The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-12-27
TEN SOLDIER SONS.
The Remarkable Contribution

The Remarkable Contribution of
western Family to the ArIAy.
A correspondent writes to the HERAL In: "In
a recent issue OF the Philadelphia Ledger is
noticed an article entitled Seven Sons, All
Soldiers l have personal knowledge OF a
case still more remarkable. Mrs. Elizabeth
Upright, of Rockford, Iowa, sent eleven sons
into the army and ten of them to war. l was
in the same regiment (Seventy-fourth Illinois
Infantry with two of them. Their fathers
name was Merchant. The sons were:
81. G. w. Merchant was private, Com
pany G, afterward a lieutenant, honorably
discharged September 26, 1865. 2. Abel L.
Merchant was a private, Company g. Fif-
teenth Illinois Volunteers, and died in the
service. 3. Dewitt G. Merchant was a pri-
vate in the last-named company, and was
killed in action July %, 1864. 4. Enoch
Merchant was a corporal, Company F, One
Hundred and Fifty-sixth Illinois Volunteers,
honorably discharged September, 20, 1865.
5. David o. Merchant, private in Company Z,
Seventy-fourth Illinois Volunteers, honorably
discharged June 10, 1865. 6. Silas B. Mer-
chant was a private, Company G, Forty
fourth Illinois Volunteers, promoted to first
lieutenant, and resigned September 25, 1864.
4 Arlo j. Merchant was private IN the last
=
September 25, 1864. s. Lewis h. Merchant
was private in Company G, Forty-fifth Illi-
nois Volunteers, and honorably discharged
September 26, 1864. 9. Aaron Merchant was
private in Company G, Fifteenth Wisconsin
Volunteers, and was killed at Island No. 10
December 26, 1862 by the accidental discharge
OF cannon. 10. James B. Merchant, team
ster in the employ Of the Quartermaster De-
partment. II. Norman NJ. Merchant enlisted
March 8, 1873, as a private in Company b,
nd W sol cd
March IL, 1875 by reason of expiration of
term of service. He again enlisted May 4,
1878, and was assigned to Battery B, Fourth
Artillery.
''This is an extraordinary record and the
more notable because neither the mother nor
her sons sought either notoriety or recognition
from the Government. The case was first
brought to the notice Of Congress in 1879 by
the following letter from the Hon. George w.
McCrary, then Secretary of War:
"sWAR DEPARTMENT,
WASHINGTON, February IL, 1879.
"To the Hon. N. C. Deering House Of Repre-
sentdtiUeS:
tsSIR: have considered the petition of
Mrs. Elizabeth Upright, of Butler County,
Iowa, praying for the discharge from the
military service of her son, N. NJ. Merchant,
Battery B, Fourth Artillery, which petition
was presented by you and is concurred in by
numerous citizens The discharge of this
soldier is asked for by the petitioner, who
says she is "a years old. on the ground that
she bad ten sons in the Union army during
the rebellion, including one employed as a
teamster, and that the one above named, her
eleventh and youngest son, has served for
over five years in the regular army. She fur
nishes the names of her sons and statement
of the organizations in which they served.
"'The papers having been referred to the
Adjutant General for an examination of the
records, with view to verifying her state
ments, that officer reports that they are true
in every particular. The discharge of this
soldier will be ordered in accordance with his
mothers request.
''Very respectfully your obedient servant,
'G. w. McCRARY, Secretary of War;
Sat the time of the enlistment of her ten
sons she was widow and lived at Winnebago,
III. Afterward she married Morris j. Up
right, an ex-sheriff and jailer at Rockford, ILL.,,
and with him removed to Iowa"