Captain James McCrary in the Civil War

THE CIVIL WAR

When the war cloud broke in 1861, little Bentonsport was ready to serve. Samuel Paine, after his wife returned from New Bedford, Massachusetts, with their son Albert Bigelow, born July 10, 1861, began to close his business and prepare for a long absence. He recruited a company of men and drilled them on the town commons. In 1862 he left with them as Captain of Company I, 19th Iowa Infantry. This company made a brave record, but the battle of Prairie Grove worked fearful havoc. There Paine lay wounded all night on the frozen ground with a number of his men. He was discharged and sent home but when his wounds healed, he again sought the army and found a place as sutler with his former regiment, where he remained until the war closed. After the war, Captain Paine decided to give up the farm with its cozy home on the hill and moved to Xenia, Illinois.

Many other Bentonsport men saw active service: James McCrary, who also recruited men for his company; Dr. Stutzman, Bentonsport's druggist, who left a lucrative practice to become a commissary steward in the 60th U. S. Colored Regiment; Frederick Hancock, who received a commission as captain; Eli McKinney, now the only living Civil War Veteran of Van Buren County, who still keeps a home at Bentonsport, his interesting mind to this day in command of a remarkably active body. George Mason served as a sutler. Volumes could be written of the experiences of these and other servicemen from Bentonsport.