SPOTLIGHT: Historian notes Grant's Caseyville time
CASEYVILLE, Ill. — Bob Stephens thought he knew all the highlights of Caseyville's past until recently.
The local historian was doing research for his second book and discovered that about 2,000 Union soldiers camped in the village for two months at the start of the Civil War.
"Ulysses S. Grant was the one in charge of setting them up," said Stephens, 72, of Collinsville, who grew up in Caseyville. "(Grant) was a captain at the time. He didn't become a general until later. His headquarters was a farmhouse in town. They took another farmhouse and turned it into a hospital."
About half the soldiers were part of a Springfield regiment. The other half came from Chicago.
Their main job was to protect railroads from possible terrorism by Confederate sympathizers in the region.
"The way we hear it, (President Abraham Lincoln) himself chose this spot," Stephens said. "I guess there's no real way to prove that, but he had been down in this area as a traveling lawyer. He was familiar with the railroads, and he knew how important they were to St. Louis."
Stephens is a retired Cassens Transport computer manager who serves as treasurer of the Caseyville Cemetery Association and president of the Collinsville Historical Museum board of directors. He also gives Civil War presentations at area schools, wearing a reproduction Union uniform and displaying swords, cannon balls and other artifacts from his collection.
"His memorabilia is just amazing, and he has all these little anecdotes about the soldiers," said Nancy Lochmann, an eighth-grade teacher at Holy Cross Lutheran in Collinsville. "He talks about what dishes they used in the field and (food rations) for prisoners at Andersonville Prison. The kids love it."
Stephens recently published "A Walk Through Time Sequel," a follow-up to his first book on Caseyville history. The village was founded in 1849 as a coal-mining town and later became an important railroad hub.
Both books are being sold at the Caseyville Public Library to raise money for cemetery maintenance.
"My family has lived in the area since before Caseyville was even a town," Stephens said. "My great-grandpa came over from Germany in the early 1840s and bought the property where Collinsville High School is today. That was his farm. It was 60 acres, and he paid $25 for it. We've still got the papers. It was pretty much wilderness at that time."
"A Walk Through Time Sequel" includes about 500 old photographs, as well as local family histories. Stephens spotlights descendants of Caseyville founder John Roy, who died in 1876.
Roy is buried on a hill in Caseyville Cemetery. His grave is marked by a cast-iron cross imported from France.
"My parents had me late in life, so I didn't know much about my family's history," said Cheryl Irvin, 53, of Alhambra, Roy's great-great-great-granddaughter. "I learned a lot from Bob."