Pvt. George Washington Underhill
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Monday, July 10, 2017
Friday, December 9, 2016
Monday, May 9, 2016
Introduction
Air Castles
19th Century Military History
of the Elgin Area
Introduction
Compiled by Kenneth L. Gough
With help by Diana & Elizabeth Gough
The State of Illinois was charged with sending six regiments of infantry to Mexico. The Adjutant Generals Report for these units do not list where enlistees resided. Only what town they enrolled at. This hampers us in identifying who from the Elgin area served. Civilian papers & letters will need to be relied on for this.
Years ago I went to Bluff City Cemetery on Memorial Day and placed the personal history of Walter Mallett, Civil War Veteran, on his grave. I was pleased at the response by visitors there for the days evolutions. The V.F.W. Asked if I could do some more the next year. Over the next few years it has grown to over eighty graves that I, with the help of my wife and daughter, are doing this for. I started a database for all the Civil War soldiers who had lived in the Elgin township at some point in their lives. I ended up with almost 3,000 names after I was done.
In the corner of the Soldiers Reserve there are a little over a dozen Spanish American War soldiers so I've decided to do the same for them.
I've presented historical sources and labeled each one. If I felt an explanation I've labeled it clearly as 'Note'. This is the only place you will find any information that could be considered as personal bias.
The Kane Count Honor Roll
In 1956 the State of Illinois contacted veteran's groups in each county and asked them to compile the finial resting place for place soldier buried in their county. I've relied heavily on this work but it is not without mistakes. The work was compiled by volunteers who may or may not have had the necessary training for the transcription involved. In addition the information provided to each cemetery was submitted by the deceased's family. The military information is thus twice suspect. However, I've found that with with careful cross checking it is still a valuable tool.
The Adjutant Generals Report for Illinois
The information contained here provides the roll for each company raised in Illinois. Each entry includes basic information for each man. However this work only deals with entrance and exit into the service provided by the Company officers. There are two areas that this work is fraught with possible mistakes. First it relies on Company grade officers, who may or may not, have been present at the time of muster in. Also they were working off records that were written by hand so the possibility of transcription error is present. The second involves the mission of the work. That is only to provide a working roll of each company. Thus if a soldier landed in hospital but was then sent back to his company it is not recorded. Only if his hospital stay resulted in discharge.
The problem involved here is each mans presents in actions credited to the unit he belonged to. I have elected to cut through this Gordenian Knot by crediting each man with all actions until I've found another source that changes his movement in those time frames.
Letters & Obits
Period newspapers during the war are excellent sources of personal information. People receiving letters from their loved ones often had them printed thus providing a valuable tool for updating information missing in the Adj't. Gen's. Report.
I've found much information in Obits that are included nowhere else. Care must be taken here as like the Honor Roll the original information here came from the family and thus is suspect.
The Sexton's Ledger
The second best source of information next to the Adj't. Gen's. Report. The Sexton's Report places each man were he is laid to rest. Cause of Death and his home address is usually included. Where he was born and who his parents were are sometimes included. Sometimes his military serves is included.
The downside to this work is the fact that it was prepared long before the spreadsheet. Even before typewriters. So we're back to the transcription issues. Also, if remains were to be re-interred it was supposed to be recorded here. I've found this to have been rarely done. The fact that this work was prepared by hand presents another problem. If the Sexton ran out of room on a sheet he jumped ahead to the next clear sheet and continued on. This presents obvious problems to location entries.
Cemetery Issues
Bluff City Cemetery in Elgin began accepting interments in 1886. Elgin City Cemetery closed in 1906 and was raised by the city of Elgin between 1947 & 1949. The families were given forty years to make arrangements to have their loved ones re-interred. The city of Elgin even provided free of charge new plots in Bluff City cemetery. However the original deeds for plots at Elgin City cemetery did not allow for any government agency to confiscate these plots. Many families either refused outright or had moved from the area and did not respond to letters from the city. By the late 1940's Elgin City cemetery had become so run down that the city decided to take action. Moving in with bulldozers in one night they scraped the surface of the cemetery clean. Thus several thousand sets of remains were now left in unmarked and unidentifiable graves.
Should you wish to visit the original Elgin City Cemetery it lies where present day Channing school is. There is one marked grave in the far southwest corner of the property that was missed in the 1949 debacle. That of William Hackman.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Thursday, May 5, 2016
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