Madison
County Genealogical Society
Minutes of the Meeting - November 10, 2016
The November 2016 meeting of the Madison
County Genealogical Society was held at the Edwardsville Public Library on
Thursday, November 10, at 7:00 pm.
President, Robert Ridenour, called the
meeting to order.
GIFT
MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE
Do you have a family member that is
interested in (or even obsessed with) genealogy? A membership in the Madison
County Genealogical Society would be a very thoughtful gift. A gift card will be
sent to the recipient of any gift membership.
The following memberships are available:
Individual/Family Annual Membership $25.00
Patron Annual Membership $35.00
Life Membership $300.00
Contact our Secretary, Petie Hunter, at petie8135@att.net,
about a gift membership.
November
Meeting
On November 10, 2016, a
program titled "Galvanized Yankee" was presented by Dr. Gloria Perry,
retired emeritus professor from SIUE. In post-retirement, she became a
genealogical hobbyist and storyteller of uncovered ancestral stories.
After the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, President Lincoln declared there
would be no more prisoner exchanges between North and South. Confederate
prisoners were conscripted into the Union Army, hence the term:
"Galvanized Yankee."
Dr. Perry discovered the beginnings of this story in a box of letters given to
her by her great aunt many years ago. It is not a particularly happy story; but
no war is ever happy.
This is a story of Dr. Perry's great grandfather John Otes Spraggins' tortured
life during and after the Civil War. John grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He was
one of seven children from a rather affluent family. John was born in 1844. He
had two older brothers Richard born in 1840 and William born in 1842. All three
of the brothers joined the Confederate Army in July 1861 at Williamsburg,
Virginia. They joined at Williamsburg so they could be in the 1st Virginia
Regiment and be together.
At the Battle of Gettysburg, the brothers became separated. John was wounded,
captured, and taken to a hospital in Frederick, Maryland. After his wound
healed, he was taken to the notorious Fort Delaware prison. John was
conscripted into the 3rd Maryland Cavalry. This group was assembled at
Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis in August of 1863 and they were moved south to
New Orleans. He was in two battles the Red River Campaign and the Battle of
Mobile.
After the Civil War was over, John was garrisoned at Natchez Camp, Mississippi,
during the summer of 1865. He was mustered out at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in
September 1865.
John returned to Richmond, which was occupied by Union troops. It was the
beginning of Reconstruction in the South — the rubble of war remained, the
people were starving, and money was short. John was able to reconnect with his
brothers, but it is not known how he was received. His parents welcomed him and
were grateful that all three sons had survived the war.
John met his future wife, Anna Essabee, at the Female Humane Association, an
orphanage for girls and young women just down the street from John's parents'
house. Anna was born in Philadelphia. Her parents both died and Anna's aunt
became her guardian. A short time later, her aunt became the matron of the
Female Humane Association. Anna, who was only five or six years old, had to
move with her aunt and grew up in this institution.
John was urged by his mother to visit his cousin, Mary Spraggins, who lived in
the Female Humane Association. While he was on this visit, he met one of Mary's
friends, Anna Essabee. John was 22 years old and Anna was 20. John was stricken by Anna. When he got back to his parents'
home later, he made sure they heard all about Anna. John continued to visit the
institution on a regular basis after that.
In 1867, John and Anna were married. They had a daughter, Caroline, in 1869.
John was eager to start out on his own and thought he might enlist in the U.S.
Cavalry for duty in the western states. John's mother was distraught at the
thought of John and his family leaving, and she thought she might never see her
youngest son and his family again. (It turns out she was right.) John's mother,
however, was able to help John and his family financially to get settled in St.
Louis. John and Anna bought a house in St. Louis that had an upstairs flat that
they rented out for a source of income.
John joined the 4th Cavalry and was stationed near Sweetwater, Texas, but Anna
stayed in St. Louis until 1877. By that year, Fort Elliot was built near
Sweetwater. Anna and Caroline joined John at Fort Elliot. The small family
adjusted to life on the plains very well. The culture at Fort Elliot was mostly
Southern since the soldiers were mostly former Confederate soldiers. Anna gave
birth to a second daughter, Luella, in 1878 in Texas.
In 1879, John's mother died in Richmond and the whole family returned for the
funeral. They traveled by train. John and his family were in Richmond long
enough to settle his mother's estate and returned to St. Louis later in 1879
and to Fort Elliot in 1880.
After they returned to Texas, they had more children: Edith in 1881, Millie in
1882, and a son, Ray, in 1885. There was much rejoicing at the birth of a son,
after four daughters. Anna did not adjust well after the last birth. She was
sick of fort life. She decided to leave Fort Elliot and return to St. Louis
with her five children. She told John he needed to "get the cavalry out of
his system."
They had no sooner got settled on the train than the baby, Ray, became ill. He
had diarrhea and vomiting. Ray was so sick that Anna and the older girls were
sure he was going to die. Anna had packed what she thought was an ample supply
of diapers for the trip. This was August; it was hot and the train was open to
the smoke from the locomotive. Finally, there were no diapers left. Anna tore
strips off her petticoats to use as diapers and threw the soiled diapers out of
the train window. The baby improved and by the time they arrived in St. Louis,
he was practically well. Anna had very little left of her petticoats, however.
Here is Anna, 39, with five children raging in age from 16 years of age to 3
months. All she had was the monthly income from the rental of the upstairs flat
and some money left from John's mother in the bank. By living frugally and
spending wisely, the family survived.
John eventually came home to St. Louis in 1890 to retire because Fort Elliot
closed. He found jobs as an itinerant carpenter, but never lived with Anna
again. John died from a liver ailment in 1895 at the age of 51. Anna buried him
in St. Peters Cemetery in St. Louis in a pauper's grave. John's epitaph (as he
told his daughters) was "I lived my life on a horse." John's
daughters must have had good feelings toward him since two of them had sons
that were named John. Caroline Spraggins was the grandmother of Dr. Gloria
Perry; Dr. Perry also has a son named John.
This presentation was well received and provoked many questions.