"Among the men now living in Vermilion county who fought for the Union in the Civil war may be named Daniel Oaks, who has resided for more than forty years on the farm he now owns, in Vance township. He came to Illinois with his parents in his boyhood and has been a witness of the great changes by which many obstacles have been conquered and the state has been made a pleasant abiding place for several millions of prosperous and happy people. He was born in Seneca county, Ohio, August 27 1842, a son of Michael Oaks, by his second wife, who died during the childhood of our subject, and his father was married a third time. On emigrating to Illinois late in the '40s, he first located in Clark county near the town of Marshall, where he lived ten or twelve years, and then came to Vance township, Vermilion county, and bought a farm of forty acres. After the death of his third wife he took up his residence with his son and continued with him until 1881, when he was called away at the age of seventy-five years.
Daniel Oaks was reared on the home farm and educated in the public schools. Soon after the opening of the Civil war he offered his services to the government and in 1862 was enrolled in Company C, Seventy-first Illinois Regiment, in response to a call for one hundred day men. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he returned home and in January, 1864, enlisted in Company F, Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry, serving until the close of the war and participating in many important engagements, among which were the battles of Scottsboro, Snake Creek Gap, Atlanta, Bentonville, Big Shanty, Burnt Hickory, Dallas, Davis Mill, Ezra Church, Goldsboro, Kingston, Kenesaw Mountain, Lovejoy Station, Little Salkahatchie, Lumpkins Mill and Nickajack. He participated in Sherman's march to the sea, being a member of the Fifteenth Army Corps, under command of General John A. Logan. At the battle of Atlanta, July 28, 1864, Mr. Oaks received a flesh wound which, however, did not prove serious and he soon recovered from the injury. He was a brave and vigilant soldier and was honorably discharged from the army in September, 1865, after having passed through many thrilling experiences which made a never-to-be-forgotten impression upon his life. Returning to Vermilion county and laying aside the uniform and accouterment of war, he resumed the occupations of peace and after renting a farm for two years, he purchased the homestead which he has since occupied and now owns a highly improved farm of one hundred and ten acres, which is provided with a comfortable residence, a commodious barn, good fences, and all the equipments of the up-to-date farming establishment.
In 1869 Mr. Oaks was united in marriage to Miss Melissa Morrison, of Vance township, and of this union four children were born, two of whom are living: Eva, the wife of Charles Hazelton, a farmer of Vance township; and Charles, of Homer, Illinois. Mrs. Oaks was called to her final rest about 1879 and on July 26, 1881, Mr. Oaks was married to Miss Margaret Hickman, of Vance township. She is a daughter of Maranda and Elizabeth Hickman, who came to Vermilion county in 1865 from Harrison county, Virginia. Our subject and his wife have one child, William, now an employee of the Pullman Company of Chicago.
Mrs. Oaks holds membership in the Cumberland Presbyterian church and is one of the active supporters of that denomination. Mr. Oaks has been for many years a stanch advocate of the republican party but he has never aspired to official honors. He is a worthy member of Homer Post, No. 263, Grand Army of the Republic, and at the gatherings of his gray-haired comrades he again renews the associations of long years ago when great armies met on many a battlefield to decide the fate of the nation. He recognizes that the greatest honor of his life was his service under the stars and stripes. Mr. Oaks is respected as a patriotic and self-sacrificing citizen and as an energetic and capable man of business who has always contributed to the extent of his ability to the upbuilding of the region with which he has been identified during the greater part of his active career." (History of Vermilion County, Illinois, Volume II, by Lottie E. Jones, 1911)
Daniel Oaks was reared on the home farm and educated in the public schools. Soon after the opening of the Civil war he offered his services to the government and in 1862 was enrolled in Company C, Seventy-first Illinois Regiment, in response to a call for one hundred day men. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he returned home and in January, 1864, enlisted in Company F, Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry, serving until the close of the war and participating in many important engagements, among which were the battles of Scottsboro, Snake Creek Gap, Atlanta, Bentonville, Big Shanty, Burnt Hickory, Dallas, Davis Mill, Ezra Church, Goldsboro, Kingston, Kenesaw Mountain, Lovejoy Station, Little Salkahatchie, Lumpkins Mill and Nickajack. He participated in Sherman's march to the sea, being a member of the Fifteenth Army Corps, under command of General John A. Logan. At the battle of Atlanta, July 28, 1864, Mr. Oaks received a flesh wound which, however, did not prove serious and he soon recovered from the injury. He was a brave and vigilant soldier and was honorably discharged from the army in September, 1865, after having passed through many thrilling experiences which made a never-to-be-forgotten impression upon his life. Returning to Vermilion county and laying aside the uniform and accouterment of war, he resumed the occupations of peace and after renting a farm for two years, he purchased the homestead which he has since occupied and now owns a highly improved farm of one hundred and ten acres, which is provided with a comfortable residence, a commodious barn, good fences, and all the equipments of the up-to-date farming establishment.
In 1869 Mr. Oaks was united in marriage to Miss Melissa Morrison, of Vance township, and of this union four children were born, two of whom are living: Eva, the wife of Charles Hazelton, a farmer of Vance township; and Charles, of Homer, Illinois. Mrs. Oaks was called to her final rest about 1879 and on July 26, 1881, Mr. Oaks was married to Miss Margaret Hickman, of Vance township. She is a daughter of Maranda and Elizabeth Hickman, who came to Vermilion county in 1865 from Harrison county, Virginia. Our subject and his wife have one child, William, now an employee of the Pullman Company of Chicago.
Mrs. Oaks holds membership in the Cumberland Presbyterian church and is one of the active supporters of that denomination. Mr. Oaks has been for many years a stanch advocate of the republican party but he has never aspired to official honors. He is a worthy member of Homer Post, No. 263, Grand Army of the Republic, and at the gatherings of his gray-haired comrades he again renews the associations of long years ago when great armies met on many a battlefield to decide the fate of the nation. He recognizes that the greatest honor of his life was his service under the stars and stripes. Mr. Oaks is respected as a patriotic and self-sacrificing citizen and as an energetic and capable man of business who has always contributed to the extent of his ability to the upbuilding of the region with which he has been identified during the greater part of his active career." (History of Vermilion County, Illinois, Volume II, by Lottie E. Jones, 1911)
"Among the men now living in Vermilion county who fought for the Union in the Civil war may be named Daniel Oaks, who has resided for more than forty years on the farm he now owns, in Vance township. He came to Illinois with his parents in his boyhood and has been a witness of the great changes by which many obstacles have been conquered and the state has been made a pleasant abiding place for several millions of prosperous and happy people. He was born in Seneca county, Ohio, August 27 1842, a son of Michael Oaks, by his second wife, who died during the childhood of our subject, and his father was married a third time. On emigrating to Illinois late in the '40s, he first located in Clark county near the town of Marshall, where he lived ten or twelve years, and then came to Vance township, Vermilion county, and bought a farm of forty acres. After the death of his third wife he took up his residence with his son and continued with him until 1881, when he was called away at the age of seventy-five years.
Daniel Oaks was reared on the home farm and educated in the public schools. Soon after the opening of the Civil war he offered his services to the government and in 1862 was enrolled in Company C, Seventy-first Illinois Regiment, in response to a call for one hundred day men. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he returned home and in January, 1864, enlisted in Company F, Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry, serving until the close of the war and participating in many important engagements, among which were the battles of Scottsboro, Snake Creek Gap, Atlanta, Bentonville, Big Shanty, Burnt Hickory, Dallas, Davis Mill, Ezra Church, Goldsboro, Kingston, Kenesaw Mountain, Lovejoy Station, Little Salkahatchie, Lumpkins Mill and Nickajack. He participated in Sherman's march to the sea, being a member of the Fifteenth Army Corps, under command of General John A. Logan. At the battle of Atlanta, July 28, 1864, Mr. Oaks received a flesh wound which, however, did not prove serious and he soon recovered from the injury. He was a brave and vigilant soldier and was honorably discharged from the army in September, 1865, after having passed through many thrilling experiences which made a never-to-be-forgotten impression upon his life. Returning to Vermilion county and laying aside the uniform and accouterment of war, he resumed the occupations of peace and after renting a farm for two years, he purchased the homestead which he has since occupied and now owns a highly improved farm of one hundred and ten acres, which is provided with a comfortable residence, a commodious barn, good fences, and all the equipments of the up-to-date farming establishment.
In 1869 Mr. Oaks was united in marriage to Miss Melissa Morrison, of Vance township, and of this union four children were born, two of whom are living: Eva, the wife of Charles Hazelton, a farmer of Vance township; and Charles, of Homer, Illinois. Mrs. Oaks was called to her final rest about 1879 and on July 26, 1881, Mr. Oaks was married to Miss Margaret Hickman, of Vance township. She is a daughter of Maranda and Elizabeth Hickman, who came to Vermilion county in 1865 from Harrison county, Virginia. Our subject and his wife have one child, William, now an employee of the Pullman Company of Chicago.
Mrs. Oaks holds membership in the Cumberland Presbyterian church and is one of the active supporters of that denomination. Mr. Oaks has been for many years a stanch advocate of the republican party but he has never aspired to official honors. He is a worthy member of Homer Post, No. 263, Grand Army of the Republic, and at the gatherings of his gray-haired comrades he again renews the associations of long years ago when great armies met on many a battlefield to decide the fate of the nation. He recognizes that the greatest honor of his life was his service under the stars and stripes. Mr. Oaks is respected as a patriotic and self-sacrificing citizen and as an energetic and capable man of business who has always contributed to the extent of his ability to the upbuilding of the region with which he has been identified during the greater part of his active career." (History of Vermilion County, Illinois, Volume II, by Lottie E. Jones, 1911)
Daniel Oaks was reared on the home farm and educated in the public schools. Soon after the opening of the Civil war he offered his services to the government and in 1862 was enrolled in Company C, Seventy-first Illinois Regiment, in response to a call for one hundred day men. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he returned home and in January, 1864, enlisted in Company F, Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry, serving until the close of the war and participating in many important engagements, among which were the battles of Scottsboro, Snake Creek Gap, Atlanta, Bentonville, Big Shanty, Burnt Hickory, Dallas, Davis Mill, Ezra Church, Goldsboro, Kingston, Kenesaw Mountain, Lovejoy Station, Little Salkahatchie, Lumpkins Mill and Nickajack. He participated in Sherman's march to the sea, being a member of the Fifteenth Army Corps, under command of General John A. Logan. At the battle of Atlanta, July 28, 1864, Mr. Oaks received a flesh wound which, however, did not prove serious and he soon recovered from the injury. He was a brave and vigilant soldier and was honorably discharged from the army in September, 1865, after having passed through many thrilling experiences which made a never-to-be-forgotten impression upon his life. Returning to Vermilion county and laying aside the uniform and accouterment of war, he resumed the occupations of peace and after renting a farm for two years, he purchased the homestead which he has since occupied and now owns a highly improved farm of one hundred and ten acres, which is provided with a comfortable residence, a commodious barn, good fences, and all the equipments of the up-to-date farming establishment.
In 1869 Mr. Oaks was united in marriage to Miss Melissa Morrison, of Vance township, and of this union four children were born, two of whom are living: Eva, the wife of Charles Hazelton, a farmer of Vance township; and Charles, of Homer, Illinois. Mrs. Oaks was called to her final rest about 1879 and on July 26, 1881, Mr. Oaks was married to Miss Margaret Hickman, of Vance township. She is a daughter of Maranda and Elizabeth Hickman, who came to Vermilion county in 1865 from Harrison county, Virginia. Our subject and his wife have one child, William, now an employee of the Pullman Company of Chicago.
Mrs. Oaks holds membership in the Cumberland Presbyterian church and is one of the active supporters of that denomination. Mr. Oaks has been for many years a stanch advocate of the republican party but he has never aspired to official honors. He is a worthy member of Homer Post, No. 263, Grand Army of the Republic, and at the gatherings of his gray-haired comrades he again renews the associations of long years ago when great armies met on many a battlefield to decide the fate of the nation. He recognizes that the greatest honor of his life was his service under the stars and stripes. Mr. Oaks is respected as a patriotic and self-sacrificing citizen and as an energetic and capable man of business who has always contributed to the extent of his ability to the upbuilding of the region with which he has been identified during the greater part of his active career." (History of Vermilion County, Illinois, Volume II, by Lottie E. Jones, 1911)
Inscription
Company F, 26th Illinois Volunteer Infantry
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
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