Ziegler Barkey

  Noted events in his life were:

• AKA: Zig.

• Moved, 1845, Defiance, Defiance, Ohio, USA. My family moved to Defiance, Ohio

• lived: Baugo Township, Elkhart, Indiana, 1850. ⁴ 1850 LN HN FN LAST NAME FIRST NAME AGE SEX RACE OCCUP. VAL. BIRTHPLACE MRD. SCH. R/W DDB ====================================================================== =================================================== 1 1 1 BARKEY Enos 35 M Farmer 300 PA 2 1 1 BARKEY Eve 33 F PA 3 1 1 BARKEY Susan 13 F PA X 4 1 1 BARKEY Judah 8 M PA X 5 1 1 BARKEY Zigler 6 M PA X 6 1 1 BARKEY John H. 3 M OH

1850: (age 6)

We moved to Baugo Township in Elkhart, Indiana.

• Moved, 1851, Mazon Township, Grundy County, Illinois. I was seven years old when we settled in Mazon Township in Grundy County, Illinois.

• Military, 18 Jan 1864. ⁵ On On January 18, 1864, I volunteered to serve in the Civil War. I was described on my enrollment form as being six feet tall with blond hair and blue eyes. I served as a Corporal in the Artillery. I was first in Colvin's Battery and then assigned to the new 1st Illinois light artillery battery K. My regiment was active from January 1864 to July 15, 1865. The new 1st Illinois light artillery batter K fought in Cumberland Gap and in the district of East Tennessee.

New Batter K 1st Illinois Light Artillery
(Formerly Colvin's Battery)
Name Rank Residence Date of Muster Remarks
ALDER, Alfred Recruit Chicago Mar 20, 1864Mustered out July 15, 1865
ALEXANDER, John W Recruit Burlington, Ind. Dec 15, 1862 MO July 15, 1865 as 1st Sgt.
ANDERSON, Andrew H Recruit Calument Feb 16, 1865 Mustered out July 15, 1865
ANTRIM, Aden Private Wenona Sep 5, 1862 Mustered out Jun 19, 1865
ANTRIM, Peter H Private Wenona Sep 5, 1862 Mustered out Jun 19, 1865
ANTRIM, William Private Wenona Sep 5, 1862 MO Jun 19, 1865 as Corp'l.
ARMSTRONG, William Private Clinton Sep 4, 1862 Mustered out Jun 19, 1865
BABB, George M Private Bement Sep 5, 1862 Mustered out Jun 19, 1865
BABCOCK, Elias Private Monticello Sep 5, 1862 Mustered out Jun 19, 1865
BAILEY, Irvin Recruit Wilmington Feb 23, 1864
Died at Camp Yates, Ill., Apr 1, 1864
BARKER, William Private Bement Sep 5, 1862 Mustered out Jun 19, 1865
BARKEY, Zeigler Recruit Wilmington J an 18, 1864 Mustered out July 15, 1865
BARNGROVER, George W Private Clinton Sep 4, 1862 MO Jun 19, 1865 as Corp'l.
BARREN, Thomas Recruit Chicago 3/31/1864 Reported as deserter, 6/14/1865

McGIRR, Francis M Recruit Morris Jan 18, 1864 Mustered out 1/15/1865

• Military, 27 Jan 1864, Camp Yates. ^2,6 I had a long wait at Camp Yates while I waited to join my unit. Military camps sprang up around the state in order to ready all of the troops for battle, instill some organization, and train troops,. Camp Douglas, Camp Long, Camp Mather, and Camp Blum served as muster stations located in Chicago. Camp Mather, Camp Springfield, Camp Yates, Camp Taylor and Camp Butler were located in Peoria. Quincy, Carrollton and Aurora counties.

On January 27, 1864, I sat down and wrote a letter to my parents.

Camp Yates January 27, 1864

Dear Parents,

I take pen in hand to inform you that I am well at present hoping that these few lines find you the same now let me tell yu about the wether the wether here is like the midel of June and the mud is very much mixed you may think when three is a thousan men tramping over about 6 akers of ground.

I have ben in town today and had my likeness taken we have nothing to do but eat and drink but our victuals are as follows in the mornins we have bread and coffey and at noon we get sowbelly and beenes.

We expect to go to Camp Butler that is about 7 mil from hear we are about a mild west of Springfeel.

I cant wright much now I hav no chance to do it I want you to wright to me I don't know whare for you to direct your letters for I don't know how long we shal stay hear.

Goodby I like it.

In order to ready all of these troops for battle, instill some organization, and train troops, military camps sprang up around the state. In Chicago, Camp Douglas, Camp Long, Camp Mather, and Camp Blum served as muster stations. In Peoria, Camp Mather and Springfield Camp Yates, Camp Taylor and Camp Butler. Quincy, Carrollton and Aurora also placed waiting troops in local camps.

• Military, Feb 1864, Camp Butler. February 1865, I was moved to Camp Butler. Camp Butler, Illinois was a major mustering-in site during the Civil War that was named for William Butler, treasurer of the state of Illinois for 2 terms. He was from Sangamon County east of Springfield. The first troops arrived at Fort Butler in August of 1861. The troops boarded trains at Jimtown or Riverton and headed out to their assignments. Thirty-nine regiments of infantry and 9 regiments of cavalry were trained at Camp Butler.

• Military, 21 Feb 1864, Camp Butler. ⁷ I found a place to set and write a letter to my sister, Judith.


Dear Sister (Directed to Judith)February 21, 1864

It is with pleasure I take this opertunity to inform you that I am well at present. I hope that these few lines will find you the same. We are now in Camp Butler and waiting for marching orders there are 7000 men hear and they are coming in dayley last night there came in about 300 there is a goodeal of sickness hear about camp Sutch has mezels there hant but three of us hear that belong to our batrey Albert Melham and Frank Mgirr and myself frank is a fine fellow and so is Al

Now I will tell you about the wether very warm here you had ought to be here to see the sight it would be a sight for you to see the government teem hauling wood for the camp and still more to see the men out on their perade ground we ha a good deal of fun

Now I will tell you what we liv on in the morning when we get up w go wash then we go and take our plate and cup out of our haversacks and go and draw our rations which is as follows coffey in the morning and evening and Bread plenty and at dinner beens or split peas we hav plenty of sow belley and side sometimes.

It will be 5 weaks tomorrow that I left home I have ben in this camp 2 weaks there are 40 Baricks in the Camp and 10 new ones was built last weak outside of camp that is besides the officers quarters a barick is a hundred feet long and 20 feet wide with bunks on each side you must excuse my poor wrighting for I hav nothing to wright on but the wood pile to wright on.

The boys just now came in with some chickens that they swiped out in the country they frequently get shot at when sneaking around the farm houses. well I must come to aclose for I am getting cold. there comes a boy with a pig. parents to home be gay and happy tho your son is in the strife he would rather be a soldier than to live a cowards life so let the canan boom as they will we'll be gay and happy still.

Z C Barkey Direct your letter to Camp Butler

• Military, 16 Mar 1864, Camp Butler. ⁸ My sister Judith was good about writing to me. I returned a letter to her on March 16, 1864.


Camp Butler
March 16, 1864

Dear Sister is with plesure that I take this opertunity to inform you that I am well at present and also hope this will find you in the same state of helth I received yours of the 13th and was glad to hear from you and you stated that I should look for George Misuse he is hear has ben hear for about 2 weaks he belongs to the hundard and fourth Jeff Lamarsney and Roy Basyte has come hear they are going to the 127 I would like to know if you hear anything from John Tinsman or no if you hav le meno for if I go down there I mite stand a chance to see him. I would like to no whether you hav got a sower or not if you hav I would like to no who he is and I would like to know how much wheat you have sown.

About getting a furlo I don't expect one and never did and I don't care much about one I am well satisfied and contented in heard that John was going to inlist he would never stand it for he would think it purty hard if he would hav to live on what we do and he is sutch a big eater I can liv on one haf what he doz I am getting fat on Uncle Sam's rations and they are helthy I would like to no whether Dave Stutsman has inlisted or not I don't know much to rite this time I want you to write soon and all the particulars

Z. Barkey

Al Mecham and McGirr are well.

LaMARSNA, Jeffry J Recruit Joliet Mar 8, 1864 Mustered out May 31, 1865 TINSMAN, John Private Greenfield Sep 5, 1862 MO to date May 31, 1865 (his cousin)

• Military: fought at Kennesaw Mountain, 27 Jun 1864. Kennesaw Mountain
June 27, 1864
Estimated casualties: 4,000 (Union: 3000, Confederates 1,000)

War tactical and strategic decisions are based on the ability to provide food. It is this concern that caused General William Tecumseh Sherman to launch a full-scale frontal assault on the entrenched position of General Joseph Eggleston Johnston's Rebels at Kennesaw Mountain.

A gunner from this position wrote, ". .The valley is full of men coming towards us for as far as the eye can see."

Sherman repeatedly outflanks his opponent, only to be stopped by a small chain of mountains just west of the small northwest Georgia rail center of Marietta. Johnston sits on one side, Sherman on the other.

Sherman tries to make a run around the south end of the Confederate line when an "impetuous" attack by John Bell Hood at Kolb's Farm stops him cold in his tracks. Now, for the first time during The Atlanta Campaign, he must fight. The Western and Atlanta Railroad skirt the north end of Kennesaw Mountain. Simply leaving Rebel artillery entrenched on the mountain would doom any hope of using the all-weather lifeline to supply his men south of the peak. Having left the railroad once in Kingston, he feels that leaving it now would spell disaster for his army totaling nearly 100,000 men. The Confederate position must fall. John Scofield's Army of the Ohio holds the southern end of the line, George Thomas' Army of the Cumberland the middle, and John McPherson's Army of the Tennessee the northern end, west and north of Kennesaw Mountain. They go up against John Bell Hood to the south, William J. Hardee in the center and Polk's Corps to the north, with William Loring in charge after the untimely death of Bishop Polk a few days earlier.

A simple plan is devised, with Sherman giving his field commanders great leeway in their choices for attack. Schofield and Hooker, at the southern end of the line, demonstrate to keep Hood in place. Thomas launches the primary attack along a two and half mile long front south of Pigeon Hill. To the north McPherson demonstrates but also launches a secondary attack. With his men in position and the entire Union Army on the move in front of them, Army of Tennessee commander Joseph E. Johnston can not reinforce the actual areas of attack. Sherman wants to split two holes in the Rebel line and drive to the Western and Atlantic Railroad in downtown Marietta.

XV Corps commander John "Blackjack" Logan, from Illinois, decides to attack a salient in the Rebel line between Little Kennesaw Mountain and Pigeon Hill. To the south, Generals George Thomas ("Rock of Chickamauga") and O. O. Howard personally select a salient in the line that appears to be misplaced. The line had formed far enough back on the hill that a "dead area" beneath the Confederates might offer the attackers brief relief from the hail of lead they would surely face. Also, this is the location where the two opposing lines are closest.

Fair Oaks was General Johnston's headquarters until June 27, 1864. During the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain artillery shells began to land near the house, so he evacuated the home.

The morning of the twenty-seventh ranking officer's reconoitering gives way to the artillerymen's bombardment. For fifteen minutes across parts of the eight-mile front, Union cannoneers lob shells at Confederate positions. The barrage is designed to "soften up" Rebel defenses, but it may have done more harm than good for it forewarned of the impending attack.

Plans of the Union generals almost immediately go awry. The Army of the Cumberland does not start until an hour after schedule, and the assault on Pigeon Hill runs into unexpected physical barriers.

Pigeon Hill

At 8:15 cannon fall silent, quickly replaced by the staccato bursts of gunfire as Logan's men move forward. Nearly 5,500 infantry pour into a small area to battle the entrenched Rebels. Noyes Creek, which runs north south just west of Mountain Road, provided the first physical barrier for Joseph A. J. Lightborn's Union infantry. Behind the creek sat the 63rd Georgia Regiment, along with other groups on the skirmish line. Instead of withdrawing when others moved back, the recently transferred 63rd stays on the line. Regiments of Federals, six in all, pour out of the forest and over the line held by the Georgians. Ordered to reinforce the skirmish line, reserves come forward as support. Brief hand-to-hand fighting routs the Georgia Regiment, who head for the Rebel line followed closely by boys in blue. Punishing Confederate crossfire halts the Federals and the commander orders retreat within ten minutes.

Just to the north, a second group of Union soldiers under Giles Smith tries to advance across Old Mountain Road. The heavy woods, large rocks and a stone palisade at the top of Pigeon Hill doom this assault. Even further north the men of Colonel Charles C. Walcutt overrun the skirmish line but fail to take the main line in the heavily wooded gap between Little Kennesaw and Pigeon Hill.

Cheatham Hill

Cheatham Hill could be seen looking from the Union position towards the Dead Angle, just over the top of the ridge. Protected from fire after the assault because the line was placed at the geographical crest instead of the military crest, Union soldiers dig a tunnel in an attempt to blow up the Rebel line.

To the south of Pigeon Hill lies land that gently slopes uphill from the Union positions. Johnston assigns two of his best commanders to defend the area. Both Benjamin Franklin Cheatham and Patrick Cleburne command men who are battle tested, hardened to a fine edge. Supported by an intricate web of earthworks and entanglements, these veterans see the hardest fighting of the day. To the west Union Generals Jefferson C. Davis and John Newton form behind Thomas' line. The plan is to rush the Confederates en masse, hopefully breaking through and routing the boys in gray.

The Union Army charge south of the Dallas Highway launches at nine o'clock on June 27, 1864. Eight thousand men are committed to the assault across a two-mile front, many waiting for a breakthough to exploit. Leading the charge for Davis was Daniel McCook, an Ohioan most noted for sharing a law office with his commanding officer, William Tecumseh Sherman. John G. Mitchell would hit the salient from the southern side and McCook from the northern side. Newton's men, led by the able Charles Harker, would try to penetrate the Confederate line to the north.

Parley D. Inman was wounded in the upper left leg by a Confederate mini ball. Parley lay on the field for two days before being picked up; his leg was then amputated.

Prepared for the attack by the unusual artillery barrage, the Rebel line watches the green valley become a sea of blue as the Union assault sweeps across John Ward Creek below them. Advancing men try to punch holes in the line but word from the battle is not good. Harker falls 15 feet from the Rebel line, shot in the arm and chest by Cleburne's men. Further south, at Cheatham Hill, the Union boys that aren't cannon fodder are repeatedly raked by Cheatham's Tennesseans.

Wave after wave of Union soldiers advance towards the Rebel line entrenched on Cheatham Hill. Withering gunfire kills hundreds of boys, mostly from Illinois and Ohio. Incredibly, McCook and some of his men make it to the Rebel line, only to be shot, stabbed, or captured by the Graybacks. Later, soldiers on both sides refered to this area as "The Dead Angle."

During the attack some woods catch on fire, just to the north of Cheatham Hill. Wounded Union soldiers, left during the hasty retreat, scream as they burn to death in the blaze. A colonel from Arkansas steps on top of the entrenchments with a white flag and calls to the opposing force, "Come and get your men, for they are burning to death!" Rifleless Federals approach and begin to remove the bodies, aided by men in gray. The two forces that had been killing each other less than fifteen minutes earlier now were working together to save the lives of fallen men. The next day the Union commanders present the Colonel with a matching pair of ivory-handled Colt .45 pistols.

The battle is over. Unable to pierce the Confederate line, what remains of the Union attackers withdraws to safer territory. Some Illinois men remain 20 yards from the Rebel line, trying to dig a tunnel to blow a hole in the intrenchments above them. In an hour and a half the Federals lose more than 1,000 men, the Confederates one-third that total. McCook is returned to the field hospital, badly wounded. He died shortly after his promotion to general a few days later. Johnston withdraws on the evening of July 2 to a position in defense of Atlanta.

The red-haired Ohioan found fierce resistance from the Confederate troops under Joe Johnston. Johnston held off the troops of McPherson at Resaca, but then had to withdraw after the battle when federal troops were endangering his position by outflanking him, a tactic often used by Sherman. The strength of the Union army and the ability to supply them was too much for Johnston's struggling forces. Johnston defeated Sherman's armies at the battle of Kennesaw Mountain on June 27, 1864, but once again had to move his troops back southward to Smyrna due to the numbers of troops at Sherman's disposal

• Military, 10 Jul 1864, Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia. ⁹ My unit was camped outside of Atlanta, so I took a moment to write my sister a letter.


Dear Sister: (Written to sister Judith)
July 10, 1864

I receved your letter today and was glad to hear from you we are now incamped in the woods between Marietta and Atlanta I hav not yet got the first letter you rote I hav rote one home and one to Susan but she has not yet answered my letter I was glad to hear that the folks are well you told me to giv my respects to Hulse but I am sorry to say that he is no more he died about a month ago with the flu I tell you I hav had a purty hard row to hoe when I left home I did not expect to get in a fight so soon but I have no fears atall I guess we have silenced a dozen batrys we hav done some sharp shooting if we get to see a rebil gun one shot from our 12 pound rodmans is all they want every shell that we fire costs 5 a day and we came so fast that it was a perfict roar like thunder when we took a position at the foot of the Kennesaw mountain whare we had ten horses kild was the hottest time we hav had yet but we hav ben lucky so far our loss is one man kild and one wounded and about 12 horses but who cares about them I am very glad that I inlisted in the artillery and I am glad I am in this batry I like the officers all well.

I can't stand itto lay hear and rite for it is to hot one thing that I found out that I never new what a good home was until I came here and I often think how we used to complain and grumble but when you lay down at nite on your sof bed always think whare your brother may be meby he is nerly suffocating with burnt powder for this has ben the case the heat and smoke was so thick that we nearly smothered. tel father to try to get me a pair of colts I will send him some money soon I don't know much more to rite you may think I am gassing but it is the gods truth I gues I did not mention in my letter that I saw the boys of the hundred and twenty seventh but did not see cosin John no more at present I send my respects to all direct as before via Chattanoga rite soon.

Z. Barkey Batry K

I was glad for the paper

Kennesaw Mountain Other Names: None

Location: Cobb County

Campaign: Atlanta Campaign (1864)

Date(s): June 27, 1864

Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman [US]; Gen. Joseph E. Johnston [CS]

Forces Engaged: Military Division of the Mississippi [US]; Army of Tennessee [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 4,000 total (US 3,000; CS 1,000)

Description: On the night of June 18-19, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, fearing envelopment, withdrew his army to a new, previously selected position astride Kennesaw Mountain. This entrenched arc-shaped line, to the north and west of Marietta, protected the Western & Atlantic Railroad, the supply link to Atlanta. Having defeated General John B. Hood troops at Kolb’s Farm on the 22nd, Sherman was sure that Johnston had stretched his line too thin and, therefore, decided on a frontal attack with some diversions on the flanks. On the morning of June 27, Sherman sent his troops forward after an artillery bombardment. At first, they made some headway overrunning Confederate pickets south of the Burnt Hickory Road, but attacking an enemy that was dug in was futile. The fighting ended by noon, and Sherman suffered high casualties.

Result(s): Confederate victory

Marietta Other Names: Pine Hill, Pine Mountain, Gilgal Creek, Noonday Creek, Ruff’s Mill

Location: Cobb County

Campaign: Atlanta Campaign (1864)

Date(s): June 9-July 3, 1864

Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman [US]; Gen. Joseph E. Johnston [CS]

Forces Engaged: Military Division of the Mississippi [US]; Army of Tennessee [CS]

Estimated Casualties: Unknown

Description: During the Atlanta Campaign, instead of frontally attacking Johnston’s army which would cause too many casualties, Sherman usually attempted to maneuver the enemy out of defensive positions. Thus, when Sherman first found Johnston entrenched in the Marietta area on June 9, he began extending his lines beyond the Confederate lines, causing some Rebel withdrawal to new positions. On June 18-19, Johnston withdrew to an arc-shaped position centered on Kennesaw Mountain. Sherman made some unsuccessful attacks on this position but eventually extended the line on his right and forced Johnston to withdrawal from the Marietta area on July 2-3.

Result(s): Union victory

• Military, 17 Jul 1864. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, had little faith in Johnston's ability to oppose Sherman and on July 17, 1864, Davis relieved Johnston of his command and replaces him with the aggressive John B. Hood. Hood was even more unsuccessful in stopping Sherman's armies. Finally on September 1, 1864, Sherman's troops captured the city of Atlanta, but not before Hood destroyed the railroad yards.

Sherman declared Atlanta to be a military encampment and ordered the civilians to leave the city. He made arrangements with Hood for their safe passage. Civilians who had Confederate or Union sympathies could not remain in their homes if they were within the city of Atlanta due to danger from continueing warfare maneuvers and random fires. From September to November, Sherman's forces were on the defensive guarding the city. Hood tried several unsuccessful attacks but his efforts were futile. Hood then began marching northward, hoping to destroy Sherman's supply line. Sherman made the statement, "If he continues to march north, all the way to the Ohio, I will supply him with rations."

• Military, 18 Sep 1864, Knoxville, Tennessee. ¹⁰ I decided to sit down and write a few lines to my father:


Knoxville, Tennessee September the 18 /64

Dier father it is with plesure that I take pen in hand to sho that I am well and hope that these few lines may find you the same I have also to inform you that we had a nother march to Manerdsville we was gone 4 days now father I will tell you the oponion of the men in this company they think if mack was elected the war would son close will draw about 160 dollars some of these days but I can't trust to send it home for they tare up the railroad once and a while wel I don't know much to right so I guess I will stop the boys are all well

Wright soon

Zieglar Barkey

• Military, Nov 1864. ¹¹ Sherman wanted to split the Confederacy, and began planning his March to the Sea. He kept his most seasoned veterans, 60,000 in all and sent the rest of the troops back to Nashville to be under the command of Major-General George Thomas. With four Corps of troops in two columns, in November 1864, Sherman began his infamous March to the Sea. Prior to leaving Atlanta, he set fire to munitions factories, railroad yards, clothing mills, and other targets that could be resourceful to the Confederacy. Sherman never intended to burn the whole city, but the fire got out of hand and spread throughout the city

• Military, 23 Mar 1865. Colvin's Battery Light Artillery was transferred and assigned as Battery K, First Regiment Illinois Light Artillery, in pursuance of General Orders No. 47, Headquarters State of Illinois, Adjutant General's Office, dated March 23, 1865.

The Confederates returned to the Gap, cleared up the mess Morgan and his men left behind, and strengthened the forts. Many skirmishes took place, as Unionists from Tennessee raided the garrison. In September 1863 a Union force under Major General Ambrose E. Burnside moved toward the Gap. On September 7, the Union destroyed provisions stored at the Iron Furnace. Burnside also deceived the Confederate commander, Brig. Gen. John W. Frazer, into believing that his force was stronger than it actually was. Believing his Confederates to be outmanned and short of provisions necessary for a long seige, Frazer surrendered his garrison on September 9, 1864.

Lining up along the Harlan Road, the Confederates were amazed to see the small force to which they had surrendered. The Gap remained in Union hands until the end of the war. Except for a garrison inspected by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in January 1864, when he labeled the Cumberland Gap the "Gibraltar of America," there was little excitement. Meanwhile, the war fought to its end in the South and East.

By the end of the war the Gap had changed hands four times, yet no major confrontation took place here.

• Military, Mar 1865. Battery "K", 1st Regiment Light Artillery (Reorganized)
Formerly Colvin's Batter

Reorganized March 1865, by assignment of Colvin's Independent Battery Light Artillery. Attached to 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, District of East Tennessee, and duty at Cumberland Gap and in District of East Tennessee until July. Mustered out July 15, 1865.
Battery "B"

Attached to District of Kentucky, Dept. of Ohio, to August 1863. Willcox's Division, Left Wing Forces, 23rd Army Corps, Dept. of the Ohio, to January 1864. District of the Clinch, Dept. of the Ohio, to April 1864. 1st Brigade, 4th Division, 23rd Army Corps, Dept. of the Ohio, to February 1865. 1st Brigade, 4th Division, District of East Tennessee, to March 1865. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, District of East Tennessee, to July 1865.

Assignment:

The Expedition to Cumberland Gap August 17-September 7 1864.
Winter's Gap August 31.
Operations about Cumberland Gap September 7-10.
Duty at Cumberland Gap until May 1865,
District of East Tennessee until July. Mustered out July 1865.

District of East Tennessee
4th Division
2nd Brigade
Feb 1865 - 15 Mar 1865 - Duty in and around Knoxville TN

16 Mar 1865 - 3 Aug 1865 - Cumberland Gap TN

3 Aug 1865 - 5 Aug 1865 - March and Muster out at Nashville

• Relationship: Cousin John Tinsman. John Tinsman, who married Mary Catherine Showalter from Dover, Ohio was Ziegler's cousin. John died as a result of being imprisoned in the Confederate Prison - Andersonville, while he was a Union Soldier.

• Discharged, Aug 1865. After the Civil war I went back to Gardner, Illinois where my parents lived. I brought Frank McGirr with me, as he had nowhere to go and I knew my folks would take him in. My sister Judith took an interest in Frank and later married him.

• Property: the Euchre Coal Mine: Gardner, Grundy, Illinois, USA. ² The Euchre Coal Mine was flooded and Ziegler took a financial loss.

• migrated, 1871, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska. ^2,12 Six years after being discharged from the army, I decided to investigate the homestead situation in Nebraska. The euchre coal mine I owned in Illinois filled up with water causing me to take quite a financial loss. At the time, the government was offering to give anyone 160 acres of land if they would build a house of any kind on it and homestead the land. The government's offer sounded like a plausible way to gain stability. I packed up a wagon and headed to the Missouri River.

I decided to keep a diary of my journey, so I wrote "I crossed the Missouri River on a skiff. I traveled from Gardner to Springfield; Springfield to Quincy; Quincy to Saint Joseph; Saint Joseph to Atchison, Kansas; Atchison, Kansas to Marysville; Marysville to Blue Springs, Nebraska. I traveled with Samuel Workman, Mr. Holderman and a lady who was traveling with us to join her husband on his homestead. The road was so rough she screamed all the way."

*The diary mentioned has never been found.

• Traveling Companions: Samuel Workman and James Henry Holderman. ¹³ Samuel Workman, was born in the military-historic locality of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was married there, and then moved out to Johnson County, Missouri, He was a farmer and for thirty years was a justice of the peace in Johnson County. While he volunteered for service in the war, he was rejected on account of age, and belonged to the Home Guards. He barely missed capture at Lexington. He had a liberal education, was a prominent republican in Missouri and a consistent Methodist. Samuel Workman married Sarah Walters, a descendant of Adam Walters, who headed a colony of settlers from Holland, joining the William Penn Colony in Pennsylvania, and was a factor in the up building of the communities of Gettysburg and Hanover. The parents of Sarah Walters migrated to Indiana along with the Workman family and established themselves at Americus, near Lafayette, where both of them died within a year. Samuel Workman came on to Johnson County, Missouri, from Indiana, and died in 1888, at the age of seventy-seven, while his widow survived him six years.

• lived: Cortland, Nebraska, 1871. ¹⁴ Listed in the 1890 Farmers Gazzette

Barkey E - Cortland Barkey J H - Cortland
Barkey Z - Barkey Barmore F M - Admas

• Family Event, 28 Apr 1871. On April 28, 1871, my brother John arrived in Nebraska with Watson Rogers. Watson was a family friend from Illinois. We hauled lumber from Blue Springs, Nebraska to build a one-room homestead. The one room later served, as a dining room in our family home, but for now it was a cozy place for three men to live.

• Guest, Fall 1871. In the fall of 1871, George Alvord, a friend from Gardner, Illinois paid us a visit while he looked for a homestead in Nebraska. The ground was frozen preventing George from building his family a home until spring, so they pulled their wagon next to my house and lived there until spring. In the spring, the Alvord's built a sod house near Clatonia.

• Family Event, 1 Nov 1872. Today, we celebrated my brother Enos Jr's arrival to Nebraska along with his 20th birthday.

• Family Event, 1873. In 1873, my parents came to Nebraska by train. They lived with us for a short time and then moved into a sod house, which was on land they owned. My parents were able to buy several hundred acres of land for a few hundred dollars. At this point, all of my family had moved to Nebraska except Susan and Judith.

• History of Cortland, Nebraska. ¹⁵ Cortland, Nebraska:

Cortland was established in the fall of 1883 during the construction of the Omaha and Republican Valley Railroad. Cortland originally was a part of Highland Township near the north line of Gage County, which was in Clay County until 1863. The land was purchased by Joseph Millard of Omaha from Alfred Gale and given the name "Galesburg" in his honor. However, there were so many other towns with similar names that it seemed prudent to change the name to "Cortland". Courtland was named for a town in New York. The postal authorities changed the spelling to "Cortland" in February 1884.

Joseph Millard had the land surveyed and platted early in 1884. Soon it was the "best shipping point between Omaha and Beatrice" except for Lincoln and one or two other large towns along the way.

The town sprang to a population of 600 in one season, with over 80 buildings constructed in just three months. Henry Spellman hauled lumber for a general store from Firth during the winter before the rails were completed. Walingford and Masterman started an implement business, Fred Wittstruck built a boarding house, and J. P. Clough was named postmaster.

Gage County:
Gage County was twenty-four miles wide and extends northward thirty-six miles. It contains sixteen cities and villages of which the city of Beatrice, the county seat, is the largest and most important. A third of the county's population is concentrated in Beatrice. From northwest to southeast the Big Blue River winds through farms and towns, and with its tributaries forms the county's entire watershed. The stream is dammed at numerous points for power and milling. The landscape with its gently rolling farms is only broken here and there by wooded towns and streams which form a pretty picture.
Until 1854, southeastern Nebraska was but a part of a vast unbroken expanse of prairie, inhabited by many buffalo and fairly peaceable Indians, mostly Otoes and Pawnees. But in that year, Congress established Nebraska territory an area embracing most of that which then remained of the Louisiana Purchase. Even then there were settlements along the Missouri river as a result of boat traffic and an early movement of settlers into the new west. These settlements together with the Oregon Trail that entered Nebraska through Gage County formed the gateways to the new territory. Interconnecting trails that were soon established gave eastern Nebraska an early, though primitive, highway network that speeded settlement.
The eastern river settlements expanded into organized counties. The first territorial governor roughly disposed of the new land to the west by designating all of it south of the South Platte River and as far west as the summit of the Rockies as "Jones County." Shortly afterward, Jones County began to be divided into smaller units awaiting settlement.
A year after Nebraska became a territory; an area 24 miles square was designated by the legislature for organization to be named in honor of Rev. Gage, the first legislative chaplain. Very view people settled in Gage County until 1857. In the spring of that year, a party of settlers moved upstream from St. Joseph, Missouri on the riverboat Hannibal. The riverboat lodged on a sand bar a few miles up the river. During the delay, the passengers found themselves congenial and of similar purpose, so they formed the Nebraska Association and cast their lot together with a view to founding a town somewhere in the new territory. The association named Judge Kinney as president and John T. McConahie, secretary. They decided to send out an exploring party from Nebraska City to search for a suitable townsite while remaining members of the association were to proceed to Omaha to await results of the exploration.

The one group that moved westward found a fine site on the Blue River. The Blue River site was most favored by the Association when they met again in Omaha. The town was named Beatrice in honor of Miss Julia Beatrice, the daughter of Judge Kinney.
Beatrice was unusual in that it had a common treasury supplied by assessments upon association members and out of which came funds for the purchase of a saw mill, the construction of a headquarters cabin and the provision of other things essential to the establishment and continuance of a pioneer community. The association acquired title to the townsite and all members were entitled to share in the wealth that was expected to follow.
Development came slowly and in the early years there was far more hardship than prosperity. It was an unusual settlement in that all the first settlers had had the advantage of education and were more fitted for cultural pursuits than for pioneering. Early evidence of this came when the exploring party reached the place that later became the townsite. Jefferson B. Weston, a member of the party and a young man of great classical attainments noted that it possessed seven hills as did Rome and "upon these hills a new Rome shall be built." His fellow explorers were quick to catch the spirit of his utterance.
Weston's remark would have seemed irrelevant to a seasoned pioneer whose practiced eye would have seen matters of more immediate importance. Weston and his associates happened to be looking a little further than the seven hills in that they were seeing some things that would not have been visible to the hardworking, untutored pioneer.
The intellectual power of the Beatrice community happened to be associated with a strong character and a resolute will, which proved them worthy to be pioneers. Not all the original settlers remained at Beatrice. It was obvious that the small community could not support the overabundance of teachers, doctors and lawyers. A number of them removed to other localities to contribute his influential share in the moulding of the new territory.
The settlers that remained in Beatrice worked hard to perfect the founding of the town on an unshakeable basis. One of their first moves was to organize the county with Beatrice as the county seat. This was not an easy task as a settlement by the name of Blue Springs had sprung up some twelve miles to the south and was seeking the same distinction. It was a vigorous dispute with both communities calling and winning elections for the county seat. The struggle for the couty seat intensified when the territorial legislature surveyed a townsite between Beatrice and Blue Springs and declared that it would be the county seat. However, someone pulled up most of the stakes and no one would settle there. The dispute ended in 1859 when the territorial legislature found Beatrice to have the stronger case and gave it the official county seat designation.
In 1854 the county gained half of Clay County. Clay had been established by the first territorial legislature, as were Gage, Lancaster and other Counties. However, the residents were politically listless and didn't have a strong leadership to bring it abreast of its thriving neighbors. The territorial legislature approved the decision to divide Clay between Lancaster and Gage. A few dollars sufficed to reimburse the Clay County treasurer, John W. Prey, and clerk, H. W. Parker, for their personal losses in conducting the affairs of their county and the act was done. Ten years after the settlement of Gage County and three years after the partition of Clay County, Nebraska became a state.
In those early years, Gage County progressed politically but not greatly in population. Beatrice and Blue Springs grew from rough pioneer settlements into trading posts, but rural settlement was slow and it was almost a quarter of a century before other towns and villages began to appear. A reservation for the Indians gave them fertile land in the extreme southeastern portion of the county where they remained in comfortable surroundings and at peace with their fellow neighbors. This peace lasted until a new treaty was brought forward and the purchase of tribal lands by the government. The Indians were moved to Indian Territory in Oklahoma.
On January 1, 1863, the national Homestead Act became effective and so began a new phase of development. The law was but a few minutes old when Daniel Freeman, a Union soldier on furlough, appeared at the Brownville land office and received the nation's first homestead grant. Like the building of the Union Pacific railroad, the Homestead Act was a powerful force in the growth and development of Nebraska. It was especially helpful to Gage County where land was excellent and opportunity was vastly broadened by its privileges.
The close of the War Between the States was followed by migration of veterans from both north and south to the new west. This migration struck Gage County at a timely moment and the ensuing five years witnessed remarkable changes. Trails were heavy with homeseekers and the county changed rapidly from an unbroken prairie with few settlements into a populous community dotted with farms. Beatrice and Blue Springs became thriving towns. There began to be modest wealth when pioneering was reaching its final stages.
The 1870's introduced the growth in the railroad industry, which ushered in the development of towns and markets along their lines. This was also a time period of boom and overdevelopment. Industries were being organized, towns boomed, eastern capital gushed freely. Enthusiasm ruled the day and towns swelled with "new additions" breathless with visions of becoming vast cities.
The 1890's arrived in Gage County where its settlers were slowly and painfully creeping out from under its financial wreckage. Its pioneer days were over. The industries that were sound financially lived on and were no longer frenzied. The farms returned to stable values and everyone settled down to living. Although Gage County has experienced later panics and depressions, it has met them with comfortable reserves and has endured them with calm fortitude.
Beatrice has experienced continued growth, perhaps not to such an extent as its masters of the 1880's dreamed, but certainly far beyond the expectations of its founders. Blue Springs has not fared so well. First, it was established in 1858 to provide a short cut on the Oregon Trail with the goal of capitalizing on the needs of pioneers with a trading post. The Oregon bound wagon trains wouldn't take the “short-cut” in spite of Blue Spruce settlers ploughing a furrow many miles across the prairie to lead the trail traffic over their shorter route. Secondly, the Burlington and Missouri railroad failed to enter Blue Springs selecting the new town of Wymore located a mile to the south. Finally, Blue Springs also lost its fight for the county seat.
When the venture of creating a “short-cut” on the Oregon Trail collapsed, the original founders forsook the village. Following their departure an influx of religious New England families came to Blue Springs who completed the founding of the town. While most other early day settlements proceeded with raucous disregard for law and higher ethics, Blue Springs banned liquor at the outset, outlawed crime, glorified righteous living and maintained culture. In its more than eighty years of existence, it has never experienced a murder and for many, many years it did not know felony.
Adams, another Gage County town, has a background very similar to that of Blue Springs. The coming of the railroads birthed the other towns that now dot Gage County. Most of them were established in the 1880's and most of them followed the same historical pattern. They are Clatonia, Barnston, Cortland, Filley, Virginia, Rockford, Holmesville, Liberty, Ellis, Pickrell, Odell and Lanham.
Albert “Pap” Towle will always be fondly remembered by many of us who settled the area. He was keeper of the townsite cabin, postmaster, justice, and county official. He was a leading spirit in the pioneer adventure. He was a respected and beloved man and an impressive figure in our community

• Accepted Christ, 1874, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska.

• Occupation: Owned and ran a merchandise store, 1875, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska. ² I owned and ran a merchandise store with Hattie's help. I was too trusting with my credit and soon had to go out of business.

• Hobbies: played an instrument. Hattie and I both enjoyed music and encouraged our children to take music lessons from Melissa Hayward who lived in Clatonia.
All of our children could play an instrument of some kind.

• Listed in: Farmer's Gazzette, 1890. I was listed in the 1890 Farmers Gazzette

Barkey E - Cortland Barkey J H - Cortland
Barkey Z - Barkey Barmore F M - Admas

• Illness: Gallstones, 1910, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska. I developed gallstones that caused intense pain. Yet, doctors in the early 1900's still didn't know how to cure the problem or relieve the pain.

• death, 3 Feb 1914, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska. Ziegler died in Highland Township, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska. Rev. Kruse had charge of the funeral service. Rev. Kruse had also officiated at several weddings of the Barkey family. A quartet from Cortland sang "Nearer My God to Thee", "Jesus Savior Pilot Me", "Lead Kindly Light", "Rock of Ages" and "He Knows". The singers were Mr. And Mrs. Wehrli, Mr. Ed Calland and Vernon McCormick. The Civil War Veterans marched beside the hearse. Watson Rogers and Ziegler's brothers John and Enos Barkey attended the funeral. Ziegler's sons were pallbearers (Clithro, Roy, Frank, Ed and Vet). Burial took place at Highland Cemetery about a mile from his homestead. Ziegler and Hattie were married for over 40 years.

Obituary in “The Cortland Sun”

Ziegler Barkey was born in Butler County, Pennsylvania, July 30, 1844. When eight years of age he moved with his parents to Ohio, later on to Indiana and thence to Illinois, where he grew to manhood.

On January 18th 1864, he enlisted in Battery k, first Illinois Light artillery, and served until the close of the war, receiving his discharge on July 15, 1865.

In January 1871, in company with the late Samuel Workman, he came to Nebraska by rail for the purpose of looking over the country. He located on the homestead, four miles south and three miles west of Cortland, the northeast quarter of section 32, where he continuously made his home to the time of his death.

Mr. Barkey was the first to locate in what is known as the Barkey settlement. He was later joined by his brother, Rev. John Barkey, and Watson Rogers, and later on by his parents, all of whom made the trip overland. In making the trip, Mr. Barkey crossed the Missouri river in a skiff.

Mr. Barkey was married on June 8, 1872, to Mrs. Hattie Cheney, the ceremony taking place in the little house on the homestead on which he had filed. The union was a happy one, and to this couple were born nine children, six sons and three daughters, of which eight are living, Burton, the eldest son, having passed away seventeen years ago. Those surviving him are his widow, Clith, Roy, Frank, Edward and Vetran Barkey, and Mrs. C.M. Stanley, all of this vicinity, Mrs. J.S. Crossley of Humphreys, Missouri and Mrs. C.S. Alvord of Lincoln, besides two brothers, Enos Barkey of Cortland and Rev. John Barkey of Brainerd, Minnesota and ten grandchildren.

The deceased passed away on Tuesday morning, February 3, 1914, after an illness of but three days. He was a consistent Christian, uniting with the Church of God in 1874,he lived up to its faith and teaching to the end. He belonged to that class of men who have helped develop our country. A pioneer, he endured many hardships, but throughout all had faith in the section in which he had settled. In the toil, work and perseverance of men such as he this country owes much. A home lover, he resided on the land upon which he had filed for forty-three years.

As a neighbor he was highly respected. He was a kind husband an affectionate father, a good citizen. He will be missed in his neighborhood, yet he still lives in his home and among those who knew him.

Funeral services were held from the Highland Center Church, Thursday afternoon, February 5, at 2 o'clock. Rev. C.F. Kruse and Rev. Johansen being in charge. The services were largely attended, many old friends and neighbors being in attendance. Appropriate music was rendered by a quartet composed of Mr. And Mrs. J.F. Wehrli, Mr. Ed Callard and Vernon McCormack.

Interment was made in Highland cemetery. The five sons of the deceased acted as pallbearers.

Among those from a distance to attend the funeral services of the late Ziegler Barkey were Rev. John Barkey of Brainerd, Minnesota, John Crosley and wife of Missouri, C.S. Alvord and wife of Lincoln, Virgil and Dr. McGirr and Watson Rogers and wife of Beatrice.

• Notes of Interest. NOTES OF INTEREST

1. Jeffrey LaMarsna who Ziegler mentions in his March letter to Judith mustered out on May 31, 1865
2. John Tinsman, who was Ziegler's cousin was a private who mustered out on May 31, 1865.

Ziegler married Hattie (Cheney) Fox, daughter of Michael James Fox and Almira Truax, on 8 Jun 1872 in Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska.² (Hattie (Cheney) Fox was born on 1 Jun 1850 in Kendall County, Illinois ¹⁶ and died on 17 Dec 1938 in Humphreys, Sullivan, Missouri, USA.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• marriage, 8 Jun 1872. Hattie lost her first husband after a mishap with their wagon. She bravely continued on to Nebraska with her daughter, Cora Chenney. Hattie was a gifted mid-wife and it was during one of her visits to deliver a baby that I first met her. I was actually working up on a ladder on my home when Hattie came by. She stopped and we talked for a bit.