With the approach of the Juneteenth holiday, it is a fitting time to recall the story of the 29th U.S. Colored Infantry, which was Illinois’ only African-American regiment during the Civil War.
The history of the 29th U.S.C.I. was researched in depth and published in 1998 by military historian Edward A. Miller Jr., whose book, “The Black Civil War Soldiers of Illinois,” is included in the Pekin Public Library’s Local History Room collection.
During the Civil War, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on 1 Jan. 1863. Afterwards, he requested that four regiments of African-American men should be raised. Eventually, 300,000 soldiers in 166 “colored” regiments were raised for the Union Army.
At first, enlistment was slow because of low pay — and because it was expected that captured black soldiers would be badly treated by the Confederacy (as happened at Fort Pillow in Tennessee on 12 April 1864 – about 300 Colored Troops were murdered by the Confederate forces after they had surrendered.)
The War Department set up the Bureau for Colored Troops to determine which white soldiers to commission as officers for the new colored regiments. Non-commissioned officers and privates were African-American. At first there was a stigma attached to being a white officer in a colored regiment, but the prospect of rapid promotion overcame the stigma. Famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass made a visit to Peoria to encourage enlistment in the Colored Troops.
The 29th United States Colored Infantry Regiment was organized at Quincy and mustered into federal service on 24 April 1864. Lieut. Col. John A. Bross of Chicago organized the regiment and became its commanding officer. Bross formerly commanded Co. A of the 88th Illinois Infantry and was a veteran of the Battle of Stones River. His brother was a Chicago Tribune newspaper editor who later became lieutenant governor of Illinois. Because of his political connections, Bross endured mockery as not being a real soldier.
Ten companies were organized: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and K. The original captain of Co. B was Hector H. Aiken and the original captain of Co. G. was William A. Southwell.
In brief, the history of the 29th U.S.C.I. was: 1) Ordered to Annapolis, Maryland, 27 May 1864, and from there to Alexandria, Virginia; 2) Attached to the defenses of Washington, D.C., 22nd Corps, until June 1864; 3) 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, 9th Corps, Army of the Potomac, until Sept. 1864; 4) 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 9th Corps until Dec. 1864; and 5) 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 25th Corps, and Dept. of Texas, until Nov. 1865.
Here is a more detailed service record and list of the 29th U.S.C.I.’s battles and engagements:
Duty at Alexandria, Virginia, till 15 June 1864. Moved to White House, Virginia, thence to Petersburg, Virginia.
Siege operations against Petersburg and Richmond 19 June 1864 to 3 April 1865.
Explosion, Petersburg, 30 July 1864 – Battle of the Crater, a debacle with Union losses of 504 killed, 1,881 wounded, 1,413 missing or captured; Lieut. Col. Bross and Capt. Hector Aiken were both killed. The 29th U.S.C.I. alone suffered two officers and 38 enlisted men killed, four officers and 53 enlisted men wounded, and 33 enlisted men captured.
Weldon Railroad, Aug. 18-21.
Poplar Grove Church, Sept. 29-30, and Oct. 1.
Hatcher’s Run, Oct. 27-28.
On the Bermuda Hundred front and before Richmond till April 1865.
Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9. Present at the Surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Duty in the Dept. of Virginia till May.
Moved to Dept. of Texas May and June, and duty on the Rio Grande till November.
Mustered out 6 Nov. 1865.
The regiment lost during its service three officers and 43 enlisted men who were killed and mortally wounded and 188 enlisted men by disease – for a total of 234.
The Butler Medal, shown here, was a silver medal commissioned by Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler and paid for out of his own pocket, given to more than 200 members of the Colored Troops in recognition of their valor at the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm and New Market Heights (29-30 Sept. 1864) during the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia. The Latin motto ‘Ferro iis libertas perveniet’ means “Freedom Will be Theirs by the Sword.”
One of the most remarkable episodes in this regiment’s history is that it was present at the first Juneteenth. How that came about is that after Lee’s surrender, the South in general, and Texas in particular, needed occupational forces. Union soldiers were eager to go home, but many in the Colored Troops were willing to stay on the payroll.
Gen. Meigs, quartermaster, still had over 3,000 supply ships, so he put to sea the largest amphibious operation of the war, sending 30,000 troops of the 13th and 25th Corps to the Rio Grande. The port of Galveston surrendered June 5. The 28th Indiana, 29th Illinois, and the 31st New York units of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division USCT arrived at Galveston Bay on June 18.
The white units of 34th Iowa, 83rd and 114th Ohio and 94th Illinois all arrived within a few days. Over 6,000 men landed within a week, and the racial makeup of the soldiers in Galveston on Juneteenth 1865 was about half black and half white.
Pekin and Tazewell County provided 11 men to the 29th U.S.C.I., five of whom were present at Juneteenth. Those men are listed below, with the names of the Juneteenth eyewitnesses in boldface:
William Henry Costley, son of Benjamin and Nance Costley, of Pekin, Co. B
Edward W. Lewis, of Peoria, formerly of Pekin (married Bill Costley’s sister Amanda in Pekin in 1858), unassigned (served as an Army cook).
William Henry Ashby, of Pekin, Co. G
Marshall Ashby, of Pekin, Co. G
Nathan Ashby, of Pekin, Co. G
William J. Ashby, of Pekin, Co. G, fell sick 27 March 1865, in hospital most of the rest of his term of service, mustered out 6 Nov. 1865.
Thomas Shipman, of Pekin, Co. D, a sharpshooter, killed in the line of duty 31 March 1865 during the Appomattox Campaign. (Miller, p.148, says Shipman was killed 30 March 1865, but his service file says 31 March.)
George H. Hall, of Pekin, Co. B, fell sick 18 May 1865, in hospital most of the rest of his term of service, mustered out 6 Nov. 1865.
Wilson Price, of Elm Grove Township, military records do not list his company, or mention when or how his service ended.
Thomas M. Tumbleson, of Elm Grove Township, Co. B, discharged 30 Sept. 1865 at Ringgold Barracks, Rio Grande, Texas.
Morgan Day, of Elm Grove Township, Co. G, fell sick 27 March 1865, died of dysentery 6 Sept. 1865 in New Orleans, buried in Chalmette National Cemetery, Louisiana.
The four Ashby men from Pekin are mentioned by Miller on p.118 of his book. Morgan Day was an uncle of most of the Ashby men of Pekin through his mother Rachel. Thomas Shipman also was related to the Ashbys through his brother David Shipman’s marriage to Elizabeth Ashby, who was very probably a sister of Nathan Ashby. Miller again mentions Nathan Ashby on p.201, where he describes Nathan’s life after the war:
“Pvt. Nathan Ashby, one of several solders of that family from Peoria County, Illinois, was living largely on the pension he received in 1892 for rheumatism and lung disease. In a normal review by doctors employed by the pension bureau, his pension was discontinued in 1895 because Ashby was found to be able to perform manual labor. Although restored on appeal, Ashby suffered much without the income, and, when he died in 1899, he left his wife ‘two old mules’ and no other property.”
As related in previous posts here, the Ashby family was from Fulton County but later moved to Tazewell and Peoria counties. Nathan himself moved from Pekin to Bartonville, and was buried in the defunct Moffatt Cemetery in Peoria. As Miller tells in his book, Nathan Ashby’s hard life of poverty after the war was shared by almost all of his fellow soldiers of the 29th U.S. Colored Infantry.
The Ashbys arrived in Illinois circa 1837, coming here from Virginia where their ancestors were plantation slaves. Thanks to the results of a living Ashby descendant’s DNA test, we now know that the ancestry of the Ashby family reaches back to Cameroon in Africa, which was one of the main regions from which North American slavers obtained African slaves.
The recorded history of the Ashby family as far as it is currently known commences with five African-American men who appear to be brothers, John Ashby, James Ashby, Lewis Ashby, William Ashby, and Philip Ashby, all of whom appear in U.S. Census records as early settlers in Fulton County, Illinois. It is currently uncertain whether they were born into slavery and were later manumitted (granted freedom), or rather were free black men who were children or grandchildren of African slaves. Except for Lewis Ashby, all of these Ashby men are classified as “mulatto” (biracial) or “black” or “colored” in the U.S. census and other records. The research of William Ashby’s descendant Richard White of Missouri (to whose work on the possible origins of the African-American Ashbys this writer is greatly indebted) suggests that their mother was probably a “mulatto” woman named Rachel, who later married Austin Day of Fulton County and was mother of Morgan Day of Elm Grove Township, Tazewell County, who served in the 29th U.S. Colored Infantry during the Civil War.
A research lead for the possible parentage and ancestry of the four Ashby men of Fulton County is the enumeration of a “Wm Ashby” in Culpeper County, Virginia, in the 1830 U.S. Census, whose household consisted of 19 free white persons, one free colored person aged 24-35, and 18 slaves. This William Ashby of Culpeper County, Virginia, evidently was white, but it may be that the black Ashbys of Fulton County were among the slaves of this William Ashby. Another possible lead is an 1834 list of “free negroes” living in the district of James S. Lawson, commissioner of revenue for York County, Virginia – that list includes a William Ashby living on and working his own land.
Whatever their origins, by the time of the 1835 Illinois State Census we find James Ashby, Philip Ashby, and Lewis Ashby settled in Fulton County, and by the time of the 1840 U.S. Census Philip Ashby, John Ashby, and “our” William Ashby are recorded as “colored” settlers in Liverpool Township in Fulton County (the township being located east of Lewistown, bordering Mason and Tazewell Counties on the east, with its eastern boundary being the Illinois River), while John Ashby appears in William’s household in Liverpool Township at the time of the 1860 U.S. Census. It is interesting that there was also a white settler in Fulton County about this time named William Asbury Ashby (1817-1850), son of William and Annis (Whitehurst) Ashby, who belonged to an Ashby family from Prince William County, Virginia. It is possible that John and William were related to William Asbury Ashby.
The detail from the plat of Liverpool Township, Fulton County, Illinois, in the 1871 “Atlas Map of Fulton County,” shows the land owned by William Ashby, a patriarch of the African-American Ashbys of Fulton, Peoria, and Tazewell Counties.
Several members of this Ashby family are later found in Pekin and Peoria, but it is sometimes unclear which of the African-American Ashby men of Fulton County was their father. It appears most probable that William was their father. Therefore this genealogical account provisionally lists some these Ashbys as if James or William were their father, even though positive proof of that has not yet been found for the parentage for the probable older children in the family.
First Generation
John Ashby, b. c.1803 in Virginia, d. unknown, prob. in Mo. but perhaps in Ill. John first appears on record in the 1840 U.S. Census of Fulton County, in which he is listed as “John Ashby, Colored.” In the 1860 U.S. Census, John Ashby, 55, mulatto, is enumerated in the household of William Ashby, 45, mulatto, in Liverpool Twp., Fulton Co., Ill. In the 1876 Missouri State Census, John and William again appear together as farmers in Stone County, Mo., and John, unlike William, is said to be unable to read and write. John last appears in the 1 June 1880 U.S. Census returns for Turnback, Lawrence Co., Mo., in which John Ashby, 77, black, widower, is shown as the next door neighbor of his brother William Ashby, 66, mulatto, and of his niece Clara (Ashby) Matney and her family. The identity of John’s wife or wives is unknown, and it is uncertain whether or not John had children – but he may have been the father of one or more of the Ashbys of Pekin and Peoria.
Dr.James Ashby, b. c.1808 in Virginia, d. of lung fever May 1850 in Liverpool Township, Fulton Co., Ill. James first appears on record as a Fulton County settler in the 1835 Illinois State Census. He is enumerated as “James Ashby, Colored” in the 1840 U.S. Census of Fulton County. The 1850 U.S. Census Mortality Schedules record James’ death from “lung fever” in May 1850 in Liverpool Township, Fulton Co. The same record says James, age 42, was black, married, and was a physician by profession. The identity of James’ wife or wives is unknown, and it is uncertain whether or not James had children – but he may have been the father of one or more of the African-American Ashbys of Pekin and Peoria, and likely had at least two sons and two daus. The 1879 “History of Fulton County,” pp. 821-823, record the tragic tale of the Asiatic cholera epidemic that struck Fulton County in 1849, and says, “The doctors whose services were tendered to these stricken ones were John B. McDowell, Thaddeus Nott, and a singular character named James Ashby, a mulatto. It is claimed they all did noble work and mutually saved many lives.“
Children:
James W. Ashby, prob. son of Dr. James Ashby; b. c.1825 in Virginia, d. unknown; m. 23 Oct. 1845 in Knox Co., Ill., Margaret Beverly, b. c.1824 in Ohio, d. unknown; had issue six sons and three daus. James was a day laborer who lived in Knox County, but at the time of the 1850 U.S. Census he and his wife and children lived in Peoria — and at that time among their neighbors was the family of George and Abigail (Brown) Washington, in whose house then lived Mary Beverly, age 16, b. in Ohio (prob. sister of James W. Ashby’s wife Margaret), George Shipman, 17, and Nathan Ashby, 14, b. in Ill. (prob. brother of James).
Lavinia Ashby, “a colored woman,” perhaps dau. of Dr. James Ashby; b. c.1830, d. unknown; m. 3 Nov. 1848 in Peoria County, Ill., Hiram Charoule, “a colored man,” (name in marriage record of poor legibility – looks like ‘Knam Charoule’), b. c.1823. No further record.
Elizabeth Ashby, perhaps dau. of Dr. James Ashby; b. c.1834 perhaps in Ohio or Ky., d. after the 1880 census prob. in Peoria, Ill.; m. 1st 28 Jan. 1849 in Peoria Co., Ill., David Shipman, b. c.1826 in Ill., d. prob. c.1853 in Peoria, Ill., had issue one son; m. 2nd 8 March 1854 at African M. E. Church in Peoria Co., Ill., Henry Chase, b. c.1830 in Maryland, d. post 13 June 1880 prob. in Peoria, had issue two daus. Elizabeth and Henry apparently divorced, for she m. 3rd 8 Aug. 1859 in Peoria Edwin Howard, b. c.1831 in Kentucky, d. in or after 1887 prob. in Pekin, Ill.; she and Edwin had issue two daus. Elizabeth’s ex-husband Henry Chase rem. 30 March 1860 in Peoria Co., Ill., Lavina Shavus, b. c.1833 in Ill., and had issue two sons and two daus., but Henry and Lavina divorced c.1878.
Pvt. Nathan Ashby, prob. son of Dr. James Ashby; b. c.1836 or c.1839 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 31 July 1899 in Bartonville, Peoria Co., Ill., buried in the former Moffatt Cemetery, Peoria, Ill.; m. 16 Aug. 1860 in Peoria, Ill., Elizabeth Warfield, b. 1831 in Ill. or Ohio, d. 26 July 1906 in Peoria, Ill., buried in Springdale Cemetery, Peoria; had issue a dau.; served in 29th U.S. Colored Infantry, Co. G., from 21 Sept. 1864 to 30 Sept. 1865; Juneteenth 1865 eyewitness. Nathan and Elizabeth moved back and forth between Pekin and Peoria, finally settling in Bartonville. Nathan’s occupation is given in Peoria city directories and censuses as “fireman” (a stoker of an industrial furnace) and a day laborer.
Lewis Ashby, prob. born in Virginia, enumerated as a settler of Fulton County in the 1835 Illinois State Census. No further information. Lewis may have been the father of one or more of the African-American Ashbys of Pekin and Peoria.
William Ashby, b. c.1812 in Virginia, d. 24 May 1884 in Stone County, Mo., buried in Nickerson Cemetery, Kimberling City, Stone Co., Mo.; m. prob. twice, 1st say c.1835 (NN) and had issue prob. including no less than three sons; m. 2nd c.1851 in Fulton Co., Ill., Elizabeth (Macklin) Clark, b. c.1812 in Ohio, d. c.1853 in Liverpool Twp., Fulton Co., Ill., ex-wife of Benjamin Clark of Liverpool Twp. William and Elizabeth had issue no less than three daus. and no less than two sons. William was enumerated as a resident of Fulton County in the 1840 U.S. Census. In the 1850 U.S. Census he was enumerated as a single farmer working $300 of land in Liverpool Twp., Fulton Co., living next door to Benjamin and Elizabeth Clark and their children. Also living nearby was Elizabeth’s brother Tobi Macklin, 30, blacksmith, in whose house lived Rachel Day, 48, prob. mother of Elizabeth and Tobi. In the 1860 U.S. Census, William Ashby and his brother John are listed in Liverpool Twp. with William’s daus. Matilda, Clarissa, and Mary M., as well as Rachel Day, 65, prob. William’s mother-in-law. By the time of the 1870 U.S. Census, William’s household in Liverpool Twp. Consisted of just him and his children Clarissa and Joseph. By 1876, William and his brother John were farmers in Stone County, Mo., and in the 1 June 1880 U.S. Census returns for Turnback, Lawrence Co., Mo., we find William, 66, mulatto, widower, and his brother John, 77, black, widower, enumerated as farmers living next door to the family of William’s dau. Clara/Clarissa. Cemetery records show that William is buried in Nickerson Cemetery in an unmarked grave on the right of the grave of his youngest dau. Mary Margaret (Clark-Ashby) Nickerson.
Children:
Pvt. William Henry Ashby, prob. son of William Ashby; b. c.1836 in Ohio or Fayette Co., Ky., d. post 15 Aug. 1890 perhaps in Peoria Co., Ill.; served in 29th U.S. Colored Infantry, Co. G., from 21 Sept. 1864 to 30 Sept. 1865; Juneteenth 1865 eyewitness; m. 18 July 1868 in Tazewell Co., Ill., Phoebe Smith, b. c.1850 in Ill., d. unknown. William and Phoebe were farming in Hollis Twp., Peoria Co., Ill. Issue, if any, unknown.
Moses (‘Mose’) Ashby, prob. son of William Ashby; b. c.1837 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. unknown; m. 1 June 1870 in Pekin, Ill., Ellen Woodworth, b. c.1847 in Ill., d. unknown. Mose, 23, and William Ashby, 21, both “mulatto,” were laborers in the household of Peter and Margaret Devore in Pekin at the time of the 1860 U.S. Census. Moses is listed in the 1861 Pekin City Directory as a livery hand residing on the south side of Ann Eliza St., 1st door west of Third St. In June 1870 he and his wife Ellen were indicted by a Tazewell Co. grand jury for interracial marriage. No further record.
Sgt. Marshall Ashby, prob. son of William Ashby; b. c.1840 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. unknown; twice married; 1st marriage c.1860; Marshall served in 29th U.S. Colored Infantry, Co. G., from 21 Sept. 1864 to 30 Sept. 1865; Juneteenth 1865 eyewitness; m. 2nd 14 March 1866 in Pekin, Ill., Mary Jane Luce, b. c.1855 in Ohio, d. unknown. In March 1866, Marshall and Mary Jane were indicted by a Tazewell Co. grand jury for interracial marriage. No further record.
Pvt. William J. Clark-Ashby, son of William and Elizabeth (Macklin-Clark) Ashby; b. 17 Jan. 1840 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 17 June 1925 in Ill., buried in Sunset Cemetery, Quincy, Ill.; served in 29th U.S. Colored Infantry, Co. G., from 21 Sept. 1864 to 6 Nov. 1865, but was sick in hospital from March 1865 on; m. 30 July 1866 in Peoria County, Ill., (her 2nd. m.) Sarah Jane (Lowder) Carroll, dau. of Samuel and Lucretia (Reynolds) Lowder of Hendricks Co., Ind., and Fulton Co., Ill., b. 29 Jan. 1835 in Indiana, d. 4 Nov. 1900 in Pekin, Ill., buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Pekin. William and Sarah had issue two sons and two daus., besides two daus. and one son born of Sarah’s 1st m. to Samuel Carroll of Liverpool Twp., Fulton Co., Ill. William worked as a laborer and coal miner.
Malinda Ashby, prob. dau. of William and Elizabeth (Macklin-Clark) Ashby; b. c. 1845 prob. in Fulton Co., Ill.; is prob. the Malinda Johnson who d. 7 March 1915 in Peoria, Ill., buried 10 March 1915 in Springdale Cemetery, Peoria; Malinda Ashby m. 6 July 1861 in Peoria Co., Ill., John Henry Johnson, b. say c.1840. No further record.
Matilda Jane Clark-Ashby, dau. of William and Elizabeth (Macklin-Clark) Ashby; b. 17 Aug. 1846 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 29 Dec. 1927 in Jasper Co., Mo., buried in Fairview Cemetery, Joplin, Mo.; m. 1st 6 April 1862 in Fulton Co., Ill., William Henry Oatman, b. c.1827 in Ohio, d. after 1880 U.S. Census, had issue three sons and three daus.; m. 2nd c.1890 in Missouri (his 2nd m.) Daniel Messenger, b. Ohio, d. 27 June 1898 in Jasper Co., Mo., buried in Fairview Cemetery, Joplin, Mo., no issue of this m.
Clarissa R. (‘Clara’) Clark-Ashby, dau. of William and Elizabeth (Macklin-Clark) Ashby; b. 11 March 1849 in Liverpool Twp., Fulton Co., Ill., d. 6 July 1935 in Texas City, Galveston Co., Texas, buried 7 July 1935 in La Marque Cemetery, La Marque, Texas; m. 30 July 1875 in Fulton Co., Ill., John Matney, b. June 1853 in Indiana, d. 22 March 1916 in Texas City, Galveston Co., Texas, buried 24 March 1916 in La Marque Cemetery, La Marque, Texas, had issue three daus.
Mary Margaret Clark-Ashby, dau. of William and Elizabeth (Macklin-Clark) Ashby; b. 14 Feb. 1851 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 29 Nov. 1938 in James Twp., Stone Co., Mo., buried in Nickerson Cemetery, Kimberling City, Stone Co., Mo.; m. 1 March 1870 in Fulton Co., Ill., Joshua Nickerson, b. 3 Feb. 1845 in Indiana, d. 10 March 1930 in Stone Co., Mo., buried in Nickerson Cemetery; had issue one dau. and one son.
Joseph Ashby, son of William and Elizabeth (Macklin-Clark) Ashby; b. c.1854 in Fulton Co., Ill., enumerated in 1870 U.S. Census in the household of William Ashby, 54, farmer of Liverpool Twp., Fulton Co., Ill., no further record.
Philip Ashby, prob. born in Virginia, enumerated as a settler of Fulton County in the 1835 Illinois State Census; enumerated as “Philip Ashby, Colored” in the 1840 U.S. Census of Fulton County, Ill. No further information. Philip may have been the father of one or more of the African-American Ashbys of Pekin and Peoria.
Second Generation
James W. Ashby, prob. son of Dr. James Ashby; b. c.1825 in Virginia, d. unknown; m. 23 Oct. 1845 in Knox Co., Ill., Margaret Beverly, b. c.1824 in Ohio, d. unknown; had issue six sons and three daus. James was a day laborer who lived in Knox County, but at the time of the 1850 U.S. Census he and his wife and children lived in Peoria — and at that time among their neighbors was the family of George and Abigail (Brown) Washington, in whose house then lived Mary Beverly, age 16, b. in Ohio (prob. sister of James W. Ashby’s wife Margaret), and Nathan Ashby, 14, b. in Ill. (prob. brother of James).
Children:
Robert Ashby, b. c.1845 in Ill., d. unknown; listed as “deaf mute” in the 1880 U.S. Census Schedule of Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes for Oneida, Knox Co., Ill.; no further information.
James A. Ashby, b. c.1847 in Ill., d. unknown; enumerated with his parents and siblings in Knox, Knox Co., Ill., in the 1860 U.S. Census; no subsequent record.
Sarah A. Ashby, b. c.1852 in Ill., d. unknown; m. 21 Oct. 1869 in Knox Co., Ill., (his 2nd m.) Frank Gash, b. c.1837 in Mo., had issue one dau. and three sons.
Mary Ashby, b. c.1854 in Ill., d. unknown; enumerated with her parents and siblings in Knox, Knox Co., Ill., in the 1860 U.S. Census; no subsequent record.
John Henry Stewart Ashby, b. 10 Feb. 1855 in Peoria, Ill., d. 28 Feb. 1917 in Galesburg, Ill., buried in Linwood Cemetery, Galesburg; m. 1st 16 Dec.1875 in Knox Co., Ill., Mary Duke, b. 1 May 1859 in Ky., d. unknown; had issue one dau. and two sons; m. 2nd 27 Oct. 1881 in Knox Co., Ill., Sarah Duke, b. Sept. 1867 in Ky., d. 19 May 1953 in Galesburg, Ill.,; had issue three sons. John was a scavenger wagon teamster.
Franklin T. (‘Frank’) Ashby, b. c.1857 in Ill., d. unknown; m. 1st 6 Nov. 1879 in Knox Co., Ill., (her 2nd m.) Sarah A. (Lewis) Curtis, b. c.1858 in Iowa, d. unknown; issue unknown; m. 2nd 1 Nov. 1888 in Knox Co., Ill., Hattie Dunlop, b. c.1860, d. unknown; issue unknown.
Elizabeth Ada Ashby, b. May 1860 in Knox, Knox Co., Ill., d. unknown; enumerated with her parents and siblings in Knox, Knox Co., Ill., in the 1870 U.S. Census; no subsequent record.
Abram (‘Abe’) Ashby, b. c.1862 in Knox Co., Ill., d. unknown; m. 6 Jan. 1910 in King Co., Wash., Zella M. Carter, b. c.1881 in Ohio; issue unknown.
Lillie Ashby, b. c.1865 in Ill., d. unknown; m. 26 Aug. 1886 in Knox Co., Ill., Harry Monroe, b. c. 1864, d. unknown, son of Mike and Sarah (Gash) Monroe; issue if any unknown; no subsequent record.
Alonzo M. Ashby, b. c.1872 in Ill., d. unknown; enumerated with his parents and siblings in Knox, Knox Co., Ill., in the 1880 U.S. Census; no subsequent record.
Elizabeth Ashby, perhaps dau. of Dr. James Ashby; b. c.1834 perhaps in Ohio or Ky., d. after the 1880 census prob. in Peoria, Ill.; m. 1st 28 Jan. 1849 in Peoria Co., Ill., David Shipman, b. c.1826 in Ill., d. prob. c.1853 in Peoria, Ill., had issue one son; m. 2nd 8 March 1854 at African M. E. Church in Peoria Co., Ill., Henry Chase, b. c.1830 in Maryland, d. post 13 June 1880 prob. in Peoria, had issue two daus. Elizabeth and Henry apparently divorced, for she m. 3rd 8 Aug. 1859 in Peoria Edwin Howard, b. c.1831 in Kentucky, d. in or after 1887 prob. in Pekin, Ill.; she and Edwin had issue two daus. Elizabeth’s ex-husband Henry rem. 30 March 1860 in Peoria Co., Ill., Lavina Shavus, b. c.1833 in Ill., and had issue two sons and two daus., but Henry and Lavina divorced c.1878.
Children:
(NN) Shipman, b. c. 1850 in Peoria Co., Ill., a son of David and Elizabeth (Ashby) Shipman, prob. the free colored male under age 10 enumerated in the 1855 Illinois State Census as living in the household of Henry Chase in Peoria. No further record.
Josephine Chase, b. c.1855 in Peoria, Ill., dau. of Henry and Elizabeth (Ashby) Chase, enumerated in the household of Henry Chase of Peoria in the 1860 and 1870 U.S. Censuses. No further record.
Mary A. Chase, b. c. 1857 in Peoria, Ill., dau. of Henry and Elizabeth (Ashby) Chase, enumerated in the household of Henry Chase of Peoria in the 1860 and 1870 U.S. Censuses. No further record.
Mary Melinda Howard, b. May 1860 in Pekin, Ill., dau. of Edwin and Elizabeth (Ashby-Shipman) Howard, enumerated in the household of Edward and Elizabeth Howard of Pekin in the 1870 U.S. Census. No further record.
Elizabeth (‘Liza’) Howard, b. Dec. 1869 in Pekin, Ill., d. prob. before 24 May 1893 prob. in Peoria, Ill., dau. of Edwin and Elizabeth (Ashby-Shipman) Howard, enumerated in the household of Edward and Elizabeth Howard of Pekin in the 1870 and 1880 U.S. Censuses; m. 21 Feb. 1883 in Peoria, Ill., Edward Phillip Ewing, b. 10 Nov. 1850 in Nashville, Tenn., d. 22 April 1926 in Peoria (Limestone Township), Ill., a distillery fireman, son of Edward and Margaret (Chavers) Ewing. Issue of this m., if any, unknown. Edward subsequently rem. 24 May 1893 in Peoria Laura Smith, b. c.1869 in Missouri, enumerated in the 1900 U.S. Census in Peoria as Edward’s wife; issue of this m., if any, unknown. Edward m. 3rd 15 Feb. 1909 in Peoria Willie Brewer, b. c.1882 in Macon, Miss., dau. of Dallas and Malinda (Pope) Brewer, enumerated in the 1910 U.S. Census in Peoria as Edward’s wife, with one child noted who apparently had died in infancy.
Pvt. Nathan Ashby, prob. son of Dr. James Ashby; b. c.1836 or c.1839 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 31 July 1899 in Bartonville, Peoria Co., Ill., buried in the former Moffatt Cemetery, Peoria, Ill.; m. 16 Aug. 1860 in Peoria, Ill., Elizabeth Warfield, b. 1831 in Ill. or Ohio, d. 26 July 1906 in Peoria, Ill., buried in Springdale Cemetery, Peoria; had issue a dau.; served in 29th U.S. Colored Infantry, Co. G., from 21 Sept. 1864 to 30 Sept. 1865; Juneteenth 1865 eyewitness. Nathan and Elizabeth moved back and forth between Pekin and Peoria, finally settling in Bartonville. Nathan’s occupation is given in Peoria city directories and censuses as “fireman” (a stoker of an industrial furnace) and a day laborer.
Children:
Olive Jane Ashby, b. c.1872 prob. in Pekin, Ill., no further record.
Pvt. William J. Clark-Ashby, son of William and Elizabeth (Macklin-Clark) Ashby; b. 17 Jan. 1840 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 17 June 1925 in Ill., buried in Sunset Cemetery, Quincy, Ill.; served in 29th U.S. Colored Infantry, Co. G., from 21 Sept. 1864 to 6 Nov. 1865, but was sick in hospital from March 1865 on; m. 30 July 1866 in Peoria County, Ill., (her 2nd. m.) Sarah Jane (Lowder) Carroll, dau. of Samuel and Lucretia (Reynolds) Lowder of Hendricks Co., Ind., and Fulton Co., Ill., b. 29 Jan. 1835 in Indiana, d. 4 Nov. 1900 in Pekin, Ill., buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Pekin. William and Sarah had issue two sons and two daus., besides two daus. and one son born of Sarah’s 1st m. to Samuel Carroll of Liverpool Twp., Fulton Co., Ill. William worked as a laborer and coal miner. In 1870, William was indicted by a Tazewell Co. grand jury for allegedly murdering his stepson Alfred Carroll on 12 Aug. 1870, but he was acquitted of the charge.
Children:
Louis N. Ashby, b. c.1867 prob. in Pekin, Ill., d. unknown; enumerated with his parents and siblings in Pekin in 1880 U.S. Census; listed as “Ashby Louis N, lab, r 129 Caroline” in 1887 Pekin City Directory; perhaps the “Ashby Louis, plaster, bds R. R. Exchange” in 1806 Peoria City Directory. No further record.
Catherine Clark-Ashby, b. 14 July 1869 in Pekin, Ill., d. 28 May 1938 in Summum, Fulton Co., Ill., buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Pekin; m. 1st 20 Jan. 1886 in Tazewell Co., Ill., (his 1st m.) Leonard B. Hoover, b. 1 Sept. 1871 in Wawpecung, Ind., d. 6 May 1934 in Peoria, Ill., b. in Lakeside Cemetery, Pekin; had issue one son; m. 2nd 1904 in Henry Co., Ill., William B. Clark, b. 2 Aug. 1862 in New York State, d. 11 Aug. 1921 in Limestone Twp., Peoria Co., Ill., buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Pekin; no issue of this m.
Charles Ashby, b. c.1873 in Pekin, Ill., d. unknown; enumerated with his parents and siblings in Pekin in 1880 U.S. Census; listed as “Ashby Charles, cigar mkr. Moenkemoeller & Schlottmann, res. 127 Caroline” in 1887 Pekin City Directory. No further record.
Sarah Lisabeth (‘Sadie’) Ashby, b. c.1873 in Pekin, Ill., d. ante 9 June 1900 prob. in Pekin; buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Pekin; m. 30 July 1894 in Peoria Co., Ill., Richard Emmett (‘Dick’) Byrnes, b. 6 Oct. 1862 in Pekin, Ill., d. mysteriously 15 Oct. 1927 in Havana, Mason Co., Ill., buried in Lakeside Cemetery, Pekin; had issue one dau.
Matilda Jane Clark-Ashby, dau. of William and Elizabeth (Macklin-Clark) Ashby; b. 17 Aug. 1846 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 29 Dec. 1927 in Jasper Co., Mo., buried in Fairview Cemetery, Joplin, Mo.; m. 1st 6 April 1862 in Fulton Co., Ill., William Henry Oatman, b. c.1827 in Ohio, d. after 1880 U.S. Census, had issue three sons and three daus.; m. 2nd c.1890 in Missouri (his 2nd m.) Daniel Messenger, b. Ohio, d. 27 June 1898 in Jasper Co., Mo., buried in Fairview Cemetery, Joplin, Mo., no issue of this m.
Children:
William Henry Oatman Jr., b. c.1863 in Fulton Co., Ill., perhaps is the William H. Oatman who m. 1st 7 May 1885 in Greene Co., Mo., Jennie Williams, m. 2nd 31 Oct. 1892 in Springfield, Green Co., Mo., Polly D. Brown, and m. 3rd 17 July 1896 in Springfield, Greene Co., Mo., Emma Oliver, and d. 22 May 1899, buried in Hazelwood Cemetery, Springfield, Mo. No further record.
Francis Marion (‘Frank’) Oatman, b. Oct. 1866 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. post 1934 prob. in Missouri; m. 1st 29 May 1902 in Jackson Co., Mo., Mamie A. Smith, b. Aug. 1877 in Mo., d. prob. bef. 1920 U.S. Census; m. 2nd Lena (NN), b. c.1871 in Arkansas, d. unknown. Issue, if any, unknown. Frank was a farm laborer.
George Lewis Oatman, b. 1 Dec. 1868 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 30 Jan. 1930 in Chicago, Ill.; m. c.1897 Jennie (NN), b. c.1872 in Missouri, d. 31 Dec. 1945 in Chicago, Ill.; had issue one dau.
Sarah Anna (‘Annie’) Oatman, b. 5. Jan. 1871 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 7 Jan. 1929 in Joplin, Mo.. buried 9 Jan. 1929 in Fairview Cemetery, Joplin, Mo.; m. c.1897 in Joplin, Mo., (his 2nd m.) Jacob F. (‘Jake’) Becker, a butcher supplies retail salesman, b. 13 March 1854 in Indiana, d. 23 Sept. 1921 in Joplin, Mo., buried 23 Sept. 1921 in Fairview Cemetery, Joplin, Mo.; had issue two sons.
Adaline Oatman, b. c.1872 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. ante the 17 June 1880 U.S. Census; enumerated with her parents and siblings and her grandfather William Ashby and great-uncle John Ashby in the 1876 Missouri State Census for Stone Co., Mo.
Ida Frances Oatman, b. 5 Aug. 1875 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 20 Sept. 1959 in Joplin, Mo., buried 22 Sept. 1959 in Fairview Cemetery, Joplin, Mo.; by William Wesley Walkenshaw, b. 14 May 1879 in Kansas, d. 22 Oct. 1941 in Dallas, Texas, Ida had issue one son; by Jesse Jabez Shelby, b. 31 July 1875 in Butler Co., Mo., d. 30 Oct. 1955 in Joplin, Mo., Ida had issue one dau.; by various unknown fathers, Ida had issue three daus. and two sons; by C. E. Martin, Ida had issue one son; by her husband Edward Franklin Copher, b. 26 Oct. 187 in Eureka Springs, Carroll Co., Arkansas, d. 10 Oct. 1950 in Joplin, Mo., buried 12 Oct. 1950 in Fairview Cemetery, Joplin, Mo., Ida had two sons and one dau.
Clarissa R. (‘Clara’) Clark-Ashby, dau. of William and Elizabeth (Macklin-Clark) Ashby; b. 11 March 1849 in Liverpool Twp., Fulton Co., Ill., d. 6 July 1935 in Texas City, Galveston Co., Texas, buried 7 July 1935 in La Marque Cemetery, La Marque, Texas; m. 30 July 1875 in Fulton Co., Ill., John Matney, b. June 1853 in Indiana, d. 22 March 1916 in Texas City, Galveston Co., Texas, buried 24 March 1916 in La Marque Cemetery, La Marque, Texas, had issue three daus.
Children:
Margaret J. (‘Maggie’) Matney, b. Feb. 1877 in Illinois, d. unknown; m. William T. Smith, b. Nov. 1848 in Vermont, prob. d. ante 16 May 1910 U.S. Census; had issue a son and a dau. Maggie ran a boarding house in Texas City, Texas.
Emeley Ellen Matney, b. 14 Oct. 1880 in Missouri, d. 22 July 1943 in Galveston, Texas, buried 24 July 1943 in South Park Cemetery, Pearland, Texas; m. (NN) Jacobs, issue if any unknown.
Fred Thomas Matney, b. 7 July 1883 in Springfield, Greene Co., Mo., d. unknown, but ante 10 Sept. 1976 when a Social Security Claim was paid; m. 1st c.1906 in Missouri, Maud (NN), b. c.1885 in Nebraska; m. 2nd 12 Dec. 1919 in Louisville, Jefferson Co., Ky., Dorothy M. McKinley, b. c. 1901 in Pa. Issue if any unknown. Fred was a theater stage hand in New York City and elsewhere.
Bessie Kathryn Matney, b. 30 Sept. 1887 in Missouri, d. 3 Aug. 1944 in Houston, Texas, buried in South Park Cemetery, Pearland, Texas; m. c. 1914 William Robert Conway, b. 13 Jan. 1886 in Pa., d. 16 Oct. 1959 in Houston, Texas, buried in South Park Cemetery, Pearland Texas; had issue one son.
Mary Margaret Clark-Ashby, dau. of William and Elizabeth (Macklin-Clark) Ashby; b. 14 Feb. 1851 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 29 Nov. 1938 in James Twp., Stone Co., Mo., buried in Nickerson Cemetery, Kimberling City, Stone Co., Mo.; m. 1 March 1870 in Fulton Co., Ill., Joshua Nickerson, b. 3 Feb. 1845 in Indiana, d. 10 March 1930 in Stone Co., Mo., buried in Nickerson Cemetery; had issue one dau. and one son.
Children:
America Frances Nickerson, b. 15 June 1874 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 18 Nov. 1943 in Stone Co., Mo., buried in Nickerson Cemetery, Kimberling City, Stone Co., Mo.; m. 9 May 1891 in Stone Co., Mo., John L. White, b. 1865 in Carroll, Boone Co., Arkansas, d. 27 Oct. 1946 in Stone Co.. Mo.; had issue three daus. and four sons.
William Albert Nickerson, b. 28 Jan. 1877 in Fulton Co., Ill., d. 1 June 1952 in Butte Co., Calif.; m. 2 March 1897 in Stone Co., Mo., Dellah Pearl Harris, b. 21 Feb. 1879 in Henderson Co., Tenn., d. 22 Nov. 1948 in Oroville, Butte Co., Calif.; had issue one dau. and one son.
The account of the descendants of William Ashby of Liverpool Township, Fulton County, Illinois, will continue next week.
Shown here is an old printed copy of the first four of Major Gen. Gordon Granger’s five “General Orders” implementing martial law in Texas following Texas’ surrender after the end of the Civil War. General Order No. 3, issued 19 June 1865, in Galveston, Texas, proclaimed “all slaves are free” and that they had “absolute equality” with their former owners. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
For those who were unable to attend Pekin’s first-ever Juneteenth celebration at the Pekin Public Library that was co-sponsored earlier this month by the Pekin YWCA Coalition for Equality along with the library, below is a link to the program presented by Jared Olar, the library’s local history specialist, telling the stories of four Pekin men — Pvt. William Henry Costley, Cpl. William Henry Ashby, Sgt. Marshall Ashby, and Cpl. Nathan Ashby — who served in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War and were eyewitnesses of the first Juneteenth in 1865. (Besides Pekin’s four Juneteenth eyewitnesses, a fifth Tazewell County volunteer for the Colored Troops, Thomas Marcellus Tumbleson of Elm Grove Township, was also present at the first Juneteenth.)
Before the Juneteenth program, Jared Olar was interviewed by WCBU Peoria Public Radio News Director Tim Shelley about the same subject. Quotes from that interview are included in the following WCBU news report at their website. Twenty-minutes of the interview aired on WCBU during the local news half-hour on Friday at 6 p.m. (the eve of Juneteenth) in the middle of the “All Things Considered” broadcast. Audio of the entire 45-minute interview is linked on the WCBU website immediately below this article:
Continuing our review of what historical records can tell us of 19th-century African-American residents of Pekin, this week we move on to the period from the 1860s to the 1880s — the decades of the Civil War and its aftermath, when slavery finally was abolished and civil rights for blacks first began to be enshrined in law.
As we have seen, the numbers of African-Americans in Pekin were already quite low at the time of the 1850 U.S. Census. Ten years later, on the eve of the Civil War, their numbers were even lower. Only 18 African-Americans were enumerated as Pekin residents at the time of the 1860 U.S. Census. The number of Pekin’s African-Americans dropped to 10 in the 1870 census, but increased to 19 in the 1880 census.
One of Pekin’s few African-Americans in 1860 was Malinda Cooper, 19, “mulatto” (i.e. mixed-race), born in Illinois, a servant in the household of Daniel and Mary Bastions. Also living with the Bastions at that time was a white girl named Mary or May Warfield, 11, born in Illinois – we’ll hear more about Mary Warfield further on.
Pekin in 1860 was also the home of the “mulatto” family of Virginia-born John Brown, 44, a barber, who is enumerated in the census with his wife Charlotte, 43, and children or grandchildren George W., 20, Caroline M., 20, and Amanda, 3.
The 1860 census also shows a black family living in Pekin, headed by Virginia-born Edward Hard, 29, “black,” a laborer, whose wife Elizabeth Hard, 28, “mulatto,” and one-month-old daughter Mary, are listed in the house with Edward. A year later, the 1861 Roots City Directory of Pekin lists “Howard Edward (colored), laborer, res. Market, ss. 1st d. e. Third” – apparently the same man as “Edward Hard” of the 1860 census. The 1870 U.S. Census for Pekin enumerates the family of Kentucky-born “Edwin Howard,” 45, black, a fireman in a distillery, with his wife Elizabeth, 49, and their daughters Melinda, 10, and Elizabeth, 6 months. “Edwin” is, again, apparently the same man as “Edward” Howard or Hard. Living in the Howard household at the time of the 1870 census was Alabama-born Allen T. Davison, 23, black, a fireman in a distillery, and his wife Sarah J. Davison, 18.
The same year, the 1870 Sellers & Bates City Directory of Pekin shows “Howard Ed., (colored), laborer, res ne cor Front and Isabella.” Six years after that, the 1876 Bates City Directory of Pekin shows “Howard Edwin, (col) fireman distillery, res ns Isabel 1d e Front,” and shows Allen T. Davison as “Davison Travis, foreman distil’ry, res ns Isabel 1d w Second” (“foreman” an error for “fireman”). Four years later, Allen Travis Davison is counted in the 1880 U.S. Census of Pekin as “Travis Davis-Son” (sic), 33, then rooming in the house of the white family of Edward and Mary Elster at 117 Court St. (the census taker erroneously read the “-son” of Travis’ surname to mean that Travis was a son of Edward and Mary).
Travis Davison does not appear as a resident of Pekin after 1880, but his former neighbor Ed Howard appears one more time – in the 1887 Bates City Directory of Pekin, he is listed as “Howard Edwin, barber 233 Court, res. 101 Isabel.”
Going back to the 1860 U.S. Census, besides the family of Benjamin and Nance Costley, the only other African-Americans of Pekin listed in that census are Moses “Mose” Ashby, 23, and his brother William Ashby, 21, both born in Illinois and identified as “mulatto.” Mose and William were then laborers living in the household of Peter and Margaret Devore. Besides Moses and William, records show two more of their brothers living in Pekin around this time: Nathaniel (or Nathan) Ashby and Marshall Ashby. The 1861 Roots City Directory of Pekin lists “Ashby Moses (colored), livery hand, Margaret, ns., 1st d. e. Front; res. Ann Eliza, ss., 1st d. w. Third” and “Ashby Nathan (colored), teamster, Ann Eliza, ss., 1st d. e. Second; res. river bank, foot of State.”
Their brother William is listed in the 1870 U.S. Census of Pekin as William J. Ashby, 27, born in Illinois, “mulatto,” a teamster, with his wife Sarah, 30, and children Lewis, 3, and Catharine, an infant. Living with them was a white girl named Laura Correl, 14. Ten years later, William is listed in the 1880 census at 172 Caroline St., as “William Asbey,” 37, black, with his wife Sarah, 45, and children Louis, 13, Catharine, 10, Sarah, 7, and Charles, 7. William next appears in Pekin in the 1887 city directory: “Ashby William J. lab. Res. 127 Caroline.” Listed right before William in that directory is “Ashby Charles, cigar mkr. Moenkemoeller & Schlottmann, res. 127 Caroline.” That seems to be William’s son Charles, who then would have been about 15. The last time William appears in Pekin is in the 1900 census, when he was listed as a 63-year-old coal miner, able to read and write, and a widower.
The four Ashby brothers were the sons of William Ashby, born in Virginia, who lived in Liverpool in Fulton County, Illinois. During the Civil War, his three sons William J., Marshall, and Nathan are known to have taken a stand in defense of human liberty by serving in the U.S. Colored Troops. Nathan and Marshall both registered for the Civil War draft on in June 1863 (but Nathan’s draft registration calls him “Nathaniel Ashley”). Nathan is listed in the 1870 Pekin city directory as “Ashby Nathan (colored), fireman, res ne cor Mary and Somerset.” The city directories and censuses do not show Nathan in Pekin after that – he later died at age 60 in Bartonville on July 31, 1899, and was buried in the defunct Moffat Cemetery on Peoria’s south side. Nathan had married a certain Elizabeth Warfield (perhaps related to Mary Warfield?) in Peoria County in 1860.
Two of the eight men from Pekin who registered for the Civil War draft in June 1863 were African-American — those two men were the brothers Marshall Ashby and Nathaniel Ashby.
Marshall’s and Nathan’s military records say they were born in Fulton County, Ill., and that they served in Company G of the 29th U.S. Colored Infantry, enlisting at Springfield on Aug. 21, 1864, and being mustered in there on Sept. 21, 1864, and being honorably discharged at the Ringgold Barracks in Texas on Sept. 30, 1865. Significantly, Marshall, Nathan, and their company were in Texas at the time of the first “Juneteenth,” so it is quite possible that they were present in Galveston for Juneteenth, as their fellow Pekin Civil War veteran Private William H. Costley, of the 29th U.S. Colored Infantry, Company B, certainly was. Nathan applied for a Civil War pension in 1890, and his widow Elizabeth applied for widow’s benefits on Sept. 18, 1899.
Though Marshall had fought honorably for the unity of his nation and the freedom of his people, it was not long after his return to Pekin that he was reminded the hard way that, even at that late date, Illinois still did not allow interracial marriage. On March 14, 1866, in Tazewell County, Marshall married a white woman named Mary Jane Luce (or Lewis). Marshall’s wife first appears in the 1850 U.S. Census as Mary J. Luce, 5, born in Ohio, living in Peoria with her baby brother Elias Luce in the household of Isaac and Mary Holiplain. Ten years later, the 1860 census shows Mary working in Pekin as a live-in servant in the household of Daniel and Barbara Clauser.
Marshall’s 1863 Civil War draft record says he was then married, but apparently Marshall’s then wife (whose name is unknown) had died before 1866 when he married Mary Luce. After the marriage, Mary Warfield (mentioned earlier in this column) informed the authorities that Marshall and his wife Mary were not the same race. A Tazewell County grand jury therefore indicted them for “marriage of black & white persons,” which Illinois state law then classified as a kind of adultery. Besides Warfield, the witnesses summoned to testify before the grand jury in this case were Mahala Ashby (perhaps Marshall’s mother, sister, or aunt), J. W. Glassgow, H. G. Gary, Benjamin S. Prettyman, Joshua Wagenseller (the noted Pekin abolitionist and friend of Abraham Lincoln), John L. Devore, Granville Edwards, Benjamin and Nance Costley, William A. Tinney (a past Tazewell County sheriff and friend of the Costleys who is remembered as an advocate for African-American voting rights), James A. McGrew, William Divinney, and Benjamin Priddy. Marshall and Mary were probably found guilty, and it is likely no coincidence that Marshall does not appear on record in Illinois after 1866.
In 1866, a Tazewell County grand jury indicted Marshall Ashby, black, and Mary Jane Luce, white, of interracial marriage — eight years before Illinois repealed its ban on the marriage of whites with blacks. IMAGE COURTESY OF CARL ADAMS
Despite what had happened to his brother, on June 1, 1870, Mose Ashby married an Illinois-born white woman, Ellen Woodworth, 24, resulting in a grand jury indictment that they lived “together in an open state of adultery” (i.e., he was black and she was white). The outcome of their case is uncertain, but exactly one month after their marriage the U.S. Census shows “Ellen Woodworth” working for Tazewell County Sheriff Edward Pratt as a domestic servant in the Tazewell County Jail – whether that was simply her job or she was serving her sentence for “adultery” is unclear.
Four years after his brother’s indictment, Moses Ashby also was indicted for marrying a white woman, Ellen Woodworth. IMAGE COURTESY OF CARL ADAMS
The state law under which Marshall and Mose were indicted was approved by the General Assembly in 1829 as a part of Illinois’ old “Black Code” restricting the rights of free blacks in Illinois. The ban on interracial marriage, last of the Black Code statutes, was finally repealed in 1874, just four years after Mose’s indictment.
Next time we’ll take a closer look at Pekin’s African-American residents in the period from about 1880 to the early 1900s.
This is a reprint (with corrections and updates) of a “From the Local History Room” column that first appeared in June 2015 before the launch of this weblog.
Bill Costley — Pekin’s link to ‘Juneteenth’
By Jared Olar
Library assistant
On May 2, 2015, this column featured a review of a new book by local historian Carl M. Adams about a notable early Pekin resident’s stalwart struggle for freedom — “Black Nance” Legins-Costley, who secured her freedom from slavery with the help of her attorney Abraham Lincoln in the 1841 Illinois Supreme Court case Bailey v. Cromwell. Adams’ book, “Nance: Trials of the First Slave Freed by Abraham Lincoln,” was recognized April 25 at the annual awards luncheon of the Illinois State Historical Society in Springfield.
This week, we will take another look at the family of Nance Legins-Costley in order to learn about Pekin’s historical connection to the origin of the celebration of “Juneteenth,” which is the oldest known public commemoration of the legal end of slavery in the U.S. “Juneteenth” refers to June 19, 1865, the day when Union soldiers under the command of Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston in Texas with news that the Civil War was over and all slaves were now free. Because Texas had been a part of the Confederate States of America, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation could not be enforced in Texas until then.
Juneteenth 2015 was celebrated on Friday, marking exactly 150 years since Union troops brought the news of freedom to Galveston. One of Granger’s soldiers in Galveston that day was none other than Private William Henry “Bill” Costley of Pekin (1840-1888), eldest son of Benjamin Costley and Nance Legins-Costley (though Union military records misspell Bill’s surname “Corsley”).
On his enlistment and muster papers, Bill Costley of Pekin is called “William H. Corsley.”
Bill Costley was mustered out of his regiment on Sept. 30, 1865.
We will now lend this column space to Carl Adams so he can share the results of his historical and genealogical research which tell the story of Bill Costley’s adventures during and immediately after the Civil War. (It was only this month that Adams located Bill’s final resting place, with the help of Rich Apri of St. Paul, Minn.)
* *
Bill Costley was the first male slave to be legally freed by attorney Abraham Lincoln as a result of the Bailey v. Cromwell Illinois Supreme Court case in 1841. He was an infant at the time. At age 23, Bill Costley decided to join the Union cause of the Civil War.
During the summer of 1864, the Civil War was going poorly for the Union Army on the Richmond-Petersburg front. Commander-in-Chief Lincoln was afraid he would not be re-elected president. To make matters worse, the Illinois 29th Regiment of Volunteers (Colored) had suffered more than 70 percent casualties at the Battle of the Crater — virtually wiped out, with all the officers either dead or wounded.
In spite of the fact they knew black men would have to fight with muskets at their front and bayonets held by white soldiers at their backs, 11 blacks from Tazewell County decided it was time to volunteer to reinforce the Colored Troops. Those brave 11 were William Costley of Pekin, his brother-in-law Edward Lewis, Thomas Shipman, George M. Hall, Wilson Price, Thomas Tumbleson, Morgan Day, and the tightly knit family of William J. Ashby, William H., Marshall and Nathan (who were likely acquaintances of Bill Costley).
At least two of them would not come home — Thomas Shipman of Pekin and Morgan Day of Elm Grove fell in battle, and their names are inscribed on the monument to Tazewell County’s fallen heroes outside the courthouse in downtown Pekin. And at least one of them was wounded — William Henry Costley. However, Bill Costley would participate in a historic event before he returned home: “Juneteenth.”
Shown is the name of Bill Costley’s fellow soldier Thomas Shipman inscribed on the Tazewell County Veterans Memorial outside the Tazewell County Courthouse. Shipman, along with Morgan Day and William H. Costley, were among the 11 African-Americans from Tazewell County who fought to end slavery and restore the Union during the Civil War. Shipman and Day fell in combat, while Costley suffered a shrapnel wound to his shoulder.
Shown is the name of Bill Costley’s fellow soldier Morgan Day inscribed on the Tazewell County Veterans Memorial outside the Tazewell County Courthouse. Costley and Day were among the 11 African-Americans from Tazewell County who fought to end slavery and restore the Union during the Civil War.
General Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army, sensing a quick victory, were eager to get the spring offensive started in March 1865, but heavy spring rains made movements difficult for horses and men alike, and wet ammunition was also a problem.
Finally, in the last week of March, the Union Army awoke from winter sleep and started to move. A fair-skinned black private from Tazewell County, Private Thomas Shipman, was one of the first to go. Assigned to the sharpshooters under Captain Porter, Shipman was killed trading musket balls with the rebel skirmishers on March 31.
Around noon on April 1, General Sheridan beat General Pickett at Five Forks. Private Bill Costley’s unit, the 29th Regiment of Volunteers (Colored), held part of the right flank of the Union line at Hatcher’s Run. The breakthrough prompted Grant to order a full frontal assault all along the line, spanning miles.
As Bill’s infantry line moved forward on the Confederate breastworks nearing Petersburg, an artillery shell blew an air burst to the front and to the left of Bill, close enough to knock him to the ground with sharp pain to the front left shoulder.
Bill was evacuated to the Regimental Aid Station. Dr. Clarence Ewen later wrote in Bill’s pension file (No. 524296) that he remembered Bill’s wound as badly bruised, but no blood, so Bill was ordered back to the front and, bravely, Bill went back into the fight — only to return the next day with intolerable pain.
So Bill was evacuated again, this time to Division for Triage, then on to the “Negro Only” facility at Point-of-Rocks near the pontoon bridge across the James River, and from there to City Point for transfer to a hospital at Alexandria, Va. Bill spent about five weeks in the military medical system. During this time Bill learned his family’s old friend, lawyer Lincoln, was killed as one of the last casualties of the War of the Rebellion.
Juneteenth — Freedom Day, June 19, 1865, for all of Texas slaves, about a quarter of a million souls.
The scene is the Gulf of Mexico in June 1865. The Civil War was over and Private Bill Costley was recovering from a shrapnel wound to his left shoulder, according to his pension file. After a month in the hospitals at Point-of-Rocks and Alexandria, Va., Bill Costley was returned to duty with his unit.
Most of the white Union soldiers were discharged for home, but most of the black soldiers still had a year of service, and the French had invaded Mexico during the war. Lincoln was dead, so Secretary of War Stanton ordered General U.S. Grant to dispatch the black units to the Mexican border as a show of force along the Rio Grande.
At least two Navy ships, the USS Wilmington and the USS William Kennedy, were ordered to load 2,000 Union soldiers, including General Gordon Granger and the 900 men of 29th Regiment of Illinois Colored Volunteers, which was augmented with former slaves and dispatched to the Mexican border.
It was a rough ride. From Mobile, Ala., the ships were sent out into very rough stormy seas to disembark at South Padre Island near Brownsville, Texas. The weather was too rough to unload anyone and the Rio Grande was flooding. After two days, the Navy needed safe harbor, so they tried Aransas Pass near Corpus Christi for another three days, but it was still too rough to unload.
The senior Navy captain warned Granger they were running out of supplies and the nearest resupply was at Galveston. This would be a turning point of history for the state of Texas.
“June 18 — Arrived off Galveston, at Pier 21.” The sight was surprising, if not shocking, to see black uniformed sailors and soldiers working side-by-side with still enslaved longshoremen, who had never heard of an “Emancipation … what?” This discovery would travel up the chain of command very quickly.
So without further orders and under threat of martial law enforced by black armed soldiers, the entire populace assembled at Ashton Villa the next morning. General Granger stood on the second floor balcony to read General Order No. 3. At the last four words of the first sentence, “all slaves are free,” the entire throng was motionless. It seemed no one even breathed. While it took a while to sink in, the order soon turned into an explosion of emotion that has lasted now for 150 years — Juneteenth, Freedom Day, 1865.
Private Bill Costley of Pekin probably didn’t get much of a celebration when his mother was emancipated 24 years earlier, but he did not miss the joys of this party that lasted all day, into the night and again the next day. However, they were still under military orders. “June 21 — Put to sea.”
* *
After the war, Bill returned to Pekin, where in 1870 the Civil War hero found himself indicted for murder. Bill had encountered a convicted rapist named Patrick Doyle brutally attacking a woman in the street. Bill intervened, twice ordering Doyle to stop, and when Doyle ignored him, he shot and killed him. (The records of Doyle’s inquest detailing Bill Costley’s actions are still on file with the Tazewell County Coroner.)
The people of Pekin knew Bill and his family, though, and they also knew who Doyle was and what he’d been sent to prison for — so after a two-day trial, the all-white jury acquitted Bill Costley, finding the homicide justifiable due to Bill’s having come to the aid of a woman in need. (Charles C. Chapman’s 1879 “History of Tazewell County,” page 296, has a brief reference to Bill Costley’s trial and acquittal.)
Adams’ research shows that Bill later left Pekin, moving to 320 Main St., Davenport, Iowa, and then to 1134 N. Ninth St., Minneapolis, Minn., where it’s possible some of his family had also moved. Though the years wore on, Bill’s old war wound continued to plague him. Bill kept complaining of shoulder pain to his Pension Board, so he finally was admitted to Rochester State Hospital in Rochester, Minn., in May 1888, and there he died five months later, on the night of Oct. 1, 1888. The ward notes say he had “expired before he could be undressed.”
William Henry Costley, war hero and witness to the first Juneteenth, was laid to rest — under the name of “William H. Crossley” — in Rochester’s Quarry Hill Park, in the Rochester State Hospital Cemetery, located between 11th Ave. NE and Route 22, just north of Route 11.
Shown is the grave marker of Pekin Civil War veteran William H. Costley (surname misspelled “Crossley” in the inscription) in the Rochester State Hospital Cemetery, Rochester, Minn.
From the History Room 