JOHN M. HEDRICK was born in Rush County, Indiana, on the 16th of December, 1832. He received but a common school education yet qualified himself for teaching by the time he was seventeen years of age. For three years he worked on his father's farm summers, teaching winters. He came to Iowa and opened a store in Ottumwa but soon after the beginning of the Civil War entered the service as first lieutenant of Company D, Fifteenth Iowa Infantry and was afterward promoted to captain. At the Battle of Shiloh he was wounded and taken prisoner. After remaining a prisoner six months he was exchanged, returned to his regiment and soon after was promoted to major. The regiment was in Sherman's campaign through the Gulf States and, in August, 1864, Hedrick was promoted to colonel. At the Battle of Atlanta he was severely wounded and completely disabled for active service. In the spring of 1865 he was brevetted Brigadier-General for gallant services in the Atlanta campaign. After the war he was for many years editor of the Ottumwa Courier. He was several years employed in responsible positions in the revenue service.
SOURCE: Benjamin F. Gue, History of Iowa, Volume IV: Iowa Biography, p. 124-5
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