Henry County, Indiana - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 29 of those read), 1906

Chapter with an unread heading (no. 29 of those read)

Brief History of the Grand Army - Roster of Commanders-in-Chief - Condition OF the Grand Army Shown in the Last Annual Report - Membership Since 1878 - Losses in Membership Since 1890 - Department OF Indiana - Roster of Department Commanders - Condition of the Department of Indiana - First Grand Army Organization in Indiana - Organization and Roster of David N. Kimball Post, No. 204, Blountsn'ille - Biographical Sketch of Sergeant David Newton Kimball and Family - Organization and Roster of George W. Lennard Post, No. 143, New Castle - Biographical Sketch of Colonel George Washington Lennard and Family.

All who have read the history of America are aware of the fact that the people of the United States are more given to the cultivation of the arts of peace, than to the science of war, hence they wage no wars of aggression or conquest, but only take up arms in defense of their liberties or for the enforcement of the laws.

Our standing army is but little greater in point of numbers than the bodyguard of some of the crowned sovereigns of Europe. Our dom.estic and foreign difficulties are settled, if possible, by legislation or arbitration, but when the exigencies demand that force be resorted to, the Government calls upon the people, and our volunteer soldiery are ready to respond, and have never been found wanting at the battle's front.

The experience common to the volunteer in the camp, the march, the battle, the hospital and the prison pen, knit them together in so close a bond of brotherhood and comradeship, that the soldier who survives is wont to continue these close relations for the benefit of the living and in memory of the dead. From this sentiment sprang the order of Cincinnatus after the Revolution, the society of Mexican Veterans after the war with Mexico, and the Loyal Legion and the Grand Annv of the Republic after the Civil war.

The first expression of the possible formation of an organization composed of Union soldiers and sailors after they should have suppressed the Rebellion and returned to their homes, was made by Dr. Benjamin F. Stephenson, surgeon of the 14th Illinois Infantry, to some brother officers at their camp in Mississippi, during Sherman's retreat from IMeridian to Vicksburg in February, 1864.

After the close of the war, Dr. Stephenson returned to the practice of his profession at Springfield, Illinois, and at once set to work to carry his ideas into practical effect. He drafted a ritual, and soon after Post No. i was organized at

Decatur, Illinois, followed by Post No. 2 at Springfield, both Posts having been established in February, 1866. From this beginning the order spread rapidly, not only in Illinois, but to other States, and when a National Convention was called, which met at Indianapolis. November 20, 1866, eleven States were represented, and within the next year the order had gathered a membership of many thousands, and just as it was ready to congratulate itself on the rapid advance, politics, the enemy of all organizations not strictly political, took possession and began the work of destruction, many having become members for the sole purpose of prostituting it to the furthering of their schemes for political preferment. This, together with soine of the laws laid down in the Rules and Regulations distasteful to the soldier, caused a rapid decline in the organization, and after a feeble struggle it ceased to exist in manv States.

Those who had the good of the order at heart, made a gallant fight, and finally succeeded in having the odious laws expunged, and a section adopted banishing politics forever. The order now began to revive, but many who had been members of the infant organization in 1866 had lost confidence in its ability to protect itself against the attacks of its old-time enemy, and its advance was slow.

But the slow and steady growth from 1872, the time of the amendment to the laws, to 1880, gave the order such a healthy foundation that it is destined to exist so long as there are enough soldiers alive to form a Post.

From the time of the organization in Illinois in February, 1866, until the National convention at Indianapolis in November of that year. Comrade Stephenson acted as Provisional Commander-in-Qiief, and supervised the formation of Posts in other States.

Under John A. Logan's administration as Commander-in-Chief, the general order was first issued establishing the beautiful and honored custom of decorating^ soldiers" graves on the 30th of May. This custom will be continued by the G. A. R. and the organizations which will follow it until the Nation shall have lost its patriotism and the love of free government.

The Grand Army of the Republic is strictly a charitable institution, having for its purpose not only the relief of its own members, but the extension of aid to all worthy soldiers and their families who may need its assistance, not only in a financial way, but in many ways by which one comrade may assist another. Through its various channels of gathering testimony, many worthy soldiers have secured pensions justly due them, but which could not have been obtained but for the evidence collected and furnished by the order.

The order is composed of Posts, Departments and the National Encampment. A State is usually a Department, but in the Southern States and the Territories, where the order is weak, two or more are consolidated to form a Department.

All officers of the Grand Army are elected or appointed for one year, and since the organization of the National Encampment in 1866 the following comrades have been elected Commanders-in-Chief :

Stephen A. Hurlbut, of Illinois, elected at Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1866. He was Commander-in-Chief in 1867 also, as the National Encampment was not held in that year.

John A. Logan, of Illinois, was elected at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1868; at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1869, and at Washington, District of Columbia, in 1870.

James A. Sexton, of Illinois, was elected at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1898. He died in office February 5, 1899, and was succeeded by W. C. Johnson, of Ohio, promoted from Senior Vice-Commander-in-Chief.

The report of the Adjutant General of the Grand Army of the RepubHc for the year 1904 shows the condition of the order in the United States at that time to have been as follows :

Losses In Membership Since 1890

In 1890 the high water mark of membership was reached, 409,489. Since then each year has shown a falling off, the losses by years being as follows:

Was org-anized November 22, 1866, but owing to the causes already related^ was of short duration. Many Posts were organized, but soon ceased to exist, and the Department organization became a thing of the past.

In 1879 several Posts were organized under the Department of Illinois, and on the nth of August of that year enough were in existence in the State to form a Department, and the first encampment was held at Terre Haute on the date named and elected Comrade Johnathan B. Hager, of Morton Post No. i. Terre Haute, Department Commander. There are now more than 400 Posts in the Department, with a membership of more than 16,000. Prior to 1879, the Commanders were Robert S. Foster, Nathan Kimball, Oliver i\I. Wilson and Louis Humphrey.

.Johnathan B. Hager, of Terre Ha'.ite. was elected at Terre Haute in 1879. Samuel E. Armstrong, of Greencastle, was elected at Brazil in 1880. William W. Dudley, of Richmond, was elected at Indianapolis in 1881. James R. Carnahan, elected, Greencastle, 1882; Indanapolis, 1883. Edwin Nicar, of South Bend, was elected at Indianapolis in 1884. David N. Foster, of Fort Wayne, was elected at Indianapolis in 1885. Thomas W. Bennett, of Richmond, was elected at Indianapolis in 1886. Ira J. Chase, of Danville, was elected at Indianapolis in 1887. Argus D. Vanosdal, of Madison, was elected at Indianapolis in 1888. Charles M. Travis, of Crawfordsville, was elected at Indianapolis in 1889. Gil R. Stormont, of Princeton, was elected at Indianapolis in 1890. Ivan N. Walker, of Indianapolis, was elected at Indianapolis in 1891. Joseph B. Cheadle, of Frankfort, was elected at Fort Wayne in 1892. James T. Johnston, of Rockville, was elected at Evansville in 1893. Albert O. Marsh, of Winchester, was elected at Lafayette in 1894. Harvey B. Shively, of Wabash, was elected at Muncie in 1895. Henry M. Caylor, of Noblesville, was elected at South Bend in 1896. James S. Dodge, of Elkhart, was elected at Richmond in 1897. Daniel Ryan, of Flat Rock, was elected at Columbus in 1898. William L. Dunlap, of Franklin, was elected at Terre Haute in 1899. David E. Beem, of Spencer, was elected at Indianapolis in 1900. Milton Garrigus, of Kokomo, was elected at Logansport in 1901. Benjamin Starr, of Richmond, was elected at Indianapolis in 1902. George W. Grubbs, of Spencer, was elected at Anderson in 1903. Daniel R. Lucas, of Indianapolis, was elected at Winona Lake in 1904. Marine D. Tackett, of Greensburg, was elected at Madison in 1905.

The report of the Assistant Adjutant General of the Department of Indiana, for the year 1904, shows the condition of the order in this State, at that time, to have been as follows :

The Grand Army of the Republic was rirst organized provisionally in Indiana, by the late General Robert S. Foster, one of Indiana's foremost soldiers. Early in November, x866, General Foster, at the request of Governor Morton, had gone to Springfield, Illinois, to consult with Doctor Stephenson regarding the extension of the order into Indiana, and upon his return to Indianapolis, he Cu once took steps to effect a provisional organization, as above stated. His plan was to have each county organized by a soldier of the Civil War, a proper person for that purpose, designated by himself. For Henry Cotuity he designated Captain David W. Chambers, then a member of the General Assembly.

Captain Chambers, having secured the promised co-operation of other soldiers of the Civil War, early in 1867 proceeded to organize a (irand Army Post in New Castle, as a nucleus for other posts to be established in the county. This Post had no particular name but was known simply as "The Cirand Army of the Republic." Captain Chambers was Commander of the same, and the other charter members of the Post, so far as can be now ascertained, were : George W. Burke, Robert B. Carr, George Hazzard (author of this History), John E. Holland. John C. Livezey, Alfred M. Thornburgh, Nathan Upham and William F. Walker.

For the reasons stated in the preceding brief history of "The Grand Army of the Republic," this Post was in existence a short time only. It held a few regular meetings, then an occasional meeting, and finally disbanded. The time was not yet ripe for a permanent organization.

General Foster, a short time before his death, which occurred in Indianapolis, Tuesday, March 3, 1903, while he was serving as Quartermaster (leneral of the State of Indiana, told the author of this History that Captain Chambers was one of the first in any of the counties of the State to take an active interest in the proposed organization, and that it was his belief that the Post at New Castle, above mentioned, was the first Grand Army Post ever organized in Indiana.

David N. Kimball Post, No. 204, Department of Indiana. Grand Army of the Republic, was organized and instituted at Blountsville, Henry County, Indiana. July 28. 1883, in the office of Jonathan Ross, and was mustered in by Comrade

Nelson F. Qienoweth, of Abram D. Shiiltz Post, No. 73, G. A. R., Windsor, Delaware County, Indiana, mustering officer. The Post was named for and in honor of the late David Newton Kimball, of Company I, 124th Indiana Infantry, a sketch of whose life and military service is fully set forth at the end of this article.

The following named comrades were present at the organization and became charter members of the Post, viz : John D. Brewington, Erastus Burch, Jonathan Chalfant, Calvin Cross, Allen W. Galyean, Samuel Hackman, Anthony W. Jordan, William B. Lacy, Henry Main, Franklin W. Murray, Oscar Rogers, Jonathan Ross, George W. Smeltzer, Jonathan R. Whitehead.

The records of the Post are incomplete and for that reason a fuller statement of the comrades who have been officers of the Post, and other information regarding the same cannot be given. The following were officers from the organization in 1883 down to 1888, so far as they can be ascertained. The names of all of the officers are arranged alphabetically.

Qxtartermasteb Sergeant

The records of the Department Assistant Adjutant General at Indianapolis show that this Post surrendered its charter during the first quarter of the vear 1888.

The following is believed to be a complete list or roster of all who have been members of this Post. In the several alphabetical lists of soldiers and