Monthly Archives: February 2010

In February 2009, I was passing through southern Illinois and wanted to stop by and see Old Shawneetown and part of Gallatin County, Illinois where my ancestors had resided in the 1840s-1860s. I took several pictures, links to which are provided below. As you can tell, there is not much development in the area and much of the land probably hasn’t changed too much from the 19th century.  Old Shawneetown, on the banks of the Ohio, was devastated by a great flood in 1937 and a new town of Shawneetown was built on a bluff about 3 miles west of Old Shawneetown.  One of the more interesting structures in Old Shawneetown is the old Bank of Illinois building that was built from 1839-1841.

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and Cemetery are located at the corner of Big Hill Rd. (Co. Rd. 3) and Ponds Church Rd.  The first Catholic Church was built near this site in 1848 or 1849 and the cemetery was established about the same time.  Most early Catholic settlers of the Pond Settlement area – families such as the Hickeys, Maloneys, Lawlers, Dailys, and Keanes – are buried there.  The first Irish Catholic settler in Gallatin County was John Lawler, father of Civil War Union General Michael Kelly Lawler, who arrived in 1816.  John Lawler is buried in St. Patrick’s Cemetery.

Old Shawneetown Pictures

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church/Cemetery Pictures

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After returning from their expedition into southeastern Missouri in November 1861, the 29th Illinois Infantry returned to garrison duty at Cairo.  The regiment celebrated Christmas and New Years in camp.  President Lincoln was anxious for his generals to take action against the rebel forces, but in the west thus far, commanding generals Henry Halleck, commanding the Department of the Missouri with headquarters in St. Louis, and Don Carlos Buell, commanding the Department of the Ohio with headquarters at Louisville, Kentucky, had not agreed on a joint plan.  Meanwhile, General Grant was developing a plan to use the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers to invade Tennessee.  In January 1861, he presented his plan in person to General Halleck in St. Louis and his idea was rejected.  General Grant later recalled in his memoirs that he was received with such “little cordiality” at this meeting.  The relationship between Grant and Halleck would be strained throughout Grant’s days in the western theater.  Shortly after his encounter with Halleck, Grant was ordered to move his troops into Kentucky, although not for the purpose of an invasion. (more…)

Regimental Colors of the 29th Illinois Infantry

As mentioned in prior posts, Company C of the 29th Illinois Infantry consisted of men from Gallatin County, Illinois.  As was common practice during the Civil War, units were raised locally and the officers were elected by the members of the unit.  When first organized, the men of Company C elected John A. Callicott as the Company’s Captain and John Eddy as the Company’s First Lieutenant.  What follows are brief biographical sketches of some of the men of Company C:

John A. Callicott – John Callicott was a southerner by birth, having been born in Smith County, Tennessee in 1824.  He moved to Shawneetown in the 1840′s where he apprenticed as a harness-maker.  At the outbreak of the Mexican War, he enlisted in Captain Michael K. Lawler’s company of dragoons and served throughout the entire war.  Upon the cessation of hostilities, he returned to Shawneetown and returned to harness making before going into the riverboat transport business, working up and down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.  Along with John Eddy, Callicott raised C Company and was elected its first captain.  Callicott was wounded 5 times at Fort Donelson.  After the battle of Shiloh, he was promoted to Major and joined regimental staff.  He was promoted to Lt. Col. on August 22, 1863, and served as second in command of the 29th Ill. Infantry Regiment for the duration of the war.  After the war, he returned to Shawneetown and engaged in the saddlery business and the riverboat transport business.  He died in a great flood at Shawneetown on April 3, 1898.  He was buried on his farm in a graveyard now known as the Kanady cemetery. (more…)

Ohio Street in Cairo, Illinois

On September 4, 1861, the 29th Illinois boarded the Illinois Central Railroad and headed to their first post – Cairo, Illinois.  Cairo was a strategic location at the convergence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.  The U.S. government had created a military camp and naval base at Cairo.  The pre-war population of Cairo increased by 600% in 1861 with the arrival of thousands of Union soldiers.  Just south of the small town, there was a very large parade ground with camps and barracks all around.  Cairo is a peninsula surrounded by water on three sides, with a 15 foot levee encircling most of the town.  During high rains, the valley created by the levee would effectively become a very large mud pit, making for very uncomfortable living conditions.  On the easternmost side of Cairo, parallel to the Ohio River, was Ohio Street.  General Ulysses S. Grant, commander of all Union troops in Southeast Missouri established his headquarters on Ohio Street on September 4, 1861.

On September 3, Confederate General Leonidas Polk violated the declared neutrality of Kentucky by moving troops and artillery to Columbus, Kentucky, a small town with bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, opposite Belmont, Missouri.  General Grant responded in kind by moving troops to Paducah, Kentucky, a city located at the convergence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers.  In addition to Polk’s battery at Columbus, Grant was concerned with the actions of Brigadier General Jeff M. Thompson and his band of Confederate soldiers in Southeast Missouri.  From October 22 – October 24, the 29th Regiment was part of an expedition to Bloomfield, Missouri in pursuit of Thompson’s forces.  The expedition did not yield any results.  On November 2, the 29th was assigned to Col. Richard Oglesby’s brigade of about 3,000 men.  Oglesby’s brigade set off for Bloomfield again on November 2 in pursuit of Thompson.  Oglesby’s brigade met Thompson’s skirmish line.  Thompson’s forces retreated in the direction of New Madrid, Missouri on the Mississippi River on November 6 and Oglesby’s brigade gave chase. (more…)

Michael Hickey was one of my great-great-great grandfathers.  He was born October 8, 1840 just outside Shawneetown in Gallatin County in southeast Illinois, on the banks of the Ohio River.  Michael was the son of Michael and Mary Keane Hickey.  He had one sister, Hanora, and family lore says that he had a brother, John (although no record of any brother has been located to date).  Michael lost his mother sometime before his 10th birthday and his father died shortly thereafter in September 1856, before Michael turned 16.  Michael’s father (Michael Sr.) had come to America from Ireland in 1839 and had settled in the small Catholic community of Pond Settlement in Gallatin County, Illinois, having received a Federal land grant of 120 acres.

Orphaned at age 16, Michael inherited his father’s farmland, but went to live with his uncle and neighbor, Patrick Keane.  Hanora’s fate after 1856 is unknown.  Patrick Keane operated a small one-room schoolhouse on his property, and likely provided his nephew with a proper Catholic education.  Michael spent the next five years after his father died working a plow and possibly working in the salt mines of southern Gallatin County.

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When conducting genealogy research, most researchers gravitate to the usual sources, such as census records, wills and probate records, marriage records, military records, and immigration records.  Another potential source for genealogical information that may not be apparent is legal opinions.  Legal opinions are issued by courts in resolving lawsuits.  The opinion will generally describe the parties, lay out the legal issues and the facts (as determined by either the judge or the jury), apply the law to the facts, and resolve the parties’ dispute(s).  Legal opinions are usually issued by appellate courts, but may be issued by trial courts as well.  Situations that may result in a lawsuit, and potentially a published legal opinion, include disputes over land, contracts or business dealings, crimes, or personal injuries.  Our ancestors can show up in a legal opinion in a variety or capacities – as a named party to the lawsuit, as a witness, as a litigating attorney, or as the judge.  Legal opinions can provide a great deal of information and can also provide a look into the everyday lives of our ancestors.

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