John H Beadles 1890 Veteran Schedule WA
John H Beadles Pension Card 1891
John H Beadles Will 1901 WA
Full Unit History
3rd ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER CAVALRY
Organized: August, 1861 Camp Butler Springfield, IL
Mustered In: 9/21/1861 Camp Butler Springfield, IL
Mustered Out: 1010/1865 Springfield, IL
Regimental History
REGIMENTAL HISTORY:
The 3rd Illinois, a twelve company cavalry regiment, was composed of companies recruited in various localities within the state. Company "C" was from Cass County, The organization served in the western theater of the American Civil War. It left the state on 9/25/1861 and moved to St. Louis, MO.
In February, 1862 the regiment went into camp about eight miles from Springfield, MO. When the enemy was located just four miles from there, the unit fought and won its first combat engagement. A few days later the 3rd participated in cavalry charge at Sugar Creek, AR (2/17/1862) which routed the Rebel forces. Next came the battle of Pea Ridge/Elkhorn Tavern (3/6 - 8/1862). During this engagement the 3rd lost ten killed and forty wounded.
July, 1862 saw the 3rd march to Helena, AR. The regiment's supply line having been cut and the surrounding countryside laid waste by the enemy; the unit reached its destination only after ten days of hard fighting, starving and famishing for water.
Next came moves toward Vicksburg, MS with Union Gen. W.T. Sherman. Arriving at Chickasaw Bayou, at the end of December, 1862, the 3rd did good service during the disastrous attack on Haynes' Bluff.
1863 opened (1/9 - 10/1863) with the battle of Arkansas Post. In the lively combat for that place nearly 5,000 Rebel prisoners were taken.
During 1863's Union movements upon Vicksburg, MS portions of the 3rd participated in the battles of Port Gibson (5/1/1863), Champion's Hill (5/16/1863), Black River Bridge (5/17/1863) and the siege of Vicksburg, itself. With the fall of that citadel (7/4/1863) the 3rd moved into Louisiana.
During July, 1864 a large portion of the 3rd reenlisted as veteran volunteers. Thirty day furloughs preceded the August repulse of Confederate Gen N. B. Forrest's troops during their daring raid on Memphis, TN.
Non re-enlisted veterans having been mustered out, veterans of the 3rd as well as new recruits were consolidated into a six company battalion. This unit - the 3rd Consolidated Illinois Cavalry - left Memphis, TN on 9/27/1864. The Tennessee battles of Spring Hill (11/28/1864) and Franklin (11/30/1864) followed. The year concluded with the battle of Nashville (12/15 - 16/1864).
In January, 1865 the 3rd Consolidated camped in Alabama. It then moved back into Mississippi before, in May, returning to St. Louis, MO. From there it went to Minnesota and the Dakotas on an Indian expedition before returning to Ft. Snelling, St. Paul, MN. From there it travelled to Springfield, IL for final muster.
REGIMENTAL LOSSES:
Officers Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 2; Officers Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.: 6; Enlisted Men Killed Or Mortally Wounded: 36; Enlisted Men Died Of Disease, Accidents, Etc.:231 .
Soldier History
SOLDIER:
Residence: Decatur Macon County, IL Age: 27.8 yrs.
Enlisted/Enrolled: 8/19/1861 Rank: Pvt.
Mustered In: 8/21/1861
Mustered Out: 10/10/1865 Springfield, IL
Highest Rank: Cprl.
Rank At Discharge: Cprl.
Family History
PERSONAL/FAMILY HISTORY:
NOTE: The birth - to - death biographical profile of John Beadles was created in May, 2021 during the Covid-19 medical pandemic. It contains less depth of detail than many other biographies within this website because military service, pension and other veteran-related files housed in Washington, D.C.'s National Archives were not available. At a later time those documents may be obtained and the data contained therein added to the narrative which follows.
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John Henry Beadles was born on 12/6/1839. The location of his birth was Cass County, IL.
Parents of John were Madison Haynes Beadles (b. 3/22/1812 Orange County, VA - d. 10/11/1895 Decatur Mason County, IL) and Sarah M. (nee Outten b. 5/3/1821 Fayette, KY - d. 11/28/1860 Macon County, IL) Beadles. The two had married on 5/26/1837 in Sangamon, IL.
During the 1850 U.S. Census for Virginia Cass County, IL Madison listed his occupation as "carpenter." A decade later, in 1860, the U.S. Census for Wilson Macon County, IL listed his occupation as "farmer".
As best as can be determined John was the second of six children born to Madison and Sarah. Older than John was: William Thomas Beadles (b. 5/13/1838 Cass County, IL). Younger than John were: James Purnell Beadles (b. 6/25/1841 IL *), Robert Luther Beadles (b. 10/23/1845 IL), Sarah E. Beadles (b. 1849 Cass County, IL) and Cordelia "Delia" Beadles (b. 1853 Cass County, IL).
On 8/19/1861 John enlisted in the U.S. Army. His regiment was the 3rd Illinois Cavalry. Upon that enlistment we catch a glimpse of John Beadles the physical being. He was 5'8" in height, had dark hair, hazel eyes and a dark complexion. Occupationally he listed himself as "farmer."
Without accessing Private Beadle’s military service records not much can be documented about his tour of duty other than he survived his three year enlistment. He then re-enlisted as a veteran volunteer on 3/31/1864 in Germantown, TN. Additionally, he rose from the rank of private to that of corporal. Finally, the 8/24/1864 consolidation of the 3rd prompted Private/Corporal Beadles' transfer from Company "C" to Company "F". Corporal Beadles was mustered back into civilian life on 10/10/1865.
Although not as yet documented, it appears that John returned to his now-widower father's Illinois home. Where that may have been in 1865 we do not know, but in 1870 Madison was carpentering in Virginia Cass County, IL.
As of the 1880 U.S. Census John was residing and employed as a laborer in St. Albans Hancock County, IL. However sometime after that date, but before May, 1889 he quitted Illinois for the Pacific Northwest. When he arrived here and what had drawn him to the Puget Sound region of Washington Territory are unknowns. That having been said, he may have had a married brother and sister already residing in the region who may have alerted him to the availability of homestead farming land in the area that he could acquire because of his Civil War soldiering.
On 5/20/1889 John was farming in the Houghton area of Washington Territory's King County. Houghton, located east of Seattle across Lake Washington is located just north of Bellevue. Now a neighborhood of south Kirkland, in 1889 Houghton was a stand-alone rural community. Based on available documentation, in Houghton, John had apparently been living on and working eighty acres of farmland for a number of years because on 9/27/1889 he acquired the "patent" (deed) to the land parcel.
The 1890 Civil War Veteran Schedule (census) noted that Houghton/Bellevue resident John Beadles was suffering from bronchial problems which apparently dated back to his soldiering days. It was likely this condition that, on 1/19/1891 motivated former trooper John Beadles to begin the paperwork necessary to be granted a U.S. Government disability pension. The effort was too little and too late.
Around the same time he applied for the pension John also drew up his last will and testament. Having never married or sired children, he bequeathed his worldly assets - namely his homestead valued at $250 - to his married brother and his wife, his married sister and her husband, his father and an unidentified man named John W. Whitehead.
John H. Beadles died on 3/24/1891. At passing he was 51.3 years of age. Burial was/is in Seattle's Mt. Pleasant Cemetery located on that city's Queen Anne Hill.
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* During the American Civil War James served in the 116th Illinois Infantry. He died on 3/16/1863 in Memphis, TN.