The Civil War

This evening, I'm writing my TBT Blog from Gettysburg, PA where I'm attending the 2015 Northeast Regional Honors Council Conference. The conference is being held at the Wyndham Hotel, and like everything in Gettysburg, the hotel is all about the Civil War. My room is red, white and blue, complete with navy blue carpeting with a star pattern (hundreds of stars), and a bedspread and curtains with red stripes. Being immersed in this Civil War theme gave me the idea to feature some Civil War veterans who are buried in Asbury Cemetery and in the Raymond City Cemetery. As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, Pete Henderson had an extensive collection of information about veterans from the Raymond area and he shared the information with me in 1996 for Raymond's 125th Anniversary Book. I'm not positive about the source of the information below, but it's likely that these were obituaries that appeared in local newspapers.

George Frye - a Civil War veteran, died July 29, 1883 at the age of about 45. On Saturday evening, July 28, Fry was helping to market some wheat and had put on a quite a load of wheat in the sack and placed some sacks across the wagon and was seated on the foremost one when he started his team, and in some way or other, the sack he was sitting on rolled off in front of the wagon and in so doing carried him away with it. His mules, being rather fiery, started to run away, and as Mr. Henry Hitchings was in front of the team with a load of wheat, the mules broke the beast yoke and spread out; one going on one side and the other going on the other side of Mr. Hitchings' wagon, the tongue passing up over the top of the end gate of Mr. H's wagon, thereby letting both wagon come up close together which caught Mr. Fry between them and so injured him in the chest and bowels that he died about 12 o'clock Sunday night. He is buried in the Asbury Cemetery. He left two children, his wife having died the prior January. 

William H. Guthrie - died July 26, 1914 at the age of 73. He was a private in Co. H. 143rd Illinois Infantry. He was born and raised in Green County near Roodhouse and came to Montgomery county in the year 1858. In the fall of 1865 he married Elizabeth Martin of Green County. They were the parents of six children: three sons and three daughters, one son having died at the age of 1 1/2 years. The children who survived him were Rev. John O. Guthrie, Eureka Springs, Ark; Dennis E. Guthrie, Laura Guthrie and Luella Cook all of of Raymond, and Mrs. Elizabeth Buchanan, Wharton, Texas. He also had a brother Joseph of Bentonsport, Iowa and D.M. Guthrie of Hillsboro, Iowa. He was known as "Uncle Bill" and owned one of the best farms in the county before moving to town. He was a member of the G.A.R. and had seen many hardships in army life. He is buried at the Asbury Cemetery. 

William Haarstick - died February 19, 1888 from pneumonia at the age of 57 at his home, one mile west of Raymond. He served as a private in Co. A 1st Missouri Calvary. Haarstick was born in Hanover, Empire Germany in June, 1831 and came to this country as a young man. He entered the Union army as a private in Capt. Sterling's Co. A, 1st Mo. Cav. Vol, and served through the war. After peace was declared, he returned to Illinois and resumed his occupation as miller. He was respected as an honest man of undoubted integrity. He was survived by his wife and three children. He is buried at the Raymond City Cemetery. 

Abel A. McGown - died May 30, 1899 at the age of 63. He was born in Green County Illinois on April 6, 1836 and at the age of 14 years came with his parents to Montgomery County. He enlisted on August 14, 1862 in Company B, 117th Regular Illinois Volunteers and served three years. He took part in the battles of Fort Russey, La; Pleasant Hill, La; Tapelo, Miss; Nashville, Tenn; and Bakley and Mobile, Ala besides being engaged in 33 skirmishes, capturing in the battles and skirmishes two stands of colors, and 442 prisoners and 8 pieces of artillery. After the war he returned to Montgomery County and settled on a farm near Raymond. He married Mary E. Hacker of Indianapolis, on February 27, 1873. They were the parents of four children, two who proceed him in death. He was survived by his wife and two children, John P. and Mabel E. John P. was an employee of the Raymond Independent. Abel suffered from rheumatism and was confined to his home the last 16 years of his life. If was said of him, "He was kind to all who needed help and more than one person in Raymond can say they own a home now in and through the help of him." He is buried at Asbury Cemetery. 

About the James Haynes Post #504 Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.)...

The Grand Army of the Republic was a national organization of Civil War veterans (Union army) that was first organized in Illinois by Dr. Benjamin Franklin Stephenson, a surgeon of the 14th Illinois Infantry assisted by Rev. W.J. Ruttger, a Methodist clergyman and chaplain of the same regiment. The two organized the G.A.R. in the Decatur area. The local group at Raymond met Wednesday evenings on or before the full moon of each month in meeting rooms above Booth's Dry Goods and Clothing Store.