John Henry Usher

John Usher  Private  Co. F, 26th MO Inf 

John Henry Usher was born April 3, 1835 or 1839 in Madison county, Illinois. ¹  His father, Moses H. Usher, was a veteran of the 1831-1832 Black Hawk War.  Moses, who was born in Tennessee about 1815, was living near Galena, Illinois, when he enlisted as a private on May 20, 1832, in Captain Maughs’ company of the 27^th Regiment of the Illinois Militia commanded by Colonel James M. Strode.  Moses served 3 months and 19 days, mustering out at Galena on Sept. 6, 1832.  On March 22, 1834, Moses would marry Polly Hickey in Madison county, Illinois.  Polly's birth and death are unknown, but it is believed that she and Moses would have 4 children, two who survived to adulthood, John Henry and Mary (born about 1838), while two would not survive their childhood, William, and Daniel. 

After Polly’s apparent death, Moses would later remarry to a Mary Ann Schoolcraft in Illinois around 1845 ² .  Moses and Mary would have 9 children of their own. ³   By 1851, Moses and his family had moved to Franklin county, Missouri, where he filed an affidavit on March 26, 1851, outlining his service in the Black Hawk War and requesting new bounty lands for his military service.  Moses was evidently successful in his attempt, because he filed another request for additional land on April 20, 1855, while a resident of Oregon county.  He stated that he’d sold his original tract granted by an act of Congress September 28, 1850, and was requesting new land under another act of Congress dated March 3, 1855.  He was still pursuing that land in April, 1856, when he filed another application in Texas county.  Whether he was a resident of the county is not known.  According to family knowledge, Moses would die in 1869 in Howell county, Missouri.  It is unknown when Mary, his wife, would die, but family records acknowledge that they are buried together

On September, 18, 1857, John Henry Usher would marry Elizabeth Cofer (Dofer in the marriage abstract).  The marriage took place in Franklin county and was performed by Robert Patton, a Justice of the Peace.  Elizabeth, who was born June 30, 1838, in Franklin county, was the daughter of Thomas Lawson Cofer (born Jan. 28, 1815, Abbyville, So. Carolina) and Charity Ann Whitmire (born May 17, 1819, Franklin county, Mo.).  A year after their marriage, some family records indicate that Elizabeth and John Usher would have a daughter, Isabel.  Family tradition indicates that another daughter was born, but no name is available.  The 1860 Franklin county census records the John Usher family living near Stanton in Merimac township. ⁴ 

When hostilities broke out during the Civil War, John was still living and farming in Franklin county.  He, like many of his neighbors, awaited events to develop.  former governor Sterling Price lead his rebel forces into the state after his victory over Union lead forces in the battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861.  To help repel this invasion, John joined with other Franklin county men to form a company lead by local businessman Benjamin D. Dean. 

John formally enlisted on October 2, 1861, at the age of 26.  He was 5’ 8 ˝” tall, with black hair, blue eyes and a light complexion.  He was examined with other men of his company by Dr. Jonathan Prout, a contract surgeon hired by the government to handle the early medical needs of the influx of new recruits.  Dr. Prout would eventually become the regimental surgeon for the 26^th Missouri.  After the men passed their physical, they were sent to a camp near Pacific, Missouri, called Camp Herron, to begin their military training.  The camp was poorly situated in damp conditions and coupled with the lack of sanitary conditions, many men would soon become ill.  Wilson M. Jones of company F described the camp and its conditions:

In November, 1861, while Co’s. F, I, and E were at Pacific, Mo., we were located in what the boys termed “Devil’s Gulch,” or “Hell’s Half Acre,” a very appropriate title for the gulch running down from the west side of the great white sand hill on the north side of the little town just at the back of the Merrimac bottom, just the spot for malaria to get its grip and it did at one time.  Many were taken with chills and fever while I was in the crowded hospital with the same complaint.  Almost every man in camp was sick, and 1^st corporal Joel Jones, was the only really well man in camp.  He had many duties to perform for abut two weeks, and with the help of a few half sick men, had the care of the camp, performed guard duty, and acted as nurse.  No pen can describe the affliction of that camp, it was worse than the battle field…. No soldier who understood sanitary laws would stay in such a camp if he could get to a battle field.  Our officers were good and kind in all those three companies, or the last man would have died, but the captains were as green as the privates about soldier life.

Conditions didn’t improve until cooler weather developed toward December.  John would spend time in that crowded hospital suffering from measles.  He recovered and was finally mustered in for 3 years service at Pacific, Missouri,  on December 17, 1862.  His company was sent by train to St. Louis where they encamped at McDowell’s College and it was there that they were combined with other men to form the 26th Missouri Volunteer Infantry regiment commanded by Colonel George Boardman Boomer.  John’s company was designated “F” company and Benjamin Dean was officially commissioned as their captain.

The regiment remained in St. Louis performing various duties and perfecting their regimental training, when on February 16, 1862, John Usher along with the rest of the regiment were embarked on the steamer “John Warner” and sent up the Mississippi to join General U. S. Grant’s forces attacking Fort Donelson.  News of Grant’s victory reached the 26th while they were at Cairo, Illinois.  Their orders were countermanded and they were landed opposite Cairo at Bird’s Point, Missouri, and were quartered there until the end of February.  Cairo, Illinois, was a large base for operations in the west.  While stationed at Bird’s Point, John’s company was undoubtedly assigned various tasks at the base, including loading and unloading supplies and even burying the dead.  With so many men congregating in the low lands near the river and sanitary conditions being primitive during the early part of the war, the burial details were all too frequent.

John Pope

When March arrived, the regiment was sent out to chase a rebel guerilla named Jeff Thompson.  Often called the “Swamp Fox” of the western Civil War, Thompson was able to elude the regiment after a brief skirmish near Charleston, Missouri, with cavalry scouts.  The 26th returned to camp and on March 4, received orders to join General John Pope on his successful attack on New Madrid, Missouri.  The regiment entered the fortifications after the surrender and raised their flag over the parapets.  They then marched with Pope’s army toward Tiptonville, Missouri, where a concentration of Confederates fortified an island in the Mississippi River called Island #10.  Their operations were successful and several hundred prisoners were taken.  After the battle of Shiloh in early April, Henry Halleck took personal command of Grant’s army and made plans to advance on Corinth, where the exhausted Confederate army found refuge.  In preparation, Halleck ordered John Pope’s army, now dubbed the Army of the Mississippi, to move to Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee.  On April 16, 1862, the regiment was loaded on the steamer, the “City of Alton” for transport up the Mississippi, to the Ohio, then to the Tennessee river and down to Pittsburg Landing where they debarked.  They then marched toward Corinth joining Halleck’s army inching its way toward Beauregard’s army at Corinth. 

After Beauregard evacuated Corinth, the 26th advanced into the town from the south as the Union army occupied the town and found it a disease ridden, polluted place.  Lieutenant Charles P. Carman of the 26th remembered entering the rebel camp and describing the site as “a sorry sight – the dead and sick having been left behind.”  Halleck, who was an extremely conservative general, decided to consolidate his gains by remaining in Corinth and beefing up the fortifications already started by the Confederates.  The health and moral of the army deteriorated while camping in Corinth and by July nearly 35% of the men were sick with malaria, dysentery, and diarrhea.  By that summer, John Usher had began having his own physical problems.  His legs and feet began swelling causing him such pain that he had to remove his shoes to get any relief.  He was beginning to experience the effects of dropsy, a side effect of his bout with the measles. ⁵

With the coming of July a couple things happened to improve the moral and health of the army.  First, Henry Halleck was called to Washington to be General-in-chief.  This gave Ulysses S. Grant another chance to redeem himself.  Second, John Pope was also called to Washington to lead the Army of the Potomac in his ill fated attempts to defeat the Army of Northern Virginia lead by Robert E. Lee.  William S. Rosecrans replaced Pope as the commander of the Army of the Mississippi.  Rosecrans was appalled by the condition of his men and relocated them 5 miles southeast of town near Clear Creek, where there was a clear flowing stream with fresh water springs flowing from the banks.  He also introduced an improved diet for the men and their health improved radically, reducing the sick call down to 12%.  It is doubtful whether these improvements made much difference in John Usher’s condition, but it had to at least relieve his overall suffering.  Rosecrans was also the author of better fortifications around Corinth, which undoubtedly the 26th participated in their building.  The army remained in Clear Creek while rebuilding and extending the fortifications around Corinth. 

Sterling Price

In September, General Sterling Price, responding to orders from General Braxton Bragg at Chattanooga, moved his small army north to distract the Union forces.  Price found himself at Iuka in the northeastern corner of Mississippi, when Grant tried to bag him with a two pronged attack.  Grant accompanied the northern wing commanded by General Edward Ord and General William Rosecrans commanded the southern wing, which included the 26th Missouri under the Brigade command of General Hamilton.  The skirmishers of the 5th Iowa and 26th Missouri drove in the cavalry pickets and found themselves on a ridge southwest of the town facing “well positioned rebel forces.”  Confederate reinforcements quickly came up to meet them.  As additional Union forces moved up, Colonel George Boomer positioned 4 companies including company F behind the ridge supporting the 11th Ohio Light Artillery, which was blazing away at the rebel attackers trying to take the ridge.  The balance of the regiment under Lt. Col. John Holman was positioned toward the right flank of the line.  The 5th Iowa was directly in front of the 26th and it was taking heavy fire.  After sending for the rest of his regiment, Boomer ordered his 4 companies forward in relief and John Usher, aching from the swelling in his legs, moved up to the ridge with his comrades.  Wilson Jones of company F described that moment. 

Then Capt. Dean, as cool as on parade, with that soft, mild voice, called: “Co. F!  Attention!  Forward!”  I looked along the line, and every officer was in his place – the men were all attention and all eager.  I saw at a glance that every officer and man of the 26^th had offered his life to country and would not flinch.

The fighting was brutal.  Of the approximately 160 men who went into action on the ridge, 75 were wounded and 21 were killed.  Wilson Jones said that there were only 16 men of company F to answer roll call the next morning.  The rest being wounded or dead.  There are no records to indicate whether John Usher was among that stout group of 16, or wounded, but he never mentioned being wounded during his time in the service. 

After the battle, Price evacuated his Confederate army and moved south near Tupelo, Mississippi.  He immediately got into contact with General Earl Van Dorn to combine their forces for another strike.  This time they decided upon Corinth, now the hub of Union activities in the region.  Price and Van Dorn met with their armies at Ripley, about 30 miles southeast of Corinth.  Their combined army was named the Army of West Tennessee and contained about 23,000 men.  On October 3, 1862, the Confederate army led by Van Dorn began their assault on the Union defenses. 

The Union commander, General William Rosecrans, had been aware that the Confederate army was moving north, but was uncertain about their intentions.  So he moved cautiously to consolidate his troops allowing the Confederates an opportunity to strike toward Corinth against relatively weak defenses.  The 26^th was ordered with their division, the 3^rd commanded by General Charles Hamilton, to Corinth and assigned a position on the right flank of the army.  Their position was north of the main Confederate attack, leaving them out of the action on the first day.  With temperatures soaring toward 100 degrees, the suffering of John Usher must have been very severe.  With the initial success of the Confederate attack, the 3^rd division retreated back to town to take positions in the northern outskirts, with the 26^th taking the a position as the last regiment in line on the right.  On the following day, October 4, the General Van Dorn launched his Confederate army against the final Union positions surrounding the town of Corinth. 

The momentum of their initial success carried the Rebels into town, where desperate fighting occurred around the Tishomingo Hotel and Railroad Depot. 

Lacking support, the Confederates fell back.  Confederate attacks north of the city, were unsuccessful and counterattacks were launched by Hamilton’s 3^rd division, in which the 26^th Missouri participated.  The regiment’s casualties were very light, one man was killed and two were wounded.  Van Dorn withdrew his army and a limited pursuit was taken up by the exhausted Union army.  The battle’s results would end any serious Confederate threats to western Tennessee for the remainder of the war. 

After the Battle of Corinth, the 26^th Missouri was sent to Memphis and camped near the Germantown area of the city.  It was probably there that John Usher’s swollen extremities really began to cause him problems that resulted in being unable to continue his duties.  He was sent upriver to a hospital in St. Louis, where he was examined and determined to be unfit for further duty.  Orders were prepared and John Usher was discharged from the service on December 27, 1862. 

When he returned to his home, John Usher would continue to suffer from attacks from his dropsy (edema), which would leave him in relative poor health.  Despite his ailments, his family would continue to grow.  Some family records indicate that John and Elizabeth had a child or possibly two before the Civil War.  More recent records indicate possible children were born during or after the war. ⁶  Toward the end of the war or sometime soon afterwards, it appears that Elizabeth may have died.  No date or burial has been discovered, but John would find a new spouse and remarry. 

On September 6, 1868, John Usher married Susan S. Massey.  The ceremony was performed in Stanton, Franklin county, Missouri by the Reverend Frederic Speck, a “minister of the gospel.”  Susan was a daughter of Seth Chatwood Massey and Sarah Ann Williams.  Susan was born on April 7, 1850 in East St. Louis, Illinois. 

Susan and John would have 5 children together.

John Henry Usher continued to have bouts of dropsy during the remainder of his life.  Dr. A. H. Converse, who lived in Anthony Mill, Crawford county, Missouri, attended John during many of his attacks and diagnosed his problem as “Hydrathorax,” another description for heart failure, where fluids accumulate around the heart.  He attended John at his death on December 18, 1882, near Steelville in Crawford county, Missouri.  John’s burial is unknown, but it is believed in or near Steelville.  John’s wife, Susan, continued on trying to raise their 5 children, but she too succumbed to the hardships of her life and died June 21, 1890, in Steelville, MO.  She was buried on June 23, 1890, in Steelville, presumably with her husband in an unknown cemetery. 

John H. Usher and Susan Massey-Usher
Photo courtesy of Peggy Hankins.

Footnotes:

1. Family records indicate that John Henry Usher was born in 1839, but he told his muster officer that his age was 26 in 1861 and the 1850 Franklin county census (age 15), strongly indicate 1835 as his birth year.  Coupled with his sisters age of 12 in 1850, 1835 as a birth date seems more plausible. 

2.  Family records show a marriage between Moses Usher and Mary Ann Schoolcraft about 1845.  Shirley Smith smhoodsmith@msn.com , a researcher of William Ruben Hood families with entries in Rootsweb Database, indicated a child named Nancy Ann Usher being born December 13, 1849, in Illinois.  Another family researcher believes that Nancy was born December 13, 1848.  Nancy Ann married George Washington Borders and died in Rolla, Missouri in November 28, 1936.

3.  The children of Moses and Mary Ann Schoolcraft:  Nancy, b 12-13,1848 Illinois d. 11-28 1936, Married George Washington Borders, George Usher b. about 1853, m Susanna Gentry date ? , David, Sarah Usher. b ? , Elizabeth Usher m. James Marler, Lee Usher, m. Ellen Usher b.1855 m. Ann Jackson Marler, Lydia Usher m. Andrew Sherrills.

4.  Page 222, Merimac township.  Post Office, Stanton.  Household 746, family 746. taken September, 17, 1860. 

5.  Dropsy - A contraction for hydropsy. Edema, the presence of abnormally large amounts of fluid in intercellular tissue spaces or body cavities. Abdominal dropsy is ascites; brain dropsy is hydrocephalus; and chest dropsy is hydrothorax. Cardiac dropsy is a symptom of disease of the heart and arises from obstruction to the current of blood through the heart, lungs, or liver. Anasarca is general fluid accumulation throughout the body.  Edema (swelling), often caused by kidney or heart disease.  Genealogy Quest Glossaries site. http://www.genealogy-quest.com/glossaries/diseases1.html

6.  1870 Federal Census for Franklin Co. Mo. M-593, roll 775, family # 20
Meramec township, T L Coffer is listed as being born in South Carolina, aged 56, his wife Ann, and  three grandchildren; Dora E, 8 (born about 1862), Mary 10 (born about 1860), and Maria 5 (born about 1865), all named Usher.  As noted parents of Elizabeth Cofer-Usher were Thomas Lawson Cofer (born Jan. 28, 1815, Abbyville, So. Carolina) and Charity Ann Whitmire (born May 17, 1819, Franklin county, Mo.).

7.  Family records indicate that Lorenzo was born October 9, 1869, John Wesley born August 20, 1872, and Seth born January 29, 1879.  Birth dates shown are from Susan Usher’s affidavit for widow’s pension filed on March 20, 1883.

Sources:

1. Peggy Hankins amethyst@fidnet.com , Usher Family Researcher, various e-mail correnspondence 2002.

2. Susan S.. Usher, Civil War Veteran's Widow Pension, Certificate # 302,667, National Archives, Washington, DC., April, 2002. Copies provided by Peggy Hankins (see source #1)

3. Irisgay Crivellari imccriv@hal-pc.org , Crivellari and Related Family Researcher, Data from Rootsweb.com Datbase. http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=imccriv&id=I4346

4. John Usher and Miss Elizabeth Dofer (Sarah Elizabeth Cofer) Marriage record, Page 352, Franklin County Marriage Book, Volume B, 1847-18665. http://vienici.com/mofran/vB/p351375.html

5. Moses Usher and Polley (Polly) Hickey marriage record, Madison county, Illinois, record 61, book 6, page 27, digital copy dated November 23, 1977, Edwardsville, Illinois.

6. Moses Usher Black Hawk war pension records, Copies provided by Peggy Hankins (see source #1)