USA > Illinois > Cumberland County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 18
USA > Illinois > Richland County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 18
USA > Illinois > Jasper County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 18
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In August, the regiment took part in an expedition to Grenada, capturing wagon-trains and destroying bridges along the Mississippi Central Railroad, and reached their destination on the 17th, driving the rebels under Chalmers from the place and effecting a junction with the command under Lieutenant-Colonel Phelps. The bridge over the Yallabusha being destroyed, the rolling-stock of the road captured could not be saved, and forty engines and 320 cars were burned. Continuing their march, the force turned toward Memphis, encountering Blythe's rebel cavalry at Coldwater, in which engage- ment the Union forces were victorious, the Fifth losing some six men. Arriving at Memphis, the regiment embarked for Vicksburg and encamped at Black River on the 29th of August. Here the regi- ment remained until January, 1865, in the meantime being in a number of expeditions through Mississippi and Louisiana. In Octo- ber, the regiment moved with General MePherson's Corps to Jack- son, took part in the cavalry charge at Brownsville, losing three men. In February, moved with General Sherman's command on the Meriden raid.
In January, 1864, many of the regiments re-enlisted, and on March 17th the veterans were furloughed, returning May 10th. At this time eight companies were dismounted, companies A, B, C and D, being fully equipped and mounted. On July 1st this battalion, with detachments of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, Second Wis- consin Cavalry, and Third United States Colored Cavalry, under the command of Major H. P. Mumford, with a brigade of infantry, Gen.
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Dennis commanding the expedition, moved to Jackson with con- tinual skirmishing. On the return march this force was attacked by a large force of the enemy, who was repulsed after severe fight- ing. The battalion lost several men wounded and killed. On September 27 the same force of cavalry moved down the river, landing at Port Gibson, and drove the enemy from the place, the Fifth losing one man killed. From thence the expedition moved to Natchez, where it was joined by the Fourth Illinois Cavalry and a battery, and moved on to Tonica Bend. Here the expedition landed and moved to Woodville, where it captured a rebel camp. During the night a force of 600 of the enemy, with one gun, advanced, but were driven in confusion by a charge of the cavalry. From this point the expedition returned to Vicksburg. November 20 the Fifth took part in an expedition sent out to destroy the Mississippi Central Railroad, over which the supplies of Gen. Hood's army were being transported. The expedition was successful, the command destroying many miles of the road.
On January 24, 1865, the Fifth moved to Memphis, where it was assigned to the First Brigade of the Cavalry Division. From this point the regiment took part in an expedition to southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana, returning about the middle of February. In March the regiment took part in an expedition to Ripley, Mississippi, and on its return was assigned to the duty of guarding the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. Here the regi- ment remained until July, when it was moved via Red River to Texas. From Alexandria, La., the regiment marched to Hempstead, Texas, where it remained until October 6, when it was ordered home. The regiment arrived at Springfield on the 16th of October, 1865; was mustered out on, the 27th, and received final payment and discharge October 30, 1865.
Of the fourteen or more regiments that drew a part of their numbers from Cumberland County, though no organizations were formed here, the Fifty-Fourth, Sixty-First, and Sixty-Second are cer- tainly entitled, from the number of citizens they contained. to a place among Cumberland County's interests. The Fifty-Fourth Illinois Infantry was organized in Coles, Clark and JJasper counties, and in Company G were some fifteen or twenty of Cumberland County's young men. The Fifty-Fourth was organized at Camp Dubois, Anna, Ill., as a part of the Kentucky Brigade. It was mustered into the United States service for three years, February 18, 1862. A week later the regiment proceeded to Cairo, and a few
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
days after reaching this point proceeded to Columbus, Ky. During the fall three companies were stationed at Humboldt, Tenn., until the middle of December, when the regiment was ordered to Jack- son, Tenn. From the latter point the regiment at once proceeded to make short expeditions to various towns about, in the meanwhile guarding the line of railroad from Columbus to JJackson until the latter part of May. Two companies were stationed at Medon and two at Toon's Station during the winter, Gen. Forrest in the mean- time capturing the detachments of the railroad and tearing it up some distance. May 30, 1863, the regiment proceeded to Vicksburg and took position on Haines' Bluff on the Yazoo River on the 2d of June. The Fifty-Fourth was in the Third Brigade, Second Division, Sixteenth Army Corps, under command of Gen. Kimball, and oc- cupied the extreme left of Sherman's army on the Big Black when confronting Johnson. In the latter part of July the regiment took part in Gen. Steele's expedition against Little Rock, and proceeded to Helena; from thence to Little Rock and returned to Vicksburg in October.
In January, 1864, three-fourths of the regiment re-enlisted, and were mustered February 9, 1864. In March the veterans left for Mattoon on furlough. Re-assembling at the expiration of their furlough, in April, at Mattoon, the regiment was thrown into a fever of excitement by the report of certain outrages committed on members of the regiment at Charleston, in Coles County. The county, and especially the county-seat, was strongly democratic and opposed to the prosecution of the war. The Sheriff, with a number of hot-headed home politicians and sympathizers, got into an altercation with several members of the regiment about to join their command, and in the melee several were killed on both sides. Of the regiment Major York. the surgeon, and four privates were killed, and Col. Mitchell wounded. An hour later the regiment arrived from Mattoon and occupied the town, capturing the most prominent instigators of the riot. The regiment left for Cairo on the 12th of April, and thence proceeded to Columbus, Paducah, and Little Rock. In May it left for Brownsville in pursuit of Gen. Shelby, reaching Little Rock on the 30th, where it remained for about a month. From thence the Fifty-Fourth proceeded to Duval's Bluff, and thence to Clarendon, where it came in contact with Shelby. Returning to Duval's Bluff, the Fifty-Fourth was assigned to guarding sixteen miles of the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad, having five stations with two companies at each station. In the latter part of August
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Shelby attacked an overwhelming force and captured one station. Six of the companies were concentrated at one station, and for five hours, resisted the attack with great bravery. The breastworks, hastily constructed of hay, having been fired and destroyed by the enemy's artillery. the regiment was driven out of their defences and captured in detail. The regiment lost some fifty men in killed and wounded at this fight. Companies F and H at a distant station were not molested. The part of the regiment captured was paroled, and reached Benton Barracks, Missouri, in September. December 5, 1864, it was exchanged and returned to Hickory Station on the same railroad, where it remained on this duty until June. On the 9th of this month the regiment proceeded to Pine Bluff, thence to Fort Smith, Ark., and thence to Little Rock, where it was mustered out October 16, 1865, and proceeded to Camp Butler, Illinois, October 26, where it was discharged.
Sixty-First Illinois Infantry .- Company H of this regiment was made up principally from enlistments in Coles County, with many from Lawrence and Cumberland counties. Company F sub- sequently contained quite a number of men from Cumberland County by transfer from the One Hundred and Twenty-Third Regi- ment. This regiment was organized at Carrollton. Ill., by Col. Jacob Fry. Three full companies were mustered February 5, 1862. On the 21st the regiment was still incomplete, and was moved to Benton Barracks, where recruits were secured to complete the organization. In March the regiment embarked for Pittsburgh Landing, where it was assigned to the Eighteenth Missouri Brigade and Prentiss' Division. On April 6, 400 men of the regiment were formed into line to receive the first assault of the enemy in that memorable fight. For an hour and a quarter the regiment stood firm and then fell back under orders, only when every regiment in the division had given way. Upon retiring the regiment was com- plimented by Gen. Prentiss for its gallant stand. The Sixty-First was then placed in support of the First Missouri Artillery, and at 1 P. M. was ordered to the support of Gen. Hurlbut, arriving at a very critical moment and maintaining the line until relieved by a fresh regiment, when its ammunition was exhausted. When the second line was broken, the regiment retired in good order and took up a position supporting the siege guns. On the second day the Sixty-First was placed in reserve, but its loss in the battle reached eighty men killed, wounded and missing. Early in June the regi- ment moved to Bethel, thence to Jackson and to Bolivar, in Tennessee.
A. D. Noris Neogaf Cumberland 6. Illinois.
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In September the regiment moved by way of Jackson and Corinth to Brownsville, Miss., but returned after the battle of Inka. In December a detachment of the regiment with some other detach- ments took a position at Salem Cemetery and repulsed the enemy under Forrest. May 31, 1863, the Sixty-First moved from Bolivar by rail to Memphis and there embarked for Vicksburg. On the 3d of June it reached Chickasaw Bayou, and on the following day accom- panied an expedition up the Yazoo River, landing at Satartia : moved thence to Mechanicsburg, Haines' Bluff, and Snyder's Bluff. July 17th, the Sixty-First moved to Black River Bridge and re- turned. In August it took part in Gen. Steele's expedition to Little Rock. The regiment remained here in occupation. The regiment up to March 20, 1864, consisted of nine companies, but at this date it was joined by Company K from Camp Butler, Ill. The Sixty- First was subsequently ordered to Nashville, and was mustered out of the service there on September 8. 1865.
Sixty-Second Illinois Infantry .- This regiment was chiefly en- listed in Clark, Crawford, and Coles counties. In Company C were a considerable number of Cumberland County men, and few in cach of several other companies of the regiment. The Sixty-Second was organized at Camp Dubois, Anna, III., April 10, 1862. On the 22d it moved to Cairo, thence to Paducah and Columbus, and in Col. Ditzler's Brigade to Tennessee, where it was stationed on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, near Crockett Station, with headquarters at Kenton. In December the regiment was moved to Jackson, Tenn., leaving about 200 men sick and on duty at Holly Springs: about two miles from Jackson found the railroad bridge on fire, and leav- ing the train marched to JJackson and four miles beyond, skirmish- ing with the enemy. On the 23d the regiment marched along the railroad as far as Toon's Station and returned to Jackson. In the meanwhile Van Dorn descended on Holly Springs and captured about 170 men of the regiment, and destroyed all the regimental records and baggage. On December 31st the regiment went with Lawler's Brigade in pursuit of Forrest and found him strongly posted on the opposite bank of the river. Returning to JJackson the . regiment remained here until April, 1863. when it moved to LaGrange. In August the regiment was ordered to Memphis, where it embarked for Helena, overtaking the army of Gen. Steele at Brownsville : took part in the action near Little Rock and re- mained there until April, 1864, when it moved to Pine Bluff and remained till August 12, 1864. The regiment in January had
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re-enlisted, and at this date returned to Illinois on veteran furlough. 1 After the expiration of their furlough the regiment returned to Pine Bluff, reaching there November 25, 1864. The non-veterans of the regiment were ordered to Illinois for muster out. Under date of April 24, 1865, the remaining veterans and recruits were ordered consolidated into seven companies, and remained on duty at Pine Bluff until July 28. 1865, when it moved by river to Fort Gibson, in the Cherokee nation. It was subsequently ordered to Little Rock, where it was mustered out of service March 6, 1866, and ordered to Springfield for final payment and discharge.
This sketch of the activities of regiments in which this county is principally interested was compiled largely from the Adjutant- General's report. In case of several regiments no report save the bare roster, is found in the State work, and dependence has been placed upon the men ory of those who served in the different organiza- tions. However imperfect the attempt, and however far short it may fall of the merits of the case, it will serve to show that Cumber- land County found those who ably represented her in the field, and that many, while politically at variance with the administration then in power in the general government, put loyalty to the nation above partisan fealty to a questionable policy. In the Black Hawk disturbance of 1832 the community here was too far removed from the actual operations to notice them. and was too few in num- bers to spare any men save under the direst necessity. In 1847, while sympathizing with the object of the war, the county was too thinly settled even then to contribute to the ranks of the six regi- ments enlisted in the State. There are, however, some half dozen residents of the county now who were in the Mexican war, but who were enrolled elsewhere.
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
VILLAGES OF THE COUNTY.
T HIERE was little at an early day to mark any particular site as especially advantageous for a village. There was a great rage in platting villages throughout the West during a few years preceding 1837. The system of internal improvements projected by the State gave rise to the most extravagant estimate of the immediate devel- opment of the country to follow, and villages were platted in the most isolated situations on the banks of streams that now have scarcely an existence, and wherever one of these enthusiasts hap- pened to have a plat of land large enough to hold the possible vil- lage. At this time there seems to have been but little conception of what changes the ordinary development of the country would bring, and none at all of the wonderful influence of railroads. It was therefore natural that the first beginning should be along the National road.
Greenup .*- Ira B. Rose was a resident of Martinsville, and im- pressed with the advantages likely to accrue from the National road secured land just west of the village of to-day, and in November, 1833, laid out the village of Embarrass. This little town consisted of thirty-eight lots, spread out on either side of the road. Rose was not calculated to be successful in such an enterprise, and while tem- porarily promising future growth it was eclipsed by its stronger neighbor laid out in the following year. It continued for some years, however, jocosely called Roseville, or Natchez under the hill, and at one time boasted of a store by Bragg & Solenburg, a saloon by W. Stallings, and the first tavern, which was conducted by the mother of the celebrated lawyer, Usher F. Linder. The Linders be- came citizens of Greenup in 1833, coming from Hardin county, Ken- tucky, in a one-horse wagon.
In 1834, Joseph Barbour caused the village of Greenup to be platted. It is located on the National road near the point where it crosses the Embarrass River, forty-five miles west of Terre Haute.
It assumed the title of Greenup from a man of that name, who owned a large part of the land, upon which Greenup now stands, and who donated quite a number of lots to the original town, in
* The editor is indebted for the principal matter for this sketch from a contribution to the columns of the Cumberland Democrat.
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
order that a town might be established here. And he it was. it seems, who laid off the first lots in Greenup. But Thomas Sconce was the first Surveyor who laid off and reported a plat of this town, which he did on the 5th day of March, A. D. 1834. Greenup and Barbour, Ewart and Austin, also Austin and Cook respectively, made addi- tions to this town, by way of granting lots. The first lot that was laid off in Greenup is in Block one, now known as the " New Public Square," on the northeast corner of said block. From the original town plat, as made out by Mr. Sconce, who was then County Sur- veyor of Coles County, we obtain the following description of the original town of Greenup, viz :- beginning at the east side of the new public square, the lots number respectively 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., west- ward, reaching lot No. 25, when they change to the north side of Cumberland Street (it being that part of the " National road " which runs through Greenup), commencing in the west at lot No. 26, num- ber eastward to lot No. 50. There is but one tier of lots south of Cumberland Street, on the original plat. Just north of the tier mentioned which lies north of Cumberland Street, and running east and west, is an alley fourteen feet wide. North of this alley is another tier of lots, beginning on the east at lot No. 51, running west- ward to lot No. 70. Then north of these is Pleasant Street, north of Pleasant Street are four more lots, through which running east and west is another alley, except the block farthest west, known as the " Old Public Square;" the last mentioned alley does not run through this block. Still north of the last mentioned tier of blocks, running cast and west, is Elizabeth Street. North of Elizabeth Street is one more block. The whole number of lots in the original plat is 102. Then commencing on the west side of the " New Public Square," and running northward, is Mill Street. One block west of Mill Street and running northward is Franklin Street. One block west of Franklin Street and running northward is Jefferson Street. One block west of Jefferson Street and running northward is Washing- ton Street. This constitutes the original Greenup. But as has been stated, since this was made out several additions have been made to the town. some of which have been mentioned.
The following references appear on the original plat, as made out by Mr. Sconce, viz:
Ist. The town is situated on the southwest quarter of Section No. 2, Township No. 9 north, of Range No. 9 east, of the third prin- cipal meridian, as designated on the plat.
2d. The survey of the lots was made according to the magnetic
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needle, the variation at the time being considered at seventy degrees and thirty minutes east.
30. The length and breadth of the public square and the sev- eral lots are given in fect, on some one of the lines in figures.
4th. The corners of the blocks or squares have stones firmly set in and visible above the surface.
5th. The width of all the streets and alleys are expressed in feet on the plat.
6th. The lots, streets and alleys are laid down on the plat on a scale of halfan inch in a chain of 100 links, or 132 feet to an inch.
7th. The number of each lot is expressed on the plat, near the centre thereof, and each is made regularly neumatical, amounting to 102 lots.
This plat was recorded by J. P. Jones, on the 7th day of May, 1834, he being at that time Recorder of Coles County, and on it ap- pears a certificate of. Nathan Ellington, dated May 21, 1852, who was at that time Circuit Clerk and ex-officio Recorder of Coles County.
For many years Greenup slumbered in the bosom of its wood- land home, among the hills, in apparent solitude and oblivion, mak- ing but few and small improvements. Considering the distance to general markets, and the fact that Greenup merchants were com- pelled to haul their goods in wagons from those far distant points; and the further fact that this country was so thinly settled, the prog- ress of Greenup, from a village to a city must of necessity be slow and tedious. Away back in that early day, when Cumberland and Douglas counties formed part of Coles County, all that vast region of country was so thinly settled that there were but five voting points in the entire county of Coles. Somewhere near Arcola on Okaw River was the northwestern point of holding elections; Ash- more was the northeastern, Charleston the center; Woodbury the southwestern and Greenup the southeastern. On the day of a county election the voters would assemble at these respective places for the purpose of casting their votes. On the erection of Cumber- land County, this village was the most important point in the new di- vision and for a number of years was the de facto county-seat. A store was established here and many a pound of coffee, sugar and the like were carried away from Greenup by the early settlers, who pur- chased these articles with the pelts of the various wild animals that infested the forests of southwestern Illinois, owing to the scarcity of money, and the market value of these peltries.
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
As county-seat, the village drew large numbers from the vari- ous parts of the county, and as Greenup could boast of no " Town Ordinances" then, or police force with which to control the fury of those who saw fit to enter into pugilistic combat, it often witnessed bloody noses and black eyes, on those election days, occasioned by supernumerary decoctions of home-made whisky. Greenup knew Jim Eaton in the prime of his manhood, and in Greenup many of his notable feats were performed, which, to an ordinary man, would seem an impossibility. Greenup was a favorite point with Eaton, and often while there he has held up a barrel of whisky in his hands and drank from its bunghole. Eaton had many a combat there in early days, and was never but once unsuccessful. He disposed of some of George Wall's fingers with his teeth. But he met his fate one day in the person of a showman who struck him in the forehead with a two-pound weight. He did not live long afterwards.
But the elections were not all that drew people to Greenup, for it will be remembered that people had to eat in those days as well as do they at this time. And owing to the scarcity of mills then, and to the fact that Greenup afforded one, many a man made visits to Greenup for the purpose of having corn converted into meal. The mill to which we allude was built by Messrs. Greenup & Barbour in 1832, and was run by water power. It was a grist and a sash saw mill, and was located on the river bank, near where the Charleston and Greenup road crosses the river northwest of town. This remark- able old mill was run respectively and successively by Messrs. Greenup & Barbour, Mr. Williams, Mr. Hellems, Mr. R. Stinson, Mr. John Snearly and lastly, by Traders. It ran on and did work until 1856. It fell down sometime afterward, and some of the old mill stones are yet to be seen about the site. In those days it was a very common thing for a man to throw a sack of corn upon the back of an ox, and hie to the Greenup mill. Big boys, who were com- pelled to wait a day or two for their grinding, were frequently seen sitting around a little fire with their bare feet in the ashes, eating parched corn, the while. It was in the fore-bay of this old water mill that James B. Freeman fell, during the time that John Snear- ley was running it.
Mr. Greenup, it seems, was an engineer on the Cumberland road about the time it was laid out, and after the road was duly located, he took a job of furnishing the government with bridge timbers, and particularly for the bridges across the slough and river, west of Greenup. Mr. Barbour put up this mill, the primary object of
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
which was to saw out these timbers. But the mill and its builders. as well as those bridges, are now known only in the past.
The greater part of the history of Greenup, up to the time it be- came the county-seat of Cumberland, is pretty much the same old oft repeated story, of rough western pioneer villages, such as is so well known to many of the people of the West. From this time forward the village prospered. The National road brought new life with its increasing travel, and it grew to be a noted point to travelers far and near. There is no doubt but Greenup is well remembered by hundreds of persons who were on their way to the golden hills of California, in search of their hidden treasures, whose good fortune it was to partake of the hospitalities of Greenup, on their wearisome journey. Charles Conzet, Sr. is undoubtedly remembered as the landlord of the Greenup House. Doubtless meals obtained from his well loaded table, by the hungry traveler, thirty years ago, have helped to establish that reputation as a landlord which unele Char- ley so justly deserves.
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