Ogle County Historical Society

Transcription

1 Gazette April 2015 Ogle County Historical Society HISTORIC WEDDING DRESS EXHIBIT MAY 3- JUNE 28 To celebrate the 54 th season of having the Nash home open as a museum, the Ogle County Historical Society will be having an exhibit of historic wedding dresses from the county. This will run from May 3 through June 28. During this time the museum will not only be open on Thursday mornings and Sunday afternoons but also on two Saturdays, May 23 and June 27. Thursday hours are 9am to noon, Sundays 1-4pm, and Saturdays 11am-4pm. On June 27 there will also be a living history presentation titled Victorians Secret and So Much More.

2 P a g e 2 Aunt Em's Trunk Aunt Em passed away in My father put many of her possessions in a trunk and hung it up in the corn crib. Why? Who knows. After my father died in 1976 and the farm was sold in 1980, the trunk was taken down and opened. There were some old dishes, silverware, lots of letters, postcards and pictures. We burned the old letters because they were very personal and some things are better forgotten. My father's sister identified some of the pictures. The trunk was in my mother's possession until she moved into Senior Housing in 2000 and her house and goods were sold. I kept the pictures in a box. Recently, I was looking through the pictures and found one which was labeled Mrs. Oscar Roos, July I googled the name and up popped pictures of the tombstone. The pictures had been recorded by Robert John Chudek of the Chisago County Historical Museum in Minnesota. I wrote to Mr. Chudek and he replied that he would be interested in seeing the pictures from Taylor's Falls, Minnesota. He also sent me a bio-sketch of Oscar and Hannah Roos. Oscar, also known as Charlie, held some positions of prominence during his lifetime. His property was donated to the state and developed into Interstate (Minnesota and Wisconsin).Park which overlooks the St. Croix River. Mr. Chudek sent copies of the pictures to his friend and historian, Jack Liljenberg. Jack's comment was, Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful! He had identified one of the pictures as the 1860 Presbyterian Church in Taylors Falls. He said the picture was the best picture he had ever seen of that church. Mr. Liljenberg also sent some biographical information about the photographer, Robert H. Pingrey ( ) who was a Civil War Veteran. Mr. Liljenberg was able to date 2 of the photos of the St. Croix River between August 1, 1864 and They had U.S. Internal Revenue stamps on their backs and those stamps were only produced during that time period. Mr. Lujenberg said there were log jams in 1865 and 1866 so that dated those pictures. The steamer Dells was stuck in the 1866 log jam.

3 P a g e 3 After I sent the story of the trunk, Mr. Liljenberg was able to determine how Aunt Em came to possess the pictures. She was married to Silas Humphrey Hurd ( ) whose maternal grandparents were Silas and Mary Jane (Hannum) Humphrey. They were residents of Taylors Falls from He also gave me more details of the family and said that there are descendents who still live in Taylors Falls. Another of the photos was of a Civil War soldier. When Bill Bailey saw it, he immediately said that it was General Winfield Scott Hancock. Very faintly, on the back of the photo was penciled Hancock. It has been exciting to research this connection and I still have lots of photos. The first Oregon Park District Historic Tour this year will be a canoe trip to Margaret Fuller Island led by Jon Barnhart on May 20. Others will include the Chana Schoolhouse, the Courthouse cupola, Taft Campus, and walking tours in town. Most of these are led by Historical Society members. For further information and to register, please visit the Park District website at oregonpark.org. Aren t you glad Highway 2 Doesn t look like this anymore?

4 P a g e 4 RECENT ACQUISITIONS In late January, Chuck Mongan of Rockton brought in a number of history books which had belonged to his father, Charles, including a six volume history of Illinois published in Charles Mongan was descended from early Ogle County settlers who came here from Washington County MD and was instrumental in the creation of the 1986 book The Story of Oregon Illinois. One of the more interesting single volumes received was an 1896 book entitled Illustrious Americans, Their Lives and Great Achievements, which was presented by Col. & Mrs. B. F. Sheets to Francis W. Burchell upon his graduation from Oregon High School. We received two wedding dresses which will be part of our Historic Wedding Dress Exhibit in May and June. (See article elsewhere in this issue.) The first was worn by Mary Johnson when she wed Robert Copenhaver, a World War I veteran from Polo, in 1921, and was given by three of her granddaughters. The other one was worn by Fanny Countryman of Forreston, who married Frank Slagle in Her great-grandson, Art Spooner of Oak Park, whose mother had also worn the dress at her rehearsal dinner in 1947, graciously donated the dress along with a donation to cover the costs of our exhibit. Jeanette St. Clair Adams gave us several items which had been in her family, including the Teacher s Daily Registers for Rockvale Heights School from Many of the St. Clair family attended there over the years. Also included were Mt. Morris High School yearbooks from the 1930 s and some grade school and junior high reading books from the 1940 s. A Schiller Piano advertising card c has already been placed in our piano factory display. Ron Kern of the Ogle County Farm Bureau passed along to us Ogle and DeKalb County plat books which had been given to his Winnebago County colleague by a man from down in Pinckeyville. It s always nice to have a plat book or two from a neighboring county for research purposes. The Clinton County Historical Society in Iowa sent us three picture postcards from Camp Grant during World War I because they were postmarked from Davis Junction. Evidently civilian workers at the camp could not use the military s postal facility. The cards were sent to a lady in Oglesby by two of her nieces who served as either nurses or clerks at the camp. These, along with photos relating to the two wedding dresses mentioned earlier, have been scanned into our computer. In January we began putting our accession records in digital form as well as in hard copy for additional accessibility.

5 P a g e 5 We were offered a copy of Centennial History : Davis Junction Illinois by a lady whose two uncles, Frank and Walter Swegle, farmed in Scott Township in the 1920 s and 30 s. Frank died in 1928 of burns suffered when he used kerosene to help light the cookstove. Since we had a copy of this pamphlet in excellent condition we declined that offer but gladly accepted a pdf of the pamphlet which she also offered us. It now resides among our digital accessions. We plan on continuing this new program of putting our accession records in a digital file as well as in a binder. We might even be able to go back and put our older records on the computer IF WE HAD A FEW MORE VOLUNTEERS. HURRAH! WE HAVE A NEW ROOF! Since the roof on the Nash home was more than 20 years old, the board decided last fall that a new roof should be our first priority in capital expenditures. Since we wanted to replace the roof before any problems occurred, a fund-raising letter was written and sent out to all our members explaining the problem and asking for donations. The results exceeded our expectations; fifty members donated, many of them quite generously. As soon as the weather allowed (January snow in February and February cold in March didn t help) bids were solicited. A special board meeting was held on April 6 to go over the bids and select one. The successful bidder had an immediate opening due to a postponement by a previously scheduled customer and the job was done April A big thank you goes out to those who helped with writing the letter, keeping track of the donations as they came in, sending thank you letters to donors, obtaining the bids, and generally overseeing the whole process.

6 P a g e 6 OGLE COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR by Bill Bailey #19 34 th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, pt. 3 During the 34 th Illinois Volunteer Infantry s veterans furlough in January and February 1864, they also recruited more men into the regiment. In addition to new enlistees, men from Ogle County who had served earlier in the war in other regiments and been discharged or mustered out also joined up. These included John Dolon and George Green from Marion Township, John Ling of Grand Detour, and Edwin Reed of Nashua. Enlisted men from other parts of the state were allowed to transfer from their regiments to the 34 th. Both recruits and veterans from the 78 th, 86 th, and 104 th regiments added their names to the roster. The men of the 34 th gathered in Dixon on February 28 and traveled by rail through Chicago, Louisville, and Nashville before arriving in Chattanooga and going into camp near Rossville GA on March 7, rejoining those men who had chosen not to reenlist and were serving the remainder of their three years. One of those men, Lawrence O Brien of Company E, died of disease just a week after his comrades returned, another Ogle county casualty of the war. The Regiment, now a part of 2 nd Brigade, 2 nd Division, XIV Army Corps, remained in camp until May 5, when they left for Ringgold GA. Four days later they were involved in the Battle of Rocky Face Ridge, losing one killed and ten wounded. On May 14, at Resaca, they crossed an open field in the face of short-range canister fire from a battery of guns but took the position. Among the 50 casualties was Davis Meredith, Co. H, of Mt. Morris, who was killed. The regiment also suffered 8 wounded at Rome GA three days later. After a week s rest there, the men spent the next 3 weeks fighting their way to Big Shanty, near Kennesaw Mountain, with skirmishing almost every day. On June 15 the 34 th charged a Confederate line behind a railroad tie barricade and captured more prisoners than the regiment had men in the battle line. James P. Stewart, Co. E, of Marion Twp., was killed and 7 others wounded. The next big battle for Sherman s army was Kennesaw Mountain, where he made the mistake of thinking the Confederates were discouraged enough that they wouldn t stay and fight, even behind strong earthworks. One of the 5 men killed of the 34 th was Frederick Traver of Co. F, who had enlisted at Grand Detour back in September 1861 and reenlisted in January Valentine Welker of Leaf River and Samuel Weltz of Mt. Morris, new recruits who had joined in February, may have been among the 40 wounded; they both died of wounds at rear area hospitals a few weeks later.

7 P a g e 7 During the siege of Atlanta the 34 th was in action almost daily, culminating in the Battle of Jonesboro in early September. The regiment was the first unit to enter one of the forts guarding the town, and not only took prisoners but also recaptured artillery pieces which the Confederates had taken in an attack east of Atlanta in late July. Patrick McCarty of Marion Twp. and Christopher Zoller of Mt. Morris were two of the regiment s losses in this battle. Meanwhile, Jacob Buss of Co. H and Buffalo Grove was dying of disease in a hospital in St. Louis. Germs killed twice as many men as bullets in this war. Following the fall of Atlanta the 34 th participated in the pursuit of Gen. Forrest s cavalry into northern Alabama, driving him across the Tennessee River at Florence. The regiment and the rest of the division rejoined Sherman in time to make the March to the Sea. The two regiments with the largest numbers of Ogle County men, the 34 th and the 92 nd, were both part of that famous campaign. Casualties for the 34 th, as well as most other units, were very light on the march to Savannah, but things got tougher when Sherman turned north in early February 1865 and marched into the Carolinas. At Averasboro NC on March 16, John Gull and David Merrick, both of Grand Detour and Co. F, were 2 of the 3 killed, while the regiment also had 5 wounded. Newton Wright of Grand Detour was killed at Bentonville 3 days later, where the 34 th suffered a total of 30 casualties. On April 14 the XIV Corps, including the 34 th Illinois, left Raleigh NC for the Cape Fear River, intending to cut off the retreat of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston s army. The next day 1 st Lt. Edward Harner of Lightsville, who had enlisted as a corporal in Co. H back in 1861, became the last Ogle County man of the 34 th to be killed in action. Following the surrender of Johnston s army on April 26, the 34 th traveled with most of Sherman s army to Washington DC, where they took part in the Grand Review on May 24. The regiment left Washington on June 12 and arrived at Louisville KY on the 18 th. After several weeks of waiting, they were mustered out of Federal service on July 12, and traveled to Chicago for discharge and final pay on July 17. Of the more than 250 Ogle County men who had served in the 34 th during the war, only 94 were listed as present at the mustering out. THIS ENDS THE THREE PART SERIES ON THE 34 TH ILLINOIS. WATCH FOR THE STORY OF AN INDIVIDUAL OGLE COUNTY SOL- DIER IN THE NEXT ISSUE.

8 The Ogle County Historical Society PO Box 183 Oregon, Il Application for Membership $35 per household per year $5 per year for hard copy of Gazette Renewals due in November for following year Name Street Address City State Zip Phone The Gazette is published quarterly, by The Ogle County Historical Society, PO Box 183, Oregon, Il Like us on Facebook

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