USA > Indiana > Jay County > Biographical and historical record of Jay and Blackford Counties, Indiana : containing portraits and biographies of some of the prominent men of the state : engravings of prominent citizens in Jay and Blackford Counties, with personal histories of many of the leading families and a concise history of Jay and Blackford Counties and their cities and villages. > Part 21
USA > Indiana > Blackford County > Biographical and historical record of Jay and Blackford Counties, Indiana : containing portraits and biographies of some of the prominent men of the state : engravings of prominent citizens in Jay and Blackford Counties, with personal histories of many of the leading families and a concise history of Jay and Blackford Counties and their cities and villages. > Part 21
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or the light flame, as desired, and also in varying proportions and amounts. By a nest of wire-ganze sheets the gas can be so evenly relieved of its pressure before ignition that the flame, burning the carbon thoroughly and evenly, becomes dazzlingly brilliant and perfectly steady, like an incandescent electric light.
It is very important that the gas be mixed with air before it is burned; for if it is not it will smoke and deposit soot on the in- terior of the stove, which not only prevents the heat produced from passing out, but is actual waste of fuel. The soot is unburned carbon.
It is not strictly proper to speak of burn- ing atmospheric air; but by this device for mixing it with the gas the latter is more completely burned than any other fuel.
The amount of gas required to supply a stove depends, of course, upon the amount of heat required. Experiment has shown that an ordinary mixture, with a one- eightlı inch opening, under a pressure of one and a half pounds to the square inch, con- sumes about 140 cubic feet of gas per hour. It will thus be seen that a well yield- ing 100,000 cubic feet per day would supply sixty or seventy stoves, each being in use ten hours per day, provided all the gas could be utilized; but as there are no provisions made for storing the gas it can be utilized only when the stoves are in operation.
In regard to the pressure of gas, it may be said that it varies somewhat in different localities, from 200 to 400 pounds on the square inch when the well is entirely shut in. The rock pressure at Portland is about 300 pounds to the square inch.
In respect to the origin of gas we can only theorize. Chemistry has shown that it is composed of carbon and hydrogen, and these elements thus mixed are never met with in
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HISTORY OF JAY COUNTY.
inorganic nature; they either have been or are constituents of animal or vegetable or- ganisms. Some have thought that, as the gas is found in and abont fossil rock, it came from the decomposition of either animal or vegeta- ble organisms of some past age. The re- mains of plant life, however, in and bencath the Trenton rock are very scanty, though there are many small shells and other marine fossils found, which indicate that the water from which the Trenton rock was deposited was teeming with animal life. May it not be that the gas is the result of decomposition of the bodies of these little animals, and has been prevented from escaping into the air by the heavy and compact layers of rock above
it? In support of this theory it may be said that gas in every way similar to the natural gas flowing from the wells can be made by placing the bodies of these small animals in a retort and heating them slowly to redness.
In regard to the lasting qualities of this natural gas but little can be predicted, since the thickness of the gas-bearing rock is some- what variable, and every part of the rock does not contain gas. It is extremely difficult to obtain the necessary data for calculating the quantity of gas in any given area, even if the pressure be known. It is, however, highly probable that the gas, sooner or later, will be exhausted.
227
THE CIVIL WAR.
THE CIVIL WAR,
HE first wave of artil- lery thunder from the tumbling walls of Fort Sninter echoed from the loyal banks of Jay County bearing upon its crest a number of patriots, the first of whom was
CHARLES E. BENNETT.
This brave young hero was a student at Liber College, and as soon as he read the call for troops he told President Tucker that he was going. He went to Winchester to join a company, but was rejected on account of his near- sightedness, for which he wore glasses. He then went to Indianapolis, and by keeping his spectacles out of sight he succeeded in entering Company C, Eighth Indiana. He served his time ont and was discharged. In 1862, when the rallying cry was,
" We are coming, Father Abraham,
Three hundred thousand more,"
he again enlisted, in Company F, Seventy-
fifth Indiana Volunteers, and this time gave his life for his country, dying of disease while the company was at Castilian Springs, Tennessee, abont the 1st of December, 1862. Ile had been raised a Qnaker, and was an honest, kind-hearted yonng man.
THIRTY-NINTH INFANTRY OR EIGHTH CAVALRY.
We sketch this before we do the Thirty- fourth because the first company froin the county was placed therein. It was raised in July, 1861, principally by the efforts of C. H. Clark, Nimrod Headington and S. L. Wilson. At first volunteers were s'owly ob- tained, because it was thonght out of all pro- portion to undertake to raise a whole company at that time in one county; but after the first thirty were obtained no more difficulty was experienced. Judge J. M. Haynes, J. N. Templer and others addressed the people, and thus materially aided the cause.
On the morning of August 9 an anxious multitude of citizens assembled at Portland to bid farewell to the first company Jay County sent to the war for the Union. It was a trying
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HISTORY OF JAY COUNTY.
hour to the relatives of the departing, who knew that the chances were against most of them ever returning alive to the scenes of that dear home for which they had gone out to lay down their lives. Early that morning the reveille summoned the volunteers to- gether at Camp Ross. Then, with the in- tensest feeling they marched in order about the town, halting in front of each house where any of them had been living or board- ing, and giving hearty cheers. The village was soon crowded with citizens from the country. Farmers, more than were needed, gratuitously offered their services as team- sters to convey the volunteers to Winchester, where they could take the railroad for Indi- anapolis. Loaded into the wagons and car- riages, they bade their last farewell, amid tears and sorrow, but with an unswerving de- termination to go to the front in the battle- field. Amid loud cheers and the waving of hats and handkerchiefs, drowning half-sup- pressed sobs, the long train of wagons and carriages started, carrying 200 persons, over half of whom were a citizens' escort.
Two days afterward, at Camp Morton, they were sworn into service for three years, or- ganized as Company C, Thirty-ninth Indi- ana Volunteer Infantry, on the 29th, and September 21 were ordered to Kentucky; marched with Buell's army to Nashville, and engaged in the terrible battle of Shiloh, where the regiment lost two killed and thirty-four wounded. Here the Jay County boys were in the thickest of the fight for two and a half hours, during which time the rebels com- menced their retreat. They were then com- inanded by Lieutenants Justus G. Crowell and Curtis H. Clark, as their Captain, Stephen L. Wilson, was home on recruiting service. Stephen J. Bailey and James Q. Odle were mortally wounded. While Bailey was being carried from the field, he said to
Lieutenant Clark, "Tell my mother I died like a man, fighting for my country." At that moment the cheers of our troops were heard, and he inquired what it meant. Upon being told that the rebels were running, he said, " Then I die in peace." He died ten days afterward, the first soldier from Jay County to yield up his life to rebel bullets. He was the son of Mrs. Bailey, of Camden, and was raised a Quaker.
James Hathaway, another private in this company, deserves special mention. Being a musician, he was not required to enter the fight; but at Pittsburg Landing he laid aside his fife, seized the first abandoned musket he could find, and fought bravely until the bat- tle was over.
Marching against Corinth, the company participated in a severe fight at Bridge Creek, with no loss. Then, after inarching to sev- eral points in Alabama, and when on their way to Chattanooga, they were ordered by General Buell to retreat; and in this they suffered many privations, returning across Tennessee and Kentucky, chased part of the way by Bragg. Going again to the front, they suffered as much more. Swine were driven from the wallow and the water used to inake coffee and quench thirst; and, on one occasion, the soldiers had to drink water from a hole in which lay dead horses, mules and dogs! Sometimes they were obliged to push back a green scum an inch thick to get water!
At the battle of Stone River the company lost severely, forty of them being also taken prisoners, who were taken to Libby prison, where they suffered indescribable horrors. Cyrus Stanley was severely wounded twice, and six rebel surgeons abandoned his case as hopeless; but his quiet spirit and courageous determination saved him from a Southern grave.
In October, 1863, the regiment was mount-
THE CIVIL WAR.
229
ed as the Eightlı Cavalry. It fought at Chickamauga and other places, with but lit- tle loss. The prisoners were paroled or exchanged, some of whom " lived to fight another day." The regiment went to Savan- nalı and to North Carolina, under the com- mand of General Kilpatrick, and was then mustered out.
Of this company, George T. Winters was promoted First Lieutenant and then Captain; Curtis H. Clark promoted First Lientenant; Justus G. Cromwell promoted from First Lieutenant to Captain. Andrew Jackson and John K. Lewis were also First Lieuten- ants. The Colonels of the regiment were Thomas J. Harrison and Fielder A. Jones.
THIRTY-FOURTH INDIANA INFANTRY.
In this regiment Jay County was repre- sented by Company B, recruited in August, 1861, by James W. Campbell and Nimrod Headington, for three years' service. On organization Mr. Campbell was elected Cap- tain, Mr. Headington, First Lieutenant, and Benjamin G. Shinn Second Lieutenant. On tlie 1st of September the ladies of Portland gave the company a farewell supper, and the next morning they started for Camp Ander- son, Indiana, where they were designated as Company B, Thirty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Asbury Steele, of Marion, was their first Colonel, then Townsend Ryan, of Anderson; Robert A. Cameron, of Valparaiso; Robert B. Jones, of Marion, and Robert G. Morrison, of Roanoke. During the service Mr. Headington was promoted through the several ranks to Lieutenant-Colonel; Abra- ham M. Templer from Second Lieutenant to First Lientenant and then Captain; David D. Harter fron Second to First Lieutenant, and Benjamin G. Shinn and Thomas Helmn were Second Lieutenants.
Marching toward the front during the
autumn, this company lost eight members in one month, by pneumonia. Afterward, they engaged in the siege of New Madrid, Mis- souri, and in skirmishing around in Arkansas and Louisiana, and in the severest part of the battle at Port Gibson, capturing a battery and 300 prisoners. Six men in Company B were wounded, one of whom, Bailiff W. Stowell, died of his wounds. Our army next took Jackson, Mississippi, and inarching on Vicksburg had a severe contest at Champion Hills, where Company B lost, in killed and wounded, seventeen men.
Captain Headington, two days after the battle, wrote: "In my company first fell by my side, William H. H. Bailey, mortally wounded, next Staley, then Chapman on iny right fell, mortally wounded, while defending the colors; then, on my left, Perry was killed, then fell Swaney, mortally wounded, then Geiger, wounded in the leg, then Doyle, wounded in the shoulder, Airley, wounded in the thigh, Pugh, wounded in the back, Dan- iel Crisler, in the arm, George Denny, in the hand, William Louk, in the hand, D. Shinn, in the wrist, James Crisler, in the shoulder, Houk, in the hand, and Hammitt, in the leg -seventeen in all. Never did boys fight braver than Company B. Lieutenant-Colo- nel Swaim [of Wells County] is wounded in the lungs, I fear mortally. [He did die from that wound.] Our regiment killed and cap- tured one entire Alabama regiment. We made it so liot for them that the Colonel rode up, threw his hat up and cried for mercy, saying that he surrendered his whole command."
The company next engaged, without acci- dent, in the siege and occupation of Vicks- burg. Then, after marching and skirmishing around for some months, forty-four of the company re-enlisted. Enjoying a furlough in the spring of 1864, they returned to
16
230
HISTORY OF JAY COUNTY.
Louisiana, and went to Texas, where they fought the last battle of the war, May 13, 1865, at Palmetto Ranche, at the mouth of the Rio Grande, near the old battlefield of Palo Alto. Two hundred and fifty of the regiment drove 500 of the enemy, mounted, with a battery of six field pieces, three miles in three hours. By this time the rebels got their battery in position and poured a de- structive fire into the ranks of our men. Our commanding officer, hearing of the sur- render of Kirby Smith, the last rebel to hold ont in the older States, gave the order to cease firing, with a peculiar fervency befitting the sense that this was the last gun of the great war; but the men were so hard pressed that for a short time they were obliged to fight a retreat; and finally, just as the west- ern sun was sinking in a fading glamour be- hind the sand hills on the farther bank of the Rio Grande, and in view of hundreds of men perched in the rigging of men of war and other vessels in the river, one of our mnen, possibly a Jay County soldier, fired the last gun of the hottest and greatest war that ever drenched the earth in blood!
Not until the next November, however, was this regiment mustered out, as it was kept on duty to hold the ground until the rebels were all disarmed and the arts of peace re-established.
THIRTY-SIXTH INFANTRY.
In this regiment were eleven soldiers from Jay County, among them Benjamin Shields, whose death, October 3, 1861, was the first among the Jay County volunteers. William Grose, of Newcastle, was the first Colonel of this regiment, and O. P. H. Carey, of Ma- rion, the second. It was mustered into the three years service at Richmond, September 16, 1861. Its fate in the war was very simi- lar to the Thirty-fourth, just described, up
to August, 1864, when the non-veterans came home and the few remaining ones were organized into the residuary battalion of one company. It also served in Texas until late in the autumn of 1865.
FORTIETH OHIO INFANTRY.
Twenty-six of Jay County's soldiers were in the Fortieth Ohio, among whom were Captain John L. Reeves, promoted Major May 22, 1864, Sergeants Joseph H. Brews- ter, killed by a railroad accident, June, 1862, John W. McKay, Abram J. Brake, Nelson White and W. H. Mclaughlin.
NINETEENTII INDIANA.
This regiment also contained twenty-six Jay County soldiers, who were mustered in July 20, 1861, with Solomon Meridith as Colonel, and were attached to the Army of the Potomac, in which they did some hard fighting, at Antietam, Gettysburg, South Mountain, etc. Several were wounded and killed in these engagements.
THE SIXTY-NINTH INFANTRY
contained twelve men from Jay County, who operated mostly in the States near the Mis- sissippi and in Texas. The regiment left its dead in eleven States, participating in the battles of Richmond, Kentucky, Chickasaw Bluffs, Arkansas Post, Thompson's Hill, Champion Hills, Black River Bridge, the sieges of Vicksburg and Jackson, and the capture of Blakely, Alabama, which caused the surrender of Mobile.
SEVENTY-FIFTH INDIANA INFANTRY.
Company F, of this regiment, was from Jay County. Colonels-John U. Pettit. Milton S. Robinson and William O'Brien, Captains-Christopher S. Arthur, promoted surgeon, John S. Stanton and Joseph Lewis.
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THE CIVIL WAR.
First Lieutenants -- Abraham C. Rush, G. W. McGriff and Charles W. Robbins. Second Lieutenants-Jesse T. Underwood, Joseph Lewis and Charles Lewis.
This company was recruited in July, 1862, by A. C. Rush, mustered into the three years service August 20, and in two days were at Louisville. After visiting several points in Kentucky in search of Morgan, they were ordered to other points in Tennessee, where they lost several by sickness. Not until over a year after they were mustered in did they engage in a general battle, and that was at Chickamanga, September 19, 1863, when the regiment lost nearly a third of its members, and the company three killed and seven wounded. Retiring to Chattanooga, they were hemmed in by rebels for about three months, and were consequently short of rations. Three of Company F died by dis- ease. Then they participated in the fierce contest at Mission Ridge, and in the engage- ments generally that accompanied Sherman's raid to the sea and through the Carolinas to Washington, in the great triumph and grand review, when they were mustered out.
EIGHTY-FOURTH INFANTRY.
In this regiment were eleven men from Jay County, in several companies, who were mustered into service September 3, 1862, with Nelson Trusler as Colonel. The regi- ment spent most of its time in Tennessee and vicinity, chasing, Hood, Bragg, etc.
EIGHTY-NINTH INFANTRY.
Company E, of this regiment, was recruited from Jay County in August, 1862. Joseph P. Winterswas unanimously elected Captain, and November 8, 1864, he was promoted Major. Royal Denney was elected First Lieutenant; Frederick W. White was pro- moted from First Lieutenant to Captain, and
Aaron Wright from second to first lieutenant. Levi James was Second Lieutenant. Within twenty days this company was raised, equipped and transported to Dixie. Very soon, in an engagement at Munfordsville, it lost one man, Jonathan Cloud, seriously wounded, but the federal force there, num- bering only 2,500, succeeded in repelling about 8,000 of the enemy. Directly, however, General Bragg came with his whole army and took the Union men prisoners; but they were immediately paroled. Two montlis afterward they were exchanged, and they were sent to Memphis and various other points on and near the Mississippi, doing guard and picket duty, and engaging in the Sherman raid through Mississippi, capture of Fort De Russey, capture of 300 rebels at Pine Hill, Louisiana, etc. They had some pleasant times, but during most of their service they were suffering some hardship or other. They were under General Banks at Pleasant Hill, where they fought bravely, but were ordered back by some mysterious movement of General Banks, even after Gen- eral A. J. Smith had succeeded in repelling the enemy. A battle-field covered with dead and dying rebels, small arms and artillery, was abandoned without explanation.
The regiment was mustered out September 10, 1855, after having marched 2,363 miles on foot, traveled by rail and steamer over 8,000 miles, and lost 31 killed and 167 wounded.
ONE HUNDREDTH INFANTRY.
Company H, of this regiment, was from Jay County, being recruited in August, 1862. Left Portland September 9, reporting at Wabash, where it organized by electing John W. Headington Captain, Gideon Rathbun First Lieutenant, and Stephen B. H. Shanks Second Lieutenant, Colonel,Sanford J. Stough.
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HISTORY OF JAY COUNTY.
ton until January 4, 1864, then Albert Heath until May 10, 1865, and finally Reuel M. Johnson. Captain Headington was promoted Major June 1, 1864, and finally Lieutenant Colonel Isaac N. Frazer was made Captain of the company, and Eli Vore, from this county, was advanced from Second to First Licuten- ant May 1, 1865.
The company joined Grant's army at Mem- phis in October, 1862; wintered at Grand Junction; did guard duty and scouting until June 5; engaged in the siege of Vicksburg; helped to drive Johnston from Jackson, Mississippi; spent nearly three months in camp; made a long and tedious march to Chattanooga, Tennessee, engaged in the fierce contest there, and lost two killed and seven wounded, most of them severely, including both Lieutenants. The standard-bearer was shot down. Corporal Joseph C. Hawkins seized the falling banner, waved it defiantly to the foe, rallied the wavering columns and bore it trinmphantly to the end of the figlit. As he picked up the colors lie promiscd Almighty God that if he spared his life through this engagement he would never shave again, and, being a devout Presbyterian, he kept his pledge. He died in 1886, at Portland.
After cliasing Hood for a time, and engag- ing in a number of skirmishes, the regiment went with Sherman's army to the relief of Burnside at Knoxville, after which it returned to Bellefonte, Alabama, and spent the winter guarding the Memphis & Charleston Rail- road. In the spring and summer of 1864 it was with Sherman during the Atlanta campaign, which lasted four months and resulted in the fall of Atlanta. On this campaign the company fought in the battles Dalton, Snake Creek Gap, Resaca, New Hope Church. Big Shoales, Kenesaw Moun- tain, Nickajack Creek, Chattahoochie River,
Decatur, Atlanta, Cedar Bluffs, Jonesboro, and Lovejoy's Station. After resting a few weeks and driving Ilood, who had passed to our rear, some distance north, the regiment went with Sherman's army to the sea, and, returning through the Carolinas, engaged in a hard fight at Bentonville. Reaching Wash- ington, D. C., May 20, it remained in camp there until June 9, when it was mustered ont.
This regiment, during its service, marched over 4,000 miles, fought thirty-five battles, and was engaged in skirmishes with the enemy fully one-half of its term of service. It suffered a great deal, yet the members en- dured their hardships bravely and were faithful to their duty. Their sufferings were of all kinds except that of conscience. In respect to rations, they often had to go alto- gether without for days together. One lad, sixteen years old, wrote home: "Many mur- inur and say they have got to starve. For my part I find it easy enough to get along, if one only takes a little care. I had an ear of corn for my breakfast, and put another ear in my pocket for my supper!"
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTIETH INFANTRY.
Company I of this regiment contained fourteen of Jay County's sons. Charles S. Parish, of Wabash, was the Colonel; Captains, Josiah Barnes and Henry J. Main, of Indian- apolis, and William L. Ritter, of Hartford City. The regiment was recruited mainly from the old Eleventli Congressional District, during the winter of 1863-'64, rendezvoused at Kokomo, and was mustered into service March 12. It fought several hard battles, as Resaca and Nashville. and was almost con- stantly engaged in skirmishing, in the inter- ior of the Confederacy. Was mustered out December 2, 1865.
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THE CIVIL WAR.
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINTH INFANTRY.
Company I was almost wholly from Jay County. Captain, Abraham C. Rush; First Lieutenant, Finly R. Stratton; Second Lieu- tenant, George W. Loofbourrow, all of Port- land. Colonel, George Humphrey, of Fort Wayne. These men volunteered for 100 days. They organized Jnne 8, 1864, and spent their time in the field guarding the railroads in the interior of the Confed- eracy which supplied Sherman during his ad- vance on Atlanta. Serving beyond their period of enlistment, they were honorably discharged.
ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEENTH INFANTRY OR SEVENTH CAVALRY.
During the month of June, 1863, John P. C. Shanks, of Portland, recrnited and or- ganized, amid great difficulties, the One Hundred and Nineteenth Regiment of volun- teers from this State as the Seventh Cavalry. The place of rendezvous was at Indianapolis, and recruiting progressed briskly during the months of July and August, companies be- ing mnstered in as fast as their organizations were completed; and on the first of October the organization of twelve companies was perfected. Mr. Shanks was Colonel and Thomas M. Browne, Lieutenant-Colonel. The War Department permitted a number of six- months soldiers to join the regiment in order to make its complement, making it a three-years cavalry regiment. At first it numbered 1,213 men, and for two months were stationed at Camp Shanks, Indianapolis, drilling.
On the first of December they left Indian- apolis and went by way of Lonisville, Cairo *and Columbus, Kentucky, to Union City, Tennessee, where they formed a camp. On the 14th a detachment under Christian Beck, of Connersville, moved toward Paris, Ten-
nessee, but finding a large force of rebel cavalry there, they retreated, and were not permitted to join a reinforcement for an at- tack. In the latter part of the month the regiment moved with a force, under command of General A. J. Smith, into Northern Mis- sissippi, for the purpose of cutting off the retreat of the rebel General Forrest from Jackson, Tennessee. During that long and dreadful march the thermometer was much of the time below zero; but the soldierly bearing and the conduct of the officers and men elicited the praise of the com- inanding general.
The regiment took a position in front, flank or rear, as danger threatened, was the first in a fight and the last to remain as a cover to a retreat. A brisk skirmishi ensned near Paris, when the rebels fell back. At Egypt Station, Mississippi, the rebel rear guard was overtaken and a sharp fight took place. Near Okalona, Mississippi, February 22, 1864, the enemy was encountered in force. A severe battle ensued, lasting all day. Our force were compelled to retreat, but when the rest of the division had fled, the Seventh Cavalry mnet and held in check the pursning and exultant rebels. Late in the evening it recovered a battery. Generals Smith and Grierson complimented the regi- ment for its efficiency and valor.
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