The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 66

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932

USA > Illinois > Peoria County > The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc. > Part 66

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Shoemaker Edward, e. Feb. 4, '65.

ENLISTED MEN OF COMPANY No. 5.

Privates. Lair Noab, e. Marcb 13. '65.

MeMullen James E. e. March 13, '65, corpl. m.o. March 2, '66, as of co. G. 4th U. S. V. V.

Upshaw George, e. March 13, '65.

13th U. S. Infantry.

Recruits.

Barber James C. e. June, *65.

Beasmore Robert G. e. June, '65. Bink John H. e. Juue. 165. Dunbar Robert F. e. June, '65. Gunsolus James H. e. June, '65.

Satter Joseph, e. June, '65.

" THE VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS."

The war ended and peace restored, the Union preserved in its integrity, the sons of Peoria who had volunteered their lives in defense of their Government, who were spared to see the army of the Union victorious, returned to their homes to receive grand ova- tions and tributes of honor from friends and neighbors who had eagerly and jealously followed them wherever the fortunes of war called. Exchanging their soldiers' uniforms for citizens' dress, most of them fell back to their old avocations-on the farm, in the mines, at the forge, the bench, in the shop, and at whatever else their hands found to do. Some of them were called to higher honors, and their names have become as familiar to the people and governments of the Old World as their noble deeds in the hour of their country's peril are dear to the hearts of the people whom they so faithfully served. Brave men are honorable always, and no class of citizens are entitled to greater respect than the volunteer soldiery of Peoria county, not alone because they were soldiers, but because in their associations with their fellow-men their walk is upright, and their hon- esty and character without reproach.

Their country first, their glory and their pride ; Land of their hopes - land where their fathers died ; When in the right, they'll keep their honor bright ; When in the wrong, they'll die to set it right.

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HISTORY OF PEORIAA COUNTY.

No grander tribute ean be offered to the soldiers of the Union in the War of the Rebellion, dead and living, thau expressed by Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll at the banquet of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee on the occasion of the thirteenth annual meeting of the Society at Chicago on the 13th of November, 1879, In the regular or- der of toasts, the President of the Society, General Sherman, announced :

The volunteer soldiers of the Union army, whose valor and patriotism saved the world a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Response by Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll.

In response Colonel Ingersoll said :

When the savagery of the lash, the barbarism of the clan, and the insanity of secession confronted the civiliza- tion of our century, the question, "Will the great Republic defend itself?" trembled on the lips of every lover of mankind.

The North filled with intelligence and wealth, children of liberty, marshaled her hosts and asked only for a leader. From civif life a man, silent, thoughtful, poised and calm, stepped forth, and with lips of victory voiced the nation's first and last demand: " Unconditional and immediate surrender." From that moment the end was known. That utterance was the first real declaration of war, and, in accordance with the dramatic unities of mighty events, the great soldier who made it, received the final reward of the rebellion.

The soldiers of the Republic were not seekers after vulgar glory. They were not animated by the hope of plunder or the love of conquest. They fought to preserve the blessings of liberty and that their children might have peace. They were the defenders of humanity, the destroyers of prejudice, the breaker of chains, and in the name of the future they slew the monsters of their time. They finished what the soldiers of the Revolution commenced. They relighted the torch that fell from their august hands and filled the world again with light. They blotted from the statute-books laws that had been passed by hypocrites at the instigation of robbers, and tore with indignant hands from the Constitution that infamous clause that made men the catchers of their fellow-men.

They made it possible for judges to be just, for statesmen to be human, and for politicians to be honest.

They broke the shackles from the limbs of slaves, from the souls of masters, and from the Northern brain. They kept our country on the map of the world, and our flag in heaven.

They rolled the stone from the sepulcher of progress, and found there two angels clad in the shining garments -Nationality and Liberty. The soldiers were the saviors of the nation ; they were the liberators of men. In writ- ing the proclamation of independence, Lincoln, greatest of our mighty dead, whose memory is as gentle as the sum- mer air when reapers sing amid the gathered sheaves, copied with the pen what Grant and his brave comrades wrote with swords.

Grander than the Greek, nobler than the Roman, the soldiers of the Republic, with patriotism as stainless as the air, battled for the rights of others, for the nobility of labor, fought that mothers might own their babes, that ar- rogant idleness should not scar the back of patient toil, and that our country should not be a many-headed monster made of warring States, but a nation, sovereign, great, and free.

Blood was water, money was leaves, and life was common air until one flag floated over a Republic without a master and without a slave. Then was asked a question : "Will a free people tax themselves to pay the nation's debt?"

The soldiers went home to their waiting wives, to their glad children, and to the girls they loved, they went back to the fields, the shops, and mines. They had not been demoralized. They had been ennobled. They were as honest in peace as they had been hrave in war. Mocking at poverty, laughing at reverses, they made a friend of toil. They said : " We saved the nation's life, and what is life without honor ?"

They worked and wrought with all of labor's sons that every pledge the nation gave should be redeemed. And their great leader, having put a shining band of friendship, a girdle of clasped and happy hands, around the globe. comes home and finds that every promise made in war has now the ring and gleam of gold.

There is another question still : " Will all the wounds of the war be healed?" I answer, yes. The Southern people must submit, not to the dictation of the North, but to the nation's will and to the verdict of mankind. They were wrong, and the time will come when they will say that they are victors who have been vanquished by the right.

Freedom conquered them, and freedom will cultivate their fields, educate their children, weave for them the robes of wealth, execute their laws, and fill their land with happy homes.

The soldiers of the Union saved the South as well as the North. They made us a nation. Their victory made us free and rendered tyranny in every other land as insecure as snow upon a volcano's lips.

And now let us drink to the volunteers, to those who sleep in unknown, sunken graves, whose names are only in the hearts of those they loved and left -of those who often hear in happy dreams the footstep of return.

Let us drink to those who died where lipless famine mocked at want, to all the maimed whose scars give modesty a tongue, to all who dared, and gave to chance the care and keeping of their lives, to all the living and to all the dead, to Sherman, to Sheridan, and to Grant, the foremost soldier of the world, and last, to Lincoln, whose loving life, like a how of peace, spans and arches all the clouds of war.

Pretty soon after the close of the War of the Rebellion in the Spring of 1865, the people began talking about the erection of a monument to the memory of the soldiers from Peoria county who had fallen in defense of their country. No definite action was taken, however, until Thursday, September 14, 1865, when, the Board of Supervisors being in

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session, Dr. John Emery, the Supervisor from Trivoli, offered the following, and moved for its adoption :

WHEREAS, Many of the soldiers of this county have died in defense of their country, and lie buried in distant places with nothing to mark the place of their burial, therefore,

Resolved, That an appropriation of - - dollars be made for the erection of a suitable monument, to be erected in the Court-house yard, upon which shall be inscribed the names of all the soldiers who have died from this county, with their company and regiment.

The resolution was referred to a committee appointed by the chairman of the Board, composed of Messrs. Dr. Emery. Watson and Day, with instructions to procure plans, specifications and estimates, and report at the next meeting of the Board.

At the April meeting of the Board (1866), the committee reported that they had received several plans, specifications and bids, all of them at a cost of five thousand dollars. The contract was finally awarded to Mr. Robert Campbell, of Peoria.

The corner stone laying was attended with much pomp and ceremony. The monu- ment was fully completed and submitted to be dedicated on the 11th day of October, 1866.

DEDICATION CEREMONIES.

The largest assembly ever seen in Peoria was on the occasion of the dedication of the Soldiers' Monument, Thursday, October 11, 1866, it being estimated that fully thirty thousand people were present. The streets were filled, and the city was wild with ex- citement. Old men who had stood side by side with Owen Lovejoy when he was waging a war against slavery and for the rights of man, and for which his life was sacrificed ; men who, because of their devotion to freedom and the inalienable right of their fellow- men to enjoy the fruits of their own labor and the protection of their own homes, had been politically ostracised and covered with odium, greeted and rejoiced with each other; young men who had stood in the front of battle and aided in the suppression of the re- bellion, met again, talked over their old campaigns, and crowded around their gallant leader, General Logan. All were present to participate in the dedication of amonument that would commemorate for all time the names of the heroic dead -of the men who gave their lives in defense of the Union and of human rights. They were all freemen, standing up for justice and for right, needing no leader but their God, no guide but their conscience.

The day was as fair as an October day could be. A soft haze overhung the sky and the atmosphere was in that condition when the slightest sound is readily and easily transmitted, so that the voices of the speakers were easily heard.

Early in the forenoon the streets began to fill up, and it was not long until the Peoria House was surrounded with a tumultuous throng hurrahing for Generals Butler and Logan. "Old Abe," the veteran war eagle of the Eighth Wisconsin, brought down by Captain A. R. McDonald, State Armorer of that State, and Major Angie G. Weissert, of the Eighth Wisconsin volunteers, was brought to the balcony, which was a signal for renewed huzzas. In the vast assemblage there were many men who had " been throughi the war" with that king of birds, and the sight of their old " pet " recalled many scenes of camp and field and weary march.

About ten o'clock a procession was formed in the following order :

Four Marshals of the Day, Riding Abreast. Spencer's Band. Two Companies of Soldiers, walking by Company Front. Carriage with " Old Abe," the War Eagle. Nine Companies of Infantry, Company Front, with Regimental Colors. Cavalry Company, one hundred strong, by Fours. Carriage with Orators of the Day.

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Peoria Medical Society. German Turnverein. Gillig's Band. I. O. O. F. Sons of Temperance. Fire Department. Citizens in Carriages. Citizens on Foot.

The procession marched and countermarched along Adams street : thence along some of the other principal streets, and then debouched into the public square, where the dedication exercises were to be observed. The Transcript of the 12th said :

" The square was crowded full. Directly in front of the speaker's stand the throng was so great that individuals could neither get in nor out. The speaker's stand was crowded to excess, and numbers crowded on the outside where- ever they could get a toothold. Others climbed the trees and swarmed in their branches, wherever the branches were long enough and large enough to support them. * * * * The monument had been appropriately draped with wreaths and decked with flowers. An evergreen wreath wound up the shaft, and over the eagle was a cross of flowers. The effect was exceedingly beautiful. The unsightly picket fence around it had been removed, and in its place were wreaths of evergreens and flowers. The throng, crowded as they were, respected the sacred enclosure, and not a flower or a sprig of green was touched. As the procession moved into the square, "Old Abe" was carried to the speaker's stand and placed in the front, where his presence was greeted with long continued applause.

" Spencer's band then played a patriotic air, after which Colonel R. G. Ingersoll introduced Rev. Mr. Pierce. of Elmwood, who opened the exercises with an appropriate prayer. Gillig's band played a dirge, after which the dedi- catory poem by Mrs. P. R. K. Brotherson, was read by Colonel R. G. Ingersoll."

THE POEM.

Rise, crowned with glory ! shaft of white, Tower proudly to the bright blue sky ; And tell in triumph to the world The names that were not born to die : Names that through all coming time, Shall gleam with luster pure and bright - A luster won from noble deeds, And tinged with Heaven's eternal light.

When treason and disunion reared Their serpent heads with longue of flame, And with defiance and with distrust, Our bitter, vengeful foes became ; When o'er the mountain and the vale, Was heard our country's stirring cry :

" To arms ! To arms !" - and patriot hearts Resolved to conquer or to die.

Then went each noble spirit forth With trusting faith and strong right hand They stood, " where man doth die for man," A fearless and unshrinking band ; They faltered not, but onward pressed, Firm in their manhood's power and pride, And for our safety, for our weal, They bravely fought, they nobly died.

How shall we give them honor due ? blow twine the laurel for them meet ? Had we the riches of the world To lay at their unconquered feet,

'I'would not avail nor would it tell The grateful memories that we keep, Distilled in many a falling tear, Above theircalm, unbroken sleep.

But we will shrine each noble name Upon the marble pure and white ; And the glad sunshine, day by day, Shall bathe them in its glowing light ; The wind sha I steal from Eden bowers, And linger round the sacred place Where stands the record that with pride A grateful country loves to trace.

Look down, O 1 watchful stars of Heaven, Through the long hours of mystic night, To guard them well with loving ward. And crown them with your golden light, Fall gently, purely, dews and showers. Those high, and holy names around, Fall as a blessing v'er the place Where memory makes it holy ground.

Then rise fair marble ! Take thy place Among the things which earth will keep While time shall last, and many an age Lies down to its dreamless sleep. The hand of Genius crowns thee, too Its living impress thou dost wear, As clothed with its unchanging grace Thou dost immortal deeds declare

After the poem, Rev. Richard Honey, of Peoria, formally dedicated the monument. The ceremony was simple, yet impressively performed, and was listened to with profound attention.

Major-General Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, was then introduced to the andience nmid vociferous cheering, and it was some moments before the enthusiastic greetings was sufficiently stilled to permit him to be heard. The speech is too lengthy to

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be incorporated within these pages, and hence we only preserve a few brief paragraphs. He commenced.

** I came at your call from the far East, where the blue waves of the Atlantic wash the granite based shores of New England, to aid in embalming for all time the deeds of the glorious dead of the prairies of the West, almost as boundless, but teeming with vigorous life, fertility and civilization. This peculiar coincidence is of itselffull of promise for the unity, strength and prosperity of our institutions. The East answers to the West with the same spirit of fidelty, loyalty and devotion to the country, in the same love of kindred institutions, with unity of thought and full harmony of action. " He then referred to the battles of the revolution, especially the battle of Lexington, and the monnment that had been erected there, to Concord and to Charleston, the first burning sacrifice of the country to British brutality, where another granite shaft pierces the sky to mark the first victory of the revolution at Bunker Hill, and to other places where the patriots of the days of seventy-six sealed their devotion to the principles of American independence with their blood and their lives ; to Ladd and to Whitney, the first martyrs to the accursed spirit of the rebellion, who fell at Baltimore on their march to defend the National Capital. Thus mingling the recollections of the war of American Independence with the deeds of the war of preservation, the speaker continued: "Is there not a peculiar significance in your invitation to meet my comrades here to do honor to five thousand soldiers who went forth from one of the central counties of the great State of Illinois, more than eight hundred of whose names are inscribed upon this shaft as dying in the noblest cause for which men ever fought ? That each and all these revolutionary monuments of valor were dedicated to commemorate the heroism of the common soldier, ever the first martyrs in the cause of Liberty and Right, is most suggestive that the grati- tude of the Republic will, as it ought to be, paid to those, her defenders, who, in the ranks with musket in hand, haversack at side and knapsack on the shoulder, have always marched at the call of the country, to meet danger, privations and death itself ; there can be no higher subject of thought, no grander theme of contemplation, no more glorious topic of eulogy, than the patriotism, courage, constancy, fidelity and loyalty of her soldiers in the ranks to the flag of the country. "

The speaker then passed on to review some of the leading features of the War of the Rebellion, the patriotic spirit of the people, and the heroic men who fell in defense of the Union, and closed with these words:

" Is it not, therefore, fit that this monument should be raised to them, and upon it their names inscribed as a perpetual memorial to their children and ours, as an object of gratitude, of love, of emulation and of reverence to those that shall come after them? Our children, and our children's children, shall be inspired to deeds of heroic valor by their example in the field as soldiers : our posterity will bless their memories and keep them green forever, for their preservation of popular government and free institutions, as citizens. And we may not on this sad, though yet joyous occasion, forget the true officers, regular and volunteer, who led them, of whom, when we say they were captains worthy of such soldiers, we pronounce their highest eulogy. Yet the living will pardon us, and the dead will smile upon us, for putting before them in the foremost ranks of honor, as they stood before them in the front rank of battle, the true defenders of their country - the private soldiers.

" It is well, again we say, to raise these monuments to the memories of both, and inscribe upon them their names, so that in all time to come the father shall lead his son here, as to his country's altar, and, as Hamilcar swore the infant Hannibal to eternal hatred of the enemies of the country, so shall the American sire here dedicate his son to loyalty, devotion to his country, and to fidelity to its flag, the symbol of its glory and its fame. In each following year, through the long cycles of ages, shall the memories of

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the virtues of these our fallen heroes grow greener and greener, and their sacrifices shall be remembered as the shining examples of the best days of the Republic.

"And now we of the present hour must not forget to profit by the lesson they have taught us. and to value above and before all the unity of the country for which they fought ; the true idea of American liberty which they upheld, and to cherish and main- tain in every field, in every forum. against all odds, and at every hazard. the institution and popular government which, by the sacrifices of their lives, they have secured. They have bequeathed to us a sacred privilege to enjoy, and an equally sacred duty to main- tain - the fruits of the victory they have won. We will be false to their glorious mem- ories, to their gallant sacrifices and privations, to their heroic deaths and to their hallowed graves, if we suffer one jot or tittle of the rights for which they fought and fell, to be tar- nished in transmission to their and to our posterity.

" Let us then go on in the path of duty which they so nobly marked ont. and main- tain the institutions which they preserved against every attack. insidious or open. from whatever quarter or in whatever guise ; and thus by our action do honor to their memories far greater, higher. nobler and more fitting than sculptured marble or monu- mental stone."

At the close of the oration, three cheers were called for the hero of New Orleans, which were heartily given. Bouquets were thrown to him in profusion and handkerchiefs were waved from fair hands. Loud calls were made for General Logan, and his appear- ance at the front of the stand was the signal for another shower of bouquets and storm of applause.

THE MONUMENT.

This commemorative column is composed of ten pieces of stone and marble as it now stands. The first base is five feet eight inches square and sixteen inches high. The second base is six feet five inches square and eight inches high. Third base. octagon, five feet three inches by five feet three inches and one foot three inches high. These bases are made of neatly dressed Ellettsville limestone. A tin box. containing relies, is deposited in crypt eut in the top of the third base. The fourth base, octagon. is four feet square, and one foot three inches high. is made of Rutland ( Vermont) marble. The die is octagonal three feet by three feet, and four feet high. The names of the deceased soldiers, whose memory this monument was designed to honor and perpetuate. are in- scribed on the eight sides of this die, and cover its almost entire surface. The octagon cap is four feet two inches by four feet two inches, and one foot three inches high, with moulding finish. The sub-die is two feet six by two feet six inches, and three feet high, on four sides of which are carved, in bas relief. figures representing the Goddess of Lib- erty. The spire is two feet by two feet, and eleven feet six inches high. The cap is one foot eight by one foot eight inches square. and eight inches high, surmounted by a marble figure of a perched eagle, two feet six inches high, with wings partially extended and looking to the north.

The monument was originally planted near the center of the Main street side of the Court-house square, where it remained until the grade of the square was commenced in the Fall of 1879, when it was removed to its present position on the Jefferson street front. At the time of removal, and before it was re-set. the entire shaft was worked over, repolished, and about fifty names added to those " who had gone be- fore." The three lower bases, which had begun to shell off and to grow unsightly, were replaced with new ones. The work of removing, re-polishing and resetting this monu- mental shaft, was entrusted to Messrs. Triebel and Son, who successfully and satisfactorily accomplished the undertaking.

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WOMAN'S WORK.

In the War of the American Revolution, a struggle for national independence, the women bore a noble part in helping their patriot fathers, husbands, sons and brothers. In the many Indian wars, from one end of the country to the other, including the Black Hawk war in 1832, they were never backward or reluctant, but by every possible means, contributed to the success of the cause in defense of which their natural protectors pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honors. In more than one struggle the mothers, wives and daughters made bullets, cut patching (when the old-fashioned rifle was the approved style of fire arm), and loaded the guns as fast as they were dis- charged. Acts of this kind are related in connection with the Black Hawk war. In some instances the women were more conrageous than men, and evinced greater bravery. Here is a case in point relating to one of the pioneer mothers of Illinois :

At Galena, during the Black Hawk war, when the stockade was nearly completed, Colonel Strode, the commandant of that post, so planned as to secure a false alarm in the night time. At midnight, May 4, 1832, a cannon was discharged, which awakened the citizens from their slumbers. Thus suddenly awakened from their sleep, and believ- ing the Indians were upon them, they jumped into their clothes and hurried to the stock- ade as fast as fright and their feet could carry them. Some of them arrived at the stock- ade with toilets not more than half completed. Among others who were badly frightened was the Galena postmaster, who didn't stop to put on his trousers when he sprang from his bed, but jerked the sheet and wrapped it around him as he ran, and as he entered the fort commenced calling for some one to bring him a pair of pants. A large number of women were there, and a Mrs. Bennet was making bullets and otherwise encouraging the men. The postmaster kept flying from place to place calling for a pair of pants. His antics can be easily imagined by the reader, as described by the writer. At length, tired of his chassezing around, and thinking he could fight as well without pants as with them, and that that was neither the time nor the place " for fooling," Mother Bennett picked up a gun and placed it in his hands with the injunction, " Here, you old coward, take this gun and get into position to be killed like a brave man; and don't be scared to death."

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The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 66

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company Number of Pages: 932

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932