Thomas F. Mardis

Co. C, 18th Iowa Infantry

He was born November 19, 1837 in Ohio, son of Thomas & Elizabeth (Kain) Mardis. In 1857 he migrated to Iowa where he resided in Washington County, two years later removed to Clarke County before finally settling in Madison County, Iowa in 1873 where he owned 172 acres of land. In 1870 the value of his combined real and personal estates was $2,100, and by 1900 he owned his house free and clear with no mortgage. He held offices of town trustee and school director. He was a brick manufacturer, mason and contractor and had been engaged in the brick business from his boyhood, and therefore thoroughly conversant with all its details.

A veteran of the Civil War, at age 24 he enlisted as a private in Co. C, 18th Iowa Infantry on July 14, 1862 and was mustered into national service on August 6, 1862. On December 14, 1862 he was promoted to 1st Sergeant and on January 8, 1863 was slightly wounded at Springfield, Missouri. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on July 1, 1865 and then he was mustered out on July 20, 1865.

On October 17, 1860 he married Huldah Ann Clark. She was born July 21, 1841 in Fulton County, Illinois. They had four children, all of whom were born in Iowa: John C., about 1862; Hattie R., about 1869; Freddie, about 1875 & Anna S. Mardis, born December, 1884.

Thomas F. Mardis died April 7, 1908 and his wife Huldah died December 19,1918 in Madison County. They are buried in Winterset Cemetery in Winterset, Madison Co., Iowa.

SOURCES: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System; Iowa Gravestone Photo Project; http://www.ancestry.com/; Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion, Vol. 3, p. 183; The History of Madison County, Iowa (1879); 1870 Federal Census, Green Bay Township, Clarke Co., IA; 1880 Federal Census, District 14, Winterset, Madison Co., IA; 1900 Federal Census, District 21, Center Township, Madison Co., IA

Thomas Alexander Trent

Sergeant, Company D, 39th Iowa Infantry
1st Lieutenant, Co. A., 110th U.S. Colored Infantry
Son of William M. & Susannah H. G. (Dyer) Trent. He was born in Owens County, Indiana in October 6,1834. At the age of 17 he moved to Iowa.

Many friends were present on at the home of his bride’s parents, Micajah & Hannah M. Parrish, 6 miles northwest of Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa on June 28, 1857 when, in a ceremony performed by Rev. B. C. Johnson of Osceola, he married Mary Elizabeth Parrish. She was born in Indiana on December 12, 1839.

When the Civl War broke out he, at the age of 28, he joined the Union forces and enlisted on August 9, 1862 as 5th Sergeant in Company D of the 39th Iowa Infantry under Capt. L. D. Bennett. C. W. Neal and Aaron Lewis of Osceola were also members of the same regiment. He was mustered in on November 20, 1862 and was discharged November 22, 1863 for promotion as First Lieutenant of Company A, 2nd Alabama Colored Infantry which later became the 110th U.S. Colored Infantry. "he is a brave and meritorious soldier," wrote Capt. L. D. Bennett of the 39th Iowa, "and will make and excellent officer." T. R. Oldham wrote, “This appointment is an excellent one and his many friends at home will rejoice to hear of his promotion. His company is now in the Division Pioneer corps, and is at work repairing the Railroad.” Thomas A. Trent’s name is listed on plaque D-108 on The African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

At the close of the war he returned to Osceola and became a member of Post 173, Department of Iowa, Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Trent remained a member of the G. A. R. to the time of his death. He was also at one time a member of the Blue Lodge of the Masonic order

He died April 16, 1926 at his home on South Main Street in Osceola, after having caught a cold ten days earlier. He had been able to sit up and read his newspaper the day before he passed away. A large number of friends and relatives attended the funeral services conducted at his home by Rev. C. S. Burnette after which he was interred in Osceola’s Maple Hill Cemetery. The ball bearers were: Chas. Edwards, Harry Talbott, Verne Hicks, Will Temple, Loyd Simmons and L. W. London. Those who sang at the funeral, Mrs. Ed. Banta, Miss Tot Scott, Dr. E. W. Paul and William Beard.Mary, his bride of 68 years, deid in 1929 and is buried beside her husband in Maple Hill Cemetery. To their union were born seven children: Emily H.; Jessie F.; Thomas A., Jr., who died about 1920; Charles W., of Custer, SD; Mary E.; James L., of San Jose, CA & William W. Trent, of Denver, CO.

Mary E. Parrish was the sister of Addison A. Parrish of Co. B, 18th Iowa Infantry

Sources: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System; Clarke County Iowa Cemeteries, Volume 1: Maple Hill, p. 27; Obituary of Thomas Trent, Osceola Tribune, Osceola, Iowa, 22 APR 1936 Clarke County, Iowa Early Marriages 1852-1873, p. 24; 1856 Iowa State Census for Washington Township, Clarke County, Iowa; 1880 Federal Census for Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa; Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion, Vol. 5, p. 1032; Gedcom file of Marsha R. Pearson; "Letter from Capt. L. D. Bennett of the 39th," The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, January 2, 1864; “A Letter From The 39th Regiment”, The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, 5 DEC 1863

Revised: Originally Posted 29 JAN 2008

William (S. or L.) Brown

Private, Company B, 6th Iowa Infantry

Son of Rev. Ziba Brown (Chaplin of the 5th Iowa Cavalry) & Jane B. Coffee, he was born between 1840 & 1841 in Indiana. In 1855 & 1860 he was living with is parents in Liberty & Freemont Townships (respectively), Clarke County, Iowa, but when he, at age 20, enlisted in Company B of the 6th Iowa Infantry on July 1, 1861 he listed his residence as Osceola, Clarke Co., Iowa. He was mustered in on July 17th, 1861.

He was wounded severly in the left arm at the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi on July 16, 1863 and was consequently discharged due to his wounds November 3, 1863 at St. Louis, Missouri

Sources: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers During the War of the Rebellion, Vol. 1, p. 802; Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System; The History of Union County, Ohio (1883), p. 578; 1855 Iowa Sate Census, for Liberty Twsp., Clarke Co., IA; 1860 Federal Census for Freemont Twsp., Clarke Co., IA

See Blog Entry:
A Private Letter From W. S. Brown, of the 6th Iowa Infantry

William M. Duncan

Captain, Co. B, 18th Iowa Infantry

The son of James & Margaret Duncan, he was born Aug 14, 1828 in Kent County, Kentucky. When he was six he removed with his parents to Monroe County, Indiana where he grew to manhood. He spent his youth on a farm & received his education in the common schools there. After leaving school he taught for several terms in Indiana.

On April 10, 1851 he married Mary J. Morgan of Morgan County, Indiana. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1831 and was of Welsh & Irish descent. Two children were born to this marriage: Mary E. and James M. both of whom were born in Indiana, in 1852 and 1854 respectively. William Duncan & his family moved to Warren County, Iowa in 1855 where he taught school for eighteen months. In 1857 he moved once again, this time to Clarke County, Iowa where he was alternately a teacher and a carpenter.

There he joined the Missionary Baptist church and was an earnest & consistant Christian.

He enlisted in Company B of the 18th Iowa Infantry on July 26, 1862 and was unanimously elected its captain. He mustered in August 5, 1862 at Clinton Iowa, and mustered out at the expiration fo his term of service on July 20, 1865 at Little Rock, Arkansas having earned an honorable discharge.

He died May 3, 1879 and his widow, Mary, died in 1913. They are both buried in Greenbay Cemetery, Greenbay Twnsp., Clarke Co., Iowa. "He was a brave officer, and was loved and honored by all who knew him."

Sources: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers During the War of the Rebellion, Vol. 3 p. 146; Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System; Clarke County, Iowa Cemeteries, Vol. 2: The Rural Cemeteries, p. 85; History of Clarke County, Iowa, p. 154; 1856 Iowa State Census for Knox Township, Clarke County, Iowa; 1880 Federal Census for Knox Township, Clarke County, Iowa; Greenbay Cemetery, Greenbay Twsp., Clarke Co., IA

See Other Blog Entries:
Captain Duncan After The Copperheads
Letter from Captain Duncan to Mrs. Duncan
18th Iowa Infantry

Edwin R. Kennedy

Captain, Co. F, 6th Iowa Infantry

He was the son of J. R. Kennedy and was born about 1840 in Indiana, and resided in Osceola, Clarke County Iowa when he enlisted as a private in Company F of the 6th Iowa Infantry on July 1st, 1861 and 16 days later he was mustered in. He was promoved to 3rd Sergeant on January 13, 1862 and then to 1st Sergeant on July 1st of that same year. He was wounded by a shell fragment in his left leg during third charge made by the 6th Iowa Infantry during the battle on Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863. His brother, Liberty H. Kennedy was killed during the same charge having been shot through the heart. He re-enlisted and was mustered in on March 15, 1864 and was promoted to Captain on June 29, 1864. He was mustered out on July 21, 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky and returned to Clarke County, Iowa where on May 17, 1866 he was married to Martha E. Webster.

SOURCES: Civil War Soldiers And Sailors System; Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers In the War of the Rebellion, Vol. 1, p. 852; Clarke County Iowa Early Marriages 1852 – 1873, p. 12; Letter From E. H. Kennedy Of The 6th Regiment, The Union Sentinel, 12 DEC 1863; 6th Iowa Infantry: Intelligence from Chattanooga, The Union Sentinel, 12 DEC 1863

Edwin F. Alden

1st Lieutenant

Co. H, 6th Iowa Infantry

He was the Son of C. F. & Abigail Alden, born about 1838 or 1839 in Ohio. When he enlisted in as a 1st Sergeant in Company B, 6th Iowa Infantry on July 1, 1861 he resided with his widowed mother at Hopeville, Iowa. He was then 23 and was a wool carder. He was mustered into national sevice on July 17, 1861 and was promoted to Commissary Sergent on December 21st of that year.

On July 1st, 1862 he was a 6th Corporal. He transferred to Company H of the 16th Iowa Infantry on October 14, 1862 and two days later was promoted to 2nd Sergeant & on January 1, 1863 he was again promoted, this time to 1st Sergeant, and the very next day received another promotion, to 2nd Lieutenant. His last promtion came on June 22, 1863 to 1st Lieutenant. He was mustered Out November 7, 1864

Edwin F. Alden married Martha J. Johnson, August 15, 1863 in Clarke Co., IA. By 1870 the couple had 3 children: Harry J., Lucy C. & Emma K. Alden. Sometime between 1866 & 1870 he and his family moved to Fletchall Towonship, Worth Co., Missouri where he operated a hotel. In 1877 Edwin and Martha Alden’s family was increase by the bith of a son, William Alden. By 1880 the family had removed to Grant City, Missouri where Edwin became a dry goods merchant.

SOURCES: Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System; Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion, Vol. 1 p. 796 & 799; 1856 Iowa State Census for Doyle Twp., Clarke Co., IA; 1860 Federal Census for Hopeville, Doyle Twp., Clarke Co., IA; 1870 Federal Census for Fletchall Twp., Worth Co., MO; 1880 Federal Census for Grant City, Worth Co., MO; Clarke County Iowa Early Marriages 1852-1873, p. 1;

Thomas R. Oldham

Sergeant Major, Company D, 39th Iowa Infantry
Captain, Company E, 110th U.S. Colored Infantry

He was born between 1834 & 1835 in Ohio. He resided in Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa at the time of his enlistment in Company D of the 39th Iowa Infantry. He was appointed Sergeant Major on August 9, 1862 and was mustered in November 24, 1862. "As. Sergt. Major of the 39th Iowa, he was ever ready and willing to do his duty, and he had the respect and good will of every officer and man in the Regiment."

He was discharged December 10, 1863 for promotion to Captain of Company E, 2nd Alabama Colored Infantry which later became the 110th U.S. Colored Infantry. He is listed on plaque D-107 of the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

He married Sarah E. Johnson 18 Sep 1861, Clarke County, Iowa. By 1880 he had moved to Walton, Harvey County, Kansas, where he resided and worked as a fire insurance agent, with his wife, and three children: Inez, Lillian & Clarence.

SOURCES: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System; Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers During the War of the Rebellion, Volume 5, p. 950; Clarke County Iowa Early Marriages 1852-1873, p. 18; 1880 Federal Census for Walton, Harvey Co., KS; "Letter from Capt. L. D. Bennett of the 39th," The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, January 2, 1864

See Other Blog Entries:
Letter from T. R. Oldham

A Letter from the 39th Regiment

Frederick B. Johnson

Private, Co. F, 6th Iowa Infantry

The son of Freeborn W. & Electa (Barrows) Johnson, he was born August 4, 1844 in Indiana. He moved with his parents in the spring of 1854 to Washington Township, Clarke County, Iowa where he resided when he enlisted in Company F, 6th Iowa Infantry on August 26, 1862. He was mustered into service on September 10, 1862. He received a wound which shattered the bone of his right thigh at Missionary Ridge near Chattanooga, Tennessee on November 25, 1863. He mustered out of the service at Keokuck, Iowa July 15, 1864 due to the expiration of his term of service. He died from the effects of his wound on April 15, 1868 in Clarke County, Iowa and is buried in there Cox Cemetery. “He was a special favorite with all his acquaintances, and his death was a source of universal regret.”

His brother, Moses T. Johnson also served in Co. F, 6th Iowa Infantry

Sources: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System; Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion, Vol. 1, p. 848; Biographical Sketch of Freeborn W. Johnson from The History of Clarke County, Iowa, p. 97; 1856 Iowa State Census for Washington Township, Clarke County, Iowa;

See Other Blog Entries:

Letter from F. B. Johnson - 13 Jun 1863

From F. B. Johnson, of the Iowa 6th - 1 Aug 1863

Letter from F. B. Johnson - 5 Sep 1863

Ensign H. King

Chaplin, Co. I, 15th Iowa Infantry

Born in Pennsylvania. At the time of his enlistment he was 23 years old and resided in Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa. He enlisted with the rank of 1st Sergeant on November 4, 1861 and was mustered in January 24, 1862. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on July 4, 1862, 1st Lieutenant on December 10, 1862, and again on April 22, 1863 to Adjutant.

On March 27, 1864 in a ceremony performed by the Rev. H. B. Heacock Adjutant Ensign H. King married Fidelia C. Wilson in the home of her father in Clarke Co., Iowa.

Ensign H. King was promoted to Chaplin of the 15th Iowa Infantry on September 19, 1864. At the close of the war he was mustered out on July 24, 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky.

Sometime between 1875 & 1880 Mr. & Mrs. King, with their four children, Pereival S., Lyman M., George C. & Mary M. removed to Dutch Flat, Placer Co., CA. They were enumerated there in the 1880 Federal Census.

Sources: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System; Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers During the War of the Rebellion, Vol. 2, p. 972; 1880 Federal Census for Dutch Flat, Placer Co., CA; "Married," The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, April 2, 1864

See Other Blog Entries:

Letter from Lieut. King - March 28, 1863
Letter from E. H. King - June 15. 1863

Letter from Adjt. King - September 23, 1863

Letter From Adjutant E. H. King - November 21, 1863

Married -March 27, 1864

Dr. John G. Miller

Surgeon, 11th Iowa Infantry

He was born July 31, 1820 near Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania. He spent the early years of his life in Pennsylvania, residing in Adams, Bedford and Franklin counties until 1835 when he moved with his father, Jacob Miller, to Columbiana County, Ohio where in 1841 he attended Jesse Holms’ High School in New Lisbon. Mr. Miller began his college career in 1842 at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania and in 1843 & 1844 continued his education attending college at Oberlin, Ohio, after which he taught school in Iowa, Missouri, and Ohio.

He studied medicine in the office of Dr. Abel Carey, of Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio, and attended a course of medical lectures at Cleveland, during the winter of 1848-'49. The following summer he moved west and practiced medicine in Miami County, Indiana, Red Rock (on the Des Moines River), Marion County, Iowa and Maysville, DeKalb County, Missouri.

In 1853 he attended lectures and graduated from the Castleton Medical College in Vermont. In 1854 he attended lectures and hospitals in New York city, and again graduated in medicine, this time at New York Medical College. After visiting Philadelphia, Pa., and attending medical lectures and hospitals there, he practiced his profession in North Georgetown, Columbiana Co., Ohio, Pella, Marion Co., and Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa, until 1857 when in the spring he went to California, traveled extensively over the state and spent some time in San Francisco.

Dr. Miller returned from California in 1858 & settled in Leavenworth, Kansas where he formed a professional partnership with Dr. Hathaway. In 1860 he moved to Woodson County, in the southeast corner of the Kansas, but on the account of the total failure of the crops in that portion of the State, he left in the same year and relocated himself in Knoxville, Marion Co., Iowa where he resided when Iowa Governor, Samuel J. Kirkwood, appointed him as an Assistant Surgeon of the 11th Iowa Infantry on June 4, 1862.

Dr. Miller was mustered in on July 5, 1862 and was promoted to Surgeon of the regiment on March 5, 1863. During the fighting around Atlanta, Georgia he had charge of the Seventeenth Army Corps, Field Hospital, at Marietta, Ga. On Sherman's march to the sea, and until the army reached Washington, he had charge of the Moving Hospital of the Sixth Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps. Dr. Miller was mustered out of the service with his regiment at Louisville, Kentucky on July 10, 1865.

After the close of the war he spent eighteen or twenty months in the Pennsylvania oil regions, practicing medicine and dealing in oil. In 1867 he located in Pleasant Hill, Cass Co., Mo., where he practiced his profession successfully until the fall of 1872, when he removed to Atchison, Kan. In the spring of 1873, the Ad Eundem degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon him by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Kansas City, Mo.

He went to the Black Hills in the Dakota Territory in December, 1876, where he remained for four years, except one winter spent in Atchison, Kansas. While in the Black Hills, he was physician and surgeon for the Homestake Mining Company and had charge of the Hospital of the Holy Cross, controlled by the Sisters of Mercy.

Dr. Miller spent the summer of 1881 in Gunneson mining region, and in June, 1882, was once again practicing his profession from his office in Breman's Drug Store, at 421 Commercial street, Atchison, Kansas, where he also resided at 721 North Fifth Street.

John G. Miller was married at Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennyslvania., in 1854, to Annie Bennett, daughter of Capt. Isaac Bennet. They had two children, both daughters - Lillie, wife of W. W. Hetherington of Hetherington Exchange Bank, and Mary, who married J. Levin, Manager of the Western Union Telegraph office at Atchison.

Sources: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System; Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers During the War of the Rebellion, Vol. 2, p. 285; Cutler, William G., History of the State of Kansas; 1880 Federal Census, Lead City, Lawrence Co., Dakota Territory.

See Other Blog Entry:

Letter from Dr. Miller