Col. George Iles: Pilot from Quincy to the world

On November 29, 1886, Brevet Brigadier General Charles Ellet Lippincott was appointed the Superintendent of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home at Quincy, a position which he held until his death less than one year later. After their deaths, Lippincott and his wife, Emily “Mother” Lippincott, would be memorialized by the erection of a concert and assembly hall, the successor of which still stands on the Home grounds. C.E. Lippincott was born in Edwardsville, Illinois, Jan. 26, 1825, the son of Rev. Thomas Lippincott, an organizer of the Presbyterian churches at Alton and Upper Alton, Illinois, and an ardent abolitionist. After attending Illinois College and St. Louis Medical College, Charles located at Chandlerville, Illinois. There, in 1851, he met and married Emily Webster Chandler, but soon tired of medicine as an occupation, leaving for the gold fields of California in 1852. Following his sojourn in California, which included a two-year term in the state senate, Lippincott returned to Illinois and resumed his medical practice. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was able to recruit nearly an entire company of men, Company K of the 33rd Illinois Volunteer Regiment, of which he became Captain. Captain Lippincott may have already demonstrated his strongest military skills when he recruited his Illinois regiment. Of his war service, General Isaac H. Elliott, Lippincott’s superior would later note, “notwithstanding his inability to execute the simplest maneuvers with the regiment, Col. Lippincott proved a valuable officer, brave and generous, and always alive to the welfare of his men. He was a man of fine ability, a rare conversationalist and story teller.” Following his war service, Lippincott aspired to political office in his home state. With strong support from his party and fellow veterans, Lippincott went on to be elected Secretary of the Illinois Senate, and later door-keeper of the U.S. House of Representatives. He also served as Auditor of Public Accounts for the State of Illinois. In 1886, in recognition of his Civil War service and continued concern for his fellow veterans, Lippincott became the first Superintendent of the soon to be opened Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, in Quincy. Emily Webster Chandler Lippincott was born on March 13, 1833 in Chandlerville, Illinois, the daughter of Dr. Charles Chandler. Educated at Jacksonville Female Academy, she married Charles E. Lippincott on Dec 25, 1851. In 1886, she accompanied her husband to Quincy where she took on the social duties expected of her as wife of the Soldiers’ Home’s first Superintendent. When her husband died, Emily was left with no immediate family or means of support. For her, the Board of Directors of the Home created a special position as “Matron of the Home,” and for the rest of her life she remained in residence and continued to minister to the residents of whom she had become so fond. The role which Emily played at the home in subsequent years, as the beloved “Mother Lippincott,” is perhaps best summed up by Emily herself. In 1890, the editor of the Chandlerville local paper asked her to describe for his readers how she spent her days. She replied, in part, “I will ask you to see what I see, hear what I hear, yet you will not know what I know, for I have been in and out of these wards day after day, for two years, and have become acquainted with the sorrows, anxieties, and perplexities of many of these sufferers.” She went on to describe instances in which she was able to provide comfort simply by supplying friendship and a listening ear, or “fresh tea,” and in one instance “squirrel soup” which she personally prepared for a resident dying of consumption. When she reflected on how she was affected by these ministrations she mused, “I seem to be out of body looking on in wonder and amazement at the Emily Chandler of forty years ago.” None the less, she ended her letter by noting, “There is another side to this life. Some things happen which are very amusing and of which when not so tired and sad as now I will try to write you about.” Almost immediately after Mother Lippincott’s death in 1895 a plan was developed by the John Wood Post, No. 47, Woman’s Relief Corp of Quincy, to erect a “handsome stone cottage” on the grounds, dedicated to the memory of the woman who had ministered so selflessly to the home residents. Committees were appointed to mount a subscription drive, and the residents of the home were invited to contribute. The cottage was foreseen as a “temporary resting and stopping place … for visiting women,” a need that had been recognized since the opening of the men-only institution in 1887. Eventually, based on the perceived immediate needs of the home, it was decided that rather than a cottage, “Lippincott Memorial Assembly Hall” would be erected, with a seating capacity to accommodate all the members of the Home for religious services, lectures and entertainments. For many years, this building, located on the old parade grounds northwest of the Home headquarters, was a well-used concert and lecture hall, described in 1919 as “the center of the social and religious life of the Home.” On January 17, 1905, a fire broke out in the Hall while a motion picture was being shown. The fire, which was apparently started by the open flame used to illuminate the film, quickly jumped to the bunting which decorated the dress circle. Fortunately, in order to avoid a panic, building manager James Green quickly turned on the electric lights, and M.J. Landrum, a “home entertainer,” led the audience in singing “Marching Through Georgia” until the flame was extinguished. A second, more disastrous fire in 1938 so damaged the building that it was eventually torn down and replaced with the second Lippincott Hall, also dedicated to the memory of Charles and Emily Lippincott, whose later lives had been dedicated to the veteran residents for whom they cared so much. Sources Elliott, General Issac M. 1902. History of the Thirty-Third Regiment Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War, 22nd August, 1861, to 7th December 1864 Gibson City, IL: The [Regiment] Association. First and Second Biennial Reports of the Board of Trustees and Officers of the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home at Quincy. 1886, 1888. Springfield, IL: Springfield Printing Co., State Printers. “A Handsome Stone Cottage.” Quincy Daily Journal, Aug 5, 1896. Lippincott, Emily. 1890. unpublished letter, dated “Jan 14, 1890 Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, Quincy, Ill.” photocopy, in the collections of the McLean County Museum of History, Bloomington, Illinois. SC 3138 Lippincott Family. “Panic in Home Hall.” Quincy Daily Journal, Jan. 18, 1905. Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois, Vol. II, 1861-1865. Register of Enlisted Men from 18th to 35th Regiments. 1900. Springfield, Ill: Phillips Bros., State Printers. Snyder, J.F. 1907. Dr. Charles Ellet Lippincott. In Historical Sketches, Virginia Ill. by J.N. Gridley. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ilmaga/cass/1907bios/lippincott.html Wilcox, David F. 1919. Quincy and Adams County, History and Representative Men. Chicago, New York: The Lewis Publishing Company.

Soon after World War II ended in 1945, Russia—which had fought alongside American allies—became a Communist state under the rule of Premier Joseph Stalin. Fears about Communism’s domination over the world, with its atheism and government socialism, escalated and a “Cold War” began with two opposing ideologies: United States’ democracy and capitalism and the Soviet Union’s Communism clashing and intimidating each other with threats of “Hot” nuclear war. In 1938, the U.S. government formed a House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to investigate possible Communist ties within the country. This committee convicted Alger Hiss of perjury and sentenced him to five years in prison and blacklisted hundreds in Hollywood and the media. As the Cold War intensified after WWII, HUAC expanded its investigations and became a permanent committee. Then it exploded. At a Lincoln Day speech in 1950 in Wheeling, West Virginia, Joseph McCarthy, the Republican junior senator from Wisconsin, told his audience that he had in his hands the names of 205 known Communists currently working in the State Department. This disclosure made newspaper headlines from coast-to-coast. The 1950s Communist scare began, and people now labeled it “Red”—an allusion to the Soviet flag’s background color. Senator McCarthy became chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations and HUAC’s most outspoken member. While most Quincyans remained silent on this volatile issue, fearful of reprisal or themselves being accused, a few publicly broached their opinions. The local Community Chest, begun in 1936 to raise funds for civic causes, hired John D. Barrow as its campaign adviser. Barrow stated in a speech that Communism within the U.S. posed a grave threat. Nathan Kissell responded in a letter to the Quincy Herald-Whig on November 2, 1952. “Mr. John D. Barrow warns that communism and socialism are widening the gap between employer and employee. Mr. Barrow seems to feel that labor should make up for the deficiencies of the present economic system, in addition to acting as a pack mule for the carrying of thousands of profit-takers who aren’t producing anything.” Other citizens expressed alarms about Communism. Oscar Grow in a letter to the Herald Whig on May 11, 1953, stated: “We have been made literal slaves one-third of our lives to support a collection of foreign derelicts, merely to indulge the fantasies of a gang of deranged internationalists...As for Senator McCarthy, his investigations have been fully vindicated by numerous exposures of disloyalty.” Illinois became a Cold War focal point when its Republican Senator, Everett Dirksen, staunchly defended McCarthy and derided Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson’s 1952 bid for the presidency against sitting President Dwight Eisenhower. Quincy entered this battle in October 1952 when Chicago-based national radio commentator, Paul Harvey, broadcast two shows from the Gem City and spoke to an audience of over 2,000 people, fervently supporting McCarthy’s efforts and calling Stevenson a “pinko”—a liberal leaning socialist. Senator McCarthy aimed his venom not only against Communists but also gay people, whom the American Psychiatric Association deemed mentally ill and a threat to the family’s sanctity. This became known as the “Lavender Campaign,” and several thousand government and private employees lost their jobs and reputations. The Herald Whig—which had taken the sobriquet “The Big Paper of the Big Valley—evenhandedly reported on McCarthy and the HUAC hearings and in a May 8, 1950, local editorial stated: “Senator McCarthy has turned up not a single disloyal person in the State Department. His total to date has been the discovery of a large number of perverts who were summary dismissed.” McCarthy’s hostile and grandstanding tactics, along with his lack of evidence, began casting doubts on his credibility when the Korean War erupted. In the wake of that war fought against the spread of Communism, Congress added the words “Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. Long before that change, though, the Knights of Columbus, including Quincy’s local Council # 583, included “Under God” in its reciting of the Pledge at lodge meetings. After McCarthy accused the Army of harboring Communists within its ranks, major television networks began broadcasting the HUAC hearings. From April to June 1954, millions of Americans watched as the junior senator from Wisconsin badgered and harassed military personnel. Finally President Eisenhower and the public had had enough. On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted 67 to 22 to censure McCarthy for “conduct that tries to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrespect.” Senator Dirksen voted against this measure and stayed loyal to his fellow Republican senator. Quincy Mayor Leo Lenane applauded the Senate’s ruling and denounced Dirksen’s vote. The Cold War continued, though, with suspicions provoked by these hearings now popularized in the media. Quincy television Channel 10 broadcast “I Led Three Lives” about Communists in everyday American life and the Belasco and Orpheum Theaters showed the movie “The Woman on Pier 13,” originally titled “I Married A Communist” to standing-room only audiences. The Free Public Library banned some books, including “Johnny Got His Gun” by avowed Communist Dalton Trumbo and George Orwell’s novel 1984. The rabidly anti-Communist organization John Birch Society formed a local chapter and started an American Opinion Library at 911 Jersey Street. Robert Awerkamp, a Quincy native and Republican alderman, headed the group. The Quincy John Birch Society had about 100 active members and sponsored the program “Stand Up For Freedom” on WGEM TV. This Society led efforts to ban fluoridation in local water supplies as a possible Communist ploy to pacify citizens and make them more pliable to indoctrination. Awerkamp remained the sole member of the Quincy City Council to vote against mental health funding. Being a Communist, though, has never been illegal in U.S. history, and in 1972 the American Communist Party placed Gus Hall’s name on the presidential ballot. Adams County citizens could now vote Communistic. That same year James Bond movies played to sold-out audiences in Quincy and TV programs like “I Spy” and “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” topped local ratings and stoked suspicions of Communist infiltration in American life. Sources “Birch Society Blames War on Administration.” Quincy Herald-Whig, Nov. 10, 1973, 8. “Fast Getting Nowhere.” Quincy Herald-Whig, May 8, 1950, 6. Giblin, James Cross. The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy. New York: Clarion Books, 1st Ed., 2009. Griffin, G. Edward. “This is The John Birch Society.” Filmed Dec. 17, 1969. YouTube. 1:51:17. jbs.org. “John Birch Society.” Quincy Herald-Whig, May 29, 1966, 8. “Late News.” Quincy Herald-Whig, Oct. 28, 1952, 1. “Millions Hear Paul Harvey.” Quincy Herald-Whig, Oct. 27, 1952, 2. Nichols, David A. Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower’s Secret Campaign Against Joseph McCarthy. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2017, 233-50. Remini, Robert V. A Short History of the United States. New York: Harper Collins, 2005, 254-55, 257. “The Soap Box on the Square.” Quincy Herald-Whig, Nov.2, 1952, 16. “The Soap Box on the Square.” Quincy Herald-Whig, March 11, 1953, 10. Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York: Harper Collins, 2003, 428, 431. he body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

Cora Agnes Benneson, a celebrated woman in her native Quincy and beyond, was born in 1851 to Robert and Electa Ann (Park) Benneson. She was educated and taught in the community until her early 20s. Benneson went on to navigate a "life without precedents." In 1888 after receiving several degrees and traveling the world she moved permanently to the Boston area, where she was one of the first female lawyers. Anticipating a visit by Benneson a 1909 Quincy Journal headline states, "The Gem City is Proud of Her Distinguished Daughter." Throughout her life Benneson received accolades as a scholar, lawyer, reformer, and lecturer. Benneson grew up with three older sisters, Alice, Annie, and Caroline, at 241 Jersey Street on the bluffs of the Mississippi River. Their landscaped residence allowed a view of fourteen miles of the river and bird's eye view of the passing steamers. The Benneson girls were schooled by their mother who had been a teacher in New England. Cora was an enthusiastic reader and at 12 read and wrote Latin. Benneson attended the Quincy Academy and graduated with a high school diploma when she was 15. She enrolled in the Quincy Female Seminary, established in the fall of 1867, and graduated on June 26, 1869. Benneson stayed on as an instructor of English from 1869 to 1872. She was an early member of Friends in Council, a women's study group, and a member of the Unitarian Church where she founded the original Unity Club, a forum on leading topics of the day. Benneson's parents were community leaders in politics and education. Robert Benneson served as an alderman for several years, mayor from 1859-60, and a member of the School Board for 16 years (1870-1886). Benneson was initially in the lumber business and later built what was known as the Benneson Block on the south side of Maine Street between Fifth and Sixth streets. The Bennesons helped to establish the Unitarian church in Illinois. Entertaining notable men who lectured in the Midwest, Benneson dinner guests included Ralph Waldo Emerson who it is said made the "greatest impact upon Benneson's developing mind." In 1875 Benneson enrolled at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor shortly after women were accepted. She completed the four-year course of study in three and was the first woman editor of the university newspaper, The Chronicle. She then applied to law school at Harvard but was denied because Harvard did not have "suitable provision for receiving women." She attended the law school at the University of Michigan and was one of two women in her law class of 175. With her law degree obtained in 1880 she stayed on to receive a master's degree in jurisprudence and German. Benneson was admitted to the Michigan bar in March 1880 and Illinois bar in June 1880. To broaden her knowledge Bennesen toured foreign cultures to see their legal systems. She also made of point of looking into the treatment of women and the opportunities available for them in foreign countries. On Oct. 2, 1883, the Philadelphia Chronicle-Herald noted that "Miss Cora Benneson, the Quincy, Illinois female lawyer, is making a tour around the world." Traveling with a Miss White of Boston, the two sailed to Hong Kong. With some risk they toured Canton, China with Cora reporting that war with France seemed "imminent." From there the journey took them to Japan and on to India, Burma, Abyssinia, Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, Norway, Russia, Italy, France and England. In the fall of 1885 they returned to the states sailing from Queenstown, Ireland. As she circumnavigated the globe, Benneson documented her exotic and notable experiences. Her father, Robert, made a practice of taking her letters to the children of the grammar division of Jefferson School. A Quincy Daily Journal story of March 14, 1884 indicates the students anxiously followed her travel experiences. Once back in Quincy those stories were relayed in lecture series throughout 1886 and 1887. In 1886, she was briefly the law editor of the Law Reporter of West Publishing. From the fall of 1887 to spring of 1888 Benneson was a fellow in history at Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia and studied administration under future President Woodrow Wilson. Fourteen years after leaving law school Benneson opened her law practice. The Boston Globe announced in December 1894 that Benneson was admitted to the bar in Massachusetts and established her law practice in her home at 4 Mason Street in Cambridge, now on the Harvard campus. The Quincy Morning Whig reported that a number of Quincy people were present to witness the proceedings. When Benneson moved to the Boston area, she attended Radcliffe College earning a second master’s degree in 1902. Benneson worked with suffrage leaders throughout her life. Benneson was a good friend of suffragist Lucy Stone, a prominent organizer for the rights of women. Benneson spoke about the new roles of women in both the private and public spheres. On a visit to Quincy in 1895 she spoke to the Women's Council as a proponent for full suffrage. The Boston Globe on Sunday, Feb. 17, 1895, reported that Benneson spoke at a symposium titled, "The Coming Woman." The New York Times of June 27, 1900, reported that Cora Benneson, Massachusetts attorney and special commissioner, presented a paper, "The Power of Our Courts to Interpret the Constitution," at the 49th general session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science to the Social Economic Group at Columbia University. Benneson studied questions concerning government and wrote on topics such as "Executive Discretion in the United States" and "Federal Guarantees for Maintaining Republican Government in the States." Recognized by the Association, she was made a fellow in 1899. Benneson frequently authored articles on law, education, politics and social science. At the age of 68, Benneson was prepared to undertake a new direction in life as a civics teacher under a program for the Americanization of immigrants. She had just received her Massachusetts certification when she died in her home in Cambridge on June 8, 1919. Her cremated remains arrived in Quincy on June 16 and her ashes are buried with the family in the Benneson lot at Woodland Cemetery. Sources "Admitted to the Boston Bar." Quincy Morning Whig, December 15, 1894. Bar none: 125 years of women lawyers in Illinois. Chicago: Chicago Bar Association Alliance for Women, 1998. "Brilliant Woman Dies: Miss Cora Benneson was Native of Quincy." Quincy Daily Herald, June 12, 1919. "December Institute." Quincy Daily Whig, December 13, 1885. "Miss Bennesons's Bension: She Gives Greeting and Farewell to Her Quincy Friends." Quincy Herald, June 15, 1895. "Miss Benneson's Conversation." Quincy Whig, February 16, 1886. "Miss Cora A. Benneson Admitted to Practice in Massachusetts." Quincy Herald, December 14, 1894. Nazzal, James A. "Verite sans peur: Cora Agnes Benneson, A First-Wave Feminist of Illinois." Journal of the State Historical Society, Vol. 93, No. 3 (Autumn 2000). "Personal." Quincy Herald, June 10, 1883. "Personal." Quincy Herald, October 2, 1883. "Quincy Female Seminary." Quincy Whig, June 19, 1869. "Scientists in Conference." New York Times, June 27, 1990. Trueblood, Mary Esther. "Cora Agnes Benneson." Representative Women of New England. Boston: George H. Ellis Co., 1904. "Urn Containing Ashes of Woman Has Arrived." Quincy Daily Journal, June 16, 1919.

In 1860, Elmer Ellsworth’s United States Zouave Cadets, a short-lived military drill team, toured the Eastern United States, inspiring the formation of similar units. The Quincy Cadets were one of them. Under Captain Theodore Letton’s leadership the Cadets gained a reputation as a well-organized and drilled company. Quincy’s 1861 Fourth of July parade led off with 14th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, followed by the Quincy City Guard, the National Rifle Guards, the Quincy Mounted Guards, and the Quincy Cadets. The three local militia units were undoubtedly loosely organized and ill-trained outfits. The men were good for a parade but not for a fight. As for the Cadets, close-order drill is not the same as the exchange of fire. The Quincy Cadets’ leader, Theodore Willis Letton, was born January 23, 1840, in Le Claire, Iowa. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Quincy, where his father, Raphael, established himself as a “teacher of and dealer in music.” By the time of his death in 1903, Raphael Letton was considered “one of the oldest piano dealers in the United States.” The 21-year-old Theodore Letton was teaching music when he and fifteen of the Cadets answered Lincoln’s 1861 call for three-year volunteers. The Cadets, “mere lads yet in their teens,” were part of a large contingent of Quincy men mustered into United States service on September 12, 1861, as the 50th Illinois Infantry. Letton was elected First Lieutenant in Co. C. On October 9th, the 50th left Quincy for Missouri where they remained until January 21, 1862, when the regiment was ordered to Cairo, Illinois. Here, Grant was assembling a force to attack and capture Forts Henry and Donelson. The February 26th Quincy Daily Herald published a dispatch covering the fighting at Fort Donelson. “The 50th . . . held its own all the way through; returned the enemy’s [fire] when an opportunity was afforded and supported the Iowa 2d in its charge upon the enemy’s batteries, which determined the result of the battle in a great measure; finally came out without a man killed as far as we have been able to ascertain, and only eight or nine wounded.” After Fort Donelson’s surrendered the 50th moved up the Cumberland River, occupying Clarksville, Tennessee, where the regiment remained until ordered to Pittsburg Landing with the 50th arriving on March 31st. Thirty-one years later Letton recalled: “It was a beautiful Sunday morning in April . . . when we answered the call ’fall in’ and marched forth to do our part. . ..” His letter home, written after the battle and published in the Daily Whig and Republican described what he saw and partook in that day. He began: “We have been through another great fight. Friday evening the enemy made a reconnaissance in force, but we drove them back. Early Sunday morning they surprised and came near taking us all prisoners.” After a lengthy delay the 50th got underway, leaving “camp about ten o’clock, and marched two miles to the scene of action.” In the move the 50th became separated from the rest of the brigade. Now temporarily attached to McArthur’s brigade, the 50th was positioned alone at the end battleline with no orders or any other troops near. Confused and determined to find what was in front of the 50th, Colonel Bane ordered Sergeant Major Hughes and Lieut. Col. Swarthout forward to reconnoiter. Within minutes shots were heard and Hughes’ riderless horse came dshing back.” Lt. Letton wrote: “I was on the side of a hill, but thirty or forty feet above where the sergeant major lay, [and] I could not tell for the smoke what kind of troops those across the hollow were.” One of Letton’s men, “who had been standing behind a tree some distance in front of the company” shouted that “he could see a flag coming over the brow of the hill.” Focusing on the flag bearer, Letton wrote the man “was holding it around the staff, and I could not tell whether it was the stars and striped or the stars bars.” Time was in slow motion, “but at last the flag was above the brow of the hill, and as the breeze caught it, it gradually unfolded, showing it to be the rebel ensign.” Identifying the flag, Lt. Letton, in command of Co. C, ran back to his men, “and as soon as the rebels came in sight ordered them to fire.” The rebel advance, however, outnumbered the 50th to the point it almost surrounded the regiment. They “opened fire upon us in front and on both flanks, and soon threw us into confusion,” Letton penned. The lieutenant ordered his men “to take to the trees and load and fire at will. In this manner a great many of the rebels were killed.” After retreating “for some distance, we at last succeeded in partly reforming the regiment,” Letton explained. The 50th, like most of the Union army that day, realized that they had fallen back as far as they could. They were now backed up to the Tennessee River and came across Capt. Stone with the 1st Missouri Battery. “He requested us to remain with the battery to protect it, while he tried to drive the rebels back.” “About five o’clock the victorious army which had driven our entire left wing and routed them, approached the position where the 1st and 2d Missouri Batteries and Captain Maddison’s siege guns were stationed. As soon as they reached the top of the hill, the batteries opened upon them, such cannonading I never heard before. It completely checked the rebels.” Lt. Letton continued: “By the next morning Gen. Buell had crossed and commenced the fight, and by three o’clock the rebels were routed. Our regimented guarded the battery all Sunday night and all-day Monday.” On April 28, 1862, Lieutenant Letton was promoted Adjutant of the 50th Illinois Infantry. After November 16, 1862, he would spend the rest of his three years term of enlistment as a staff officer. Captain Letton left Quincy after the war and settled into the fire insurance industry where he was quite successful. He died in Chicago on October 8, 1908. Sources “Another Glorious Victory!!” Quincy Daily Herald, February 26, 1862, 2. “Celebration of the Fourth of July.” Quincy Daily Herald, July 3, 1861, 2. “From the 50th Regiment.” Quincy Daily Whig and Republican, April 14, 1862, 2. Hurbert, Charles F. History of the Fiftieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Union. Kansas City, Mo.: Western Veteran Publishing Company, 1894. Memorials of Deceased Companions of the Commandery of the State of Illinois. Vol. 7, pp. 567-571. Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. “Obituary.” Chicago Tribune, October 11, 1908, 6. “Pioneer Dead.” Quincy Daily Journal, May 25, 1903, 7. Portraits and Biographers of the Fire Underwriters of the City of Chicago. Chicago: Charles T. Rothermel & Co., 1895. Proceedings of the Fortieth Annual Meeting of the Fire Underwriters’ Association of the Northwest Chicago, Illinois October 6-7, 1919. “Report of the Committee on the Death of Theodore Willis Letton,” pp. 163-164, Printed by the Association, 1909. “R. E. Letton.” Quincy Daily Whig and Republican, September 11, 1861, 3. “Theo. Letton Is No More.” Quincy Daily Herald, October 9, 1908, 9. “Was Veteran of Civil War,” Quincy Daily Herald, October 10, 1908, 6.

In August, 1939, John Willis Gardner, his wife Helen, their daughter Marion Gardner Jackson, and another companion were scheduled to travel to Europe on the New Amsterdam. The ship was very new as it entered transatlantic service in 1938, the second Holland American Line ship with that name. Though monitoring conditions in Europe with war possibly looming, the family planned to travel to several countries on the continent. The August 6 Herald-Whig article announcing their departure said they… “have traveled abroad probably more than any other Quincyans… .” The Gardner party left New York on August 15 and arrived in England on August 22 where most people they met shared their belief that war could be avoided. But on September 1, Germany invaded Poland and on September 3, England declared war on Germany. In the booklet, “Two Months-Too Long in England,” Gardner said this trip would be their last as he had just turned 76. The American travelers hired a Packard with a chauffeur for $17.50 per day and began their visit by taking a driving trip around rural England. He wrote, “ I have motored many places in different parts of the world, but there is, in my opinions, no place to equal the beauty of rural England.” After only a few days, they began to hear war rumors and decided to return to London. Hotel rooms were scarce due to war preparations. They reached Oxford when war was declared. In London they found air raid warnings, blackouts, and general confusion on the streets. They were issued gas masks. Businesses and theaters were closed. Train schedules were cancelled, as the trains were turned over for troop transportation. Twice while in their hotel in London they had to leave their rooms in the middle of the night and go to the air raid shelter in the basement. They witnessed the first children being sent to the country for safety. They saw entire offices being packed up and moved to the country. He said, “the people seemed to accept the situation with a set jaw and determination… .” While in England, Gardner was asked why America was not involved in the war. According to an interview he gave to the Herald-Whig on October 26, 1939, he answered, “Why should we and besides, you haven’t paid us for the last one yet. Which he added, didn’t make him very popular.” The English press was censored, and blank columns appeared in newspapers where an article would have been. It was compulsory to carried a gas mask. Gardner did not always do that and was stopped by the police and admonished. Gas masks were to be returned upon leaving the country, thereby making it available for others. For some reason, one member of the Gardner party kept her mask and returned home with it. Their scheduled return trip on September 26 on the Dutch ship The Staatendam was cancelled. The Gardner family had to find another ship which took them a few weeks as hundreds of Americans from England and the continent were trying to get away from the war. According to the October 22 Herald-Whig “They were held up for many weeks in England awaiting passage home.” For their safety, the American Embassy and the British government sent Americans out of London. The Gardners were sent down to the coastal city of Bournemouth, where they waited with nothing to do. Gas was rationed and cars were not used. Nothing was open. Looking out of their hotel room, they noticed men with binoculars stationed around the coast scanning for submarines. Finally, they received word that they could sail on the SS Manhattan from Southampton, on the southeast coast of England, on October 12th to return home. All Americans received a letter from the American Ambassador, Joseph P. Kennedy, dated September 27, 1939. Two ships were being sent from America for repatriation of its citizens. Ambassador Kennedy said, “I ask once more that everyone who does not have any urgent reason for remaining should go home without delay.” He was repeating the advice given to Americans on August 24. The Gardner’s were assigned a two-bed cabin for their party of four with extra cots in all cabins. The ship was overcrowded with some passengers sleeping in all available spaces and costing 40% more than the trip over. First, they sailed to Bordeaux France to pick up additional passengers. While in port no passenger was allowed to leave the ship. They watched a convoy of 24 ships, 18 merchant ships and six warships leave. The harbor was blacked out but when ready to leave, lights were turned on to illuminate the American Flags flying on the ship, hopefully preventing a submarine attack on a neutral vessel. One liner headed to Montreal from Glasglow, the Athenia, had already been sunk off the coast of Ireland on September 1. The Manhattan’s trip to New York was uneventful. Upon arriving in New York, the Americans had to surrender their passports. The government did not want American’s traveling. That concerned the Gardner family as they were hoping to take a trip to South America. Reaching Quincy the family was interviewed by the newspaper and gave fairly detailed accounts of England’s preparations and what they went through as travelers. In addition, by early December, Mr. Gardner had written a booklet entitled, “Two Months—Too Long in England.” His detailed description provides a snapshot of that time at the beginning of World War II. He quotes the letter from Ambassador Kennedy which was sent to the American passengers stating that the ship had been sent to England to retrieve Americans. Mr. Gardner wrote that only about 1/3 of the passengers were Americans and 2/3 were Jewish refugees. At the end of the booklet, Mr. Gardner says, “As I am now in my seventy-seventh year, it seems probable that my traveling days are over….It has been a great pleasure during all these years to remember the many friends I have made during my fifty-seven years of business experience… .” Sources “Booklet Tells of Experiences of J. W. Gardner.” Quincy Herald-Whig, December18, 1939, 12. Gardner, John W. Two Months—Too Long in England. Quincy IL: Author, 1939. “J. W. Gardners And Mrs. Jackson Landing Sunday.” Quincy Herald-Whig, October 22, 1939, 4. “J. W. Gardners and Mrs. Royal Jackson To Sail for England.” Quincy Herald-Whig, August 6, 1939, 4. “Quincyans Have Exciting Experiences in England; Journey Home Uneventful.” Quincy Herald-Whig, October 26, 1939, 16.

During much of the 20th century, newspapers had a Society page. The 1913 Quincy Daily Herald called their page, The Week In Society, with the slogan, Comings and Goings of Quincy People Whom We All Know. On this page, the reporters would follow the lives of socially prominent people, particularly their travels whether in the United States, Canada, Europe, or Asia. The John Willis Gardner family was frequently written about. In August 1913, they planned a trip to China accompanied by his widowed cousin, Dr. Tom Gardner. John W. wanted to introduce more of the Gardner company’s products to Asia, combining that with the pleasure of seeing several countries. At the end of the August 10 article, the paper included addresses of their various stops, thus allowing Quincyans to write to the family. The mail was addressed to them in care of Thomas Cook & Son. The company was a travel agency begun in 1841 in England, with offices in many countries. In later years, American Express would provide the same services. Leaving Quincy, the Gardners stopped in St. Paul visiting family and arrived in Vancouver where they embarked on the Canadian-Pacific ship, The Empress of Asia, on September 10. The ship was new, and their voyage was only her second trip. The ship had a long career and was finally sunk by the Japanese in 1942 while serving as a troop ship. The Gardner’s trip to Yokohama, Japan, took ten days. They traveled through Japan and Korea by rail and by steamer, eventually arriving in China at Port Arthur. From there, they traveled south through China, stopping in various places, to Shanghai and Hong Kong. Their trip home was just as interesting with stops in Manila in the Philippines, back to Japan, and then on to Hawaii. They landed in San Fransisco for Christmas with their daughter, Effie Neustadt. Their arrival in Quincy on New Year’s Day completed a trip of 48 days at sea on seven different steamships and 26,000 miles. John Willis Gardner, born in 1863, was son of Robert William Gardner who first traveled to this country from Scotland in 1849. Robert Gardner tried several different careers and eventually came to Quincy and apprenticed with Edward Turner to learn the trade of machinist. He bought the Turner shop, partnered with Henry Mitchell and later John Robertson. According to the History of Quincy and its Men of Mark, Gardner “passed through a career of unprecedented prosperity.” He invented “Gardner’s Improved Compensation Governor” to regulate steam as a power source. Gardner’s governor revolutionized transportation and industrial uses throughout the world. Robert W. Gardner married Mary Blakesley with whom he had several children. John Willis Gardner was his oldest son and worked in his father’s company from the age of twenty. When his father died in 1907, John W. took charge of the company. In 1927, he managed the merger of Denver Rock Drilling Manufacturing Company with the Gardner Company. The company became the Gardner Denver Company of Quincy. His work involved much traveling both in the country and overseas, and he often combined business travel with leisure travel. In November 1922, Mr. and Mrs. Gardner left Quincy for New York where they would embark on November 11 for their trip around the world. The November 4 Quincy Daily Herald, reported on the several farewell dinners and parties for the couple. Dr. Tom Gardner again accompanied them. They arrived home on April 15. Shortly after, Mr. Gardner gave an accounting of their trip to the Quincy Daily Herald. They traveled over 30,000 miles and, according to the paper, they “enjoyed perfect health during the entire time of their trip, … and judging from their appearance both were greatly benefitted by their journeyings in strange countries.” The trip was long, and Gardner had outspoken opinions about every place they visited. They were only in Europe four days before leaving for Palestine, Egypt, India, Burma (now known as Myanmar), and the Malay states. Continuing the trip, they returned to the Philippines, China, and Japan, which they had visited in 1913. He complained that travel was slow and that commercial conditions were not promising, particularly in India and China due to their large populations and extreme poverty. He thought Jerusalem “to be the worse located city in the world.” Rocks and sand surrounded the city. He felt the Zionist movement of settling Jewish people there was ill-advised as there was no work or the chance of producing anything from the soil. The travelers were asked two question almost everywhere they went during this 1922 trip. The first was why America had not joined the League of Nations, which was organized in 1920, promoted by Woodrow Wilson, and was part of the treaty to end World War I. The second question was what was prohibition like? Mr. Gardner mentioned bottle labels and prices he observed, saying American liquor seemed to be available just about everywhere. Mr. Gardner continued to travel extensively for business and in 1924, he resigned as president of the City Planning Commission for “continuous absences from the city,” as reported in the March 26 Quincy Daily Herald. In 1930, the J. W. Gardners had “a delightful trip to Europe” and the October 23, 1930, Quincy Herald-Whig article said the Gardners “had many trips abroad but always find new interests in foreign countries.” They traveled to Europe on the HMHS Britannica, a new ship of the White Star Line, describing the ocean as “unusually calm.” Their return trip on the SS Minnewaska was not smooth. They “motored” through Ireland. Other countries visited were England, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and France. “Mrs. Gardner found Switzerland … the most entrancing and beautiful of all… .” To historians today, it seems odd that the “traveling” Gardners would plan another trip to Europe in August of 1939 with Germany taking territory from other countries and the world on a war footing. But they did. That trip is chronicled in part two of this series. Sources “Foreigners Are Interested in Our Prohibition Law and Attitude on League.” Quincy Daily Herald, April 17, 1923, 14. “Gardners Soon Off For China.” Quincy Daily Herald, August 10, 1913, 13. “J. W. Gardner and Dr. Gardner Arrive From Trip Abroad.” Quincy Herald Whig, October 23, 1930, 4. W. Gardner Resigns.” Quincy Daily Herald, March 26, 1924, 12. Redman, Pat H. History of Quincy and It’s Men of Mark. Quincy, IL: Heirs and Russell, 1869. “Society.” Quincy Daily Herald, November 4, 1922, 4. Wilcox, David F. Representative Men and Homes, Quincy, Illinois. Quincy, IL: D. F. Wilcox, 1899

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the U.S. Army was generally small, inexperienced and poorly equipped for warfare on the European front. In contrast, National Guard units, including the all black, Illinois 8th Infantry Regiment organized in 1898, had battle experience, including federal service in the Spanish-American War and in 1916 on the U.S. - Mexican border. This experience proved valuable to these men as well as their country, when in 1918, as the reorganized 370th Infantry Regiment - assigned to the 93rd Division, they arrived in the European theater of war. Designated as “Provisionary” or “Pioneer” Divisions, they were assigned either to support/supply duties, or direct combat duty embedded with French troops, often on the front lines. As former members of Company I of the Illinois National Guard or conscripts chosen by the Selective Service program of 1917 and 1918, black men from Quincy, Adams County, the state of Missouri, and even farther away took part in what became known as the “Great War” or the “War to End All Wars.” The experiences of the Perkins family, of Quincy and northeast Missouri are part of that story. According to his draft registration form, filled out in June of 1917, Edward Harrison Perkins, a 27- year- old “natural born” “Ethiopian” living at 819 Elm Street in Quincy, was employed as a teamster by John McHaffey. Born in 1889 to Mason and Fannie Perkins in Palmyra, Missouri, Harrison was one of a family of five sons and four daughters. From census data it appears that after the death of her husband in 1914, Fanny brought Harrison and other members of her family to Quincy. Following his induction into the Army through the Selective Service program and training at Camp Dodge, Perkins was assigned to the all-black 804th Pioneer Infantry and sent to Europe as part of the American Expeditionary Forces, arriving in France sometime in fall 1918. For the remainder of the year, Harrison survived his war-time duties, writing occasionally to his family that he was well. With the end of combat operations on November 11, 1918, Harrison and his unit remained in Europe, assigned to clean up and general field operations. Three months after the armistice, on Feb. 12, 1919, as he participated in the clearing of an ammunition dump near Mars-La-Tours, France, Perkins was killed by an explosion of abandoned German ordinance. The adjutant general on Feb. 25 notified his mother Fanny of 828 Chestnut Street of his death and burial in France. In October 1919 local soldiers of the 370th Pioneer Infantry gathered to form a third Quincy-based American Legion Post composed solely of black veterans. Two other posts, named for Quincyans Joseph W. Emery Jr. and Henry Root Hill, who had also lost their lives in the war, had already been organized in the city. The prospective members of this new post elected to name it after their dead comrade, Harrison Perkins. It was not until late June 1921, however, that Fanny Perkins received word from the U.S. government that her son’s body had been returned to American soil and would soon be arriving in Quincy for final burial. Perkins’s remains arrived in Quincy early on the morning of July 1, 1921. The newspapers of that day noted that in addition to his mother, Harrison was survived by four brothers, Mason Jr., Lotus, and Roy of Quincy, Guy of Gary, Indiana, and four sisters, Lovenia, Mary Eliza, Freda Estelle and Frances, all married and living elsewhere. On July 2nd, Perkins’s funeral service was held at the Eighth and Elm Street Baptist Church with the Reverend B. N. Marshall officiating. Perkins’s body was then escorted to Greenmount Cemetery by members of the Harrison Perkins American Legion Post, who also served as pall bearers, and veteran soldiers in full uniform, members of the newly formed Company M of the Illinois National Guard. At the cemetery, members of the Guard fired a three- volley salute over the grave, and taps were sounded by Jesse Perkins, also a returned Quincy veteran of the Great War. Three Perkins brothers, Harrison, Mason and Guy served in WWI, all called through the Selective Service program. While Harrison was apparently without prior military service, his brothers Mason and Guy had been part of the Quincy- based Company I of the Illinois National Guard (Colored). Mason noted three years of prior military service on his registration card. Although Guy, 23, claimed no prior military service, his name appears along with those of his brother Mason, and Jesse Perkins, the son of Mrs. Sarah Perkins of 922 Elm, in a newspaper roster of former Company I men who were recruited for service in the 8th Regiment on the Mexican border in July 1916. Mason, who served in Company D of the 365th Regiment, came home at the close of the war to join the Harrison Perkins Post of the American Legion in Quincy, as well as Company M of the reconstituted Illinois National Guard. Relatively little else is known about the post war lives of the Perkins men, and their neighbor Jesse Perkins who played taps at Harrison’s burial in July 1921. U.S. Army Transport Service records indicate that Jessie Perkins of Company B, 323rd Labor Battalion departed from Hoboken, New Jersey, on the ship Manchuria on July 10, 1918, and returned to the United States through the port of Brest on July 30, 1919. Eventually he became a resident of the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home at Quincy, where he passed away on the 11th of November, 1957. He was buried in Sunset Cemetery. Edward Harrison Perkins was buried in Greenmount Cemetery on July 2, 1921, in a lot purchased by his mother Fanny. When Fanny passed away in 1937, she was buried beside her son. As of today, no stone marks the burial places of either son or mother. Sources African American Service in the National Guard. https://www.military.com/history/african-american-service-national-guard.html retrieved 2/12/18 “Colored Soldier Back for Burial.” Quincy Daily Herald, July 1,1921, 12. “Former Member Co. I Killed in Carizal Fight.” Quincy Daily Journal, July 1, 1916, 10. “Harrison Perkins Body is Coming.” Quincy Daily Herald, June 30, 1921, 9. “Harrison Perkins Military Funeral.” Quincy Daily Herald, July 5, 1921, 2 “Military Funeral to be Held for Harrison Perkins.” Quincy Daily Journal, June 30, 1921, 3. “Negro Post Favored by Members of Company M.” Quincy Daily Whig, Oct. 4, 1919, 3. “Quincy Colored Boys Over There.” Quincy Daily Journal, October 22, 1918. U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939. https://search.ancestry.com/collections. Retrieved 2/15/2018 U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 retrieved from Ancestry.com “World War I unit became known as ‘the Fighting Black Devils.” Quincy Herald Whig, Dec. 3, 2017.

Henry Anson Castle, born August 22, 1841, was the son of Timothy Castle, who came west in 1835 and located in Columbus, Adams County. Initially in the hardware business, Castle in 1859 moved to Quincy and partnered with the Comstock brothers, forming the Comstock-Castle Stove Co. Henry Castle attended both Quincy’s Methodist College, now Chaddock, and McKendree College where he graduated in 1862. The summer of 1862 saw the Lincoln Administration call for more volunteers to put down the Southern Rebellion. Henry Castle answered the call, enlisting on August 20, 1862, in the 73rd Illinois Infantry. This was a logical choice as 73rd’s colonel, the Rev. James F. Jaquess, was the president of Quincy’s Methodist College. Fifteen Methodist clergymen were in the 73rd’s ranks. Consequently, the 73rd was known as the “Methodist Preacher’s Regiment.” Working as the adjutant’s clerk, Pvt. Castle brought this to the public’s attention when he wrote the Cincinnati Commercial newspaper giving a list of regiment’s field officers and captains who were licensed Methodist ministers. There is no question that having an education and ties to Col. Jaquess, helped in Pvt. Castle’s promotion to Sgt. Major. However, at the Battle of Stone River, Castle demonstrated that he was more than a paper shuffler. In the heat of the fight, the 73rd took cover in a railroad cut, Castle’s keen eye caught sight of a rebel battery positioning to enfilade the regiment. Taking charge, Sgt. Major Castle ordered the men out of the cut, narrowly escaping a severe shelling and numerous casualties. Stone River was a Union victory. For Henry A. Castle it was bittersweet. Severely wounded, Castle was on April 19, 1863, honorably discharged as disabled. With his wound healed and the Lincoln administration’s call for short term volunteers, Castle left his law studies and enthusiastically recruited a company, which became Company A of the 137th Volunteer Illinois Infantry. When the 137th arrived in Memphis, the city had been occupied by Union troops for two years. Memphis had surrendered after a brief naval battle on June 6, 1862. Under Federal occupation, Memphis became a gathering and staging site for Union infantry and cavalry. Eventually hospitals for the sick and wounded, warehouses of military supplies, and a prison housing captured rebels were all established there. In the summer of 1864, deplete infantry regiments returning from the Red River Campaign were sent to Memphis for rest and reorganization. While Union calvary patrolling west Tennessee and northern Mississippi operated out of Memphis. In a letter dated June 20th, a Co. B soldier wrote the Whig and Republican saying: “The prospect for this regiment to stay here until our time is out is very flattering. We are encamped by the side of the 3d Illinois Cavalry. The companies are not all here. The 119th is camped down the Herndon (sic) Road. . .. The regiment is badly used up, having been in that expedition up [the] Red River which was so shamefully executed.” During the summer of 1864, 6,000 Union soldiers were stationed at Memphis, a seemly sizable deterrent. It was not. Having nothing but contempt for the Union soldier, Confederate Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forest elected to raid Memphis. His three objectives were to capture three Union generals posted in Memphis; to release southern prisoners from the Irving Block Prison; and to cause a recall of Union cavalry from northern Mississippi. On August 21st, Forest with 2,000 horsemen took advantage of a thick fog to approach and capture the Union pickets. Once inside the Union line Forest unleashed his raiders down the Hernando Road. Captain Castle, in a letter to the Daily Whig and Republican dated August 22, 1864, related the role of the 137th in the fight. “At about half past three o’clock yesterday (Sunday) morning,” he wrote, “we were awakened by the thunder of approaching horsemen. Our camp is but a quarter of a mile from the picket lines,” and “they were on us without a moment’s warning.” The raiders galloped past and fired their revolvers into Co. A’s camp. To return fire, Castle formed his men on the company’s parade ground “and fought them for some time . . . until ordered down to join the regiment which was forming in front of headquarters.” He continued: “Here the whole regiment, without regular organization at first, kept the charging column at bay, until we could form a line of battle.” Castle wrote that the 137th “checked their advance and turned them onto another road . . ..” Just as orders were given to fix bayonets move forward the rebels “opened on us with artillery, compelling us to fall back. . ..” Seeing that the regiment was nearly surrounded, Captain Castle wrote that most of the 137th “fell back down the Hernando Road, toward the city where they held their position, and greatly harassed the rebels on their retreat, re-capturing prisoners, etc.” In the fog of battle and retreat, a detachment of 50 men ended up at the State Female College and took refuge in the building. Here Col. John Wood lay sick being attended by his daughter and daughter-in-law. The men at the College held off their rebel attackers. Captain Castle said this of Forest’s raid: “It was a signal failure. Their avowed object was the opening of ‘Irving block’ and the release of rebel prisoners confined there. They failed in this. . ..” There were three scared, but not captured Union generals. Chaplain Hiram Roberts, wrote: “In this affair the (137th) regiment was under fire for the first time, but bore itself bravely, and has received much commendation from those who have before ‘seen service.’ Though but ‘hundred days men’ their record reads well, and Illinois has reason to be proud of their conduct. . ..” The 137th Illinois Infantry lost 1 officer and 17 enlisted killed and/or mortally wounded in what became known as the Second Battle of Memphis. Sources “Citizen’s Present to Col. Wood.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, June 8, 1864, 3. “Death of Mr. T. H. Castle.” Quincy Daily Whig, June 23, 1864, 8. Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, Iowa: The Dyer Publishing Co, 1908. “Fall In! Fall In! “ Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 5, 1864, 2. “Flag Presentation.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, June 8, 1864, 3. “Flag Presentation.” Quincy Daily Herald, June 13, 1864, 2. Find a Grave. Henry Anson and Timothy Hunt Castle. “Henry Castle Dies.” Quincy Daily Herald, August 17, 1916, 2. A History of the Seventy-Third Regiment Illinois Infantry Volunteers. Springfield, Illinois, 1890. “The Hundred-Day Men.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 3, 1864, 2. “Hundred Day Men.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 16, 1864, 3. Ives, Gideon S. “Captain Henry A. Castle.” Minnesota History Bulletin. Vol. 2, No. 1 (February 1, 1917). The National Cyclopedia of American Biography. New York: James T. White & Co., 1918. “Recruiting.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 3, 1864, 2. “Recruiting.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 4, 1864, 3. Reyburn, Phil. "John Wood: Illinois' Quarter Master General." Quincy Herald-Whig, January 26, 2014, 5. “The Quincy Company.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 23, 1864, 3. “Who Wouldn’t Go.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 14, 1864, 3.

The idea to raise regiments of short-term service troops was first voiced by Ohio’s governor William Dennison Jr. who was a Whig and Republican. Dennison was soon backed by four more Midwest governors and Charles Smith Olden, the governor of New Jersey, who all sent a letter to Washington, D.C. The plan was for 100-day regiments to free-up veteran troops for combat. Secretary of War Stanton liked the proposal, and President Lincoln approved it. Veteran regiments would be relieved from guarding railroads and key cities, and thus allowing the veterans to be forwarded to the front lines where they were needed. In the West, the Hundred Days Men would take over much of the Union Armies’ lengthy supply and communication lines. Parts of the occupied South, however, was infested with guerillas, bushwhackers, and still subject to an enemy calvary raids. Thus, a large military presence was a necessary deterrent. Overall, the Union soldiers found this a dull, boring, but relatively safe duty. The Quincy Herald, Monday, May 2, 1864 said: “In response to a call of the President of the United States . . . twenty thousand volunteers from the State will be accepted for Government service for one hundred days provided they are offered within twenty days from this date.” While the May 3rd Daily Whig reported that “The call for 20,000 hundred-day men from Illinois has thus far met with a most gratifying response.” The editor wrote that other State newspapers are filled with “encouraging accoun ts of monster war meetings and vigorous volunteering. Indications are that we shall furnish our quota by the appointed time.” It may not have been a monster meeting, but the Daily Whig for May 5th reported “a large and enthusiastic war meeting was held in Camp Point,” and one of the speakers was H. A. Castle. The 22-year-old Castle was more than words. His ad in the Daily Whig read: “HENRY A. CASTLE, late . . . of the 73d Illinois is raising a company for the Hundred Days Service. Let the young men of Quincy embrace this opportunity to form a company that the city will be proud of.” In a letter to the Daily Whig dated May 9th, John Wood wrote: “To the Citizens of Adams County, Ill.---I have been authorized to recruit a Regiment infantry for 100 days. Being aware of the necessity of this force being organized within a short time, I respectfully urge all loyal citizens to aid me in this move, that Adams County, my home, may not be remiss in responding to the call made by the governor.” The same issue announced that not only had “the venerable and patriotic Ex-Gov. Wood has been authorized by Gov. Yates to raise a Regiment . . . for 100 days service” he will also be the colonel. At age 65 John Wood was still a vigorous man and considered the patriarch of Quincy and Adams County. If John Wood wanted to raise a regiment of Hundred Day Men, he had the prestige to do it. Wood was a proven doer. John Wood had been elected Illinois’ first Republican Lt. Governor in 1856, and he became the state’s 12th governor when Henry Bissell died on March 18, 1860. In April 1862, Gov. Richard Yates appointed Wood the state’s Quartermaster General. Wood made several trips to the War Department, some with Yates, where he and Senators Trumbull and Browning pulled the necessary strings to equip the Prairie State’s volunteers. The May 16th Quincy Daily Whig gave a local update on the progress of enlistment of One Hundred Day Men. The Whig wrote: “Recruiting for the one-hundred-day service is going on quite lively hereabouts. Almost every evening last week, war meetings in aid thereof were held in various parts of the county.” The Whig reported that “Last Saturday night a . . . meeting was held at Mendon under the auspices of Captain Castle, where some eight or ten men, we understand, were recruited for his company.” A meeting at Augusta on Monday evening, May 16th, was addressed by General Prentiss and Henry A. Castle. The Whig claimed, “twenty or twenty-five recruits were obtained, who will make first rate soldiers. . ..” The Quincy Daily Whig and Republican announced that on Friday, May 20th, the Quincy company, in John Wood’s regiment, “now numbers ninety men in camp . . ..” And that afternoon, the company elected officers. “On the first ballot Henry A. Castle was unanimously elected captain.” The Whig and Republican wrote that “the company is composed about as follows: ---Forty men from Quincy, twenty-five from Warsaw, fifteen from Augusta, and ten from Mendon---all being the picked men of their respective localities, recruited by Capt. Castle . . ..” On June 5th, the John Wood’s newly raised regiment of 100-day men were mustered into federal service. Late afternoon on June 7th, with Col. John Wood riding at their head, the regiment marched to and formed at Washington Square. There the ladies of Quincy presented “a magnificent new regimental banner” to the now number 137th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After several speeches and cheers the men returned to Camp Wood. On June 9th, the regiment was ordered to and left for Memphis, Tennessee. On arriving in Memphis, the 137th settled into a routine of guard and picket duty, leaving no time to drill and prepare for a fight. Sources “Citizen’s Present to Col. Wood.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, June 8, 1864, 3. “Death of Mr. T. H. Castle.” Quincy Daily Whig, June 23, 1864, 8. Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, Iowa: The Dyer Publishing Co, 1908. “Fall In! Fall In! “ Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 5, 1864, 2. “Flag Presentation.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, June 8, 1864, 3. “Flag Presentation.” Quincy Daily Herald, June 13, 1864, 2. Find a Grave. Henry Anson and Timothy Hunt Castle. “Henry Castle Dies.” Quincy Daily Herald, August 17, 1916, 2. A History of the Seventy-Third Regiment Illinois Infantry Volunteers. Springfield, Illinois, 1890. “The Hundred-Day Men.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 3, 1864, 2. “Hundred Day Men.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 16, 1864, 3. Ives, Gideon S. “Captain Henry A. Castle.” Minnesota History Bulletin. Vol. 2, No. 1 (February 1, 1917). The National Cyclopedia of American Biography. New York: James T. White & Co., 1918. “Recruiting.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 3, 1864, 2. “Recruiting.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 4, 1864, 3. Reyburn, Phil. "John Wood: Illinois' Quarter Master General." Quincy Herald-Whig, January 26, 2014, 5. “The Quincy Company.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 23, 1864, 3. “Who Wouldn’t Go.” Qunicy Daily Whig-Republican, May 14, 1864, 3.