the impoverished West, — was built through the township, and 
 with the thunder of the iron horse came the advantages of a 
 market for produce at the doors of the producers, free access 
 for the population of the world to its fertile acres, and 
 the conversion of the rich waste into fertile and profitable 
 farms. 
 
 In a few months, every acre of land in the township Avas 
 taken up by settlers or speculators, and the population rapidly 
 increased. A railroad station was at once established at 
 Somonauk village, and for a year or more it was the only 
 station in the town. 
 
 THE VILLAGE OE SANDWICH. 
 
 In the fall of 1852, William Patten, Washington Walker, 
 and Lindsay Carr, farmers in the neighborhood of the present 
 thriving village of Sandwich, called a mass meeting of the 
 citizens of Newark, then a lively village six miles south, upon 
 which occasion a committee was chosen to petition the railroad 
 company to establish a station for their accommodation. At 
 this time, Mr. J. H. Furman made a census of the citizens 
 who would probably use this station, and reported one hundred 
 and fifty at the south and fifty at the north of the railroad. 
 The company consented to stop trains when flagged. The 
 
TOWN OF SOMONAUK. 519 
 
 neighbors contrived to have every one who could raise the 
 necessary funds take atrip as frequently as possible; they 
 ran a carriage to Newark daily; and, in a few months, they 
 succeeded in inducing a belief that it was a good point for 
 travel, and it was made a regular stopping place, with the 
 name of Newark Station, 
 
 Mr. Almon Gage, the first proprietor of the land upon 
 which the station was built, offered lots to all who would build 
 upon them; and A. E. Patten, James Clark and Myrlin Car- 
 penter availed themselves of the offer, and became the first 
 inhabitants of the village. James Clark built the first house, 
 — a large, rambling one-story structure, known as the Done- 
 gana House. 
 
 Numerous additions to the village were made in the follow- 
 ing year, and in 1855 a great impetus Avas given to the place 
 by the establishment of a manufactory of agricultural machin- 
 ery by Hon. Augustus Adams, Senator for this district. It 
 has since grown more rapidly in trade and population than 
 any other village in the County. In 1860 its population was 
 952, and it is now estimated at 1800. It has been several 
 times ravaged by destructive conflagrations, but has speedily 
 been rebuilt more substantially than before. 
 
 In 1865, 300,000 bushels of wheat were shipped from this 
 station, and one grain dealer paid $450,000 for grain pur- 
 chased. The manufacture of agricultural machinery has 
 constantly increased, and in 1867 the original company was 
 merged into a stock association, with a capital of $75,000, 
 which has since been enlarged to $125,000. It employs 
 eighty men, and has proved very remunerative to the stock- 
 holders. 
 
 In 1856 a bank Avas established by Mr. M. B. Castle, which 
 is still in existence; and from an exchange business of fifty 
 dollars the first year, has now grown into a large and flourish- 
 ing institution. Mr. J. H. Carr opened the first store in the 
 place; Mr. Gr. W. Culver and Eobert Patten the first lumber 
 yard. 
 
520 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 In 1857, William L. Dempster started a weekly newspaper, 
 — The People s Press, — which was discontinued six months 
 after. The Prairie Jfome, published in 1859, soon met the 
 same fate. The Sandwich Neivs was subsequently issued 
 bi-monthly by James Higbee, and afterwards made a weekly, 
 with J. H. Sedgwick as editor. He was succeeded by Mr. 
 James H. Furman, one of the first settlers and most substan- 
 tial farmers of that town; and, under the name of The Gazette, 
 it is now the largest paper in the County. 
 |,^The first church in the township was that of the United 
 Presbyterians, or Seceders, which was organized in 1844, 
 with nineteen members, and with Rev. R. W. French as pas- 
 tor. It now has two hundred and thirty-five communicants. 
 Their place of worship is at Freeland Corners. The first 
 church built at Sandwich was that of the Baptists, in 1853; 
 the second, the Methodist, in 1854; the third, the Presbyte- 
 rian, in 1855; the fourth, the Congregationalists, in 1864, 
 ^^they had previously worshipped in a small chapel) ; the fifth 
 and sixth, the German Lutheran and the German Methodist. 
 There are now fourteen church edifices in the township, in all 
 of which regular worship is maintained. 
 
 THE VILLAGE OP SOMONAUK. 
 
 The first proprietor of the land on which Somonauk village 
 is built was William Mitchell. He sold it in 1844 to Alvarus 
 Gage, who may be called the father of the village- It was 
 the first railroad station established in the County, and, 
 although there had previously been a small collection of 
 houses there, the people flocked in so rapidly that many were 
 obliged to live in tents for the first few months of their stay. 
 Mr. Franklin Dale built the first store and the first grain 
 warehouse in the place. Mr. Hess built the next one. 
 
 It is now one of the most flourishing villages in the County, 
 and has had a rapid growth during the past few years. It 
 has nine large brick stores, in which are four dry goods estab- 
 lishments, two groceries, one hardware store, one drug store, 
 and one furniture warehouse. It also has a steam grist mill, 
 
HiOiNi RO BERT HAMPTON 
 
 OF PAWPAW. 
 
 (1ii.-ai.. Ull„.,;,-,|,lit,m <■...(■),!>■,•.».. 
 
TOWN OF SOMONAUK. 521 
 
 a broom factory, a brewery, a livery stable, three grain ware- 
 houses, a large agricultural warehouse, a hay pressing estab- 
 lishment, and two lumber yards. 
 
 It has seven churches. The Protestant Methodists built 
 the first church edifice, the Baptists the next; and to these 
 have been added the churches of the Presbyterians, German 
 Baptists, German Lutherans, the Catholics, and the Episcopal 
 Methodists. 
 
 The education of the children of the village is conducted in 
 a fine large edifice, divided into four departments, upon the 
 "graded" system. 
 
 The village has twice suffered severely by fires, which des- 
 troyed a large part of its business buildings ; but the energy 
 of its people triumphed over their misfortunes, and it was 
 never in a finer or more flourishing condition than at present. 
 The township of Somonauk contributed 311 men to the war 
 of the rebellion, and raised $27,843 by tax, to meet necessary 
 Avar expenses. 
 
 Ten days after the fall of Sumter, a company of Somonauk 
 soldiers, under Captain L. H. Carr, was guarding the import- 
 ant strategic point of Cairo. It was the first company raised 
 in the State, and probably the first in the Union, under the 
 first call of the President. It was subsequently incorporated 
 in the Tenth regiment. The gallant and honored Captain 
 Carr met his death from the bullet of a sharp-shooter, while 
 at the siege of Island No. Ten. 
 
 Frederick W. Partridge, a native of Vermont, a lawyer, 
 and in 1860 post-master of the place, was chosen Captain of 
 the next company raised in the town. It was made a part of 
 the Thirteenth Infantry, and with it he fought most gallantly 
 through its three years' term of service. He was an accom- 
 plished soldier, and a thorough disciplinarian. He was twice 
 wounded, rose to the command of the regiment, and was bre- 
 vetted Brigadier General; and upon his return, was elected 
 to the office of Circuit Clerk and Recorder, — the best office in 
 the gift of the County, 
 6Q 
 
522 HISTORY OP DEKALB COUNTY. 
 
 Hon. William Patten, a native of New York, has been one 
 of the leading men of Somonauk. He has served three terms 
 as member of the State Legislature, and is now Senator of 
 this district. He raised and commanded a company in the 
 One Hundred and Fifty-Sixth Infantry, during the great 
 war, and has ever been prominent in every good word and 
 work. Hons. W. W. Sedgwick, Augustus Adams, S. B. 
 Stinson, W. L. Simmons, M. B. Castle, and the Culver bro- 
 thers, should also be mentioned as prominent among those 
 numerous high toned and honorable men whose intelligence 
 and well-directed energies have contributed to the prosperity 
 of the place, and of whom it may be said that the town has 
 honored itself by placing them forward as its representative 
 men. 
 
 Colonel Isaac and Captain Karl Rutishauser, of Somonauk, 
 soldiers in their native Poland, did gallant service also in the 
 war for the preservation of the Union. 
 
 One of the most respected families of Somonauk is that of 
 Mr. George Beveridge, vrho moved to the place from Wash- 
 ington County, New York, in 1844. The family are of 
 Scotch descent, — sturdy Presbyterians in religious, and 
 strongly anti-slavery in political faith. 
 
 In 1852, a gentlemanly stranger begged shelter for the 
 night at this house. Something led the family to suspect 
 that he was a detective, searching for evidence of their con- 
 nection with the crime of aiding slaves to their freedom. 
 Finally, seeking an opportunity of privacy, he asked directly 
 of the venerable mother if she had not at times secreted fugi- 
 tive negroes. "Yes," said she; "and in spite of your op- 
 pressive laws, I will do it again whenever I have an oppor- 
 tunity." Instead of immediately arresting her, as she had 
 expected, the stranger laughed. He was an eminent physi- 
 cian of Quincy, engaged in establishing stations on the under- 
 ground railroad; and during many subsequent years, there 
 was a frequent stoppage of trains at this station, and much 
 time and money was spent in forwarding the flying negroes 
 
ttisTOHY OF Dekalb county. 525 
 
 In another chapter will he found a hrief history of the 
 honest and kindly old chief who has given name to this grove 
 and this town, and Avhose manly and generous treatment of 
 the whites entitles him to lasting remembrance; and also of 
 his band of Indians, who, within the memory of men yet 
 young, were living here in patriarchal style, — these groves 
 their towns, and these vast prairies their fields; the one fur- 
 nishing them shelter and fuel, the other food from the chase. 
 
 In the treaty made at Prairie DuChien, in 1829, — by which 
 the Pottawattomies ceded this section of country to the United 
 States, — two sections of land at this grove were made a reser- 
 vation to Shabeney. In another treaty, made at Tippecanoe, 
 Indiana, in October, 1832, these lands were again reserved 
 to Shabonier, — a French method of spelling the same name. 
 In a third treaty, made in September, 1833, it is provided 
 that these lands reserved shall be grants in fee simple, which 
 might be sold and conveyed by the recipient, — a privilege 
 which he had not before possessed; but in the following year 
 this provision of the treaty was rejected by the Senate, leaving 
 them, as before, simple reservations. 
 
 This fact becomes important, as explaining the difficulty in 
 the titles to these lands, which has caused a vast deal of per- 
 plexity and loss to those of the white settlers whose title to 
 the grove came through the old chief. 
 
 In 1845 Old Shabbona, ignorant of the repeal of that pro- 
 vision of the treaty which gave him a right to sell his land, 
 sold to Azell A. Gates and Orrin Gates his entire reservation. 
 This was speedily divided into tracts, and re-sold by the Gates 
 to the inhabitants of the adjoining prairies. 
 
 But three years later, these purchasers Avere astonished at 
 finding that these lands were offered for sale by the United 
 States government, as were the adjoining prairies. An in- 
 vestigation, made through Hon. John Wentworth, then 
 member of Congress for this district, disclosed the fact that 
 the deed of Shabbona to the Gates was void; and that the 
 government held that, as Shabbona, by transferring and giv- 
 
526 TOWN" OF SHABBONA, 
 
 ing up possession, had forfeited the use of the reservation, it 
 was competent for the government to sell it as other public 
 lands in this department were sold. 
 
 Nothing remained for the purchasers to do but to purchase 
 the lands again of government. But they were now worth 
 twenty, — perhaps forty, times the government entry price, 
 and it was supposed that upon their being offered at auction 
 the price would be raised by speculators to rates which they 
 could not afford to pay. To provide for this emergency, the 
 purchasers met in council, selected William Marks and Reu- 
 ben Allen, two of their most respected fellow-townsmen, to 
 bid in the land at the minimum rate of $1.25 an acre, and, 
 arming themselves with clubs and pistols, they went, an army 
 of one hundred and fifty determined men, fully resolved to 
 prevent (by force if necessary) all others from bidding upon 
 the lands. 
 
 Arrived at Dixon, they found a number of men prepared 
 to purchase their lands, and they arranged to seize any such 
 bidder, and drown him in Kock River. Their resolute aspect 
 overawed all opposition, and they secured their lands at the 
 minimum rate. 
 
 They had almost forgotten their difficulties with their titles 
 when, in 1864:, they were again alarmed by notice from a 
 lawyer of Chicago that he was about to proceed to secure the 
 title to the lands for the heirs of Shabbona, upon the ground 
 that the government had wrongfully dispossessed him, that 
 he had not forfeited his use of the reservation, that his heirs 
 still held title to the property, and that it was made a grant 
 in fee simple, by an act of Congress passed as late as March 
 9th, 1848. 
 
 The owners of these lands now placed the matter in charge 
 of Mr. C. W. Marsh, who visited Washington, and made a 
 thorough examination of the question of title; and from his 
 elaborate report, made to a meeting of settlers upon his re- 
 turn, the foregoing facts are obtained. 
 
 Following this ventilation of the subject, the attempt of the 
 
 
HISTORY OF DE KALE COUNTY. 527 
 
 Chicago lawyer to force the purchasers to pay a third time 
 for their lands was abandoned; hut the question of the secur- 
 ity of the title is one upon which lawyers still disagree. 
 
 Shabbona and his twenty or thirty immediate descendants 
 occasionally returned, and lived at intervals upon his reserva- 
 tion, but did not make a permanent residence there till 1844. 
 
 New-Year's Day of 1836 was celebrated at Shabbona 
 Grove by the erection of the first white man's dwelling at 
 this place. Mr. Edmund Town and David Smith, the first 
 white inhabitants, who had lived for a few weeks in the wig- 
 wams Avhich the Indians had abandoned for awhile, assisted 
 by Mr. Russell Town, the first resident of PawPaw Grove, 
 rolled up the logs, and speedily enclosed a dwelling, celebrat- 
 ing the event with some bottles of liquor, which the Indians 
 had left hidden in a tree near by. 
 
 In the following year came Messrs. William, Lewis, and 
 Colman Olmstead, Darius Horton, William Lyman, and Jef- 
 ferson Sturtevant, who made extended claims and erected for 
 themselves comfortable log dwellings and stables. The In- 
 dians, when not abroad upon their roving excursions, lived 
 by their side in perfect peace and good fellowship. The 
 children of the Avhite families were numerous, and in 1842 
 two school houses were built at the grove for their instruction. 
 
 In 1845, the population had been increased by the immi- 
 gration of the families of Mr. June Baxter, William Marks, 
 Peter Miller, and William White. They were an honest and 
 law-abiding population, and struggled courageously with the 
 poverty and many hardships which were common to all the 
 inhabitants at this early day. The deer in the neighboring 
 groves and prairies furnished them with a considerable supply 
 of venison, and from their skins they made durable garments. 
 Prairie fowls, which were then vastly more numerous than 
 now, together with sand-hill cranes, swans, ducks, and geese, 
 contributed liberally to the supply of their tables. The In- 
 dians living near them baked these fowls in the ashes, or 
 boiled them in their kettles, with entrails, claws and feathers; 
 
528 TOWN OF SHABBONA. 
 
 then, tearing them in pieces, devoured them like beasts. The 
 sight of Sibiqua, Shabbona's pretty daughter, and the belle 
 of the settlement, engaged in this kind of a repast, destroyed 
 all the charms of her personal beauty, and it is not strange 
 that the current report, that Shabbona would give a bushel 
 of dollars to any good white man who would marry her, should 
 not overcome their repugnance to a bride with such personal 
 habits; but Beaubien, a Frenchman near Chicago, married 
 one of the daughters, and to her home Shabbona made annual 
 journeys. 
 
 In 1847, Shabbona returned from a journey to Washington, 
 elegantly dressed, but sad and discouraged. He had sold 
 and lost his home, and the soil in which the bones of his fathers 
 were interred had become the property of strangers. Their 
 burial place may yet be seen where they hollowed out shallow 
 graves, covering the bodies with earth and poles, bound down 
 to prevent the ravages of the wolves. Shabbona Grove is 
 the natural center for the trade of a large extent of fertile 
 country, and would, undoubtedly, have been a prominent village 
 but that the railroads were built some fifteen miles north and 
 south of it, and drew population in that direction. But, the 
 railroads, — built in 1851 and 1853, gave value to the lands, 
 and raised the people from the poverty which had hitherto 
 repressed their energies. The prairie lands were all entered 
 and enclosed as farms ; and there is now no section of the 
 County more handsomely improved, or betokening a more 
 substantial and comfortable condition of its farming popula- 
 tion than the township of Shabbona. There is a small vil- 
 lage at the south end of the grove with two churches, three 
 stores, two tavern, the usual shops, and a handsome Masonic 
 hall, which was built in 1862. The Lodge of Masons was 
 organized in 1862 with M. V. Allen as W. M. ; G. M. Alex- 
 ander, S. W.; L.Marks, J. W.; T. S. Terry, Secretary; 
 W. Marks, Jr., S. D.; A. S. Jackson, J. D.; Isaac Morse, 
 Tyler. It has now fifty-four members. 
 
 Shabbona furnished one hundred and thirty-seven men for 
 
TOWN OF SHAEBONA. 529 
 
 the great war, and raised $12,291 for war expenses. A large 
 number of thebe went under the gallant Captain Gr. W. Kil- 
 lett in the i'lfty-eighth, and Captain Thomas S. Terry of the 
 One Hundred and Fifth. Captain Terry was for many years 
 a prominent citizen of the town. He was its Supervisor for 
 three years, and represented the County in the Legislature in 
 1860. He died in the service at Northville, February 15th, 
 
 1863. Captain Marvin V. Allen, who succeeded him, lost an 
 arm in the service. Upon his return he was elected to the 
 responsible office of County Superintendent of schools. Ser- 
 geant Thomas E. Taylor, of the same company, a native of 
 Scotland, lost his life in the service at the age of forty-one. 
 
 D. W. Jackson, of the same company, a native of Sche- 
 nectady, New York, gave his life to his country at Bowling 
 Green, Kentucky, at the age of twenty. 
 
 Sergeant J. M. Dobbin, of Company E, Thirteenth Infan- 
 try, a native of Washington County, New York, died of 
 wounds received at the assault on Vicksburg, December 28th, 
 1862, aged thirty-eight. 
 
 Sergeant George C. Harper served most honorably for 
 three years in the One Hundred and Fifth, and subsequently 
 lost his life at Fort Harper while in the Seventh Regulars; 
 aged twenty-three. 
 
 John McFarland, of Company E, One Hundred and Fifth 
 Infantry, a native of Cayuga County, New York, died at 
 Frankfort, Kentucky, October 26th, 1862, aged forty-three. 
 Henry Davis, of the Tenth Infantry, a native of Chataqua 
 County, New York, died at St. Louis, May 5th, 1862, at 
 twenty-one years of age. Oliver Pattee, of Company H, 
 Fifty-second Infantry, a native of Grafton, New Hampshire, 
 died at St. Joseph, December 20th 1861. Lyman Kilbourn, 
 of Company E, One Hundred and Fifth, a native of Kane 
 County, Illinois, died at Resaca, Georgia, April 16th, 1862, 
 aged twenty-four. 
 
 Corporal Philip Howe, of Company E, One Hundred and 
 Fifth, died of wounds received at Resaca, Georgia, May 9th, 
 
 1864, aged twenty-seve«. 
 
530 HISTORY OF DE KALB COUNTY. 
 
 Sergeant W. E. Grover, of Company E, One Hundred and 
 Fifth, a native of New Grloucester, Maine, was killed at Dal- 
 las, Georgia, while bearing off a wounded comrade from the 
 skirmish line. His age was forty years. 
 
 In 1855 the population of Shabbona was 966 ; in 1860, 
 963 ; in 1865, 1165. 
 
 Her Supervisors have been, for 1850, William Marks ; 
 1851 and '52, Isaac T. Comstock ; 1853, '54, '55 and '56, 
 Thomas S. Terry; 185T, Harvey E. Allen; 1858, '59 and 
 60, D. D. Stevens ; 1861, David Norton ; 1862 and '63, P. 
 V. Quilhot ; 1864, '65, '66, '67 and '68, Frederick Ball. 
 
 (The following was accidental Ij^ omitted from its place, for the bodj' 
 of the work.) 
 From the history of the Tliiiteenlh Illinois Infantry Volunteers. 
 
 ROSTER OP OFFICERS. 
 
 Colonels, -John B. Wyman, Adam B. Gorgas. 
 Lieutenant-Colonels, B. F. Parks, A. B. Gorgas. F. W. Partridge. 
 Majors, F. W. Partridge. D. R. Bushnell, ,J. M. JBeardsley. 
 
 COMPANY E, OV SANDWICH. 
 
 Captains, F. W. Partridge, A. J. Brinkerhoff, George H. Carpenter. 
 
 First Lieutenants, A. J. Brinkerhoff, George E. Devoll, G. H. Carpenter, 
 William Wallace. 
 
 Second Lieutenants, George H. Devoll, H. T.Porter, George H. Carpen- 
 ter, William Wallace, B. F. Gifford. 
 
 COMPANY F, OP SYCAMORE. 
 
 Captains, Z. B. Mayo, E. F. Dutton, R. A. Smith, A. A. Buck. 
 
 First Lieutenants, E. F. Dutton, R. A. Smith, A. A. Buck, Theodore 
 
 Loring. 
 Second Lieutenants, R. A. Smith, A. A. Buck, Theodore Loring. 
 
 (The following sketch should have appeared in the History of Malta :) 
 Among those from Malta who gave their lives in defence of their 
 country, was Orderly Sergeant Edward Bridge, an intelligent, exem- 
 plary and patriotic young soldier of Company B, Fifty-fifth Illinois. 
 He was severely wounded at Shiloh, but recovered and lived to fight 
 the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Haines' Bluff, Cham- 
 pion Hills, Black River, Vicksburg and Jackson, winning the highest 
 commendation in his relation as a soldier and as a man, but he died of 
 pneumonia at Larkinsville, Alabama, January Uth, 1864. Aged 21.