116th IL Reg. Final Reunion

Ten of the ninety-one surviving veterans of the old 116th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, who met in Fairview park Friday for their fifty-fifth annual reunion, talked things over, and decided with regret that it would be better not to hold any more reunions, as most of the members are getting along too far in years to attend. So the books will be closed on this yearly event and the old soldiers will depend upon enjoying reminiscences when two or three of them can get together now and then.

The youngest at the gathering Friday probably was Joseph Blythe, although he was too modest to tell his exact age, some of the men guessed him at 67. The oldest were Rev. Nathan M. Baker and James A. Cochran, both being eighty-three years old. Others who were there, and their ages, are as follows:

Conrad Enterline, 70
Charles S. Bullard, 77
Larkin Fesler, 79
George W. Lyons, 76
Daniel Shutter, 77
James K. Peck, 76
Frederick Schwab, 71

Mr. Lyons, Rev. Mr. Baker, former chaplin of the organization, and James A. Cochran, president, made short talks. Frederick Schwab, who has been secretary for twenty years or more, read a list of the members who are still alive and widely scattered throughout the United States, also a lost of the men who have died within the last year. Each year he writes to the pension department in Washington and secures this list. With the passing of such a fine institution as these reunions, it is interesting to know something about the organization back of them.

On August 7, 1862, the organization was mustered in and on Nov. 8, 1862, the men gathered in Camp Macon, now Fairview park, and from there started on their way to Memphis, Tenn. After service of nearly three years, during which time they traveled a distance of 6,555 miles, the regiment was mustered out in Washington, D.C., on June 7, 1865

Mr. Schwab, the secretary, has a book which contains a record ot the regiment during its entire history, and many an entertaining story is written there, which never has reached the public eye through print. There was $2.50 left in the treasury this year and that amount will be turned over to the local Red Cross chapter.

Within the last year, sixteen members of the organization have died. Their names and the places where they died are as follows:

Tom W. Brown, in an asylum
A.J. McKee, Danville
Anderson Prisser, Kans.
A.J. Widick, Neb.
Michael Eaton, Okla.
Josphen Goodwin, Mo.
J.P. Moore, Mo.
Jacob Smith, Calif.
J.W. Mott, Fairmont, Ill.
Thomas Roley, New Mex.
Samuel Barnett, Wash.
Henry Ebert, Kans.
Samuel Miles, S.D.
David Shoemaker, W.H. Bowdle, Cerro Gordo
James B. York, Okla.

The ninety-one survivors of the regiment, as given in a list furnished by the pension department on August 5, 1920, are as follows:

Henry C. Bear, Penfield, Ill.
Joseph A. Blythe, LaPlace, Ill.
Daniel Bowen, Cerro Gordo, Ill.
William H. Clay, Murdock, Ill.
Aquilla Gramley, Olney, Mo.
William Grason, Stroud, Okla.
Nathaniel Guffy, Vandalia, Ill.
William R. Harrington, Buck Creek, Ind.
Lafayette R. Havely, Kellerton, Ia.
Thomas M. Littleton, Lodi, Cal.
Peter Lux, Lovington, Ill.
George W. Lyons, Decatur, Ill.
Charles W. Rundle, Soldiers' Home, Cal.
Robert S. Wagoner, Lebanon, Mo.
Jonathan N. Wear, Salado, Tex.
James K. Peck, Cerro Gordo, Ill.

Edward Enterline, La Platte, Mo.
Conrad Enterline, Sullivan, Ill.
John W. Foster, Niantic, Ill.
Andrew J. Patterson, Buffalo, Mo.
John W. Peaker, Jacksonville, Ill.
George W. Rutherford, Marshalltown, Ia.
Daniel Shutter, Decatur, Ill.
Henry Sites, Humboldt, Neb.
Wesley Street, Hydro, Okla.

James L. Aaron, Rankin, Ill.
Robert M. Black, Adel, Ia.
James T. Cochran, Decatur, Ill.
John W. Edwards, Beatrice, Neb.
William H. Johnson, Stafford, Kans.
Samuel Kitt, Victor, Mont.
Charles K. Lee, Peru, Ind.
James M. Livesay, Long Beach, Cal.
Daniel K. Pound, Decatur, Ill.
Henry C. Traughber, Idaho Falls, Ida.
James M. Wallace, Humboldt, Kans.
Benjamin White, Wichita, Kans.

Larkin Fesler, Argenta, Ill.
John E. Hoagland, Holton, Kans.
Erl Querrey, Argenta, Ill.
Squire Reed, Marva, Ill.
Amos Robertson, Sheridan, Ill.
William T. Schenck, Sac City, Ia.
William G. Shannon, Irwin, Ohio.

James H. boyd, Stillwater, Okla.
Charles S. Bullard, Warrensburg, Ill.
Stephen A. Douglas, Witt, Ill.
James T. Ferree, Fraser, Ida.
Jeremiah Gepford, Colorado Springs, Colo.
George W. Goodner, National Home, Wisconsin.
John H. Hatchett, Mulvane, Kans.
James M. Hawk, Niantic, Ill.
Samuel C. Hornback, Franklin, Ill.
George W. Houser, Green, Kansas.
Andrew E. Parr, Findlay, Ill.
Joel H. Rinehart, Deland, Ill.
Atkinson M. Shartzer, Mechanicsburg, Ill.
Bazzle M. Wood, Carrollton, Mo.

Thomas N. Bailey, South Vienna, O.
Richard C. Ball, Ontario, Ore.
John B. Burgo, Shelbina, Mo.
William P. Gardner, Hawthorne, Cal.
Alexander Hileman, National Home, Ill.
John W. Perry, Saybrook, Ill.
Enoch Todd, Monett, Kans.
Harrison Sprague, Papillion, Neb.

Zenos C. Burdick, Rockwell, Ia.
Howard H. Hall, Alton, Kans.
Phillip Kemp, Laurens, Ia.
Henry Mahannah, Wichita, Kans.
Daniel Moore, Decatur, Ill.
Prosper Voney, Varna, Ill.

George W. Bacon, Tacoma, Wash.
George W. Conner, Pana, Ill.
William W. Conner, Pana, Ill.
Hartin K. Davis, Demomest, Ga.
James M. Layman, Perkins, Okla.
Frederick Schwab, Decatur, Ill.
Nathan T. Skiff, Moweaqua, Ill.
William J. Snyder, Moweaqua, Ill.
Samuel Wark, Orting, Wash.

William J. Brewer, Jefferson, Tex.
James W. Hancock, Scottsboro, Ala.
David B. Terrill, Thomas, Okla.
James W. Wonnell, Sargent, Mo.

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