Tag: Illinois Soldiers

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The Danville Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers

In March of 1865, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill establishing the National Asylum (later renamed National Home) of Disabled Volunteer Soldiers into legislation, just three months before his assassination. Due to the severe impact of the Civil War, the idea of homes for disabled veterans had begun gaining favor in Congress. The war had a severe impact on the population of young men in the United States, with approximately two percent of the US population losing their lives and thousands of soldiers returning home injured.

A black and white portrait of an older man with a short white beard, wearing a suit jacket and bow-tie.
Joseph Gurney Cannon portrait by Hartsook Photo, 1915

After the bill establishing the National Home was signed into law, the federal government began selecting locations for branches.… Read More

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The Wingard and Forney Families: Civil War Experiences

Civil War envelopes from Benjamin Franklin Wingard correspondence

Throughout August, we’re celebrating Illinois Civil War soldiers in honor of the bicentennial. As the Land of Lincoln, Illinois has a rich Civil War legacy. Follow along here on our blog and on our social media to learn more about Illinois’s impact on the Civil War.

In 1980 and 1988, James Russell Vaky donated the Wingard-Forney-Vaky Family Papers to the Library. This collection offers two unique perspectives on the Civil War. Records and letters document Benjamin Franklin Wingard’s life as a Union soldier, while Mary Forney’s teenage diary illustrates the home front experience in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. The two married on October 13, 1870 and resided in Champaign, Illinois after the war.… Read More

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Jonathan Catlin: 52nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Throughout August, we’re celebrating Illinois Civil War soldiers in honor of the bicentennial. As the Land of Lincoln, Illinois has a rich Civil War legacy. Follow along here on our blog and on our social media to learn more about Illinois’s impact on the Civil War.

Photograph of Jonathan Catlin, undatedBefore the Civil War, Jonathan Catlin was a farmer in Dekalb County. He joined Company G of the 52nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry in September 1861. The 52nd Regiment was organized at Geneva, Illinois and mustered into federal service on November 19, 1861. The regiment engaged in the Battle of Shiloh, the Siege of Corinth, operations against Vicksburg, the Atlanta Campaign, and the March to the Sea.… Read More