BAXTER, HIRAM BENNETT, one of the extensive landholders of Illino9is, and a well known and respected citizen of Cass County, was born near Madison, Jefferson County, Ind., September 22, 1840. he is of Scotch-Irish and Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry, his parents William and Jane (Kerr) Baxter being natives of Ohio, the former born in the city of Dayton in 1804. His grandfather, James Baxter, a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, came to the United States about the time of the Revolutionary war, settling near Pittsburgh, Pa., where he married a German lady whose name was Rebecca Riddle. Mr. Baxter's maternal grandfather, Josiah Kerr, was a native of Scotland.
Hiram B. Baxter is the sixth of twelve children of a family of ten sons and two daughters. The mother of this family died May 27, 1855, and the father subsequently married her sister, Margaret Kerr, by whom he had one son. The father was a prosperous farmer and died on his old farm in Indiana, August 25, 1861, at the age of fifty-seven years. Hiram B. Baxter was reared on a farm, attended the district schools, and at the age of eighteen years was himself teaching a district school in his native county. On July 14, 1861, he enlisted in Company K, Twenty-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for service in the Civil war, and was mustered into the service at North Madison, Ind., by Colonel (afterwards General) Thomas Wood. He participated in the Mississippi campaign under Fremont, Hunter and Curtis, taking part in the engagement at Glasgow, in which Major Tanner of his regiment was mortally wounded; was in the battle of Pea Ridge, Ark., and at the siege of Corinth, Miss. He then accompanied his regiment in General Buell's army to Louisville, Ky., a distance of nearly 400 miles, and participated in the battle of Perryville, Ky., where he received a severe rifle wound in the left knee. Of the thirty-five men in his company who were engaged in that battle, but eight remained to answer the roll call next morning. Ten were killed, thirteen wounded, and four were captured unhurt. The wounded were all made prisoners for the night.
Mr. Baxter rejoined his regiment at Murfreesboro, Tenn., after the battle of Stone River, in February, 1863, and then received his commission as first lieutenant of his company, being promoted from a sergeancy. In the absence of the captain, who had been wounded at the battle of Stone River, Lieutenant Baxter assumed command of the company. The regiment remained at Murfreesboro until June 24, 1863, when it marched with General Rosencranz' army on the Tullahoma campaign following the army under General Bragg to Chattanooga. Lieutenant Baxter's command was assign3ed to the work of guarding a pass in the mountains near the battle ground of Chickamauga, and thus was not engaged in that battle, and was then cooped up with the balance of the army of the Cumberland under General Thomas in Chattanooga, subsisting on short rations for two months, until reenforcements arrived under Hooker from the east, and Sherman from the west, with General Grant to take command. Then the army aroused from its lethargy and captured Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge in a grand charge all along the line, driving the enemy from their vantage ground at every point. Lieutenant Baxter was in command of Company G of his regiment in the charge on Missionary Ridge, being temporarily assigned to take charge of that company, and was in Sheridan's Division of the Fourth Corps, and ascended the ridge near where Bragg's headquarters were established. Immediately after the battle, on the next day, with his command he started in pursuit of Longstreet to relieve Burnside at Knoxville, Tenn., arriving there after a hard, forced march to find Burnside's army safe and the enemy gone. The Union army remained there for six weeks, subsisting principally by foraging over the surrounding country, camping in the woods without tents or blankets, with snow on the ground, and a damp, cold wind blowing most of the time. The men cut the timber and built huge fires to keep themselves warm, taking turns at night to keep the fire burning and to watch that the sleepers did not get burned. Under such circumstances, Lieutenant Baxter re-enlisted as a veteran and with his company returned to Chattanooga, where they were re-mustered for three years more, or during the war. He then returned to Indiana, on a veteran furlough of thirty days. At the expiration of the furlough, he went by rail with his command, to Nashville, Tenn., and they marched to Chattanooga, where the company and regiment were assigned to Gen. Daniel McCook's brigade, in the organization of Sherman's army of the Atlanta campaign, and the march to the sea. Mr. Baxter was at Tunnel Hill, Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca and Rome, Ga., where, in command of his company, he was again wounded in the same leg as before. He remained in the hospital and on a furlough until August 29 following, when he was honorably discharged by the secretary of war on account of "disability from gunshot wounds."
Lieutenant Baxter then returned to his home in Indiana for a time and attended a commercial school at Indianapolis. Recovering from his disability in a marked degree during the fall and winter, he again entered the service in the following February, as first lieutenant of Company B, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and upon its organization, he was made captain of the company and served as such until the end of the war, being mustered out at Indianapolis, Ind., September 6, 1865. Sox of Captain Baxter's brothers served in the Federal army during the Civil war, no two of them being in the same regiment, and all survived the conflict, and six of them are living at this time. Among the seven brothers of the Baxter family, there were two captains, one first lieutenant, one corporal and two privates, all of whom enlisted as privates. The combined service of these brothers aggregated nearly fifteen years.
After returning home at the end of the war, Captain Baxter for a time was a clerk in a railroad office at Indianapolis, but becoming dissatisfied he turned his attention westward, and on December 15, 1866, with $700 in his pocket, he arrived at Jacksonville, Ill. Near this place for a short time he worked on a farm, built fences and did all such tasks as came to his hand, in the meanwhile becoming acquainted with the people. He then taught school for four years near Jacksonville and Literberry. At the latter place, for nine years, he was afterwards engaged in merchandising, and also filling the position of postmaster, was also railroad agent, justice of the peace and notary public, was additionally engaged in the making of brick, and in furnishing the railroad with ties, posts, wood, etc. On January 21, 1881, he moved to the farm upon which he now resides in Cass County, Ill., about eight miles from Literberry. He and his two sons are now the owners of 1,707 acres of land, 1,407 acres of which are included in his homestead in Cass County, and 300 acres in Morgan County. He devotes his time to the feeding of stock and the management of his farming interests.
On October 4, 1876, Mr. Baxter was united in marriage with Lydia Ellen Crum, who died March 26, 1907. She was the only daughter of Abram A. Cum, of Morgan County. Mr. and Mrs. Baxter became the parents of two sons: Albert Crum, who si a physician and surgeon of Springfield, Ill.; and William Abram, who is at home on the old farm (Bildmore Place) with his father. In politics Mr. Baxter was a stanch, protective tariff Republican. Fraternally he is a member of the John L. Douglas Post, G.A.R., of Ashland, Ill., and was its first commander. Aside from being a well informed man and the owner of large tracts of land, Mr. Baxter's military record as detailed in this sketch enables him to bestow a priceless heritage of honor to his posterity.