Irving W. Elliott

Cpl. Irving W. Elliott, Milwaukee's last Civil War veteran and probably Wisconsin's oldest Mason, died December 23, 1941, at the age of 95. He had come from Algoma to live with his son, Frank, four years earlier.

Cpl. Elliott was a native of Taycheedah, born January 2, 1846. He was the son of Washington Elliott, a surveyor, who came to Wisconsin from New York state with the territorial governor, Doty.

At 15, he was a printer's devil on the old Appleton Crescent, when the Civil War broke out. The father, who had served in the Mexican War, moved the family to Algoma, but Elliott went back and enlisted in Appleton, ostensibly as a drummer boy to win parental consent. Young Elliott knew the captain of Company I, 32nd Wisconsin Infantry, who told the father he was not joining the army.. A few weeks later, Elliott put aside his drum and became a regular solider. In a few more weeks, he became a corporal.

When Gen. Sherman started his march to the sea, the general wanted only strong, mature men to accompany him. Elliott was among those who were to be left behind, but, after much argument, he was permitted to go along.

Cpl. Elliott was in Savannah, when the city fell and was with the troops that marched northward to Washington, D.C. He shouted with the others as Abraham Lincoln passed on his way to Ford's Theater. He wept with the rest of the soldiers as they passed Lincoln's bier.

His two brothers were killed in action during the Civil War.

Cpl. Elliott was mustered out on June 20, 1865, and went back to the family home in Algoma. In 1869, he joined the Masonic order and was perhaps the oldest Mason in the state in years of membership. He was a printer all his life and published the Algoma Record from 1907 to 1918.

On February 4, 1871, he married Sarah Hall, who preceded him in death in April two years previously. In addition to his son, he was survived by two daughters, Mrs. Nellie Hayes of Fox Point and Mrs. Belle Severance of Greeley, Colorado, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Key Lodge 174, F. and A.M. conducted Cpl. Elliott's funeral service in Algoma, where he was buried.

The family's traditions, as well as the naming of its male line, were intertwined with American history. The first Elliott came to Swampscott, Mass., in 1628, seven years after the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. The Elliotts have given soldiers to all of America's wars except World War I, when Irving Elliott's only son was too old. At the time of Cpl. Elliott's death, a grandson, Sgt. David Severance, was with the parachute troops in San Diego.

From Milwaukee Journal, December 23, 1941
Milwaukee Sentinel, December 24, 1941

Researched by C-in-C Steve Michaels

Last Updated: