USA > Iowa > Marion County > History of Marion County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 19
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
ber. Since then the town has been increased by the Coal Addition, Shook's Addition, and Hunt's First and Second additions.
Within two years after Swan was laid out it had two general stores, a drug store, hotel and restaurant, a grain elevator, a post- office, a saw mill, a blacksmith shop and a public school. In 1909 the Swan Telephone Company was incorporated, and a bank was established in 1910. The population in that year, according to the United States census, was 292, and in 1913 the property of the town was assessed for taxation at $95,636. Three teachers are employed in the public schools and the town has two churches-Christian and Methodist Episcopal.
TRACY
Tracy is situated in the eastern part of Clay Township, fourteen miles southeast of Knoxville and not far from the Mahaska County line. It was surveyed in the fall of 1875 by Alexander F. Tracy, the proprietor of the town, and the plat was filed with the county recorder on November 11, 1875. It shows 149 lots, with Parker, Bradley and Franklin streets running north and south, and Munsell, Woltz, Needham, Sumner and Lawson streets running east and west.
The town is well provided with shipping and transportation facil- ities, being located on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Wabash railroads. It has a bank, three general stores, a hardware and implement house, a furniture store, a telephone exchange, a public school that employs four teachers, a Methodist Episcopal Church, telegraph and express offices, a postoffice, and ships large quantities of coal and agricultural products. Polk's Gazetteer for 1914 gives the population as 275.
WESTON
On October 11, 1856, Jesse H. Kent, deputy county surveyor, laid out for P. W. and George F. Pitman a town in the north half of section 35, township 76, range 21, to which was given the name of Weston. The plat was filed on November 2, 1856, showing nine blocks, eight of which were divided into eight lots each, the block in the center of the town being left for a public square. The place was never improved and after some time the plat was vacated.
WHEELING
The Town of Wheeling was surveyed by J. A. Rousseau on July 5, 1851, in the northern part of section 5, township 76, range 21, for
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
Thomas Polson and John Rankin. The plat was filed on the 12th of the same month. It shows six blocks of eight lots each, but the streets are not named. The first house was built by James Wilson, who was also the first blacksmith and the first postmaster. Dr. C. C. Wilkie was the first physician, and the first goods were sold by the firm of Walters & Butcher. The name was suggested by Henderson Polson, after Wheeling, West Virginia.
Early histories of Marion County locate this village in Swan Township, but it is in the northern part of Pleasant Grove, 21/2 miles northwest of Pleasantville. It has never grown beyond the propor- tions of a small country village.
WHITE BREAST
Last on the list is probably the newest town in the county, if White Breast can properly be called a town. It is a station on the new line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad and is located in section 23, near the White Breast Creek, in the southeastern part of Franklin Township.
POSTOFFICES
According to the United States Postal Guide for July, 1914. Marion County then had nineteen postoffices, viz .: Attica, Bussey (2), Columbia (1), Cordova (1), Dallas, Durham, Everist, Flag- ler, Hamilton (1), Harvey ( 1), Knoxville (9), Marysville, Melcher (1), Otley (1), Pella (5), Percy (1), Pleasantville (4), Swan (1), Tracy (2). The figures in parentheses after some of these offices show the number of rural routes.
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CHAPTER XI MARION COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR
INTRODUCTION OF SLAVERY INTO THE UNITED STATES-ITS PROMI- VENCE AS A POLITICAL ISSUE-THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE-THE OMNIBUS BILL-POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860-SECESSION OF THE SOUTHERN STATES-ORGANIZATION OF THE SOUTHERN CON- FEDERACY-STAR OF THE WEST INCIDENT-FORT SUMTER-CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS-IOWA'S RESPONSE-BRIEF HISTORIES OF THE REGIMENTS IN WHICH MARION COUNTY WAS REPRESENTED- ROSTERS OF MARION COUNTY COMPANIES-MISCELLANEOUS EN- LISTMENTS-GENERAL SUMMARY-THE WORK AT HOME.
Not long after the English colony was planted at Jamestown, Virginia, a Dutch ship arrived there with twenty negro slaves, which were sold to the tobacco planters. Thus was introduced an institu- tion that afterward became a "bone of contention" between the North and South and a dominant issue in American politics. In 1808, the earliest date at which such action could be taken under the Federal Constitution, Congress passed an act abolishing the foreign slave trade. Slavery had been introduced into each of the thirteen original colonies prior to the Revolution. The cotton, tobacco and sugar planters of the South found slave labor profitable, but by 1819 the seven northern colonies had abolished slavery within their borders.
Up to that time Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama had been admitted as slave states, and Vermont, Ohio, In- diana and Illinois as free states, making eleven of each. This was the situation when Missouri sought admission in 1820. The ques- tion of admitting Missouri was made the subject of a lengthy dis- cussion in Congress, in which the debaters frequently used language "more forcible than elegant," but the state was finally admitted un- der the provisions of the act known as the "Missouri Compromise," which stipulated that Missouri should be admitted without any re- strictions as to slavery, but that in all the remaining portion of the Louisiana Purchase north of the line marking 36° 30' slavery should be forever prohibited.
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Both sides to the dispute were now apparently satisfied and for more than a quarter of a century the slavery question was allowed to rest. But the Mexican war gave to the United States a large tract of country to which the advocates of slavery laid claim and the con- troversy was revived. Some of the opponents of slavery argued that the "Omnibus Bill," or Compromise of 1850, was a violation of the "Missouri Compromise," in that it sought to extend slavery north of the line of 36° 30', and the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854 awakened anew all the old-time animosities. The passage of this bill was one of the most potent influences that led to the organization of the republi- can party, the cardinal principles of which were opposed to any exten- sion of slavery beyond the territory where it already existed.
In the political campaign of 1860-one of the most bitter in the country's history- some of the southern states declared their inten- tion of withdrawing from the Union in the event of Abraham Lin- coln's election to the presidency, but the people of the North seemed to regard such announcements as so many idle threats, made solely for political effect. Through the division in the democratic party Mr. Lincoln was elected and South Carolina took the initiative in the secession movement. Delegates were elected to a state conven- tion which met at Charleston on December 20, 1860, and passed an ordinance declaring all allegiance to the United States at an end. Mississippi followed with a similar ordinance on January 9, 1861; Florida, January 10th; Georgia, January 19th; Louisiana, January 26th, and Texas, February 1, 1861.
Delegates from all these states except Texas met at Montgomery, Alabama, on February 4, 1861, and adopted a tentative constitution for a new government. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was elected provisional president, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, pro- visional vice president of the Confederate States of America. These officials were inaugurated on February 22, 1861, the anniversary of the birth of George Washington, and when Mr. Lincoln was inau- gurated on March 4, 1861, he found seven states, with an organized government, in opposition to his administration. Still President Lincoln, and the people of the North generally, clung to the hope that open conflict between the North and South might be avoided and that the seceded states could be persuaded to return to their allegiance-a hope that was soon to be rudely dispelled.
Early in January, 1861, Maj. Robert Anderson, then in com- mand of the harbor defenses at Charleston, South Carolina, quartered at Fort Moultrie, spiked the guns there and quietly removed his garrison and supplies to Fort Sumter to be in a better position for de-
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fense. The Confederates insisted that this was a movement in viola- tion of an agreement previously made with President Buchanan, but the press of the North upheld Anderson and demanded that supplies and reinforcements be sent to him. So persistent became this de- mand that the steamer Star of the West, with 250 men and a large stock of provisions and ammunition was ordered to Fort Sumter. On January 9, 1861, as the vessel was passing Morris Island, she was fired upon by a masked battery and forced to turn back. In the offi- cial records this incident is regarded as the beginning of the Civil war, though the popular awakening did not come until about three months later.
The failure of the Star of the West to reach Fort Sumter left Major Anderson and his men in a rather precarious condition. By April 1, 1861, his supply of provisions was almost exhausted, and General Beauregard, in command of the Confederate forces at Charleston, opened negotiations looking to the evacuation of the fort. On April 11, 1861, Major Anderson advised Beauregard that he would abandon 'the fort on the 15th, "unless ordered by the Govern- ment to remain and the needed supplies are received." To General Beauregard this provision seemed to contain some hidden meaning and, fearing that reinforcements were on the way, he sent word to Anderson at 3:20 A. M. on Friday, April 12, 1861, that fire would be opened on the fort within an hour. At 4:30 Capt. George Janes, commanding a battery at Fort Johnson, fired the signal gun, the shell bursting almost directly over Fort Sumter. A few minutes later a solid shot from a battery on Cummings Point went crashing against the walls of the fort. The great Civil war had begun.
The little garrison responded promptly and all day the bombard- ment continued. Fire broke out in the fort and the Confederates increased their cannonading, hoping to force a surrender. Against the desperate odds Anderson held out until Sunday, the 14th, when he was permitted to evacuate the fort with all the honors of war, saluting his flag with fifty guns before hauling it down.
With the fall of Fort Sumter all hope of conciliation was aban- doned. Political differences in the North were forgotten in this insult to the flag. On Monday, April 15, 1861, President Lincoln issued the following proclamation :
"Whereas, The laws of the United States have been and are now being opposed in several states by combinations too powerful to be suppressed in an ordinary way, I therefore call upon the militia of the several states of the Union, to the aggregate number of 75,000, to suppress said combinations and execute the laws. I appeal to all
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loyal citizens for state aid in this effort to maintain the laws, integ- rity, National Union, perpetuity of popular government, and re- dress wrongs long enough endured.
"The first service assigned forces will probably be to repossess forts, places and property which have been seized from the Union. The utmost care should be taken, consistent with our object, to avoid devastation, destruction and interference with property of peaceable citizens in any part of the country, and I hereby command persons commanding the aforesaid combinations to disperse within twenty days from date.
"I hereby convene both houses of Congress for the 4th day of July next, to determine upon measures for the public safety as its interests may demand.
"ABRAHAM LINCOLN, "President of the United States.
"By W. H. SEWARD, "Secretary of State."
On the 16th Governor Kirkwood, of Iowa, received two tele- grams from the secretary of war. The first was as follows: "Calls made on you by tonight's mail for one regiment of militia for imme- diate service." It is said that when this message was received by the governor he expressed some doubt as to Iowa's ability to furnish an entire regiment. The second telegram, which was received late in the day, read : "It will suffice if your quota of volunteers be at its rendezvous by the 20th of May." The next day the governor issued the following proclamation :
"Whereas, The President of the United States has made a requi- sition upon the executive of the State of Iowa for one regiment of militia, to aid the Federal Government in enforcing its laws and suppressing rebellion :
"Now, therefore, I, Samuel J. Kirkwood, governor of the State of Iowa, do issue this proclamation, and hereby call upon the militia of the state immediately to form, in the different counties, volunteer companies with a view of entering the active military service of the United States for the purpose aforesaid. The regiment at present required will consist of ten companies of at least seventy-eight men each, including one captain and two lieutenants to be elected by each company. Under the present requisition only one regiment can be accepted, and the companies accepted must hold themselves in readi- ness for duty by the 20th of May next at the farthest. If a sufficient number of companies are tendered their services may be required.
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If more companies are formed and reported than can be received under the present call, their services will be required in the event of another requisition upon the state. The nation is in peril. A fear- ful attempt is being made to overthrow the Constitution and dis- sever the Union. The aid of every loyal citizen is invoked to sus- tain the general Government. For the honor of our state, let the requisition of the President be cheerfully and promptly met.
"SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD. "Iowa City, April 17, 1861."
From all over the state came a ready response to this proclama- tion. Men of all classes and ages laid aside the implements of peace- ful industry and hurried to the nearest recruiting station. Under the call for 75,000 men, the First Iowa Infantry was mustered into the United States service for three months. It was soon discovered by the national administration that more troops would be necessary to put a speedy end to the war, and on May 4, 1861, President Lin- coln issued his second call for volunteers. Under this call the Third Regiment was organized, being the first in which Marion County was represented. It was mustered in at Keokuk on June 10, 1861, as the
THIRD INFANTRY
Upon the regimental staff were three men from Marion County at the time of muster in, viz .: Benjamin F. Keables and John W. Schooley, assistant surgeons, and Prosper H. Jacobs, chaplain. Com- pany B was organized in Marion County and was mustered in with William M. Stone as captain; Daniel P. Long, second lieutenant; Albert Hobbs, second lieutenant; Benton A. Mathews, first sergeant; John L. Ruckman, second; John C. Woodruff, third; S. Sylvester Howell, fourth; Caleb Core, fifth; Francis MI. Zuck, first corporal ; Joseph Ruckman, second ; John F. Norris, third; William H. Sum- ner, fourth; Oliver H. S. Kennedy, fifth; Thomas R. Smith, sixth; William A. Stuart, seventh; Henry H. Shearman, eighth; George Darrow and Andrew Gemmil, musicians, and George Henry, wagoner.
Privates-Wallace G. Agnew, William H. Allender, James Andrews, Henry Armstrong, John M. Bains, Herman F. Bousquet, Daniel Brobst, Andrew T. Buller, William Bussey, Hiram F. Cecil, Barrett W. Clark, Thomas L. Collins, William H. Conwell, Morton S. Cook, Henry E. Coons, George Cowan, Leonard A. Cowles, Thomas J. Cowman, Augustus Darrow, William Dawson, Jeremiah
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
H. Dennis, John Farley, Tillman P. Gregg, Peter M. Hart, William F. Hart, William Hendrix, Peter S. Horn, Oscar L. Johnes, Alonzo F. Keables, Reuben K. Kline, Edwin R. Latham, Eliphalet L. Lewis, Eli H. Lindsey, Madison McClelland, James E. McCorkle, Henry Mc Kinnis, Theodore Metz, Jacob Meyer, Thomas L. Molesworth, Napoleon B. Moore, Francis M. Nutter, Warren Olney, William O. Parrish, James M. Paul, James L. Petit, Emanuel Ream, Isaac Ream, James F. Rhoads, Thomas W. Robertson, William J. Shep- herd, Aaron Smith, Emery F. Sperry, Miles F. Stanwood, Melvin Stone, George R. Taylor, Philip Taylor, William R. Totten, Peter Van Rooyen, Joseph Vos, Joseph B. Waggoner, Rufus Waggoner, George Welchhouse, Darwin E. Wells, James L. Wilson, John W. Wilson, Josiah M. Woodruff, Samuel M. Wright, William E. Wright, Alexander Young, Robert M. Young.
Recruits-John J. Bousquet, John T. Burch, Richard M. Burch, Hazel F. Cecil, John H. Kellenberger, Elias L. Nichols, Newton H. Nichols, Adin Norris, Orson B. Parrish, John W. Simpson, Asbury Stanfield, Goldbury B. Stanley, Sanford Taylor, George M. Williams.
On July 1, 1861, the regiment left Keokuk for Missouri, poorly equipped, having old-fashioned Springfield rifles of the pattern used in the war with Mexico, not a round of ammunition, no rations and not a commissioned officer above the rank of captain. Its first engage- ment was at a place called Hagar's Woods, where it was under the command of Colonel Smith, of the Sixteenth Illinois, but the first real battle in which it participated was at Blue Mills on September 17. 1861. The regiment remained on duty in Missouri until in March, 1862, when it was ordered to join General Grant's army in Tennessee, and on St. Patrick's day it reached Pittsburg Landing. Here it was assigned to Williams' Brigade, Hurlbut's Division. Cap- tain Stone was promoted to the rank of major on July 6, 1861, and at the Battle of Shiloh was in comand of the regiment. Of the 450 men of the Third that went into that battle more than two hundred were killed or wounded. The gallant stand made by the regiment saved Grant's Army from defeat, but Major Stone was captured. After Shiloh came the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi, after which the regiment joined General Sherman for the march to Memphis, Tennessee, and was the first regiment to enter that city. In the spring of 1863 it returned to Mississippi and participated in the Siege of Vicksburg, the capture of Jackson and a number of minor engage- ments. Late in the year 1863 many of the men re-enlisted and came home on veteran furlough. The spring of 1864 found the regiment
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with Sherman for the advance upon Atlanta, where it suffered heavy losses in the battle of July 22, 1864. One of the most dramatic inci- dents of the Civil war occurred shortly after this battle. The colors of the regiment, with a number of the men, was captured. When the prisoners saw their captured standard borne through the streets of Atlanta by a squad of Confederate Cavalry, they broke away from their guards and, unarmed, recaptured the flag and tore it into shreds rather than see it in the hands of an enemy.
The Third Iowa then formed part of General Sherman's forces in the historic march to the sea and the campaign of the Carolinas, which resulted in the final defeat and surrender of the Confederate Army commanded by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. On July 8, 1865, being reduced to 318 men, it was consolidated with the Second In- fantry. Four days later it was mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky.
EIGHTH INFANTRY
This was the next regiment to which Marion County contributed any considerable number of men. Company E was raised in Marion and was mustered in with the following officers: John L. McCor- mack, captain; Henry B. Cooper, second lieutenant (the first lieuten- ant, David Ryan, was from another county ) ; Walter Ream, William W. Ferguson, Alexander M. Clark and John Q. Bishop, sergeants ; Benjamin F. Wolfe, John H. Patterson, Joseph C. Finley, Charles McCollough, Albert Groom, Lemuel Kinkead, Augustus B. Stan- field and David W. Rea, corporals; George Fort and William Jacob, musicians.
Privates-Harlan Allen, Thomas R. Andrews, William Bacon, Benjamin F. Banta, Francis M. Boughman, Albert Brewer, Andrew J. Catrell, Jesse W. Clark, Philip A. Cloe, Josiah G. Coats, Joseph R. Conwell, David Croy, Henry G. Curtis, Melvin H. Deem, Stephen L. Druse, John C. Ferguson, Zelina H. Fowler, William Garton, Robert A. Henderson, Thomas Hughes, Abel Inman, Solo- mon P. Jessup, William Lawhead, Nicholas M. Long, William MI. McFarling, John McMillan, Israel McNeil, Edward H. Mark. Peter H. Mark, Cyrus Marsh, Alexander S. May, Henry B. May, Alfred Mitchell, John E. Mitchell, Daniel Neeley, Henry Neeley, Joseph Neeley, William H. Neill, David Newman, Isaiah E. New- man, James A. Nicholson, Thomas Nutter, John H. Parker, Lawton B. Parker, James Patterson, James R. Pershall, Nathaniel Pettit, John Petty, Albert C. Ralph, John Reed, William Richardson, New- ton P. Rigg, William Roebuck, Lewis Scott, Ernest Seley, Francis H.
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Sherwood, Joshua Shoey, Vanness Starr, Samuel S. Sweezy, Charles B. Thompson, Thomas Vanderkolk, John Vanderley, Thomas J. Vinyard, J. Lewis Warren, John Y. Welch, William H. Wolfe, T. J. Woodward, Edmund F. Wright.
Recruits-William H. Carlisle, Robert H. Dollarhide, John Griffin, Henry G. Groves, Thomas R. Lemmon, Aaron Newman, Sidney Smith, Louis Walter, William P. Wilkin, Jacob Wyman.
John C. Ferguson, whose name appears in the above list of privates, was promoted to major on September 23, 1861, soon after the regiment left the state, and on February 7, 1862, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the regiment.
In addition to Company E, William F. Harlow, John E. Owen, James B. F. Reed, William M. Ridpath, John G. Spaner and Robert C. Spaner were enrolled as privates in Company H, and William Mc- Grew, Lyman Osborne, John Puitt and David Stotes, in Company I.
The Eighth Infantry was organized at Davenport early in Sep- tember, 1861, and later in the month was ordered to Missouri. It remained at St. Louis for two weeks, until the men received their equipment, after which it was on duty in Missouri and Arkansas until the following spring. In March, 1862, it was ordered to join General Grant in Tennessee, and arrived at Pittsburg Landing just before the Battle of Shiloh, which was its first actual battle. In this engagement, while supporting a battery, Colonel Geddes was severely wounded in the leg and taken from the field. The command then devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel Ferguson, who received special mention in the reports of his superior officers for his bravery and skill in handling his men. Late in the afternoon of the first day's battle Prentiss' line broke and left the Eighth Iowa alone upon that part of the field. The regiment could have saved itself from capture by retreating, but its commander believed in obeying orders and remained to defend the battery until it was completely surrounded. Part of Companies I, C and H cut through the enemy's lines and escaped capture. The loss in killed and wounded was nearly two hundred men. Company B lost seven killed and eleven wounded and all the other members of the company were captured. The prisoners were confined in various places in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia for about three months, when they were taken to Libby Prison at Richmond. Late in the fall they were exchanged and furloughed home until December, when the regiment was reorganized. Early in the year 1863 the Eighth joined General Grant's Army at Milliken's Bend, where it was assigned to the Third Brigade, Third Division, Fifteenth Army Corps, with which it took part in the Siege of Vicksburg. The greater part of the
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year 1864 was spent on provost duty at Memphis, Tennessee, and in the spring of 1865 was ordered to Alabama. It took part in the Siege of Mobile and especially distinguished itself in the assault on Spanish Fort, April 8, 1865, being the only regiment to engage the enemy inside the works. It captured 450 prisoners, three stands of colors and five pieces of artillery. It then remained on duty at Mobile until the spring of 1866. On April 20, 1866, it was mustered out at Selma, Alabama.
FOURTEENTH INFANTRY
In this regiment Samuel Johnson, of Marion County, served as a private in Company A, and the following were enrolled in Company E: Benjamin F. Bremen, Willis P. Clark, George H. Cooper, Thomas T. Cowman, William Darnell, Benjamin Dixon, William Ebright, John Harris, William Houseman, William MeWilliams, Alvis L. Miller, James Moss, John M. Pendroy, George Phifer, Thomas J. Prentice, George R. Preston, William Sowers and Joseph R. Thomas.
The regiment was mustered in by companies in the latter part of October and the first week in November, 1861. The companies first mustered in were assigned to duty at Fort Randall, North Dakota, until the regimental organization was completed. Under command of Col. William T. Shaw, a veteran of the Mexican war, it took part in the campaign against Forts Henry and Donelson, and was actively engaged at the Battle of Shiloh. Then, after a varied service in Ala- bama and Mississippi, it was transferred to the Department of the Gulf and was with General Banks on the Red River expedition in the spring of 1864. Next it was part of Gen. A. J. Smith's forces in Tennessee. Those whose time had expired were mustered out at Davenport on November 16, 1864, when the reënlisted men and re- cruits were organized into a battalion, which was mustered out at Davenport on August 8, 1865.
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