USA > Illinois > Stephenson County > The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : containing biographical sketches war record statistics portraits of early settlers history of the Northwest, history of Illinois, &c. > Part 43
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Fifty-first Regiment I. V. I .- Dennis Cook, Co. K, died at
Fifty-third Regiment I. V. I .- W. H. H. Shean, Co. E, died at Chicago, March 31, 1862.
Fifty-fifth Regiment I. V. I .- George W. Crocker, Co. I, died of wounds at Marietta, Sept. 20, 1864.
Fifty-seventh Regiment I. V. I .- Thos. Millerky, Co. E, died at Free- port, March 13, 1864.
Fifty-eighth Regiment I. V. I .- Peter Bauer, Co. D, died of wounds at Shiloh, - -; P. Janus.
Sixty-fourth Regiment I. V. I .- Josiah Capps, Co. C, died at Chatta- nooga, May 10, 1864.
Seventy-first Regiment I. V. I .- E. Sherbondy, Co. D, J. Snyder, Co. D.
Seventy-fourth Regiment I. V. I .- F. Ashenfelter, Co. I, William Bell- man, Co. I, died at Bowling Green, Dec. 4, 1864; Joseph Biehner, Co. I, died at Annapolis, March 11, 1865; T. T. Borden, Co. I, Robert Bingham, Co. I, died of wounds, May 16, 1864; Orla Clark, Co. I, died -; Sidney Cole, Co. I, died at Bowling Green, Nov. 5, 1862; John Ferico, Co. I, died at Murfreesboro, March 24, 1863 ; Amos Has-
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
kins, Co. A, died at Huntsville, March 27, 1865; John Henze, Co. I, died of wounds, June 16, 1864; Frederick Henze, Co. [, killed at Ken- esaw, June 27, 1864; Austin Innman, Co. I, killed at Kenesaw, June 27, 1864; Thos. Jennewine, Co. I, died of wounds, Jan. 2, 1863 ; Wm. H. Keagle, Co. I, died at Nashville, Dec. 13, 1862; Ells Knudson, Co. I, died at Nash- ville, Nov. 26, 1862; Samuel Lapp, Co. I, died at Nashville, Jan. 5, 1863; John A. Mullarkey, Co. I, died of wounds, June 28, 1864; Fred Masmin, Co. I, killed at Lost Mountain, June 18, 1864; M. G. McCue, Co. I, killed at Kenesaw, June 27. 1864; Capt. F. W. Stegner, Co. I, killed in battle at Kenesaw, June 27, 1864; L. H. Van Valkenburg, Co. I, killed in battle at Kenesaw, June 27, 1864.
Eightieth Regiment, I. V. I .- J. Frantz, Co. F.
Eighty-Ninth Regiment, I. V. I .- W. Koym and W. W. Snyder, both of Co. I.
Ninetieth Regiment I. V. I .- D. A. Broderick, Co. A, killed at Jack- son, July 20, 1863 ; Wm. Caston, Co. A, killed at Chattanooga, Nov. 25, 1863 ; Patrick Cranney, Co. A, died at La Fayette, Tenn., March 28, 1863 ; John Crawley, Co. A, died at La Fayette, Tenn., May 18, 1863 ; John Crawford. Co. I, died at Nashville, June 18, 1864 ; John Doogan, Co. I, died of wounds at Atlanta, Sep. 23, 1864 ; B. Donahue, Co. A ; James Laughran, Co. I, died at Marietta, Aug. 23, 1864 ; Dennis McCarty, Co. G, killed Nov. 25, 1863; Neil O'Garry, Co. I, died at La Grange, Jan. 21, 1863; Charles O'Connor, Co. I, died at Camp Sherman, Sept. 16, 1863; John Powers, Co. I, died of wounds, Feb. - , 1862; G. Van Valkenbury, Co. I; Michael Whalen, Co. I, died of wounds at Camp Sherman, Aug. 21, 1864.
Ninety-second Regiment I. V. I .- H. S. Armagost, Co. A, died at Mount Sterling, Nov. 20, 1862; Thomas J. Aurand, Co. F, killed at Powder Springs, Oct. 6, 1864; Benjamin F. Adams, Co. F, died at New Albany, Aug. 25, 1863; Robert Best, Co. E, died at Danville, June 24, 1863; Caston C. Best, Co. E, died at Florence, S. C., Feb. 14, 1865 ; George Byrum, Co. F, died at Nashville, April 21, 1863; William Back, Co. G, killed, Feb. 11, 1865 ; Jacob Bits, Co. G, killed at Kingston, June 22, 1864; W. Boeke, Co. G, A. Baysinger, Co. G, Adam Countryman, Co. F, killed at Steels- boro, Oct. 26, 1864 ; John Cornforth, Co. G, died of wounds, May 18,, 1865; Nathan Corning, Co. G. killed at Chickamauga, September 19, 1863; J. Crouch, Co. G, died of wounds at Davis Mills, S. C., Feb. 13, 1865; John Denious, Co. A, died of wounds at Atlanta, Sep. 23, 1864 ; Will- iam Dickhorner, Co. G, died at Danville, Ky., Jan. 30, 1863 ; William Erb, Co. A, killed at Waynesboro, Ga., Dec. 4, 1864; William Empfield, Co. G, died at Danville, March 14, 1863; William M. Flack, Co. A, died at Lexing- ton, Ky., Nov. 22, 1862; John Friery, Co. F, died at Danville, Ky., Dec. 29, 1862; Amos Fisk, Co. G, died at Nashville, June 30, 1863 ; Lyman A. Ford, Co. G. died at Danville, Jan. 2, 1863; Warren C. Goddard, Co. A, died at Lexington, Nov. 7, 1862; Charles H. Giles, Co. E, killed at Catlett's Gap, Ga., Sep. 17, 1863 ; W. R. Giddings, Co. G, died at Sand Lowe, nug. 30, 1864; C. S. Graves, Co. G, W. A. Hatch, Co. A, died at Nicholasville, Dec. 23, 1862; Valentine Haum, Co. A, died at Danville, Jan. 10, 1863; G. Hicks, Co. A, W. H. Haggart, Co. G, George Johnson, Co. A, died at Nashville, Feb. 22, 1863; Charles M, Knapp, Co. F, died at Baileyville, Jan. 31, 1864 ; Asa Kaster, Co. F, died at Nashville, Feb. 25, 1863; G. N. Keiser, Co. G, died at Louisville, Oct. 14, 1863 ; Ephraim Lambert. Co. F, died at Nashville, Nov. 13, 1863; Benjamin F. Long, Co. F, died at Dan-
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
ville, Jan. 30, 1863; Orin J. Mitchell, Co. F, died at Nashville, Feb. 17, 1863; George Metcall, Co. A, died at Danville, May 3, 1863; George C. Mack, Co. A, killed at Aiken, S. C., Feb. 11, 1865; M. Miller, Co. A, died at Andersonville, Sep. 26, 1864; Emmet A. Merrill, Co. A, killed at Waynesboro, Ga., Dec. 4, 1864 ; Henry Miller, Co. F, died at Andersonville, July 10, 1864 ; Charles H. Purinton, Co. F, died at Danville, Feb. 11, 1863 ; J. A. Reber, Co. F, E. R. Rogers, Co. F, L. W. Rogers, Co. F, Henry Rudy, Co. A, died at Murfreesboro, July 21, 1863 ; John W. Rea, Co. G., died of wounds, April 13, 1865 ; W. W. Smith, Co. A, died at Nashville, Feb. 17, 1863 ; Edward Shearer, Co. G, died at Danville, Jan. 23, 1863; George Thompson, Co. F, died at Danville, Oct. 11, 1863 ; J. R. Thompson, Co. A, Daniel R. Vought, Co. F, died at Danville, Feb. 6, 1863; Albert R. Williams, Co. A, died at Nashville, March 13, 1863; Coates L. Wilson, Co. E, died at Chattanooga, Oct 19, 1863 ; Thomas F. Whiteside, Co. F, died at Danville, Feb. 20, 1863; William Wright, Co. F, died at Danville, Feb. 21, 1863 ; Oscar D. Wilcoxon, Co. F, died at Concord, N. C., June 5, 1865 ; William Werkheiser, Co. G, died of wounds, Oct. 6, 1864 ; Ephraim Wyckoff, Co. G, died at Nashville, April 14, 1863 ; David C. Wingart, Co. K, died at Nashville, Oct. 9, 1864 ; E. Werkheiser, Co. G.
Ninety-third Regiment I. V. I .- Alvin Addams, Co. G, died of wounds at Vicksburg, May 24, 1863; James Blue, Co. D, died at Ridgeway, Jan. 17, 1863; Isaac Brandt, Co. D, killed at Altoona, Oct. 5, 1864; Charles Bender, Co. D, died at Memphis, Feb. 27, 1863; E. B. Brewer, Co. D, died at Memphis, April 17, 1863; J. B. Bollman, Co. G, killed at Champion Hills, May 16, 1863 ; A. M. Broughler, Co. G, killed at Champion Hills, May 16, 1863; Henry C. Carl, Co. G, died of wounds, Oct. 22, 1864; William H. Col- lier, Co. G, died at Andersonville, March 30, 1864; D. S. Coble, Co. G, Samuel F. Devore, Co. D, died at Nashville, July 27, 1863; E. W. Der- rick, Co. D, Rudy Erwin, Co. D, killed at Champion Hills, May 16, 1863 ; Isaac Erb, Co. G, killed at Champion Hills, May 16, 1863; H. Erb, Co. G, W. H. Eisenhour, Co. G, died of wounds, May 19, 1863; David Forney, Co. G, died at Andersonville, Jan. 27, 1864 ; W. Frank, Co. G, Robert Fogle, Co. G, died at Memphis, Dec. 26, 1862; James Hickey, Co. D, killed at Champion Hills, May 13, 1863; Lyman Hulbert, Co. G, killed at Altoona, Oct. 5, 1864; Tobias Helm, Co. G, died at Milliken's Bend, May 16, 1863; Willis G. Haas, Co. G, killed at Vicksburg, May 2, 1863; S. R. Hutchin- son, Co. G, W. Irvin, Co. D, John J. Jewell, Co. D, died at Mem- phis, July 12, 1863; Daniel W. Jones, Co. G, died at Cairo, Sept. 7, 1863; Samuel Knodle, Co. D, died at Vicksburg, Sept. 1, 1863; G. W. Kleckner, Co D, died of wounds at Rome, Ga., Oct. 3, 1864; William Krise, Co. G, died at St. Louis, Sept. 7, 1863; J. Leonard, Co. D, died of wounds at Vicksburg, May 23, 1863; Nathan Liscom, Co. D, died at Vicksburg, Aug. 3, 1863; S. W. Logan, Co. G, killed at Mission Ridge, Nov. 25, 1863; Henry Law, Co. G, died May 29, 1863; D. Leible, Co. G, died at Memphis. Feb. 22, 1863; Oliver McHoes, Co. G, died at St. Louis, Nov. 30, 1863; J. P. McConnell, Co. G, died at Chicago, Oct. 9, 1864; J. B. Newcomer, Co. D, died of wounds, June 21, 1862; Thomas Phillips, Co. D, killed at Champion Hills, May 16, 1863; Holden Putnam (Colonel), killed at Mission Ridge, Nov. 25, 1863; T. Plush, Co. D; E. P. Reynolds, Co. D, died at Memphis, March 12, 1863; John Rima, Co. D, killed at Mission Ridge, Nov. 25, 1863; C. Reiser, Co. G, died at Jacksonville, March 28, 1863; H. Rossweller, Co. G, killed at Cham pion Hills, May 16, 1863; George Sills, Co. D, died of wounds at
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
Champion Hills, May 22, 1863; J. W. Sidlinger, Co. G; David Shearer, Co. D, died at New York Harbor, April 18, 1865; Benjamin F. Shockley, Co. G, died of wounds, May 19, 1863; G. Sprague, Co. D ; Thomas R. St. John, Co. G, died at Camp Douglas, Oct. 22, 1862; D. H. Templeton, Co. D, died at home, Oct. 3, 1862; George Thomas, Co. D, killed at Champion Hills, May 16, 1863 ; John Templeton, Co. G, died of wounds at South Carolina, Feb. 25, 1865; T. K. Vantilburg, Co. G, died at St. Louis, Aug. 4, 1863; Wil- liam B. Ward. Co. D, died at Vicksburg, June 29, 1863; Daniel Wolf, Co. G, killed at Champion Hills, May 19, 1863; William J. Wilson, Co. G, died of wounds, May 25, 1863; F. M. Wickwire, Co. G, died at Vicksburg, Aug. 17, 1863; Joel Wagner, Co. G, died of wounds at Chattanooga, Nov. 29, 1863; G. Zerbe, Co. G.
One Hundred and Eighteenth Regiment I. V. I .- William 'H. Wallace, Co. C, died at New Orleans, Dec. 6, 1863.
One Hundred and Forty-second Regiment I. V. I .- George Adair, Co. F, died at White Station, Sept. 1, 1864; Frank Biehl, Co. A, died at Memphis, Sept. 11, 1864; John Buisman, Co. G, died at White Station, Sept. 9, 1864 ; Israel Dean, Co. G, died at Memphis, Sept. 12, 1864; C. H. French, Co. F; F. Haeuss, Co. F, died at White Station, Aug. 26, 1864; Charles Ludeke, Co. A, died Sept. 26, 1864; T. Murdaugh, Co. F, died at Chicago, Oct. 9, 1864; D. B. Seibels, Co. E, died at Memphis, Aug. 12, 1864.
One Hundred and Forty-sixth Regiment I. V. I .- John Bortsfield, Co. E, died at Camp Butler, Dec. 13, 1864; M. L. Cornville, Co. E, died at Chicago, Oct. 7, 1864; S. Haggart, Co. E; J. S. Murray, Co. E, died at Camp Butler, Feb. 1, 1865; Nathan Springer, Co. E, died at Chicago, Oct. 9, 1864.
One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regiment I. V. I .- John Kelly, Co. E, died at Dalton, Ga., May 7. 1865; W. N. Harwood, Co. E; W. L. Seyler, Co. E. One Hundred and Fifty-third Regiment I. V. I .- A. Shaffer, Co. D. Fourth Regiment I. V. C .- W. Hurlburt, Co.
First Regiment Colored Cavalry-Capt. J. R. Shaffer, Co. A. Twelfth Iowa V. I .- D. D. Warner, Co. G.
Third Missouri Cavalry .- J. W. Shively, Co. G; M. Shotts, Co. G; W. D. Thompson, Co. I.
Seventh Iowa Cavalry .- J. Barron, J. Antes, A. W. Lucas, N. Kohl, D. M. Mage.
Fifth United States Cavalry .- Lieut. J. J. Sweet, Co. E.
Seventh Regiment, I. V. C .- George H. Barnes, Co. B, died at Savan- nah, Tenn., June 6, 1862 ; Thomas Hill, Co. B, died at Memphis, Nov. 15, 1863; J. T. Noyes, Co. B; Capt. W. McCausland, Co. B; D. C. Stone, Co. G, died at Iuka, July 20, 1865.
Eight Regiment, I. V. C .-- Anthony Coppersmith, Co. G, killed Sept. 12, 1863; Samuel Crane, Co. I, prisoner of war, dead ; D. Dieffenbaugh, Co. G, killed at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863; Charles Mularkey, Co. M, killed at Manassas, Nov. 11, 1864.
Thirteenth Regiment, I. V. C .- Samuel B. Deitzler, Co. I, died, March 29, 1864 ; Henry A. High, Co. I, died at Memphis, Tenn .-; Henry Stude- baker, Co. I, died at Pine Bluff, Ark., Oct. 23, 1864; William Strange, Co. I, died at Pine Bluff, Ark., Sept. 3, 1864. John Sendlinger, Co. I, died at Pine Bluff, Ark., July 8, 1864.
Fourteenth Regiment, I. V. C .- B. Breninger, Co. I, missing in action July 13, 1864; K. W. Chapin, Co. I, missing in action, Aug. 3, 1864; D.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
M. Elliott Co. I, died at Gallipolis, Dec. 8, 1863 ; John Gogan, Co. I, missing in action, July 31, 1864; A. M. Gandy, Co. I, died at Bowling Green, Ky., Oct. 9, 1864; Michael Lenan, Co. I, died at Peoria, Jan. 12, 1863; J. McNichols, Co. I, missing in action, July 31, 1864 ; John S. Pickard, Co. I, died at Peoria, March 29, 1863; M. D. Rollison, Co I, missing in action, July 31, 1864 ; William H. Stewart, Co. I, died at Louisville, Aug. 10, 1863 ; H. Vandeberg, Co. I, missing action, July 31, 1864.
Seventeenth Regiment, I. V. C .- H. Bowden, Co. F, drowned at Alton, July 3, 1864; George R. Comstock, Co. M, died at Lena, July 19, 1864 ; J. Peterson, Co. I, accidentally killed, Dec. 12, 1864.
Second Regiment, I. V. A .- F. Shilling, Co. E, died at Memphis, March 20, 1863 ; Henry Williams, Co. K, died at Memphis, April 26, 1865.
Company and Regiment Unknown .- Jasper Clingman, died -; Capt. James R. Shaffer, died at Freeport,-
The second, or upper base, is 9x9 feet and nine feet high, and on each side is a niche in which is inserted a massive slab of white marble. On the south side, facing Stephenson street, in engraved the following, in large raised letters :
TO THE HEROIC DEAD
OF STEPHENSON COUNTY. 1861-1865.
On each of the three remaining slabs in the upper base, are engraved in raised letters some of the battles in which it is known that some of the soldiers of Stephenson County laid down their lives, as follows : Fort Donelson, Pittsburg Landing, Siege of Corinth, Jackson, Siege of Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Mission- ary Ridge, Altoona Pass, Resaca, Pea Ridge, Nashville, Kenesaw Mountain, Stone River, Waynesboro, Cattlet's Gap, Iuka, Aiken, Franklin, Nickajack Gap, Siege of Knoxville, Champion Hills, Farmington, Bentonville, Hatchie, Mobile.
The shaft, 7x7 feet at base, rises 62 feet gracefully from the second base, tapering to three feet at the top, surmounted by a molded cap-stone, four feet six inches by four feet six inches, on which is poised the statue of " Victory " above described, thirteen feet high, making the top of the statue ninety-six feet from the ground.
Early in June, 1871, the last finishing touches were given, and the Ste- phenson County Soldiers' Monument, beautiful in its proportions, and as endur- ing as the solid marble of which it is constructed, stood forth completed, an enduring evidence of the patriotism of the entire population of Stephenson County, by whom it was erected. It was resolved to dedicate the monument on July 4, 1871, and great preparations were made for the event. Gen. John M. Palmer, Governor of Illinois, agreed to deliver the dedicatory address, but, at the last hour, he sent a telegram that he could not come, an. 1 Gen. Smith D. Atkins, of Freeport, reluctantly consented to supply his place. Gen. Atkins spoke as follows :
FELLOW-CITIZENS : I have been admonished by friends, and the conflicting emotions of my heart, to which I cannot give utterance, admonish me now, that it is no easy task, under the peculiar circumstances which have induced me to appear before you, to address such an assem- blage on such an occasion. But I have come, not because I had any hope of doing justice to my subject, but because I know that you will do more than justice to me-you will be generous. Kneeling this day around the altar of American liberty, your hearts will throb responsive to the lightest touch.
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
We do well to come here to-day on this anniversary of our national independence, remem- bering the fathers who have " gone before." We are indebted for all the liberties that we enjoy to those who have long since entered the " dark valley and shadow of death;" those who shall come after us, in the sure flight of years, will be indebted to us for the civil and religious liber- ties which they will enjoy.
If we were to seek the fountain whence our liberties flow, we should be compelled to go far back of 1776; the Declaration of American Independence was the result of a prior moving cause ; on the Mayflower came the germ of liberty ; not alone to the Continental Congress, but to the Pilgrim Fathers are we indebted for the glories of the day we celebrate. Ideas are the moving causes of revolutions ; the clash of arms, the sullen roar of artillery, are but the means employed to an end ; deeper than that, below all that, like disembodied spirits, lie the ideas for which revolutions are fought. The idea, the great underlying thought upon which the American Revolutionary war was fought was embodied in the Declaration of American Inde- pendence, in these words : " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
No grander enunciation of the rights of man had ever been put forth by any people, and around it crystallized the hopes of the three millions and a half of people composing the thirteen American Colonies. I wish it was in my power to draw a picture of the American Continental Congress, convened in the plain little red-brick building in Philadelphia, called at that time the State House, on the morning of July 4, 1776, when Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston, the Committee on the Declaration of Inde- pendence, brought in their report. With what breathless attention did the members of the Continental Congress listen to the reading of it. With what emotion must that Congress have swayed, every one of them knowing, that, if they failed in their unequal struggle with England, the most powerful nation on the globe, then that declaration would prove the death-warrant of every one of them upon the scaffold. But they faltered not. John Hancock wrote his name
" Dashing and bold, as if the writer meant, A double daring in his mind's intent."
Stephen Hopkins, with a palsied hand, but with a fearless and patriotic heart, wrote his name plain enough for the minions of King George to read it ; and Charles Carroll of Carroll- ton, and Franklin, and Adams, and Gerry, and Rutledge, and Jefferson, and Sherman, and Morris, and Witherspoon-" there were giants in those days"-and, relying upon the intrinsic justice of their cause, and the self-evident truths of the rights of human nature that they were declaring, to their maintenance they mutually pledged " their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor." Well might the old bellman who sat anxiously in the steeple of the old State House, waiting for the word joyfully ring out the glad tidings when the Declaration of Independ- ence passed, on the old bell cast many years before in England, and bearing, as if by inspiration, this inscription, in solid metal letters : PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO ALL THE LAND, AND TO ALL THE INHAB- ITANTS THEREOF. Aye, Liberty ! That old bell is ringing yet, and millions hear it. The last of all those who were there have long since been "gathered to their fathers," but their work lives after them and yet shall live. Time shall not dim it. The glories of the Cross of Calvary shall pale away and fade from the remembrance of men as soon as the moral grandeur and sublimity of that declaration shall be dimmed. While the memories of Washington and Warren survive, while there is one man to honor the memories of John Hampden and Algernon Sydney, while there is one human heart groaning beneath oppression, and throbbing with the love of freedom, the Declaration of American Independence will stand a beacon light to beckon on to liberty.
In February, 1861, Abraham Lincoln, after his election by the people as President of the Republic, stood upon the steps of the old State House in Philadelphia, on the very spot where Liberty was proclaimed by our Revolutionary Fathers in 1776, and uttered these memorable words :
" I have often inquired of myself what idea or principle it was that kept the Confederacy so long together. It was something in the Declaration of Independence giving liberty, not only to the people of this country, but hope to the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise, that, in due time, the weight should be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. Now, my friends, can this country be saved upon this basis ? If it can, I will consider myself one of the happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. But if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say, I would rather be assassinated upon the spot than to surrender it.'
They are memorable words. Great, noble Lincoln, how tenaciously he clung to the idea of liberty-which inspired the Pilgrim Fathers on the Mayflower; to which our fathers clung through- out all their colonial history ; the one idea and single thought of the Continental Congress of 1776; the heart, the soul, the life, of the Declaration of American Independence, looking forward to the future, the clouds of civil war gathering in the South, as if inspired with a foresight to see the bloody ending of his self-sacrificing devotion to the cause of liberty, Abraham Lincoln pro- claimed himself the willing sacrifice ! But could the nation have seen the bitter dregs of the cup
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HISTORY OF STEPHENSON COUNTY.
that he was destined to quaff, with what agony would every face have been turned heavenward, and millions of supplications gone to the great throne on high : "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass." But-and thank God-before the idol of the nation was called upon to drink that bitter cup, before the foreshadowed prophesy was fulfilled, the idea of liberty had triumphed over slavery, and the blood of the martyred Lincoln sealed the deed of freedom forever. Toll, solemn bells ; weep, ye worshipers around Liberty's altar ; the disciple, the prophet, Abraham Lincoln, of the people and by the people best beloved, amid the nation's tears, even on the top wave of the nation's victory, has gone from earth, called by the Great Jehovah to " come up higher."
In that terrible struggle, foreshadowed by Abraham Lincoln as he stood upon the steps of the old State House in Philadelphia, have gone down into the "dark valley and shadow of death" the immortal heroes in whose honor the grateful patriotism of the people of Stephenson County has erected that marble column. Honoring, as we ought and do, the Revolutionary heroes, never can we forget those brave men who, in the late war, have died that their country might live. At the story of their heroism, our hearts swell with pride, and, at the story of their sufferings, our hearts melt into tears. . Sometimes I wonder if the American people will ever forget what they felt when the news was flashed over the wires that the South Carolinians had fired upon Fort Sumter. I wonder if all the people of the good old Northland will forget that great uprising, party ties broken, party sunk in patriotism, when President Lincoln called for troops, and the voice of the mighty Douglas rang through the land, declaring that he who was not for his country in such an hour was against his country, and all the people resolved that the stars and stripes should again float over Sumter-aye, should "greet the morning sunlight and kiss the last rays of the setting sun," not alone above the brick and mortar of that old fort, but everywhere throughout all this broad land, should unfold its bright stripes and gleaming stars-the symbol of liberty, and the shield and protection of American citizenship. Have the citizens of Freeport forgotten the Sabbath-day meeting for enlisting soldiers, held here on our public square? Have you forgotten the meetings held in all your schoolhouses, when the prairies were all alive with patriotic ardor, and the fife and drum were beating up recruits ? Have you forgotten how a free people, living in a government "of the people, and by the people, and for the people," with a common impulse, rallied to the defense of their imperiled country? How grand it was-some- thing to be remembered always, and to be proud of always. How like a mighty dream it all appears to us now, as we look back upon the past. And afterward, when the three-years troops were called for, how the heroes of the Republic came pouring into the camps-the farmer from his plow, the mechanic from his shop, the merchant from his store, the lawyer from his office- by ones, by dozens, by fifties and by hundreds, until companies, and regiments, and brigades, and divisions, and corps, with banners flying, and bugles blaring, and drums beating, were march- ing to the front, singing as they went,
" We are springing to the call of our brothers gone before, Shouting the battle-cry of Freedom; And we'll fill the vacant ranks with a million freemen more, Shouting the battle-cry of Freedom."
Grand and glorious as was the great uprising of the North in the early summer of 1861, grander still was the swelling and growing volume of the nation's patriotism, as it swelled and rose higher and higher with the nation's need. Our good President called for three hundred thousand soldiers, and the people answered his call; then he called for three hundred thousand more, and the patriotic people answered back to the President,
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