USA > Iowa > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Iowa; Volume I > Part 28
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The first companies that filled, one in the southeast corner of the county, and the other in the west, became A and I of the Twenty-fourth. Then the Clinton county Twenty-sixth drew into its ranks almost an entire company (B) and sev- eral detached squads from Jackson county. But another company in Maquoketa, one in Andrew and one in Bellevue, were also soon ready and were all assigned to the Thirty-first, as F, I, and K, of that regiment. Three companies from one county in a regiment seemed in justice to demand that one, at least, of its field officers should be from that county. Governor Kirkwood promptly recognized that demand and was not long in choosing a man whose quality and attainments conspicuously pointed him out as fit for high command. He commissioned Hon
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Jeremiah W. Jenkins, a prominent lawyer of Maquoketa, recently state senator from Jackson county, Lieutenant Colonel of the Thirty-first Iowa Infantry, under date of September 16, 1862.
Colonel Jenkins was born in Warren county, New York, in 1825, was gradu- ated in a state normal school, and had then studied law and been admitted to the bar in his native state.
About 1850 or 1851, he followed to Iowa two uncles, Alex and Jed H. Jenkins, who had become farmers near Maquoketa. Soon after the admission of Iowa as a state-about 1847-48 a project was approved by the new legislature to estab- lish three state normal schools, one at Mount Pleasant, one at Oskaloosa, and one at Andrew, Jackson county. It was required that each locality provide the necessary building without expense to the state. A small one story concrete building was erected at Andrew (it was afterward used as a blacksmith shop, but has been de- molished) and the school ran for several years, but the promised state aid proved insufficient and it was abandoned.
To the charge of this school young Jerry Jenkins was called soon after his arrival in the county. I have not been able to ascertain exact dates, but he was teaching there in 1853, and that was not his first year. As early as 1855, however, we find him established in law practice in Maquoketa, and he soon won the reputa- tion of being the leading practitioner there. He had also become an active politi- cian, affiliating with the whig party. In 1852 he received, at the hands of the state convention of his party, the nomination for secretary of state, and the voting that year was so close between the parties that for some days he was reported as elected. The successful democratic candidate was George W. McCrary, from Keokuk, afterwards member of Congress, (1869 to 1877), and secretary of war under President Hayes. He received sixteen thousand nine hundred and twenty-two votes and Jenkins fifteen thousand and thirty-two hundred.
The first organization of the republican party in Jackson county was when a convention met February 16, 1856, at the old third ward school house in Maquo- keta, to nominate delegates to a state convention, and J. W. Jenkins was one of those who officiated. Later in the year he was nominated for state senator and at the state election in August he was successful by a majority of seven votes, although the democrats carried the county at the presidential election in Novem- ber by one hundred and sixty-nine majority. The republicans had some aid from the American or "Know Nothing" party.
When Governor Kirkwood therefore cast about to find a man in Jackson county to honor with a field commission, he found to his hand a man whom he knew to have just closed a successful term as state legislator; who was conspic- uous for his ardent patriotism and loyalty to the war measures of the administra- tion ; and, who, although not a trained soldier, had imbibed much knowledge of military art and routine from the fact that his older brother, Leonidas Jenkins, had been a graduate of West Point, an officer in the old First United States Dragoons, and as such was in garrison at Fort Atkinson, Iowa, 1842-1846, and was son-in-law to the distinguished regular, Major General Edwin V. Sumner .* That the governor's confidence was not misplaced cannot better be told than by quoting from the recent tribute to the colonel's memory, by Captain Milo P. Smith, of Cedar Rapids, an officer in his regiment.
"Colonel Jenkins commanded the regiment the most of the time as Colonel Smith was on detached service a good deal. Upon the latter's resignation, he was, in the early fall of 1864, promoted to the colonelcy. In the assault of the works of Vicksburg on the 22d of May, 1863, Colonel Jenkins was badly wounded in the leg, and when he was able to travel, compelled to go home for awhile on leave of absence. He returned to take command in the fall of 1863, and marched from Memphis to Chattanooga on the 22nd of November, and on the 24th he led his men gallantly through the battle of Lookout Mountain, and on the next day headed the charges on Mission Ridge.
* Lieutenant Jenkins died of yellow fever at Vera Cruz, Mexico, summer of 1847.
COLONEL J. W. JENKINS
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"When the Atlanta campaign opened the next spring, Jenkins assumed his place with the column, which was projected by General Sherman through Snake Creek Gap, on Resaca under the command of General McPherson. In the first engagement at Resacca the colonel was badly wounded again, while accompany- ing the regiment in a charge on the enemy's works. He was this time struck in the shoulder by a piece of shell. From this wound he never fully recovered. I saw him a few years ago in Kansas City, and noticed the droop of the shoulder, and he told me that it pained him at times yet. Again he was compelled to go to the rear, but courageous as ever he returned to the front as soon as he was able, which was about the time of the fall of Atlanta., He commanded the regiment from thence on to the close of the war, and had the pleasure of leading it, not only in the famous march to the sea, but in the grand parade or review at Washington. He made a splendid officer and was a good soldier. .
"He was brave and steady under fire. He had red hair and always wore eye glasses. He had an 'artillery look,' as the boys used to say, when in battle, that meant fight. No remaining member of the old Thirty-first will learn of the death of Colonel Jenkins without recalling his good qualities as a man, his splendid cour- age as a soldier, and his gallant leadership of the regiment."
Almost immediately after his muster out, Colonel Jenkins moved to Kansas City, where he engaged with success in the practice of his profession, served for a time as judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and where he died June 24, 1903, from the effects of injuries received in an assault by a street robber a few months previous. We claim the colonel as affiliated with Jackson county veteran organ- izations, not only from his service with our own companies in the field, but also because in 1886, he appeared as one of the speakers at the reunion of the Eastern Iowa Association, at Maquoketa ; in 1890 he accepted the invitation of A. W. Drips Post at Maquoketa to deliver the address on Memorial day; and again, in 1900, he performed like service at the dedication of the soldiers' monument in that city.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND MILITARY SERVICES OF CAPTAIN ANDREW WILLIAM DRIPS. (BY J. W. ELLIS.)
In preparing a sketch of the life of Captain Drips, a pioneer of Iowa and a hero of two wars, we find material for much more space than we would be jus- tified in claiming in this work. We are indebted to Mrs. M. A. Knight, wife of A. W. Drips, for an account of the antecedents and early history of the captain, and are particularly indebted to Harvey Reid and his wonderful military scrap book from which we have been permitted to copy from letters written by mem- bers of Captain Drips' company, showing their estimate of their gallant captain.
The letters referred to were written to be read at a public meeting in Maquo- keta March 7, 1887, wherein the exercises were commemorative of the twenty- fifth anniversary of the battle of Pea Ridge, where Drips was killed. The prin- cipal feature of the exercises was the presentation of the swords of Captains Drips and Kelsey to the Grand Army Post in Maquoketa.
Andrew William Drips was born in Laughlinstown, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1826. His father was William Drips, a Pennsylvanian of Irish descent. His mother was Martha Clark, a Pennsylvanian of Scotch descent. They resided in Westmoreland county until 1850, when they came west and set- tled in Garnavillo township, Clayton county, Iowa. The father died at National, in an adjoining township, on the 18th of March, 1881, in the ninety-second year of his age. He was a pensioner of the War of 1812, in which he did a gallant and meritorious service. The mother, Martha, died April 12, 1874, in the eighty-second year of her age. She was intelligent and learned, a lady of culture and refine- ment, a great reader, readily grasping the most difficult problems, hence a partner with that force and character which served her advantageously in shaping the
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lives and character of those committed to her care. Both were active and earnest Christians, the mother devoutly so, in the administration of all the duties of life.
The children of William and Martha Drips were five sons and six daughters, all of whom lived to manhood and womanhood, save one, James, who died in early youth. Robert C. died in Garnavillo, Iowa, in 1856, at the age of thirty-four years. The surviving sons, Thomas, Andrew, Joseph and John, (the latter an adopted son), were in the Union army. Corporal John F. was a member of Company A, Ninth Iowa, and died in hospital at Memphis, Tennessee, in the fall of 1862; Thomas was captain of Company E, Twenty-seventh Iowa, and died at Clayton, Iowa, from disease contracted in the service soon after the close of the war ; Joseph H. survives, residing at Malone, Iowa, though nearly blind from his severe service as a member of the Sixth Iowa Cavalry.
Andrew, the subject of this sketch, was educated and trained under the guid- ance of his mother in the common schools in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. At the age of sixteen he became apprenticed to O. A. Traugh, publisher of the Hollidaysburg (Blair county, Pennsylvania) Standard, to learn the art of print- ing, and with whom he remained until the breaking out of the war between the United States and Mexico, when he joined Captain Dana's Company, but on the arrival at Pittsburg, on account of ill health, was rejected. Nothing daunted, however, he joined Captain John W. Geary's Company B, Second Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, from Cambria county, in which he was accepted and mustered into the service. He served with honor and distinction until the close of the war, was wounded in the thigh, receiving a flesh wound in the charge upon the castle in the battle of Chapultepec, September 12, 1847, and laid in the hospital about six months.
With the close of hostilities he returned to Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, having been mustered out of the service at Pittsburg in the fall of 1848, and again entered the printing office where his apprenticeship began. Here he remained until the winter of 1851, when he obtained a situation with the state printer at Harrisburg. He had learned phonography during his apprenticeship, and during the session of the Pennsylvania legislature, he reported the proceedings of the lower house for the daily press, taking it down in shorthand and copying during the evening. In this art he was an expert and the year of his stay in Harrisburg furnished him ample opportunity to improve upon his knowledge in the use of the phonographic characters and signs.
He was easy in military tactics and long before the Mexican war organized and commanded the Hollidaysburg Cadets, a company of young men about his own age. We believe that E. W. H. Jacobs, now residing at McGregor, and brother of the captain's wife, was one of the cadets. From 1849 to 1852, Captain Drips commanded the Hollidaysburg Guards, a company that enjoyed a high dis- tinction in those days of general training.
March 21, 1850, Mr. Drips was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Ann Jacobs, at Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Her parents were Alexander Jacobs and Dorcas Van Devander. The father died October 21, 1852, the mother preceding him to the grave March 12, 1841. The father was of English descent, a pensioner in the War of 1812. The mother was of Holland descent, a lady of rare attain- ments, a mind rich in knowledge, a soul imbued with devotions to every Christian principle.
Andrew and Margaret came west in April, 1852, and settled in Garnavillo township, where Mr. Drips was employed as a copyist in the county recorder's office, the county seat of Clayton county being then at Garnavillo. January 28, 1853, N. S. Granger established the Clayton County Herald, and Mr. Drips was employed as its publisher, in which capacity he served until August 18, 1854, when he succeeded to the proprietorship of the paper, and continued to publish the Herald until 1856, when the county seat was removed to Guttenburg, and he packed his bit of printing and followed. Here he remained for two years in the publication of the Herald, when better opportunities presented themselves, and he
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CAPTAIN A. W. DRIPS
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sold out to McBride & Co., and took up his residence at Maquoketa, in Jackson county, where he obtained an interest in the Maquoketa Excelsior. With this paper he remained until the date of his enlistment into the service of the United States, in answer to the call for three hundred thousand. He was also postmaster at Maquoketa, and upon entering the military service of the government, he was succeeded by his wife, who conducted the office until October, 1864.
Naturally, one of his temperament-with an intense admiration for the prin- ciples on which the government was founded, and who, from early boyhood, had been schooled to the enjoyment of perfect freedom and the advancement of the human race, entertaining the most pronounced opinions upon the slavery ques- tion then agitating the country, and the primary cause of the Rebellion inaugu- rated by the seceding states south of the Mason and Dixon line-would be about the first to respond to his country's call. He was true to the instincts of true patriotism, and upon the call of the President, immediately took steps for the or- ganization of a company in which he was quite successful, but having failed to secure enlistments into the company to the full maximum number it was not until August 20, 1861, that the company was accepted. In the choice of officers he was elected captain, and when on a later day he reported at the rendezvous at Dubuque, his company was assigned as A Company of the Ninth Iowa Volunteers. The following is the roster :
Captain, A. W. Drips ; first lieutenant, Florilla M. Kelsey ; second lieutenant, Alpheus Alexander.
Privates, A. B. Kendig, chaplain, Phillip A. Miller, Thomas J. Cornell, George Trout, Joseph Ingraham, John S. McGaffer, Dennis O. Kelly, G. O. Tinker, musician, R. Smith Delano, Fredrick Cogswell, L. L. Martin, Charles H. Lyman, Otis Crawford, Stephen R. Martin, Jacob Country, William Brock, Samuel Mc- Comb, W. H. Livingston, Fred J. DeGrush, John W. McMeans, George W. Little, Alexander Van Orsdel, Willit R. Wait, Samuel D. Townsend, Edwin Darling, Francis N. Rhoades, William H. H. Guist, Edward A. Tolman, Oliver Beckwith, J. W. Esty, William S. Seaward, F. Reyner, musician, Peter Miller, Jr., Henry H. Shepard, Silas Harcourt, George M. Bump, Elmer Stephens, musician, Benjamin F. Darling, Jr., H. H. P. Millhausen, John S. Billups, Jesse Updegraff, Franklin D. Taylor, Daniel Tubbs, Oscar Krafft, George C. Pearce, Sydney H. Fuller, Ira Fisher, Henry F. Spear, Ormus D. Bancroft, Asher Riley, John W. Alexander, Hiram Coleman, Whitman Robinson, William H. Hopkins, H. A. Ramsey, Lucius Bennett, Joseph A. Davis, John Markle, Menzo_Sweet, W. H. O'Marrow, S. F. Gordon, musician, Jonathan D. Hodge, Addison W. Barnes, Floyd W. Foster, James B. Eby, George A. Whiting, J. H. Guenther, Henry C. Sanborn, Thomas Gray, James McNally, Aaron Seeber, David B. Patterson, John Wicking, Joshua Grindrod, Leveret W. Usher, Henry A. Grote, W. S. Van Orsdel, Samuel Beck- with, Thomas Grout, James B. Holloway, John B. Spelman, John Adams, Henry L. Klinger, Samuel S. Scott, James S. Hamilton, Henry Brown, Josiah Brown, Levi L. Pearce, John F. Drips, Warren Spaulding, Andrew H. Brown, Henry C. Cleveland, John H. Green, Edwin G. Cutler, Alfred M. Norton, Sylvester D. Brown, Ira Downey, Charles C. Young.
List of men rejected by the mustering officer September 2, 1861, at Dubuque : Dennis C. Kelly, Daniel Tubbs, Sydney Fuller, Stephen Gordon, Silas Harcourt, Francis Parnell, J. W. Esty, F. N. Rhodes, Aaron Seebur, Henry C. Cleveland.
Additional enlistments in Company A were as follows: N. C. White, Mar- cus Reyner, Austin Alexander, Andrew McMeans, Phineas Tompkins, William Trout, Samuel Dickinson, Robert Thompson and John H. Crane.
William Trout pays the following tribute to his old commander, in a letter written in 1887 to be read at a meeting held in Maquoketa on the twenty-fifth anni- versary of the battle of Pea Ridge :
"It was at Pea Ridge our loved Captain Drips gave up his life. It was a sad time ; as I think it all over it makes me feel sad. But such was the fate of many a brave man. Of Captain Drips I would say farther, he was always with us, never
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shirking a duty, ever kind and tender, and above all just in dealing with all. I remember when we were camped at Pacific, Missouri, his treatment of disloyal Missourians. He had a piercing eye which could look a rebel through and through. I have heard him talk to them in such a way they would crouch at his feet and beg for mercy. He always gave them one chance for their lives, but when brought before him the second time would send them to-well, I do not know where, I did not go with them. I might speak of several such instances but forbear; the past is the past, and many of the rebels South are under the sod, their souls in heaven I hope (with the exception of a dozen or so).
"Had Captain Drips lived he would have been colonel of the regiment, as he had so endeared himself to the hearts of us all, that no honor was too high to be conferred upon him. Of Lieutenant Kelsey I can speak in the highest terms of praise. He was always daring, brave, and a good disciplinarian, not as cautious and as calculating as was Captain Drips perhaps, but always ready, always to the front in time of danger.
"He was a man of refined, cleanly habits, and at first was thought by some to be putting on style, being neat and careful in his appearance. He compelled those under him to observe the same rules, which caused no little inconven- ience, but as we learned to know him we respected him more; he set a good example and was liked by all."
The following is taken from a letter written by George Trout of Wamego, Kansas, in 1887 :
"My recollections of Captain Drips were, that he was a strict disciplinarian, always in earnest, but kind to those who did their duty. Personally I never had any trouble with either of them. Captain Kelsey I think was more of a military man. While he demanded strict discipline, he was quite jovial and on that account was perhaps more popular with the boys, but both were good men and had the respect of not only Company A, but the officers and men of the whole regiment knew them and regarded both of them as above the average commissioned officer.
"The march from Rolla, Missouri, to Pea Ridge was a tedious one. It was in the springtime when rain and mud were plentiful. There is no mud on earth so sticky as Missouri mud. The streams were so swollen that in some cases we had to make bridges of army wagons for the infantry, which was done by loading the wagons with rock and placing them near enough so that the soldiers could pass from one to the other. In many cases the horses had to swim, and the artillery went clear out of sight. It was soon after one of these scenes that one of our company deserted, I think the only one during the war-Josiah Brown. I hardly blame the fellow for the boys were always picking on him, and I think that was more the cause of his deserting than the hardships of soldiering. He, at least, has my forgiveness. Quite a number of our fellows deserved to be bucked and gagged for their meanness to others. They would get some rig or joke up on some one and keep it up until the fellow would be tempted to do something desperate.
"About the Ist of March, 1862, we came near the vicinity of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, and on account of the many and good natural positions, I suppose the enemy chose this place for their battle ground. Their troops were all made up from this portion of the country, and they must have known all about the ground. They drew us on and considerably beyond the final battle ground, then by a quick and stealthy movement got in our rear, cutting us off from any retreat in that di- rection. In fact, they had us cornered for a fight, and fight we had to.
"On the 7th of March everything was in readiness and we went for each other. As far as I know we were the attacking party in every instance and rather got the worst of it. Our brigade took a position a little east of the old Elkhorn tav- ern. I shall never forget what a feeling came over me when the firing began. I remember we had some trouble getting into position; when he finally got into line of battle we were right in front of a masked battery. The ground was cov- ered with small gravel. The rebels depressed their guns, and the grape and can-
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nister would strike the ground before reaching us, and sweep up gravel which as often struck our boys as the shot. It was there where Bancroft was killed; I think a grape shot killed him. Quite a number of our fellows got hurt while in that position. The groaning of the wounded frightened me more than the excitement of battle.
"Our position being such that the rebels had a cross fire on us, and immediately in front of their battery, we were ordered to move a short distance to the left which brought us immediately in front of their line of battle. The whole regiment began firing and the battle raged all along the line. We were almost within stone throw of each other, and we stood there loading and firing as fast as we could. I think it was while in this positon that Captain Drips received his death wound. I remember seeing him, sword in one hand and pistol in the other, urging the men to stand firm and do their duty. After I had fired about fifteen rounds I received a buckshot through the right hand; they fired ball and buck. The large ball struck my cartridge box at the end, somewhat flattening three minie balls in the lower tier. I was just in the act of taking out a cartridge, and of course it paralyzed my hand so I could not load any more. I began to look around to see if I could get back without getting struck. I started and had gone only a few steps when I met a fellow of our regiment with a ball in his foot. Of course it was a painful wound and he begged me to help him off. I took his musket and with my own about my neck, slung them on my shoulder by the straps, then asked him to put his arms about my neck, and with my wounded hand supported him the best I could, and we started for the rear. I have often wondered how we escaped, the air seemed full of whistling bullets.
"When we got near the Elkhorn, the rebels were just appropriating for their own use a portion of our best batteries. I think it was Hayden's. They got three of the guns and turned them on us. We came very near being killed by some of our cannon in the hands of the enemy. We finally got out of range and back to timber, where the surgeons were taking care of the wounded. And what an awful time it was; amputations were taking place, probing for balls, and temporary binding up of all kinds of wounds to stop the blood. Men came or were brought in ambulances shot in all parts of the body, frequently a portion of them would be dead when they arrived, having died on the way. Such a scene I never witnessed in my life. I nearly forgot that I was wounded myself. My hand began to swell and I really did not know how badly I was hurt. I made several attempts to have a surgeon examine it, but they seemed so busy that it was some time before I got one to look at it. He took a probe, run it clear through the wound, and with an oath informed me that I was not injured much, but made more fuss than some of the fellows that had an arm or leg off. I took care of my wound after that without the counsel of an army surgeon.
"It was beginning to get dusk, and I wandered about to see where I could put in the night to the best advantage. I noticed an old house near by and thought perhaps I could crawl in there. The first thing that attracted by attention was an officer lying on the porch and a surgeon stooping over him probing a wound re- ceived a little to the side of the sword buckle, and immediately below the belt. To my horror and surprise I discovered it was my captain. I stood transfixed a few moments and the agony and suffering were too much for me and I turned away. That was the last I ever saw of Captain Drips; I do not even know what became of the body. I was present when the dead of our company were buried. There was a long trench made near where I was wounded and where I suppose Captain Drips fell, but I do not remember of seeing him among the number.
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