A
few years ago members of the Kossuth County Genealogical Society put together a
display regarding Civil War veterans who either enlisted from Kossuth County or
settled here after the war. I was lucky
enough to work on that project and learned so much about the sacrifice each and
every one of these brave men of the armed forces made to reunite our country. One story was that of William Cleary, the
only Civil War soldier married in full uniform in Kossuth County. The fact that a young soldier would travel
all the way from Georgia to northern Iowa to wed his bride—knowing that he
would have to walk much of the way on foot and then a short time later turn
around and go back—was such a romantic notion to me that I had to find out
more. It is his story that is told here
today.
The Groom
William
C. Cleary was born in County Clare, Ireland on August 4, 1838, and came to
America with his widowed mother in 1851, settling in Noble County, Ohio. He went to Wisconsin in 1857 and when the
conflict broke out, enlisted in Company C of the 18th Wisconsin
infantry in December of 1861. He participated in many battles including Shiloh,
Corinth and the siege of Vicksburg. He
killed a man in the battle of Altoona Pass which haunted him for the rest of
his life. It was shortly after this
battle that his company was granted a furlough.
He took this opportunity to travel home with A. W. Caulkins, the brother
of his fiancée, to take a homestead in Plum Creek Township and to marry his
bride, Mary. The two had met in
Wisconsin and had become engaged before Will marched off to war. Mary had been only 15 years old at the time
of their engagement.
When
he returned to his company following the furlough, he participated in Sherman’s
march to the sea and took part in the Grand Review in Washington, D.C.
Many
years later, William read a paper at the annual meeting of the Kossuth County
Historical Society entitled “Reminiscences of Early Algona.” That story was published in the Upper Des Moines
newspaper on December 17, 1913. I was
delighted to find that it described his trip and the wedding itself, as well as
recounted a harrowing trip in the early days of their marriage. Here it is in his own words:
“By
request I am about to give you a few reminiscences of the early days of Kossuth
county.
“In
November, 1864, A. W. Caulkins and I came from Altoona, Georgia, on furlough
from the army with our guns and equipments.
Cedar Falls being the terminus of the railroad, we walked across the country
to Algona.
“The
night of November 28th, about 10 p.m., we struck Mr. Hodges’ little
house, which was the first this side of Luni at that time. They divided their bed and wanted us to take
half, but we refused and took the floor.
“The
next day was Sunday. We started after
breakfast for Irvington and made Dr. J. R. Armstrong’s acquaintance.
“We
reached Algona, stopped at the Harrison house and inquired for Orrin
Caulkins,
Mrs. Harrison came to the door and pointed to the town hall, which stood where
John Galbraith’s store now stands. She
said, ‘There stands Mr. Zahlten’s team.
Wait till church is out and you can ride part way with him.’ So we waited and he took us home and gave us
dinner. After dinner he drove us up to
Mr. Caulkins.’
 |
“On
Dec. 10th, 1864, Mary A. and A. W. Caulkins, Isabelle Roan and I
came down to Father Taylor’s. We ran
into an old fashioned sewing society. As
I remember it, those present were Father Taylor, Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Stacy, Mrs.
Paine, Mrs. Schenck, Mrs. Rist, Miss Delia Schenck, Mrs. Henderson, Mr. Taft,
(then city school teacher) and Mrs. Blanchard.
“The
ladies were busy, preparing and making needful articles for sick and wounded
soldiers. After telling Rev. Taylor my
errand Miss Caulkins and I were married.
Then they insisted on having our tea with them. I believe I have the honor of being the only
soldier in Kossuth county, who was married while in actual service, and in full
uniform.
“After
visiting as long as my furlough would permit, I returned to the war and served
till the close of the same. I received
my discharge in July, arrived home in August, and then began putting up hay and
getting ready to live on my homestead.
“When
winter came I cut and hauled logs to the sawmill for the lumber to build my house. I split and made the shingles by hand. My wife and I started for Waverly with our
team to buy windows, nails, etc., to finish the house. We also bought a bedstead, a stove and a few
dishes to keep house with.
“We
drove through to Waverly alright, but a thaw set in while we were visiting
friends in Clarksville, and we had to leave our barrel of salt and some other
things in order to lighten our load.
Before we reached Butler Center we came to a prairie stream and found it
frozen over. A man ahead of me started
to cut a channel through the ice. I
helped with my ax and we soon had the ice cut but could not remove the
chunks. So I thought I would risk it
anyway; but I came near losing my team.
We stopped at the first house we came to.
“Next
day, in the afternoon, we came to the west Cedar. It was out of its banks and all over the
bottom. There was a bridge across the
channel, but the bottom was covered on the west side for about forty rods. So I unhitched the horses and rode the best
one through the water to see if I could get the wagon across. I found a way by watching the current of the
water, where it did not come up on the horse’s sides much. I went back and hitched the horses to the
wagon and brought it through safely, but when we reached the dry ground on the
hills we saw a prairie fire sweeping down towards us. So I drove towards the fire, than started a
back-fire and drove the team onto the burned ground.
“By
that time it was dark and neither house nor road in sight. We could see quite a grove up the river, so
we mounted the horses and rode towards it.
We came to a fence and followed around it till we heard a dog bark and
found a log cabin and a couple of aged Hollanders, who received us very kindly,
gave us a good warm meal, a good bed, provided for our horses, and gave us
breakfast and a lunch for our dinner.
Those dear old people would not take a cent for their trouble. We have forgotten their names, but never will
forget their kindness.
“There
was nothing more of interest till we left Luni.
We spent the last night out at Luni and crossed the Boone there on a
bridge, but could not cross Prairie Creek because of high water, so we followed
up the east bank, keeping well away from the stream. We followed its general course, however, till
it spread out into a wide slough, then crossed it somewhere between Corwith and
Wesley. There were no houses on the
route. We wandered around among the
sloughs and finally reached Father Caulkins’ about 10 p.m., tired, hungry and
glad to get home.”
The Bride
Mary
A. Caulkins was born in Bloomington, Illinois, in 1846. When she was four years old, her family moved
to Wisconsin and then in 1862, they moved to Kossuth County. She began teaching school here upon her
arrival. She was just 16 years old. After her wedding to William Cleary on
December 10, 1864, she continued to teach for a year until his return from the
war. The two farmed east of Algona for a
few years, but in 1872 moved into town where Mr. Cleary opened a grocery and
general store, Cleary & Caulkins, on State Street just south of the
courthouse. Mary operated a dressmaking
business from the store.
 |
| Cleary's Store on far right |
Their Life Together
William
became widely known for his beekeeping skills.
He began keeping bees in the 1880s and continued growing his beekeeping
business until his health no longer allowed him to be active. In 1903 he harvested more than 2500 pounds of
honey from his hives and expected a profit of more than $400. It was noted in the local news of the Algona
Courier that “. . . it seems that a few
hives of bees yield a bigger income than a quarter section of land valued at
$10,000.” William gave various
educational presentations on bee culture at meetings of farm organizations and
won numerous awards at the local fair for his honey.
The
Clearys were unable to have any children of their own, but they raised three
foster daughters as well as fostering many other children for various periods. The couple also were active in their
church—first the Congregational Church and then in 1883 becoming faithful
members of the Adventist Church. Will served several terms as an Algona city
councilman and as city treasurer. He was
very active in the local G.A.R. organization and Mary worked tirelessly for the
Algona Relief Corps.
In
1914 William suffered a stroke, causing paralysis. Although unable to work, he did recover to
the point where he was able to go uptown almost every day. The couple celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversary that same year with a well-attended reception. They received a wide variety of gifts
including a fine Morris rocker from the G.A.R. post and a sewing rocker from
the Women’s Relief Corps.
William’s
health gradually declined but he continued his interest in the world around
him. As World War I began to wear down,
his greatest desire was to survive to see the war ended. He realized his wish when, although in feeble
health, he was able to celebrate the Armistice.
The very next day he suffered another debilitating stroke and
subsequently passed away on November 16, 1918.
 |
| 303 West McGregor in 2015 |
Mary
continued to live in their home at 303 West McGregor, sitting at the top of what was locally referred to as Cleary hill. During the last four years of her life, one
of her foster daughters, Dr. Stella Martinson who had settled in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, came back to care for her mother.
Mary Caulkins Cleary was unable to leave her home for the final year and
a half and she passed from this world on June 30, 1929, at the age of 83. She was buried next to her brave soldier husband in Riverview cemetery in Algona.
Until Death Do We Part
Until next time,
Jean
(a/k/a Kossuth County History Buff)
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