My Genealogy Hound

FRY, GENERAL JACOB, farmer and stock raiser, Sec. 24, P.O. Kane. As the career of General Fry is well known to the citizens of the State of Illinois and of Greene County, where he has borne so prominent a part, we will enter into no details, but merely relate facts, hoping thus to perpetuate the memory of one whose ability became recognized in the stirring scenes of western life. General Fry was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, on the 20th day of September, 1799. His father was Barnhardt Fry, a revolutionary soldier, and a native of Maryland. He was of German origin, a farmer by occupation, and served five years in the continental war. He was married to a Miss Swigart, who bore him six children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the youngest. In his own language: “I acquired a round log-cabin education.” In his youth he worked at the carpenter trade. At the early age of twenty he became a resident of Greene County, his total possessions footing up to thirty-seven and a-half cents. He it was who built the first house in Carrollton. On the 25th of May, 1826, he was married at Carrollton, to Miss Emily Turney, a daughter of the late General James Turney, formerly of Tennessee. At the first County Court ever held in Greene Co., he was appointed constable and subsequently became deputy sheriff. Holding this position six years, he became sheriff of the county, and his efficiency was so apparent, that for five terms of two years duration, he held the position to the general satisfaction of all. In 1831 occurred the Black Hawk war, and Governor Reynolds, with his usual promptness, ordered out a brigade of mounted volunteers to the disputed territory, to repel the Indians. In this brigade Colonel Fry received the appointment of Lieutenant Colonel, in the regiment of which Henry was Colonel. This body of troops soon received marching orders, and subsequently were disbanded at Rock Island. In 1832, Colonel Fry was again called upon to take the field, and commanded a regiment of General Samuel Whiteside’s brigade. The army was soon in motion, and proceeded to within a short distance of Rock Island, and up the river to Dixon where they encamped for several days, thence to Ottawa, where the troops were disbanded; and now, at the request of the Governor, he raised one regiment of the disbanded troops for twenty days service, to guard the frontier. At the expiration of this time the volunteers forming this regiment were disbanded. Colonel Fry proceeded to LaSalle, where he was elected colonel of a regiment of new levies, and subsequently formed a part of General Henry’s brigade. Shortly after the regiment received marching orders, their first objective point being Mud Lake, near Rock River, whence they joined the regular troops under General Atkinson. Provisions were now scarce, and Henry was ordered by his superior officer to Fort Winnebago to get rations and return. Obtaining their supplies, the troops, after consultation between General Henry and Colonel Fry, hearing of the close proximity of the Indians, moved up the river, where they found trace of the marauders. On pursuing the trail they overtook the enemy at the Wisconsin River, where a sharp conflict of short duration took place, and late in the afternoon the enemy escaped across the river. The following morning General Atkinson came up with the main body, and joining General Henry’s forces, were soon in hot pursuit of the enemy, bringing them to bay below the mouth of Bad Ax Creek. This fight ended the Black Hawk war, and for a time the Indian troubles in the northwest. Colonel Fry then took charge of the brigade and proceeded to Dixon, where they were mustered out of the service, to follow more peaceful pursuits. He was soon after made Brigadier General and subsequently Major General of the militia of Illinois. He was elected by the State legislature, during the sessions of 1836-7, as acting canal commissioner, and accordingly removed to Lockport during the winter of 1837. He served until 1846—a period of nine years, in this capacity, displaying marked ability. Remaining in Lockport, he entered upon a mercantile career, and in 1850 organized a party for the gold mines of California, and after an overland trip of some months duration, starting from Lockport on the first of April, he reached Sacramento on the second day of August. He was destined to remain for a period of three years, entering into mercantile pursuits, and turning his attention to mining, he became quite successful. His experience of former years had enabled him to grasp many difficult State problems, and on the golden coast he displayed an executive capacity that caused him to become the nominee of the Democratic party for the State Senate, receiving the election by an overwhelming majority. Serving in this honorable body through one session he then returned to Illinois, locating at Ottawa. By James Buchanan, and through the direct influence of his old friend, Judge Douglas, he received the appointment of the responsible position of collector of customs, at Chicago, and received, while the holder of this important position, the first unbroken cargo that entered that port. The tide in governmental affairs now began to turn and the political excitement in many instances ran high; General Fry was outspoken in favor of his old friend, Stephen A. Douglas, then a member of the United States Senate, and was accordingly superseded by a more pliable successor. This removal as stated by the Secretary of the Treasury, to General Fry, in conversation at the city of Washington, was caused solely through his friendship for and warm admiration of the Little Giant. Eventually he returned to his old home in Greene County, where he was quietly pursuing the duties appertaining to his farm, when the war of rebellion came. He was well advanced in years, but he had a reverence for the old flag that had floated over many a battle field in the revolutionary struggle, and now when the tramp of armed feet resounded through many of our cities and towns, through the solicitation of Governor Yates, he organized the 61st Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and received from him the appointment of Colonel. Proceeding to the front from Carrollton, he bore a prominent part in the rebellion, where he became a participant in many important battles, especially that of Pittsburgh Landing. Resigning his commission through disability, since the war he has resided at his beautiful farm residence. For twelve years he has been deprived of sight through the exposures of war, but through well-directed efforts the declining years of his life are blessed with plenty, and no one in State or county evinces a more liberal disposition toward all things worthy, than the honored gentleman whose name heads this sketch. General Fry is the owner of 640 acres. His marriage to Miss Turney was blessed with five children: James, a graduate of West Point, holds the position of Adjutant General in the regular army; Sarah, now the wife of Douglas Fry, a wealthy Californian; William M., a captain in the late war, and proprietor of the Arcadia Mills at Carrollton; Edward M., a broker at San Francisco, and Julia, A., now the wife of George W. Ware, a merchant and banker of Jerseyville.