Prisoner of War • 1864

William W. Revis • 1835-1892

William and his wife Polly are our 2X Great Grandparents. I have no idea what the W stands for in William's middle name. Do any of you?

You may already be familiar with the Tale of Newton Revis, his brother. William's grandfather Harris fought Cornwallis in the Revolutionary War.

William W. Revis

Born: 3 Jan 1835

Died: 2 Jan 1892

Married Mary "Polly" Williams in 1855.

His father John was born in North Carolina. His mother Patsy was born in Kentucky. In 1821 they were married in Fillmore, Illinois.

I have noticed that many of the Revis cousins in the 1800s had the same first name. William, Newton, Sarah, John, Harris. Makes it a bit tricky to make sure that I am on the right path but, knowing that, I try to do my due diligence.

William's documents do not use the A in Reavis.

Handwritten notes in the family Bible (c1804) do not use the A.

(From Lily Revis Koprek's documents.)

William's brothers, Erwin and Harris were also in Camp Douglas Union prison camp in Chicago. One died there. [I have not yet found a record of either dying in the camp.]

(The next three paragraphs are as recorded by Kenneth Lyle Revis 1913-2001)

William W. Revis was a farmer. He owned and raised his family on a 120 acre farm approx. 2 miles south and west of Bingham, IL. .

Polly (Williams) Revis had two brothers who where lawyers in Vandalia, IL, where they donated the land the Old State House was built on, with the provision that if it were ever moved, the land would go back their heirs.

Polly & William’s original house on their farm was a large log cabin with a huge fire place across one end. During the Civil War some Yankee soldiers posing as Confederate recruiting agents got him (William) to sign up the the Confederate army. They then promptly arrested him and he spent the rest of the Civil War in a Chicago prison.

The Family Farm

This first map shows land ownership around Bingham, Illinois in 1891.

Next is a satellite map from 2022.

Location 39.097808, -89.210425

The outlined area covers 100 acres.

Caught in Union Sting Operation

1864

Towards the end of the Civil War, two Yankee soldiers came to the farm dressed as Confederates and recruited William for the Confederate Army.

William was promptly arrested and taken off to Camp Douglas prison in Chicago until the end of the war. That camp held a total of 30,000 Confederate soldiers throughout the war until it was closed in late 1865.. William marked his 30th birthday in January imprisoned there. Smallpox was, in mid to late 1864, of epidemic proportions in Camp Douglas. Lieutenant Briggs’ inspection report of September 4, 1864 stated, “The hospital for prisoners of war is not large enough. There are at least 200 prisoners sick in quarters that should be in hospital.”

Polly was possibly pregnant with Sarah (their 5th child) at the time of his arrest, and she was left with those children to provide for along with the thought that William might never return.

He was released on 4 April 1865 and within days of his return, Sarah Ellen Revis was born. (Some records say she was born in April of 1864.) She would grow up to have a difficult relationship with her father.

Children

William and Polly had 11 children. Six boys and five girls. The youngest (a boy) died as an infant in 1880, when Polly was 45 years old. Siner Bernetta died in 1883 when she was 21 years old. The other 4 girls married men with last names: Fouts, Sturgeon, Cook/Howell, and Harris.

Father and Daughter

1885

Sarah survived the attempt and went on to marry Henry Fouts in 1890. They had 3 children. Two girls and a boy. Sarah died in 1918 at the Jacksonville insane asylum (30 miles east of Springfield IL) while having a mental breakdown over the drafting of her son by the government for WWI.

Final Plot of Land

1892

William died on 2 January 1892. Polly joined him exactly 16 years later in 1908.

They are buried in Whitten Cemetery (aka Hurricane Church Cemetery),

in Fillmore, Montgomery County, Illinois. Location 39.06410, -89.26750

My goal in all of the Dead Family Tales is to present stories that would have been told around a kitchen table or campfire during family gatherings.

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