USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I > Part 41
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125
GILLHAM, Daniel B., agriculturist and legis- lator, was born at a place now called Wanda, in Madison County, Ill., April 29, 1826-his father being a farmer and itinerant Methodist preacher, who belonged to one of the pioneer families in the American Bottom at an early day. The sub- ject of this sketch was educated in the common schools and at McKendree College, but did not graduate from the latter. In his early life he followed the vocation of a farmer and stock- grower in one of the most prosperous and highly
202
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
cultivated portions of the American Bottom, a few miles below Alton, but, in 1872, removed to Alton, where he spent the remainder of his life. He became a member of the State Board of Agri- culture in 1866, serving eight years as Superin- tendent and later as its President; was also a Trustee of. Shurtleff College some twenty-five years, and for a time President of the Board. In 1870 he was elected to the lower branch of the Twenty-seventh General Assembly, and to the State Senate in 1882, serving a term of four years in the latter. On the night of March 17, 1890, he was assaulted by a burglar in his house, receiving a wound from a pistol-shot in consequence of which he died, April 6, following. The identity of his assailant was never discovered, and the crime consequently went unpunished.
GILMAN, a city in Iroquois County, at the intersection of the Illinois Central and the To- ledo, Peoria & Western Railways, 81 miles southi by west from Chicago and 208 miles northeast of St. Louis. It is in the heart of one of the richest corn districts of the State and has large stock-raising and fruit-growing interests. It has an opera house, a public library, an extensive nursery, brick and tile works, a linseed oil mill, two banks and two weekly newspapers. Arte- sian well water is obtained by boring from 90 to 200 feet. Pop. (1900), 1,441; (1910), 1,305.
GILMAN, Arthur, was born at Alton, Ill., June 22, 1837, the son of Winthrop S. Gilman, of the firm of Gilman & Godfrey, in whose warehouse the printing press of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy was stored at the time of its destruction by a mob in 1837; was educated in St. Louis and New York, began business as a banker in 1857, but, in 1870, removed to Cambridge, Mass., and connected himself with "The Riverside Press." Mr. Gilman was one of the prime movers in what is known as "The Harvard Annex" in the interest of equal collegiate advantages for women, and has written much for the periodical press, besides publishing a number of volumes in the line of history and English literature.
GILMAN, CLINTON & SPRINGFIELD RAIL- ROAD. (See Illinois Central Railroad.)
GIRARD, a city in Macoupin County, on the Chicago & Alton Railroad, 25 miles south by west from Springfield and 13 miles north-northeast of Carlinville. Coal-mining is carried on extensively here. The city also has a bank, five churches and a weekly newspaper. Population (1880), 1,024; (1890), 1,524; (1900), 1,661; (1910), 1,891.
GLENCOE, a village of Cook County, on the Milwaukee Division of the Chicago & Northwest-
ern Railway, 19 miles north of Chicago. Popu- lation (1890), 569; (1900), 1,020; (1910), 1,899.
GLENN, Archibald A., ex-Lieutenant-Governor, was born in Nicholas County, Ky., Jan. 30, 1819. In 1828 his father's family removed to Illinois, settling first in Vermilion, and later in Schuyler County. At the age of 13, being forced to abandon school, for six years he worked upon the farm of his widowed mother, and, at 19, entered a printing office at Rushville, where he learned the trade of compositor. In 1844 he published a Whig campaign paper, which was discontinued after the defeat of Henry Clay. For eleven years he was Circuit Clerk of Brown County, during which period he was admitted to the bar; was a member of the Constitutional Convention 0* 1862, and of the State Board of Equalization from 1868 to 1872. The latter year he was elected to the State Senate for four years, and, in 1875, chosen its President, thus becoming ex-officio Lieutenant-Governor. He early abandoned legal practice to engage in banking and in mercan- tile investment. After the expiration of his term in the Senate, he removed to Kansas, where he resided until his death, May 21, 1901.
GLEN CARBON, a village of Madison County, on the Illinois Central Railroad; in coal mining region. Pop. (1910), 1,220.
GLEN ELLYN, a village of Dupage County, two miles east of Wheaton, on Chicago & North Western Railroad. Pop. (1910), 1,763.
GLENN, John J., lawyer and jurist, was born in Ashland County, Ohio, March 2, 1831; gradu- ated from Miami University in 1856 and, in 1858, was admitted to the bar at Terre Haute, Ind. Removing to Illinois in 1860, he settled in Mercer County, a year later removing to Monmouth in Warren County, where he still resides. In 1877 he was elected Judge of the Tenth Judicial Cir- cuit and re-elected in 1879, '85, '91, and '97. After his last election he served for some time, by appointment of the Supreme Court, as a mem- ber of the Appellate Court for the Springfield District, but ultimately resigned and returned to Circuit Court duty. His reputation as a cool- headed, impartial Judge stood very high, and his name had been favorably regarded for a place on the Supreme Bench. Died Jan. 6, 1905.
GLOVER, Joseph Otis, lawyer, was born in Cayuga County, N. Y., April 13, 1810, and edu- cated in the high-school at Aurora in that State. In 1835 he came west to attend to a land case at Galena for his father, and, although not then a lawyer, he managed the case so successfully that he was asked to take charge of two others. This
203
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
determined the bent of his mind towards the law, to the study of which he turned his attention under the preceptorship of the late Judge The- ophilus L. Dickey, then of Ottawa. Soon after being admitted to the bar in 1840, he formed a partnership with the late Burton C. Cook, which lasted over thirty years. In 1846 he was elected as a Democrat to the lower branch of the Fif- teenth General Assembly, but, on the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, he became one of the founders of the Republican party and a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, whom he entertained, at the time of his (Lincoln's) debate with Senator Douglas, at Ottawa, in 1858. In 1868 he served as Presidential Elector at the time of General Grant's first election to the Presidency, and the following year was appointed United States Dis- trict Attorney for the Northern District, serving until 1875. In 1877 he was appointed by Gov- ernor Cullom a member of the Board of Railway and Canal Commissioners, of which he afterwards became President, serving six years. Died, in Chicago, Dec. 10, 1892.
GODFREY, (Capt.) Benjamin, sea captain and philanthropist, was born at Chatham, Mass., Dec. 4, 1794; at nine years of age he ran away from home and went to sea, his first voyage being to Ireland, where he spent nine years. The War of 1812 coming on, he returned home, spending a part of the next three years in the naval service, also gaining a knowledge of the science of navi- gation. Later, he became master of a merchant- vessel making voyages to Italy, Spain, the West Indies and other countries, finally, by shipwreck in Cuban waters, losing the bulk of his fortune. In 1824 he engaged in mercantile business at Matamoras, Mex., where he accumulated a hand- some fortune; but, in transferring it (amounting to some $200,000 in silver) across the country on pack-animals, he was attacked and robbed by brigands, with which that country was then infested. Resuming business at New Orleans, he was again successful, and, in 1832, came north, locating near Alton, Ill., the next year engaging in the warehouse and commission business as the partner of Winthrop S. Gilman, under the name of Godfrey & Gilman. It was in the warehouse of this firm at Alton that the printing-press of Elijah P. Lovejoy was stored when it was seized and destroyed by a mob, and Lovejoy was killed, in October, 1837. (See Lovejoy, Elijah P.) Soon after establishing himself at Alton, Captain God- frey made a donation of land and money for the erection of a young ladies' seminary at the village of Godfrey, four miles from Alton. (See Monti-
cello Female Seminary.) The first cost of the erection of buildings, borne by him, was $53,000. The institution was opened, April 11, 1838, and Captain Godfrey continued to be one of its Trustees as long as he lived. He was also one of the lead- ing spirits in the construction of the Alton & Springfield Railroad (now a part of the Chicago & Alton), in which he invested heavily and un- profitably. Died, at Godfrey, April 13, 1862.
GOLCONDA, a village and county-seat of Pope County, on the Ohio River, 80 miles northeast of Cairo; located in agricultural and mining dis- trict; zinc, lead and kaolin mined in the vicinity ; has a courthouse, eight churches, schools, one bank, a newspaper, a box factory, flour and saw mills, and a fluor-spar factory. It is the termi- nus of a branch of the Illinois Central Railroad. Pop. (1890), 1,174; (1900), 1,140; (1910), 1,088.
GOLDZIER, Julius, ex-Congressman, was born at Vienna, Austria, Jan. 20, 1854, and emigrated to New York in 1866. In 1872 he settled in Chicago, where he was admitted to the bar in 1877, and where he has practiced law ever since. From 1890 to 1892 he was a member of the Chicago City Council, and, in 1892, was the successful Democratic candidate in the Fourth District, for Congress, but was defeated in 1894 by Edward D. Cooke. At the Chicago city election of 1899 he was again re- turned to the Council as Alderman for the Thirty- second Ward.
GOODING, James, pioneer, was born about 1767, and, in 1832, was residing at Bristol, Ontario County, N. Y., when he removed to Cook County, Ill., settling in what was later called "Gooding's Grove," now a part of Will County. The Grove was also called the "Yankee Settlement," from the Eastern origin of the principal settlers. Mr. Gooding was accompanied, or soon after joined, by three sons-James, Jr., William and Jasper-and a nephew, Charles Gooding, all of whom became prominent citizens. The senior Gooding died in 1849, at the age of 82 years .- William (Gooding), civil engineer, son of the preceding, was born at Bristol, Ontario County, N. Y., April 1, 1803; educated in the common schools and by private tuition, after which he divided his time chiefly between teaching and working on the farm of his father, James Gooding. Having devoted considerable attention to surveying and civil engineering, he obtained employment in 1826 on the Welland Canal, where he remained three years. He then engaged in mercantile pursuits at Lock- port, N. Y., but sold out at the end of the first year and went to Ohio to engage in his profession.
204
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
Being unsuccessful in this, he accepted employ- ment for a time as a rodman, but later secured a position as Assistant Engineer on the Ohio Canal. After a brief visit to his father's in 1832, he returned to Ohio and engaged in business there for a short time, but the following year joined his father, who had previously settled in a portion of what is now Will County, but then Cook, mak- ing the trip by the first mail steamer around the lakes. He at first settled at "Gooding's Grove" and engaged in farming. In 1836 he was ap- pointed Assistant Engineer on the Illinois & Michigan Canal, but, in 1842, became Chief Engi- neer, continuing in that position until the com- pletion of the canal in 1848, when he became Secretary of the Canal Board. Died, at Lockport, Will County, in May, 1878.
GOODRICH, Grant, lawyer and jurist, was born in Milton, Saratoga, County, N. Y., August 7, 1811; grew up in Western New York, studied law and came to Chicago in 1834, becoming one of the most prominent and reputable members of his profession, as well as a leader in many of the movements for the educational, moral and reli- gious advancement of the community. He was one of the founders of the First Methodist Epis- copal Church of Chicago, an active member of the Union Defense Committee during the war, an incorporator and life-long Trustee of the North- western University, and President of the Board of Trustees of Garrett Biblical Institute, besides being identified with many organizations of a strictly benevolent character. In 1859 Judge Goodrich was elected a Judge of the newly organ- ized Superior Court, but, at the end of his term, resumed the practice of his profession. Died, March 15, 1889.
GORE, David, ex-State Auditor, was born in Trigg County, Ky., April 5, 1827; came with his parents to Madison County, Ill., in 1834, and served in the Mexican War as a Quartermaster, afterwards locating in Macoupin County, where he has been extensively engaged in farming. In 1874 he was an unsuccessful Greenback-Labor candidate for State Treasurer, in 1884 was elected to the State Senate from the Macoupin-Morgan District, and, in 1892, nominated and elected, as a Democrat, Auditor of Public Accounts, serving until 1897. For some sixteen years he was a member of the State Board of Agriculture, the last two years of that period being its President. His home is at Carlinville.
GOUDY, Calvin, early printer and physician, was born in Ohio, June 2, 1814; removed with his parents, in childhood, to Indianapolis, and
in 1832 to Vandalia, Ill., where he worked in the State printing office and bindery. In the fall of 1833 the family removed to Jacksonville, and the following year he entered Illinois College, being for a time a college-mate of Richard Yates, after- wards Governor. Here he continued his vocation as a printer, working for a time on "Peck's Gazetteer of Illinois" and "Goudy's Almanac," of which his father was publisher. In association with a brother while in Jacksonville, he began the publication of "The Common School Advo- cate," the pioneer publication of its kind in the Northwest, which was continued for about a year. Later he studied medicine with Drs. Henry and Merriman in Springfield, finally graduating at the St. Louis Medical College and, in 1844, began practice at Taylorville; in 1847 was elected Probate Judge of Christian County for a term of four years; in 1851 engaged in mercantile busi- ness, which he continued nineteen years. In 1856 he was elected to the lower house of the General Assembly and, in the session of the following year, was a leading supporter of the act estab- lishing the State Normal School at Normal, still later serving for some sixteen years on the State Board of Education. Died, at Taylorville, in 1877. Dr. Goudy was an older brother of the late William C. Goudy of Chicago.
GOUDY, William C., lawyer, was born in Indiana, May 15, 1824; came to Illinois, with his father, first to Vandalia and afterwards to Jack- sonville, previous to 1833, where the latter began the publication of "The Farmer's Almanac"-a well-known publication of that time. At Jack- sonville young Goudy entered Illinois College, graduating in 1845, when he began the study of law with Judge Stephen T. Logan, of Springfield; was admitted to the bar in 1847, and the next year began practice at Lewistown, Fulton County ; served as State's Attorney (1852-55) and as State Senator (1856-60); at the close of his term re- moved to Chicago, where he became prominent as a corporation and railroad lawyer, in 1886 be- coming General Solicitor of the Chicago & North- western Railroad. During President Cleveland's first term, Mr. Goudy was believed to exert a large influence with the administration, and was credited with having been largely instrumental in securing the appointment of his partner, Mel- ville W. Fuller, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Died, April 27, 1893.
GRAFF, Joseph V., lawyer and Congressman, was born at Terre Haute, Ind., July 1, 1854; after graduating from the Terre Haute high-school, spent one year in Wabash College at Crawfords-
205
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
ville, but did not graduate; studied law and was admitted to the bar at Delavan, Ill., in 1879; in 1892 was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Minneapolis, but, with the excep- tion of President of the Board of Education, never held any public office until elected to Con- gress from the Fourteenth Illinois District, as a Republican, in November, 1894. Mr. Graff was a successful candidate for re-election in 1896, and again in '98.
GRAFTON, a city in Jersey County, situated on the Mississippi one and a half miles below the mouth of the Illinois River. The bluffs are high and fine river views are obtainable. A fine quality of fossiliferous limestone is quarried here and exported by the river. The town has a bank, three churches, a graded school and one weekly paper. Pop. (1900), 988; (1910), 1,116.
GRAIN INSPECTION, a mode of regulating the grain-trade in accordance with State law, and under the general supervision of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission. The principal exec- utive officer of the department is the Chief Inspector of Grain, the expenses of whose adminis- tration are borne by fees. The chief business of the inspection department is transacted in Chi- cago, where the principal offices are located. (See Railroad and Warehouse Commission.)
GRAMMAR, John, pioneer and early legislator, came to Southern Illinois at a very early date and served as a member of the Third Territorial Council for Johnson County (1816-18); was a citizen of Union County when it was organized in 1818, and served as State Senator from that county in the Third and Fourth General Assem- blies (1822-26), and again in the Seventh and Eighth General Assemblies (1830-34), for the Dis- trict composed of Union, Johnson and Alexander Counties. He is described as having been very illiterate, but a man of much shrewdness and considerable influence.
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, a fra- ternal, charitable and patriotic association, limited to men who served in the Union army or navy during the Civil War, and received hon- orable discharge. Its founder was Dr. B. F. Stephenson, who served as Surgeon of the Four- teenth Illinois Infantry. In this task he had the cooperation of Rev. William J. Rutledge, Chaplain of the same regiment, Col. John M. Snyder, Dr. James Hamilton, Maj. Robert M. Woods, Maj. Robert Allen, Col. Martin Flood, Col. Daniel Grass, Col. Edward Prince, Capt. John S. Phelps, Capt. John A. Lightfoot, Col. B. F. Smith, Maj. A. A. North, Capt. Henry E.
Howe, and Col. B. F. Hawkes, all Illinois veter- ans. Numerous conferences were held at Spring- field, in this State, a ritual was prepared, and the first post was chartered at Decatur, Ill., April 6, 1866. The charter members were Col. I. C. Pugli, George R. Steele, J. W. Routh, Joseph Prior, J. H. Nale, J. T. Bishop, G. H. Dunning, B. F. Sibley, M. F. Kanan, C. Reibsame, I. N. Coltrin, and Aquila Toland. All but one of these had served in Illinois regiments. At first, the work of organization proceeded slowly, the ex-soldiers generally being somewhat doubtful of the result of the project; but, before July 12, 1866, the date fixed for the assembling of a State Convention to form the Department of Illinois, thirty-nine posts had been chartered, and, by 1869, there were 330 reported in Illinois. By October, 1866, Depart- ments had been formed in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, an'd posts established in Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Massa- chussetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia, and the first National Encampment was held at Indianapolis, November 20 of that year. In 1894 there were 7,500 posts, located in every State and Territory of the Union, with a membership of 450,000. The scheme of organization provides for precinct, State and National bodies. The first are known as posts, each having a number, to which the name of some battle or locality, or of some deceased soldier may be prefixed ; the second (State organizations) are known as Departments; and the supreme power of the Order is vested in the National En- campment, which meets annually. As has been said, the G. A. R. had its inception in Illinois. The aim and dream of Dr. Stephenson and his associates was to create a grand organization of veterans which, through its cohesion, no less than its incisiveness, should constitute a potential fac- tor in the inculcation and development of patriot- ism as well as mutual support. While he died sorrowing that he had not seen the fruition of his hopes, the present has witnessed the fullest realization of his dream. (See Stephenson, B. F.) The constitution of the order expressly prohibits any attempt to use the organization for partisan purposes, or even the discussion, at any meeting, of partisan questions. Its aims are to foster and strengthen fraternal feelings among members; to assist comrades needing help or protection and aid comrades' widows and orphans, and to incul- cate unswerving loyalty. The "Woman's Relief Corps" is an auxiliary organization, originating at Portland, Maine, in 1869. The following is a list of Illinois Department Commanders, chronolog-
-
206
HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
ically arranged: B. F. Stephenson (Provisional, 1866), John M. Palmer (1866-68), Thomas O. Osborne (1869-70), Charles E. Lippincott (1871), ' Hubert Dilger (1872), Guy T. Gould (1873), Hiram Hilliard (1874-76), Joseph S. Reynolds (1877), T. B. Coulter (1878), Edgar D. Swain (1879-80), J. W. Burst (1881), Thomas G. Lawler (1882), S. A. Harper (1883), L. T. Dickason (1884), William W. Berry (1885), Philip Sidney Post (1886), A. C. Sweetser (1887), James A. Sexton (1888), James S. Martin (1889), William L. Distin (1890), Horace S. Clark (1891), Edwin Harlan (1892), Edward A. Blodgett (1893), H. H. McDowell (1894), W. H. Powell (1895), William G. Cochran (1896), A. L. Schimpff (1897), John C. Black (1898), John B. Inman (1899). The fol- lowing Illinoisans have held the position of Com- mander-in-Chief: S. A. Hurlbut, (two terms) 1866-67; John A. Logan, (three terms) 1868-70; Thomas G. Lawler, 1894; James A. Sexton, 1898.
GRAND PRAIRIE SEMINARY, a co-educa- tional institution at Onarga, Iroquois County, in- corporated in 1863; had a faculty of eleven teach- ers in 1897-98, with 285 pupils-145 male and 140 female. It reports an endowment of $10,000 and property valued at $55,000. Besides the usual classical and scientific departments, instruction is given in music, oratory, fine arts and prepara- tory studies.
GRAND TOWER, a town in Jackson County, situated on the Mississippi River, 27 miles southwest of Carbondale; the western terminus of the Grand Tower & Carbondale R. R .; named from a high, rocky island in the river. Pop. (1910), 873.
GRANT PARK, a village of Kankakee County on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad; 50 miles south of Chicago. Pop. (1910), 692.
GRAND TOWER & CAPE GIRARDEAU RAILROAD. (See Chicago & Texas Railroad.) GRAND TOWER & CARBONDALE RAIL- ROAD. (See Chicago & Texas Railroad.)
GRANGER, Flavel K., lawyer, farmer and legislator, was born in Wayne County, N. Y., May 16, 1832, educated in public schools at Sodus in the same State, and settled at Waukegan, Ill., in 1853. Here, having studied law, he was adniitted to the bar in 1855, removing to McHenry County the same year, and soon after engaging in the live-stock and wool business. In 1872 he was elected as a Republican Representative in the Twenty-eighth General Assembly, being succes- sively re-elected to the Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth and Thirty-first, and being chosen Temporary Speaker of the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth. He was member of the State Senate for the
Eighth District, having been elected in 1896. His home was at West McHenry, Ill. Died June 10, 1905.
GRANT, Alexander Fraeser, early lawyer and jurist, was born at Inverness, Scotland, in 1804; came to Illinois at an early day and located at Shawneetown, where he studied law with Henry Eddy, the pioneer lawyer and editor of that place. Mr. Grant is described as a man of marked ability, as were many of the early settlers of that region. In February, 1835, he was elected by the General Assembly Judge for the Third Circuit, as succes- sor to his preceptor, Mr. Eddy, but served only a few months, dying at Vandalia the same year.
GRANT, Ulysses Simpson, (originally Hiram Ulysses), Lieutenant - General and President, was born at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, April 27, 1822; graduated from West Point Military Academy, in 1843, and served through the Mexican War. After a short resi- dence at St. Louis, he became a resident of Galena in 1860. His war-record is a glorious part of the Nation's history. Entering the service of the State as a clerk in the office of the Quartermaster- General at Springfield, soon after the breaking out of the war in 1861, and still later serving as a drill-master at Camp Yates, in June following he was commissioned by Governor Yates Colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, which he immediately led into the field in the State of Missouri; was soon after promoted to a Brigadier- Generalship and became a full Major-General of Volunteers on the fall of Forts Donelson and Henry, in February following. His successes at Fort Gibson, Raymond, Champion Hill, and Big Black River, ending with the capture of Vicks- burg, were the leading victories of the Union armies in 1863. His successful defense of Chat- tanooga was also one of his victories in the West in the same year. Commissioned a Major-General of the Regular Army after the fall of Vicksburg, he became Lieutenant-General in 1864, and, in March of that year, assumed command of all the Northern armies. Taking personal command of the Army of the Potomac, he directed the cam- paign against Richmond, which resulted in the final evacuation and downfall of the Confederate capital and the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox on April 8, 1865. In July, 1866, he was made General-the office being created for him. He also served as Secretary of War, ad interim, under President Johnson, from Au- gust, 1867, to January, 1868. In 1868 he was elected President of the United States and re- elected in 1872. His administration may not have been free from mistakes, but it was charac-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.