The history of Dubuque County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., Part 48

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical
Number of Pages: 964

USA > Iowa > Dubuque County > The history of Dubuque County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc. > Part 48

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C.H. Booth

DUBUQUE.

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

F. Guerin, Stephen Hempstead, Jonathan Higgins, Henry Hunter, John F. Hancock, Anton Heeb, Thomas Hardie, C. C. Hewitt, J. B. Henion, J. R. Harvey, M. M. Hayden, R. S. Harris, Asa Horr, J. M. Harrison, J. M. Hig- gins, W. S. Hale, A. F. Jaeger, Adam Jaeger, Francis Jaeger, W. Johnson, J. H. Thedinga, J. W. Taylor, John Taylor, William Tasker, E. D. Turner, M. H. Waples, G. R. West, Richard Waller, T. S. Wilson, P. Williamson, J. Waters, P. Waples, H. A. Wiltse, F. Weigle, Alexander Young, Jesse Yount, Thomas Yates, Joseph Zugenbahler and George Zollicoffer.

On December 17, 1869, the word "male" in the third section of the Constitution was expunged, and, provision being thus made, lady members were admitted, as follows : Sarah Jane Anderson, Euphemia Cleaveland, Mar- garet Guilford, Martha Le Van, Josephine Place, Lena Wagner, Mary Ann .McDaniel, Rachel Davis, Sarah J. Henion, Susan L. Myers and Katharine Zugenbahler.

The present officers are, Benjamin Rupert, President ; Edward Lang- worthy, Treasurer, and Chandler Childs, Secretary.

The membership includes a majority of the old settlers resident in the State.

THE WAR RECORD.

The real history of the war can never be written. History at best can but recount the prose of the soldier's life ; the unwritten history of the human heart alone contains the poetry. The historian can come into possession of those thoughts that have become crystallized into deeds, while the far more important thoughts of the mind that are never clothed in language, and the sublimer emotions of the soul that never find expression, will never occupy a place in the page of history-will never be laid open to the gaze of the world.

There is a romance in the poetry of the soldier's life, but it is of a dim and somber hue. There is a tragedy, too, but so terribly real that no acting can reproduce it. Yet, there is a day, the day above all others, which Americans, men and women, set apart for holy observance-when money-getting and the sordid aims and selfish pursuits of life are buried beneath one universal feeling of gratitude to those heroic and now pulseless hearts, who shed their life's blood in vicarious offering upon the altar of the nation's need ; when Americans, men and women, in whose hearts lingers a grateful memory to those whose deaths formed the nation's greatest and costliest sacrifice.

When the first intimations came that the Republic might pass away and give place to an iron-heeled despotism that should deny to men their inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the North rose as one man, determined that these privileges and prerogatives, welded in the fire of adversity, should be strengthened and confirmed by their individual efforts ; determined that the independence of the United States, won on the battle-fields of the Revolution, should not be imperiled by sectional forces.

No nation ever exhibited such a majestic power, no people such exhaustless resources, as the Americans ; without military forces, creating great armies, carrying on a great war, and subduing a rebellion without parallel in the annals of history.

When the passionate rush to arms throughout the South, and the fall of Sumter, indicated that a great war was impending over the American Union, Iowa and Dubuque County realized the calamity in all its force, and, unlike the mariner tossed for many days, in thick weather and on an unknown sea, did not pause to ascertain how far the elements had driven the nation from its true course,

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nor stop to conjecture where it then stood, but girded themselves for the fight, and responded to the demands that were made for that nation's perpetuity. History has traced with infallible lines the first efforts and failures, how the armies were raised and how they concluded campaigns-bloody, continued and without results. How these armies, emaciated by disease and death, again and again were filled up by the patriotism and quenchless fervor of the people, and how they underwent the changing phases of repulse, defeat, almost extermination, until victory was conquered, and the hosts of the Confederacy yielded up the contest on the old stage road to Richmond.

No pen can illustrate the unchangeable loyalty of this people, their check- ered experience, their misfortunes, their glories and their persistence, until they finally reached the end. No pen can illustrate the bravery of the armies of incomparable infantry, artillery and cavalry that were their adversaries, who for four years sustained the rebellion, and succumbed only with their annihi- lation. In this bloody drama there were heroes innumerable ; there were Cæsars to conquer Gaul ; Hannibals to thunder at the gates of Rome; Alexanders to march to the Indies, and Fredericks to marshal forces for and against the most powerful States of modern times.

In this fratricidal strife, so filled with events, Iowa occupied a front rank in the advance guard of patriotic heroes. She gave nearly ninety thousand boys in blue to swell the Federal legions. Of these, fully fifty thousand have fallen. What a splendid record for Iowa, Liberty and God. To this myriad throng, Dubuque County contributed her full complement of warriors. They were included on the roster of the infantry, artillery and cavalry, and the leaders of these forces from Iowa, too, have shrined their names with imperishable luster. The touch of Fate has given immortality to their names, and they will be re- membered until our racc has run its course and thic firmament is rolled up like a scroll. There were countless passages through the Locrian Mountains whose names have perished. But the name of Thermopylæ is as fresh after two thousand years as in thic glory's prime of Greece, and ever will be, for heroic self-devotion. an electric shock to create a soul of patriot valor under the ribs of Death. Waterloo is a name in human speech that is a standing menace to the peace of Europe; but those who fell at Thermopylæe and Waterloo were strangers. Those who consecrated with their blood the battle-fields of the Chickahominy, North Anna, Malvern Hills, Frasier's Farm, Antietam and Get- tysburg, in the East; Shiloh, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Jackson, Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain, in the West; Atlanta, Columbia, Chapel Hill and Charleston, in the South-were natives and to the manner born, and fell in defense of their native land, that the republic might secure an enduring found- ation and a still higher civilization through the centuries that lay hidden in the womb of time ; that the stripes and the stars might reign in one land at least, as a beacon light to all men under the blue canopy of heaven, that there they would be free and equal in sight of the law as they are in the sight of God. And the dead ; those who fell in defense of constitutional liberty, who hear not the drum-beat of to-day, their spirits are marching on, and when the marble that marks their resting-place shall have yielded to the crumbling hand of time, their memories and example will live, gathering bright luster with increasing centuries. The soldiers of the Union mustered out of the service in this world have gone hence to be remembered as among the brightest and best of the earth.

As the conflict deepened, and the demand for additional levies was repeated and repcated, the ranks were filled up again and again, and each call was re- sponded to with alacrity by Dubuque County. Nctwithstanding an element in

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

their midst, if not antagonistic to the cause, at least opposed to its continuance on what was termed unconstitutional grounds, the quotas were made up will- ingly ; and, if not speedily, the reason was due entirely to the lack of available material. The draft was enforced twice, September 15, 1862, and October 14, 1864, with which exceptions recruits were furnished without stint.

But the end came finally, when no more volunteers were required, and the mighty creations of the patriotism of a free people, which had for four years waged a war unparalleled in its history, its intensity, and wide-spread influence, ceased to be, closing its career in the world and the world's wars by the permanent re-establishment of the Union for which it had fought. The peace at Appomattox filled the soldiers and the nation with emotions which words are inadequate to describe. On the one side there was joy and happi- ness unrestrained, for it was the joy of men who had gone through the fire of tribulation to final victory. On the other, the joy of men who realize the end of days of sorrow and tribulation. Yet there was deep agony in these hearts when " Old Bob " rode by the lines of his conquered battalions, and, with tears pouring down his cheeks, told the army that the end was at hand. "We have fought through the war together; I have done the best I could for you." This sentiment was known as the truth, and his quiet grave, within sight of the academic groves of Lexington, is all that is left of one of the ablest foes that ever flashed a sword, directed an army or surrendered to the victor.

The war ended and peace restored, the Union preserved in its integrity, the sons of Dubuque County, who had volunteered their lives in defense of their country, and were spared to see the Union preserved, returned to their homes to receive ovations from relatives and friends, who had eagerly and jealously followed them wherever the fortunes of war called. Exchanging their uniforin for the garb of the citizen, the farmer and the artisan, they fell back to their old avocations, on the farm, in the mines, at the bench, the forge and the bar, and have realized in peace the fruits of that for which they fought. Some of them have been called to high honors, but brave men are always honored, and no class of citizens are entitled to greater respect than the volun- teer soldiery of Dubuque County, not alone because they were soldiers, but because in their associations with their fellow-men, their walk is upright and their honesty and character without reproach.

But there were many who came not back. The bramble wrestles with the weed over their unknown graves, in the land of the myrtle and orange blossom. Desolated hearths and hearts are now because they fell. Sad-eyed maidens and mothers, with long-watching eyes, have waited and waited with white lips, for the coming of her lover and her boy, whose grave wells up beneath the cedar and the pine. Thousands of men and women, who stood at the gate of the dear old homestead, to say farewell to a father, a brother, a husband or a son, as he went out to battle for the preservation of the Union, have long since ceased to watch for his return; have long since turned mournfully back, with breaking hearts, and only the consolation that they will meet on the beautiful shore. The days bring sad thoughts, memories of a part- ing kiss, a final clasp of the hands, and words of hope by voices that shall be heard no more. The nights are filled with dreams of them who wait at the gates of the eternal city for their coming. The singers have gone, but the song goes on ; out of the darkness there comes a light, and out of the sorrow an exceeding joy.

The Southern boys too left aching hearts. They stood face to face with the rugged Northmen in battle, when deadly siroccos swept over them and

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

many fell. The same earth received their bodies, the same God their spirits. The summer breezes, that, with Æolian softness, sigh through the Southern cypress boughs and pines, chant alike their sad requiem over Northern and Southern dead. May the requiem of our souls be " rest thou in peace." They were of our race and our kindred ; and, remembering that only a re-united and generous union can justify the awful cost of blood and agony, shall we refuse to lay flowers of kindness on the turf that nineteen years of peace have nourished ? Let us rather heap it high with blossoms, and, if we bring rue for bitter mourning, let us not forget rosemary for sweet remembrance, and pansies for generous thoughts.

At last President Lincoln issued his proclamation, under date of April 15, 1861, calling for 75,000 men and convening both houses of Congress for July 4 of that year. By many it was thought that this measure should have been taken some time previously. Had it been, it was believed that the attack on Sumter might have been prevented. Regret was also expressed that the time fixed for the assembling of Congress was at a date so far in the future. It was insisted that Congress should have been convened at once. Before the date fixed, the country would be involved in civil war, which could only be averted by the exercise of those gifts of grace which God alone can give, and which should be sought for imploringly by every believer in His providence and mercy.

The natural effect of the news of the attack on Sumter was excitement in the most intense degree, both in the city and county. People gathered in groups at the street corners, and various places of accustomed resort, to discuss the situation. In the evening a meeting of citizens was held at the corner of Main and Eighth streets, which was addressed by L. H. Langworthy, O. P. Shiras, H. T. Utley, T. M. Munroe and William Mills-and resolutions declar- atory of the intentions of the citizens of Dubuque to sustain and uphold the Government in the execution of the laws and the vindication of its authority, introduced by C. P. Redmond, were unanimously adopted. Speeches were also made by D. N. Cooley, B. M. Samuels, F. W. Palmer, T. S. Wilson, S. P. Adams, James Burt and others, the star-spangled banner was prominently displayed, and the audience seemed impressed with the gravity of the occasion.

Under the call for 75,000 men Dubuque County was required to furnish two companies. Yet, three organizations, the Governor's Grays, Washington Guards and Jackson Guards recruited the maximum number, and held them- selves in readiness for marching orders.

On Saturday night, April 20, 1861, a union meeting was held at Julien Theater, at which Mayor Stout presided, with the following Vice Presidents, and Chandler Childs as Secretary : Col. McHenry, W. A. Jordan, P. A. Lor- imier, F. V. Goodrich, Hon. T. Davis and Hon. L. Clark. Judge Clark, being called upon, responded in an eloquent speech on the Union, and the necessity of maintaining the Union in its integrity. He was followed by Col. McHenry, Hon. W. Vandever, S. P. Adams and others, and the following committee was appointed for the purpose of receiving and distributing funds, for the families of volunteers : H. L. Stout, President; W. A. Jordan and F. V. Goodrich, Vice Presidents ; L. D. Randall and Thomas Faherty, Directors from the First Ward; Joseph Chapman and George Zumhoff, of the Second ; A. H. Mills and George McHenry, of the Third; George Mathews and M. Allison, of the Fourth, and A. Rugamer and F. M. Friend, of the Fifth Ward ; J. K. Graves, Treasurer, and W. W. Mills, Secretary. Before adjournment the following subscriptions were made : Herman Gelpcke and Andrew & Tredway, $100 each ;

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

J. and I. Robinson, W. Vandever, E. C. David, W. B. Allison, L. D. Randall & Co., Alexander Young, John Ball, W. P. Large, D. N. Cooley and H. Mar- kell, $50 each ; A. Greenwald, J. H. Thompson, A. H. Peaslee, Smith & Can- non, Sol Turck, D. A. Mahony'& Co., C. L. Warren, H. Rouse, J. B. Henion, W. A. Jordan, B. Rupert, J. Hannum, W. W. Martin and J. H. Bartlett, $25 each ; M. Allison and Jacob Michel, $20 each; M. B. Mulkern, Alfred Thomas, P. Goan, Henry Wagner, I. B. Piper, J. Swivel, J. G. Peterson and H. Pettit, $10 each. In addition, Col. McHenry proposed to raise 100 men and go wherever the Government might order, and this amount was subse- quently increased by subscriptions which were made by citizens of Dubuque City and also throughout the county.

On Tuesday, April 23, the Jackson Guards and Governor's Grays departed for Davenport, the headquarters of the Iowa regiments, being the first volunteers to leave Dubuque County. The companies contained 100 men each, and, not- withstanding the inclemency of the weather, they were attended to the steamer Alhambra, on which they embarked, by thousands of citizens, preceded by the Germania Band.

Their departure was accompanied by many touching incidents. Mingled with the purest emotions of a noble patriotism were the sympathetic tears of a generous affection. One had left a bride of yesterday; another had left an aged mother, and all left behind them that alone which they loved on earth. And there were full hearts and tearful eyes among those who returned slowly to their homes ; there was long and anxious watching for news from the army after they had gone away ; hopes for the safety and fears for the danger of those beloved, who had left a vacant place and lonely homes.

The following are the rolls of the companies :

Governor's Grays-F. J. Herron, Captain ; W. H. Clark and G. W. Wal- dron, Lieutenants ; S. F. Osborn, A. Russell, H. B. Gifford and A. B. Howard, Sergeants ; V. J. Williams, Robert Williams, E. W. Newcomb and C. D. Fletcher, Corporals; C. M. Clark, Ensign ; and H. Pool, G. S. Pierce, Will- iam Luther, C. R. Morse, William Becker, J. W. Taylor, Jr., Hiram Conger, F. H. Carberry, E. Tisdale, T. S. Spotswood, E. F. Houghton, S. W. Mattes, W. E. Dickinson, H. S. Kelly, E. K. Parris, Levi and C. W. Moering, W. R. Baird, E. E. Bale, Charles Weigle, John Edwards, David Greaves, H. C. Johnson, W. H. Cunningham, W. E. Greathead, W. R. Mathis, G. H. Ballou, A. J. Hill, John Bell, G. S. Germain, John S. McHenry, J. B. Morgan, L. Webb, L. E. Spear, G. Westlake, James Williams, C. A. Reid, Charles Husted, C. Gregory, E. S. Milton, O. W. Bennett, R. Fengler, H. Muncharth, G. H. Heath, N. E. Butler, S. B. Collins, S. Burden, A. Y. McDonald, James Col- lins, J. Strutzle, James Beveridge, Peter Gender, Thomas Burroughs, Benja- min Smith, W. W. Timons, H. W. Mohan, M. C. Wright, J. W. Gift, John M. Wall, John Leavy, T. G. Eason, Samuel Smith, James O'Grady, William Kelly, W. H. Lorimier, John H. Johnson, F. M. Wall, J. McDonough, Anthony Ehiele, Augustus Munroe, Edward Becket, W. H. Gunn, E. B. Quigley, Joseph Wall, J. Casquinet, N. E. Duncan, Rev. J. K. Fuller, A. J. Rittenhouse, Henry Darrah, Robert Fishel, Thomas Clendenin, Francis Barron, Robert Mckinlay and John L. Morton, privates.

Jackson Guards-Francis Gottschalk, Captain ; Jacob Duttle, Joseph Gerger and Hugo Miller, Lieutenants ; Julius Leineman, F. Dettmer, Peter Lehmes and Theodore Stumming, Sergeants ; Henry Meyer, Joseph W. Miner, F. Rhomberg and Adam Werker, Corporals ; and Jacob Bohlig, Adolph Mohr- mann, Peter Fagge, Uhlich Brussell, Theodore Grotzinger, Conrad Schuter,

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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.

John Prope, John Brossler, William Myer, John Weigel, Charles Schaffler, Herman Fugel, Randolph Weinand, Jacob Hoeffle, George Kargel, H. Win- nighof, Jacob Rein, Julius Widner, Jesse Lichtenhein, Bernhard Faeger, Isaac Luginbuchi, Leo Schumacher, George Myer, Edward Merz, David Sigrist, Adam Dorr, Fred Gulle, A. Sihoene, F. E. Deggendorf, John Lam- pert, Henry Krengen, Leo Buchler, T. Zimmermann, Jacob Valerius, S. La Nicca, C. Weedmeyer, John Schmid, Michael Weegner, G. Horr, E. Weih- rich, Mathias Nessler, John Werb, Ulrich Wyss, C. Hoacke, F. Stange, G. Buchler, M. Zimmermann, T. Duffecke, T. Mueller, Charles Rhul, Rudolph May, M. Schaus, H. Darius, N. Eichmann, A. Blocklinger, T. Ercher, F. N. Stelmle, Charles Hanni, B. Acby, HI. Sauer, H. Budden, T. A. Kistler, V. May, A. Bruderlin, M. Herbst, F. W. Pruessel, W. Gercke, F. B. Frey and W. Becker, privates.

The Herald, commenting upon the changed order of things, observes that there is "nothing but military." This spirit had become so strong that ordi- nary affairs and business were conducted according to Scott or Hardee. Men, women, boys, girls, and the " rest of mankind," were more or less infected with the ideas of a zouave, field marshal, military committee or soldier.

The drayman or teamster no longer fcd and harnessed a horse, but gave him a ration of forage, put on his equipments, ordered him to fall in, and com- manded, forward, march.

Mechanics deployed to their labor; farmers no longer plowed, but took their fields, dug trenches and drilled lines or squares, while their wives became staff officers and attended to the subsistence or commissary department ; lawyers increased the celerity and extent of their charges ; physicians dealt out fixed ammunition instead of prescriptions ; the clergy became chaplains ; men about town went to their mess for rations ; clerks presented goods to their customers and retreated to the money-drawer ; schoolhouses were turned into fortresses ; printers no longer ask for copy, but demand supplies and delight more in leaded matter, while editors daily realize that the sword is mightier than the pen, etc.

On the 29th of April, at a meeting of ladies convened at Globe Hall, an association was organized for the purpose of providing Dubuque volunteers with clothing. At an adjourned meeting, arrangements for the purposes men- tioned were completed, the following officers elected, and, while the war con- tinued, the labors of these samaritan ladies contributed in a marked degree to the comfort of Iowa troops in the field, on the march and at the bivouac: Mrs. J. W. Taylor, President ; Mrs. H. L. Stout, Vice President ; Mrs. J. L. Lang- worthy, Chairman, and Mrs. A. Gillespie, Secretary. Mesdames A. H. Mills, D. S. Wilson, M. A. Nightingale, C. A. Cummins, N. A. McClure, J. S. Dennis, L. A. Thomas, P. A. Lorimier, Mathews and Moering, Directors.

Meetings were held all over the county, of a patriotic character, notably at Center Grove, on April 25, when a flag, which had been prepared by the ladies in the neighborhood, was raised, remarks were made by John R. Bothwell, E. D. Palmer, G. W. Goldthorpe and others, and the occasion is represented as being most interesting; also at Farley, Epworth, Peosta, Dyersville, and at every cross road accessible to the patriotic.

Up to September 30, 1862, Dubuque County had furnished two companies to the First Iowa Infantry ; one company to the Third ; a portion of a com- pany and Hayden's Battery, composed of 143 men, to the Ninth ; two com- panies to the Twelfth ; one to the Sixteenth, and one to the Twenty-first Infantry ; two companies of cavalry to the Curtis Horse; a company to the First Cavalry, and several companies to the regular army, and, until the war

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closed, never faltered in its support of the cause, contributing nearly two thousand six hundred men, and large sums of money.

The following is a partial list of those who enlisted from Dubuque County and still live to recount the "moving accidents by flood and field, of hair- breadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach" through which they passed : B. E. Agard, John M. Buckholz, G. B. Bennett, John M. Ballou, M. H. Beach, James Brunskill, P. W. Crawford, Josiah Conzett, Charles W. Clark, D. W. Cleveland, D. C. Cram, F. E. Deggendorf, F. Dittmer, W. P. Dickin- son, W. H. Day, E. O. Duncan, Daniel J. Duane, N. Eichman, George Fengler, J. J. Fry, Dr. E. A. Guilbert, J. W. Hetherington, D. B. Hender- son, Andrew Hoerner, A. W. Hosford, John F. Hoerner, J. B. Howard, N. Jaeger, Peter Karberg, H. A. Knowlton, Louis La France, Victor May, P. B. Merkes, Henry Markell, J. McDermott, J. W. McClure, A. Y. McDonald, G. G. Moser, William Menser, A. G. Mehlin, Phil Motsch, W. H. Morhiser, F. I. Massey, Henry Miller, E. M. Newcomb, J. T. Nowlin, H. D. Nightingale, Andrew Oeth, A. J. Patch, J. W. Parker, H. Poole, Henry Sauer, A. H. Stuart, Solomon Smith, G. M. Staples, S. L. Taggart, George L. Torbert, M. M. Trumbull, L. B. and F. K. Tuttle, J. T. Upton, William Vandever, D. S. Wilson, F. Winberg, Charles Wiedemeyer, Otto L. and Charles W. Wullwebber, William Watson, V. J. Williams, George R. West, J. R. Waller, George L. Young and T. J. Zugenbuhler.

The following is a list of the names of the departed heroes whose graves are to be found as designated :

LINWOOD. - John Gaston, Fourteenth Iowa Infantry ; William Schmidt, Ninth Iowa Infantry ; John Asman, Third Iowa Battery ; John Luthe, Forty- sixth Iowa Infantry ; John Gilbert, Company I, Twenty-first Iowa Infantry ; George Yesson, First Wisconsin Cavalry ; Fred Gasser, Fifth Missouri Infan- try; Charles Green, Fifth Missouri Infantry ; Samuel Germain, Nineteenth New York; George Henry, Nineteenth New York ; - Alling, Nineteenth New York ; two unknown ; Ed. S. Groneman, Twenty-first New York Cavalry ; Samuel Loughman, Company C, Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry ; George A. King, Ninetieth New York Infantry; George Robisch, Company E, Twenty- first Iowa Infantry; R. S. Fowler, United States Telegraph Corps; Charles Deggendorf, Forty-sixth Iowa Infantry ; Lieut. Daniel McCarthy, One Hun- dredth United States Colored Infantry ; Maj. Carl Schafer de Bomstein, Fifth

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The history of Dubuque County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., Part 48

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Number of Pages: 964

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical
Number of Pages: 964