152 History in the Making 1848-1948 Cropley 44

By Carrie Cropley

31308735

1848

1948

SOS 152 OCR History in the Making 1848-1948 Cropley 44.pdf

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Kenosha County, Wisconsin

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Valentine

SNIPPETS of SALEM
152- History in the
Making,

1848-1948
By Carrie Cropley
Contents: This is a copy of the book that is on the shelves at the
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to photocopy for the project.

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reference the book itself, not this booklet.

0-44 pages
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Compiled 8/2009 by L S Valentine Copyright©Valentine2009

lSTOiRY I'N THE
MAKING
By Kenoshans who had a part therein

Compiled from the files of the
Kenosha County J:iist0 rical Society

fJy. ti~IE cR,oPLEY; s~cretary

l;t~lished

by tJ,Ie K.e11osl!a County Historic!'} Society
Kenos4ll County Centennial Council
In Observance ot

:i't§l\p~sill's .Sta\e 9¢J.ll~J.l~~~~~ "

• "

1848"1~4;8.

Contents
PAGE

SECTION

I.

A Soldier of the American Revolution

II.

The Western Land Boom of the 1830's

Tales of the Revolution

A Western Emigration Company Family
Others Also Were Coming

III.

Printing
Claims and Claim Trials

IV.
CoPYRIGHT,

Kenosha to California in 1849

1948

KENOSHA CouNTY HisToRICAL SocrETY

The 1849 Gold Rush .

V.

The Underground Railway .
A Story of the Underground Railway
In the Township of Bristol

All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof, must
not be reproduced in any form without permission.

VI.

Campaigns of the Civil War
The Park City Greys
Letters Home . • .
From a Civil War Diary
lHore Letters Home

VU.

Industrial Progress
Early Barb "\\'ire Manufacturers
Kenosha to the Rescue

VIII.

World War I
History of Troop E, 1st Wis. Cavalry
The Story of Company M

IX.

World War II
One Man's Story- Korea
Aftermath- The Nuremburg Trials

Prititing by Sharpe Printing Company, Kenosha, Wisconsin

~3

7
9

15
17
20

25
27

29
31
39
41

43
45

46
54

59
65
67
68

71

73
77
81

83
85

. Illustrations by members of Senior Art Class of Mary D. Bradford
High School. Section I, II and IX, Patricia M. LaVigne; Sections
II, Vand VI, Joe Greco; Section IV, Alice Bennett; Section VII,
Joyce Jensen; Section VIII, Allen Gaither.

Foreword
THE KENOSHA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY is
happy to present these accounts of first-hand experiences of citizens of
the city and county as a Souvenir of this, the celebration of the one
hundredth year of 'Visconsin's Statehood.
Because of length it was necessary to cut some articles, omitting
portions of minor importance, or selecting sections because of their
outstanding value. In every case they are the actual words of the
participants in various historic events. Some are from written accounts, prepared for presentation on some program, some from letters
to homefolks or friends, others from diaries. One or two are from
shorthand notes on addresses, two were prepared expressly for our
files. Some were written amid noise and confusion or almost under
enemy fire, in army tents, around camp fires or in miners' shacks;
written with stubs of pencil on any available substitute for a table to
support odd bits of paper, and written in cold, or snow or rain or
heat. Others were extemporaneous speech. If some slight inaccuracies. of spelling or grammar crept in, it should not be a matter of
criticism, but rather one of wonder that these are so few and trivial.
\Vorld War II was too vast, too terrible and its tensions and heartaches too close to the present, for it to seem wise to attempt to touch
on. actual combat service; also there was very little material available.
Therefore, only articles dealing· with some of its after-affects in Europe
arid Asia were selected for inclusion herein.
CARRIE CROPLEY, Compiler
Kenosha County Historical Society Publication Committee
Carrie Cropley
Rev.· Carl Buenger
Tella Griffin
George N. Tremper
Dorothy V. \Valters

5

rrndmtH{:J mum!&

A[J

,.NOUil'IOA3U 3H1. .iiO S3'IVJ,,

U0!1H]Ott3H

uv:J!DWJI aq1 Jo D!PJOS y

Tales oF the Revolution

It is perhaps somewhat far-fetc;hed to include this story
with the stories of bona. fide KeO:oshans which follow.
But William Champlin, who lived untill848, had and
has, so many descendents in Kenosha, dty and County,
and his story is so. interesting,. that it is given in part.
'William Champlin entered the Revolutionary Army
when sixteen years of age and served for seven years.
He was an aide-de-camp of General· Washington at
Valley Forge and later a Capt'din of Marines.
His daughter, Content, wife of Nathaniel Etheridge,
lived in Paris, Kenosha County; Sophia, wife of Allen
Russell Wilbur, in Bristol, and Eliza, wife of Levi
Grant, in Bristol and .in the City of Kenosha. Among
his descendents in the County and City are, or w~re,
members of the Marsh, Grant, Simmons, Quarles, Jones,
Fowler, Castle, Burgess and Hartnell families, and perhaps others.

8

About the commencement of the Revolutionary War, the British
ship Rose, commanded by Captain Wallace came to Stonington Point•,
and commenced firing upon the village; my father, then a Colonel of
the regiment of militia, assembled his troops and marched to the Point
preyent their landing, I accompanied him. A well directed fire
behind the buildings, fences and rocks succeeded in preventing
the women .and children all fled from the Point and
house where they remained the succeeding night,
the fire of the British did not do so much damage as it
One man only was wounded and one cow killed;
were considerably damaged by the shot. Soon after this a
or battery was built at Stonington Point, which I assisted in
and was afterward stationed there three months under the
of Captain John Belcher, who was then a captain of the
that place and I a soldier in the said militia. I was then
the Point .and stationed at Groton Fort under the command
Peleg Noyes, where I remained three months; I was then
to New London Fort and stationed there three months . . .
my term ·of service was out I returned to my father's.
after this I enlisted into the service of the State of Rhode
under the command of Captain Andrew Stauten for .the term
months to guard the coasts and. harbors. While on our
the coast we stopped at East Greenwich where a recruiting
h..:""·''·'~· stationed and I then enlisted as a sergeant in the Continenthe term of three years under the command of Captain
... \Ve were marched to New Jersey and joined WashAfter remaining at. New Jersey a short time we were
Bank on the Delaware River, near Philadelphia, where
fort at that place, then under the command of Colonel
\Vhile stationed there, the Fort was attacked by
Hessian troops under the command of Lord Howe;
defended and the enemy driven back.
fort, the flint was driven out ot my gun by a
the enemy which passed so near me that. I felt the heat and
who stood near me, had his fingers shot off. Thirty-one
fort, and it was said that seventeen hundred of the
and wounded.
Fort which lies opposite Red Bank was besieged while
at Red Bank. The troops stationed at Red Bank
at l\1ud Island and frequently crossed

9

the river for that purpose. I was stationed at :Mud Island Fort a
part of the time during the siege. The enemy, by bringing a large
ship to bear upon the fort and attacking it. at the same time with their
land forces, gave them such a decided advantage that it appeared useless to defend it any longer, we therefore abandoned it in the night,
leaving our colors flying. The Fort being vacated by the Yankees, the
British troops succeeded in taking it Nov. 15, 1778. \Ve also abandoned Red Bank fort, leaving a train and one man behind to blow it
up; the explosion took place soon after we left the Fort. The night was
extremely cold for that season of the year and we suffered much from
cold during the night, but continued our march to Valley Forge where
we made preparations for winter quarters (the British then having
possession of Philadelphia).
\Vhile at Valley Forge we built a bridge across the Schuylkill and
placed our cannon in a direction to,defend the crossing of the bridge,
that in case we should retreat we could cross the bridge and by the
aid of our cannon could prevent the British from crossing or annoy
them so much that they would not attempt it. \Ve also built huts
and made ourselves as comfortable as the circumstances of the times
would admit, Three rows of huts were built about a, half a mile
apart and at the head of the center row was \Vashington's headquarters. Lady Washington, accompanied by the wives of some of
the officers, came there and spent .the \vinter.
While in the Stat.e. of Pem.'sylvania we heard of an old. Tory who
had been providing provisionsal)~ stores for the British; our army
was then. almost destitute of r,rovi~ions and stood. in great need of the
provisiops so an officer was selected to go and take it. Volunteers: were
called. for and I immediately turned out for one and ori our march
thither we had to cross a stream although the· weather >vas very cold
We forded the stream up to the waist bands and on ~ur ~rriva! at the
house we found the doors barred and our admittance refused.. Our
officer demanded .entrat~ce and threatened. to break down the door unless
we could have admittance and while. standing at the door my ·wet
clothes froze stiff upon me, but at last the door was opened and we
went itl and found the provisions that had. been provided aforesaid
and we were ordered to fill our packs with pork wliich we did.
While on our march returnipg, I was taken sick and unable to
proceed; a soldier was left to take care of me .until a wagon was sent
from the army in which I was conveyed to the hospital or hut. .Many

10

qt the.soldin<, for want of suitable provision and clothing had become

sick ·and were placed in this miserable hut or hospital, as it. was called,
'''itb.me, where we suffered more than I am able to descnbe.
I was sick of a fever for a long time and my hair, which was very
thick, all came off. After my recovery, I again joined the
\Ve .remained at Valley Forge watching the movements of the
until June, when we received news that the British had left
htlaaelphia and had been one day on their march for South Amboy
they expected to take shipping. Washington immediately gave
to pursue them, and our army was accordingly marched with
haste on that pursuit. While on our march, we found
British had taken up all the bridges and had felled trees
the road to retard our march. \Ve, however, overhauled them
where the memorable Monmouth battle was fought.
was extremely warm, and we suffered much from the
ashtngton commanded the right wing of the army and Genthe left, but in consequence of General Lee disobeying orders,
time as they otherwise
was afterward tried by a court martial for his disobedience and
1![y station in the army during the battle was in the right
by General Washington. The British made good
and got on board their shipping at South Amboy.
battle of l\1onmouth, we were marched from place to
what transpired I do not distinctly recollect, hut in the Fall
i.f :the vein we were halted upon a high hill, and were entirely destiprovisions for three days. The hill was afterward called
Hill. The commissary whose duty it was to have furnished
broke for his neglect of duty.
}::;uu"anrny march.ed from New Jersey to Rhode Isiand, upon Sulliwhere we had a battle with the British. Previous
of our sentries were killed while on duty. I was
where I considered my life in more danger than
the British retired from the conflict, and we were
our return to New Jersey and prepared for winter
vVe had many difficulties with the Tories
Washwere at Morristown, where we wintered. l\1y
I do not recollect anything that took

place worthy of note save that we were often short of provisions and
our rations were very small and frequently quite poor; a detachment
was sent to Staten Island where they took a number of horses and some
provisions and blankets from the enemy and returned to headquarters.
I am not able at this time to recollect dates. shall therefore notice
promiscuously some particular events which occurred in which I took
an active part, that a more perfect account of my services and suffering may be given while in the Army of the United States.
\Vhile our Army was at Pixkil1 1 on the Hudson River, I was taken
sick of the camp distemper which prevailed to an alarming· degree.
The Hospital where I lay was filled with the sick, many of whom
died daily. \Vhat made our situation more distressing and the disease
more fatal was the want of suitable and skillful nurses to take care
of the sick. An old drunken Irishman and his .wife were the only
nurses that could be procured for .that .purpose and they spent more
time in quarrelmg and drinking than. in. taking care of the sick,. and as
soon as the breath had left the body and sometimes before, they would
rifle the pockets after money to buy whisker with. My sickness was
considered uncurable and the doctor told my friends that I could not
live till morning; in this, however, he was mistaken. for after a long
and distressing disease I began to recover and finally regained my
health to such a degree that I was able to return again to my duty in
the army in about two months.
While at Rhode Island on Sullivan's Expedition, the British then
having. pos,ession of the Island, our troops advanced so .near them
that we we.re obliged to take our senti}' from dutyduring the day and
place th~m. O!l.. guard ,again at !light. While the\e, o.ne of .our drummers cles.erted. and H.ed to the· British, as he supjlosed, and. related all
the information he was possessed of relative to our army, ~heir situation; movements and intentions. But to his surprise, he had only
reached our advanced guard and was telling his .story to one of our
officers when he was immediately arrested, tried. by Court Martial
and hu[Jg. 9n_ the spot. \Vhile hanging, .our army was
around. him t~:ee ~imes that every one might see and lear:n the fate
of a ~raitor and deserter.
\Vhile at Red ~ank, two Tories, a black man and a white man, were
hung for piloting the British army from Philadell'hia to our Fort at
Red Bank. By the order of C~ptain Green they were tried by a Court
Martial and condemned and hung. These were the first persons I
1.

ever. saw hung. The dead march was played with muflled drums and
other· instruments, producing a mournful and solumn sound which
r ,;h~ll never forget. ' ..

'Vhik in New Jersey near :Morristown, our army sl!ffered much
of provision to satisfy the. cravings of nature. The soldiers
"·ould often resort to theft; at one time they stole a cow belonging
to a widow woman; after driving her to a by-plac,; in the bushes they
killed her and secreted the meat (which they cut from the carcass
~\·itll"their knives) in their tents. Search was made for the cow and
the carcass found. Complaint was made to the officers. The soldiers
all paraded and search made for the meat which was found
their tents, and punishment for theft awaited them. Washat headquarters near by, heard of the fact and immedithe order for punishment, saying that his men
not be punished for a theft which hunger obliged them to
He then paid the widow money enough to buy her two cows.
continental money for my services in the army and laid it
to buy me a farm. But the money all died or became
worthless in my hands, so that my loss was nearly the amount

t6r. \\•ant

services.

after I left the army I saw an advertisement in a New London
able bodied men to man the sloop Hancock for a privateer! immediately volunteered, signed the articles of agreesoon after set sail for a cruise but returned without takmg
\Ve soon after set sail again the second time, and while out
and took a brig loaded with wine. I returned in her. l\1y
the prize was one pipe and a half which I sold to my brother
then a merchant in Newport. I next went out in the
commanded by Captain Buddington.
we captured and took a brig loaded with shocks of staves
I next went out on board the
was Captain of Marines. \Vhile out, we captured and
British the Hybernia, a valuable prize and sent her into
\Ve also captured and took from the British the ship
considered the richest prize taken during the war
also into New London, and as Captain aforesaid I was
share of the prize and was offered for my share of the
farm worth two thousand dollars, but refused the offer,
they were worth much more. But before a division

Modern spelling PeekskilL-C. Cropley.

12

13

of shares were made in both of said last prizes, that infamous rascal
of a traitor, Benedict Arnold arrived, came into New London, burned
the town and also the prizes aforesaid, and the storehouses containing
the prize goods and I thereby lost all my property and I verily believe
that m.v loss at that time could not be less than from three to tour
thousand dollars, for which I never received one farthing.
I again sailed in the sloop Spitfire commanded by Captain Thompson
and while out gave chase to a British galley and drove her into Fire
Inlet, off Long Island and while on the chase we pursued her with so
much speed that the water flew over us so that it wet our guns and
it was difficult to fire them. I had command of two guns, in one of
which I forced the priming wire through the wet powder and reprimed her; I then took aim and fired, which was the only gun and
the only one necessary as the ball from the gun had cut the rudder
entirely off and d[sabled her so much that she immediately struck her
colors and we took her and ,for this exploit of mine I received the
captured Captain's guns. . .

By

The Western Land ("73oom"
of the 1830's

WILLIAM CHAMPLIN

EMIGRATION COMPANY FAMILY
By George. Kellogg
OTHERS ALSO WERE COMING
By Henry Williams
14

15

A Western Emigration Company
Family

The story of the settlement of Southport by the Western Emigration Company is well known. One Sunday
night in earlv August, 1835, Austin Kellogg, with his
family, members of that Company, were put ashore at
Southport br a passing schooner. Through their influence, the first religious service, to which several of
today's churches trace their origin, was held. They, with
two other Kellogg brothers later moved further into the
country, and from them Kellogg's Corners got its name.
A son, one of the .party who. landed in August, 1835,
tells the story . of their expe!iences as settlers, drawing
on the pages of an old diary .to .aid his memory.
However, ~a~ alt' hf the t;a\ly settl~rs came as a part
of the \,Yestern Emigration (:'?!TII;any. · Manv were
co;niqgj{lt~ thl' ~Quri~y in se~~ch ~H~rm lands: not to
found a" city.· Saine. of these came . as early as the
Western Emigration Company settlers, and in one or
two instances preceeded them. Among those was the
Williams family, who settled in the Township of
Pleasant Prairie. A son of that family told .their story
in an account entitled "Memories and Recollections of
Southport, 1835-'6-'7." The house huilt by the father
of the family in 1836 still stands and has been occupied
by, ~ew~ers of. each gener~tion .• since.... He11ry · \Villiams,
the. writer of .the. story, was the. grandfather of William
and Marion Bullamore and of John G. Williams of
this citv, He was one of the earlv mayors of the city
and ''1\'~s, otherwise. prominent in . civic and industrial
.
·
affairs.

16

I will ·go back to my landing in Wisconsin and pick up some
interest in Wisconsin history as well as my life. My birthCicero, N. Y., March 20, 1828. My father, Austin Keltwo years in Pennsylvania. The house was close to the
on one occasion a bear came to his pig pen and carried off
right in daylight.•.•
1834, at Hannibal, N. Y., a Western Emigration
to explore Wisconsin. Pike Creek was favorCreek, though quite a river, was so crooked that
before it had been cut into by the Lake, making three
few families had gone west from Oswego, N. Y. in the
the summer, partly by water and partly by land and had
Father, mother and five of us children boarded the
Illinois in June, 1835, at Oswego headed for Pike River
landed August 2, 1835, on the beach at sundown, Sunday.
gathered and helped get the goods under cover. Father
·~i.li'i;il them it they had had any meeting. They said no. Then father
ld be prayer meeting there next Sunday, and there were
that meeting, and from that appointment grew the first
at that place, now called Kenosha . . . .
found a claim shanty into which he moved his family
three miles to help build a log house for a neighbor
helped father build one for himself on a claim he had
miles. up Pike River. Father located on the main nver as
the harbor would be located on that mouth. But the first
was made on the lower mouth, and the harbor was finally
and father's farm never did get to be city property.
claim shanty for three weeks. No door, no winthe. Indians would peek through the cracks night
not pleasant. One day a warrior came in by
we had for a door, and seeing .a ten gallon keg
and would not be put off until my mother drew
Indians were on their way to Chicago for their
counted 35 canoes that passed by on the lake one still
landed one mile south of us, and found whiskey was sold
north of us. It was ·very annoying to my mother and

17

us children, their continued passing by our shanty, night and day,
while father was in the woods.
Soon after we moved to our new log house on the farm we had a
terrible scare, from. a prairie fire. There was a prairie west of. us a
mile w'ide, grass grew four' feet. high, and with a heavy southwest
wind, the fire came at a fearful rate, and to make it worse, there were
three hay stacks but eight rods west of our house, and the hewings
were still around the house. We children brought water from the
river, 12 rods away, while mother dug a trench about the house, and
when hot ashes fell among the chips, we put them out. During the
building of the cabin the grass had been trampled down or we nev.er
could have saved the house. Father was away in the woods helping
another party build a house and. knew nothing of the fire until night.
That first autumn I spent in gathering wagon loads of butternuts,
black walnuts, hickory nuts, hazel nuts, wild plums and crab apples.
The .crab apples that grew in Pike woods there. were the best I ever
saw. They were large and yellow, and mother used to make a boiled
pudding in a bag, using plentv of crab apples. Beside the .above there
were thorn plums and thorn apples that were large and good. Father
bought a cow of a drove that came up from Illinois. He picked the
poorest cow in the herd as she had the best calf. We called her Old
Buzzard, but she g~ve the milk and cream all right. Father bought
a quantity of potatoes that were shipped in, and he also bought .and
killed a pair of oxen. That gave us hash all winter, and it was no
boarding house hash either.
The year 1836 father put in some crops and made wild hay. I was
the only boy and while only eight years old, I loaded and stacked this
hay with the help of my older sisters. When I .was ten years old I
drove two yoke of oxen in the winter and five miles onto the prairie
with a C()rd of green rails and scattered them f~r fence. One time
while running on a cow path, I saw a rattlesnake right where my
bare feet would strike; I sprang over him and got a resin weed and
killed him. Ot1e. time} few years later as I. was cutting grain with
an old st)ile. cradle, I heard a buzzing at my legs and as I laid down
the dip I found my left toot was on two big rattlesnakes. I got off
mighty quick;· having good boqts on, I was not bitten. One cold
November dav I was taking my oldest sister to town and boylike, I
was riding in a lumber wagon letting the oxen go without looking for
stumps, and to keep out of the mud they ran up on a stuinp and
turned the wagon bottom side up with my sister and I both. under it:
There was a seat. \vith a back and that enabled us to g~t out. One
time my father and two of us boys were out four. miles. where 'we
had been ph)•,virig and· seeding all the week with three yoke of oxen.
and in going home Saturday night we let two yoke of oxen go alone
and we drove the other yoke. In the wagon we had plows, plow
irons, cast iron points, a V-shaped drag with the teeth up; we were
18

all riding, and as we came to a little descending ground, the cattle,
feeling good on account of going home, started to run, and when an
runs something happens. We struck a stump and over we went
~11 .in a heap, father, boys, plows, irons, and the drag which would
have fallen on us teeth down except for a little tree that stopped it.
· .\Ve lived so near the village we had to go there to school when
sisters could he spared from work. Thev worked out for 75 cents
L good deal of the time, but winters. we boarded ourselves and
the village and attended schooL I often attended in winters
did not. \Vhen the skating was good I could follow the
school by going three times as far, but boys like such fun.
was quite a woodsman, having roughed it in New York:,
and in the timber of Pike River bottoms. He cut many
walnut for common lumber that would have been piles of
r on, . . . One other effort I saw father make; he had fallen
;i:rri~l1strous oak, made a butt cut 16 feet long, had it skidded up ready
There came no snow, but a rain storm covered everything
Father was a blacksmith. He shod every yoke of
his horse. He took a long sled and a bob, got them in
and I helped him load that log and draw it three miles to
mill, without a bit of snow, and that log made I ,000 feet of
.. , In l 835 there were 15 families gathered at Pike
Kenosha. . . . In 1845 a committee was appointed to look
interests. Through their efforts L. P. Harvey
·:;'i:~~~,;;,,d governor) was induced to establish an academy which flourhad to have two or more teachers. I graduated from this
in 1845 and gave an oration.

ox

B.v

GEORGE KELLOGG

Others Also Were Coming
Prior and up to 1835, my father had been a resident of the City of
New York. At that period nothing was heard of except the prairies
states. Illinois was pictured in books and pamphlets as a land flowing
with milk and honey. . . .
The Black Hawk War having been ended by the destruction of a
part and the capture of the rest of the Indians, together wttb the re,
nowned Chief "Black Hawk," gave a great impetus to immigratwn.
On my father's claim [n Pleasant Prairie were. to be. seen in '35 lines
of lodge poles left standing by the In!'iians when they left tor tbei r
homes west pf the l\Ii~sissippi.
It was the morning of the 1st of May, 1835, that my father, with
his family and goods left New York on the North River tow boat tor
Albany, N. Y. At Albany we embarked on a canal.boat and thence by
the Schooner "Globe" for Chicago. After a pleasant passage the vessel
arrived safe at Chicago and it was on the morning of the 1st of June
that 9n going on deck I found the "Globe" anchored of! the shore, for
at that time Chicago had no harbor as yet opened up. And I distinctly recollec.t that in reply to my father's question, the Captain said
"The Chicagp River is only. a muddy creek,"
The vessel's cargo was unloaded i.n. lighters and landed on the beach.
On landing, my father's first job was hunting for a bouse. The only
place be could find was a double log bouse that been used for a stabk
This be cleaned out and moved in his goods and family, consisting of
my. mother, two sisters and myself. This log building stood at the
east end of Randolph Street Bridge. . . .
l\ly father soon wearied of Chicago, and the fame of the. Pike Creek
in 'Visconsin was in everybody's mouth. The story of its beautiful
surrqllndings and the report that its harbor facilities would. excel
Chicago's, induced mv father, John Noble, Mr. Pike and several others
whose !lames I have forgotten, to go to Pike Creek. Early one. morning in June saw my father and his party (all Englishmen) off for the
pr?mised)and, After a wearr tramp of two days ther reached Pike
Creek. On th)'ir arrival tber found the people engaged in a bitter
feud. The Western Emigration people who bad. just landed from
their vessel had laid clatm. to the south and west side.s of the river
while on Vlasllipgton Island Samuel Resique was entrenched. My
father and hi~ friends made the acq~<tintance. of Mr. Resique and took
his part. They·. turned to and helped Resique ·build his house and
store. It was a double log house after the fashion of the day; one

20

a dwelling and the other for the sale of goods, of which J\Jr.
had a stock of such as was needed in a frontier town. His
on blankets in brush huts. J\h. Resique armed his party
and shotguns. They worked on the building days, whilst
guard nights with guns loaded with buck shot. It was
before the buildings were completed, and by that time
the Emigration Company finding they could not drive
off, made a settlement with him and left him in peace,'a!:ile ,possession of the south part of the island. . . .
after the completion of Resique's house, turned his atown interests. Going back into the country, he found
with claimants. The Woodbridges with 10 yoke of oxen
18 or 20 inch plow were plowing around whole sections for
and friends and were claiming everything in sight of Pike
Others came and would jump their claims, tear down their
and plow up inside their circle.
found all the best claims taken up that were any ways
finally located on the S. E. ;4 of Sec. 13 in Pleasant
,;·rii> three miles south of Pike Creek, which at that time was conpoor claim, being deficient in timber, so it was passed by.
to work and cut logs and hauled them on the ground and
bouse, eight logs high, dug up a piece of ground and sowed
The adjoining lot was a timber lot and was the cause
that existed for many years. The claim was jumped
bad some strong friends, They built a bouse one day
to put a family into it the next, but that night the first
with his friends rallied, tore down the bouse, cut. every log
rplled them down the steep bank of the creek, and from that
this np attempt bas ever been .made to build a bouse on any
that quarter section. All the parties are dead, and the land
by four other parties.
having completed his improvements, started back for
got together a quantity of supplies. He came back and
. Henry Miller to go to Chicago for the family. Mr.
two teams of two. yoke of oxen each and two good wagons.
into Chicago the first week in November, loaded up and
Pike Creek. :My father bad bought a quantity of potatoes,
of flour, one barrel of salt and quantities of groceries.
heavy loaded and traveled slow. The first night out
at the only house . .I saw, about 15 miles out of Chicago.
was a Frenchman with a Squaw wife and several half breed
"he

'""man got supper for our party, and we bad fried bacon and
to eat .. She fried the meat in a very la.rge frying pan with a
or seven feet long. After supper the young men with their
up to the door five or six good sized logs as much as ten

21

f~et long. All hands took up the logs, fetched them in and piled them
on the fire. The fireplace was ample for these logs, being about twelve
feet wide. The house was a very large log house with a big loft. On
going to bed, we were given one corner of the room to camp down in.
Next morning the men were up by four o'clock, the oxen were fed,
breakfast eaten, and by sunrise our teams were off. That dar our
trail led across a great deal of flat prairie with numerous "slews.''
At every one of the ''slews" they had to double up the teams and it
was long after nightfall that we reached the famed New York Hotise
at the crossing of the O'Plain River west of Little Fort, now called
Waukegan. The next day the teams reached ML Miller's on Miller
Creek .. Here the teams were staid all night, and a light team took the
family on to 1tir. Jerome's at the mouth of Jerome Creek, just south
of what is now Kemper Hall. In the morning, after partaking of a
most substantial breakfast prepared by. Mrs. Jerome, the family was
taken to a log shanty on the land afterw;ud long occupied' by l\Ir.
John Lamb, two miles south of Pike Creek. My father w'ent to work
to fix up the house as best he'could. It was a dreadful place to bring
a delicate won>an like rnr mother, and it almost' killed her long before
Spring.
'\Ninter set in about the 20th of November with a terrible SIIOW
storm. 'lVIy father, when· he came back;· found his claim jumped ·hj a
man named Nelson Lay, he was a single man and Stood no chance
against my father after he got back with his family. The settlers told
Mr.o Lay to get off and he got off.
lHy father went to work at once to finish his hotise, cutting
down the trees and cutting the logs to length and getting then> hauled
on the ground. Some time in January, 1836, we had the house raising. All ,the neighbors . far· and wide came to the raising, Among
them that! recollect were Orin Jerome,· Samuel Resique; Thos. Howland, Alonzo Burroughs, Henrv !\filler and h!s son , Retiben; · Mr.
Bqught()I1andmanv others whos~ names have·faded from my lnemon.
i\,c'feature of the raising "'as a roast coon for dinner 1, Reuben
.:\hiler 'had kilied a very large fat coon, dressed it nicely, soa~ed it in
salt ~ild _water over night and left it out in the freezing atmosphere
for aYcoup]e of daysc This coon Mr. Miller generously dimated for
the·dihner on raising dar I distinctly recollect that on Mr: J~rorne's
arriv~Lon the ground he voted himself cook of the eoon .... Straigh~'
way. a fire was built against a big oak . with an overhangi!lg
limb to•\vhichM:rCoon was hung and all tfeforenoon di<Ithe cook
turn• and baste'•the coon until he was done crisp and brown. My
motl;er h~d •prepared l~rgely of.· bread, Biscuit and cakes, . \vhich toe
'gether•:vith"thS,coon. made a fine dinner to which ample· justiCe was
done by· the•llurigrymen. It was 'many a long day before that coon
dinner was forgqtten.

~FOOd' ~f ~ll

w~s

'kinds-_
YerY scarce in the settleritents that wint_er and
tlers were almost entirel}' depenr.ient on wild life for meat of any kind.-c,

22

winter of 1835-'36 proved to be long and severe and it was
1st before the family moved into thl; new house built on the
the creek at the end of Howland Avenue which was then to
a temporary home. As soon as the snow was gone, mother
went to look over the claim and select the site for their permanent
It was here that she planted a small lilac bush, part of which
'sne;naa brought from Lincoln, England in 1825.
the log cabin barely completed, plans were made to build a
on the new site. A friend of Mr, Jerome boasted that he
or lay a cellar wall, vermin proof, that would last a lifemortar. He was just itching to show off his skill, so
was made and ere many moons the wall was making progress.
to be a marvelous cellar, and is still in usel. So the Spring
and with summer, June 8th, a baby sister was welcomed
The arrival of a baby created great excitement and
far and near to see the little newcomer, who was
However, our happiness was soon turned to sorrow,
16th my dear mother passed away, and by request was
the lilac bush she had so dearly loved. Mrs. Howland,
neighbor, took the baby to her home, there to remain as
father would permit. The baby proved to be the first
born and to live in Southport.
the first settlers of Pleasant Prairie was Tliomas Howland
two older sons, Lewis and Meredith. . . . Mr. Howland
with him his oxen, cows, horses, sheep and hogs; Mrs. How·
loom, her spinning wheels for wool and flax. . . . "These
live within themselves." On their lands in Pleasant
sowed flax and hemp and raised sheep and from the wool
and her daughters carded, spun and wove coverlets,
flannels for shirts and drawers and pretty plaid dresses
and daughterS and Kentucky jeans for the men folks; from
they made all tile ropes they needed for halters or any other
Mr. Howland made his own plows except the coulter and
mold board and land side being of wood. . . . He also
wagon with a saw and an auger, together with a draw
an axe; he would make it complete except for a little
work. The Rowlands were great hunters. When out
the boys with their rifles would go into the woods and
with their gamebags filled with squirrels and part·
out of honey, Mr. Howland, with a little piece of bee
some honey, would soon locate a bee tree and a supply of
In the Spring of 1836 people swarmed in like bees. . . .
Spring of 1836 provisions became very scarce; flour 10
I, potatoes were out of the question; salt $10 a barrel,
barrel, cornmeal $1.50 per bushel.
then built is still occuPied by a descendant of the builde7, who is
direct line of descent to occupy it.--c., Cropley

23

The Spring of '36 was made memorable by the great quantity
fish caught from Miller Creek.
The heavy Spring rains I
enabled the fish to come into the creek from the lake and the
people from far and wide came fishing. These fish ascended the
creek as ·far as my father's claim and were caught out on the prairie.
Aiter the fish had spawned they returned to the lake. A heayy northeaster had dammed up the entrance to the lake and the fish were
penned in. At that time just inside the mouth of the creek about
ten ro.ds from the lake was a sharp bend in the stream and the current
had cut out a very deep hole. It was discovered that the fish had
congregated in this hole in thousands. Cooper Bacon and others made
a great scoop net and caught the fish by the wagon load. Everybody
carried home fish until tired out. . . . The fish were salted, dried and
smoked. No such fish harvest ever occuned again, although a great
many fish came up that creek every Spring.
Br

HE'{RY

Printing

WrLLIA~1s

lfl

~\~'~
,,

~{//

"CLAIMS AND CLAIM TRIALS"
By "Elder" Jason l,othrop

24
25

Claims and Claim Trials

Rev. Jason Lothrop was one of the active org~!}izers
of the Western Emigration Company by w:hom So',lt~­
port was first settled. He came here in September, 1S3q;
The first, and also the second winter he held .a school in
his cabin. He was a man of better than av('rage education and very versatile. For many years· h.e was active
in the community in verious capacities; and was the first
pastor of.· the Baptist .Church. In his Diary, CoL
Michael Frank wrote of him: "Jan. 3, 1840, Visited
Elder Lothrop in company with Squire French and
Sheriff Hugunin. The Elder's office is a. kind of a literary museum and himself a literary curiosity-'-the profusion of Latin, Greek, Hebre,v, French and German
with which he is surrounded is most astonishing. His
drawings are admirably executed."
The Wisconsin Historical Colle.ctions contain this notation in regard to the excerpts from Elder Lothrop's
"Story of Southport" which follows: "This printing by
JWr. Lothrop must have been done in .February or
March, 1836 and his little press the second in Wisconsin.
The Green Bay Intelligencer was commenced
Sept. 11. 1834, The Milwaukee Advertiser not until
Jplv, 1836, and the Wisconsin Free l'ress at Gre~n Bav
soiri~/ time in 1836/'
.
Th~ Millar family are descendants of Rev. Jason
Lothrop who still live in Kenosha.

26

The generations to come will not understand the worth of their
possessions only as they see and understand their cost. The object of
all the emigrants was to obtain lands for an inheritance for their
As for themselves the trials and labors incident to a new
country were often too much for them; some unable to endure the
conflict returned to the East; while others came prepared to buffet
all trials and hardships however severe. Much conflicting interest
was manifest between the settlers from the first, in making their
claims. Some were greedy in securing at least one section of 640
acres for themselves and some as much for all their friends whom they
expected to settle in the country. Before the lands were surveyed,
this often brought confusion and disputes with reference to boundary
lines, and still greater confusion followed when the Government sur·
veys were made in the winter of 1835-6. These contentions often led
to bitter quarrels, and even bloodshed. Dr. B. B. Carey probably
carries to this day a ball received in this way. Early meetings were
called to devise measures to secure peaceable possession of each one's
: claim. It was found necessary to form a kind of protective union,
establish some rules which should be our laws for the security and
protection of our claims. Accordingly a meeting was held at the
store of Bullen & Company at Pike River, on the 13th of February,
1836, when Austin Kellogg was chosen chairman and William C.
Ethridge clerk, when a suitable preamble and resolutions were adopt·
ed, and delegates appointed to attend a similar and more general meeting at Racine. This Racine meeting was attended by delegates from
the several settlements in then Milwaukee County, and resulted in
the formation of the Milwaukee Union. Congress was petitioned to
assist us by the enactment of suitable preemption laws.
These proceedings I printed at the time-the former on a large slip
or broadside and the latter in a pamphlet of nine pages. . . . This
printing I did on a rude press of my own construction, placed on a
stump. A wooden box was made about 12 by 24 inches in size, with
rising above the base, on which the type were made to stand, of

27

the height of the type; I made my own ink and used the old fashioned
ball with which to distribute the ink on the type and then a roller
passed over the paper on the form, resting on the sides of the box or
table; that did the press work. The whole expense of my printing
materials, including t)'pt;, could not~ have been ten dollars. I was
with such limited accommodations that I executed this early printing
at Pike River. By these simple materials I have printed some things
when and where no other printing could be had. At one time I
printed 250 copies of a volume of about one hundred and thirty pages.
When out of "sorts," I cast some of certain letters, made quads and
certain spaces and thus I managed to manufacture books, bound them
myself and read them. As some improvements have been made in
printing since that day I can very well dispense with my old press
and business in that line. I may add that my press and utensils for
printing would now be a subject for sport, of which they have elicited
an abundance.

By

The 1849 Gold Rush

]ASOX LOTHROP

..KENOSHA TO CALIFORNIA IN 1849"
By Georg~ Kell!)gg
28

29

Kenosha to California in 1849

George Kellogg, whose boyhood adventures were told
in Section II, taught school in Brighton Township in
the winter of 1846-7, while still a youth. At the close
of the winter term he hired out to work in the \~lisconsin
pinery and walked to Grand (now Wisconsin) Rapids,
where he "··or ked until June; . then at a saw mill until
October, but had to take his pay in lumber. He and a
partner bought a birch canoe and paddled down the
\Visconsin River to a place near :Mineral Point; thence
he went to Galena and to Elizabeth by stage. That
winter he taught school on Rush Creek in Jo DaYis
County, Ill. and then returned to Grand Rapids ..
During the winter of 1848-9 he worked for his father
at. Kenosha until March, when he began his trip to
C:llifornia. .fie kept a diary on all of this trip, from
";hence he later drew the material for. the story which
follO\VS.

30

I, George Kellogg, left Southport by stage to Jo Davis County, IlL
There I joined a team of live yoke of oxen and traveled 21 miles to
Fulton where we crossed the .Mississippi River. Sixty-two California
wagons had crossed ahead of us, roads bad, sandy, rocky or mud to
the hub; 121 miles to Iowa City, then the State Cap1tol. Grass poor,
shot a wild turkey and a deer. In Iowa County got stuck in a slough
with wagon almost empty. Took 11 yoke of oxen to pull us out. We
turned our cattle into an unhusked corn field at 15 cents per head for
the three days. In Polk County saw a buffalo and an elk. The soil
very nice, mostly prairie. . . . Heavy rain, thunder and lightning with
high winds. Passed through Des Moines, poor ferry across the river.
Swam cattle and came near losing two yoke in a tree top, the river was
so deep. \Vith live yoke of cattle we reached Traders' Point. Bought
flour at $6.00 per hundred. Next day we crossed the Missouri, swam
the cattle, and no small job to watch them. Found Omaha only an
Indian trading post. Hundreds of Indians there (Pawnee and Sioux),
a thieving set but not hostile.
Here we organized a company of 42 wagons, 4 divisions, each to
lead 10 days, each wagon one day. After traveling a couple of weeks,
we found our 42 wagon \COmpany was too big. We broke up and
finally got down to two wagons, The trail was lined as far as we
c0 uld see. with unnumbered wagons. Our bovs. got plentv of buffalo
and antelope. meat. My .partner drove the ox;n one half the time and
I th~other half, andth~ other two boys did the hunting and cooking
and helped watch and guard our cattle. \Ve stood guard ma11y nights
.and very often we tqok our bi~nkets and went from three to live miles
off the trail with our oxen and guarded them 1 •
We P'!Ssed Lone Tree (said to be 200 miles from any other timber) on the .north side of the Platte River. We passed some Indian
burying .places six feet above the ground on poles. On June 26th \ve
ferried. across the Platte River, swam the cattle, and drove up to Fort
Lar~mie.
Here we began. tg see destruction of property-wagons
ab~ndoned, 111any hundreds of po11ndsof flo11r and bacon, in fact everything do.1-vn to writing paper piledup beside the road, as many cattle
were giying out and the loads. must b; lighte11ed. The scenery along
the river a11d mountains was most bea11tiful. Passed a Missouri companv
who had had .a runawa);, a number hurt-their oxen being scared b~
a mule, We are now 602 miles from Omaha. Have passed several
graves .where people have been buried, having died of cholera. The
L

Probably in order to find grass for the cattle.--c. Cropley.

31

roads are good though some of the hills are five miles up and five
miles down. No grass along the trail but the water is good. We have
been among the cactus for 200 miles. Have passed many dead horses,
mules and oxen. Bought the ferry ah~ad made of logs. This is one
way, buy'it out and sell ino-tl:le 'next company.
'
''
July 4th. Almost a frost, saw buffalo, rattlesnakes i\nd grisley bear.
vVe came to Independence Rock, carved all over with names, saw
some ffom Southport. Reached Devil's Gate, passed through it on
foot,', W,a!ls ?0'0 feet high on either side. The isinglass in the river
raised quite an excitement about its being gold·. We could. now see
the SilOW covered peaks of the Rockies. Many more teams were 'giving
out and oxen dying, property deserted. We struck a· tributary to Bear
River. No grass for 30 miles. Passed by Castle ·Roi:k, also ari extinct
crater. Some very bad pitches to descend, had to let our wago!ls down
by ropes. Dust very bad and grass all gone. A man by the name of
Sutton and his wife drove two yoke of oxen. 'rhey qua'rreled, cut the
\vagoi'l b?x iri two and. made two carts, and had ~ divorce ~ight there
without judge or jury or e\·en .'la\0·er.. we are i1ow '!331 miles
fiom Omaha.
· "· ·
• }ye m11ck !f~~~<!\dt RiYeE~ ~a'v .~h;je Irid}~n~ catchi!lg and. eating
frogs and grasshoppers. That niglit we were. awal<en'eo li~' the cry of
our cattle shot, two arrows in one and three in the other. We drew
out th~ 'airo\~s and drove the oxen behind the wagon to California!.
vVhen we got out 0 f the valley we saw the Indians a mile away 'watching us .. Septlimber 1st ,;.;, were 1503. tniles from qmaha. Tool> on
wlfat hay we .~ould for the desert, came to a fork ir1 tli& road, iook)he
right haija. road as notice put 'up said t~at it was hundreds of. hlii~s
h~aier to the mines but it proved to be huMreds of ~iles farther.· ;'"fll'e
to get I!~rt of. the etnfgration to strJ,ke Saciam~nto River
that the 'Califcir~(!ln~ i:?ifillf}b~~ .our :p,oo~''c!it'de 'flir
,or, •· 'sto'~~~~.: ai .~~~ ~&.i!ti :§IJ£it{~s, 't~~ be~t
. .
tninute, lfut this"W:as.·a pooicHance to wat'er. ten
"!:~··~;:-:!'.,1:.·"-Tli:itty deaa ~'lrttlt iil''gl:~hf"at';b'ii~ 'tim~~ Th~. alkali
on cattle. .Att~r dtiJlrig ~ll night~ ~'I':ri;Ved at J\1iid
.
•made 90 miles of wha~ ~e p.ll~d de~e[f,'
!l;Bod g~ss
ot the roads heavv sand;.
. .
had firlit vie~ of ~
some
the mountai
to. orie w~g&n ..
. . and •'l:li~''"c
titne w~:

a

so

..

.riq

of

'Sac~aliien

;d~es~itaY[:~-

•
2:-c -,;.wild oatS and ap abupg~p~~ o\,W:i,ld
accounts of vadous eorriPaD.ies. see HT~e Wak~ of the
D. Padden; Macmillan ,Company.--c. ,,CropleY.'',

32

on the banks of the River. They were about as large as Concords
and seemed as good, and here was the only good fruit I had seen in
traveling 1000 miles in California.
October 22nd I drove down the river 26 miles to a ranch. Some of
the boys had just returned from the mines. Next day we traveled 21
miles to Long's Diggings on Feather River, pleasant and hot. Prospected a little, saw an elk and nearly had an encounter with some
bears. Crossed the Yuba. Only made six miles trying to find a place
to mine.
October 30th. Prospected with a pan, made but little more than a
dollar. Next day hired out to a company who was using quick silyer
in their long tom. They paid me $10.00 a day and board.
November 1st. Rainy afternoon in cold, dismal California. Water
interrupted digging, as it was on bank of river, so I started for Sacramento, the only post office in all that part of the country, could only
travel 15 to 17 miles a day as 'the roads were very muddy. Reached
Bear Creek, slept under the wagon, rained all night, water all around
me and blankets all wet. When I reached Sacramento, fell in line at
the post office, but no letter. What a disappointment. Next day received .a letter. from my sister, felt better, heard of a number of Southport boys at Hangtown 1• Got my pack on th.e team and started from
there which was 57 miles from SacrameneJo. Met a hearty reception
from the Southport boys at Harigtown. I started to work ne.xt day for
McCarthy Bros. of India11a, who had laid in lots of provisions, had
built a double log shanty, had engaged a nian and his wife for cooks.
They off~red me a winter's job with board and room for onj!-half I
couJd make. I ,,.;~s mighty glad to accept the offer. The weather and
diggings vvere un\=ertain and provisions were $1.00 ~ pound, flour, tea
arid potatoes all the same price.
The l9th of November ~y half was $1.50; the 20th, $4.75; .the
21st, $9.0Q. I felt quite en~our~ged. Went into a deep canyon where
w.e. could .only. see the sun two hours a day. Received three letters
from home the 24th of November, ~ great relief to a homesick miner.
They w~re written August 13t~.• receiving them three moi:iths. after
they were written. S~nday found a prayer meeting and atte,;ded.
December 1st worked only part of the day. Everyone :carried his .dust
in buckS]dn bags and every one had .a pair of balances with weights
w,h_ich W~~JJ!i. "':eigh quite ac~rate 4own to five cents .counting gold
dust~t$1~.11A OU.n!;e Troy wd.~ilt. Some days. we w~h~d g<?ld
day
and.oftft) "':e.only worked halfda}'S on accoun(of ba'd weahter. The
maCili!'es we: ~;~sed iit th.e gold W:ashing were ".first· a pi~!C and shovel
a,;d a ·P~.n to prospect with: 'we m~st have water to wash out.. We
would dig most anywhere in a hollow or ra~ine on a flat piwi of
ground: Sometimes the. pay dirt would be two ·to four feet beiow
comn.lon soil, in a layer of gravel and clay, just above a hard pan or

all

1.

The name then, usually applied to

Placerville.--c~

33

Cropley.

rock. This pay dirt would usually be only 3 or 4 inches thick. If it
would wash out 10 cents to the pan, it would par big to use a rocker
which is made Eke an old fashiOned cradle with an open end, a ripple
bar about three inches medway the bottom. This catches all the gold
unless the water is very muddy, then much of the fine gold washes
out and is lost. The hopper oi the cradle will hold a half bushel of
dirt. This has a sheet iron bottom "·ith holes about ~i of an inch
through w·hich tire dirt, water and gold passes. The water is dipped
up and put on the dirt, while the one working the cradle shakes the
dirt through. \Vrth this primitive machine, one or two could work
and make $10 each a day. If the diggings did not pan that we hunted
a new claim. . . . Another n1achine for 5 or 10 men to work is a Lon~
Tom and sluice boxes. This had a wrde mouth, sheet iron sieve, holes
about ;Ys inch, letting the water, dirt a'!d gold drop through i'!to a
ripple box with two or three ripple bars above which, if the g;old is
fine, a quantity of quick silver is put in that gathers the gold which is
poured out and the quick silver evaporated. . . . A man stands to
shovel out the gra\·el and pick out any lumps of gold too big to go
through the sheet iron. I found a $50 lump. How maf)y I shoveled
out with the gravel perhaps the next men who worked over the claim
could tell better than I.
The company of five with whom I \\·as working, giving half I made
for my board, had a long Tom and one sluice box. If we did not
have a stream of water we could run into the sluice box, it was one
man's business to bail water into it. It was a great deal of trouble
to drag those instruments from. one claim to another. Every community made la;,.s for itself. making sometimes the size of a claim a
square rod, sometimes this included the banks. if the. ravine. were a
small one. If the miner left a pick or shovel in the. hole, his claim
was sacred for a reasonable length of time. The jumping of claims
often brought trouhk, someqmes settled .bv arbitmtion, sometimes bv a
knockdown or bY pistols. Shooting was- a serious matter fo~ ev~ry
con,t'0ru~ity had its vrgilance committee and many a trial before the
con1mittee was death to. the intruder.
Ha11gtown got its name from the execution of the· orders ot this
com,mitiee.
All through the month of December worked without mu.:h ouccess.
Chfist~as Da1· made $+.06. No Christma? here ... There was no
chance togue~s. a. day's work ahead, bllt every day cou11ted. . . . Decembe!'. 31std<{ses a wondetful vear for thousands ... Th'?u~ands are
successful and thousands are sick .and dis~ouraged and wish they were
home. I h~v~. made in the last six weeks $1+0 .77, paying the same
amountfor I11Y rqomand board. This takes me to New Year's Day,
1850, nearly lO months since I left horne . . . .
January 15th sent $100 home to my father by private conveyance.
February 3rd, Sunday, went to meeting and cared for the sick. Febru-

34

ary 7th, attended seven funerals. It is so sad to die so iar away from
home and among strangers.
\Vhen Spring weather opened I left McCarthy Bros. after working
for them for 83 days, during which time I had earned and paid them
the same for room and board, $27 3.57. I found I was threatened with
scurvy, a disease caused from lack of fruits and vegetables in the diet.
I bought potatoes at $1.25 a pound and grated them raw into s.altpetre and vinegar and took them for medicine. I was making good
money now, making $54 the best day I had. Figured up for the past
year and had made $695.58, pretty good for a boy. Just one year
since leaving home, l\.1arch 20th, my birthday. Spent the day practicing shooting at a target. The town is full of talk of prospecting
schemes.
April I st we. had election of county officers, everybody voted. It
seems very singular that we should want better diggings. I left with
a party of prospectors for White Rock Valley, met with no success.
\Vent seven miles further to Weiher Creek where we camped. . . .
Scouted the country, hunted and found a prospecting company of 40
men but no gold. \Ve crossed the flat to Onion Valley, snow from
three to eight feet deep, so hard it held up our horses and mules. Came
to a mountain stream too deep to ford, so we made a bridge by felling
a big tree across, then going over and felling a small tree among the
branches on one side, chinking the cracks, hewing down the surface,
then jumped our horses up on the log and made them walk across ....
May 1Oth, needing provisions, I made arrangements to return to
Hangtown, arrived there the 12th having traveled 57 miles. Don't
think we prospected very thoroughly, but we found no encouragement.
Sunday we rested and attend.ed the first temperance meeting ever held
in California. Next day loaded our m.ules and started again for the
mountains. On this trip for provisions, I crossed that one log bridge
alone with one horse and a pack mule, camped among tbe grizzley
bears . . . came 15 miles to camp. The boys had found some prospectors and had .formed a company 30 strong. . . . Next day we
started prospecting, took the old emigrant trail to. Rocky Knob over
snow banks 3 to 25 feet deep, slid down the mountains to where there
was grass, cold and disagreeable. Twenty-three of the. boys started a
prospecting tour of four days ... no good reports, no gold ...• Others
wbo had been to San Francisco returned with glowing accounts of
Trinity )\;lines and Eureka. We concluded to sell out and .go north,
bought a mule and a horse for $40. Twenty of us left Hangtown for
Humboldt Bay, a distance of 30 miles, Left . the city, crossed the
river, traveled all day through wild oats three. feet high. Concluded
to go to Butte. mines, crossed Sacramento River and camped near some
mining company,,mines are paying big, found good mining ·prospects,
but owing to our agreement with the boys wbo went by water, we
had to go on. Stopped at Butte mines and up the Sacramento Valley,
35

and camped at Cottonwood Creek, a distance of 70 miles. After sup·
per we staked out our animals and we lay outside. At about 3 :00 A.
l\1. an Indian came near my couch, he sounded a note of warning. My
partner aroused and tried to shoot his pistoL l pulled my U.S. rifle
and tried to rouse the camp. Found more than half our animals
loose and soon the Indians would have stampeded them to the moun·
tains; and we alone and 183 miles from Sacramento. We heard the
Indians calling each other on the creek but we were now on guard.
August 1+th came 17 miles to Oregon boys' camp on river. They had
shot an Indian the night before, and at about 11 P. :M. the Indians
made a great pow wow up the river, pushed a raft across and floated
down past us. \Ve expected an attack from the land side but they
were apparently looking for their dead. I saw the body down the
bank the next morning. We kept our horses saddled all that night
and had no rest. The Indians carried lights on their raft and toward
morning they were hunting along shore.
August 5th came through Redding diggings and to Clear Creek, 20
miles. Plenty of choke cherries, but no grass; stock restless. \Ve were
now 235 miles from Sacramento. These coast range mountains are
worse than the Sierra N e\·adas.
My horse gaye out and I was left behind. Passed the first hazel
nuts I had seen in California and the only ones. The roads were bad
and crooked; had to leave my horse behind and walk four miles to
camp after. dark and alone in an Indian country. On. top of. this
mountain saw the Pacific Ocean.. Next morning . . . we passed the
dead body of Mr. Dewey who had been shot to death with arrows two
days before. He had fallen behind his company and was alone. Here
we met a U. S. company going to fight the Indians.
\Ve passed through 15 miles of redwood forest. I measured two
trees, 40 and 60 feet around them six feet from the ground and from
350 to 400 feet high. The trees were so thick it would be difficult
to get .a wagon road through . . . .
anived at Union City on the waters of Humboldt Bay, 368
n1iles. frorn Sacramento by way of Trinity mines where they· were paying'$+a day for help and when we left Hangtown they were. paying $5
a da;'.: 'fhis whole trip had been induced by the gl9wing a!'counts of
Capt; Goodrich of Chicago to Capt. Byers of Kentucky . ; . and ~e did
beli~ve there .was some truth about what they said, about the. mine" On
Eel River Capt. Goodrich was. running a steamer. frori1 San• Francisco
to Humboldt Bay for the trade of the Trinity mines and to persuade
settlers to .locate on Eel River. Our company was mad, so we sold
our mules, horses and tools, and prepared .to return .to the Central
mines by way of San· Francisco. and Sacramento. August 15th about
all of our land company-all who ate choke cherries-:-came down sick
with a fever.

·we

Hearing of my brother-in-law near Nevadal, started for there. After
arriving there, made a claim, bought tools and worked when I was
able on claims, and built a log shanty. . . . \Vas bothered a great deal
with my horse, sold him for $55. My diggings were getting better,
now getting from $10 to $86 a day, which lasted nearly into June,
1851. I bought a claim on Rich flat for $50, also another claim for
$100. Had several men working for me now. Sent my father $192.
May 19th bought Ray claim for $16. May 26th, county elections,
I offi.ciated as clerk. By the 1st of June had made about $4,000. It
was a splendid purchase when I bought the Ray claim for $16 . . . . I
had received from my Ray claim $986.25 and now sold it for just
what I paid for it. I bought two other 60 ft. claims. These claims
had been worked over and were very rich. \Vhen I moved on this
flat I deposited $1,000 in dust, putting it in a buckskin bag in a glass
bottle sealed up. I buried it by a table in the shake shanty, and having lived in .the log shanty for the winter, we burned up the shakes
for fire wood and all marks \Vere gone. When I came to dig for it
next summer and when I did strike it, I broke the bottle and the bag
was rotten. I gathered up the $1,000 worth of dust in one pan, the
richest hauL I ever made. • . . Had received from my last claim
$7,31622. This included the sale-of the claims. Made a jacket and
belt to carry the gold dust.
I bid farewell to the flat June 9, 1852. The 19th of June I forwarded by Adams Express to Philadelphia mint $3,060 worth of gold;
paid express $168.30 insured dust at $17 per ounce. June 23rd took
the steamer Confidence for San Francisco, bought my ticket on the
25th for Panama; paid $40 for it. Set sail at 12 A. M. the. 26th.
Put my bundle and belt and bags of gold in care of purser, without
receipt; he would put them in safe but would not be responsible for
them, but they came all right. Our boat made about 250 miles every
24 hours. Saw porpoises and black fish about 30 feet long; saw a
shark and five schools of black whales. I kept the latitude and longitude every day, the course we sailed and distances we run. The wea·
ther was doudy much of the time, sharp lightning along the coast.
ArrivM at Accipulco on Sunday, July 4, 1852 at 7 A. M., distance
fr9m San. Francisco 1869 miles. Went ashore as steamer had to get
coaL The Golden Gate came in while we were there. Passed the
wreck ot the North American, where so many lives were lost. On
the 6th the Golden Gate passed us at 2 A. M. \Ve raised a purse
for our fireman, but the other was the faster boat and we lost sight
of her at night. One man aboard was whipped for breaking into the
ba1\ and they whipped the wrong man. The flying fish came to the
surface and flew from 40 to SO rods as near as I could estimate.
Arrived at Panama at 2 A M. on the 12th of July. Soon found a
rimle: to carry my pack, and started on foot. Roads very rough and
muddy. Made 15 miles, stayed with Spaniard. Came to Cruseo, 10
1.

36

In CalifOrnia '?-C. Cropley.

37

miles, had to wait there for baggage. Took the train from there -.to
Aspenwall. In 10 minutes had ticket bought on Steamer United
States. . . . Sea wry rough, many sick, several dying of cholera, 14
deaths in 7 days from Aspmwall to New York. Sunday, no minister,
no meeting. After arriving in New York passengers found little difficulty 1n getting a pr[vate boat to shore. Oh; how sad a seven day
trip, so.many dring and so near home; July 23rd took train to Philadelphia, deposited at the U. S. mint 134.67 ounces of gold dust. Drew
$500 for spending money and went back to New York. Stayed there
over Sunday, attended preaching at old St. John's lVIethodist Church.
Afternoon attended Trinity Church; could not hear half the sermon,
not as good as a log house. July 26th, bought ticket via Troy and
Buffalo for Kenosha" At Buffalo took steamer for Cleveland and from
there, cars to Chicago. From Chicago took steamer Baltic to Kenosha.
Thus it took 90Y, hours from New York to Kenosha. I visited a· few
days. Father had sold h!S farm and moved up into Green Lake
County, onto the Indian land. I bought a four year old colt and an
open bugg)', took my brother and sister who. were attending school and
drove by way of Milwaukee to Princeton, 132 miles. It was a surprise to my parents, as they knew nothing of my leaving California.
When I visited my friends at Kellogg's Corners, Grandfather vVashburn fainted away at the sight of me.

The Underground Railway

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A STORY OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY
IN THE TOWN OF BRISTOL
By Capt. Theo. Fellows
As told to William C. Bacon, of Bristol

38

39

A Story of the Underground
Railway in Bristol

Kenosha, County and City, situated close to or on
the lake with its eas:Y~· and trackless transportation'"' bad
an active part in th¢ ':fOrk ()f. the Underground Railway
System, which ~sslsted~.Pin~way slaves to reach Canada
and freedom. Most of those who were "routed" through
Kenosha had cros5ed i:h~: Ohio into Hlinois or Indiana
and were slipped asross "fl:!ce County from Antioch, ·Ill.
or Lake Geneva; :Wis. The Kellogg Tavern on what
is n-;;w Highway 50, near Woodworth, was a stopping
place; Thence they were moved secretly into Kenosha.
Several stations are known to h~ve b~:en. )oc;it~d 'here.
One of these was the •harn .of Jos. V: Q~a:tles ·which
stood at what is now 6036 ~8th f\venu~; the attic of the
It H. Qe~ing hilll1~. w!)ji:h W~n~:§t~~: ~! §.QJ't: 7th
Avenue. (This house is still staqding :thd occupied; but
has been moved to 1116- 61st St.) i\!i,c:itlier station was
the barn of W. H. Smith, located at what is now 5408
lOth Avenue, and another ll cramped space over the
music room in the John Bullen, Jr. ho:;n~. The latter
stoo~. during the 1840's and· middle '5D's, ori land later
OCCHpied by the Allen 'I:annery offige Ol1 52p.d. S~reet be
t\}:~el1; 7th .-'1\~<:11.,~;11114 !!,th ;.}rinu~~~ :·it•, . ·: : ..
l!g;~qtJS:~f~.shl! ,$e. Cij.~~Jl 4am~m~~~l!· §towed.. away
on .:Small sailing vess~s that . cilr,Y!!d earg()es of ~heat
from !)ereto Buffalo; N. '¥: ·Sorite.vv,h.ere iilong the. way
the stow-aways· were put ashore~Oif·'ol: ·near Canadian

soil.

· ···

40

Early in the 1840's, James Kellogg, a teacher and lawyer, came to
B!istol and became 0 ne of the teaching .staff of the Bristol Girl's
S.chool. Some .years .after. the death of Prof. Fowler, who with his
wife had promoted the school, Mr. Kellogg and Mrs. Fowler married.
Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg were prominent in the community. After
the school had been discontinued, Mr. Kellogg operated· the farm
property and t:jvern. During the Civil War the Kelloggs were very
active in war work in the county. The Kellogg Tavern became one
.of the Underground Railway St:ttions. It was said that Mr. Kellogg
could hear wagons approaching from the west when a mile away. The
northeast corner of the tavern cellar had been sealed up by a solid
st()he wall, the only entrance to which was a trap door in the pantry
·""·above; and over the trap door was a large cupboard. In this sealed
' was a cot with blankets. Into this .room through :the trap door
dropped many an e5caped slave,
be sent on into Canada at the
opportunity. A neighbor bOy t9id in later years that at tlie first
of an approaching wagon he would run over to the tavern; only
sent home by Mr. Kellogg if the wagon t!Jrned into. the d.riveth~ tavern. In tho51! days im approaching vehicle was an event.
father of Capt. Theodore Fellows owned a farm at the edge
Village of Genoa City (then Genoa Junction).
the Civil W!'r began, Theodore was ,too. young to enlist, so
., content. with working on the farm with his father, who
large qmmi:ities of wheat whiCh was hauled by oxen to
a·distllllce of about 35 miles.
tw.o days to reach Kenosha. The wheat was always loaded
before in order to 'start early in the morning. Theodo.re had
trip with his father several times. They always stayed over
at ~ellogg's Tavern.
occasion Theodore was to take a load of wheat alone.
load th~ bags the night befor~, TheOO,ore noticed that
the ·bags iri sul:li· a manner a5 ~o leave an open: square
>the, l?ad. When he inquired the reason, he was told,
~ttPr thaf way."
.
with the load before daylight the next morning. His
packed. in a pail, and there was a bag of grain for the
father instructed him to drive to Fox Ri~er arid just· be-

m

41

fore reaching the bridge to drive off the road to the bank of the river
and there eat his dinner while the oxen were feeding and drinking,
warning him: "Do not speak to anyone unless necessary, and then say
nothing but 'yes' .'and 'no';" Then he was told to drive on to Kellogg's Tavern, when on his .arrival it would be dark.
He did as instructed, and. when he turned into the Kellogg drive\var, lHr. Kellogg called, "Are you the Fellows boy?" And after
being told he was, :Mr. Kellogg told him to drive into the barn. After
unhitching the oxen, Mr. Kellogg started unloading the bags of wheat
from the back end of the wagon. Theodore was surprised to see .Mr.
Kellogg pull a man out from under the bags and hurry with him into
the house. Br the time Theodore stepped into the house there was no
man to be seen. He was told later about the system and was surprised to know that his father had helped many slaves escape. Th~
next year he enlisted and in time was promoted to Captain.

Campaigns of the Civil War

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Story of Capt. Theodore Fellows as told to
William C. Bacon of Bristol

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By C. A. Leonard, Sr.
ByWilliam T. Shepherd

42

A CIVIL WAR DIARY

By James Eddy

LETTERS HOME

By J. J. Weed
43

""

;

The:'Park. City Grays

Charles Leonard, Sr. lived to be the last surviVIng
member of the famous "Park City Greys." This Company was formed immediately foUowing President Lincoln's first call for men in 1861, most of the volunteers
were members of the High School or youths of that age.
On the Sunday afternoon prior to their leaving to become a part of the First Wisconsin 'Regiment (April 26,
1861), they were presented with a silk flag !llade by the
iad,ies of K:~nosha, • This Complmy was one 'of the first,
if not the first, to volunteer in the State of Wisconsin,
and the First Wisconsiii)s;.said to be the first Regiment
to ~et foot on Confede~1it~ soil.
William T. Shepherd was the son of John Shepherd,
a picturesque figure
early K!!q?sha life. William enlisted in Taylor's .Ghicag?.Skttery in the early summer
of 1861 and served throughout the war. His large collection of letters hom~ are an informative firs.t-hand story
of many .important actions of the Civil War. For .many
years Mr.. Shepherd lived in Evanston, Ill., where. he
was. eng~ged in the imp~;tation of jewels and fine pictures hom ·Europe:
Jamt!s;,Eddy, of Briitol, was another .Kenosha C1luntY
volunteer: ..J1e t<;>o.. ~w h;mg servic~ if} !h~.:War servi~g
as a member of Co. H of the 33rd .Regiment of. Wisconsin Volunteers from 1861 to 1865: ~'Fhe· odginal
diary of those war years was a gifLto the Kenosha
County Historical Society by h.is son; l';rari~: 0 ..·Eddy.
James J. Weed, son of Cephas We~d· of Somers, imd
a half-brother of Mrs. Dw'ight L. J3urg.~s of ·Bristol;
w;ts also ()ne of the first to enlist whefi,,.~e <:;air. ~f,!r IIJ,en
came in 1861, and also one of the fitl;t t<;).:eiil!si: in the
fi~~t . .IJ,ayal)\y Company iWhi~ll•
Wh~q,jilipinphis COmpany he
...g~t~h· ~hfc!i was shot lrom
~Sh.ff~a~ in the GtioJgi!l, cpm~p)gp.
t~is G!>mpany until his dis<:harge in
pottraitof.him may be s'een· in•the~Mitsl:limtdcilfectioh.·

of

44

J...:r'v n:81~d·
45

Fort Foote (Late Fort Henry), Feb. 9, 1862

Letters Home
Camp Taylor, June 14, 1861
Our company ha>e just passed a review before Gen. J\1cClellan of
U. S. Army. The whole proceedings were very interesting and pleasant. As the General was seen coming from the woods from Camp
Smith where Co. A of C. L.A. are stationed the order was !;iven to
man the guns and commence firing. Thirteen blank cartridges were
then fired, firing just the number of the original states. The firing
was done well and was commended very highly by the superior officers. Gen. McClellan soon arnved and with him Brig. Gen. D. M.
Prentiss, Col. Wagner, Chief of Artillery and a number of other
officers whose names I did not know. As the General came in we all
saluted him with the best of polite bows, etc.. \Ve then had gymnastic
exercises by some of the company, also the singing. of the "Star Spangle<! :Banner." The General is quite a young looking gentleman,
seemingly too young and inexperienced for th~ responsible position
which he holds. Is very polite and pleasant to all. On Wednesday,
Charliel and myself with our 1st lieutenant, also two yollng men from
our squad made a visit to Kentucky. We crossed the ;iver in a skiff
and spent about four hours on shore. We walked about eight miles
up and down the river and back into the state. We saw a plantation
and a great many things read of before but never seen. The forests
are b~autiful and contain a great many kinds of trees that I never saw
before . . . .
Fort Henry, Tenn., .Feb. 8, 1862
.... OJ cqurse you will ere this reaches you know all concerning the
capture 0 f the Fort and flight of· rebel troo"ps qulutered here, It was
a grand victory, though we hoped to have taken more prisoners; We've
had no tents for two nights past, having. left at our camp ( 4 mi.
below) everythin!l, even blankets. So vo.u see ·we !)ave rather a
"rough time." .We shall have tents topight. Not. a .shot w:as fired by
any of .the hnd forces on this side. The gunboats prove them out of
the fort and .our forward movement forced then:Lto leave . for a fort
12 miles <lhtant on the Cumberlan.d R:iver. It is s<!rd that alL the in"
fan try are ur1der marching orders-,-perhaps for that fort. Artillery
cannot cross to . the other river. .We may go anmnd by water; 1 shall
probably have a good opportunity to write during .the day when I will
give you .a description of our week's movements. . . .
1. Charlie Dana, son of a prominent Kenoshti family, Douglas K. Newell, Walter
Stebbin&, Henry Lines and Horace Baldwin, of Kenosha were also members ()f
Taylor•s Battery,,--0. Cropley.

46

ago today we left our "Soldiers' Home 1 " and its comfort>
and unpleasant journey, by both land and water. Though
almost n·errthing save heat that a soldier is troubled
we are still alive and quite well, with plenty to eat and
enough to keep us warm with the thermometer at zero. How
s!Jall enjoy our present state of happiness and comfort we can·
and dare ~ot imagine.
hour hence may find us on the march in mud to the knees or
erpbarking on some steamer for service in another portion of the coun>d tent and a real pleasant day is duly appreciated, after
the open air and constant cold and stormy weather after
from Cairo. . . . On last Sabbath afternoon we emon board the Aleck Scott for ''up the Ohio." We stopped at
Levee over night and started up the Ohio at 9 o'clock Monday
Paducah just at dark. Stopping an hour .for a pilot we
mile farther up, and enter the Tennessee. Traveling most of the
morning's dawn brings us to a town consisting of two houses,
Itri. After unloading the most of the battery, we get orders
Heavy guns are heard up the river about ten miles and an order
quickly obeyed. As several steamers have joined us during
we form quite a fleet and move slowly up the ri\"er. As our
shore report danger of being fired on, we place two of our
on the bow of the steamer. Five miles from our formplace and no interference on the ·way up, we again dispitch tents for the night, ,under a high bluff, or rather
r.' .,LOOkmg up the river from our steamer, we see a Rebel craft
probably of· our movements. The day following,
we spend in camp and rest from our wearying and told
ride, cooking rations and climbing the hill for a view of the
amp and flag floating over the fort. How little we thought
ow soon with what ease the fort would be ours. . . . On
ay morriing we take up the line of march, with two days rations
haversacks, and nothing to impede quick movements, even
ts are left behind. About· two miles out we !rear heavy firing
direction .of the fort and as we move forward and near the
of action, we are all cheering for a prospect of a fight \vith the
The firing lasts but an hour and as the road is very bad and
~~~hfls;quently move very slowly, our eagerness dies away and as the
?aflce scouts return from the head of the column, bringing the news
' he. surrender of the fort and the fligh~ of the rebels, w~ are sadly .
p~i11ted yet give a cheer for our glorious victory. Night overtakes
:ldi:irereaching the fort, and we stop a mile out, but orders from
· , ommanding officer are imperative, so we move forward through
Point. M.o., where they had been stationed sinCe' June 2G, 1861 and bad
camp as homelike as possible.--C, Cropley,

47

•'

mud to the hub of our carriages and take our present position inside
rebel breastworks without firing a gun. The whole force having deserted their fortifications and crossed the Cumberland seeking the pro. tection of Fort Donelson. . . .
Fort Donelson, Tenn., Feb. 21, 1862
I have so much to tell you of our doings for the last ten days that I
am at a loss where to begin. First of all, perhaps, I should make

some excuse for not writing before. Could you have seen us after
lighting four days', spending sleepless nights in snow and rain and
constantly under· lire of the enemy's guns, you would have relieved us
from any such duty. . . .
The first division of our forces left Fort Henry on Tuesday evening (11th) camping four miles out. Spreading blankets around our
guns we soon fall asleep. As the moon is full and the air still we enjoy a good sleep, waking in the morning in good spirits and fighting
trim. We again take up theline of march and at noon are in sight of
the rebel breastworks at Fort, Donelson. Our column .moves steadily
forward in line of battle, meeting no opposition sav~ .a. small force of
cavalry ·which is soon dispersed by a col!pe of cannister from a ..battery on our right. At dusk we are within a mile of t~e Cumberlandabove the rebels and still within sight of their fortifiqtiQ!lS· With
the aid of glasses we can distinguish their flag and men huriJ>ing along
the line. of their earthworks. I could not believe that two .opposing
armies of such large numbers could remain so close together during the
night, yet such is the case. The night is spent as before-aro11nd.our
gun, with a .blanket to cover. us. At daybreak the rebels op~n fire on
us with a. sixcpound gun, which fire is answered by a rifled battery. on
our right. Another forward movement brings the enemy Within
range of. cmr guns and we open on them firing. a half dozen rounds
each.. As we are in.a position from which. we c~nnpt seetheeffegt of
ou~ shots we move to the right about a h~lf a milec;-when :we hav.e a
f4ll view of the rebel works, which extend from the: river bank below
to ·the same. above'--endosing ;cheir vvh!'le qmp. w;e im!fl~di~tdy
open fire on them :.tt different points and get but an ~ccasional a';swer.
AboiJt flpon the 17th, 45th and 48th Illinois regiments make a charge
oh one. of the redoubts, but after an hour's ·hard fighting are .forced
to retire: Their fortifications are trees felled outward,. the branches
sharpened and .dirt thrown up at the butts, On . conyersing. with some
of the mer\ who were within 20 yards of the work I findthat it ca';not be ta~en 'Without great loss ot]ife. About 50 men killed.in this
ch:.trge. By.•continued fighting till night we are short of . ammuniti 0 n
and a. messenge:f is:~ei1t to Fort Henry for more. prawing our gun
back under cover :of the hill and putting up a tarpa11lin we lay our
weary bodies down .to rest. The· night is anything but a. pleasant one
for it rains and snows-and is cold enough to match, and a cup of hot
48

:' .. coff~e is a source of much comfort to the boys on turning out in the
@'q;ning from their sleepless beds.
} .::;The rebels throw a few round shot and shell at us, and as we have
': ~o ~.01fllunition we move the battery ·down into the ravine. The day
•:i~'q;u~te pleasant, and the an>munition, having arrived, we fill our
• : diests, again. Nothing of importance occurs during the day save the
.'• : .J~rivaJ: of a dozen boat loads of troops, and about an hour's can; •• ::no,ha.~ing between the gunboats and the main fort. About four o'clock
\<:.i. ~alL!lo~en shells from the. rebel guns burst among us...:.tliat were
. .. : ftt~~:}!! our troops passing along the brow of the hill, towards the
· ~r!!ht:pf our. column. None of us were hurt, but the sudden appear·~AceJof. those messengers created quite a stampede among the baggage
.'»t,~gqns! contraband cooks, and the like. At dusk we took our old po.•:'§!tion'· on the hill supported by the 17th Illinois. Sharpshooters are
!i'~fantly firing at each other and picket skirmishes are an hourly ocf:I'ence, but we have become so accustomed to such that we sleep
1l]~'and warm all night. A white blanket of snow about two inches
·~k. having been added to our covering during the night. Our cap<c<llpes around at daybreak calling "turn out" and ere the snow is
~nlrom our blankets a rebel six-pound shell comes into our midst,
t~tl~ killing one of the 17th, which. is followed by .three or four
·;: 0ne a shell, which bursts tn the center of a group around the
sadly. wounding another of the 17th, whose cries terrified us, I
ei111mediately took our position in battery on the brow of the hill
Ofllenced firi~g on the rebel guns. While so doing the musketry
:~orrlmen~ed at the right of our column, also occasional cannon.. We contirmr. firing . with our battery until noon-when the
~wipJ; of our column is turned and falls back a mile or more,
• follqwed by rebel cavalry. Our infantry ha.ve had a hard battle,
O,f th~~ being qbliged to retire for want of ammunition. The
l~e.ed has hsen fearful. which of course would be. the result of a
~iit ~oar of musketry and cannon from daylight until noon. We
· a :short .~istance .when . we .make another stand form in line of
everal fresh regiments coming to our relief, also Co. A, C. I. A.,
b ·ai'<; driven back aqd our trqops ag~in ~old the ground they
the opening of the battle.
.
ir1g the whole of the day's fighting none of our boys were hurt
.couple of flesh wounds, Narrow escapes were very frequent.
:'our boys while lying ·on the..ground had a rifled cannon shot
.der his chin. Two. of .our guns w~restrucktho.ugh not disabled
ng; . , . During the afternoon our infantry had sever;tl skirthe right while on the left GeneraLSmith's brigade made a
.on the outer redoubt and succeeded in gaining entrance after
rour 1s. hard fighting. The news is hailed with a deafening cheer

on

49

on the right flanks and the seeming defeat of the morning is fully
atoned for by this brilliant success. Our brigade having been badly
broken up by the fight, we change positions with another from the
center of the column and at night being out of range of the rebel
guns, sleep very nwch easier than for three nights past. Sharpshooters
are busy constantly and the whistling of a "Secesh" bullet is thought
nothing of--now that we han become used to such music.
The dawn of Sabbath morning is· heralded with the booming of cannon and musketry from the right flank and we examine our ammunition chests to see that eHrything is in good order for another engagement with these miserable rebels.
This is genuine fighting and is enough to try .the patience of anyone, even the most patriotic. How little did we then think that .the
fort was in our possession. The order is, given to "hitch up" the .battery, and while nerving ourselves. up, to. the idea of again going. into
the bloody field and making all preparations to be in readiness for the
order to move, a courier galloping along .our lines, reports the fort
sm;rendered and our men moving inside. 'Ve .give a cheer though the
truth of the report is questioned. The order· to .move is soon given
and instead of taking our former position 0 n the surrounding hills, we
move into the road leading into the rebel fortificatioqs. What wild
hurrahs and deafening cheers as arose from the different columns as
they moved into the fort I rannot describe. As we advance, long .lines
of butternut uniformed rebels greet us with a smile and military salute.
It is said there are ten thousand of them, but we can place no reliance on such flying reports. Our troops are wild with excitement
arid in all. the glory of victorious soldiers, Banners are floating in
every direction from the different regiments and their. bands :tre playing the national hymns in grand style, while Tayl?r's BatteT)'·, which
hast~kenposition in the fo.rt commanding the IJPPeTCIJmberland, fires
a s.alut~
13.gu~s. This is truly grand and vvell worth the fighting
we !)ave done for four days past. Yet, while we think of the victory
and all its honors, we are forced to think of the hundreds who died on
the field. of action to gain this victory and the· thousands or more who
are forced to bear the marks and pains of wounds received. We have
captured about 50 pieces of light artillery, I 7 ~iege guns, several thousand stand ·Of arms, about 2,000 horses and mules; and any quantity
of commissary and quartermaster stores. The Cumb.edand is now open
to Nashville, which soon will be in our possession if the least confidence can 'be placed in the reports around camp. This .is the story of
the siege .of Fort Donelson as best I can relate it. I have taken a
very hard .cold from· the exposure of two weeks past ·which. has kept
me in my tent for . three days. I am much better this morning and
but for its raining should· be out.

of

50

Battle of Shiloh
Pittsburgh Landing, Tenn., 1VIarch 23, 1862
, There are about 75,000 men at this place and more arriving
So as it is reported that the rebels ha,·e a large force at
miles west. I think there is a possibility of a quarrel unevacuate as the1· have done lateh·. Our Batten· is nor on the
ripht this time, and we are really glad of it to~, for ~ve have
forward too much. \Ve v:ere taken from our own. brigade,
which being so badly used at Donelson, is almost useless. But
Bat'' must keep up its name-and after outfighting one bribe changed to another. \Ve are not in a fighting condition
to remain behind but No, our officers think we can do anyBattery" is a "Big Thing" and must remain so. Our
of them--sick and of course unfit for duty. Our
m a bad condition and as for ammunition, we have none
captured at Fort Donelson. Glory and flattery have
tame with us and as rna says like wealth are not to be
with· health and perhaps life. . . .
Pittsburgh Landing, April 5. 1862
. It is just reported that the rebels are in considerable force within
of us, and that our troops on the oute.r lines are in line of
cannot think that the rebe!s will attack us, yet they may.
April 14, 1862
ta.~cene has been. enacted in the great panorama of our distracted
.. ,n.since I commenced this letter! The ground on which we are
•:'~\i'camped was but a. week since the battlefield of the severest
&~ggle •that American soldiers ever saw. The roar nf cannon, the
Lftleiof musketrr. the flying hiss of bullets. and bursting shell, with
~'i;(ieafening yells of a bayonet. charge, the cries and death groans of
)~sand~ of human. beings rent the air in. wild confusion, and. as my
fih,turns back to those two eventful days and their awful associa?~''tllY heart sickens and .longs for communication with the hallowed
q~s of hpme and de<:r friends. Though I am in no writing mood,
!;)' .rriust busy my attention with something that shall banish the
'5i?Ie sights and recollections of. our last, and I hope final struggle.
\en.. I think of the danger and peril through which I was safely
~h't, my heart swells with gratitude to Him who still .gives me
nd health. . . • April 15 ... You will probably hear that our
f)' .is lost and "cut to pieces" yet all such reports are false.
JiVe
to. puns. while but one of us was killed and five wounded. Were
he field nine hours Sunday, but kept in reserve the day following,
·?.ugh were moving forward into position on Monday afternoon when
i~,rebels commenced their flight. I cannot describe the fury of the
· ~agement during the hvo days-and very much doubt the ability of
51

anyone to do so. To say that it was terrible would be a very tame
description of the bloody conflict. The only true idea of this horrible
fight could be gained by a sight of the field on which we fought for
two days. Dead and wounded soldiers by the hundreds. Federal and
Rebel side by side, hundreds of dead horses, disabled guns, caissons,
harness and all kinds of arms, clothing, blankets, camp equipage, baggage wagons, and demolished camps, in wild confusion. The horrible
sights we were obliged to behold on every side were enough to chill
the blood of the most vile murderer. Fredericktown, Belmont and
Donelson cannot be compared with it. God grant that we may never
be called to see the hkeness of it again. The attack on our position
was entirely unexpected and consequently the rebels were on us almost
before we knew that they were within a dozen miles. The attacking
force on Sunday is supposed to have been about 90,000. They drove
us inch by inch through our own camps, about two miles when night
stopped the deadly work. With a reinforcement of a portion of Buel's
army we attacked the enemy at daylight on Monday morning. (They
had also been reinforced during the night by some 15- or 20,000.)
Vve drove the rebels back over the same ground we had lost the . day
before, and about 3 o'clock they commenced retreating and in an hour
the battle was ended . . . .
Running the Blockade at Vicksburg
Ordnance Office, 15th Army Corps
Steamer "David Tatum,'' April 18, 1863
. . . You will probably have heard of .the running of the Blockade
at V. by several of our gunboats and transports, and though you may
read the most grand and sublime description of the most terrible of all
engagements of the kind, you can have no correct idea of this one.
There were six gunboats and three transports. All were strengthened
and .covered in every way possible to prevent accident or failure--and
at midnight
16th and 17th they moved down. We were stationed
on the top of our boat and could see everything that the darkness did
not hide. There was no moon of course, but bright starlight. About
12:15 the rebel batteries opened a little below the first works which
were passed without causing any alarm. When the firing commenced,
the rebels started an immense bonfire-which cast its red glare on the
river, showing to them distinctly the boats as they steamed down.
The first gun gave the alarm, and as the fire brightened and our
bo;~ts got lower, it seemed as though every gun on the line for a mile
and a half, opened its fiery mouth. at once. A bright red flash at each
gun-a quick anil momentary lighting of the sky above, a sudden darkness, and an audible stillness for a few moments, was the opening.
In about 10 or 15 seconds, the sound came to us, and only like the
distant mutterings of awful thunder. Then flash-flash--flash··-, up

of

52

and down the fortifications, a half dozen and more at once--the howl. of shell and solid shot as thev rent the air in their fearful velocitr
brilliant burst of some. The Jlash and thud of others as they
the water, or our gallant boats, the low rumblings and the dull
of the fire--was all we could see or hear for half an hour.
our boats were opposite the city, they opened their broadwhich added to the terrific wildness and grandeur of the scene.
· Another bright glare cast on the sky-immediately in front of the
increases every moment. Our fears are not without a causeA transport has been fired-by one of the shells we can now
see in their course through the sky. Some are wildly shot and
into the woods on the point and even beyond the river this side.
our steamers are getting below the city and the fire from the
gradually cease&-save now and then a wicked shot
poor struggling and burning transport-the "Henry Clay." But
batteries have a better chance and seem to have multiplied
·>!t!leir.enFnru and fury, now that our boats are under their fire alonemove steadily down-and past them and the firing
The bonfire appears to be but a speck, scarcely larger than
nmond lights which but poorly answered their purpose.
burning transport has drifted below each battery. Not a gun
Our eyes are weary with watching and we go to bed-thankat least some of our noble gunboats have successfully run the
-~.u,.,~~au~, and only waiting to hear the particulars. We have but
~~¢'.iched the border of dreamland, ere our senses are hurried back bv
~'i~~f.~~mbined effort of a half dozen heavy guns and before we are out,
rattle and doors shake from another broadside. The gunreached the Batteries at Warrentown and are passing
Being below us in the direction of the wind the sound is much
and fairly shakes our steamer. The reflection of light from
hull of the "Henry Clay" can be seen on the dull douds
as they rise from the fleet below. The firing ceases but is
again, and finally closes with an occasional roar from a single
light has died down and we imagine the rushing waters
over the ruins. Again we go to bed and sleep, t<;> wake
time to hear the breakfast gong and the cheering news of a
success from the fleet. "All safely down the river except the
:::cc~; 11.enrv Clay." "But one killed and three wounded."

By

53

WM.

T.

SHEPHERD

\\'ater gruel, battalion driU, dress parade, cloudy.
Clear and pleasant, dress parade. Living on half rations.
Pop corn for rations, no hard tack.
Pop corn. Fired our. guns according to orders. Diarrives with plenty of rations.
22nd. Got the news that Van Dorn had made a raid on
and burned and destro1·ed all our supplies. Orders to
Col. Pue ordered the grist mill be burned that had been
corn for the brigade. The boys set it afire, the blaze. loomed
it was soon burned down . . . .
23rd. Reported that Oxford was burned to ashes by order of
Grant. Again we are on the move-marched some 10 miles.
camp .on the bank of the Talehatchee River.
We slept across the ridges of the cotton hills with the
over us for our shelter. It rained hard during the night.
orders to sleep on our arms. This morning I took a stroli
\vorks of the Reb embrasures. They looked like they were
impregnible. They run along both sides of the ri;·er some six
1 miles.
Price saw that \\·e were aflanking him, so he took
leave.

From a Civil War Diary
Nov. 12, 1862. The 33rd Regiment of the Wisconsin Volunteers
left Racine, arrived at Chicago, 3 P. M. vVe took cars for Cairo at
8 P. iVI., and arrived in Cairo, Friday, 3 A. M. From there we took
the train for Memphis and arrived in Memphis, Sunday, 10 P. M.
l\ilarch 2 Y, miles for camp, pitched tents, drew what was called the
Sibley tents, just large enough for the boys to crawl into. We called
them dog tents, and we would get inside and growl. ,
27th. Again on our march. Destruction followed all along our
pathway. We are marching due east on what is called Hernando and
Desoto Road. The boys fall out long toward night and come into
camp with chtckens and hams. \V e confiscated a number of horses
and mules. \Ve passed large plantations and cotton fields. We marched some 20 miles and pitched our .tents in front of a large plantation.
The owner was a rank old Reb. We placed a guard around hisproperty and house. The boys stole him blind; they helped themselves
to sugar, potatoes, hams and in fact everything they needed, and also
things they did not need. The next mormng he saw what they had
taken from him. He ripped and swore, tore around. We were following up Price's army; he said he hoped Price's army would kill every
damn Yankee. . . . 28th. The drum beats to fall in on our march.
The last compliment that was paid to the old planter was to set fire
to his buildings. \Ve are marching through a desolate looking country. The boys were pretty well tired out. \Ve came into camp about
9 P. M. . . . 29th. Our boys of the 33rd confiscated bee hives,
chickens, molasses, sugar, hams, bacon, several head of cattle and
mules. When we came into camp we were about famished for water.
Dec. 9th. Gen. Sherman had a grand review of his corps. ·He rode
along the lines. He made some remarks to each regiment as he
passed along on his war charger with his staff. He halted in front
ofthe. 33rd and 32nd Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers.. He prai~ed
the Wisconsin Regiments, that they never faltered in the field of
battle, that the 2nd Wisconsin stood up at Bun· Run, that they never
wavered, they stayed there till it would be madness for them to stay
longer. Cheer after cheer went along the lines. He said he would
like to meet the Wisconsin Regiments three degrees further south of
here, that he would ask General Grant to assign the 32nd and 33rd to
the right wing of his division.
Dec. 9th. Gen. Sherman took leave of absence; he was going to
Vicksburg.
Dec. lOth. Water Gruel for rations. Had battalion drill and dress
parade. Clear and pleasant.

54

25th. Again received orders to march. Struck tents and felt
Moved one mile. Pitched tents. Got nicely fixed, when
to strike tents. vVe were on a sitely place where we
and see the Grand Army of 40,000 soldiers in line of
their backward move. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
all in motion. The cars on the ~1ississippi railroad were
up and down carrying supplies and soldiers.
26th. Living on half rations. \Ve hulled some. corn for
In camp. Received rations, 2 hard tack and a small slice
Clear and pleasant. One hard tack and cup of soup . . . .
, 186+. Got news of Lincoln's proclamation that if the South
lay down their arms they might have their slaves. and come
irtothe Union in 60 days; they would not be disturbed. This
g as I write in .the Old Gin House my thoughts run back over
year. Just some of the great events that have transpired, of
. y battles that have been fought, and of the lives that have been
ced for their countrv. . . . Todrt1· tells the weal or woe oi
\Vhat is before u's remains in th~ future but the death knell
will be tolled this year or it will remain as a curse to this
the lives that have been sacrificed will all be in vain.
4th. . .. Some mush for breakfast, nothing for dinner..
19th. Rain. Left Mosco for Memphis. \Vent into camp just
the town. While there, made details to g0 out in the country
We generally met with pretty good success in foraging.
getting short of forage. They made detail of most of

a·

55

Company H and some of the other companies for guard to go with
the train of a long line of army wagons. \V e went out eight or nine
miles, got loaded up with corn fodder for the mules and started on
our way back. \Ve were trailing along in the rear of the train. \Ve
got within about a mile of 1\iemphis when the train was attacked by a
band of Guerillas. Near the head of the train they had killed a number
of mules and set fire to a number of army wagons and set the teamsters
into a panic. I think that Capt. Lindsley had command of the guard.
\Ve rushed forward to the front where they had made the attack on
a rise of ground. They were on horseback, they retreated as we came.
\Ve gave them four or five volleys from our Enfields. Under the
excitement some of the boys in loading forgot to draw their ramrods.
\Vhen they fired 1 they made two or three turns and fired at us, but
our fire was too heavy for them. Gen Lauman with the cavalry pursued all day, but didn't come up with them.
Having been annoyed by the Rebs for some time attacking our forage trains and killing our soldiers that got outside of our lines (they
had become very bold), we couldn't endure it any longer. Gen. Lauman started his division to Cold Water to engage the enemy or to
drive them out of the country so that we would not be annoyed with
them any more.
\Ve moved out about the 18th of April, 1863. Our advance were
skirmishing all the way to Hernando. About 30 miles away as we
came up near the .town we had a sharp fight but we drove them out
of the town and went to camp in the Court House Square for that
night. Early in the morning news came that our cavalry were getting severely handled. Orders came to fall in line and to double
quick. We doubled quick all the way to Cold Water, some eight
miles .away, filed off to the right in the timber, then moved up, In
front of us was a Bayou. The left wing of the 33rd filed to the left
around .the B<!-you, cameup near the Cold Water River. Capt. Linsley in dressing up Company H was shot on top of his head. He fell
about five feet from where I stood, by a sharpshooter. Capt. Swift
fell about the s~me time .. Company H lost a brave officer. The boys
of (;0 mpany H chipped in and bought a metallic coffin, and he was
buried in~. church yard on the Plank Road2. . . . We dropped behind the logs and stumps, kept up the firing, the Rebs throwing other
shells from their batteries, bursting over our heads. We kept up the
firing for some time; the Rebs fell back. Col. Moore wanted to take
the 33rd across the river, but he had no orders. We did not cross,
we had orders to return back to camp. We marched back within 10
miles of Memphis,· then orders came to counter march back to Cold
Water. We went back to Cold Water, finding noRebs, we returned
to camp at Memphis, not any more molested by the Rebs.
1.
2.

The
?--C.was
Cropley,
The Guerilla$
Plank Road
Prairie Ave., now 6Qth St.• extended west through the

county.-C. Cropley.

56

the latter part of .May, Alin Higgens and myself were cuta tree, his axe flew off the handle, the blade struck me just
knee. They carried me .to Adams Hospital, where I had
orders to report to Vicksburg. I was in the hospital
weeks, went on board the Kate Karny. Had not heard of
·:th.i•<urrender until I got to Vicksburg. Went out to the 33rd where
been camped, they left the day before. The wtwalescents
camp, they told me that I had better stay in camp. I had
;bfen,Jrom the regiment for some time, I wanted to get to them. They
would be teams going out. I went down to the levee but
.coul<l nna no teams that were going out. I was around till the next
an old sack, tied a cord to each end of 1t, bought a loaf of
and started out. Got to Black River, where Logan had a big
Got there about dark, lay on its banks all night. I found a
up against a tree and confiscated a cartridge box. Started
the. morning for the 33rd, passed through heavy timber
in a path that had been made through. Came up to the
at night, some 10 miles from Jackson 1 -thcy camped m
timber. You ·bet I was glad to get up with the boys once
They were a little surprised to see me. I had gone about
that day.
morning of July 12, .Gen. Lauman mm·ed out with his
came in the vicinity of Jackson. In deploying and getti«g
we had a sharp fight with the Rebs. Lauman had. orders to
division on the left of H uvy's division in the edge of the
33rd being the largest regiment in the division. Being a
;<responsible place to go the 33rd was ordered around by the Perle
rather mistook his orders or he wanted to add anhis epaulettes, As he came up to the lin,e of Huvy he
"""""" ··,·ith his men on the Reb works and fortifications. The
charged with grape and cannister; cut the men down
hundteds. The loss was over 500 in about 10 minutes. The
up in line through brush and tangled vines near an openof Breckenridge Division. He had partly thrown his
us. Orders came to get out of there. \Ve obeyed right
wao.. relieved of. his command for disobeying orders.
of his division. We were assign,ed to Huvy.'s division.
his lines. in the shape of a V. His inen went in ambush
battery in the centet of the V, opened· up on the Reb
good execution, we seeing .that the balance was pro. infantry. Made a charge· on the battery as they came up
V. Huey ordered his men to fire, they cut them2 down by
h''""••-'o They made another charge with the same result next
routed Gen. Johnson completely, we went in to Jack.
/-,' -:~gssissippi,._(J_

57

they had left. Some of the best buildings had been burnt; we returned
to our camp at Vicksburg. I had got promoted to sergeant. I had
sent home for a watch, being necessary to have a watch to relieve the
guard and go on picket. I got the watch, it cost $17. The boys had
quite a fad in passing away the time to trade watches. I caught the
fever, I kept on trading till had got $50 and the same old watch
back . . . .
Feb. 12th ('64). Company H, C and D were detailed to repair
roads. \Ve carried rails till 12 M. Started on our march 3 P. M.
J\.farched to Decatur, 15 miles. The Rebs made a dash on cavalry
train, killed 30 or 40 mules, but they paid pretty dearly for it; they
lost eight men. \Ve got to Decatur 10 P. lVL It was quite a pretty
town before it was burnt. \Vent to camp in Decatur. . . .
Feb. 14th. In the wilderness this morning we leave our trains behind with five days rations in our haversacks. Start on through the
enemy's country, our cavalry in the advance,. Gen. Sherman with
them. The Rebs had ma_de a stand on top of Tunel Hill, were cut·
ting down timber and throwing up fortificatiohs. As our cavalry
ca111e pear the hill thev halted. As Gen. Sherman and his staff came
up he ordered them to charge and dislodge them from the hill. They
hesitated, He was a nervous man. He said, "D--; go back to the
rear and I will bring up my infantry, I will drive them to Hades."
They did not want to go back to the rear, they made a charge and
drove them from the heights. Gen. Sherman had a good deal. of
confidence in his infantry. . ..
Feb. 19th. The 33rd again in motion as we left. The large Reb
store houses filled with fodder and corn were set afire. We marched
~om~ mil~s today, went in camp near the Chunkey River, sonie five
miles from M~ridian . . • .
Feb,2lst. Sunday. Again the 33rd are on the move. Marched
s~me 15 miles to Decatur; it did not look like.the same town, it had
been b'!fipfd to ashes. All you could see was the standing chimneys.
Feb. 23rd, Again on the move.... \Ve. went through Hillsborough
about J2.·lVI. You could see the standing chimneys and a few houses
left of the town. . . .
Feb. 28th. In camp at Madisonville today. \Ve are running the
mill grinding ,corn. . ; . In the morning one of our foraging party
canie into c:mlp and brought the news that they had a. fight with the
Reb cavalry.' Tne boys put up a good fightwith the cavalry but being
overpowered by numbers they captured 30 of our boys. As report
came in five are missing the 33rd, two from Company H, Sgt. James
Drom, \Varren Card; one from Company C; Neff from Company I.

By

jAMES EDDY

More Letters Home
Camp Fremont, Sept.' 8, 1861
. I do not want you to be too sanguine about Jeff Davis, and
pray for anything, pray for his life and health on the principle
o good to thine enemies." He has been at the head of the
:'ri't"'.ieinent so far and has gained great credit and if we should lose
then whip the South they might lay it to his death, where·
hope to do it clean. The Southern army is rather poorly
and fed and if another man is placed in his place, it would

Camp Girardeau, Mo., April 30, i862
town is situated on high and dry ground and is about one,
as Kenosha 1 • It looks like a healthy place. . . . The
<u.,nauou with Co. B left Benton Barracks at 3 P. iVL for the
It loaded and left about midnight. The saddles, blankets, all
up the tents, and then you know they are not dug into the
I do not know yet what we are to do, but we expect to take
Jeff Thompson in playing peekaboo, and according to re·
able to teach that kind of tactics. His band are always
to be within one hundred miles of here. There has been an
Regiment here ever since the war commenced. .The people
Jeff's nien are afraid of the Infantry, but ate not afraid of
Cavalry, and some go as far as to say that the one is as bad
The Infantry is leaYing for Pittsburgh Landing. It
Mo. Volunteers. There are three or four companies of
round here, the most they do ,is to picket the roads about
would do you good to be here for a few hours. The trees
full leaf and apple trees and such are sometimes past the

Camp Girardeau, Mo., Mav 3, 1862
Beckwith went to the hospital sick yesterday morning, .since then
!lot heard 'from hiin, B. is also a little under the weather
cold, A,be Holderness was thrown fr.om his horse yesterhirp some\vhat, but n?t seriously. We have got about
balky, ugly horses as one company ought to be affiicted with.
say to anyon~, neyer buy a balky horse, for those that are
soon Vl'ill be. We practice daily at all kinds of Company
from jumping ditches and fences to the sabre exemses
The company will soon be in good shape and would
census gave Kenosha a population of 3,948.---C, Cropley.

58

59

make a good account of themselves now if put in action. This is a
much nicer place than St. Louis was, there we were cooped up where
you stood about as good chance of seeing a blade of grass as you
would in Main St., Kenosha, Here all is changed, for everything is
in bloom or past bloom. . . .
May .6th. \Ve have just begun to find out what we are here for.
Last Sunday morning at one, our company was called up very suddenly, to strap up without making any noise or lighting a light. It's
cust,;mary in sudden alarms to leave everything but the necessities such
as saddle, bridle, sabre and revolver, the overcoats and blankets are to
be left behind. After we wer.e strapped up, orders came to take everything. AU this time we all thought that this fuss was just to get us
4P aqd let us fix up in a hurry, and as we had moved every way that
you could think of and not being allowed a light, did not help matters much. However, after foolmg around for an hour and a half we
took the road with Co. B, Post of Dowd, two small Mo. Co's. My
squad had all of the traps· aboard but such a. mixture; all grabbed for
their sabres and took the first one they happened to fed, sadd)e, blankets, ove1coats the same. As a sample of this, I had Woodruff's sad·
dle, Ed. Coe's sabr~ apd revolver, Lord's rubber blanket, Bill Reed's
overcoat, and so forth. \Ve rat town at about half past two and rode
continually until after ten. \Ve traveled about 26 miles in a direct line
from. camp, but much farther as we crooked all around the sap brush.
This p~rt of Missouri is all heavily timbered, not such timber as you
see in \Visconsin, but genuine timber such that you have to look twice
to see the top of it. It seems that a company of Jeff Thompson's
men had robbed a small village, Hamburgh, about sixteen miles from
here and '<Ve were after them, but it was no g(); for after bush whacking arOJI.nd aJl day we caught but one or two and are not certai11 of
their being the right ones. \Ve had some dinner of some hard bread
that we t69k along and some bacon. The horses had corn. They
have .a very .· uns~rel}1:onious . w~y of getting. such things. . The c~m­
m'}nderof these companies go and ask for what they want of the first
plant~r he comes to ; if he is a Union man, of course, he is. glad to
furllish,. as Uncle Sam is good pay, if slow; if he is a Secesh, he is
no~ very forward in letting you know it, but he is paid the same as
theother unless there is goqd evidence of his bei~g a rehel, and to my
mind there is !1() better evidence of his being sothan a full corncrib
apd heqr9ost,for the Rebels have sucked the Union men dry of such
thi11gs. We sta~ted for camp at one, but did riot get in that night
by te[',IJli!ts, H~wever, we made 45 miles that day which was not
bad for t~e fir;t day's work we ever did. The country isa little
r9ugh and clayish soil, and with all, a rather poor cotmtry and thinly
settled. We expect to g() b.ack into the country to stay for a spell,
we may start tomorrow morning, or at any time, and for one, r·expect to know where my traps are next time.

60

West Prairie, Stoddard Co:. 1\Io .. June 5. 1862
I have never regretted joining the army and think that I
no mistake when Jim became a trooper, illount~d. \\'e have
some hard marches, but then 1\'C did not have to go on foot,
did we carry a blanket, musket and haversack on our should"r.
we do take things in this way, we are so used to it, that
sleep with ease. Then, if we were in the foot service, we
be made part of a large army and not move one mil> where
three. . .
You have probably inquired of yourself how a
will feel in shooting at his butternut friends. r can tell you
is very much like at "ild geese or other game, you shoot just
and load much quicker. I guess we take better aim since
Phillip and Mr.---. Then you don't feel tired nor hungry,
rou· don't stop to think. I have had a few shots, but there
one killed where my shots went, only one was hit there, and
shot in the wrist. One of the best rib ticklers we have is
;)(I,;preacning up the Union and Abolition to men who have been in
of Southern superiority fire-eating) three to one~
Some come out and say that they have been lied to and
go to work and be peaceable, others whine at everything but
come out boldly, and a few are sullen.
1

Greenville, \Va)ne Co., Mo., Oct. 28, 1862.
I am as well as usual. feeling quite smart and. probably \\·auld
better if we had a little better chance to hunt outside. The
are much thicker here than tame ones are in \Visconsin. I
and rode within four rods of a flock of thirty only two days
as luck would .have it, I had neither gun nor pistol. This
forty rods of our pickets. . . . Perhaps you recollect my
Spring of three men being hung at Bloomfield some time
They were hung by the order of Col. Low, a Rebel, all on
and at once. The widow of one of these is here now with
the oldest being not more than twelve years old. She has
herself by sewing and baking for the soldiers. There are
cases about here, most of them being destitute ..
\Vest Plaines, Howell Co., Mo., Feb. 5, 1863
have been as well as ever in my life so far this winter, and
matter do not want a more healthy employment than my
, and I believe that a great deal of the trouble with our
they get sick is loss .of heart and courage,. which leaves. a
most helpless of beings. I have got but little news to tell
this is almost a wilderness. . . . ·The 1st Wis. Cavalry had a
day before yesterday in which I had the luck to be present,
receiving no injury which was the case with all engaged ex·
three or four horses and riders that got piled, but received no

61

serious lnJury. Our regiment under Torrey attacked three regiments
of infantry and two batteries of artillery by order of Gen. Davidson
and covered themselves with glory and dirt, for you must know that
it happened before the snow storm. We have about six inches of snow
and more coming. Bob Shorty is well and has been in the Guard
House for a short time. The how of it was this way, he was passing
a hen roost when one of the feathered tribe came out very much
alarmed, but he quieted her fears. As it happened, Lieut. Col. LaGrange issued out soon after the hen in hot pursuit and put Bob
under guard. This is Bob's story. We are trying to get Bob into
Co. A as bugler. . . .
St. Genevieve, Mo., March 4, 1863
We have only two of our Batts. here, this being all the troops
now at this place. There is no such thing as traveling in a direct line
in this part of Missouri unless you took a fancy to climbing hills and
jumping off rocks. In all last winter I saw only two direct (roads)
one from Thomasville west toward Springfield and the other from
Pilot Knob here. Perhaps you think the Army of S. E. Mo. was
lazy and inactive last winter, but there was no such thing as doing
anything after the 1Oth of December. Some of the cavalry got down
as far south as Batesville and about one half the infantry got as far
as Salem in Arkansas. I was as far as that place about a month ago,
rode through the night and froze the side of my foot and one finger,
which was pretty good for Arkansas. I have not seen much of our
Secesh gentry this winter, the nearest that I came to them was in
Douglass County. Thirty of us slept four hours within four miles
of the force that attacked Springfield, Gen. Marmaduke's command.
Eddyville, Lyon Co,, Ky., June 6, 1863
You see that I am again permitted to address you and from some
other state 'than "Misery." We left that old place, Camp Girardeau,
for the last time, I hope, nearly a week ago. Although we have had
a good time there this Spring . . . still we have seen so much of
Missouri as to be heartily sick of it. . . . This place is now the head
of navigation for large boats .at the low stage of water now on the
River. it is .not' much of a town, has some six or eight stores, five
or more shops and perhaps one dozen houses, with lots of pretty girls,
mostly Secesh. Our Colonel has seen fit to forbid any private soldier
or non com entering a house but as he can not be everywhere at once
it is but little respected.
Camp 5, Winchester, Tenn., July 6, 1863
. . . How did the Fourth go with you? We left Tryune on the
23rd at 8 A M. and marched about 12 miles with the cavalry on
the Shelbyville road, having a pretty severe skirmish for the last five
62

The 24th we moved five ll]iles toward Murfresboro, reported
were sent to l\1iddletown, some six miles from where we stopped
morning. At that place we had a young battle, our regiment
in advance, Co. A on the left front as skirmishers. \Ve had
Secesh favors sent our way, in the shape of lead, but one of the
hit and he by a spent ball, while standing plun<b 30 rods
company. \Ve drove them out of town just at dark and
the track back until 12 J'. M. It had rained all day and
were awful. When leaving Tryune only the cavalry went
the rest went to Murfreetown, our train with the rest. We
days' rations in haversacks and mine was all spoiled the
the wet and many of the others were in the same fix and
we camped on the Shelbyville road on the 25th eight miles out
a hungrier set need not be seen, nor can it. We
camp over the 26th, being sent out in the evening of that day
the lst Div. train. We met a train and brought it in about
and after that had got nicely squatted in the mud, for our
regiments had kindly taken all our rails and bedding the
out, when news came that we had brought in the wrong
we go again, n1eeting the right train one mile out of
time we turned into a clover field until morning. On
we made a push for Shelbyville, which had been Bragg's
toouarters. He had left with ali but for or five regiments of
These were left to skirmish with us, but our General was
for them. He caiged ( ? ) all the way in for five miles, and
had to run or take it hand to hand and their numbers would
the latter. Thitt day we took 700 Rebs and four guns. I
ts and over· 300 of the prisoners. We had a little fight
Duck River 15 miles back. \Ve did not go to Murhead round to the South between the two Armies..•.
Larkinville, Ala., Aug. 26, 1863
I don't think that you can get along as well in shower as
Some times we have it for a week or two at a time and then
used to it and not being dry any of the time of course don't
little addition to the wet. The very worst feature of wet
the mtid. Then we all wear our rubber blankets to ketch
plattering from the horses, besides that, all try to keep closed up
in the mud, so close that the flying mud can't raise over
to strike the rider. A cava!ty camp in the mud is the next
a barn yard, and often much worse, as the ground had not
settled or tramped before. This is a station on the MemLnarleston R. R. We have but the 4th Ind. Cav. with us, the
re here together with the Brigade. CoL McCook has
of the Div. in the absence of Gen. Mitchell who is
balance of the regiments are scattered along the railroad

a

63

from Huntsville to Steveson or Bridgeport. . . . Old Grey is now
looking slick and kicks up now and then. I would not mind a ride
into the centre of Rebledom soon, and for that we all expect it. . . .
It is rather sickly in this force now, more so in the other regiment
than in ours. . . .

Industrial ·Progress

In the Field, 30 miles N. \V. of Atlanta, Ga.,
May 28, 1864
. . . Sherman is making good progress so far, but will h~ve to fight
a battle soon with the enemy under cover unless he succeeds it1 Banking them as he has done twi~e before. Cos. A. F. I, D, and C made a
charg;e on the Reb lines three days ago in the order named with the
most brilliant success and succeeded in bringing out 40 prisoners and
wounding a very large number and with a loss of six. w~utided and
three captured. Among the latter was Lt. Col. Stewa,rt of the 2nd
Ind. and Brig. Com., Capt. Harnden acting Colonel was badly
wounded and Howland had to take the right until yesterday when
Capt. Smith arrived from Wisconsin. Goodsell Foss of A had his
arm badly broken. Chas. and ..Len Bacon ha,d each a horse. shot, one
was killed but I have not seen them since. . Grey was in the, first set
of four and was shot thr~ugh both jugular arteries and lived n<it ten
seconds but died face to the enemy. I dug out with my old portfofio
• and krms only, but could have done better and saved all if I had· not
stopped too long in squaring up accounts. Grey was fat and better
fit. for the service than ever before.. I 'no~ hai<e FOsS's horse~. a g()od
one and a full set of comforts in the shape of blanket$. and tent, Lt,
(;ol. Brownlee met.a RebLieutenant half way betw~n thelines, who
toia hi~ tHat we. killed .the Colonel of tile 4th Georg;ia ~Cavllry c
A.¥my aild shot \:'he central star off the neck ofthe Colonel ·~f the3id
Georgia:·:·&'~~ will r~collect that these were the regim!'nts w~ f~und
iii, 'S'tqujttchiewValley. last summer. He had been very busy skirmishiil~'a,l~~g:fhe C;t:v..front which is, I think the left of our army all day
yesier'llafb~t w,iih no results. The 1st Brig. only was engaged. The
a~biy is 'iri ~ilod spirits and all goes well. . • .
. .
Cartersville, Ga., Aug. 21, 1864
..• You ~eelj. have no fears but that enough fo()d. fori thought will
be furp!~!.J~4 ¥()~ !fter my return, and it may be po~sib!e thatmore of
your iO:ti,Wate>fl:iends will soon be in the service: Yet I don~tthink
that ~e ~~~ufi!,)>'i:tod over such things .and it we. h.aye only done .!!HT
own duty. in .all t~Jqgs, the rest should be left t() the course of events,
and I believe that thr very highest grade of huma11 exce,lle.nce is n()t
that "'-hich fre~s and .mourns itself in inactivity but rather ·that which
is up ana' doing taking hard kn.ocks as they come. . .

64

:Y BARB WIRE MANUFACTURE IN KENOSHA
By FreaW', JJecker ·

KENOSHA TO 'J]If; I(ESCUE
By Peter Pirsch
65

Early Barb Wire Manufacture
in Kenosha
1880, the Underwood Barb Wire Company was located near
the Chicago & Northwestern Freight office now stands. That
it stood when I worked there. Later on, it occupied a
building which was a part of the Head & Sutherland Shop
stood where the Simmons Company now stands.

Fred W. Becker is a native Kenoshan, who has spent
most of his eighty and more years here. He grew up in
close touch with the industrial life of the community, as
his father was one of the . early wagon makers, and he
hill)self worked in various phases of our industry. He
was also closely in touch with the political life of the
county, and served on the County Board. of Sup.ervisors.
He was the first custodian of the Kenosha County His·
torical Society and contributed much in time and efort to its organization and the first collections for the

used to hire young boys, giving them the job of putting the
in .the wire. The wire came in along a track and passed
an iron·dad board with three holes in it through which the
went. A box filled with tacks was fixed on the track. Three
men operated spindles on which the wires were wound with a
which twisted the wire, also an apparatus which. pulled the
.down the track and back to the board. It was the boy's job to
a. tack out of the box and insert it between the twisting wires
it carne back, this spaced the tacks fairly evedy, and formed the
Afterward the wire was coated with some kind of a black
to prevent rust.
work that was very hard on the hands. The men who opthe spindles were Bill Barber, Simon Schiller, and Frank
A number of different boys worked there. Among them
Meisser (a brother of Mrs. Frank Wells) and C. E.
All the rest of our lives Earnie Dewey and I always called
by the nickname "tacks" because of our experience in putbetween the twisting wires. After a while the methods
and the big wire trusts put the local concern out of

museum.
Peter Pirsch is another native Kenoshan who· has spent
his eig~ty years or more in the city. He, too, has ale
w~ys been in close touch with the life of the city. His
father was another of the early wagon and carriage
mak~~.s. M~- Pirsch has developed the Pirsch fire fighting :equipment which is sold almost the world around.
Most of the improvements and important developments
are the ·result of his own talent and experiments:

66

By

67

FRED

IV.

BECKER

Kenosha to the Rescue
At midnight, on April 13, 1931, our telephone in our home rang and
rang as it never rang before. "Hello, hello, is this Peter Pirsch ?"
"Yes."
"\Veil, this is the Fire Alarm Office in Chicago. Chief Corrigan
wants you to bring your new Smoke Ejector machine to Chicago as
quickly as you can get here. We have 17 men trapped in a tunnel
fire. \Ve have already taken 10 dead men out, and fear the other 17
are dead also. We cannot find them due to all the smoke and heat.

Please come, and come quickly!"
The Smoke Ejector wasn't ready to go, as it was a new one which
we were building after experimenting and perfecting the first one.
\Ve had dismantled the first one, and the new one needed some werk
which we had to finish first. It is a machine to pump out the smoke
and fumes from burning buildings, tunnels, etc., so the firemen can find
their way in the buildings.
After completing some of the work necessary, we called Chicago.
"Hello, Chicago. \Ve have the machine about ready and starting
no\v~"

"Hurray! Hurray!" they replied. Sixty miles in 88 minutes with
a rnachine that never ran before! Upon arrival there, a police car
stopped us at the north limits (they didn't know about the tunnel
fire). ''Where is the fire?" they asked. "You are under arrest." Tliey
wouldn't believe me, so I told them to lead us to Laflin Street and
22nd and if there wasn't 10,000 people and one-third of the Chicago
Fire Department there waiting for us, then they could take us to jaiL
When we came in sight of the fire, we heard people yelling, "Here
they come, here they come!" Those coppers got out of there as ·quick
as they could. If I had told how they delayed us, it would have gone
hard with thern. Seven hundred firemen were there, helpless to do
anything, the smoke was so dense.
They sent for the State Mine Superintendent from Springfield, also
some professional mine firemen, who flew there, and they advised them
68

up the tunnel, to put out the fire and then they could get the
bodies out. A little woman h~ard this, and she shrieked, "Don't
you dare do that, my husband is down there and I know he is not
dead!" vVhen the policemen lifted the rope (which was used to keep
the people away from the shaft) to let us in with the Smoke Ejector.
little lady hung onto my coat taiL The copper grabbed her and
her back, and she whirled around and butted the ·policeman in
stomach, he fell flat on his back in a pool of water, and she got in·
and beat us to the shaft. I am sure the policeman didn't want an 0
of her. We soon were set at the shaft, and dropped our suction
40 feet to the bottom of the shait and in 23 minutes we had the
woman's husband up and in her arms. Such a clinch and such
I never heard before; likewise with all the rest of the wives.
sisters and brothers of the other 15 men which we savedhad them all out in 23 minutes after we started to pump. They
all rushed to the hospital and saved. Only one was found dead,
O'Neil of the fire department-he suffocated, burned and fell
close to the fire. Another tragtc incident happened. A traffic
directing the ambulances, was run over and killed by an
in their hurry to get the men to the hospital.
Bundesen, the Chicago Health Officer, sent for a diver to go
into the tunnel, but he soon called up to be pulled up as he
the heat was melting his rubber suit.
pumped 20,000 cubic feet of smoke a minute (that's a lot of
) . The cause of the fire in a tunnel 20 feet in diameter and
blocks long, 40 feet down, was a gas main overhead was: leaking
into the tunnel, and workmen went up to the ceiling with a
candle to find it. They found it all right, laid the lighted
on some sawdust--enough said, and the men ran everywhere,
by smoke.
Cermak, Chief Corrigan and officials, commended us very
and the story of the tunnel fire rescue appeared in newspapers
the world.
Wade and George Williams went down with me and operated
machine. About a doz.en of our men got up at midnight and came
shop to get the machine ready. It wasn't painted, and didn't
like a fire engine, and that got the coppers in Chicago, who
us, guessing. We took a rookie Kenosha policeman along with

69

us and put him in the driver's seat, hoping that would get us through,
but he disappeared when we got there, and we haven't seen him since.
"Vhat happened to him, we don't know.
Maybe St. Peter will be good to all of us for the job we did, when
judgment Day arrives. Sixty miles in 88 minutes--the Lord was
with us. Paul Rever never had a trip like we had going down on an
untested chassis.

By

World War I

PETER PIRSCH

TORY OF TROOP E, lst WISCONSIN CAVALRY
By A. W. Perkins
THE STORY OF COMPANY M
By Edward Van Lone
70

71

story oF Troop E, first Wisconsin
Cavalry 1917-19

A. Walker Perkins, a member of the Organization
"The Sons of the American Revolution" and a descendent to Pliny Fc;rkins, one of the founders of the near-by
city of Burlington, comes from a family who have been
closely connected with the war-time phases of our history. His great uncle, Capt. John .. E .. Perkins, of Eau
Claire, was the organizer of. the 8th Wisconsin Regiment of Infantry, the regiment which took the famous
eagle, "Old Abe," to war with them.
A. Walker Perkins grew up· .and. was .educated in the
schoqlS of Kenosha, took part in ·wnl'ld War I as a
m~inber of Kenosha's Troop.E, and f~llowing his honoralile discharge, attended the University of Wisconsin.
He later had the privilege of being one of the members
of the first Byrd Antartic Expedition.
Edward Van Lone also grew up and was educated in
the Kenosha schools. After the close of World War I
and upon the re-organization of Troop E of the 105th
Cavalry of the National Guards, he re-enlisted in it.
Mr; Van Lone was .also well known in musical ci:cles,
a~d. appeared on many programs, as .well h~;iiig a
part in the music of the BaPtist, Cllngregational and
~~thqdist Churches from time to time. During World
\Var 'li he served a5 inspector in some of the plants
engaged in war work. At the present time his residence
is Milwaukee, Wis.

as

72

As early as January, 1917, a movement was started in Kenosha for
- Military Training. War seemed impending with the CenOn Sunday, Feb. 4th, after the press had reported sevof diplomatic relations between the United States and GerMr. S. · W. Sheppard, Traffic Manager of the North Shore
R. R. opened all the Line's stations to general recruiting. Mr.
T. Marlatt, editor of the "Kenosha Evening News," wrote
excellent patriotic editorials ... Doctors of the city volunteered
services.
on Ml\rch 23, 1917, Mr. Alfred Terrell, Vice President of
Company, formally applied to State Adj. Gen. Holway
Wiseo.nsin N;1tional Guard for the or~nization of a Cavalry
in Kenosha, the first move (so far as is k~own) for the. exof the National Guard in Wisconsin just prior to the World
On Monday, April 2, 1917, thirty men signed petitions show'\tlllingness to enlist
the N ~ti?nal (]mird ofthe U: S. and State
for periods of three years' active ser'Vice and three years'
were: Loyal P. Bliiley, J. H. Siriiili, Lawrence Jensen,
Jack LaCrosse, Ralph Skinkle, Louis Miller, Jr. 1 Chas.
Harry P. Metten; George). Degan, Rui;selfE. Davis, F. R.
W. A.' Band'elier, J. S. Vanderpioeg, Hoilier Petersen,
·olfe, Jr., AI. W. Molzahn, Harold E. Curtis, Gilbert
. 1\l. Deg,tn, L. Lanternier, Jr., H. Phillops, B. A. AIR.; WiCkham, Bert E .. McDonald, H~rbert Bourgeois,
B. HaHung, c. A. Parker, Ray MacDonald, Zenas H. Pilcher.

in

the. ~r.Jy pe.riod of. recruiting, through • the gener~sity of the
of St. Matwews Church, tht! Gnild .ijall.was used for•head-.Dri\!iitg cq~!Jl~gced at Q~ce, such as squad dri~ls, settingc),!P
a11d fogJ:moyem~.nts.un,der,,t,b<; !=9mmands. of)\1essrs. Terrell
lt,.!!l!!D---,i:Ih~:.enrojliqg qf re,_cr1uits1.w,as.!ll!lt~ rapid, agd-:-:7as th~::
.a~elppe_d-:7'-Pep.nissio!l was gjv~q tO.),lS~,J!Je J(enosha Copgtry
.(i)pw... Ailendale).. fgr. f<?ot. 1 ID,()Vell}~r;lts l!nd. ,dismounted .drill,
21, 1917.. :f~e.pffiC!;rS w,holater corr;~manded
over., .tb~ .. :ddlli!!g, The. Rt!!=ruiting COfr;lfr;littCI::
H. J. M~llum, ,A. H. Quigley,.F. H. J. Baum
Blanks for enlistment were sent to th~ various

73

factories so that the full strength ( 105) men might be obtained as
soon as possible. By April 9th, 59 men had signed up for the Troop,
70 names being necessary for muster into the State Guard. The
Coliseuml was used as an Armory after the Troop had outgrown
Guild Hall. On April 30, 1917, a request was sent Adj. Gen. Holway to name the following men officers for Troop E: John S. Coney,
Captain; F. iV. Steinert, First Lieutenant; J. D. Alexander, Second
Lieutenant, all three being well qualified, having served meritoriously
with the U. S. Army at home and abroad in various branches.
The first mustering in of Kenosha men for Federal Service took
place in Guild Hall, midnight, May 2nd, when 46 men were administered the Federal Oath by Lieut. Johnson, Medical Corps office.
This was the first military unit, since the days of the Civil War, to
be contributed to the Nation by Kenosha. On May lOth, Col. Morgan, U. S. A., made a Federal Inspection of the Troop at the
Coliseum.
The Kenosha Cavalry Troop was formally designated as "Troop
E, Second Squadron, First Wisconsin Cavalry" by the State Adjutant
General, May 28, 1917. A beautiful U. S. flag was presented to the
Troop at the Coliseum by patriotic citizens of Kenosha Monday night,
June 25th.
By the lOth of July, Kenosha's Cavalry Troop had been recruited
to full war strength and, on Sunday, July 15th, was mustered into
Federal s~rvice. Barracks were established in the building formerly
occupied by the United Refrigerator and Ice Machine "Company on
18th Avenue, one-half block south of 63rd Street, on the west side
of tlie" street, where the new U. S. Troopers were broken in to the
routine of soldier's life. Then on Wednesday, July 18th, a telec
gram w_,s rl';:ejy,ed by Capt, Coney ordering him to be ready to Il)OVe
with". Jroop E to . Camp Douglas, Wis. on July. 23rd. . . • . Early
Monday mowing, July 23, 1917, Troop E marched from their barracks to the Northwestern R. R. station. Thousands lined the
streets and it was estimated that 10,000 were at the depot. Company
M (Kenosha's Infantry Unit under the command of Capt. Edward
Dayton) marched with the Troopers to show their good will with
that of the cjti~ens. Amidst patriotic music, cheers, tears, gifts and
well ·wishes. ih<; train moved north toward Milwaukee .a~d Camp
Douglas in brigh,t S!Jnshine. Troop F from Lake Geneva was aboard
the same train, The first big step toward France had 'been taken. It
is significant that the first military unit to leave KenOsha for the
World War departed before conscription was relied on for building a
U. S. fighting· machine.

a

0

1. A building which formerly stood where the County
Court house is now loeated.--C. Cropley.

74

Then followed a period of rudimentary trammg at beautiful Camp
Douglas. Uniforms were issued, routine established. The troop won
many regimental honorsl . . . .
On Sept. 11th, Troop E entrained at Camp Douglas for \Vaco,
Texas, where it arrived the next evening, . . . The cantonment was
named Camp l\1cArthur, situated on what had been cottan fields.
'When Col. Fenner, C. 0. of the l05th Cavalry was offered his choice
0t. future service for the Cavalry, Field Artillerv or Ammunition
·.Trains-he chose the former as the "lesser evil." . At this camp the
of vVisconsin and Michigan were assembled and were
into the famous 32nd, or Red Arrow Division. Because cavalry
needed at the f~ont as badly as field artillery, the Troops from
and Stevens Point were united (Sept. 19, 1917) and called
:•natterv E" of the !20th Field Artillery Regiment (formerly the 1st
Regiment). Artillery range duty, gas drills, marches
and school occupied everyone while at Waco.
As the 32nd Division developed, transfers were made from Battery
to other organizations in the Division. Capt. Coney was sent to
Sill School of Fire and Capt. Hilliard placed in command of the
until . Capt. Coney returned. Second Lieutenant Alexander
to command of an Animal Trains Detachment of the
and was promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant. The
men were assigned from Battery E. to his command: Curt
Tanck, Harry Larsen., Albert Halberstadt, Harry P.
Butler, Emil Lewis, Louis Sorensen, H. J. Alberts,
and Clarence \Valker. (These men. returned to the
arrival in France.) Lieut. Alexander, following his
in France, was assigned to the following organizations: Head120th F. A.; Battery F, 120 F. A.; Staff of Artillery School
; then to. the Front "ith the 309th F. A. (Battery D)
with· this organization to the end of the war, and commanding
following the Armistice; fin,.l!y being transferred to !20th
and assigned to Battery E. A. \yalker Perkins, Ernest Tabbe,rt
Clark Young were transferred to Brigade Headquarters of the
F. A. serving with this organization at the. Front throughout
remainder of the war; J. S. VanderPloeg and J. M. Degen were
to· Regimental Headquarters of the !20th F. A.· where they
Front to the end of the war. Theodore Czarniecki was
to the !20th F. A Supply Train on the Front. Sergeant
transferred to Battery A, 120th F. A. as stable sergeant and
on the Front with the 1+6th F. A. Stanley Hughes and Harry
were transferred from Battery E, !20th F. A. to Battery B,
F. A. also seeing action with this regiment.
E left Waco, Texas Feb. 5, 1918, enroute for Camp MerN. · J., Atlantic Coast concentration camp. On March 3rd, the
complete roster is here given in the original
may be seen in the Museum Ubrary.--c. Cropley.

75

Kenosha soldiers boarded the giant S. S. Leviathan and on the next
day sailed away to Europe, arriving at Liverpool, England on March
12th, where they disembarked the 13th.
The Battery was quartered at a camp near \Vinchester, from where
it departed for a Channel port, Southhampton, the 16th, arriving at
LeHavre the 20th. The 21st, the Battery entrained for the Artillery
training camp De Coetquiden (Brittany), arriving there the 22nd of
:March. Battery E, as part of the 2nd Battalion was detached from
the Regiment for duty at the Field Artillery school at Saumur and
remained at the important work of furnishing practical artillery ex·
perience and instruction to student officers being trained for duty at
the Front, until after the Armistice, when they rejoined the Regiment
in billets at villages near Gondrecourt, just back of the front line,
on Sat., Feb. 19, 1919.
Chosen by reason of proven efficiency and fitness for a difficult assignment, official records indicate that this Battalion, of which Battery
E was a part, rendered highly commendable services of an invaluable
nature and performed all tasks set before it cheerfully and with a spirit
that marked it indelibly as a worthy part of the !20th Field Artillery
and the 32nd Division. The battery fired French 76 millimeter guns,
comparable to our three inch artillery piece. During the stay of the
battery at Saumur, the 2nd Battalion fired 130,000 rounds of ammunition and trained 6,000 artillery officers for duty at the front lines.
On Feh. 16, 1919, the Battery arrived at Badonvilliers, near
Gondrecourt, in the department on the Meuse, where it joined the
First Battalion, to reunite the Regiment, first time since departure
from Camp De Coetquidan. Lt. Col. Fish met Capt. Coney and his
men as thq !Ilarched into the village. The next day the Battery took
up q\larter~ in Gerauvilliers. Battery E still was called on for range
firing and maneuvers. They were quartered in. barns and houses set
in the.famous mud of France until orders came for the journey home.
On \Ved., April 16, 1919, the Battery received orders
move to
Brest and sailed abpard the "Wilhelmina" for the United St~tes April
25th. On l\1ay 4th land was sighted and the Battery set foot on
Y ankeesoil again at Boston. Delousing took place at Camp Devans,
Mass. All were eager for the final order to move west, which came
May 12th. The Battery arrived at Camp Grant, near Rockford. Ill.
on May 14th, was pa1d, given a.bonus of $80.00 per man and honorably discha,r,g~d.. frpm the army the 17th, arriving home the same day,
under the commapds of Captain Coney and 1st Lieut . .Alexander, to
a great welcome 'from Kenosha.

to

By A

76

.w.

PERKINS

The Story of Company M
.. I will tell you about experiences of the 32nd Divisio~ and some
of my own experiences. . . . \Vhen war was declared and the President called for volunteers, the first company to organize was E Troop.
·I went down and signed up with Troop E. They called in a doctor.
I was 5 feet 1 inch and weighed 112 pounds. They looked at me and
said they had no Shetland ponies in the cavalry: "Sorry, you are not
big enough." But when they lowered the limit to 5 feet and 110
pounds (that was M Company), I volunteered with the infantry and
'1 went away with Capt. Ed. Dayton. None of us were over 20 . . . .
went up to Douglas and the first difficulty I had was getting
The only things that fit were shoe strings and hat cord . . . .
started to organize the division. The American Division
been organized according to the standard of European
We had 150 men in our infantry. In Europe they had
Wisconsin furnished four regiments of infantry, two regiof artillery, and various hospital corps and signal corps, When
started to reorganize in Texas, M Company wa.s made into a
company. I decided that carrying a rifle arid . bandalier and
on my back, 85 pounds, was a job, so I transferred to the Signal
That's the first time I knew what homesickness was in all
I transferred to the Signal Corps. I stood, and I didn't
anyone and I think I sat down and cried.
remember all .al<?ng the line there were British instructors to inus. Finally one day in the early part of January we had orturn in our surplus equipment. . . . We were ordered to turn
surplus appareL It only snows in Texas about every 20 years,
that night it snowed. We had no fires. The. next morning our
left for New York and pulled out to Camp Merritt. We rested
a day :md a half. "Stay close to camp," they said.. "Are these
'"'~-mans who are getting us out at 2:30 in the morning?"
They
put us in a boat and pulled out of New York Harb.or. I saw
Goddess of Liberty and thought it was probably the last time I'd
see her.
We. sailed to Halifax, in Nova Scotia. I went with an officer, a
fine officer, Mr. Mitchell Lewis of Racine who was a millionaire.
called us the "Million Dollar Battalion." Mr. Lewis went
and bought up everything for us. . We were on a boat which
400 first class passengers, some of whom were Irvin S. Cobb, and
Waldorf, Lord Grey and Lord Roberts, and we led a convoy

77

of 12 ships. Canadian ships carrying Canadian troops, ships carrying
horses, tankers and everything. It was the same convoy that the Tuscania was in. \Ve took an extreme northern route, 11 miles off the
coast of Greenland; it took 12 days to cross. \Ve were convoyed in
the Dauntless. I can give you the story of the torpedoing of the
Tuscania, \Ve were the ship which was actually fired at. . . . The
first ship was the British convoy Dauntless, and I was on the Baltic.
The Tuscania was right behind us. The Tuscania had orders to folIo" the same way we did. The Isle of Man was on our left. We
ran over to the right and instead of the Tu~cania following us, she
pulled with us, crossing our way. The Tuscania was fired at. We
broke all records in getting to Liverpool harbor. . . .
They pulled us to l'vlorney Hill, a rest camp, outside of Winchester.
\Ve heard that King Arthur's Round Table was in Winchester. \Ve
went to see if we could see the Cathedral but got into a fight with
the British troops. It was my first experience in the guard house. I
made my first mistake when I said, "Good morning, Judge," instead
of "Good morning, your Lordship."
From there we went to. Southampton. . . . Then we were pulled
into the trenches. That was about our funniest experience. We got
into the tenth area about 9 o'clock, and next morning I wanted to
shave. Not being able to talk French, I was trying to get hot water.
vVe. rapped at every village door and I think the people thought we
were ready to lead a rapid raid on the stew pot. Finally, we met an
old priest who could speak English. I learned my first lesson in
French-how to say, "Please give me some hot water"-"Voulex vous
de l'eau chaude." ..•
Then some of us were ordered up into the trenches at Alsace .and
the whole Division was ordered up about a month later. We were
instructed about telephone lines .since our part was communication. We
were in Bolges Mountains about nine kilometers off the Swiss border.
I had one experience that time. Every time I think about it, it gives
me a little idea of what nerves will do. We were ordered out oh a
road and the work was to get the telephone lines laid and report; if
the enemy was going to hit, we should pick up our lines and co01e
back in. Then I lost my sense of direction. I started back when they
cut loose at me. I Dashed for a shell hole. I saw a man following
me and I empties the full magazine at him. An hour .later the same
man came •at me again. I empties another magazine ·at him. In the
morning when I looked outside, I was firing at a tree.
We went along until the 18th of June, then we got o'ur ·first real
taste of fighting. \Ve had what they called a "circus," an. attempt to
demoralize the "green troops." We had information of this circus
coming; at that particular point we were holding a mile and a quarter between lines and we knew that something· was coming at some
time or other. One afternoon about four o'clock they started an ar·

78

tillery charge on our lines and we were pretty sure they were coming
over. \Ve moved our troop line up one fourth of a mile and when the
circus came, our men came to n1eet them.

Talk about hearing "On Wisconsin" sung at football games, the
!28th Wisconsin sang "On 'Visconsin" when they stopped the detachment. . . . We drove them back and they left 140 men on our
wire. That was our first baptism of fire. We had nine casualties.
four killed and five wounded. \Ve went along until it got to be the
middle of July when millions were at Chateau Tbierrv. TheY came
up and relieved us one day. Here we were loaded int~ trains .and as
as possible we were sent to Paris. We went to the outskirts of
Paris and our train stopped and somebody said, "We are going to
make good here." Three miles out of Chateau Thiery we crossed the
river on pontoon bridges and we came into the town.
The town was still under fire. We carne marching along. Somebody said, "What's this outfit?" We said, "32nd Division National
Guardsmen." "Snappy outfit; go up and hold them and if they drive
you back, we will come and gain what you lose." We had to relieve
the third regular division and the air was so thick you couldn't
breathe. We were told to be able to have our gas masks on in five
seconds. When they threw some gas shells over our heads we were
ready. Fifteen seconds later, Lt. Dolby said, "My God, Warwich,
.where is my gas mask?" If Dolby were lJlive we didn't have to
worry. Lt. Dolby said, "Put down the telephone lines." Colonel
Hackel reported ·back the progress they were making. Things were
good. So then we were ordered into Surges. That was the hottest
spot at Chateau Thiery. This was a garrisoned town. It was a hill,
238, and the Germans were entrenched in the. town. They had a
railroad and they attempted to hold the town long enough to
ammumt!On. \Ve ran into our first. taste of unfair play in the
town. To the left was a church and they had a little cross at the
which meant that the. church was free from shell fire.. They had
three machine guns in the tower of this church that opened. up artillery
fire and blew people out. Then orders came in to make another atand we.got through Surges 0. K. We took the hill 238 and we
took ready fire and found no resistance from them. We had one
more opportunity to see one more beautiful mountain. We dr.ove past
Thames. We attempted to cross the river three times. The division
was relieved. and we came back and rested in reserve. We found
Roosevelt's grave, and when we found it, there was nothing
a rough woode.n cross with a personal calling card tacked on, but
then there has been a marble fence and cross built there by the
'French.
128th Wisconsin Regiment was in there and we were held up
the town of J ervigney, for the armed defenses were getting in orThere I met an old friend, Bob McCoy, from Sparta. We were

79

picked up by a beautiful brigade, the 57th Brigade, that fired a bar·
rage. The 128th followed to Jervigney. McCoy said, "I think we'll
have to relieve them." They relieved us and pulled us into camp.
\'\• e started out and came along with a string of motor busses. We
went through country very much more devastated than we had gone
through before. Few of us had an idea of the country that we were
going to advance through. It was the first big maneuver the Amer·
ican army brigade fought as a separate unit. Heretofore we had
fought with the French or the Belgians, but the Americans had made
no maneuver as a separate unit. The first phase of the maneuver was
at San Mihiel. I was sent out on special duty.
\Ve did not call it a battle. Nine hours after the initial attack we
came back and we went through country that was very much devastated and we knew we were getting into something. They then
pulled us up as fast as they could in units. W c marched up and down.
We were called up about six o'clock. A gun was fired and everything
rocked at the Argonne. We were in reserve. They were using the
green troops for the first part of the attack. For the first part of the
drive they used the 42nd and 32nd N ationa! Guards and about three
o'clock in the morning we were ordered to take over territory that
this division had retreated~to take over ·German territory. The Germans gave us 18 hours of sneezing gas, mustard gas and chloroform
gas. ·They thought we would take off our masks to sneeze when we
felt the effects of the poison gas.
On Nov. 7th there were rumors that the Germans had taken the pen
in hand. I was ordered into Dunn to put a telephone together in the
village. Swede Rendstrom put down three German planes.
On November 9th we knew something was about to happen. We
were told that we should not discuss the armistice at all. They were
afraid that if we talked about it and looked for it, it would lower
the morale of the troops. We were absolutely forbidden to discuss it.
\Ve called it "Kansas City." We knew that hostilities had ceased
and we waited. On the lOth the 32nd Division was ordered. in
again. On the 11th, we crossed to get a train. We had a French
division on our left. At 3:30 in the morning I was on duty and a
call came through to the Brigadier Adjutant. He said "Germany has
used the pen." Along about 10:30 the next morning the Brigadier
Adju·tant said all units should take cover and remain under· cover
until 11 :15. . . . Of course, we went into Germany, and then horrte.
In giving these .pictures that I brought back, I do not want them
to be a gift .from me but from our 32nd Division 1 • We wa!lt only
one thing-'-that if the younger generations come some times and look
at those pictures, they will find that the riches of freedom were very
dearly bought at Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, San Juan arid France.

__

By En\vARD VAN LoNE

1. ,This )1;!: part of a shorthand report of a talk given at a meeting of the Kenosha
County Historical Society when pictures from Capt. Coney's _collection and
of the 32nd Didsion were presented to the Society.--C. Cropley.

80

World War II

ONE MAN'S STORY · - • KOREA
By Lt. Col. Matt Taylor
AFTERMATH · - • THE NUREMBURG TRIALS
By Mrs. M. D. Holt
81

One Man's Story ..• Korea
February 28, 1942, was the first day of four and one-hall years of
duty. Preliminaries included two years with the Field Artiland many months of preparation for the military occupation of

Matt Taylor, a native born Kenoshan, completed his
law course at the Harvard Law School, after which he
associated with his father in Kenosha from 1934 to 1941.
He was .called to active service in the United States
Army February 28, 1942, and served in the Field Artillery as a First Lieutenant for a year and a half, stationed in Arizona. The balance of his time of service
until his separation on July 28, 1946, was spent in the
field of Military Government. As a Lieutenant Colonel,
he was in charge· of the setting up of the • government
under the U. S. Army in Korea.
Mr. Taylor is now commander of the !26th Field
Artillery Battalion of the 32nd Infantry piyision of the
National Guard with headquarters in Kenosha. He is
again associated with his father as an attorney-at-law.
Mrs. Mabel D. Holt is a Wisconsin woman, native of
Dane County, who after her marriage to Edwin Holt,
member of one of Kenosha County's Pioqeer families,
resided in Kenosha County for a time. After the death
of her husband she was employed at Madison for some
years; then for fift~~n years s.erve.d as .a Court Reporter
at the Kenosha County Court House. After. the close
of the war, Mrs. Holt passed ·fhe Civil Service tests
with un~su~lly high standings, and was onepf the first
women to be assigned to the War Trials Area in Germany as a Court Reporter. She served in this capacity
from the Spring of 1946 until the close of the trials.
82

November 21, 1945, four transport planes unloaded 90 Amerofficers on the Air Field at Seoul, Korea. This was the beginning
merican military government in Korea. The Korean people were
on a holiday; a holiday which began on the 21st day of August with
the announcement of the Japanese capitulation. Railways, shipping
street. cars, and motor traffic had long since ceased to move. Inand commercial establishments were closed. Police and fire
·rl~i\artments were non-existent. Schools were deserted. Japanese resi··
were cowering in their homes behind closed doors. Koreans from
;ian occupied north were pouring into all of the cities and
~ountry-side.
Accumulated food supplies were diminishing rapidly.
apanese army stores were being plundered. The courts of the coun. :FY were non-operative, and the prisons empty of their inmates. A
iuessage from America had informed the people of Ko.rea that they
free. The Koreans had assumed the privikges of freedom but
rejected its responsibilities.
November 22, Major General A. V. Arnold appointed the unil~r<;<>nPd ·Director of Justice with a staff of two. officers and three
men, plus en{' Korean school-teacher who was at least .satishis own mind that he understood the English language and
act as an interpreter.
March 14, 1946, Major General Archer L. Lerch relieved GenArnold as Military Governor of Korea. On that date, the
Railways were operating, coastwise shipping had been reand street cars were in operation. Smoke was pouring forth
the chimneys of the more important industries., Commercial
had opened their doors and br0 ught their stock of
out from hiding. A newly organized Korean police force was
with spirit and enthusiasm. Children were back in schooL
hundred thousand Japanese had been returned to Japan and a
number of Korean laborers had been carried from Japan to
Korea. Border controls were established. Koreans fleeing from the
Russian area were quarantined, inspected and directed into the less
populated areas. Essential foods were rationed and controlled, and
American army trucks were assisting in the transportation of food
supplies from the country to the cities. Public utilities were serving

83

the basic needs of the community. The Supreme Court of Korea, two
Courts of Review, nine District Courts and twenty-nine branch courts
had been staffed and were disposing of criminal bases at the rate of
400 cases per week. Nineteen Korean prisons were again functioning.
Former inmates were recaptured and were incarcerated. The Korean
Bar Association had been established, with Secretary of War Robert
L. Patterson, as one of its first honorary members. A Korean National Law Library was established and therein Korean legal scholars,
with the assistance of American lawyers, were drafting a new code of
laws for the Korean people.
On July 9, 1946, a ship sailed from Inchol Harbor, bound for
Seattle, \Vashington. It carried many of those 90 officers who first
undertook the military government of Korea. New personnel had
arrived, including army officers and enlisted men, as well as civilian
technicians and experts. The military phase of the Korean occupation was fast coming to a close. The War Department· was preparing
to surrender controls to the State Department. A· provisional government of Koreans for Southern Korea was in its formative stage. Negotiations with the Russians for the purpose of unitil'lg n~~thern ·and
southern Korea were, however, at an impasse. Three divisions of the
American army remained in Korea as support for American government.

Conclusions-American J\1ilitary Government is capable of handling
emergency situations and can be relied upon to turn the. wlreels of industry and government. For long range planning, specially trained
and qualified civilian personnel is necessary. The Korean people by
tradition and choice prefer a democracy. American and • Russian
prestige in the Orient is being tested at the 38th parallel, which arbitrarily divides Russian occupied north Korea and American Otcupied
south Korea.

By

MATT TAYLOR

Aftermath ... the Nuremburg Trials
Flossenburg Concentration camp case starts about the
month, with 42 defendants, 1\Jalmedy has 74, seven
" Amencan attorneys on defense, and five German attorneys also on deseven U. S. on prosecution. The last of the month two reporters
sent to help out at the Lichfield trials at Bad N auheim, leaving
three .of us on lVIalmedy. This. trial runs much faster than Flossrg. We average from eight to fifteen pages of typed transcript
half hour's, take, and the Flossenburg reporters average only about
pages an hour because the interpreters are slower and they also use
interpreters much of the time. Also because· the court goes into
sessions frequently to make decisions on rulings and e'cerything
Last week three of the courts closed part of the
there was no heat; four courts running now and t\VO more
I was on a .court martial four days last week and have
notebooks full to transcribe.
was . cold and wet and horrible weather; everyone had
like .November. The German engineer tells the C. 0. the
good and he can't start the fire in the offices, but a D. P.
told me "it is not true, but the German engineer don't
,Lt;{ctoner 21, 1946. Nearly a week of nice weather; Sunday was
.. Last week the fog would be very thick in the morning>
or midafternoon it would clear and give lovely sunsets.. I
a court martial. about 30 miles away and wee left at 8 :00
home the last day at 8:00 P. M., but the officers took me
for supper first.
1946. We now have regular bus service to J\1unich,
it very easy and convenient. . . , One. can go in at
be back at noon. Also have some more clubs, the constabulary
war crimes two, the post two. We are back under the
We w.ere first under thearrny and then under. USFET.
to ride through Munich and see the work that has been
I .came here May !st. Th~re are very. few places where
debris still on the sidewalks and roany of the shells have been
out of all the bricks, plaster, twisted . metal, etc., a.nd just the
standing. Some of them they are rebuilding, using the old walls,
of the walls they .tore down. They are using the old brick and
the old powdered plaster for mixing this mortar or some-

85
84

thing. There is one section made up of tiny shacks, like woodsheds,
in which people have lived all summer-suppose their homes were
destroyed. People are very crowded, three and four people to one
room. There are so many D. P.'s in the zone, plus the destroyed
buildings, Military Government is obliged to crowd p~ople terribl)'·
Fuel is short, so that they should avoid wasting any by heating unnecessary rooms. Occasionally one of the houses where we are housed
gets out of fuel. It happened at our house this week, but it was very
nice weather, like Indian summer and not uncomfortable, as the sun
was shining all day. . . .
Last Saturday, November 23, two of us went to the Bavarian State
Opera in Munich, to see "Tales of Hoffman." The first time it was
given since Hitler banned Offenbach's music. It was lovely. They
have a very large orchestra and it is a huge theatre.
Saturday morning, November 9, 22 men and 8 women left for one
of the. 7th Army's rest centers up in the Alps. It took us nearly six
hours by train and then we had an hour's ride by truck up the mountain--part way. This is an old stopping place on the old salt road,
hundreds of years old, but a very modern road now. The other side
of the mountain is Austria. This building was erected in' 1930, I
believe. There are two buildings, of massive stone ~coristrilction. Of
course there is little wood used for building anywhere. It .is one of
Hitler's projects. When we left the train we arrived at the place
where Hitler was planning to raise the "super man" and "super
women." They were to be scientifically fed and trained. There •are
acres of buildings, again of stone, dark gray, forbidding; It is now
used as a constabulary headquarters. While we· were there the .flag
was lowered at sunset, with the cannon salute and all the. pageantry.
It was cloudy and beginning to snow. Half way up. to the>House
Ingeburg, there was snow on the road imd trees and in the n:iorning
everything was covered. . . . It was zero up there but did riotseem
so cold; people were out bare headed and in sweaters--I mean·Americans were. . . . I walked a long way up the mountain ~•·IWonday
morning and met the people coming down with their sledges with
wood. After getting them out into the open, they sit on the front
and ~ski down the mountain. The wood is cut about two feet long and
one of their sleds carries 8 or 10 of these pieces of logs. Everything is
so primitive.
Hundreds of prisoners have been transferred during this month; I
have seen them going by, five or six abreast, a column as far asl could
see in either d.irection. \Ve had 20,000 here in October; They are
being sent up rlear Frankfort, I am told. Many of the Polish people
have returned to Poland, provided with two mm1ths' rations. They
did not warit to goback. . . •
January, 1947. lnNuremburg, the testimony of all the accused in
the first Nuremburg trial is concerning Hitler, and it is simply terrible

86

how people whom you cannot consider unintelligent, as for
Schacht, state how they were under the influence of Hitler
Doenitz, for instance, says that he came tp the headquarters
~il).frequently as possible in order to remove himself from this
an important and interesting case, tried the camp comDachau. There was considerable medical ·testimony,
a psvcmatnst~ There was considerable testimony about the medihere, this being one of the main hospital sites;
sent here for treatment and hospitalization. There is
hospital here, all one story buildings. The camp covers
acres I believe, and has 500 buildings, its own power plant,
mnasium, stables, "sportsfield," factories, etc. . . . The
at the time the trial covers is a great oaf, who speaks good
Some of these people are very good looking. The experiheat and cold, malarial and pressure. Only one man ever
the pressure experiment alive, they testified, a Russian.
were under such terrific pressure and it was reduced so
they bled from the nose, ears, mouth and pores.
, 1947. Today is a holiday in Germany and in most of
believe. Some of the waiters did not appear and we were
because of waiting for breakfast. The German stores
They close at noon Saturdays and \Vednesdays and are
days, usually from 9-12 and 2-4. Of course they do not
· to sell, but they don't overwork, either. There is
lan~d here and the people of Bavaria are only 60
sustaining. . . .
grinding on; 400 witnesses here one day last week,
mess, one for German civilian workers, one for
of them; an indigent person's mess, and our two,
and the ES mess. All food provided by the USA
the exception of some potatoes, tlie waiters tell me.
a city in itself; the billeting officer said early in April
4,200 and 4,300 souls" to provide rooms for, These
allied and German employes and did not include the
P. W.'s behind the barbed wire. The city of Dachau
south and had a normal population of 12,000; now that
persons have been crowded into t.'le houses, it has 19,000.
seen strange here; the Germans are mostly very nice to
so many Americans here, the allies, Belgians, French,
Dntch, etc.; make it seem like Kenosha.
was a "Liberation" party at the club, it is the second
the liberation of this camp by the U. S. Army. It was
There is a U. S. captain here who was one of the
camp; they took his picture last night. with other dtg-

87

The trains were returned to Germari control today;
fares from now on. Hope the service is better; they
before, and it seemed as though they were trying to
the Americans couldn't put up with trying to run
Of course the Germans manned them, but under ( ?)
ernment 'control.
I shall always remember the linden trees in
large one in the lot next door, just over our eight
scents the '~hole neighborhood. There are many in
can walk for blocks under them along the sidewalk's.
fragrant and last (the blossoms) a long time, as
"nd the air more moist here than at home.
On August .7, 1947, I was sworn in on the
hauseJL This was the largest underground
sisting of two main tunnels and 46 cross tu1
of the Junkers aircraft factory. . It. was taken
1943, 175 V-1's a dav were turned out.
plapes were being manu-factured there, 900
turned out when it was captured . . . . . The testiriloriv;
the most horrible I ever heard. It is the most
Malmedy.
January, 1Q48. All the courts finished up around
cemb.er except N()rdhausen. . . . They. were
December 31st and close the whole place up,
the 23rd, the sentences the 30th, and had to
the record.. It w~s one of the longest trials,
lir:'v~.\; , . We hfld jyst onqveek when~ou
i~ugust 7 t(l December 30. I. missed one day.
;t;o' started with the case to finish with it.
Iigj,~;; Th~ defense counsel ~aid if he had
death. sentences he would have considered he
;.,as. on( 4e~th sentence.
Am g()ing to Berlin and Vienna to spend a
seeing, and •the:n I do not know whe;e I may
women ;frQm tljis ho.use are leaving this week,
arid ope .to the U; S. ; that will mean three of
g~ to BetlinTIJesday-,-in this huge 20 room
pers()nn~l bfl\}'>gone somewhere else to wqr~
seYC!l•: of u~ r.epqrters have. not yet been assigned.
f 0 ggy today;; h'\s- been quite cold, but nothing

88

Cropley, Carrie
tory in the Making:by
shans who had a part

977.5
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