The companies of the 5th Cavalry, like most other units, were raised primarily (but not completely) from a specific county. For the 5th it is generally broken down as follows: Company A: Cumberland County Company B: Coles County (primarily Mattoon) Company C: McLean County (primarily Bloomington) Company D: Wayne County (primarily Fairfield) Company E: Coles County Company F: Crawford and Richland Counties (primarily Robinson) Company G: Shelby and Pike Counties Company H: Washington and St. Clair counties (primarily Nashville Company I: Cumberland County Company K: Randolph County (primarily from Sparta) Company L: Effingham County Company M: Wayne County A search of the internet will find a couple of sites with the men listed by Company. Data appears to be from the Adjutant Generals Report. Regards, Joel http://www.mindspring.com/~jsruss/ At 05:14 PM 4/17/2007, you wrote: >The men came from southern Illinois; a few from companies H & K hailed from >Perry County. > >On 4/17/07, Madonna Marks <mdavsm@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > Where was the 5th Illinois Cavalry from? > > > > Rhonda Kohl <5illinois@gmail.com> wrote: I am working on a history of the > > 5th Illinois cavalry and am looking for > > descendants of the men who served in that regiment. > > > > I would be most interested to hear any stories you may have concerning > > your > > ancestor's service, and most grateful if you would share any letters or > > diaries with me for this history. > > > > Please contact me at the posted email: 5illinois@gmail.com Thanks. > > > > Rhonda M. Kohl > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > ILPERRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? > > Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos. > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > ILPERRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >ILPERRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Dear Rhonda: George McKee served Company K. Below you will find the text of an article that I wrote and that was published in The Trails (Randolph County Genealogy Society's quarterly). As the author, you have my permission to use as much or as little as you like. I would appreciate having my name and email address included in whatever pieces you use. There are descendants from this family that I have yet to catch up with! Also, I have George's pension file. I will be happy to copy or scan it and send it along too. Please advise. Pamela Treme ptreme@AOL.com Land O'Lakes, Florida In a 1998 issue of The Trails, which is the Randolph County Genealogy Society’s quarterly publication, an article titled Soldiers of All Wars Rest in Old Bethel Cemetery lists the names of soldiers buried in that cemetery. The list of Civil War veterans includes George McKee, Company K, 5th Illinois Calvary. Like most people, George’s story is much more complicated than the one line on his headstone. George is born in 1839 in Randolph County, Illinois. He is the second child of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph G. McKee. Misfortune struck George’s family when his mother dies sometime between 1843—when George’s younger brother is born—and 1848—when George’s father marries Martha C. Woodside. It is Martha who raised George, his older sister Mary Jane, and younger brother Joseph. Martha completes the family when in 1855 she gives birth to a son, Robert J. McKee. As the 1860’s approach, war must have been a central issue for this family just as it must have been for many families. Both George and his younger brother Joseph are eligible for the draft, and on 10 August 1862, both men enlist as privates in the army. They join Company C, 81st Illinois Infantry at Pinckneyville, Perry County, Illinois. Both men list their residence as Sparta. On 26 August 1862, the troops muster, and according to the Illinois Adjutant General’s Report, the regiment sees the following action: Immediately after the organization of the Regiment, it was ordered to Cairo, then on 8th of October to join the Army in the field under General Grant, in Tennessee, the first duty being to do garrison duty at Humboldt, Tenn., Nov. 1, 1862. The Regiment moved with the Army from LaGrange, Tenn., southward, traversing the country as far south as Abbeyville, Miss., when the unfortunate raid of General Van Dorn, in our rear, capturing Holly Springs, December 21, 1862 and destroying millions of supplies caused the retreat of the command to Memphis, Tenn., arriving at the point January 19, 1863. George’s pension record notes that he contracts measles and is sick from 10 January to 18 January 1863. Shortly thereafter George’s brother Joseph also contracts measles; however, unlike George, he does not survive. Joseph A. McKee, 19 years of age, dies at Memphis on 15 February 1863. About this time, Ananiais Jackson Booth—a brother‑in‑law—goes A.W.O.L. from the army. Sally Henderson (a Booth researcher) has suggested that Booth escorted Joseph’s body home, or at the least, returned home with the news. No evidence of this scenario exists. At a later date, Booth returns to the army to finish out his service. One week after the death of his brother, George finds himself involved in the siege of Vicksburg. The Illinois Adjutant General’s Report says, On February 23, the command arrived at Lake Providence, remaining there until April 17. Lake Providence, Louisiana is due North of Vicksburg on the Westside of the Mississippi River. It is at this point that George’s health again falters. According to his pension record, George receives a disability discharge at Lake Providence on 8 April 1863. His discharge details his illness as chronic diarrhea and diabetes. He is described as 5’ 9¼”, with a fair complexion and black eyes and hair. George’s occupation is listed as farmer. George’s time away from the war is short. He must have recovered sufficiently to be faced with serving in the war for a second time, because on 21 October 1864, George joins Company K, 5th Regular Illinois Volunteer Calvary. His pension file contains notes of a few illnesses; however, George recovers, serves out his term, and is discharged on 17 June 1865 with no references to his health problems. By the time of George’s second discharge, his time is already short. The few documented happy events in George’s life occur in the last two years of his life. He marries Mary Jane Anderson Ashworth—his first cousin. Mary Jane—the widow of Edward Ashworth—brings two daughters to the marriage. And, the family expands when Mary Jane gives birth to George’s only child. Joseph J. McKee is born 12 January 1869 in Perry County, Illinois. One year and four days after the birth of his son, George dies (16 January 1870). One of the witnesses to his death, David A. Andersen of Clay County, Nebraska, provides the following general affidavit as part of the pension application filed on behalf of George’s son: I lived in the same neighborhood as George D. McKee from the time of his final discharge from the services until his death during the winter of 1869 and 1870. He had several hemorrhages prior to his death, the first of these I noticed of the lungs was in the harvest of 1868. He was helping me to bind wheat when he commenced to spit blood. I had him quit and sent home. He had other hemorrhages a week or so before his death and died from a severe one. I was with him when he died and helped to bury him. George was a stout able-bodied boy when he enlisted in the service. William O. Baden and Thomas C. Blair provide similar affidavits, each tracing all of George’s health problems to his military service. After George’s death, his wife Mary Jane, remarries and has one additional daughter. However, she dies on 23 January 1881, leaving her son Joseph at age 12 and his three sisters orphaned. Thirty‑two years later, in 1913 at age 44, Joseph finally applies for and receives his father’s pension from the Civil War. At the time of the application, Joseph is living in Cutler, Perry County, Illinois. Dying at 31, George D. McKee’s life is all‑to‑short and made sadder by the fact that the Civil War casts an overshadowing pall over most of his adult life. George spends three years fighting in that nightmare—losing what must have been his beloved younger brother and probably many friends and acquaintances. The nightmare continues into his civilian life with the remainder of his life being punctuated by periodic lung hemorrhages that result from that service. Just when George’s life takes a happier turn—a wife and a son—he dies. When considering the price that George paid for his Civil War pension, one can only hope that his son Joseph enjoyed the fruits of the war‑time labors of the father he never knew. -----Original Message----- From: jsruss@mindspring.com To: ilperry@rootsweb.com; ILRANDOL-L@rootsweb.com; ILSTCLAI-L@rootsweb.com; ilwashin@rootsweb.com Sent: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 5:49 PM Subject: Re: [ILRANDOL] 5th illinois cavalry The companies of the 5th Cavalry, like most other units, were raised primarily (but not completely) from a specific county. For the 5th it is generally broken down as follows: Company A: Cumberland County Company B: Coles County (primarily Mattoon) Company C: McLean County (primarily Bloomington) Company D: Wayne County (primarily Fairfield) Company E: Coles County Company F: Crawford and Richland Counties (primarily Robinson) Company G: Shelby and Pike Counties Company H: Washington and St. Clair counties (primarily Nashville Company I: Cumberland County Company K: Randolph County (primarily from Sparta) Company L: Effingham County Company M: Wayne County A search of the internet will find a couple of sites with the men listed by Company. Data appears to be from the Adjutant Generals Report. Regards, Joel http://www.mindspring.com/~jsruss/ At 05:14 PM 4/17/2007, you wrote: >The men came from southern Illinois; a few from companies H & K hailed from >Perry County. > >On 4/17/07, Madonna Marks <mdavsm@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > Where was the 5th Illinois Cavalry from? > > > > Rhonda Kohl <5illinois@gmail.com> wrote: I am working on a history of the > > 5th Illinois cavalry and am looking for > > descendants of the men who served in that regiment. > > > > I would be most interested to hear any stories you may have concerning > > your > > ancestor's service, and most grateful if you would share any letters or > > diaries with me for this history. > > > > Please contact me at the posted email: 5illinois@gmail.com Thanks. > > > > Rhonda M. Kohl > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > ILPERRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? > > Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos. > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > ILPERRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >ILPERRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ILRANDOL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.