A Biographies

A B C D E F G H I J K L M MC N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

ABBOTT, CHARLES H was born in Concord, New Hampshire, January 25, 1819. After completing his education he started west, stopping in Michigan. In 1850 he came to Iowa and settled in Louisa County, but later removed to Muscatine, where he engaged in farming, banking and real estate business. Upon the organization of the Thirtieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the summer of 1862, Mr. Abbott was appointed colonel of the regiment and at once took command. He participated in the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, and while leading his regiment in the assault upon Vicksburg, May 22, 1863, was killed.
~Source: History of Iowa, Vol. IV, Notable Men and Women of the State

ABERNETHY, ALONZO was born April 14, 1836, in Sandusky County, Ohio. His early education was received in the public schools of that State. In March, 1854, he came with his father's family to Fayette County, Iowa. He entered the Chicago University, leaving the senior class in August, 1861, to enlist in the Ninth Iowa Infantry as a private. He was engaged in seventeen battles and won rapid promotion, attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel before the regiment was mustered out. In 1865 he was elected to the House of Representatives of the Eleventh General Assembly from Fayette County. In 1870 he removed to Denison, in Crawford County, but was soon chosen president of Des Moines College. In 1871 he was elected on the Republican ticket Superintendent of Public Instruction, serving six years by reelections. He was largely instrumental in securing the enactment of the laws providing for Teachers' Normal Institutes and the establishment of a State Normal School. In September, 1876, he resigned his office to accept the presidency of the University of Chicago. After two years; service he made a trip to Europe and upon his return made his home on a farm near Denison. In July, 1881, he was elected president of the Cedar Valley Seminary at Osage. Colonel Abernethy has long ranked among the eminent educators of the State.

ABRAHAM, LOT (Captain)

The broad prairies of Iowa have furnished splendid opportunities to the agriculturist, and taking advantage of the natural resources of the state in this regard have been many men of excellent business capacity, keen discernment and untiring industry, who, through the utilization of the opportunities here afforded, have advanced to a position of affluence, if not of wealth. To this class belongs Captain Abraham, now recognized as one of the prominent farmers of Center township, Henry county. Moreover, he is an honored veteran of the Civil war and is a recognized leader in republican circles. He stands as a high type of our American manhood, manifesting business integrity, public-spirited citizenship, and due regard for man's obligations to his fellow man.

Captain Abraham was born in Butler county, Ohio , on the 18th of April, 1838 , a son of John and Sarah ( McCue ) Abraham. When three years of age he was brought by his parents to Center township, Henry county, his father purchasing land on section 35, where the son still resides. John Abraham, however, was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, being called to his final rest. He left a widow with seven small children, one of whom was born subsequent to the father's demise. With most commendable courage and resolution, Mrs. Abraham kept her little flock together until her sons and daughters had attained adult age and were able to care for themselves. The educational advantages of the locality were poor and the “temple of learning” was but a log building. Through broad reading, general observation and experience, however, Captain Abraham has obtained a good education. Being the eldest son, he took charge of the home farm, and was yet a young lad when brought before the business world. After he had attained his majority he and his brother began purchasing the interest of the other heirs in the home property, and to the further improvement and cultivation of the land Captain Abraham devoted his time and attention, until after the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861.

He then enlisted for three years' serving as a private of Company D, Fourth Iowa Cavalry. Within six months, however, he had been promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, having passed through the intermediate grade of orderly sergeant. At the end of the year he had become captain. The regiment first went with Curtis through Missouri and Arkansas , and later participated in the siege of Vicksburg and was with Sherman on the Meridian expedition in February, 1864. In 1864 Captain Abraham was on active duty under Generals Sturgis and Smith, and in the fall of that year made a trip after Price through Missouri . He then re-enlisted with his company for three years more and from there received his veteran furlough, and in 1865 returned to Nashville , but was too late for the battle there. His command was then attached to Wilson 's cavalry corps, and from that point started on the Georgia campaign. Captain Abraham was prominent in his command, and General Upton in his report says of him: “The Fourth Iowa Cavalry, dismounted, under Captain Lot Abraham, passed through the breach, turned to the right, charged the redoubt, capturing ten guns, and then sweeping across the bridge with the flying rebels, captured two howitzers loaded with canister. Mounted companies from the same regiment followed in the rear of Captain Abraham, and after crossing the bridge turned to the right and charged in flank the works at the lower bridge. * * * Captain Lot Abraham, Company D, Fourth Iowa, for his gallantry at Columbus, Georgia, April 15, 1865, and at Selma, Alabama, April 2, 1865, is recommended for brevet major.” These extracts are from pages four seventy-one, four seventy-five and four seventy-seven of volume forty-nine of the official reports of the war of the rebellion. On page four eighty-two of the same volume General Winslow says: “I respectfully recommend that the rank of major by brevet be conferred on Captain Lot Abraham, Company D, Fourth Iowa Cavalry. This officer has frequently displayed great courage, handled his command in a very gallant manner at Columbus and Selma , captured a four-gun battery at Selma repulsing the enemy in his attempt to recover it.” Also complimentary mention is found in other places of the war reports concerning Captain Abraham's service. Following the close of hostilities he was sent to Washington , Georgia , where he paroled Wheeler's cavalry, spending two months there in charge of the government property. He also had charge of the archives of the Confederacy and sent car loads of such material to Washington, D. C. He was discharged at Atlanta , August 8, 1865 .

Returning to his home, Captain Abraham soon began independent farming, purchasing one-half of the old homestead, to which he added from time to time until he owned six hundred and forty acres, but he has since sold one-half of this to his son. He has been a prominent stock-raiser and feeder and his live stock has found ready sale on the market. At the present time he is making a specialty of breeding registered Hereford cattle, he having purchased eighteen of Captain Beckwith's registered white-faced females, and has probably the best animal in the county to head his herd, and pure bred Duroc Jersey hogs.

Captain Abraham is recognized as a distinguished republican leader in his district, active in support of the party, while his labors are most effective in advancing its interest. He has served for a number of times as chairman of the Central County Committee and has put forth effective effort in securing the nominations of good candidates. He was nominated and elected in 1881 to the senate, serving form 1882 until 1884, being a member of that body during the last session held in the old capitol and the first in the new capitol. He was a member of the committee on agriculture and four other committees, including that on prohibition. He was elected on the republican ticket, but was known as an ardent advocate of prohibition principles. He took a most active and helpful part in passing the prohibitory law in 1884 and was also active in his work for the benefit of the agricultural interest of the state. He also became widely known through his efforts to prevent the acceptance of passes by the members of the legislature, thereby placing themselves under obligations to further legislative movements for the benefit of the railroad companies, often to the detriment of the public at large.

While not holding office since his retirement form the senate, Captain Abraham has never faltered in his efforts to benefit his state and country by his active political work and he is now one of the leading members of the republican party in Henry county. He has, moreover, wide and favorable acquaintance in Grand Army circles, his membership being in McFarland Post, No. 20, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has served as commander. For many years he has attended the state encampments and is an active worker in behalf of the interests of the old soldiers. He was likewise a delegate to the national encampments at Minneapolis , Pittsburg , Cleveland and San Francisco , and in a private capacity has attended many other meetings of the national body of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Captain Abraham was married in 1865, soon after his return from the war, to Miss Sarah C. Alden, a sister of John B. Alden, a well known publisher of New York city . She was killed in a runaway accident, August 5, 1888 , leaving three daughters and a son. John G., who is a graduate of Ames Agricultural College , married Miss Alice Barger and is now a well known farmer of Jackson township. Sarah, who was also educated at Ames College , is the wife of William H. Waugh, an extensive rice planter living near Galveston , Texas . Mary is the wife of George Wright and resides in Jackson township, Kate is the wife of Morton Bourne, of Long Beach , California . For his second wife Captain Abraham chose Mrs. Mary E. Blacker, a daughter of Peter Blant. She was born in Butler county, Ohio , where she resided until the time of her marriage to Captain Abraham on the 22 nd of October, 1891 . They now have one son, Frank P.
Captain Abraham has been a member of the Christian church. He believes in Christianity without creed, recognizing that the true spirit of religion is found in Biblical teaching and not in its interpretation by men. He has been an extensive traveler, visiting every state and territory of the Union and also the Canadian provinces. He has likewise traveled abroad, visiting England , France , Switzerland , Italy and other sections of Europe , also Syria , Palestine and Egypt . He has been a close and careful observer of the forms and customs of the various people whom he has met and through travel and reading has become a broad-minded, intelligent man. He possesses, moreover, a retentive memory and his mind is stored with many interesting reminiscences of his trips. He has over four hundred camera views of different scenes, a portion of which he has made into stereopticon slides for the entertainment of himself and friends.

Captain Abraham is always in touch with the progress of the times in business life, in political thought, in religious sentiment and in the general movement of the world toward a higher civilization, and he has been a forceful factor in molding public thought and opinion, leaving the impress of his individuality for good upon many lines of thought and activity.

Adams, Albert Martin was born April 16, 1843, at Orange, Vermont; he died at Humboldt, Iowa, January 4, 1915. He worked on a farm and was educated in the common schools until the age of nineteen, when he enlisted in Company F, Forty-second Massachusetts Infantry, participating in the engagements about New Orleans. In August, 1863, he returned to his home in Vermont, but soon removed with his father's family to Humboldt, Iowa. At the president's call for 300,000 more troops, Mr. Adams re-enlisted in Company F, Second Iowa Cavalry. He participated in the battles around Nashville, was taken prisoner at Hollow Tree Gap and spent four months in Andersonville prison. In March, 1866, he returned to Humboldt county, and for a number of years engaged in various lines of business. In 1874, after three years' service in various newspaper offices, he bought the Humboldt Independent, then located in Dakota City. In 1890 the paper was removed to Humboldt. From the time of its purchase until his death, Mr. Adams was sole editor and proprietor of the paper, which was Democratic until 1896, but since that time has been Republican. Mrs. Adams was associated with him in the publication of thp paper until her death, in 1909. Mr. Adams taught the first term of school in Avery township and was the first mayor of Dakota City. He was county treasurer for two terms, a prominent worker in several social and fraternal organizations and ever interested in all matters of public improvement. He was one of the chief promoters of the Upper Des Moines Editorial Association, and at one time member of the executive committee of the National Editorial Association.

~ "Notable Deaths" Annals of Iowa, Vol. XII, Series 80. p. 76. Historical Society of Iowa. Des Moines. April, 1915.

ADAMS, JAMES KIMBLE

Kimble and Elvina (aka Alvina) Adams had three sons and eight daughters. The sons' great-grandfather, Phineas Smith had fought with Connecticut and Vermont regiments during the Revolutionary War and all three of the sons would fight in the Civil War.

James Kimble Adams was born in Russeltown in Canada East (Quebec) on March 24, 1839. He and his older brother, Willard who was born in 1935, would immigrate to the United States with their parents in about 1841. Their younger brother, Asher Adams, was born in New York in 1842. On their way west, the family settled for a while in McHenry County, Illinois, before moving to Clayton County, Iowa, in 1853.

During the first year of the war, many in the North thought it would end quickly. "There are men enough in Pennsylvania alone to subdue South Carolina without the aid of Iowa volunteers," said the Clayton County Journal. A year later, as the war escalated, President Lincoln called for another 300,000 volunteers. At Hardin, on August 11, 1862, James was enrolled by William Crooke as a private in Company B. The company was mustered in on August 18, 1862 with ninety-nine men and the regiment on September 9, 1862, with a total of 985, both at Dubuque. Twenty-three year old James was described in the Company Descriptive Book as being 5 feet 10½ inches tall (about two inches taller than average), with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion.

The regiment's initial service was in Missouri and James was one of twenty-five volunteers from Company B who participated in the one-day Battle of Hartville on January 11, 1863. After subsequent service in Houston, West Plains and Ironton, they were in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, when, on April 1, 1863, they boarded the steamer Ocean Wave to go down-river and James was promoted to 7th Corporal.

During the ensuing campaign to capture the Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, forces under General Grant crossed the Mississippi from the west bank to Bruinsburg on the east bank on April 30, 1863. The 21st Iowa was designated as the point regiment to lead the army inland and James was with it during the next day's Battle of Port Gibson. The regiment was present during the May 16th Battle of Champion's Hill, but was held in reserve by General McClernand. While it did not participate in the battle, Companies A and B did engage in light skirmishing after the battle while gathering weapons and guarding prisoners.

Due to its non-participation on the 16th, the regiment was rotated to the front the next day and, with the 23rd Iowa, led an assault on entrenched Confederates at the railroad bridge over the Big Black River. Regimental casualties were seven killed in action and eighteen fatally wounded. Another thirty-eight had with non-fatal wounds but, for six of these, the wounds were serious enough to cause their discharge from the military.

After the assault they were allowed to rest, bury their dead and treat their wounded, but were soon in position on the line rapidly encircling the city of Vicksburg. On May 22, 1863, James participated in an assault during which the regiment lost twenty-three killed in action, twelve mortally wounded, forty-eight whose wounds were not fatal, and four captured.

On June 14, 1863, during the siege of Vicksburg, he was promoted to 6th Corporal and, on July 3rd, to 4th Corporal. The next day Vicksburg surrendered. The regiment then participated in a pursuit of Confederate General Joe Johnston and a siege of Jackson before returning to Vicksburg and taking steamers south to Carrollton, Louisiana. On October 2, 1863 they were west of the river, at Berwick, when James Bethard, a comrade in Company B, wrote to his wife that "James Adams of our company from Hardin received the news yesterday evening of the death of his sister."

James continued with the regiment through its subsequent service in Texas (where he was promoted to 2nd Corporal), Louisiana (where he was promoted to 1st Corporal), Alabama during the Mobile Campaign, and Arkansas, and he was with it when it was mustered out at Baton Rouge on July 15, 1865.

After the war, James returned to Iowa but, in 1880, moved to Kansas living first in Osage City and then in Alvonia. Twice (in 1898 and in 1915) he advised the federal pension office that he had never married and had no children. In 1907 he became a member of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. A lifelong farmer, James died on January 31, 1922. He is buried in the Osage City Cemetery, Osage City, Kansas.
~Compiled & submitted by Carl Ingwalson, December 2020

ADAMS, WILLARD

Kimble and Alvina (Smith) Adams had three sons and eight daughters. Kimble’s grandfather, Phineas Smith, had fought with Connecticut and Vermont regiments during the Revolutionary War and all three of the sons would fight in the Civil War.

Willard Adams was born in Russeltown, Quebec (then known as Canada East) in 1835. A brother, James Kimble Adams, was born on March 24, 1839, also in Russeltown. Their younger brother, Asher, was born on February 8, 1842, in Franklin County, New York.

On their way west, the family settled for a while in McHenry County, Illinois, before moving to Clayton County, although records differ as to when they arrived. One says they arrived in Luana, Iowa, in 1850, while another says they didn’t leave Illinois until 1853.

In 1855, at Hardin, Iowa, Willard married Jane Merriam. They would have three children: a boy named William and two, Emma and Albert, who died in infancy.

Asher was the first of the brothers to join the military and was mustered into the state’s 4th Cavalry on November 17, 1861. The following year, as the war escalated, President Lincoln called for another 300,000 volunteers. At Hardin on August 11, 1862, Willard and James enlisted together, Willard as a 2d Corporal and James as a Private. Willard was described as being 5' 7½” tall with blue eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion; occupation, farmer.

At Camp Franklin in Dubuque, they were mustered in as Company B on August 18, 1862, and, on September 9th, ten companies were mustered in as Iowa’s 21st infantry regiment. Uniforms were poor and training, such as it was, was brief.

According to one author, Company A was eager to drill, but “Captain William D. Crooke, and Lieutenants Charles P. Heath, and Henry H. Howard, of Company B, were in no such haste. The regulation uniforms, having been made for regulars, were ill adapted to the robust volunteers from Clayton. The coats were too short by several inches. The line officers protested against their men going into drill presenting any such aspect as they must necessarily do in such coats.” “Perhaps, if the real secret were known,” he said, “the reason why the regiment did not drill would be found in the fact that the companies had too much company. The rendezvous was so near the men’s homes, that their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, sweethearts, and friends, were too often present to allow either drill or discipline to any great extent.”

On September 16, 1862, they marched through town, crowded on board the four-year-old, 181-foot long sidewheel steamer Henry Clay and two barges tied alongside, and left for war. After one night at Benton Barracks in St. Louis, they traveled by rail to Rolla, Missouri, where they arrived on September 22nd. Water at their first campsite was poor and smelled “like the breath of sewers,” so Colonel Merrill moved their camp about five miles southwest of town where they had access to good spring water. Despite the better conditions, Willard became ill but was able to travel with the regiment when it started a march south on October 18th. On the October 31st muster roll at Salem, he was present but “sick in quarters.”

He was still present on December 31, 1862, at Houston and, two months later, he was with the regiment at Iron Mountain but, again, was “sick in quarters.” From there they moved to Ste. Genevieve where they arrived on March 11th. On the 13th, with a difficult march and an arduous Vicksburg Campaign ahead of them, Captain Crooke, a McGregor attorney, signed a Certificate of Disability for Discharge indicating Willard had been “unfit for duty 60 days.” He had become sick at Rolla and was “more or less sick ever since.” Surgeon William Orr agreed and said Willard was suffering from “‘phthisis Pulmonalis’ - Symptoms - Cough, attended with muco-purulent expectoration, ‘obetic fever,’ emaciation, tenderness of left infra clavicular region, & cavernous bronchus.”

On the 17th, in St. Louis, a discharge was approved by Brigadier General Davidson then commanding the District of St. Louis and, on the 22nd, back in Ste. Genevieve, Colonel Merrill signed the order of discharge.

Willard returned to Iowa where his health improved but, on March 5, 1878, his wife died.

His father died at Grand Meadow on April 10, 1879. Funeral services were on the 13th at the Luana church.

On October 3, 1887, Willard was married a second time when he married Eva B. Marsh of Hardin. They had three children: Burdell, Clarence and Asher.
Of the three Adams brothers, Willard became the first to die when he passed away on December 14, 1906, “at his home in the old townsite of Myron, Iowa.” He was buried in Luana Cemetery.

Asher died on March 19, 1919, and James on January 31, 1922, both in Osage City, Kansas, where they were buried in the Osage City Cemetery.
~Compiled & submitted by Carl Ingwalson, December 2020

AGLER, PETER early settler of 1856 in Ringgold County, Iowa, was born in Pennsylvania in 1834. He enlisted on August 9, 1862 as a Private and was mustered into service with Company G of the 29th Iowa Infantry. Pvt. AGLER died of erysipelas February 3, 1863 at Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri and was interred in section 37 1/2, grave 5 at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. Pvt. AGLER was 29-years-old. Gravestone photo
SOURCES:
American Civil War Soldiers database, ancestry.com
American Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database, National Parks Service
Submission by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2010

AINSWORTH, LUCIAN L. was born in Madison County, New York, on the 21st of June, 1831. He acquired a liberal education, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1854. Mr. Ainsworth came to Iowa in August, 1855, locating at West Union in Fayette County where he opened a law office. He soon attained high rank in the profession and in 1859 was nominated by the Democrats for State Senator in the district composed of the counties of Fayette and Bremer. He made a vigorous canvass, overcame the Republican majority and was elected, serving four years with marked ability. In 1862 Mr. Ainsworth raised a company for the Sixth Cavalry, of which he was appointed captain. In 1871 Captain Ainsworth was again elected to the Legislature, serving two years in the House. In 1874 he was nominated by the Democrats of the Third District for Congress and by his personal popularity overcame the Republican majority of nearly 2,000 and was the first Democrat elected to Congress from Iowa in twenty years. He died in April, 1902.

ALDRICH, FRANK

Ruel Aldrich Sr. was born in Massachusetts and Mary Ann Marsh in Rhode Island, both about 1809. After their marriage they moved to Ohio where Ruel Jr. was born in 1832, Nehemiah (“Nick”) in 1840, Jane in 1842, Theron in 1851 and Laura Belle in 1854, all in Ohio. Their brother, Frank, was born in Shelby County, Ohio, but over his lifetime signed numerous affidavits that included his age, ages that would indicate a birth year anywhere from 1842 to 1847.

On April 13, 1861, at 4:30 a.m., General Beauregard’s Confederate guns opened fire on Fort Sumter and, said a poet, “with a voice that shook the land, the guns of Sumter spoke.” The North had been convinced states in the south would not secede if Abraham Lincoln were elected while those in the South felt “cotton is king” and northern states would not risk losing their source of supply by going to war. They were both wrong and tens of thousands of men died as the war escalated into a second year.

In the summer of 1862 President Lincoln called for another 300,000 volunteers. Iowa’s quota was five regiments in addition to those already in the field. The “harvest is just upon us,” said Governor Kirkwood, “but if need be our women can help.” With a deadline of August 15th to avoid a draft, the volunteers came. On August 9th, at Strawberry Point, Frank was enrolled by dentist Charles Heath in what would be Company B of the 21st Iowa Volunteer Infantry. On August 11th his brother, Ruel Jr., was enrolled by storekeeper William Grannis, also at Strawberry Point, in what would be Company D of the same regiment. Each company was to have approximately one hundred men and, when sufficient numbers were enrolled, the companies were separately mustered into service at Dubuque’s Camp Franklin, Company B on the 18th and Company D on the 22nd.

Training was brief and relatively ineffective but on September 9th ten companies were mustered in as a regiment with McGregor’s Sam Merrill as Colonel. Frank was described as being a 5' 6" farmer with blue eyes, flaxen hair and a light complexion, age eighteen (which may or may not have been accurate). On September 16th, at the foot of Jones Street, those able for duty boarded the four-year-old sidewheel steamer “Henry Clay” and two barges tied alongside and started south. After one night on Rock Island, they encountered low water at Montrose, debarked and traveled by train to Keokuk, boarded the “Hawkeye State” and continued downstream. They reached St. Louis on the 20th, were inspected the next day and that night boarded rail cars and left for Rolla.

Bimonthly company muster rolls reported the presence or absence of soldiers with occasional “remarks” relating to illness, furloughs, stoppages on pay and other matters. Rolls showed Frank and Ruel were present with the regiment on October 31st at Salem and December 31st at Houston. On January 27th, Frank was with the regiment when they started for West Plains, but Ruel was sick and left behind in the post hospital in Houston and later in Rolla. From West Plains the able-bodied walked to the northeast - through Eminence, Ironton, Iron Mountain and Pilot Knob - until reaching St. Genevieve on the Mississippi River on March 11th. From there they were transported south to Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana, where General Grant was assembling a large three-corps army to capture Vicksburg and they were assigned to a corps led by General John McClernand. After walking south along the west side of the river, they crossed from Disharoon’s Plantation to Bruinsburg, Mississippi, on April 30th.

The regiment was designated as the point regiment for the entire army as they moved slowly inland and, about midnight, were fired on by rebel pickets. After a brief exchange of fire they rested and the next day, May 1st, Frank participated with the regiment in the Battle of Port Gibson. He was present on May 16th when the regiment was held out of action during the Battle of Champion Hill, participated in the May 17th assault at the Big Black River and subsequently participated in the siege of Vicksburg. Ruel rejoined the regiment during the siege and on June 23rd was appointed 8th Corporal in Company D. Vicksburg surrendered on July 4th and, said Gilbert Cooley, “July 5th our regiment started with the army for Jackson Miss. Comp. ‘D’ had 12 men under command of Lieut. G Cooley” with Ruel being one of the twelve still physically able to participate in a pursuit of Confederate Joe Johnston to Jackson. On their return to Vicksburg, Ruel was granted a furlough but was back with the regiment in New Orleans on November 23rd when they were ordered to the gulf coast of Texas. On January 18, 1864, while Frank and Ruel were in Indianola, Nick was enrolled as a new recruit in Company D but it was April 11th before he reached his brothers then stationed on Matagorda Island.

In July, they were back in Louisiana where Frank was treated for chronic diarrhea before leaving on a sixty-day furlough pursuant to a Surgeon’s Certificate of Disability. Nick received a similar furlough, but Ruel remained on duty and received several more promotions. Frank and Nick overstayed their furloughs, but rejoined Ruel and the regiment on the St. Charles River of Arkansas in October. In December, Frank and David Drummond were “engaged in a friendly scuffle & wrestle” when David was thrown to the ground, landed on a cartridge box and injured his left shoulder, something that would continue to bother him after the war. All three of the Aldrich brothers participated in the next spring’s Mobile Campaign before returning to Louisiana. As a recruit whose term had not expired, Nick was transferred to a 34th/38th consolidated regiment on July 12th for another month’s service while Frank and Ruel were mustered out on the 15th at Baton Rouge and returned to Iowa where they were discharged at Clinton on the 24th.

Frank moved to South Dakota soon after his discharge, drove cattle through Potter County and “was engaged for years in furnishing beef cattle to the government for the Indians.” In the spring of 1882 he bought a Potter County ranch “at the mouth of the Little Cheyenne” and built a house, a “dugout” according to Ed Von Wald who worked for him. Frank later sold the ranch and it was developed as “old Forest City” while he moved farther up the Little Cheyenne. He was recognized as the first settler of Forest City and in 1883 married Josephine “Josie” Kirkpatrick who was believed to be the first white woman in the county. She died on August 28, 1889, and her remains were “buried on the home place.”

Frank never remarried and in 1890 applied for an invalid pension indicating he was “unable to earn a support by manual labor by reason of Rheumatism and general debility caused by Rheumatism.” He was examined twice by pension surgeons who felt he was partially disabled but in 1893 the claim was denied on a finding that he was “not shown to be entitled to a rating.” He applied again in an application dated August 4, 1894, the same day he sustained a serious injury while “driving a team hauling a loaded wagon, and trailing another team with a loaded wagon behind. He stopped at a well to water his horses, and stepped to the front to pound a loose tire into place; the team took fright and ran away.” Frank clung to the lines and was dragged while the horses ran “at a furious rate.” Twice he was run over by the wagon, his head struck a wood post and, when found, he was unconscious and carried to a nearby house where he remained “in a comatose condition for between seventy-two and eighty hours.” The following January he was examined by a pension surgeon who said, due to the accident, Frank was now blind in his left eye and deaf in his right ear and had a paralyzed right arm. When he walked, he staggered “like a drunken man.” More applications and more medical examinations followed until finally, on February 9, 1898, a certificate was issued entitling him to a pension of $8.00 monthly.

Frank’s barber, George Toomey, said Frank was “a contentious fellow who often had squabbles with neighbors.” “These disputes,” he said, “customarily wound up in court” with Frank carrying “a big ear trumpet.” Frank applied for a pension increase in 1902 and told the doctor, “I am no good cant see or hear.” The pension had been increased to $12.00 by the time he died on November 15, 1909, and was buried in Gettysburg Cemetery. The following year Josie’s remains were reinterred next to Frank and “a very fine granite monument” was placed on their graves.

In 1868, after the death of her first husband, Frank’s sister, Jane, married James Chiles who had served with Frank in Company B. In 1870 Theron was killed by Indians in North Dakota, in 1871 Ruel’s wife, Sarah (McCashen) Aldrich died and in 1874 he married Mary Ann Torrey. Seventy-four-year-old Ruel died in 1907 and is buried in Mitchell, Iowa. Laura Belle (Aldrich) Austin died in 1915 and is buried in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as is Jane who died in 1915. Nick died in 1917 at age seventy-seven and was buried in Whiting, Iowa.

~Compiled & submitted by Carl Ingwalson, December 2020

ALLEN, ARNOLD

Elizabeth and William H. H. Allen had nine children including George, Arnold, Margaret, Cynthia, Mary, William (Billy) and three who have not been identified. After her husband’s death on June 28, 1853, in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth moved her family to Iowa and made a home for them in Dubuque County.

Her eldest son, George, was born on September 2, 1836, and, said Margaret and Cynthia, “mainly supported the family.” George died on March 10, 1862, and was buried in the Peosta Union Cemetery. Arnold was now the eldest. He took his responsibilities seriously and “tilled a small portion of the farm of one J. D. Graffort and worked out thereby supporting his said mother & family.” Despite his efforts, income was limited and, to provide better financial support, Arnold enlisted in the Union army. He was eighteen years old.

Arnold was 5' 7¼” tall, a young man with blue eyes, light-colored hair and a fair complexion. He enlisted at Epworth on August 3, 1862, as a private and was mustered into Company C on August 20th at Dubuque’s Camp Franklin. The regiment, ten companies with a total of 985 men, was mustered into service at Dubuque on September 9, 1862, as the 21st Regiment of Iowa’s volunteer infantry. Arnold made arrangements with the Dubuque branch of the State Bank for allotments from his $13.00 monthly pay to go to his mother. Like others, he received a $25.00 advance on the $100.00 enlistment bounty and a $2.00 premium. He gave $21.50 to his mother and kept the $5.50 balance.

On September 16th, those well enough to travel started down the Mississippi on board the Henry Clay and two barges tied alongside. Their early service was in Missouri and, on the bimonthly muster rolls, Arnold was marked “present” at Salem on October 31, 1862, at Houston on December 31, 1862, and at Iron Mountain on February 28, 1862. He wrote numerous letters to his mother and others in the family and, on March 5th, wrote to his mother. The weather was “tolerable cold,” he said. A “verry high wind” was blowing and one of their friends had died from pneumonia but, he assured her, “I am well at present and hoping these few lines may find you all well.”

The men received their first pay on February 16, 1863, while they were in Eminence, Missouri. Another private who enlisted and served at the same time as Arnold, said he received $47.60; other privates presumably received similar amounts. On March 24th, the State Bank mailed a check for $39.23 as the first allotment from Arnold’s pay. The money went to a friend, Levi Sparks, who gave it to Elizabeth. That, however, would be the last of her allotment payments. The government paid banks in federal currency (“greenbacks”), but state banks disbursed the funds in their own discounted currency and kept the difference. As a result, Arnold and most others elected to no longer have funds sent through the local banks. Peter Lorimier, father of the regiment’s William Lorimier, went farther. When the bank refused to pay him in the greenbacks it received, he filed suit. He prevailed, the bank threatened to appeal, and the allotment system in Iowa gradually broke down. On April 30, 1863, they crossed to Bruinsburg, Mississippi, a small landing on the east bank of the Mississippi River, and began a movement inland at the start of General Grant’s Vicksburg campaign. The 21st Iowa had the honor of being the point regiment at the head of the 30,000 man army and drew first fire from Confederate pickets about midnight. On May 1st, Arnold participated with his regiment in the Battle of Port Gibson during which it suffered few casualties.

On May 7th, from their camp near Rocky Springs, he again wrote to his mother. “I am well,” he said. They were “driveing the Southerners like Sheep” and “drove them 30 miles.” He expected to drive them into Vicksburg and “then keep them there and starve them out.” Unlike most, Arnold was already expecting a siege. He had sent $20.00 to Elizabeth through an express company and asked if the money had been received.

Arnold was present at the May 16th Battle of Champion’s Hill when the regiment was held in reserve by General McClernand, participated in the May 17th assault at the Big Black River and participated in the assault of May 22d at Vicksburg. So far during the campaign, regimental casualties were 31 killed in action, 34 with wounds that proved fatal, 102 with non-fatal wounds and eight captured, four of whom were ambulance drivers. On July 2, 1863, William Logsdon was granted a thirty-day sick furlough and agreed to deliver another $30.00 to Elizabeth. Arnold remained with the regiment, Vicksburg surrendered on July 4th and Arnold participated in the expedition to and siege of Jackson that followed immediately after the surrender. On July 28th, he was back in Vicksburg when he wrote to his mother. He was glad hear that she and others in the family were well, but the money he sent with William Logsdon had not been delivered. William had written to let Arnold know that “he had been sick and had run out of money and had to open my letter and take the money out and spend it.” Arnold was confident it would be repaid, but the best he could do for now was send $20.00 on his next payday. This time, for better safety, it would be sent through John Bell & Co., wholesale dealers in dry goods and notions at 445 Main Street in Dubuque.

On August 23rd, from Carrollton, Louisiana, Arnold wrote to Margaret. “I am well,” he said, and he hoped she also was well. Prices in nearby New Orleans were high, but the soldiers were having good times and could go into the city “when ever they please and have a spree.” Ever mindful of his mother, he said he was going to try to get a furlough to try to make “what arangements I can make for mother another year and where she will go and how she will make a living.” He thought the money he was able to send would be adequate if his mother had a “handy place to live where she can have water at the door and be handy to church and everything handy and then her and billy might get along well enough.” In closing he added, “give my best wishes to all the good looking girls up there.”
On November 23, 1863, after several months of service west of the river, the able-bodied men of the regiment left New Orleans on transports that took them down the Mississippi and west across the Gulf of Mexico to the coast of Texas where they arrived a few days later. On January 16, 1864, from Indianola, Arnold wrote to his mother, assured her he was well, and hoped his letter would “find you all well with plenty to eat and good clothes and no hard work to do.” He had earlier sent her another $45.00 and asked if it had been received.

On March 26th, from Matagorda Island, he wrote to fourteen-year-old Billy. The paymaster had arrived, but Arnold was “behind on cloathing” and most of his anticipated pay would have to be used to settle the account. On May 20th, he wrote again to Billy to let him know he had recently sent another $70.00 and that William Logsdon had repaid the $30.00 he had used ten months earlier.

Despite the large amounts of money that Arnold was sending home, Elizabeth’s circumstances had worsened and an application for Arnold’s discharge was sent to the War Department. An Assistant Adjutant General wrote to Provost Marshal Shubael Adams in Dubuque to try to verify “the circumstances of the family.” Shubael contacted Otis Briggs, one of the founders of Epworth, and Otis said Elizabeth was “a poor widow residing near this place & who without any kind of doubt needs the assistance of her son to obtain a livelihood.” No apparent action was taken on the application, possibly due to bureaucratic delays or possibly because the regiment was about to embark on its final campaign of the war, a campaign to capture the city of Mobile.

After landing at the entrance to Mobile Bay, they walked and waded and slowly moved north along the east side of the bay encountering only minimal resistance. On March 29, 1865, as they neared Spanish Fort, one of the two main fortifications intended to protect the city from that direction, they encountered the enemy about noon and skirmished most of the day. Company B’s Jim Bethard described the action in a letter to his wife in Clayton County. Late in the day, he said, they came upon:

“a line of fier which the rebs had set out and was burning in the dead grass and pine bows making a light by which they could see us as plain as day when all at once they left fly a volley into us not more than five rods distant; we blazed away at the flash of their guns and then dodged behind trees for shelter the rebs over shot us and killed one man and wounded two or three in the supporting part of the regiment a little ways behind.”

The war was almost over by then and the man killed was the last member of the regiment to die in action. That man was Arnold Allen. The place of his burial is unknown.

At fifty-two years of age, Elizabeth was destitute. Her only assets were, said Margaret and Cynthia, “three cows and two mules, an old wagon, all of the value of not more than two hundred dollars.”

On May 2, 1865, Elizabeth applied for a widow’s pension. To prove she was “wholly, or in part dependent for support” on Arnold, she sent seven of his letters to the pension office, letters that showed “my said son sent home money regularly for my support.” As further proof, she submitted affidavits signed by her daughters, by Levi Sparks and by Elizabeth Wood, an Epworth friend who was well acquainted with Elizabeth’s circumstances, knew of Arnold’s support, and knew of Elizabeth’s need.

Arnold’s service was verified and, on November 22, 1865, a certificate was issued entitling Elizabeth to an $8.00 monthly pension retroactive to March 27th, the day after her son’s death. Payments had been increased to $12.00 per month by the time Elizabeth died on December 16, 1897. She was buried in Epworth’s Highview Cemetery where a biblical inscription (Proverbs 3:17) says:

“Her ways are ways of
pleasantness
and all her paths are peace.”

Many year have passed and the biblical inscription is no longer legible. Next to Elizabeth’s stone are stones marking the burials of her son, “Billy,”and his wife.

~Compiled & submitted by Carl Ingwalson, December 2020

ALLEN, SYLVESTER T was born in Seneca County, Ohio in about 1840. He lived there until the early 1850's when his family moved to Hamilton County, Iowa. Sylvester's parents [Frederick J "Irish" and Samantha K (Lamkin) Allen] were original purchasers of land in Fremont township, newly formed from Cass township in the northern third of Hamilton County. Allens would farm in that part of the county for more than a century thereafter. At the time of the civil war, Sylvester's family owned about 1100 acres in Hamilton and Wright counties. Sylvester and his sister, Loretta, were still at home. Sylvester's siblings, Edson, Naomi, George, and Ozias farmed land nearby in Hamilton and Wright counties. As the civil war escalated Sylvester enlisted in the army at Marshalltown on July 1, 1861. Two weeks later he was assigned to Company D in Iowa's 5th Infantry Regiment. His unit marched through Missouri and southern Illinois, then on to Tennessee and Mississippi. Sylvester served in the advance upon and the siege of Corinth, April 29 through May 30, 1862. Corinth was a center for railroad traffic in the deep South. In the first major encounter after the battle of Shiloh. General Beauregard and the Confederates conceded Corinth before the battle began, retreating to Tupelo, Mississippi. But Sylvester contracted tuberculosis and was hospitalized. He died at the army hospital in Farmington, four miles from Corinth. He was mustered out of his unit upon his death, July 2, 1862. At the time of his death he had 15 cents, 3 photos, 4 letters, 2 books, his clothing, and other miscellaneous personal effects. Sylvester was first buried at the army hospital cemetery at Farmington, Mississippi. Later, the Corinth National Cemetery was established for the burial of Union soldiers. Sylvester was re-interred there. The burial site is Section B, site 3687 [some sources say Section B, grave 492]. GRAVESTONE PHOTO

ALLEN, SYLVESTER, Birth: 1840, Seneca County, Ohio, USADeath: Jul. 2, 1862, Farmington, Alcorn County, Mississippi, USA, Enlisted as a 21 yr. old resident of Marshall Co., Ia. on July 1, 1861 at Marshalltown, Ia. as a private in Co. D, 5th Iowa Infantry. Died of phthisis July 2, 1862 at Post General Hospital near Farmington, Ms. Effects: 1 hat, 1 cap, 3 likenesses, 1 pkt. knife, 1 pipe, 4 letters, 1 uniform jacket, 2 flannel shirts, 1 pr. shoes, 1 blanket, 2 mem. books, 1 purse, 1 housewife, 1 nail brush, 2 towels, and specie .15 cts. Last paid to Feb. 28, 1862 and had drawn clothing in the amount of $18.60. His clothing account was last settled to Oct. 31, 1861. Initially buried near the hospital and moved after the war to the National Cemetery at Corinth, Ms. Section B, grave 3687 (the 492nd burial in Section B?)
source: findagrave.com memorial page~Submitted by Allen Welch, February 2014

ALLOWAY, WILLIAM H

James Alloway and Sarah Wilson were married in Mackinaw, Illinois on November 22, 1831, but were living in Springfield when William, their sixth child, was born on November 24, 1843. They were among the early pioneer families in Clayton County.

In the fall of 1862 President Lincoln issued a call for 300,000 men to add to a war effort that had already lasted longer than most in the North expected. It was time for the harvest and families were busy, but Governor Kirkwood assured the President that the state would do her duty. "Our harvest is just upon us, and we have now scarcely men enough to save our crops, but if need be our women can help."

In Clayton County, Strawberry Point's Charles Heath and William Crooke and McGregor' postmaster, Willard Benton, were especially active in securing enlistments and it was Heath who, on August 6, 1862, enrolled William Alloway. The minimum age for enlisting without parental consent was eighteen, the age reflected for William in his military records. William's father would later say William was born on November 24, 1843, but, in the same affidavit, said William was "under age at the time of enlisting, but I was willing for him to go as he thought he could do more for me by enlisting."

Company B was mustered into service on August 18, 1862 with Private William Alloway described as being about 5' 8½'' tall with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion. On September 9, 1862, with ten companies of sufficient strength, 985 men, officers and enlisted, were mustered in as the 21st Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry. At Camp Franklin (formerly Camp Union) in Dubuque, they received Enfield muskets and leather cartridge boxes containing forty of "Uncle Sam's Little Blue Pills," also known as "Forty Dead Men" and "secession pills." On the 16th, crowded on board the Henry Clay, a four-year old 181-foot long, side-wheel steamer commanded by Captain Stephenson, and two barges lashed to it side, they started south.

Their initial service was in Missouri and, after an overnight stay at St. Louis' Benton Barracks, they boarded cars usually used for freight and livestock and sped along the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad to its western terminus at Rolla. William was with the regiment and maintained his health well as they walked from Rolla to Salem, Houston, Hartville, West Plains, Eminence, Ironton, Iron Mountain and, on March 11, 1863, into the little French town of Ste. Genevieve where they camped about 3:00pm "in a beautiful grove" on a ridge overlooking the Mississippi.

It was here that they learned they would be joining General Grant and were less than pleased when they were taken down the Mississippi to Milliken's Bend to become part of a massive army he was assembling to capture Vicksburg. Grant had a bad reputation. He had been surprised by the enemy at Shiloh and his previous attempts to take Vicksburg had failed. But here at the Bend, said William Crooke, "a new spirit was upon us; we had come in contact with Grant's men, and found them imbued with the most unbounded confidence in their General."

From Milliken's Bend they walked and waded south through swamps and bayous west of the river until, on April 30, 1863, they crossed to Bruinsburg on the east bank. The first regiment to cross was ordered to occupy high ground above the landing and sound an alarm if the enemy approached. The second regiment, the 21st Iowa, received more ominous orders. They were to proceed inland on a dirt road as the point regiment for General Grant's entire army and to continue walking "until fired upon." About midnight their small advance squad encountered Confederate pickets. Gunfire was exchanged in darkness before men on both sides rested on their arms knowing what the next day would bring.

On May l, 1863 William was with the regiment as it participated in the daylong Battle of Port Gibson when seventeen of his comrades were wounded. William Comstock died the next day. Charles Roehl was shot in the left leg. The leg was amputated in the field, he was admitted to a Grand Gulf hospital on the 10th, and he died on the 20th. John Van Kuran was wounded in the upper portion of the left arm. He too was admitted to the Grand Gulf hospita1 where, on May 31st, Dr. Littlefield amputated the lower two-thirds of the arm. On June 18th, at Memphis, John would die. Fourteen others incurred non-fatal wounds that, for three of them, would lead to an early discharge.

From Port Gibson, now at the rear of the army, the regiment moved inland. Held in reserve during the Battle of Champion's Hill on May 16th, they were in the lead on the 17th when they encountered Confederates entrenched on the east side of the Big Black River hoping to keep its large railroad bridge open until their comrades could cross. An assault was ordered. Two Iowa regiments, the 21st and 23rd infantries, led the way. In three minutes, it was over. The rebels had been routed and many captured. The way to Vicksburg was now open, but the regiment had suffered heavy casualties -seven were killed, eighteen had fatal wounds, and thirty-eight had non-fatal wounds.

William Alloway was among the wounded and that afternoon his right arm was amputated. He continued to receive medical care in the field hospital, but was eventually moved with others to a landing north of Vicksburg, taken on board a hospital boat, and headed north for better treatment. By then, however, he had contracted pyemia, the "bete noire" of surgeons according to one author who said it "struck 2,818 men, of whom only 71 recovered, a mortality rate of 97.4 percent." On June 8, 1863, near Napoleon (now a ghost town) at the junction of the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, and still on the hospital boat, William died.
His mother had passed away when William was a boy of about seven years, but several siblings and his father, James Alloway, were still living. For many years James worked as a day laborer on a farm northeast of Strawberry Point but, in April, 1880, at age seventy-three, he applied for a pension. Giving his address as Littleport, he said he had been "greatly dependent" on his son for his support and that "no person has been legally bound to support him." Soon thereafter he moved to Red Oak in Montgomery County where a doctor in 1885 said James was totally disabled. Included among those signing affidavits regarding William's death were Christian Maxson, a Company B comrade who had known William for many years prior to their enlistment and William Orr, an Ottumwa resident who had been one of the regiment's surgeons.

James was awarded a monthly pension of $8 .00 retroactive to June 9, 1863 (the day after his son's death) and increased to $12.00 on March 19, 1886.

~Compiled & submitted by Carl Ingwalson, December 2020

ALLRED, WILLIAM A., Representative from Wayne county, is a native of North Carolina, Randolph county, born April 26, 1846. Came with his parents, who were American-born, to Wayne county, Iowa, October 5, 1854, and settled on a farm in Monroe township. Acquired his education in the district schools of Wayne county. At the age of eighteen years he enlisted as a private in Company H, Forty-sixth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry. At the close of the war he attended two additional terms of school. On December 12, 1869 was married to Miss Louisa Kellogg; they have three daughters and four sons. Has been a resident of Iowa fifty-two years, all of the time engaged in farming and stock raising. Has held the offices of township clerk four years, township trustee six years, secretary of the school board twelve years, a member of the Republican county central committee in 1896-1897, and was county recorder of deeds in 1900, serving four years. Elected Representative in 1906 and re-elected in 1908. A Republican in politics.
~Sources: Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa, Chicago: Hobart Publishing Company, 1906 History of Iowa Vol IV 1903
~Submitted by Polly Eckles.

ANDERSON, ALBERT R. was born in Adams County, Ohio, November 8, 1837. He attained prominence in his native State before removing to Taylor County, Iowa, in 1857. There he studied law and was admitted to the bar, soon after removing to Clarinda where he enlisted at the beginning of the Civil War in the Fourth Iowa Infantry. He won rapid promotion, being commissioned first lieutenant for gallant service at the Battle of Pea Ridge, became captain during the siege of Vicksburg and assistant Adjutant-General during the Atlanta campaign. Mr. Anderson reached the rank of major before the close of the war. Upon returning to Iowa after peace was established, he became a resident of Fremont County and was soon appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the Fifth Congressional District. In 1881 he was appointed Railroad Commissioner, serving until 1884. In 1886 he was elected Representative in Congress as an independent Republican. He died at Hot Springs, South Dakota, November 17, 1898.

ANDERSON, DANIEL, was born in Indiana in 1821. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and in 1843 came to Iowa, locating at Albia, in Monroe County. He was elected to the State Senate in 1854 as "an Anti-Nebraska man" in the district composed of Wapello, Lucas, Clarke and Monroe counties, serving two terms. Mr. Anderson was one of the founders of the Republican party and in 1856 was a delegate to the National Republican Convention which nominated John C. Fremont for President. Upon the beginning of the War of the Rebellion he raised a company for the First Iowa Cavalry of which he was commissioned captain, in July, 1862, he was promoted to major and in August following became lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. In August, 1863, he was promoted to colonel and for some time was in command of a brigade until his health failed when, in May, 1864, he resigned and returned to his home in Albia. He was an able and gallant officer and universally esteemed as a citizen. He resumed the practice of law and died on the 4th of February, 1901

ANDERSON, Joel M. son of William D. and Sarah I. (LOUDER) ANDERSON, was born in Guilford county, North Carolina, April 16, 1841. His parents were natives of North Carolina and were of Scotch ancestry. His father was a pioneer minister of the Wesleyan Methodist church. Reared in a state where slavery existed he disapproved strongly of the system and, with a view of getting himself and family from its blighting influences, he removed to Henry county, Indiana, in 1851. He remained there until about 1858, when he removed to Decatur county, Iowa, where he continued to make his home during the remainder of his life. He died in February, 1890, and his wife survived him less than a week.

Joel M. ANDERSON, the subject of this sketch, died at his home in Hutchinson, Kansas, December 18, 1911. He had the following brothers and sisters: Rhoda, deceased, married W. H. SANFORD, of Leon, Iowa; Mary A. married J. P. DUNN, of Abbeyville, Kansas; William S., a farmer of Ringgold county, Iowa; Irene married Peter DECK, of Abbeyville, Kansas; Solomon, a member of the Third Iowa Cavalry in the Civil War, died in the service in Louisville, Kentucky; John C., a farmer, at Kennard, Indiana; Isaac B., a farmer, at Cadiz, Indiana.

Joel M. ANDERSON was educated in the district schools of Henry county, Indiana, and Decatur county, Iowa. He remained at home working on the farm until he reached his majority. He then rented a farm in Decatur county, Iowa, and afterward bought a small farm in that county which he cultivated until the fall of 1873, when he removed to Reno county, Kansas, where he located a homestead claim on the northwest quarter of section 34, township 23, range 8, and during the fall and winter of 1873 broke sod preparatory to spring planting. In the spring he rented some other land that had been broken the preceding year and planted forty acres in corn, but he lost his entire crop by the grasshopper scourge that devasted that section that year. Having nothing left, like many other settlers, he had to leave his claim and seek some other location to obtain a living for himself and family. He returned to his former home in Iowa where he spent the winter working with his team at one dollar per day. In the spring of 1875 he returned to Kansas to make another effort to raise a crop. He planted only a small acreage of wheat because he did not have enough money to purchase seed for a larger acreage. The grasshopper plague had abated and he was able to realize a fair return for his labor that year. His first house was a one-story, fourteen by sixteen, in which he lived for several years, until he was able to enlarge and improve it. He was engaged in general farming and stock raising until September, 1888, when he removed to Hutchinson to assume the duties of the office of county treasurer, to which he had been elected.

Mr. ANDERSON was elected to the office of county commissioner in 1885. for a term of one year, from the third district. This was to fill a vacancy in that office. On the expiration of that term he was re-elected for the full term of three years, but he resigned the office of commissioner to accept the office of county treasurer, to which he was elected in the fall of 1887. He served for two terms, of two years each, in the latter office, being re-elected in the fall of 1889. He was elected police judge of Hutchinson, in 1895, and served in that capacity for two years. He was also township trustee for three years, and one of the organizers of school district No. 58, and served as treasurer of the school board for nine years. In the discharge of these various official duties he was always prompt, efficient and reliable, and commanded the approbation and the esteem of the community which he faithfully served. His official record is without criticism or reproach. His public honors always came to him unsought, his fellow citizens calling him to office because they recognized his trustworthiness and ability.

After retiring from office Mr. ANDERSON engaged in the real-estate and insurance business, and also engaged as administrator of estates and guardian of minor heirs. In this capacity his superior business judgment, his unquestioned integrity in handling public and private interests, gave assurance that business entrusted to him would be carefully handled and honestly accounted for. His entire life was in harmony with his profession — honorable, straight and upright — and was crowned with the high degree of success which is ever accorded sterling worth.

On August 8, 1863, Mr. ANDERSON enlisted in Company C, Ninth Iowa Cavalry, under the command of Colonel DRUMMOND, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with whom he served for two years. This regiment served in Missouri and Arkansas, guarding wagon trains and doing much scouting and escort duty. On account of disability from hard service and exposure, Mr. Anderson was discharged at the end of two years. Joel M. ANDERSON was married, July 31, 1862, in Iowa, to Sarah A. CHAMBERS, a daughter of Daniel E. and Elizabeth (BRINNEMAN) CHAMBERS. Mrs. ANDERSON was born in Pennsylvania, September 8, 1844. Her father was born in Pennsylvania, June 21, 1816. He was a farmer, owning one hundred and sixty acres of cultivated land and forty acres of timber land, near Leon, Iowa, where he settled in 1848. In 1850 Mr. CHAMBERS was attracted by prospects in gold mining in California and went on the long journey across the plains to seek his fortune in that state. After two years of indifferent success he returned to his Iowa home and resumed his farming operations. In 1893 he came with his wife to Hutchinson to live with his daughter, Mrs. Joel M. ANDERSON. He died here, September 8, 1905. He had been blind for about twenty years. Mr. CHAMBERS had been a successful farmer and took great pride in his farm, and in the raising and care of fine horses. His wife was born in Pennsylvania, February 25, 1816, and died in Hutchinson, June 4, 1894. Both were prominent members of the Methodist church.

The brothers and sisters of Mrs. Joel M. ANDERSON are: Austin, born in Pennsylvania, March 29, 1841, was a soldier in the Civil War, serving six months, died in Lyoden, Washington territory, January 17, 1889; Mary Ellen, born in Pennsylvania, December 2, 1847, married George T. CHANDLER, a farmer, living at Armour, South Dakota; Emma Jane, born near Leon, Iowa, May 29, 1858, died June 16, 1869; Amos, born near Leon, Iowa, October 16, 1854, is a farmer and stock raiser at Leon, Iowa.

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. ANDERSON are: William A., a fanner of Reno county; Ida L. married M. WILMOT; Cora married John S. DAUBER, of Whitewater, Kansas; Bertha married Walter MEADE, of Hutchinson, Kansas.

Mr. ANDERSON was an active and prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, having served as a member of the official board, and in the work of the Sunday school, in which he was a teacher in the country. He was a member of Joe Hooker Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He was also a supporter of the Hutchinson Young Men's Christian Association. Politically, he was identified with the Republican party, having served on the county central committee, and was frequently a delegate to the conventions of his party. Mrs. ANDERSON is a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and the Woman's Relief Corps, auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic. The family residence is one of the handsome homes of Hutchinson, located at 517 Third avenue, east.
~ SOURCE: PLOUGHE, Sheridan. History of Reno County, Kansas: Its People, Industries, and Institutions Vol. II. Pp. 209-12. B.F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis. 1917.
~ Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, June of 2009, http://iagenweb.org/ringgold/biographical/bio-andersonjoel.html

ANDREWS, H. C., of the firm of Andrews & Grable, attorneys and collecting agents, established the business in 1878, under the present firm name. They do a large collecting business, and have now on hand for collection $250,000 worth of paper.

Mr. ANDREWS was born in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, October 19, 1845. He enlisted in Company D, Eighth Iowa Cavalry; participated in the Atlanta campaign; was taken prisoner at Newnan, Georgia, and confined in Andersonville, Georgia, and several other rebel prisons, and after having spent ten months in the South, he was finally exchanged, and was mustered out at Annapolis, Maryland, June 28, 1865. He soon went to Mount Ayr, Iowa, and began the study of law in the law office of Laughlin & Keller, remaining about two years, and, being admitted to the bar on April 1, 1878, he then began practice. He was elected County Superintendent of Schools one term, after which he was elected Clerk of the Court for Ringgold County, and served one term. He took the United States census of the same county for 1870; continued practice until 1873, when he moved to Kearney, Nebbraska, and continued his profession. He was married in Bedford, Taylor County, Iowa, in 1871, to Miss Mary F. CAMPBELL, of Quincy, Florida. They have two children - Kenneth R. and Ralph F.

Mr. ANDREWS is a member of the subordinate lodge and encampment, I. O. O. F.
Also a member of Sedgwick Post. No. 1, G.A.R.
~Source: "Buffalo County" Part 5 Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska The Western Historical Co. A. T. Andreas Chicago. 1882 ~Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2009

ANO, JOHN

John Ano was born in 1835 in Lafayette, Wisconsin (although it's not indicated if this was the town, township or county of Lafayette) and was described as being 5 feet 3¾ inches tall with gray eyes, brown hair and a light complexion. He was a twenty-three year old farmer and laborer when he enlisted on August 14, 1862 at McGregor in a company being raised the town's postmaster, Willard Benton. He was mustered into Company G on August 14th and all ten companies were mustered in as the 21st Regiment of Iowa’s volunteer infantry on September 9th, both at Dubuque.

Leaving Dubuque on September 16th, John went south with the regiment and, like many others, became ill during the cold winter weather while stationed at Rolla, Missouri that December. Fortunately for John his illness was minor, he was treated in quarters and he remained with the regiment as it completed its tour in Missouri before joining General Grant during the Vicksburg Campaign. Confederate General Pemberton surrendered the city on July 4, 1863, and, on July 14th, John was one of several who were granted 30-day furloughs. Due to their proximity to the river, they were able to get home faster than when the regiment was stationed at more remote locations, but before long they were back with the regiment.

A private from enlistment to discharge, he was marked "present" on every bimonthly Company Muster Roll despite being occasionally detailed for special duties. During the Vicksburg Campaign, he was in the Battle of Port Gibson on May 1, 1863, was present during the Battle of Champion's Hill on May 16th when the regiment was held in reserve, was in the assault of May 22, 1863 at Vicksburg and in the subsequent siege.

On March 13, 1864 he was detailed as a teamster at Division Headquarters. A year later, during the campaign to occupy the city of Mobile, he was with the regiment on Dauphin Island on March 4, 1865, whe an order from the headquarters of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of the 13th Army Corps, said John was "hereby detailed for duty at these Head Quarters and will report immediately." On arrival he was assigned to work as a cook.

In June 1865, after the occupation of Mobile, the regiment returned to New Orleans and then proceeded up the Red River. On June 4th, Lieutenant Colonel Van Anda learned he had been selected by Major General Herron "to command the post ofNatchitoches, where your own regiment will be stationed." The order said "the major-general commanding desires that you will do all in yourpower to restore confidence and promote good feeling. You will have no system of passes for the people, and will interfere in no way with trade and transportation of products." While Van Anda moved into town to assume his new duties at post headquarters, the regiment went to Saluria Springs about two miles northwest of Natchitoches where they occupied Camp Salubrity. On June 14th, John Ano was detailed to serve as a headquarters Orderly and moved into town.

On July 15, 1865 John and others still with the regiment were mustered out of service at Baton Rouge. On the evening of the 15th they turned in their tents and equipment and moved rations to the landing. The next morning, they boarded the Lady Gay and, leaving about 7:00am, started up-river past memories of three years of combat, scenes of battle and graves of friends. They debarked at Cairo about 8:00am on the 20th and "went to the soldiers rest where a dinner was waiting/or us" while the post commander sent a wire to Adjutant General Baker in Iowa, "The twenty-first 21 Iowa leaves by rail for Clinton at twelve 12n today.” They were delayed for two hours, but reached Clinton about midnight. On the afternoon of the 24th, John and others who were present received their discharges and final payment and were free to make their way to their homes.

~Compiled & submitted by Carl Ingwalson, December 2020

APPLETON, WILLIAM H

William Appleton said he was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on July 22, 1839. He moved to Iowa in 1857 and, when the Civil War started, was unmarried and working as a Clayton County farmer.

On July 9, 1862, Governor Kirkwood received a telegram asking him to raise five regiments as part of the President's call for 300,000 three-year men. If the state's quota wasn't raised by August 15th, it "would be made up by draft." The Governor was confident, but enlistments started slowly as ''farmers were busy with the harvest, the war was much more serious than had been anticipated, and the first ebullition of military enthusiasm had subsided. Furthermore, disloyal sentiment was rampant in some parts of the state.” Throughout July and August military recruiters and local citizens "beat the drum" and the enlistments came.
In Clayton County, Willard Benton, McGregor's postmaster, and William Crooke, a local attorney, were especially successful in gaining enlistments. On August 16, 1862, it was Crooke who enrolled William Appleton at New Stand (a town then located in the eastern part of Elk Creek Township) in what would be Company B of the 21st Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry. Private Appleton was described as being 5' 7¾'' tall with brown eyes and hair and a dark complexion. The company was ordered into quarters at Dubuque the same day and mustered in on August 18th with a complement of ninety-nine men. When all ten companies were sufficiently full, the regiment was mustered into service on September 9, 1862.

Most spent relatively little time receiving productive training since, according to one writer, "the rendezvous was so near the men's homes, that their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, sweethearts, and. friends, were too often present to allow either drill or discipline to any great extent." On September 16th, William was with his regiment as they left Dubuque and started south for several months of service in Missouri. After an overnight stay in St. Louis, they went to Rolla by rail and then marched to Salem, Houston, Hartville, back to Houston, back to Hartville, back to Houston, south to West Plains, and then northeast to Ironton, Iron Mountain, Pilot Knob and St. Genevieve.

William had been marked “present” on all bimonthy muster rolls in 1862, but became ill and was hospitalized on February 28, 1863 when they were in Iron Mountain. Soon thereafter they were in St. Genevieve and William was granted a furlough to go north to recuperate. During his absence the regiment went down the Mississippi to Milliken's Bend and, from there, walked south along the west side of the river until crossing to Bruinsburg on the east bank on April 30, 1863. A battle was fought at Port Gibson on May 1, 1863 with few casualties.

Four days later, William rejoined the regiment and he was with it on May 16th when they were held in reserve by their commanding general, John McClernand, during the Battle of Champion's Hill. It was hard for the soldiers to stand motionless and listen to the sounds of the nearby battle and William Crooke felt McClernand had been "spellbound by a show of opposition and the throwing of a few shells from the high ridge in his .front caused three of his own divisions and one of Sherman's to stand motionless while another division of his own corps was being slaughtered."

Having not been engaged on the 16th, the regiment's brigade was rotated to the front on the 17th. Advancing towards Vicksburg, they encountered Confederates entrenched along the Big Black River, hoping to keep its railroad bridge open so the rest of their army could cross. Colonels conferred. An assault was ordered. Colonel Kinsman ordered the 23d Iowa forward and Colonel Merrill did the same for the 21st Iowa.

Those two regiments led the charge over an open field directly into enemy gunfire. The charge was successful, but there were many casualties including Colonel Merrill who had fallen on the field with severe wounds to his upper thighs. On May 22nd, at Vicksburg, they were in another assault, this one unsuccessful, and a siege was ordered. Vicksburg surrendered on July 4th and the regiment immediately engaged in a pursuit of Confederate General Joe Johnston east to Jackson. Following that expedition, they spent time back in Vicksburg and in Louisiana, and many months guarding the "sacred sands" of the Gulf coast of Texas. Seeing the vast expanse of water, gathering shells and tasting saltwater was a new experience for the Hawkeyes, but it soon grew old and they were "anxious for the fray." After returning to Louisiana for several months, their last campaign of the war was in the spring of 1865 when they participated in the Mobile Campaign in Alabama. They were mustered out at Baton Rouge on July 15, 1865.

After returning to civilian life, William spent a short time in Sioux City, but then returned to Clayton County and, in the fall of 1866, taught school. On June 9, 1867, William and Phoebe Lovett were married in Guttenberg. Their first two children were girls, Ida and Sylvia, both of whom reportedly died in 1870. Another daughter, Lena May, was born on April 13, 1871. She was followed by William Watson on July 17, 1874, Olive on October 27, 1876, Mark Lovett on August 29, 1882, Otto Blaine on January 24, 1885, and Roy Raymond on March 21, 1890.

While continuing to work his 240 acre farm in Elk Township, William served as a school director, as Township Assessor and as Township Clerk. In 1887 he applied for a government pension. Under laws in effect at the time, pensions for veterans were based on illness, wounds or other disability incurred in the line of duty. William said he had contracted a severe cold in February 1863 that caused lung fever and chronic diarrhea from which he was still suffering. His application was supported by an affidavit from Brad Talcott, a former comrade from Company B, who recalled that William "was taken sick" on the march from Houston to West Plains and caught a cold that "settled on his lungs." John Carpenter, also from Company B, said William was so sick at Iron Mountain that:

"our officers considered it necessary to send him home in order to save his life. And I being in poor health was detailed to take him home. we had to convey him on a strecher from camp to the boat. I went with him from Iron Mountain to Farley Iowa during the whole trip he was very sick."

With additional support from friends and doctors, William's pension was granted at $8.00 per month, an amount that was increased over time.

On September 10, 1913, after forty-six years of marriage, Phoebe died. She was buried in Brown Cemetery, Colesburg. William was receiving a $30.00 age-based monthly pension when he died on June 7, 1925, at eighty-six.

~Compiled & submitted by Carl Ingwalson, December 2020

ARNETT, W. L., farmer, section 10, Middle Fork Township, was born August 17, 1835, in Des Moines County, Iowa, son of Henry ARNETT now of Mt. Ayr.

He was the second of a family of nine children. When three years of age his father removed to Calhoun County, Illinois, where W. L. remained until he was twenty years old. He was reared on a farm and obtained his education in the common schools of his day. In June, 1855, the ARNETT family came to Ringgold County and settled on section 15, Middle Fork Township. Mr. ARNETT resided here until April 10, 1856, when he returned to Calhoun County. He was married April 2, 1857, to Miss Mary M. DeLONG, born in Jersey County, Illinois, daughter of Luther B. and Mary Ann DeLONG.

September 10, 1863, he returned to Ringgold County. February 23, 1863, he enlisted in Company M, Third Iowa Cavalry, and was in several of the most noted battles of the war.He was honorably discharged August 19, 1865, at Atlanta, Georgia, and arrived home August 24, 1865.

He settled upon his present farm June 20, 1868. At that time it consisted of 160 acres of wild land. He has since added to the original purchase until his farm consists of 280 acres of as good land as the township affords. It is well cultivated and well improved. He has a good story-and-a-half house, an orchard of four acres, native groves, barn, 40 x 40 feet, and is engaged in general farming, stock-raising and feeding.

Mr. and Mrs. ARNETT have five children - Olive, William E., Mary Alice, Henry Luther, and Findley B. Luna died at the age of ten months.

Mr. ARNETT has since served creditably as township clerk and member of the School Board. He is a worthy and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and always takes an active interest in any enterprise that tends to the advancement of education or religion, and is always a liberal contributor to any worthy object. By fair and honorable dealing he has secured the confidence of all who know him. In politics he is a Republican. Postoffice, Ingart.

NOTE: William L. ARNETT died on January 2, 1885 with interment at Middle Fork Cemetery, Ringgold County, Iowa.

Henry L., son of William L. and Mary Ann (DeLONG) ARNETT, was born October 24, 1882, and died December 3, 1887, with interment at Middle Fork Cemetery, Ringgold County, Iowa.
~Sources:
Biography & Historical Record of Ringgold County, Iowa, p. 335, 1887.
American Civil War Soldiers Database, ancestry.com
WPA Graves Survey
http://iagenweb.org/ringgold/biographical/ring_bio-arnettwl.html
from Biography & Historical Record of Ringgold County, Iowa Lewis Publishing Company of Chicago, 1887, p. 335
~Transcription and note by Sharon R. Becker, March of 2009

ASBURY, W. H. H. who for a quarter of a century has been engaged in the real estate business in Ottumwa, was born in Parke county, Indiana, April 4, 1841. This was the day upon which General William Henry HARRISON died and Mr. ASBURY was named in his honor. His parents were Benjamin and Polly (PORTER) ASBURY, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky. They were married in the Bluegrass state and started overland to the Wabash valley, establishing their home in Vermilion county, Indiana, whence they afterward removed to Parke county. In 1850 they came to Iowa, settling in Monroe county, where they spent the greater part of their lives, although the father died in Ringgold county. He was a blacksmith by trade, having served an apprenticeship of nine years. In later life he engaged both in blacksmithing and in farming. During the Civil war he served with the Thirty-seventh Iowa Regiment, known as the Gray Beards — a regiment which was largely engaged in guard duty. His father, Joseph ASBURY, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and was with WASHINGTON's army during the memorable winter at Valley Forge. For five years altogether he was on active duty under WASHINGTON. His birth occurred at Fairfax county, Virginia, and his entire life was passed in that state. The mother of our subject was a granddaughter of Robert PORTER, who served as a sergeant in the Revolutionary war under General BROADHEAD. In the family of Benjamin and Polly ASBURY were five children: Emily, who is the widow of Leonard CLARY, of Keokuk county, Iowa, and is now eighty-one years of age; Thomas Payne, of Ringgold county; W. H. H.; Mary Ann, the widow of Harrison NEIDIGH, of Ringgold county, and Benjamin F., of Albia, Iowa.

W. H. H. ASBURY spent his youthful days in his parents' home, remaining with them until he enlisted in response to the country's first call for three months' troops. He did not go to the front, however, until August, 1861, at which time he was a member of Company E, Third Iowa Cavalry. He enlisted at Bloomfield and was honorably discharged in October, 1862.

Mr. ASBURY then returned home and farmed for awhile. He then went to Blakesburg, where he entered the drug business with his older brother, continuing in that line for three years. He next came to Ottumwa and on the 1st of January, 1870, was made deputy sheriff, which position he capably filled. Later he was made deputy treasurer, and at the close of the term was elected county treasurer for four years. Subsequently he again accepted the position of deputy treasurer, remaining for ten years in the court house. In 1880 he entered the insurance and real estate business and in 1889 he was appointed internal revenue collector for this district. When his term in that office expired he resumed active connection with the real estate business, in which he has since been engaged. In 1910 he was again called to public office, when he was made supervisor of the census for the sixth congressional district, in which position he had 160 men and women under him. He has always given his political support to the republican party and has been most loyal to its principles. Commandery, No. 31, K. T.; and the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Country Club. His entire career has been characterized by high ideals and noble principles and in every relation - of life his record has ever measured up to a high standard of honorable manhood.

Photo of Mrs Asbury Photo of Mr Asbury

~ SOURCE: WATERMAN, Harrison Lyman. History of Wapello County, Iowa Vol. II. Pp. 248-57. S.J. Clarke Publishing. Chicago. 1914.
~ Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, June of 2009, http://iagenweb.org/ringgold/biographical/bio-asburywhh.html

AVERY, ELI
The following information is in the Goff article of the Seneca Tribune dated January 10,1923.

Eli Avery was born March 23, 1831 in Pennsylvania and died at Lead, South Dakota on January 3 at the age of ninety-one years, nine months and eleven days. Death was due to complications of old age. Mr. Avery came to Kansas about thirty-tree ago, locating in Goff, Ks. He was a saddle and harness maker by trade. He served in the Union Army during the Civil war enlisting in 1862 in Company B, 7th Regiment Iowa Calvery. Mr. Avery was married on January 28, 1860 to Agnes McCall at Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Following her decease he was married Mary Ann McKinsey. To the first union six children were born to the second marriage one. There survives four sons and three daughters, Those surviving are Charles H, Eli M, William R and Mrs. Della Gibbony. Mr. Avery was member of the Methodist church, the GAR and the IOOF lodge.

Funeral services were held from the Methodist church in Goff on January 7 by Rev. A L Goudy. The burial was made in the Fairview cemetery at Goff. Ks.
3rd Great Grandson, Mark E Gray

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