NEWSPAPER EXTRACTS - 1895
January 18, 1895
Clinton Public
A Surprise to Rev. J. C. Rucker.
After the last issue of the PUBLIC we learned that a few relatives and a number of old-time friends of Rev. James RUCKER planned a surprise party for him on the eve of his seventy-eighth birthday [January 6th], but the evening approached mist and gentle rain came, freezing as it fell, till some time after dark covering the sidewalk with sleet making it dangerous walking. Yet over a dozen elderly ladies and gentlemen ventured to make the visit, and after laying off their drizzled wraps saluted the aged minister with smiles and congratulations on his coming to another milepost in the path of life. The visiting friends spent several hours with him and the pleasant family in his house in delightful conversation and elegant music by Mrs. Nettie Edmiston, completing the entertainment with luncheon, supplied by the visitors, and after cheering handshakes departed wishing for Mr. Rucker several more happy birthday anniversaries.
--------------------February 1, 1895
Clinton Public
Eight Freemasons from this city went over to Waynesville last Saturday night to participate in conferring the Master Mason's rank on William Armstrong, Jr. The work was done by the Clinton brethren, and after adjournment a banquet was served. The Clinton visitors were H. C. HENSON, James KIRK, Peter ANDERSON, John FULLER, Tom BROWN, Harry CLINE, A. H. SCOTT and Warren HICKMAN. They drove over in a sled and had a pleasant, though cold, night for the trip.
--------------------February 1, 1895
Clinton Public
An old soldier who served in the One Hundred and Seventh Illinois and who has been receiving a pension of twelve dollars a month for physical disability, received notice this week that his pension had been cut in two and that hereafter he will only get six dollars. The old soldier is not going to make any fuss about it, but he will wait patiently for the next Presidential election for a change.
--------------------February 1, 1895
Clinton Public
It is not often that the merry jingle of the sleigh bells is heard in this county, for as a general thing the flurries of snow that come barely whiten the roads, and that only for a few hours. But from morn till toward morn the music of the bells greets us and the laughing, merry sleigh loads of young people and children makes the frosty air resound with happy voices ringing in gay songs and chorus. There is nothing more exhilarating to sweet sixteen and her lover than to be snuggled up in a sleigh with buffalo robes and flying along the roads at a 2:40 gait. It may be hard on the poor horse, but when the mud time comes again, he will have time to rest up. The school children have been having their nights out sleigh-riding, their teachers going along to look after the little folks.
--------------------February 1, 1895
Clinton Public
Mr. Enoch WALKER started back to his home in Flomaton, Alabama, last Wednesday. He made but a short stay among his relatives, being anxious to get back to wife and children. Enoch says they have a splendid county down where he lives. Land is cheap, the climate is pleasant all the year round, and fruit orchards are of rapid growth and worth $1000 an acre when the trees are full bearing. The worst phase of Alabama is its politics, but Enoch says the Republicans that are moving into the State from the North are improving the political atmosphere. Enoch does not dabble in politics but keeps right on sawing boards in his saw mill and getting rich.
--------------------February 1, 1895
Clinton Public
The teachers in our public schools generally get to the high school building in the morning some time before the pupils in order to get their work ready. The other morning, one of the lady teachers found someone pushing the door from the inside of her room as she was about to enter, and when she did get in, she saw as tough a looking customer as ever tramped over railroad ties. The fellow shut the door when the teacher entered, and as she paid no attention to him, he asked if she was not afraid. While her teeth were chattering with fear, she told him she was not a bit afraid. The fellow kept his villainous eyes on her till another teacher happened to open the door as she was passing, and then he followed her off. She got out of the way. The teachers have not learned who the fellow was.
--------------------February 1, 1895
Clinton Public
Ernest EDWARDS came to the conclusion along in October that he would like to visit Maine, the State from whence came his father and mother, so with a gripsack and money enough to provide against accidents he started on his journey. Occasionally he would stop by the wayside and work in some printing office for a few days so that he had always money enough to pay car fare and hotel bills. He finally got to Portland, and after visiting a few days among relatives, he turned the toes of his yarn stockings westward and got back to Clinton the other day with as much money in his pocket as he started from home with. That is a good way to see some of the world.
--------------------February 8, 1895
Clinton Public
Ethelbert STEWART, who has been holding a profitable government office in the Labor Bureau, was arrested the other day in Danville, Ill., for trying to rob a poor woman out of one hundred dollars. Stewart impersonated a revenue officer, and in that way tried to get the money. He was released after pleading guilty, by paying a fine of three dollars and costs. The matter has been referred to the United States attorney at Springfield, and Stewart will likely lose his job. Some years ago he lived in Texas township, in this county, and at one time he was the Democratic candidate for congress in this district.
--------------------February 8, 1895
Clinton Public
President Cleveland is determined to get some money into the government treasury even if he has to issue bonds by the hundreds of millions and cut off the pension of every Union veteran in the country. Along the line of economy in pensions, this Democratic administration is making quite a record, and if cutting down is carried on as extensively in other counties as in DeWitt county, by the time the Democrats are turned down in 1896, there will be no use for pension agents or for a pension bureau. Rarely a week passes that some DeWitt county veteran does not receive a circular from Commissioner LOCHREN announcing that his pension has been cut in two or has been suspended altogether. Is it not a little peculiar that old soldiers in this county drawing pensions who vote the Democratic ticket are not disturbed in the enjoyment of their pensions?
--------------------February 8, 1895
Clinton Public
Reminiscences of the War.
There were many pathetic incidents that occurred during the war which received only a passing thought at the time and then were forgotten. But as we get farther from those terrible days of strife and bloodshed and the then boys are now growing old and almost ready for the final mustering out officer to call the roll and advance the veterans of the Grand Army to the eternal camping ground, the old stories are hallowed by a sacred light.
There was not much sentiment among the boys of thirty-four years ago, especially the boys in Illinois who were reared and had spent the first years plodding behind the plow or running a cultivator through the corn rows. Life was earnest and real to them, for in those days they had but few of the comforts, and rarely any of the luxuries, that now surround the family in the farm-house. The boys of those days became Republicans or Democrats when they got old enough to vote, following out the political predilections of their fathers and grandfathers before them, and but few of them, if any, became Abolitionists, for Illinois in those days was a Democratic State and a "nigger" was only a nigger. The Southern States were Democratic, so in politics Illinois and South Carolina were in sympathy.
But when the news came in April, 1861, that South Carolina had actually fired on the old flag that floated over Fort Sumter and that men calling themselves American citizens had tried to starve a small detachment of American soldiers who were doing their sworn duty in protecting the old flag, the country boys of DeWitt County and their gray-haired sires came into Clinton to learn if the horrible story could really be true. On that memorable nineteenth day of April, Clinton was intensely patriotic. Republican and Democrat alike were free in their denunciations of the crime of treason, and when after a few earnest speeches Colonel George B. LEMEN led the crowd from the court-room down to the square and asked for volunteers to respond to President LINCOLN's call for seventy-five thousand men, there were as many young Democrats as young Republicans who stepped into line. One hundred strong marched out Co. E, Twentieth Illinois, from Clinton to be mustered into the service at Joliet for three years or during the war, and no braver boys followed the flag for the four long years that many of them served before laying down their arms and returning to the peaceful avocations of home life. War and its dangers made strong and thoughtful men of the boys who stepped into line on that bright, but sad, April day. Almost from the day the Twentieth Illinois crossed the river and entered the Southern States till the time the regiment was mustered out it had its share of the horrors of war; and where every man was a hero, there necessarily were many cases of personal bravery.
Witness the heroic act of Sam DENTON when Martin MORHLE, the color-sergeant of the regiment, fell wounded to death outside of the breastworks. Sam Denton crawled on his hands and knees out into the storm of rebel bullets that were directed at him and carried back the body of the brave Morhle, and also brought with him the regimental colors. In some countries Sam Denton would have been honored by the government and received recognition for bravery, but in our war the citizen soldier thought only of his comrade and not of the act of bravery.
At the battle of Britton's Lane, Tennessee, on the first of September, 1862, James A. SLATTEN, a member of Co E, fell fatally wounded on the field. The Twentieth had to fall back. That night George HULL crawled out to where lay the body of Jim Slatten and he managed to scratch a hole in the ground at the root of a tree in which, rolled in his army blanket, George buried his comrade. George Hull and Jim Slatten were comrades indeed and their friendship was closer than of the ordinary kind. Every veteran of the war knows of just such comradeship that existed between George and Jim, for it was a rare thing not to find such cases. After covering up the remains of Jim Slatten, George Hull started back to camp, when a feeling of tenderness came over him and he could not leave his comrade out alone, so he returned and spent the remainder of the night in a silent vigil at Jim's grave.
The next morning George Hull was telling the story to his comrades and of his remaining by the grave till morning. "Boys, it seemed heartless," said George, "and like deserting an old comrade to leave poor Jim out there alone, so I just sat by his grave till morning to keep him company." It was a little thing, but greater love no man ever bore for a brother. There was no sentiment about brave George Hull. It was the undying affection of one comrade for another.
After the siege of Vicksburg, where the Twentieth had spent forty-four days, the boys were glad to receive marching orders to follow the flag to new victories. In a fight with the enemy, Sam DENTON was wounded and taken prisoner by an old gray-bearded Confederate trooper. On the old trooper's saddle was a sheepskin. The heart of the old gray-beard went out in sympathy to the boyish Sam, and taking the sheepskin from his saddle, he spread it on the ground and told Sam to lie down on it. Then the kind-hearted old reb divided his rations with Sam, but in all he never forgot his duty. The Union soldiers were thick in the vicinity and every now and then the old man would sight his rifle at a blue coat and the Confederacy had one enemy less. Sam tried to persuade the old man to cease his warfare, but he just cast a benevolent look at Sam and told him to go to sleep and he would look after the blue coats. A Federal lieutenant with a squad of cavalry made a break through the rebel line that surrounded the Union soldiers and Sam Denton was released and his old captor became Sam's prisoner. The old man was taken into the Twentieth camp but was not deprived of his liberty to go where he pleased within the lines. He ate in the same mess with Sam and everything was done to make the old man's time pass pleasantly. The kindness he had shown Sam was returned to him in kind, and there was not a soldier in the Twentieth who would not have fought in defense of the gray-bearded old Confederate. One day the old man was missing from the camp. No questions were ever asked by the officers as to what had become of the gray-bearded prisoner of war.
Now and then the veterans of the Twentieth get to talking of the days when they wore the blue and tenderly they call up memories of the past and pay tribute to the bravery of some comrade. To hear the stories told, there is a pathos in them that is lost in cold type.
--------------------February 15, 1895
Clinton Public
Mr. William WELLER has bought a farm of three hundred and fifty acres adjoining Davis City, Decatur County, Iowa, for which he paid $35 an acre. Mr. Weller has an option on two hundred acres more at the same price. On the opposite side of the road from his farm is the principal business part of the town, so that William's land will soon come into market for town lots. He says the soil is as good as it is here. The reason he got the farm at so low a price was that the owner of it was swamped by mortgages. Fifty dollars an acre is the ruling price for farms in that locality.
--------------------March 29, 1895
Clinton Public
JOHN HENRY SMITH ON TRIAL.
For the Murder of James Kuykendall.
The Deed Occurred in Farmer City July 29, 1894.
There was great commotion all over DeWitt County, one day in the latter part of last July, when the news spread that John Henry SMITH, a member of [one of] the oldest families in Santa Anna township, and a man who had always borne a reputation for being peaceable and neighborly had shot down in the public highway James KUYKENDALL, a poor man who had been employed by him and who occupied a tenant house close to the residence of Smith. There had been some disagreement between the two men and Smith discharged Kuykendall from his service and warned him to leave the house he occupied at once. Kuykendall began making preparations to leave Farmer City and return to Kentucky, from whence he came early in 1893, and to that end went to Smith's house to make some arrangements about selling him the garden he (Kuykendall) had planted. The two men got into a wordy altercation, in which the lie was freely passed, and at an unfortunate moment, Smith's temper got the mastery of him and he drew a revolver from his pocket and fired two or three shots at Kuykendall, one of which entered on the right side of his body, killing Kuykendall instantly. Smith then realized what he had done and jumping into his buggy he drove rapidly down town to get a doctor for the wounded man. Kuykendall had no weapon on him. Smith had purchased the revolver only four days prior to committing the deed.
James Kuykendall left a young wife (his second) and two or three children, and they were without means. The people of Farmer City raised a sufficient sum of money to pay the funeral expenses and send Mrs. Kuykendall and the children to friends in Kentucky.
John Henry Smith was born in Santa Anna township nearly fifty years ago. His parents were among the early settlers, and the family was connected by relationship with the old and prominent families of Farmer City and that part of the county. Mrs. Smith is connected with the McKINLEYS. Mr. Smith was raised on a farm and followed that business nearly all his life till a few years ago he opened a coal office in Farmer City. He is an intelligent-looking man, and as he sits by his counsel he would be the last man in the courtroom that one would select as the murderer.
The case was called for trial last Wednesday morning, a special venire having been issued to secure a jury. The preliminary work of laying the foundations on both sides and selecting a jury took the greater part of the day. The jury is a good one; not one of them is likely to be swayed by prejudice or passion. They are K. S. Brown, J. H. Preston, C. C. McConkey, J. H. Keys, Ed Danison, John Long, C. L. Winslow, Matt Cline, Walter Turner, Charles Marvel, George Williams, and W. S. Karr. In their hands lies the future destiny of John Henry Smith. State's Attorney Fuller, assisted by Mr. John F. Wight, a Bloomington attorney, conducts the prosecution, and for the defense is Captain Herrick, R. A. Lemon, and Colonel Warner. Mr. Smith is ably defended, having the strongest attorneys at the Clinton bar retained for him. Should he escape the penitentiary, it will be through the ability of his defenders. The testimony of Mr. Boggs, who was an eye witness to the shooting, and indeed the only man who has direct knowledge of it, was clear-cut against Smith. Mr. Boggs is a man about sixty-two years old. He told his story in a simple, plain way to the jury.
Rapid work was made with the evidence yesterday in the murder case now on trial. Boggs testified that Kuykendall was standing in the road, a few feet from where he fell, when Smith shot him. Mrs. Kuykendall corroborated Bogg's testimony, they two being the only actual witnesses to the deed. In the afternoon Mr. Smith went upon the stand to testify in his own defense. He told of business difficulties with Kuykendall, and said that he told Kuykendall the matter was out of his hands and he must settle with the officers. He told of threats made by Kuykendall that he would beat his (Smith's) head off if he did not settle, and also threatened to whip him. Smith told in brief the story of the tragic day when Kuykendall went to his house and called him out, and of the wordy altercation that followed. That Kuykendall advanced toward him threateningly and then Smith drew a revolver and fired. Smith said that he did not intend to hit Kuykendall, but only to frighten him. Kuykendall kept on advancing and told Smith to shoot if he wished. Smith fired a second shot, which hit Kuykendall and killed him. Several witnesses for the defense swore that Kuykendall had a club in his hands when he went to Smith's house. On this there is a conflict, as Boggs swore that it was only a piece from a broken fence board.
Judge LACEY held court last evening to hear the testimony of witnesses brought here from Kentucky and from Bureau County, Illinois, to testify as to their previous knowledge of Kuykendall's character when he lived in those communities. And they all with one accord swore that Kuykendall was a bad and dangerous man.
A woman from Kentucky, claiming to be the wife of Kuykendall, was brought here to tell that he was a bad man. There is some mystery about this woman, for she did not tell if she had ever been divorced from him. Mrs. Kuykendall sat and listened to this woman's story.
The case will probably be given to the jury some time to-day, when upon the deliberate judgment of those twelve men will Smith's destiny depend.
Note: For more details see Clinton Public news article dated April 5, 1895.
--------------------April 5, 1895
Clinton Public
Punishment for Murder a Lost Art.
Of the dozen or more murders committed in DeWitt County during the past twenty-five years, we believe there was but one conviction, and that poor fellow had no money to employ first-class lawyers. And if there was a single killing in the whole catalogue that was justifiable, it was certainly that one, for the man killed had violated the sanctity of a home. For the crime, the killer was sentenced to the penitentiary, and after serving a short time he was pardoned out. Another murder case was on trial in our circuit court last week. The facts are fresh in the memory of our readers. John Henry SMITH feared violence at the hands of James KUYKENDALL, who came threateningly toward him with a piece of board upraised. Smith was armed with a revolver. He fired one shot to frighten Kuykendall, and the second time he fired it was to kill. William BOGGS was really the only one who saw the whole thing. He went to Smith's house with Kuykendall. Smith swore the Kuykendall came on his property and he warned him to leave. Boggs swore that Kuykendall was out in the road and that he never spoke after the fatal shot. Kuykendall's body was found out in the road. The jury evidently believed Smith's story, and gave no credence to Bogg's testimony. A man with the penitentiary doors opening to him would be rather careful as to how he swore. Boggs had no personal interest in the case. The jury debated the evidence for about six hours and then returned to court with a verdict acquitting Smith.
Smith was fortunate in his selection of attorneys to defend him. He had Captain HERRICK, a shrewd and capable lawyer, to hunt up everything that was necessary for a successful defense, and then there was Mr. R. A. LEMON and Colonel WARNER, two of the ablest lawyers in Central Illinois, to get this testimony before the jury. Smith's side of the case was ably handled, while the prosecution was not as strong as it ought to have been to cope with the able defense. Had State's Attorney FULLER stronger help, he might have done better. James Kuykendall was in his grave and his widow had not a penny to bless herself with.
Punishment for killing a man seems to be one of the lost arts not only in DeWitt County, but in every county in the State. A man steals a horse worth twenty-five dollars and a jury will send him to Joliet for three years, "so quick that it would make his head swim." While juries fail to convict, yet a certain kind of punishment follows. In nearly every murder case in this county in the past twenty-five years the murderer has lost his property and gone out from the county a wanderer on the face of the earth.
--------------------April 26, 1895
Clinton Public
A Change in the Sackett & Lemen Firm.
Fifteen years ago Mr. Reuben SACKETT went into the furniture business. He came to Clinton in 1861, and has been engaged in the grocery, the drug and the furniture trade and in all he has added a little each year to a nest-egg for the time in his life when he would want to go on the retired list. While Mr. Sackett is yet a young man, he has concluded to rest from the worry of business for a time, and this week he sold his interest in the furniture and undertaking business to Mr. Charles HARRISON, son of Mr. E. G. F. HARRISON. The new firm will be Lemen & Harrison, and as both of them are active young men they will be able to hustle for trade. It requires hustling for trade nowadays if a man wants to keep up with the procession. Mr. Sackett came to Clinton when it was not much of a town from an aesthetic standpoint, but he has seen Clinton grow into a picture of beauty and comfort. Uncle Reub will now join the grand army of retired loafers whose bank accounts are of sufficient strength to cause them but little worry as to where the living is to come from. By-and-by he will get tired of loafing and will jump into the first enterprise that offers.
--------------------April 26, 1895
Clinton Public
The Village Blacksmith.
One of the poets sang sweetly of the village blacksmith and said all manner of nice things about the Hercules that made the sparks fly as he hammered the iron into shape. Forty years ago George AUGHINBAUGH came to Clinton and worked at the blacksmith trade, and in 1862 he opened a shop of his own, and ever since, excepting the time he was eating Uncle Sam's rations and carrying a musket during the war, he has been the village blacksmith of Clinton. Everybody who owns a horse or has smith work to do knows George Aughinbaugh to be an expert at his business and a first-class workman. Blacksmiths may come and blacksmiths may go, but George keeps on forever, hammering away and making the anvil ring with his cheery strokes. George has the confidence of the farmers and the men who own fine driving horses and they always get him to do their shoeing.
--------------------September 13, 1895
Clinton Public
Attempted Murder and Suicide.
Desperate Deed Coolly Done.
Geo. Caplinger Shoots His Wife and Ends His Own Life.
On last Sunday morning, as the people of Clinton were on their way to church, a terrible and fatal tragedy was being enacted on the west end of West Street, at the home of Mrs. Geo. CAPLINGER. It was not a happy home, for husband and wife were not in sympathy with each other, the children taking sides with their mother. The Caplinger family came to Clinton some twelve or fifteen years ago, and until two years ago lived together, although at no time in perfect harmony. Then Mr. Caplinger was admitted to the Soldiers’ Home at Quincy, where he was evidently happy, for in his occasional visits to Clinton he spoke in the highest terms of how the state cared for the veteran soldiers.
One day last week Caplinger came to Clinton, on his way to the national encampment, which meets in Louisville this week. He intended to go on to Kentucky on Saturday afternoon, but unfortunately he changed his plans. Caplinger had one or two interviews with his wife, in which he tried to effect a reconciliation so that he could come back home, but without avail. Saturday evening he went to the house and ate supper with his children, his wife not being present, and then he tried to prevail on his daughter to intercede with her mother for his return. Failing in getting his family interested in reconciliation, Mr. Caplinger came down town, and about ten o'clock at night went back somewhat under the influence of liquor. One of his daughters heard someone on the outside of the house, and going to the door saw her father standing by the fence. It was bright moonlight, and when he saw her he raised a pistol. The young woman got back into the house as quickly as possible and closed the door. Caplinger was finally persuaded to leave the place and come down town, where he was put to bed in a hotel.
About ten o'clock Sunday morning Caplinger returned to the house for another interview with his wife. He said he was tired of being separated from his family, and that he wanted to come back to Clinton to live with his children and among his old friends. Mrs. Caplinger and her husband were out in the front yard, and while they were discussing their family estrangement she turned her back to him and leaned over the front gate. Something startled her, and on looking around she saw her husband close beside her with a revolver pointed at her head. She grabbed his arm and pulled it downward, when the revolver was discharged, and the bullet that was intended for her brain went crashing into her right shoulder. Caplinger then stepped back and fired a second shot at his wife, the ball this time striking a steel in the back of her corsets. The corset steel saved her life.
The sons and daughters were in the house at the time, and when they heard the shooting they ran out just in time to see Caplinger with the muzzle of the revolver pointed close to his right temple. One of the daughters struck at his arm and at the same moment he pulled the trigger. In striking his arm the point of the revolver turned downward, and instead of the ball entering the brain and causing immediate death, it lodged down at the base of the brain.
Drs. MYERS and CANTRELL were sent for, and as speedily as possible they attended to the wounded pair. When Dr. Myers arrived, Caplinger was evidently in a dying condition, and was paralyzed from the effects of the shot. The doctor examined the wound and removed from it a clot of blood, which…(an unreadable line here) …taneous relief and consciousness returned. Dr. Myers did all that was possible at the time, but informed the PUBLIC that he had no hopes of Caplinger’s recovery, and it was his opinion that he would not survive twenty-four hours. The doctor’s judgment was verified, for about ten o'clock on Monday morning the old soldier was mustered out.
George Caplinger was a native of Kentucky and was sixty years of age. His parents were well-to-do, and they left George considerable real estate at their death, which occurred after the war. When the war of the rebellion broke out, although a Kentuckian, George Caplinger cast his lot for the union and enlisted in a cavalry regiment, doing faithful and loyal service for the union for nearly four years. After the war he married and settled down to farming, but this kind of life was not to his taste, so he moved into the town of Shelbyville, Ky., where for several years he filled the office of chief of police. Being a courageous man he was a terror to evil doers, and he had a record of never letting a criminal escape from him. It is told of him that while he was chief of police in Shelbyville five noted criminals defied the sheriff of the county and his deputies to arrest them. The gang was a bad one, and a terror to the whole country. Caplinger said he would arrest the men or furnish work for the coroner; so single-handed and alone he started in pursuit of them. He came upon the five men in a lonely part of the country, and when he called upon them to surrender, they opened fire upon him, and for a time the battle raged fast and furious. The old soldier knew that it was life or death with him, so he fought desperately. One after another of the criminals dropped, as the result of his unerring rifle, till four of them lay dead on the field of battle. The fifth man he wounded and took prisoner. The history of that brave fight, against such odds, made George Caplinger famous in that part of Kentucky.
George Caplinger was not a prudent man in the management of the property left him by his parents and it dwindled away till but very little was left. Selling his home, he moved his family to Kansas, and failing there he went to Missouri. About twelve or fifteen years ago, the family came to this county to make their home. Mrs. Caplinger’s sister, Mrs. Ben MILLER, lived on a farm in Creek township, and in coming here they had friends to help them. Caplinger was not suited to farm life so he came to Clinton, and with the aid of his pension and what little he could earn by doing odd jobs around town he helped in the support of the family. Two years ago he was admitted to the Soldiers’ Home at Quincy. He and his wife could not live together in harmony and both thought a separation would be best.
Last Monday the old soldier answered the last roll call, and on Tuesday his comrades of Frank Lowry Post G. A. R., escorted his remains to Woodlawn cemetery, where he was buried in the soldiers’ plat. As the body was lowered into the grave the roll of muffled drums told the story that one more old soldier had been mustered out and had joined the Grand Army in the other and better world. Rev. Dr. HUNTER officiated at the funeral, and at the grave the solemn ritual service of the Grand Army was performed by the Post chaplain.
Coroner JONES held an inquest on the body Monday afternoon. The conditions surrounding the death of Caplinger made his Grand Army comrades demand a more searching investigation. Nothing, however, was elicited to justify any idea of foul play, so the jury rendered a verdict that George Caplinger died by his own hand.
Note: His wife survived. For more on the story, see the article about his wife’s recovery.
--------------------November 29, 1895
Clinton Public
THE LAST RECRUIT.
A Passage of History of Co. A, 107th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with a Local Interest.
In April, 1864, while the Army of East Tennessee was at Mossey Creek, Tennessee, being reorganized, expecting soon to join Sherman to take part in the Atlanta or Georgia campaign, the writer wandered through the woods one sunny day. He accidentally came upon a blue-eyed, light-haired boy of fourteen years, sitting alone on a large log. I sat on the log with the lad, thinking he was a native of that country, and entered into conversation with him. He said he lived in Indiana, having become dissatisfied with home. His mother was dead. His father had married again and he and his step-mother could not get along together. He had made up his mind to run away from home and join the army. He asked me what state I was from. Being informed that I was from Illinois, he asked if he could get into my company and regiment. As we sat there I tried to persuade him that he was too young and small to make a soldier; that he had better return home to his father. To this he answered, no; that he had started out to become a soldier and if he could not get into my regiment he would try some other one. I then told him if he was bound to be a soldier, he had just as well join my regiment as any. I said, we will go and see my captain and find whether he will take you in my company or not.
We found him in his tent alone, writing. When we entered, he looked up and said, "Hello, boys, sit down." We sat down until the captain could give us his attention. In a few minutes he stopped writing, turned around and addressed me, saying, "Scottie, who is the little fellow you have with you?" I then told him where I had found the lad, the conversation I had had with him; that we had come to him to see if he would muster him into our company. The captain turned to the blue-eyed boy: "You want to be a soldier? You are not big enough to carry a gun and knapsack; you had better go back to your home, and stay with your father two or three years, then, if the war is still going on, you will be able to make a soldier." To this the boy replied, "I have started out to be a soldier and I am going to be one; if you will not take me in your company I will find some other company that I can get into." To this the captain said, "Well, if you're determined to enlist, you had just as well belong to Company A of the 107th Illinois, as any other regiment or company. Come with me; we will go and see the colonel and find out what he thinks about having you mustered into the regiment." We started to the colonel's quarters. On the way down I stopped with my company.
The captain and the boy went on to see the colonel. In a short time they came back through my company. The captain called me as I approached him and the lad, and said to me, "Here, Scottie, is your recruit. Take him and see if you can fit him out with a gun, uniform and knapsack; teach him the drill; make a soldier out of him as fast as possible." I took the blue-eyed boy and soon had him fitted out with a full Yankee uniform and got him a gun and knapsack. When fitted out he did look like a little soldier. The lad took hold of things with earnestness, and soon became acquainted with all the boys in the company. They all took a great interest in him.
In a very few days after this, we broke camp and started on our march to join Sherman's great army to take part in the great Atlanta campaign. It wasn't long until Robert SMITH (for that was the name under which the blue-eyed boy enlisted) became a favorite in the company. The first time he came under fire was at Buzzard Roost and Rocky-Face Ridge, Georgia. He showed himself to be made of the right kind of material. He never flinched nor showed any signs of being excited. From the above place, and for weeks, we were daily under fire. Little Robert Smith was always in his place of duty. When on the skirmish line he was always discreet and careful in his movements; but did not like to fire his gun unless he had dead aim on his mark. He stood up under the hard work of the campaign until we got quite close to Atlanta, when he was taken suddenly ill and was taken back to the hospital. In a few days the news came from the hospital that our little Robert Smith was very sick with brain fever. It was thought by the doctors that he could not live. Days passed, still the report from him was bad. The army slowly moved toward Atlanta. Smith was left farther and farther behind. After a long time, news came that little Smith was on the mend and would likely recover. His recovery was very slow.
Atlanta was taken by Sherman's grand army, after which a few weeks' rest was given. Another campaign was begun, Sherman dividing his great army, sending the 23--4 corps back to Tennessee to take care of the rebel General Hood, who was there in command of the rebel soldiers then in our front, who had concluded to force his way back into Tennessee, to intercept, if possible, Sherman's great march to the sea, with the other part of his army. This movement placed our little blue-eyed Smith farther and farther from the regiment. We often thought of and talked about him, but we never saw him nor heard of him again.
The war closed, the regiment was discharged, the men went to their homes, but none of us could tell what had become of the little light-haired, blue-eyed boy. Thousands of times have we thought of the boy and wondered if he had lived to get out of the army; had he died, and his people, perhaps, never to know what had become of their boy.
A few days ago, after a lapse of thirty years, to our utter surprise, we received a long letter from our little recruit, dated at Kingston, Tennessee, which reads as follows: "My dear friend and comrade Scott:---I am so glad I have found you out at last. I feel as though I had found some of my dearest kinfolks." He says further: "I am a married man; have a wife and eight children; am a farmer; work from ten to fifteen hands all the time; am Justice of the Peace of Roan [sic] county, Tenn.; settled here after coming out of the army; have been here ever since; am doing well; would like so much to see you; think I will have to make a trip up to Illinois on purpose to see you."
Now in concluding this little sketch of war history, will say: Never did I receive a letter from anyone that did me more good to read than the one I received a few days ago from our once little blue-eyed Robert Smith, who is now a grown man, the father of a large family, and doing well in the world. Now, my company comrades, those of you who may see this piece of history in the paper, will no doubt remember our little blue-eyed, light-haired recruit, who now signs his name to his letter, which I received from him a few days ago, R. W. GAMBELL, and states that he was enlisted under an assumed name, Robert Smith. As soon as he was discharged he again took up his proper name. Thinking this little sketch of history will be of interest to my comrades, I will quit for this time.
G. W. S.
[George W. Scott]
Note: SMITH, Robert Recruit Knox Co. Apr 1, 1864 Transferred to 65th ILL.
Inf.
SCOTT, George W. Private Wapella Sep 4, 1862 Mustered out Jun 21, 1865