USA > Illinois > Adams County > Quincy > Quincy and Adams County history and representative men, Vol. I > Part 25
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THE EIGHTY-FOURTH INFANTRY
The Eighty-fourth Infantry was organized at Quincy in August, 1862, by Col. Louis H. Waters and in the following month mustered into the United States service with 951 men and offieers. It was as- signed to the Tenth Brigade, Fourth Division, and marched with the forces which were in pursuit of Bragg. The Eighty-fourth was an active regiment, and suffered heavy losses at Stone River and Chick- amanga. It fought at Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Ring- gold and Dalton; at Reseca, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Franklin and Nashville, and was mustered out at the last named place in June, 1865.
THIE ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEENTH INFANTRY
Companies D, F and K of that regiment were organized in Adams County. In September, 1862, the regiment rendezvoused at Camp Butler, was at once assigned to the guarding of prisoners of war there, was mustered into the service during November, and in the following month arrived at Memphis and embarked with Sherman's army for Vicksburg, Mississippi. It participated in the "siege" and in June, 1863, by order of General Grant was mounted. In August it was transferred to the Department of the Gulf, and took part in numerous engagements in the southwest, particularly in Louisiana. Its activi- ties were wound up at Baton Rouge, where it was mustered out in
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October, 1865. The One Hundred and Eighteenth was commanded by Col. John J. Fonda. Robert M. MeClaughry was major of the regiment.
THE ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEENTH INFANTRY
The regiment named was also organized at Quincy by Col. Thomas .I. Kinney, its commander. It was mustered into the service of the United States in September, 1862, and by Deeember was engaged in the Tennessee campaigns. In an engagement at Rutherford's Station, companies G and K were captured. It participated in the siege of Vicksburg: was in most of the engagements of the Red River ex- pedition ; was at the battle of Nashville and the assault on Spanish Fort : moved to Montgomery and Mobile, and in August, 1865, was mustered out. The regiment was finally discharged at Camp Butler, Quiney, in September, 1865.
THE NEEDLE PICKETS
Repeated references have been made to the practical works of relief and patriotism accomplished by the Needle Pickets and the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. They were primarily bodies of women, although as the work progressed a number of men were ad- mitted into the ranks. The Piekets, in accord with their name, first adopted military titles for their offieers. They effected an organiza- tion on the last day of May, 1861, and on the 5th of June adopted a constitution and elected the following officers : Mrs. Fox, eaptain ; Mrs. Bushnell, first lieutenant ; Mrs. Charles, second lieutenant ; Miss A. Asbury, paymaster; Mrs. Morton, orderly sergeant. The fore- going officers were elected for three months. It may be that the ladies decided that this bestowal of military titles upon those whose duties were so purely in the field of home work and womanly affairs savored of the presumptuous; at all events, when they elected the second set, at the end of the three months, the record shows that a return had been made to the old official style. Mrs. Fox was chosen as president ; Mrs. Bushnell and Miss Burns, vice presidents ; Mrs. Morton, record- ing and corresponding secretary : Miss Annie Jones, treasurer,
The chief work performed by the Needles consisted in relieving the destitute families of soldiers at home, and doing everything possible for the inmates of hospitals. At first the labors of the society were confined to soldiers in the field and their families at home, but, on account of the profound disturbanee to business and consequent wide- spread suffering, it soon became manifest that the poor of the city must be relieved irrespective of their direet connection with the throes of war. Food and wearing apparel were therefore distributed to worthy applicants generally, and hospital stores were sent to such outside points as Cairo, St. Louis, Ironton, Pilot Knob. Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Mound City, Paducah, Corinth and Savannah. The
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hospitals at Quincy, including the one established for the colored soldiers, received special attention. At one time the hall where the society held its meetings was transformed into a hospital for the reception of forty sick and wounded soldiers who could not be aecom- modated in the local institutions, and at the urgent request of the Needle Piekets the City Council transformed the old Municipal Poor House into a pleasant retreat for invalid soldiers. As the war progressed. the society also sent a number of nurses to Pittsburg Landing, Vicksburg and other battlefields. One of the features of their work which was deeply appreciated by the soldiers was the furnishing of reading matter to those in hospital. The efforts of the society during 1864-65 were mainly directed to the care of the five hospitals located at Quincy.
The cash receipts of the Needle Pickets from May, 1861, to May, 1865, mounted to $28.714.85 ; expenditures, $22,805.19. Its organiza- tion was maintained for many years afterward, although its activities were somewhat dormant after the close of the war. It took a deep interest in the Blessing Hospital, which was originally established in 1865 by the Charitable Aid and Hospital Association. When re- organized in 1873, under its present name, the Pickets furnished and endowed a memorial room.
SISTERS OF THE GOOD SAMARITANI
The Sisters of the Good Samaritan, the objects and work of which were along similar lines with those of the Needle Pickets, organized themselves July 12, 1861. On that date they adopted a constitution and elected the following officers: Mrs. I. O. Woodruff. president ; Mrs. Gilpin and Mrs. C. H. Bull, vice presidents ; Miss E. O'Bannon, recording secretary ; Miss Christiana Tillson, corresponding secretary ; Miss Kate Palmer, treasurer. About a quarter of its membership was composed of men. The individual military organizations that re- ceived the benefits of the Sisters (and Brothers) work were Captain Delano's Dragoons, the Fiftieth Regiment, Colonel Glover's Regiment, Captain Schmitt's Company, Colonel Grant's Regiment, Yates Sharp Shooters and Colonel Morgan's Regiment. At the conclusion of their manifold, consecrated and snecessful labors the Sisters of the Good Samaritan had a balance in the treasury of several thousand dollars which, as will hereafter be told, was devoted to the erection of a soldiers' monument at Woodland Cemetery.
THE FIRST SOLDIERS' MONUMENT
In the western part of the beautiful Woodland Cemetery, once a portion of the great Wood estate, in the southwestern portion of Quincy, is the first monument erected to the soldiers of the Civil war who were drawn from Adams County. And the women did it.
At the close of the war, several thousand dollars remained in the
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treasury of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan Society. After using a portion of this fund for the relief of needy families of the soldiers, the society unanimously resolved to make an effort to honor the dead to the extent of its means and efforts. To this end it was voted to expend the balance of the society's funds in the erection of a soldiers' monument on the bluff's bordering Woodland Cemetery. C. G. Volk, the Quiney seulptor of national reputation, furnished the design which was accepted, and which he executed in the actual ereetion of the striking memorial of white Vermont marble rising on the Missis- sippi banks from one of those mysterious mounds laid there by some prehistorie builder. The modern base of the monument is of drab Joliet stone, and surmounting the marble shaft is the finely wrought figure of an American eagle, with wings partially spread, poised for a flight either to the east or south.
The soldiers' monument at Woodland was consecrated in 1867 "by the Sisters of the Good Samaritan. in duty, affection and rever- ence, to the memory of the faithful soldiers of Adams County who gave their lives that the nation might live." A grand parade of civilians and military took place, directed by Gen. John Tillson, as marshal of the day. Appropriate addresses were made by Gen. B. M. Prentiss, Gen. John Tillson and Col. M. M. Bane.
The United States National Military Cemetery of Quiney was established in 1868, and four cannon were placed in position in 1874. Nearly 250 interments were made. The National Cemetery formerly occupied the northwest portion of Woodland Cemetery, but about 1900 the Government moved it to Graceland. Quite a number of soldiers still oceupy private lots at Woodland.
ILLINOIS SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' HOME
The noblest aftermath of the Civil war. viewed from the institu- tional standpoint, is the splendid home for the soldiers and sailors of Illinois, who are disabled either from old wounds, age or disease, for the activities of the business and professional world. Twenty years after the close of the War of the Rebellion that class had so increased in the state that the people decided the time had come to provide for them as honored wards of the commonwealth. On the 26th of June. 1885, the State Legislature passed an act for the estab- lishment of the Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, and appointed the following as locating commissioners: William W. Berry, Adams County: F. E. Bryant, Bement ; Monroe C. Crawford, Jonesboro : IT. M. Hall. Olney : Henry T. Noble, Dixon : M. R. M. Wallace, Cook County : Fred O. White, Aurora. A number of cities in different parts of the state offered sites, and on December 2. 1885. the locating com- missioners selected a tract of land in Riverside Township, Adams County, just north of the Quincy city limits. The original selection comprised 140 acres and since that time the management has added various purchases amounting to eighty-two aeres. The first board of
IS SOLDIER'S
HORE
MAIN ENTRANCE
STORE AND COTTAGES
WOMANS BUILDING
VIEWS OF THE SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' HOME, NEAR QUINCY
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trustees appointed by Governor Oglesby after the grounds were lo- cated, December 11, 1885, were: Daniel Dustin, of Sycamore; T. L. Diekason, Danville, and J. G. Rowland, Quincy.
A few days afterward General Dustin was chosen president. The cottage system was adopted as the plan of construction, contracts for the various buildings were made in May, 1887, and the Home, as an institution, was opened for the reception of men March 3. 1887. By June, abont forty had been received. Although the increase of the Comrades cared for at the Home was virtually steady for twenty years, it reached high-water mark in 1911, when there were 919 in- mates. The wives of inmates have been received since August 17, 1908. The total number of men admitted to the Home up to April, 1918, was 14,416 and of women, 1,050. Interred in the Home Ceme- tery are 2,551 men and 66 women.
The general plan of the main buildings eovers about twenty acres, the group embracing the administration building. a castellated mas- sive four story buikling of Quincy limestone, erected at a cost of $50,- 000: the three story hospital, with a frontage of 262 feet and accom- modations for about 430 patients: the annex, to accommodate 95 pa- tients: and the Lippincott Memorial Hall, northwest of the headquar- ters building.
The last named, which was dedicated in December, 1900, is in some respects the most notable of the buildings composing the Home plant. Lippincott Hall is the center of the social and religions life of the Home : where religious exercises are held and entertainments given for the benefit of Home members. The building was erected and equipped in memory of Gen. Charles E. Lippincott, the first superintendent, and his wife, Emily Chandler Lippincott. It is located on what is known as the Parade ground and is built of brick.
Grouped around the main buildings are seventeen cottages, ac- commodating from forty to one hundred men. Each is a complete unit in itself with sleeping rooms opening upon outside verandas, sitting and dining rooms, and all the other accommodations of a household. All the food for the cottagers, hospital patients and ad ministrative force is prepared in the general kitchen of headquarters building, and distributed to those outside in sealed metal earts. All the piping for heat, light and sewage disposal is carried in a tunnel half a mile long, with lateral connections to the various buildings comprising the central group. There are numerous minor buildings such as machine, blacksmith and tin shops, laundries, dairy houses, barns, green houses, paint shops, engine houses and coal houses.
The main boiler house is 60 by 100 feet. and contains a battery of nine boilers, which furnish steam for cooking, power and heat for all of the buildings except the hospital and its annex. Both the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and the local elcetric line have tastefully constructed station buildings at opposite entrances to the Home grounds.
The dairy and piggery buildings are located north of the eamp
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proper, and eomprise a large cow barn and sheds to accommodate about 100 head of cattle, together with buildings for grain and hay storage and for the eare of the swine, which average 150. The Home farm also supplies vegetables in season and for storage and canning purposes. The dairy, the live stock and the farm are the sources of mueh healthful exereise for not a few of the inmates, of a fresh and sanitary food supply and considerable financial support to the Home as a whole. The largest item of revenue, of course, upon which the Home depends for its maintenance, is the fund provided by Congress and drawn from the National Treasury consisting of $100 per in- mate per annum. The average operating expenses of the Home per annum for the past decade have been about $250,000.
The Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home has been remarkably fortunate in its choice of superintendents, and they have, as a rule, held offiee for a number of years. Charles E. Lippineott, the first in- eumbent assumed the position in December, 1886, about three months before the Home was opened for the reception of comrades. He died in offiee, September 11, 1887, Lippincott Hall being especially dedi- cated to his memory. J. G. Rowland served pro tem. for a short time in the early fall of that year and regularly, by appointment of the board of trustees, from October, 1887, to April, 1893. He was sueeeeded by B. P. MeDaniel in 1894-95, by W. H. Kirkwood in 1895-97, William Somerville, 1897-1911; J. O. Anderson, 1911-13; John E. Andrew sinee May 20, 1913.
QUINCY IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
Three organizations were sent forth from Quiney for service in the Spanish-American war ; two of them actually reached hostile ter- ritory and the third, although eager to be there, was denied that privilege by the turn of national events.
Under orders from the adjntant general's department of the state. Company F, of the Illinois Militia, under Capt. H. D. Blasland, left Quiney for Springfield April 27, 1898, to report to the regimental commander for immediate war serviee. It was eseorted by the Naval Reserves, who had organized the year before, Company F, the post- offiee employees, Gordon's band and thousands of eitizens. The boys boarded the train to the band tune of "Marching Through Georgia," and on the 5th of May they were mustered into the United States service at the State Fair Grounds, Springfield, under the following officers : H. D. Blasland, captain; H. D. Whipple, first lieutenant ; J. McClellan, second lieutenant. F. B. Nichols, who had some ex- perienee in the English army both in South Africa and India, was ehosen major of the battalion, and Alfred Castle, adjutant, with rank of lieutenant. Eugene Harding was elected eaptain of Company E, from Hillsboro, Illinois.
Company F. of Quiney, left Springfield for Chattanooga, Ten- nessee, on the 13th of May, and there they went into hard and per-
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sistent training for the hoped-for, the longed-for service, either in Cuba or Porto Rico. Whenever one of the boys thought he had a "pull" at Washington in either house of Congress, he sent an carnest appeal to have F' moved into the war arca. The command did get as far as Newport News, via Ringgold, Georgia, and, like other companies, got no farther; the company did board a transport, bnt was ordered to disembark, as the Spanish fleet at Santiago had melted into wreckage and the end of the war was plainly in sight. Then back to Lexington, Kentneky, and Springfield, Illinois, where Company F' was disbanded.
The Quiney Naval Reserves, organized May 21, 1897, had better fortune. Nearly 100 fine young men of the city joined the organiza- tion and were sworn into the state service for three years by Com. D. C. Daggett, of Moline. Col. O. S. Hiekman, who had served in the United States Navy during the Civil war, and also as lieutenant- eolonel in the State Guards, was elected lieutenant commanding the division, with Roy A. Morehead as junior lieutenant and Earl HI. Toole and George Horton as ensigns. In August the division went into eamp near Chicago, the boat drills, seamanship and gun prae- tiee being conducted from the United States Ship Michigan, which was anehored in the lake.
In the following fall Lieutenant Hiekman was promoted to the captain's staff and Ensigns Toole and Horton resigned. At an elee- tion held December 20, 1897, Lieutenant Morehead was placed in com- mand: W. A. Simmons, junior lieutenant ; Marion A. Krieder and Hugh E. King, ensigns. These officers were in charge of the Quiney Naval Reserves at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war. After a season of faithful discipline, they were notified by the Government that they could not be received as an organization ; but fifty-eight of the men enlisted in the regular naval service of the United States, most of them being assigned to the ernisers Newark and Cineinnati.
During the period of the war, the ships named were mostly eruis- ing in West Indian waters and participated in several bombardments of enemy ports. In the meantime three of the old officers of the Reserves had received commissions in the regular navy-Messrs. Morehead, Krieder and King. They were all appointed ensigns, Roy A. Morehead serving first on the receiving ship Franklin and afterward on the gunboat Castine; M. A. Krieder on the Lancaster and Hugh E. King on the Caesar.
Ensigns Morehead and Krieder did not leave United States waters, but the Caesar was ordered to the West Indies and continued there for about six months. It was at San Juan, Porto Rico, on October 18. 1898, when the United States took formal possession of the island. The Spanish flags were ordered down, and to Ensign King. as a representative of the navy, was accorded the honor of raising the first American flag on the Intendentia Palace, while an- other former Quineyite, Lieut. Charles W. Castle, nephew of the prominent manufacturer and Civil war veteran, Col. C. II. Castle, offi-
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ciated at the Governor's Palace. Other army officers were doing like duty at the City Hall and Moro and San Christobal Colon castles.
QUINCY NAVAL RESERVES AFTER THE WAR
At the close of the war the officers and men representing the Quincy Naval Reserves were honorably discharged, and sent home with the thanks of the Government and two months extra pay to their credit. Early in the summer of 1899 they were reorganized as a body, with Lieut. Hugh E. King in command; M. A. Krieder, junior lieutenant ; Samson C. Strauss and William Burton, ensigns. Soon thereafter the division was taken to Waukegan for a week's camp and training on board the U. S. Steamship Michigan.
In 1902 a crew of the Illinois Naval Reserves, comprising seventy- five men and ten officers under the command of Lieut. B. T. Collins of Chicago, brought the U. S. Ship Dorothea from the League Island Navy Yard, Philadelphia, to Chicago, via the St. Lawrence and the lakes, and anchored it at that port as the official training ship for the state to be used on Lake Michigan. It had been donated for that purpose by the United States Government. Lieutenant King and several of the men of the Quincy division participated in the transfer.
In 1902 Lieutenant King was promoted to the rank of navigating officer of the battalion and John F. Garner cleeted lieutenant; S. C. Strauss, junior lieutenant, and William Thesen and William C. Powers, ensigns. During the summer of 1904 Lieutenant Garner took a part of the division to the World's Fair at St. Louis, transporting them in the thirty-foot eutter. Later, the entire Illinois Naval Re- serve spent a weck there. In the winter of 1905 Ensign Powers was transferred to Chicago and Chester Anderson elected to fill the vacancy.
In 1904 Lieut. J. F. Garner resigned, expecting to locate in the West, and Lieut. Hugh E. King was again elceted to eommand the division. In 1908 Lieutenant King was placed on the retired list at his own request, and Lieutenant Garner, who had just finished a term as mayor of Quincy, was again chosen to head the division. In 1911 he, too, was put on the retired list and Lient. William A. John- son assumed command. His efficient work and untiring efforts have done much to raise the Quincy division to the front rank. Lieutenant Johnson enlisted in the division during 1901 under Lieutenant King, and his absolute faithfulness and hard study have fairly earned him the advancement which the Navy Department has accorded him. After he had proven his ability as a division officer, he was honored with the command of one of the largest transports in the service, the U. S. Battleship Kansas.
Others who served as officers during this period were: F. B Weaver, H. C. Abbott, J. Erle Caldwell, Lester G. Bock, U. P. Edwards and J. M. Ross.
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The Quiney Division made the summer cruises on the U. S. S. Dorothea from 1902-09, when the Government assigned the Nashville to Illinois. In 1912 they had the Dubuque and in 1914 the Isle de Luzon. The division also had assigned to them for special use one of the older torpedo boats, the U. S. S. Sommers, which they used on the river for two years, taking Saturday afternoon and Sunday ernises.
PROMPTLY ANSWER LAST CALL TO THE COLORS
On Saturday, April 7, 1917, one day after war was declared against the Imperial Government of Germany, the Tenth Division answered the call to the colors for "somewhere on the coast." Most of the men were originally assigned to the U. S. S. Kansas, but are now distributed on throughout the navy ; Lieut. Waldriep C. Edwards on the U. S. S. Bainbridge ; Ensign Ross on the U. S. S. Baltimore; Ensign Lester G. Boek on the U. S. S. Indiana. Dr. Warren Pearce, who had acted as surgeon, was assigned to duty in the navy, and is now serving with the patrol fleet "over there" as a lieutenant. Prac- tically all these men have seen service in foreign waters.
The following were left with the Quincy Division at the outbreak of the World's war: Lient. William A. Johnson, in command ; Lieut. W. P. Edwards; Ensign James M. Ross; Quartermasters Theodore McPheeters, Francis B. King, George Christ and Harry F. (Tapp) Tappe: Master-at-arms J. F. Kasey; Boatswain Mate William Pelk ; Seamen William E. Stanbury. F. S. Robison, William A. Lock, Paul Albertson, George Barden, R. R. Burns, F. P. Bernard, A. B. Bowen. Arthur H. Bartlett, Norton L. Davis, Loyd Davidson, Lawrence Doht. Edward Ellermeier, William Fischer, Arthur B. Floria, Robert W. Geyer. V. E. Goodwin, V. E. Iletzler. A. J. Hellhake, HI. J. Johnson, Walter Ketterer, W. W. Knipple, R. C. Laws, George L. Love, Clarenee Loehr. Frank Lindsey, Conrad McPheeters, II. G. Meyer. Henry F. Pinkelman, William F. Rneth, Robert B. Reuter, George K. Stan- bury, Clay Straub, R. J. Stronp. A. W. Thesen, Emery N. Thompson, Henry Voots, Lawrence D. White. A. Waltering, Herbert Westman, D. J. Grub. Edward Wałtering, Ray York, HI. Guth, II. Rotger, W. Kasperwick, R. J. Keller, and W. Gilman.
ON BOARD TORPEDOED SHIP
R. J. Keller and J. F. Kasey were on the merchant ship Atlantie Sun as a part of the naval gun crew, which was torpedoed off the Irish Coast, March 7, 1918. The ship was lost, but all hands were landed in Scotland except the first officer, who was retained as a prisoner of war by the German submarine to seeure a bonus on their return to the German base.
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COMPANY I, EIGIITH ILLINOIS VOLUNTEERS
Company I (colored), Eighth Regiment Infantry, Illinois Volun- teers, faithfully performed provost duty in Cuba for several months of the war. It was organized at Quincy in June, 1898, and mustered into the national service at Springfield, under command of Capt. Frederick Ball, Jr., in the following month. The regimental com- mander was Col. John R. Marshall, and the Eighth had the distinc- tion of being the only regiment in the service which was commanded by colored officers. It embarked from New York for Cuba, on the U. S. S. Yale, August 11, 1898, and five days later arrived at Santiago. Thence the regiment proceeded by rail to San Luis de Cuba, where it performed provost duty until March 10th, when it was ordered back to Santiago. In March, 1899, it was in Newport News, and was mus- tered out of the service April 3d following. No deaths; no special glory; just good, sturdy soldiers-which is record enough for any American.
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