Civil War

From SE Polk and NE St. Croix Counties in 1885*

Below  is a partial list of Civil War Soldiers (1861-65) from the Clear Lake area, including southeast Polk and northeast St. Croix counties, Wisconsin.  This list includes each veteran’s name, rank, company, battalion/regiment, their home state, and post office address reported in August, 1885.

These men served at a time when the Union of our nation became split over the issue of states’ rights, slavery and other social issues.  In the presidential election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the vote in Wisconsin by 56.6%.  Shortly after the election of President Lincoln, several southern states seceded from the Union.  By February, 1861, The Confederate States of America was formed.  The war that resulted from this split went on for 4 years, ending with the surrender of Confederate forces in April, 1865.  Combined, over 600,000 soldiers died from the Union and Confederate Armies during this war.  Of this total, around 360,000 died for the sake of the Union.  Wisconsin sent over 91,000 troops in support of the Union.  Wisconsin’s death toll was over 12,000 by the end of the war.  It should be noted that nearly 2/3 of all the deaths were due to disease.

At the end of the Civil War, thousands of veterans migrated to the virgin territory of the upper Midwest in search of land and new opportunities.  Railroads spread across this region bringing people in search of wealth.  Many were drawn by the abundant natural resources found in the territory, which included the Clear Lake area.  These veterans, as well as thousands of immigrants, have helped make the Clear Lake area what it is today.

The proud Grand Army of the Republic soldiers, that set aside the land that this Memorial sits on, shall never be forgotten in the Annals of American and World History at the All Veterans’ Memorial in Clear Lake, Wisconsin.  Their service and dedication to a dream for a new life inspired the planners of this Memorial to pay a lasting tribute to veterans and to honor the sacrifices made by local heroes of yesteryear.

Name Rank Company Regiment/Battalion Home State
Alden Township
T E Beers Pvt G 7th MN
W H Brooks Pvt D Hatches Ind. Battalion MN
B. E. Connor Pvt Unknown 18th WI
Chas Cook Pvt A 30th WI
John Dawley Sgt G 4th WI
Knude Nelson Pvt A 46th WI
John Quaid Pvt F 6th MI
C. Vassau Pvt A 13th WI
Joseph Vassau Pvt A 30th WI
Black Brook Township
Nels Arno Pvt G 4th Cav WI
A C Bennett Pvt I I 1st H Artillery MN
J W Davis 1st Lt G 20th Ind IN
J. W. Dean Sgt A 30th WI
Geo Goodrich Pvt 100 day term Unknown Unknown
M. F. Huston Sgt D 6th Cav. MO
C. Law Cpl G 4th Cav WI
J W Ostrander Pvt I 4th Cav IA
John Sanford Pvt G 17th Cav IL
Willie Scott Pvt F 30th WI
Jas Stollen Pvt C 14th WI
Clayton
J H Baker Pvt D 2nd Cav. WI
T A Bovee Pvt G 4th Inf. WI
Jonathon Bowman Pvt D 11th WI
Frank E Catlin Pvt A 44th WI
Joe Clark Pvt M 7th Cav. IA
L P Cummings Pvt G 50th WI
George H Fenn Pvt H 34th NY
William Gordon Pvt I 20th WI
Sam Hrainman Pvt G 12th PA. Reserves PA
J W Jones Pvt G 4th Cav. WI
A Lemere Pvt D 30th WI
R F Little 1st Lt D 18th U S Inf. Unknown
W O Nichols Pvt K 16th U S Inf. Unknown
Worthy Prentice Unknown B 2nd WI Cavalry Volunteers WI
H A Proutty Pvt F 20th Cav. NY
H I Reed Sgt G 5th Artillery Unknown
W W Reed Pvt G 5th WI
Joe Simpson Pvt B 18th KY
A J West Pvt G 20th Cav. NY
Clear Lake
A P Anderson Sgt G 4th Cav. WI
Horace Austin Pvt D 14th VT
C W Brott Pvt. K 16th WI
Frank Brown Pvt Warship Glaucus Uuknown
Jas Cail (?) Pvt. Unknown 1st Maine Coast Duty ME
D A Church Pvt B 7th WI
D M Church Pvt B 39th WI
JasCornick Pvt I 7th ME
Chas Cowles Pvt Unknown 5th OH
Jon Crowley Pvt A 1st Heavy Artillery ME
John Davidson Pvt E 211th PA
S B Dickenson Chaplain Unknown 148th NY
D J Dunham Pvt F 20th WI
J Dunham Pvt H 87th IN
J B Eastwood Pvt. I 33d WI.
W H Ellis Sgt. D 9th MN
William H Ellis 1st Sgt. B 112th NY
G W Frost Pvt Unknown Fort Donaldson (Donelson) TN
Jas C Gates Sgt I 94th OH
Dr. P Gates Asst. Surgeon Unknown 14th Cav IL
M P Goodwin Pvt Unknown 1st Heavy Artillery WI
Jos S Gray Pvt Unknown 1st MN
Ed Guy 2nd Lt O (?) 2nd Cav WI
William Hart Cpl I 3d MI
W R Ingalls Sgt B 4th Cal WI
Sam Ingle Pvt K 15th IN
Chas K Jewett Pvt. A Home Guards ME
D W Johnson Pvt. I 15th IA
Dan Jones Sgt. G 4th WI
John Laport Pvt I 151st IN
L D Larrieu Pvt. A 2nd MA.
John R Little 1st Fireman Warship Morris Unknown
L Marion Pvt A 44th MI
P C Maxon Sgt. Unknown 148th NY
Chaney McCray Pvt. G. 83d PA.
J G Nash Pvt D 2nd Cav WI
J C Nelson Pvt G 4th WI
A D Olmstead Pvt F 13th VT
D W Osborne Sgt E 37th WI
Peter Parslow Pvt. G 4th Cav WI
Chas Rogers Pvt. G 44th WI
G M Slator Pvt. G 12th IN
R B Smith Pvt. M 1st Heavy Artillery MN
W W Smith Pvt. D 8th MN
Jas Stanley Pvt E 89th NY
S D Starkweather Pvt. A 30th WI
Thos Stout Pvt G 4th Cal WI
J H Sullivan Pvt. I 72nd IL
L J Terrel Pvt. I 28th CT
Thos J Thatcher Pvt. A 37th WI
F Vanauken Pvt. F 36th WI
J H Wall Pvt Warship Lexington Unknown
Jas Walsh Pvt D 1st MN
J L Warren Pvt Unknown 93rd NY
Chas Waterhouse Pvt. K 20th ME
JJ Wiener (?) Pvt B 157th NY
Deer Park
Louis Hanson Pvt I 22nd WI
Lars Johnson Pvt E 15th WI
East Lincoln
M T Blanchard Pvt D 7th IA
David Davis Pvt G 4th Cav. WI.
D T Spicer Pvt I 160th NY
North Reeve
John Nelson Hoff Pvt B 22nd WI

* When names for Civil War Veterans were submitted in 1998 to be added to the Clear Lake Veterans’ Memorial, several of the above names were not engraved on the Veterans’ Memorial.  Later research found additional names, but as of 2007, those missing names have not been added to the Memorial.  Efforts are being made to correct that omission.

Acknowledgements:

Researched by John Reed and Douglas Cahow and taken from Polk County Press,  August 22, 1885.
http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/index.html   Civil War information gathering.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page   Civil War information gathering.
http://www.civil-war.net/  Civil War infomatin gathering.