USA > Indiana > Grant County > Centennial history of Grant County, Indiana, 1812 to 1912 : compiled from records of the Grant county historical society, archives of the county, data of personal interviews, and other authentic sources of local information > Part 85
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There is always the man of the hour when duty demands it but the brave ones who marched away did not constitute all of the bravery. More is known of what happened afield than at home, but that is al ready history. Much of the self denial and privation of home life will never be written the every day experiences of the wives, mother's, sisters daughters and sweethearts of soldiers. The women at home fully understood suspense and uncertainty accompanying rumors: they could hear anything and everything, and there was terrible missepre- sentation of the news from the front. There were Grant county moth- ers with sons scattered wherever there was a division of the army, and think of the dreams of a woman whose husband, and one, two, three and sometimes four and five sons were at war. "In time of peace prepare for war," but that is not why the average mother bears her children.
With the men of the household at war, there was nothing before the stay-at-homes, but to tear up their treasured heirlooms - their linen sheets and make them into bandages, serape lint, make needle books, knit wooden socks, and many a girl who had never acquired the art learned to handle the knitting needles. Loyalty ran through the whole family and women had their part: taken as a whole they were a cheer ful lot and posted on the issues of the day. Whenever a woman at home would see a butternut badge she would resent it, and usually all her cirele knew about it. When the women met they talked war, and they had their part in the Christian Sanitary Commission the same as in the camp fires now, when those who tell the stories of thrilling escapades in the Confederate States in the Civil war are growing fewer and fewer as the years go by, and each Decoration day that fact is remarked by all. It is only a remnant now of the army that was dis- banded in 1865, and mostly pensioners, although many are independ- ent-in comfortable circumstances. While some of the veterans can take care of themselves, they are not in the majority.
A paragraph from the 1886 Grant. County History reads: "Hardly had the echoes from the last guns af Fort Sumter died away before the stirring seenes that attended a publie vohmteering were arousing
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the people of Marion and vicinity. The thought of our wer being lowered at the command of a rebellion inspired new patriotism in all those who loved the flag for the principles of I'nion and toleration that it represented. If there had been any in this comummity who held that olmoxions idea that the general goverment could not correr a state into compliance with its laws, they were prudently quiet when the question first came to the test. The sentiment of the people was almost wholly and manimously in favor of maintaining the Inion unimpaired. " As indicating the feeling in Grant conuty, and the von. dition of affairs immediately before and at the beginning of the Civil war, the following by Edgar 1 .. Gollthwait is given; "But the com monplace, domestic history of Grant county had about ended; unghty, yel subtle, influences were at work, directed by the inserutable hand of Providence for the formation of a new and better government. The ropes of sand which held together the provinces of this country were giving place to bands of steel.
"The defeat of Fremont only solidified that morganized political element in the north which finally mited under the name of the Re publican party. The people of the north were awakened to the dan gers threatened by an alarmed and indignant section of the country which had no interests in common with the people of the free states, while the most violent expressions of opinion were permitted in the North, where an abolitionist was hated as vehemently as in the South. No northern man could cross the Ohio river and advocate the prin- ciples of freedom and equality. Slave lundters galloped through Grant county looking for runaway negroes on their way via the underground highway' to Canada. The numerous Quakers in the county, the negro settlement already established here, the Abolitionist sentiment which was a prominent feature of this community, made Grant county a desirable and a comparatively sale resting place for the escaping Black man on his way to freedom, to an alien country. Handhills were posted in our courthouse offering reward for runaway slaves, and one, the writer recollects, for the delivery into a slave state of Charles Atkinson, a violent Abolitionist of Mouros township, who devoted his time, talents and money to the cause of freedom.
"The great campaign of 1860 was carried on as vigorously in Grant county as anywhere in the North. Many eminent statesmen spoke here that year, among them Herschel V. Johnson, Cassius M. Clay, Joshua R. Giddings and Henry S. Lane, and party feeling ran high. The picturesque and striking style of personating national candidates had not yet been abandoned. The young Republican party adopted this style of electionvering with vigor and extraordinary effect Great processions would reach town on the different highways, and unite in a grand procession up and down the principal streets with brass bands, life and drum, glee clubs and uniformed men, women and clal- dron. The Ship of State' which was so prominently connected with Fremont's campaign four years before, was succeeded by a symbol that created an enthusiasm that can now hardly be comprehended. These processions would be headed by a score of oxen drawing a mam- moth log wagon, carrying an immense log along while on platforms built over the wheels were a half dozen stalwart farmers 'to the manor born,' swinging immense mauls onto wooden wedges stuck into the tough fibers of the wood. The 'rail-splitter' candidate for the presidency had elements of strength that were not dreamed of in the aristocratie south and in the cultured east.
"The claims of the homely, uncouth, common man of the people from the prairies of Illinois proved irresistible. His divided opposi-
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tion was routed and a political party, yet in its infancy, took pos- session of the government. Grant county's Republican majority was an increase over four years before, and since that time ( 1886) she has always given a substantial Repubhean majority. Then came dis torted accounts of the dissatisfaction of the South. But few had any faith in the mutterings of the storm which was darkening the future of the country. War was so indefinite then, so little understood, that it was hard to comprehend it. But the passionate and ill-tempered south, which imagined its slave property endangered by the election of a Republican for president, could not be held in subjection. It organized into a separate government even before Lincoln had taken his seat ; it created an army and navy, and within six weeks after Abraham Lincoln had been proclaimed president, attacked the United States troops at Fort Sumter, in the bay of Charleston, South Carolina In due time the news reached Marion that war had been declared in the South. The gallantry of Major Anderson was on every one's lips. The people came prepared to give an enthusiastic reply to President Lincoln's appeal for 75,000 troops to serve for ninety days, 'to meet armed resistance to the United States authority and put down the rebellion." The endorsement of the president was enthusiastic and prompt.
"A life and drum corps gave the martial music that greeted the rtowd which assembled at the court house. David Shunk and Oliver 11. P. Cary were the central figures at that first meeting; both had served in the Mexican war and were authorities on all military mat- ters. Jacob Welles and John Rouss were also behind the railing where privileged characters sat in the old courthouse. Volunteers were called for who, as they came forward, signed their names to the enrolling book. presided over by James A. Stretch. As each name was signed three cheers would be given, and the life and drums would break into 'such stratus of music as we shall never forget.' Joseph Horton was the lifer, Abuer beach on the snare drum, and David (. Hite beat the bass drum. A day or two was given to prepare for a leave of absence. The teacher had to find a substitute, the merchant and clerk to arrange their affairs, the professional man delegated his business to someone else, and the plow was left in the Furrow. A few mornings later every volunteer was on hand, ready to go into camp and train for the profession of a soldier.
" Patriotic citizens provided wagons to carry the boys to Ander- sontown, where they were to take the train to Indianapolis and go into camp. The ladies prepared a bountiful supply of food for the boys on the way. In Sweetser's store, which stood on the site now occupied by Sweetser's bank (how the First National), on the West side of the square, there had been stored for many years several dozen old fashioned muskets which had done duty in the Mexican war. These old guns were distributed to the embryo sokliers as they stood in line on the east side of the square, reaching from the old Gilbert corner up to the alley at Huffman and Eshelman's grocery. The departure of this company of volunteers was most interesting. The streets and side walks were lined with weeping women and children, while the soldiers, ashamed to betray a weakness, hid their emotions by en- thusiastically cheering everything in sight. The line was formed and marched up near the old plank road on Branson street, where the boys bade their Friends a final Farewell, and got into the wagons and started for Andersontown.
"The enthusiasm all along the road was continuons. At Jones- boro the town was filled with excited people who gave the boys a grand
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reception. Flags were flying everywhere, and a triumphal arch orna- mented the street near where the present hotel now stands. At Fair- mound the same welcome awaited the procession. Another triumphal arch, more tags amid firing and songs by glee clubs, and cheering and the wildest demonstrations of sympathy niet the boys, who, when a town was reached. would climb out of their wagons, shoulder their guns and march through the streets with all the gravity of veterans." It was only one week after the living on Fort Sumter that the first company from Grant county was mustered into the service at Indian- apolis. It was Company IS in the Eighth Regiment. Its officers Were David Shunk, captain; O. H. P. Cary, first lieutenant, and John Rouss, second lieutenant. They were commissioned April Is, 1561, but on April 26, Captain Shank was promoted to major, and Colonel Cary to captain. Colonel Reuss became first lieutenant and .I. M. Wells was elected second lieutenant. There were no other changes in the roster until the end of three months. "When Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers for three months we thought the war would be over in that time," said one who remembers all about the struggle, and most of those who enlisted were young, had no families and no thought of the long term of service.
11 is sad to think of all who marched away and of those who never returned to homes and loved ones. There came a time when there was hardly a hearthstone without a vacant chair, and: "Tenting To- night" became a real heart ery and the home Folks could not sing it. Their hearts grew so weary of the long strain of war- the awful har vest of death -- that they could not sing some of the songs of the day, could not get past the first verse, and " We're going home to die no more," meant something to soldiers afield. When "Marching Through Georgia" was written, everybody sang it, but it told a different story. It has not get lost its grip on the situation. Mrs. Barlow, who fur- nished suggestions for this chapter, writes: "The Star Spangled Banner' was always waved by some one, and while it may not have been more revered the flag was more used then. We would sing Star Spangled Banner and think of Francis Scott Key paving the deck of his vessel and wondering if our flag is still there.'
"A few years later we understood the song-Star Spangled Ban- ner -better, when we did not know whether our flag was floating over our own forts: Suiter, Moultrie. Pickens, Jackson and over Fortress Monroe, or if it floated over any of our southern forts; we did not know whether the dag floated over our boats on the Mississippi from St. Paul 10 New Orleans, and that song will always be full of mean- ing to those who remember the days from 61 to '65, when our heart ery was: 'Oh, say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave, over the land of the free and the home of the brave ?' and the line: 'Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation,' seemed a prophesy and we prayed rather than sang it. There came a time, however, when we could neither whistle or sing to keep up our courage; there were 'bombs bursting in air,' and there was awe and uncertainty." In the reconstruction days of the '70s, there was a poem in the MeGuffey school reader: "Into a ward of the white-washed halls, where the dead and the dying lay," that certainly had its part in teaching patriotism, and when one hears of the army nurse he wants to read it again.
While previous to the Civil war there had been home manufacture of almost every commodity used in the family, necessity became the mother of invention. The women who used to cook before the fire knew how to manipulate the crane and pot trammel, although they Vol. 1 -- 38
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would be mystified in a modern kitchen, those past masters of domestic aris who had never heard of science the time came when they could no longer manufacture the necessary supply, and machinery was in vented that relieved them of the necessity. Home made articles with the hand work on them were more expensive than the factory product, and yet in every community there were a few who clung to homespun garments. The cut was not so fashionable as the tailored suit and some women did not consider the cloth expensive when woven by them- selves. Blue jeans and linsy woolsy remained in favor all through the reconstruction period, and no doubt some of those home made garments are still in existence in Grant county atties.
It is urged that under most favorable circumstances motherhood is an occupation sufficient to occupy a full working day twelve months in the year, but when there came the time of Soldiers' Aid Societies the mothers shone in all their lustre, and Grant county women gale their assistance to the National Christian Commission unstintedly. It takes women to destroy saloons and to reform vations. During the vicissitudes of war soldiers indulged in seemingly needed stimulants, and some who did not hesitate to face the cannon's mouth have not had the same degree of courage with reference to total abstinence. their only safety and hope of salvation. Talk about the pilfered homes of the Southland, but this is the saddest. most pitiful wreck age of the war. When the grocery and the blacksmith shop used to be the neighborhood social centers, and when everybody had whisky at home, there was no drunkenness, they say, no abuse of themselves, but where did some of the recruits in the army of drunkards hail from then ! It remained for the women to bring comfort to the sick and wounded and suffering soldiers on the march, in camp, in the hospital and on the field of strife during and after the battle motherhood Was at its post in tirant county in "the times that tried men's souls.'
While Betsey Ross is reputed to have fashioned the first American flag, that fact does not interest Grant county citizens more than the flag in a glass case in the Gien. Shunk (. A. R. post, on which the blue stars were sown by Marion young women of the long ago. The names were embroidered with the stars, and this Old Glory is so dear to the hearts of the comrades that they want to preserve it. Mollie MeClure, Sallie White, Lizzie Spencer, Rose MeClure, Louise Swayze Line Ayres, Marie Ayres, Lucy Cary, Retta Morgan, Terra Shively. Maggie Brownlee, Amanda Sanford. Mollie Dunn, Mollie Stretch, Sallie Stretch, Lucinda Patterson, Josie Butler, Sallie Frazier, and son ale well known women of today. While Captain Molly Starke, of Revolu- tionary fame, will never be antedated, bullets were run into molds at the hands of Grant county women, and every material comfort went into the boxes and barrels packed in every neighborhood and sent to the front- to the soldier boys who had risked their lives in saving their country, "to preserve us a nation. to preserve our homes and our altars.
The wives, mothers, daughters, sisters and sweethearts all wrote as cheery letters as they could to their dear ones- their relatives and friends, to let them know they were missed at home. There were young fellows under age who ran away and joined the army, and of course their mothers wrote to them. Some of the sons were brave enough to remain at home and take care of the family while fathers were gone to the defense of their country. There were drafted men and there were volunteers. While a substitute took another man's place for wages, some would have enlisted on their own account, although the volunteer seems most patriotic. There were bounty
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soldiers among the recruits -bounty soldiers rame from everywhere, often serving in regiments from states in which they had never lived at all. .. While the drafted men were about the last run of shad," there were good soldiers among them -and some had cause for not enlisting. Soldiers often made records and then asked for transfer of regiments, and for various reasons. "Even the sparrows are num- bered," and yet some of those soldier records are incomplete, and many Grant county soldiers sleep in unknown graves all over the Southland. The soldiers of the Grand Army Feel that there is an un finished work before them, a labor of love to perform, and they hope to mark the grave of every boy in blue who hailed from a Grant county homestead no matter where he fell, and it is a purpose worthy their effort.
"You put no flowers on my papa's grave," was a touching lament on a Decoration day, and the officer cried ont: "Battalion, file left! Counter march! This young orphaned maid hath full cause for her grief," and back through the gateway the long line passed again. General Shunk post plans to locate all hitherto marked graves. Gen eral Shunk, the hero of two wars, died in Marion, February 21, 1865, and his war horse was a familiar sight in Marion many years after- ward. Samuel Metlure cared for him and on Decoration day he was saddled and led in the line of march to the cemetery when he was too old for active service. This old horse was given decent burial when he answered the last reveille. While they drafted men into the sery- ire, they begged for the necessary money to carry on the war. It is said the time never was when men were valued as goldl, and yet substitutes were given farms and higher wages than were paid the volunteers. While some went to the front, others held the fort at home. The women and the girls worked in the fields, and after the war they never again took up their old handicrafts; machinery had cheapened production, and their occupation of weaving cloth was gone From them. While the men were at the front the women "stayed by the stuff." and "war widder" was never a form of reproach, did not have the significance of "grass" or "alfalfa,"' at all.
Think of the circumstances under which these Grant county women assimned the responsibilities: there was not a mile of improved high- way, and hardships faced them "at every turn in the road " While these loyal women were at the helm, how they watched the arrival of the stage coach that sometimes brought thent letters. No news was not always good news that long ago. What suspense and anxiety they endured, and "them cruel agonizing slavery days," certainly applied to white women and children who wanted to hear from father, son, Isband or brother; while there was always something new at the front to claim the attention of the soldiers, there was always the ele- ment of uncertainty- suspense at home. The wonten had enlisted and would stand by the consequences, let come what would -their bravest and best at the front, but the Frequent reports that Richmond had fallen were hard for them to endure in silence, false hopes engendered and next day a contradiction of it all, and thus war waged desolation in many ways, and false reports were one of the hardest inflictions on the home folks. Soldiers who came home on furloughs were al- ways lionized, and some of them told "seare head line" stories had they been in cold type, that were never forgotten in the life time of those who heard them.
After Lincoln's first call, and none knew for how long he must enlist, there were frequent calls for men. The calls for twelve months' men were followed by calls for volunteers for Three years or during
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the war, but none ever thought it would last that long. light in the midst of things, January 1, 1963, came Lincoln's Emancipation Proc lamation, and while the women and children had prayed that the war might cease, it precipitated things upon them. They finally got uvedl to enlistments, camps and drill grounds, although mothers turned gray in remarkably short periods under all the pressure of these momentous times of added responsibilities, but they finally not used to the nun the husbands and fathers going away until it came to their own firesides-then note got used to it. When it came to giving up their own flesh and blood, their own relatives, some of the women had white hair over night about it. "Take your gun and go, John" and " We are coming, Father Abraham." were songs more effective than the recruiting officers scouting the country. There were young men who loved adventure, and sometimes they wanted to get away from their indulgent mothers. The houses would run over if the boys did not get out, and again there would have been no I'mted States had there been no venturesome lads ready for change of environment. It makes a young fellow patriotic to know he is serving his country, even though looking ahead he may see himself with an empty sleeve, minns an arm or a leg, but in his enthusiasm over enlistment such gloomy prospects do not deter him. Some who came home on Turloughs were physically exhausted. and the long ride by stage from Andersontown was too much for their weakened condition. Frank Hall, wounded at Rich Monn- tain, Virginia, was the first Grant conmy soldier injured adell Later such reports were frequent.
While the men were at the front the Imchana laws gave the women at home a bounty of $25 a year, but war time prices prevailed and sometimes they carried home in their arms all the money would pur chase for them. The United States is a grateful nation cares for its soldiers in the field, and pensions them when they grow old in the serv. ice. When the soldiers of '61 went to war they had never heard of pensions. It was loyalty, bravery, courage, that stimulated them ; they did not ask any favors of Uncle Sam, did not question what would become of them -duty. love of country moved them forward. The flag must still float in the south and they must keep it there. That is what desolated Grand county hearthstones for the four years of the struggle. A united country was the watchword. Now that their war fare is over, every ninety days their hearts are gladdened, and much is said about the dollar a day pension for veterans in different polit ical circles. The government has found it necessary to regulate the pensions paid to widows, and only those who knew war-time privations are entitled to the widow's pension. There is a noticealde condition in Grant county where it is charged that adventuresses have the pension money as an incentive when they marry the veterans From the Soldiers' Home, but they cannot draw the money after the soldier dies- a wise precaution
The 1886 history says that no county in Indiana was more prompt in its relief to the families of soldiers than Grant, and that fact gave an impulse to volunteers. Samuel Met'lure was appointed agent, and more than $117,000 was paid out in $500 bounties, authorized by the county board. Jamary 24, 1865. although previously the amounts had been smaller and were not a stimulus to volunteers. The first draft was October 6, 1862, under Lincoln's third call for troops and then Grant county was 128 men short, but the number was immediately raised by volunteer methods, and October 17. 1863, there was another call for 162 men, which number volunteered, and while the county is credited with 2,405 soldiers in all, there were not that many separate
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enlistments. Some enlisted two and three times and Were counted again under each enlistment. It will never be known just how many soldiers volunteered From Grant county. There are monuments at the Soldiers' Home, Marion and Thrailkill cemeteries to the soldier dead, and all are honored by them. There is to be a more imposing shaft in the "Silent Circle" at the Home, placed there by the gov ernment and perhaps one will mark the site of the battle of the Mis- sissinewa. Those created by the U. A. R. and W. R. C. posts trach their lesson of patriotism.
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