It is obvious that Pulaski County, as such, had no existence during the War
of 1812. However, it was during this War that there occurred at the site of
what is now Mound City, at that time known as "The Mounds," due to the
various mounds found there, the only known massacre of English speaking
settlers in the territory of this county. At time of the massacre, only two
families were living where Mound City now stands. One family was named
Clark, the other Phillips. They had come from the state of Tennessee
following the earthquake of 1811. The family of Clark consisted of only
himself and his wife. The Phillips family was composed of Phillips, his
wife, a son and a daughter both of whom were nearly grown, and a man named
Kenady who had ingratiated himself into the good graces of Mrs. Phillips,
whose husband had had occasion to return to Tennessee on business.
On a day in the fall of 1812, Mr. Phillips being absent from home, there
came a man from Union County named Shaver. Mr. Shaver stopped at the cabin
of the Clark family with the intention of buying a jug of whisky which it
seems Clark manufactured and sold. Mr. Shaver found that Clark had company
in the persons of 10 Creek Indians who lived in the lower part of Kentucky.
These Indians were outlaws from their own people because of some outrages
they had committed against their own tribe. Mr. Shaver expressed
apprehension to Clark about the Indians, but was assured that they had been
there before and meant no harm. The Indians asked for food and were told by
Mrs. Clark that if they would grind some corn on the hand mill she would
prepare a meal for them. They ground the corn and ate a hearty meal. Five of
the band then left and went up the river to the cabin of Mrs. Phillips. Soon
a signal was given and the massacre was on. Only Mr. Shaver, of all the
people assaulted, was able to escape though badly wounded. He made his way
back home and soon a band of settlers came to seek vengeance, but were
unable to locate the Indians. They found the bodies of the victims and gave
them burial. The body of the Phillips girl was not found and there was
speculation that she was carried away.
Following the War of 1812, the Indian menace was removed or largely abated
and settlers began to come into the southern end of the State, until 1818 a
Territory. Some of them were veterans of the War of 1812. Among the trees of
the wilderness that was Johnson, then Union, later Alexander, and finally
Pulaski County, they erected their cabins and began to dream of the glories
that should be. All apparently were ambitious to build up a thriving,
prosperous, and populous city. Numerous town sites were platted and the
great city of the Midwest was builded over and over again in their dreams.
Never again in the history of our continent will settlements be made with
the hardships, inconveniences, and dangers that the early settlements in
Southern Illinois faced. Modern methods of transportation have removed the
most of them. No longer do people trek into new regions afoot, in oxcart,
horseback, or on slow barges. Rather they swiftly enter by rail, steamer,
automobile, or even by air. No longer do they wait patiently for week after
week for even a slight trickle of news but even before the papers are on the
press the news is on the air. Especially is this true of news which is
considered important to the people in general.
When the Mexican War began in 1846, just three years after the organization
of Pulaski County, Col. C. H. Webb and William A. Hughes immediately raised
a company of volunteers to fight in the War. The former was elected Captain
of the Company and the latter First Lieutenant. There were 105 men in the
Company which was mustered into the service at Alton, Illinois. This band of
the bravest and best in Pulaski County was in but one engagement, the battle
of Buena Vista. Through changes the Company was officered on the day of
battle as follows: Captain, William C. Woodward; First Lieutenant, John
Bartleson; Second Lieutenant, Aaron Atherton; Third Lieutenant, William
Price. Before the start of the battle Col. Bissell rode up to the Pulaski
Company and said to Lieut. Price: "You are too old to go into this
engagement; you will remain in camp." Lieut. Price, nearly 80 years old,
stood proudly erect and said, "Col. Bissell, I came here to fight. If my
time has come, I just want to die for my country on this battlefield." As
the company went into the action, Lieut. Atherton, seeing that Capt.
Woodward had only a short sword gave his to the Captain, saying, "You can
take this; I know better how to use a gun!" The last seen of Atherton alive
he was defending his prostrate friend Lieut. Price. Swinging his heavy rifle
as he had often swung a cradle in the wheat fields of his farm, he fought to
the end taking many a Mexican soldier with him. Of the 105 men who went to
Mexico only 42 returned. Sixteen, including every officer down to the Second
Sergeant were killed in this engagement. The others died of wounds and
diseases. The official name of this company, Company B, Second Regiment, Illinois Volunteers. On the return of the 42 survivors of this company in
1847 they were welcomed joyously at a public gathering. Speeches were made
and a poem, all but two stanzas of which is apparently and regrettably lost,
was read by J. Y. Clemson. The two that have been preserved follow.
"We lost some noble men that day —
Men that were stamped in nature's mold;
For fame and country those they fell,
Not for the sordid love of gold.
"Conspicuous on that fatal day
Was a small band from Illinois,
Foremost they were in all the fray,
The gallant, brave Pulaski boys."
The Company was discharged from service at Camargo, Mexico, on June 18, 1847.
Pulaski County furnished two full companies in the Civil War. One of these
was in the One Hundred Ninth Regiment and one was attached to the Thirty
First Regiment. This latter was John A. Logan's Regiment. Besides these two
companies there were many other enlistments in other regiments and in the
naval services.
Until the Civil War the large warehouse building on the Ohio River in Mound
City, for from the outside the buildings appear as one, stood vacant. The
Government took possession of it in 1861 and converted it into a military
hospital. It was the largest U. S. hospital in what was then the West until
after the close of that bloody conflict. After the Battle of Shiloh, 2,200
sick and wounded were cared for at one time. After the Civil War the
building was used variously as a hotel, courthouse, stave mill, furniture
factory, and, in fact, most everything save that for which it was intended
by its builders until in 1916 a canning company bought it and erecting a
processing plant adjacent to it began to use the old building for that
purpose for which it was erected, namely a warehouse. It is at present owned
and operated by the Ladoga Canning Company, Indianapolis. Indiana.
During the Civil War the government also took over the foundry at Mound
City, which belonged to a man named James Goodlow, and used it as a
storehouse for shot and shell. In 1863 some sailors were handling shells in
the foundry when one exploded. This set off the others and the buildings
were completely wrecked. Thus a promising industry passed from the local
scene.
Because
of the excellent harbor, the splendid equipment and the central
location the Marine Ways at Mound City were found by the Government to be
ideally situated for the maintenance of the fleet of gunboats which was used
in carrying on the war in the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and their
tributaries. Consequently the Government leased the Ways, paying a rental of
$40,000 per year. Fifteen hundred men were employed in the building and
maintaining of the fleet in this one yard. Not until 1874 were the Ways
returned to their owners.
The gunboats were converted river steamers and in some instances ferries.
Their construction was an interesting thing. Mr. R. H. Hawley, grandfather
of Mrs. Averil Baccus, with whom he spent the last years of his life, told
how it was done. Mr. Hawley, a young man in those days, served his country
during the conflict as a civil-courier, i. e. a spy, and never had any
military standing, yet he served his country well. His orders came from the
naval commandant of this district. Consequently he was in position to know
how the work of converting wooden river steamers into ironclad gunboats was
done.
The steamers were built of the best of white oak. In converting to a
gunboat, the interior arrangement of the boat was changed to accommodate the
crew. Magazines were built into her and gun emplacements were made. To
protect the boat and crew some three or four inches of iron plating was
placed over the outside of the boat. However, before this was done, a two-inch layer of sponge rubber was placed over the boat and the iron on the
outside of that. This was to give resilience to armor, absorbed the shock
and enabled the ship to throw off the force of the shot or shell which came
against her sides. Due to the necessity of vision, the pilot house was the
least protected part of the boat and it took a brave man to pilot the boat
in time of battle. Mr. Hawley said that on one occasion, having been to
Paducah to deliver some secret orders to that portion of the fleet which was
stationed there, he was returning to Mound City via gunboat which was fired
upon by artillery from the Kentucky shore just above Olmsted. At the time he
was in the pilot house with the pilot. When the shot began to come he said
the pilot rushed down the stair to the lower deck and did not show his head
again until the boat was anchoring at Mound City. Mr. Hawley had brought her
in.
Several Pulaski County men served in the Spanish American War in various units of the armed forces. A full company was raised and readied for the war but due to the short time the conflict lasted, was never mustered into the service of the government.
The declaration of war against the German Empire on April 6, 1917, found the
United States without an adequate Army. Within a month of this date a
conscription bill boldly reciting the military obligations of citizenship
for those between the ages of 21 and 31 was introduced in Congress and had
become a law. In accordance with the terms of this law, the President of the
United States, by Proclamation, set June 5, 1917, as registration day, and
on that date men between the ages of 21 and 31 registered for military duty.
The law was administered, locally, by volunteer, non-paid, citizens. Pulaski
County had one Selective Service Board. L. C. Perks of Mound City, G. J.
Murphy of Mound City, and Dr. Charles Boswell of Mounds volunteered for and
were appointed as the Pulaski County Board. These men assumed their duties
soon after the first registration and served through the War and until all
local boards were disbanded as no longer needed.
Pulaski County, like the balance of the United States, held its registration
on June 5, 1917. The registrations were held at the usual polling places
with volunteer registrars manning the polls. The registration cards were
returned, by the registrars, to the County Clerk, who delivered them to the
local board.
The total registration in Pulaski County was 1248 by precincts: Karnak, 68;
Grand Chain, 98; Olmsted, 88; America, 28; Mound City, 250; Mounds, 249;
Villa Ridge, 85; Pulaski, 81 ; Perks, 36; Wetaug, 38.
The registration cards were serially numbered by the board to await the
national drawing for Order Numbers. On July 20, 1917, the first number was
drawn from a bowl in Washington. This was number 258 and had been assigned
to Walter Jiles, who then became Pulaski County's number one man. Number 458
was drawn second and this number had been assigned to James Olin Hayes of
Grand Chain, who became number two man in the County, and 854 was the third
number drawn and this had been assigned to Odie C. Wiggins of Villa Ridge,
who became number three for the County.
The local board for Pulaski County immediately set about to assign the
proper order number to each registrant and to proceed with the
classifications as was required by the Selective Service Act and
Regulations. Registrants were placed in one of five classes. Class V was the
exempted class, and those qualifying for total exemption from military duty
were placed in this class. This class included duly elected state officials, ordained ministers of religion, persons in the military service, alien
enemies, resident aliens who had not declared their intention to become
citizens, persons physically or mentally unfit for military services,
persons convicted of crime, licensed pilots, persons discharged from the
armed forces as an alien, citizens of a country neutral to the war, and
certain citizens of Great Britain. Class I was made up of those who were
found to be ready for immediate military duty. The deferred classes II, III
and IV contained those who were considered not exempted from military duty
but whose occupation was considered essential enough to defer their
induction into the army until after the Class I had been exhausted. These
classes contained the married men, the men with dependents, the men engaged
in agriculture, the men engaged in essential industrial occupations, and the
men holding certain elective offices. The question of deferment was not
passed upon by the local board. A district board was established in E. St.
Louis, Illinois, and all claims for deferments were referred to this board
for determination. The district boards had original jurisdiction over all
these claims for deferments and passed upon them, while the local board had
only the power of recommendation, which were generally accepted by the
district board.
Agricultural claims were based upon the amount of production maintained on
the farm, and farmers with only a sustenance operation were not considered
for agricultural deferments. Industrial occupations were based on the
essential nature of the enterprises and in time group deferments were
granted to certain industries, especially to ship yards. The detailed
regulations issued were complex and the classification of registrants into
the various classes was difficult, as the lines dividing them were very
fine, for example if a "farm laborer was especially fitted for the work in
which he was engaged" he was placed in Class II; if he were an "assistant,
associate, or hired manager" he was put in Class III. and if he were the
"sole manager, controlling and directing head" he was put in Class IV. This
same graduation of responsibility and presumably expertness was the basis of
deferred classification in industry.
After the local board and the district board had determined the proper
classification of the registrants, they were ordered, in groups, to appear
in Mound City for physical examination. The first group examination was of
the first sixty-four men on the list. This notice was published August 3,
1917, and the registrants were ordered to appear August 7, 1917; the second
list, published on August 4, 1917, was for 65 men to appear August 8, 1917,
and the third list, published August 5, 1917, was for 65 men to appear
August 9, 1917.
The physical examinations were held in the K. of P. hall in Mound City, with
Doctors Boswell, Hargan, Whiteaker, Hudson and others doing the examining.
The local examination was final as to the physical qualifications of the
registrant subject however to appeal to a board which was established in
Cairo. A registrant not satisfied with the local doctor's findings, or the
Government Appeal Agent, likewise, could appeal to this board and the
registrant would submit to another physical examination, de-novo, and the
findings of this board were final. Registrants passing the local
examinations were then ready for induction into the Army.
After the first three examinations had been completed the local board
published a list of those accepted for the military service and those
exempted and those deferred, giving in each case the reason for the
deferment or exemption. This list appeared in the Pulaski Enterprise, August
17, 1917. This list also contained the names of those registrants who had
made claim for occupational or agricultural deferment. On August 31, 1917, a
list of those men selected for military service was published in the Pulaski
Enterprise.
On September 5, 1917, Pulaski County's first group of inductees entrained
for Camp Grant, Illinois, on the Big Four train. This group was Ray
Armstrong, Mound City; J. R. Wright, Mound City; Henry Darragh, Mound City ;
Clarence Dusch, Mounds; and Fred Hoffmeier, Ullin.
On September 18, 1917, a group of 38 men left Mound City via Big Four for
Camp Taylor, Kentucky. The night before, a great patriotic demonstration was
held in Mound City. A parade through the streets was held and stirring
speeches were made by Judge W. A. Wall, Attorney C. S. Miller, County
Superintendent of Schools Miss May Hawkins, and by H. Reiling. This was the
first large group to leave the County. A special train carried the men with
a group from Alexander County and groups were picked up at each County Seat
on the way north.
On October 4, 1917, a group of 20 men left Mound City, for Camp Taylor,
Kentucky, via Big Four, to make the third contingent to leave under
selective service. After this date the group departures became regular, as
did individual departures in selected branches of the services.
One of the Early Draft Calls of World War I
Front Row:
J. C. Mench, Y.M.C.A.; L. C. Perks, Dr. C. J. Boswell, and G.
J. Murphy.
Second Row: Ward Corzine, George Hardesty, Carl Mclntire, Charles Crippen,
Elijah Duckworth, and Seth Reed.
Third Row: Coleman, James Edwards, Jones, Charlie Vonnida, Harry Welting,
and Henry Wiesenborn.
Fourth Row: George Knupp, Robinson, Gilbert Ervin, Mat Fallenstein, and last
is unknown.
Fifth Row: Clarence Taylor, Werner Schnaare, Walter Pauls, and Ernest Bagby.
Out of this group Duckworth was killed in action, and Crippen was either killed or died as his name is on the monument.
Prior to the enactment of the Selective Service Act, many young men from Pulaski County were already enlisted in the various branches of the Armed Forces. Many men from Pulaski County had enlisted in Company K, Illinois Militia, and had gone with General Pershing to the Mexican Border. At the declaration of war this outfit was sworn into Federal service and was placed in the 130th Infantry which became a unit in the 33rd Division AEF. This outfit saw much service in France and was a part of the first Army of Occupation in Germany.
In all, a total of 468 men from Pulaski County were in the Army, Navy,
Marine Corps and other branches of the service during the period of 1917 to
1919. Many served with distinction overseas and some made the supreme
sacrifice.
According to the records of the Pulaski County Memorial Association, the men
killed in action from Pulaski County were: Frank
Cannon, Barney Crouch, Elijah Duckworth, Dave Fitzpatrick,
Orin Koonce, Loren Lence, Boyd Metcalf, John
Miller, Ray Palmer, Louis Phares, Virgil Taylor, and Otis Turbaville
And according to the same records the men who died while in the Armed
Services were: Sherman Bell, Stephen Carney, Chas.
Crippen, Floyd Derr, Geo. Lampley, Robert Meals, Silas Moore, Roy Morket,
Thomas Price, Henry Reece, Geo. Ross, Ralph Vick, and Nelson Willis.
After the end of the fighting and after demobilization most of the men from Pulaski County returned home, to their former work, and life again resumed its normal, even keel.
Unlike the situation in World War I, the United States had already prepared
an Army prior to the declaration of War. On September 16, 1940, a Selective
Training and Service bill became a law. Shortly thereafter, on October 16,
1940, the first registration, in peace time, in the history of the United
States took place and every male citizen between the ages of 21 and 36
registered for service in a peace time army.
Profiting by the experience gained in World War I the machinery for the
registration was the same, that is, was done in the polling places by
volunteer registrars under the direction of the County Clerk.
In Pulaski County 1825 men between the ages of 21 and 36 registered in
compliance with the law. A local board of three members had been organized
consisting of H. C. Moore of Mounds, chairman; L. J. Beisswingert, Mound
City, secretary; and John Scanlin, Ullin, member. Like World War I, the
registration cards were numbered serially by the board to await the drawing
in Washington. On October 29, 1940, the Secretary of War drew out the first
number, 158. This number had been assigned, by the local board to Charles
Leo Stoner of Wetaug, who thus became Pulaski County's first man subject to
induction into the armed forces. The local board then started to classify
all registrants. The intent and purpose of the Selective Training and
Service law was to train an army and for that purpose each man to be inducted
was to serve one year in training.
Registrants were placed into one of four classes. The law did not provide an
exempted class as did the law of 1917. Class I-A were the men who were
found to be subject to military training under the law and regulations.
Class II, subdivided into two groups. Class II-A men necessary to civilian
activities of community or nation, Class II-B men necessary to the National
Defense Program; Class III-A men with persons dependent upon them for
support; Class IV was subdivided into Class IV-A men in military service
or who had finished their year of training; Class IV-B certain duly elected
Public Officials; Class IV-C aliens; Class IV-D duly ordained ministers of
religion; Class IV-E conscientious objectors, and Class IV-F men physically
and morally unfit for service in the armed forces.
After the initial classifications, by the local board, the first man to be
inducted under the law was George Mclntire of Mound City who left Pulaski
November 25, 1940, after he had volunteered for induction. Since the
classifications were for peace time service only those men, who in the
opinion of the board, using the rules and regulations as a guide, could be
best spared from civilian activities were classed in Class I-A and inducted.
After the declaration of War, by the United States, on December 8, 1943, the
rules and regulations were changed and stricter rules of classifications
were prescribed, and the business of the local board became that of
furnishing an army in war time.
The local board, expanded to five members, has had several changes in
personnel, John Scanlin resigned and was replaced by C. S. Rife of Pulaski,
who later resigned and was replaced by H. E. Wilson of Villa Ridge; L. J.
Beisswingert resigned and was replaced by J. C. McCormick of Olmsted; and
Henry Wiesenborn of Grand Chain and E. C. Holcomb of Ullin were appointed to
bring the board membership up to five.
Since the first registration other registrations were held in Pulaski County
and registration is a continuous affair, as men now become 18 years old they
are required to register.
The number of men now in the armed forces, from Pulaski County, is not, for
military purposes, available for publication, but the names shown on a shaft
dedicated in Mound City on November 11, 1943, have reached the number of 340
from Mound City alone, nearly as many as served from the County in World War
I.
Several have been killed in action or taken prisoner. The list up to
November 1, 1943 is:
Jesse Herbert Gurley of Karnak, Dec. 7, 1941 — USN Pearl Harbor on U. S. S.
Arizona.
Frank Massengale, Ullin, Dec. 7, 1941 — USN Pearl Harbor, on U. S. S.
Arizona.
Arthur Vincent Ledbetter, Ullin — Marine, aboard cruiser Houston, either
killed or captured.
Donald I. Titus, Mounds, captured in Philippines.
C. W. Harrell, Mound City — Army, New Guinea, Dec. 9, 1942.
Raymond Richards, Olmsted — Army, Pacific area.
Ensign Chas. Madison James, Mounds — U. S. S. Vincennes, Sept. 13, 1942, in
Solomons.
Bernie Nelson, Mound City — Army, Feb. 21, 1943, Guadalcanal in gasoline
fire.
Billy C. Laws, Mounds, April 9, 1943, North Africa.
Talmadge L. Phenix, Grand Chain, May 1, 1943, North Africa.
Frank Louis Sharp, Villa Ridge, Nov. 27, 1943, Italy.
The people of Pulaski County as a whole have been a people who appreciate
the blessings of peace. However, like most of the people of our great
country they are proud of their heritage of freedom. Consequently, when they
are convinced that that heritage is endangered they are ready to take up
arms that "government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not
perish from the earth."
This spirit has been demonstrated over and over as parents have seen their
sons, wives their husbands, children their fathers enter the service of
their country.
With sad hearts and smiling faces
They have watched their loved ones go
Forth to fight our country's battles
Die or conquer country's foe.
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Massac McCracken KY |
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