Illinois 114th Volunteer - Civil War - William T. Douglass

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Image (C) Doris McCraw

So which William T Douglass is the one I'm looking for? A William T. Douglass with the Ohio Cavalry was a prisoner of war in Kentucky. He had been born in Ohio in  1841. A William T. Douglass was with the Illinois 114th Volunteer, also born in Ohio in 1841. Hence the joy of history and research.

So, how do you find the one you're looking for? It came down to his wife and an obituary for his father. According to the father's obituary, James R. Douglass had left Ohio and moved to Indiana where he met his wife then moved to Illinois, then Kansas. What makes the story interesting is they don't mention James returning to Ohio, but William's census records show his birth in Ohio. However, the obituary mentions William living in Colorado Springs in 1898 when the obituary was published.

Following the above information this William Douglass was with the 114th Illinois volunteers from Menard County, Illinois.

Photograph of Camp Butler 1862
from Illinois History

In the 1860 census, he is listed as the eldest of seven children living in Illinois. William was working on his father's farm. In 1862, on August 4, he enlisted as a private and his muster date is the same. His regiment, like many others, trained in Camp Butler, Illinois.

From May 1863 through 1864 the 114th saw action in the south, primarily in Jackson, Vicksburg, and Tupelo, Mississippi. In December of 1864, they saw action in Nashville, Tennessee.

William T. Douglass mustered out as a corporal on August 3, 1865, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He returned to Illinois and married Martha J. Hurd, from the same county he enlisted from.

By 1879 the couple were living in Colorado Springs where William, according to the city directory of that year, was the sexton at the city cemetery. In the 1885 census, he was listed as a laborer. By 1900 he was listed as a landlord. William died in 1909 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, CO. 

For more on this series of Civil War Veterans and their wives:

Private John H. Long - Western Fictioneers

Isabella Long - Prairie Rose Publications 

Until Next Time: Stay safe, Stay happy, and Stay healthy. 

Doris

On This Day in the Old West: September 13

 On this Friday the 13^th, let’s consider a little-known historical figure: a Black man who helped create the light bulb we’re all familiar with today. Lewis Howard Latimer was born September 4, 1848 to fugitive slaves in Chelsea, Massachusetts. After an “impoverished and turbulent” childhood, Latimer, at fifteen, lied about his age and enlisted in the Union Navy. He served on the USS Massasoit until the end of the Civil War and remained an active patriot for the rest of his life.

In 1865, Latimer was hired in Boston as an office boy for Crosby, Halstead, and Gould, Solicitors of American and Foreign Patents. He became intrigued with mechanical drawing and taught himself the skills he would for this career. His diary from the time reports that he “looked over the draftsman’s shoulder, to see how he used his instruments.” He also studied instruction books and purchased his own drafting instruments. Latimer’s tenacity paid off and soon he was assisting with drawings until, at the age of 18, he became the company’s principal draftsman, a position he would hold for the next ten years. His “office boy” job paid $3 a week. By the time he was promoted to head draftsman in 1872, he was making $20. In today’s money, that’s the equivalent of moving from around $55 a week to around $485.

Keep in mind that slavery was still legal at this time. Latimer’s employers considered him worthy of such pay, and they continued to offer constant raises and promotions throughout his employment. In 1874, Latimer patented (with Charles Brown) an updated passenger train toilet system and he drew the blueprints for Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone in 1876.

Three years later, Latimer was hired at US Electric Lighting Company, owned by Hiram Maxim, a major competitor of Thomas Edison. It was while working there that, on September 13, 1881, that Latimer created a way to make the carbon filament in a light bulb more durable by encasing it in cardboard. He went on to patent the process for efficiently manufacturing the carbon filament in 1882. “His invention made incandescent lighting practical and affordable and was also longer lasting than earlier filaments.”

In 1883 Thomas Edison invited Latimer to join his company, where he “soon became their lead patent investigator and part of Edison’s inner circle.”  In 1918 Latimer became the only Black founding member of the Edison Pioneers, a group of former Edison employees who had worked closely with the great inventor in his early years. They were “a select mix of talented engineers, chemists, inventors, draftsman, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and industrialists—some of the greatest minds in early electrical technology, all in one room, all working together for one man.”

Your characters would probably never have heard of Lewis Latimer, but they would have seen the fruits of his labor: an efficient, longer-lasting incandescent bulb that made electrical lighting practical and inexpensive.

J.E.S. Hays
www.jeshays.com
www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks

Western Movie Taglines Blog Series – September Movie Taglines #movietaglines #westernmovies

My 2024 blogging series, Western Movie Taglines, began in January when I explained what a tagline is, and I gave examples of good non-western movie taglines followed by several disappointing taglines from western movies.

In February, I shared 15 western movie taglines that were clever or witty, real groaners, or just plain silly. March through September, I will share 10 movie taglines each month. October through December will be the Top 40 Countdown of Best Western Movie Taglines.

I compiled a list of 250 westerns and their taglines. From that 250, I plucked out the best 125 to share between February and December. These 125 taglines range from good to outstanding as far as doing justice to their corresponding movies.

The Top 40 taglines are the ones that capture and sum up the heart of the movie in such a fabulous way that we're amazed at how a handful of words can be that powerful or theme-descriptive. Also in December, I will 1) share taglines I've written for two western movies and one early-settling of the American frontier movie that deserved better taglines and, 2) offer a downloadable document of the 250 movies and taglines that I compiled.

January Movie Taglines

February Movie Taglines

March Movie Taglines

April Movie Taglines

May Movie Taglines

June Movie Taglines

July Movie Taglines

August Movie Taglines

Onward to the September Western Movie Taglines—

 

A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
In his own way, he is, perhaps, the most dangerous man who ever lived.

Barbarosa (1982)
The Outlaw… The Outcast… And the Legend that was bigger than both of them.

Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973)
Five killers robbed a bank. The lucky ones got caught. The rest got Cahill.
****
Break the law and he’s the last man you want to see. And the last you ever will.

The Gunfighter (1950)
His only friend was his gun… His only refuge – a woman’s heart.

The Hateful Eight (2015)
No one comes up here without a damn good reason.

Hondo (1953)
First she was afraid he’d stay. Then she was afraid he wouldn’t.

***
Hot blooded with the heat of the plains that bred him, silent as gunsmoke, a stranger to all but the surly dog at his side...

The Naked Spur (1953)
Strong men are weak when a woman is bait.

News of the World (2020)
Find where you belong.

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
There were three men in her life. One to take her…one to love her—and one to kill her.

Zandy’s Bride (1974)
They would be married first…and they would fall in love last.

See you in October when the Top 40 Western Movie Countdown begins.

Kaye Spencer
www.kayespencer.com

The post scheduled for Aug 27 will be posted soon.