Private Henry McIntosh, 102nd U.S. Colored Troops

Battle flag of the 102nd U.S. Colored Troops (1st Michigan), presented to the regiment by the Colored Ladies Aid Society on January 5, 1864. Henry McIntosh served in Company G. Image source: capitol.michigan.gov. 

Henry McIntosh (1843-1915) of Lake Forest, Illinois, served with the 102nd U.S. Colored Troops (1st Michigan) from February 1864 to October 1865. 

McIntosh was born enslaved on a plantation in Kentucky. When war erupted on April 12, 1861, he was made a horse wrangler for the Confederate army, but wanted no part in the South’s fight to save the institution of slavery. After several months, McIntosh saw a chance for freedom and crossed the Ohio River into a bordering free state.

Gateway to Freedom: International Memorial to the Underground Railroad by Ed Dwight, Sculptor. Dedicated in Detroit, Michigan on October 20, 2001.

According to his family, McIntosh made his way via the secret network of abolitionists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. Many freedom seekers who headed north continued onto Canada, but McIntosh stopped in Detroit, Michigan where there was an established African American community.

On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect, freeing all enslaved people in the Confederacy. The intention was to cripple the Confederacy’s use of this labor source to support their armies and home front; something that Henry McIntosh had experienced firsthand.

In July 1863, U.S. Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, authorized the State of Michigan to “raise one Regiment of colored Infantry.” The order stated that these men would not receive a bounty for enlisting, but would be paid “ten dollars per month.” They would also be “commanded by white officers.”

Between August 1863 and February 1864, a total of 895 men from across Michigan signed the rolls for the new regiment. The unit received its commission into the service of the United States as the First Michigan Colored Infantry on February 17, 1864. Its' designation changed to the 102nd U.S. Colored Troops/Infantry (USCI) on May 23. Henry McIntosh served as a private in Company G.

McIntosh was particularly proud that the 102nd USCI were part of the forces supporting Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea (November 15 - December 21, 1864), a campaign that led to the eventual surrender of the Confederacy. The 102nd served on picket duty, built fortifications, destroyed rail lines, and engaged the enemy.

After the war's end in Spring 1865, the process of Reconstruction began to redress the inequities of slavery and help the South become part of the Union again. Federal troops, including Henry McIntosh with the 102nd USCI, were sent to Charleston, South Carolina to keep order. 

The presence of African American soldiers caused provisional governors of Southern states to complain that “the black troops are a great nuisance & do much mischief among the Freed men.” The uniformed and armed African American troops made for a powerful image, undoubtedly generating pride in Freedmen and fear in Secessionists. 

Pressure from the governors prompted the War Department to muster-out the Black troops and send them home, essentially removing their presence from Southern states. The 102nd mustered-out September 30, 1865. They arrived in Detroit, Michigan on October 17 and received their final pay and discharge.

Shortly thereafter, Henry McIntosh made his way to Lake County, Illinois, seeking new opportunities, and settling in Lake Forest. One attraction to the area was the number of African Americans living there. This is likely where he met Sarah Martin, whom he married in 1869. According to the 1870 Census, there were eight African American households, totaling 30 people, in Shields Township/Lake Forest. 

View of 1870 U.S. Census data for Henry McIntosh, misspelled "Mackintosh" and his wife Sarah. Ancestry.com.

Henry McIntosh was an active community member, and became one of the organizers of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Organized in 1866, the church was constructed in 1870 at the present corner of Maplewood and Washington Road. McIntosh had a lifelong association with the church. 

Notice from the The Lake Forester August 1, 1903, showing Henry McIntosh as superintendent at the Bethel A.M.E. Church. McIntosh is credited as one of the organizers of this church. 

McIntosh worked as a laborer, and later as a coachman and gardener on a private estate. Sarah and Henry had no children. Sadly, on May 30, 1884, Sarah died.

Over one year later, on July 14, 1885, Henry married Fannie Davis Freleigh (1867-1960). 

Fannie was born in Missouri in 1867 to Sarah and Charles Davis. Her father was a plasterer by trade, and in the late 1870s he moved the family to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. As the oldest of eight children, Fannie helped the family by working outside the home as a house servant for the Earle Moses family. Moses was a buyer and seller of wood in Oshkosh’s lumber industry.

Between 1880-1885, Fannie came to Lake Forest and was employed in the household of Rev. Daniel S. Gregory (1832-1915), the president of Lake Forest University. 

Henry and Fannie lived on Washington Road and had nine children: William W., Etta (Mrs. Andrew Smith), Clarence, Peter, Euphemia (Mrs. Henry Walker), Arnett, Lillian, Lutie E. (Mrs. William Slaughter), and Wayman H. 

Photo detail of Henry McIntosh in 1899. Bess Bower Dunn Museum, 64.39.2. 

The above photograph from the Dunn Museum's collections was taken on August 29, 1899, at the dedication of the Lake County Civil War monument in Waukegan. This cropped image shows an African American Civil War veteran. 

Is this man Henry McIntosh? Post update 8/19/21 - When I researched this post months ago, I strongly suspected, but could not be 100% certain that the veteran's identity was Henry McIntosh. Today, I received an email from his great-great granddaughter, Bonnie McIntosh, to let me know that her great aunt, Maxine McIntosh (Henry's granddaughter), confirmed that he is Henry. I am so grateful for this information and to make a connection with his descendants. Thank you! 

Another view of the photograph of veterans at the dedication of the Civil War monument in Waukegan. Henry McIntosh is right of the drummer and marked by a red star. Dunn Museum 64.39.2.

There is no list of names for the men in this photograph, making it difficult to ascertain their identities. Of the African American men who lived in Lake County and are known to have served in the Civil War, McIntosh was the only one active in veterans' associations. George W. Bell (1816-1910) was an African American Civil War veteran with Company B, 40th U.S. Colored Infantry. After the war, he lived in Waukegan, but was noted for refusing to have any photographs taken and his name does not appear in veterans' records. Newport Township Historical Society has identified another African American veteran, Samuel Killerbrue (c1833 - c1897), who served in Co. K, 1st Tennessee Colored Troops. Killerbrue lived near Wadsworth from about 1866 to mid-1880s with his wife and children. 

McIntosh was a member of the Lake County Soldiers and Sailors Association. He was noted in the Association's records (below) as attending the August 1913 reunion in Waukegan. From this record, we know that he participated in veterans' reunions. 

Ledger entry noting Civil War veterans, including Henry McIntosh (bottom), who attended the Lake County Soldiers and Sailors Association reunion in August 1913. McIntosh was 70-years old. Dunn Museum 74.19.16.

Henry McIntosh's service during the Civil War inevitably inspired his children and grandchildren to serve their country: 

Son, Clarence Nathaniel McIntosh (1889-1963) served as Sergeant Major with the 351st Field Artillery during World War I; son, Wayman Hillis McIntosh (1900-1982), an athletic trainer at Lake Forest College, volunteered as air raid warden during World War II; grandson, Henry Nathaniel McIntosh (1923-1980) served as lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War; and grandson Clarence Pearson McIntosh (1925-1999) served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. 

Henry McIntosh's grave marker at Lake Forest Cemetery. Findagrave.com.

Henry McIntosh died on August 3, 1915, leaving a legacy of service to his community and the nation. 

- Diana Dretske, Curator ddretske@lcfpd.org

Special thanks to Laurie Stein, Curator, History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff, for research assistance. lstein@lflbhistory.org 

Sources: 

Ancestry.com (1870, 1880, 1900-1940 U.S. Census; World War I/II registration cards, Lake Forest city directories). 
FindAGrave.com.
Bess Bower Dunn Museum. Lake County Soldiers and Sailors Association Collection, and G.A.R. Photo Collection. https://www.lcfpd.org/museum/collections/. 
History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff www.lflbhistory.org. 
Detroit Historical Society www.detroithistorical.org. 
Michigan in the War web.archive.org. 
https://web.archive.org/web/20030724204008/http://www.michiganinthewar.org/infantry/1colora.htm
"Lake Forester Deserts Confederacy, Marches With Sherman's Army to Sea." Uncited, July 27, 1961. 
"African American History in Lake Forest: A Walking Tour," Lake Forest College, 1997. 
"DAVIS." The Oshkosh Northwestern, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. July 2, 1931. Roy Davis obituary, brother of Fannie McIntosh. 
"Revival of Democracy." Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Mississippi, June 14, 1942. Lists air raid wardens in Chicago's Division 8, including Wayman McIntosh of Lake Forest, Illinois. 
Robertson, Jno. Michigan in the War. Lansing: W.S. George and Company, State Printers and Binders, 1882. Michigan's Adjutant General's Department reports. https://archive.org/details/michiganinwar00mich/page/n7/mode/2up. Accessed February 12, 2021.
Dobak, William A. Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862-1867. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History United States Army, 2011.
Arpee, Edward. Lake Forest Illinois: History and Reminiscences 1861-1961. Lake Forest, Illinois: Rotary Club of Lake Forest, 1963.
Halsey, John J. A History of Lake County, Illinois. Illinois: Roy S. Bates, 1912. 
Lake County (IL) Genealogical Society. “Lake County, Illinois Marriages 1881 to 1901,” Volume III. Libertyville, Illinois.

Women's Army Corps at Fort Sheridan

Women's Army Corps member at Fort Sheridan, circa 1943. Fort Sheridan Collection, Dunn Museum 92.24.1112

In September 1939, Americans were in the tenth year of the Great Depression when war broke out in Europe with Hitler’s invasion of Poland. As the warfront expanded throughout Europe and Asia, the U.S. needed to increase the strength of its’ military to prepare for the possibility of war. These preparations included discussions on the prospect of a women’s corps.

Along with men, women wanted to do their part to fight the threat of fascism and many lobbied for a role in the U.S. military mobilization. At the forefront was U.S. representative Edith Nourse Rogers (1881-1960) of Massachusetts, who introduced a bill in Congress in early 1941 to establish an auxiliary corps to fill non-combatant positions in the army.

The bill stalled until the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 propelled the United States’ into war. Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, foresaw a manpower shortage and understood the necessity of women in uniform to the nation’s defense. Not only were women needed in factories, but also in the military. 

With the support of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and General Marshall, on May 15, 1942, Rogers’s bill (H.R. 4906) passed into law creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). As an auxiliary unit, the women were limited to serving with the Army rather than in the Army.

The purpose of the WAAC was to make “available to the national defense the knowledge, skill, and special training of the women of the nation."

Women taking the oath as officer candidates in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps at army headquarters, Chicago. Four of the women pictured were African American, including Mildred L. Osby (top left), who would command an African American Women's Army Corps unit at Fort Sheridan. Chicago Tribune, July 12, 1942.

The first WAAC training center was at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. On July 20, 1942, one hundred and twenty-five enlisted women, and four hundred and forty officer candidates arrived for training.

Of the four hundred and forty women selected for officer candidate training only 40 places were allotted for African American women, reportedly based on “the percentage of the population.” Mildred L. Osby (1913-1953) of Chicago was one of the African American women selected for officer training. Her fellow candidate, Charity Adams Earley, described them as “the ambitious, the patriotic, the adventurous.”

Lt. Mildred L. Osby recruiting women for the WAACs in Washington D.C., November 1942. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 

The U.S. Army post at Fort Sheridan received its first 150 auxiliaries on December 30, 1942. The WAAC detachment arrived from Fort Des Moines by train at the Fort Sheridan depot. Commanded by Captain Edith M. Davis, the women were the first company of WAACs assigned to the Army Service Forces’ Sixth Service Command (Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan) headquartered in Chicago.

First WAAC detachment arriving at Fort Sheridan on December 30, 1942. Mary Jane (Lett) Lucas aka "Jane" is right of center holding large duffel. Chicago Sun Staff Photo / Fort Sheridan Collection, Dunn Museum 95.32.23.

Among the first detachment of WAACs at Fort Sheridan was Mary Jane (Lett) Lucas (1921-2014), who recalled that the women auxiliaries were given a warm reception. She noted that the army “didn’t know what to do with us,” and was given a job as an usher at the post’s theater. The army quickly figured out how best to utilize the extra "manpower." Duties for the women’s corps included: clerks, stenographers, commissary, photo analysts, surgical assistants, lab assistants, mechanics, and chauffeurs.

On July 3, 1943, the auxiliaries were officially given “active duty status” with the passing of the bill to create the Women’s Army Corps. All auxiliaries (WAACs) were offered the choice of an honorable discharge and return to civilian life or joining the U.S. Army as a member of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). Seventy-five percent of the women enlisted.

This new designation was important as it gave women full military rank and benefits for service injuries and allowed them to serve overseas. It also gave them protection as soldiers and if captured were eligible for rights given to prisoners of war.

WAC Mary Jane (Lett) Lucas, bottom right, with Sixth Service Command Laboratory soldiers and WACs, circa 1944. Lucas met her husband, Colonel Charles J. Lucas (1923-2011), at Fort Sheridan’s Non-Commissioned Officers’ club. They married in 1947 and settled in Grayslake. Mary Jane Lucas Collection, Dunn Museum, 2012.20.39.

Lucas was assigned to the Army’s Sixth Service Command Medical Laboratory at Fort Sheridan, driving officers from the lab, and checking in thousands of samples. This laboratory received more than 66,000 food and water samples from 1941 to 1945. The laboratory’s principal activity was the chemical and bacteriological examination of foods, including large quantities of canned evaporated milk, dried powdered milk, and cheese procured for the Armed Forces. At the lab, Lucas also worked with German prisoners of war, but was not allowed to speak to them. 

In November 1943, an African American WAC unit was posted to Fort Sheridan under the command of 1st Lt. Mildred L. Osby (promoted to Captain in January 1944). At the time of her enlistment in July 1942, Osby was married, living in Chicago, and employed at the social security board. She had graduated from Officer Candidate Training at Fort Des Moines, served as a WAAC recruiter in Washington, D.C., posted to Fort Custer, Michigan, and WAC Company B commander at Fort Sheridan. 

Capt. Mildred L. Osby, date unknown. Photo from FindAGrave.com, Arlington National Cemetery.

The seventy-five African American WACs under the command of Capt. Mildred Osby were assigned to duties in the Recruit Reception Center. Soldiers on furlough also passed through the Fort where their service records were checked and instructions given for the length of furlough time they had at home.

Soldiers and WACs worked in the Rotation Section, which had a "graveyard shift" to accommodate the great numbers of soldiers passing through and to "speed overseas veterans through." (The Tower, August 11, 1944).

WACs Pvt. Ruth Mays (right) showing records to Pvt. Florence Brown while working in Fort Sheridan's Rotational Section.  Mary Jane Lucas Collection, Dunn Museum, 2012.20. The Tower, August 11, 1944. 

Twenty-six of the original company of WACs at Fort Sheridan on their two-year roll of honor, December 1944. Mary Jane (Lett) Lucas (top row, red star). Thirty of their WAC comrades had been transferred overseas where they were serving in New Guinea, Egypt, England and France. The Tower, December 29, 1944. 

Details of the celebration at Fort Sheridan marking the 2nd anniversary of the creation of the Women's Army Corps. Chicago Tribune, May 15, 1944.

During World War II, nearly 150,000 American women served as soldiers in the Women’s Army Corps. In 1948, for their superb service during the war, President Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act allowing a permanent place for women to serve within the military in regular, peacetime forces. 

The Women's Army Corps disbanded in 1978 and all members were fully integrated into the U.S. Army.

The Dunn Museum is celebrating those who served with a new temporary exhibition Breaking Barriers: Women in the Military through June 13, 2021. To experience this past exhibition, you may view the virtual exhibit online. 

- Diana Dretske, Curator ddretske@lcfpd.org

Sources: 
Bess Bower Dunn Museum (Fort Sheridan Collection 92.24/95.23; Mary Jane Lucas Collection 2012.20)
"War Training - First Contingent of WAACs Arrives at Fort Sheridan," Chicago Daily Tribune, December 31, 1942.
"Twenty-five WAACs Win Promotion to Second Officer," Chicago Tribune, January 3, 1943.
"American Women at War - Lt. Mildred L. Osby," Chicago Tribune, November 28, 1943. 
"American Women at War - Capt. Mildred L. Osby," Chicago Tribune, January 30, 1944.
"WACs at Fort Sheridan to Observe Anniversary," Chicago Tribune, May 15, 1944.
"'Graveyard Shift' Hastens Rotation Men Home," The Tower, August 11, 1944. 
"WACs Celebrate Second Anniversary Here," The Tower, December 29, 1944. 
"On the Record with Mary Jane Lucas," Lake County Journal, May 27, 2010. 
Earley, Charity Adams. One Woman's Army: A Black Officer Remembers the WACs. Texas A&M University Press, 1995. 
Treadwell, Mattie E. United States Army in World War II, Special Studies: Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1991. 
Ancestry.com
FindAGrave.com. "Mildred Lavinia Osby," Arlington National Cemetery. 
"Twenty-One Illinois Women Who Are in the Army Now," Chicago Tribune, June 12, 1942.
George C. Marshall Foundation Blog: https://www.marshallfoundation.org/blog/marshall-75th-anniversary-wacs/
The Women’s Army Corps: A Commemoration of World War II Service, Judith A. Bellafaire
https://history.army.mil/brochures/WAC/WAC.HTM    

Reverend Dodge and the Anti-Slavery Movement

Reverend William B. Dodge (1783-1869) of the Millburn Congregational Church was an outspoken abolitionist and leader in Lake County's anti-slavery movement. 

Rev. William B. Dodge (1783-1869), shown here in 1860.

Image from: The First Hundred Years: the Story of the Millburn Congregational Church 1840-1940. 

Dodge was 61-years old when he came to Millburn in 1844. His roots in New England, where he worked in education and the anti-slavery movement, set the stage for his leadership role in Lake County. 

Dodge was born in Rowley, Massachusetts in 1783, the son of Revolutionary War veteran, Phineas Dodge, and Lucy Nelson Dodge. In early 1807, Dodge married Sarah Dole (1781-1870) and the couple moved to Salem, Massachusetts. 

In Salem, Dodge opened the city's first Sunday School, and was an educator in the public schools for over thirty years. In 1827, he was appointed chaplain of the city almshouse, a position he retained for 17 years.

Salem, Massachusetts in 1839. Engraving by J.W. Barber. 

In 1834, the city established an elementary and high school for African American students. Although Salem's schools were integrated, the free African American community still faced adversity. William B. Dodge was hired as the school's principal due to his reputation as a teacher and anti-slavery activist.

One of Dodge's pupils was Robert Morris (1823-1882), who became one of the first African American lawyers in the United States. As an attorney, Morris worked on cases regarding African American education and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. 

Robert Morris (1823-1882), lawyer and abolitionist. (John J. Burns Library's Blog)

Dodge was invited by his former students to return to Salem for a visit (around 1861), and Robert Morris was one of his hosts. Morris recalled that Dodge was responsible for his education and had ensured he was "treated justly, and even kindly." 

The entire Dodge family was active in the anti-slavery movement, and abolitionists on the Underground Railroad. The family used their home on North Street to harbor individuals escaping from slavery. 

In 1834, Dodge's wife, Sarah Dole Dodge, and daughters, Lydia Little Dodge (1811-1848) and Lucia Nelson Dodge (1815-1845), became founding members of the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society.

Sarah Dole Dodge (1781-1870), wife of William B. Dodge. Photo circa 1860.

Robert Miller Collection, Ancestry.com

Sarah Dole was the daughter of Revolutionary War veteran Capt. Samuel Dole of Bullard's Regiment of Militia.

The society's constitution stated: "That slavery should be immediately abolished; that people of color, enslaved or free, have a right to a home in the country without fear of intimidation, and that the society should be ready to acknowledge people of color as friends and equals." 

Ledger entry from the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society regarding a meeting held at the William and Sarah Dodge home on January 10, 1838. Original ledger in collections of Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum. 

Online collections Congregational Library and Archives www.congregationallibrary.org. 

By 1842, Dodge retired from teaching and became the "antislavery agent" in the churches of Massachusetts.

Around this time, some of the Dodge children headed west to settle on the frontier, including daughter Hannah Little Dodge (1819-1884) to Millburn, Lake County, Illinois, and son Samuel D. Dodge (1809-1875) to Peoria, Illinois. 

In the spring of 1844, William and Sarah Dodge set out "to settle among [their] children" and arrived in Millburn on May 14. They purchased 120-acres on the southwest corner of today's Route 45 and Sand Lake Road in Avon Township. 

Millburn Congregational Church circled in red (top center). William B. Dodge farm denoted by red star (bottom center), and Dodge Schoolhouse across from the Dodge farm, circled in red. Map of Lake County, Illinois, 1861. 

While William and Sarah undoubtedly wished to be near their children, uprooting themselves to begin anew on the "frontier" was a remarkable undertaking. More than likely Dodge understood the opportunity this provided him to continue his work in the anti-slavery movement.

Within a few months of his arrival, Dodge was asked by the congregational community to become their pastor. His official installation was held at the dedication of the church's new meeting house on June 1, 1847. (From 1840 - 1847 the congregation met in a log structure). 

Reverend Dodge became known throughout the county as "Father Dodge." He spoke at meetings and celebrations across Lake County and "entered heartily into all reforms as they claimed his attention and support." 

By the mid-1840s, northeastern Illinois was the strongest area of anti-slavery sentiment in the state. This was in part due to the large concentration of settlers from New England (such as the Dodge Family), who brought anti-slavery sentiments with them. 

Dodge aligned himself with people of like mind, and soon distinguished himself as a leader. In 1846, he co-founded the Lake County Liberty Association which denounced the notorious Illinois Black Laws (1819-1865) that restricted the civil liberties of African Americans.

Dodge continued to take a great interest in education and in 1854 supported a tax levy to build a new schoolhouse. Neighbors met at his home and voted to approve the school, which was named Dodge School. The schoolhouse was built by William Bonner (see previous post on Bonner) and located across the road from Dodge's homestead. The first teacher was Dodge's son, James M. Dodge (1812-1887).

The community of Millburn, though small, was very much engaged in national affairs. Of particular interest was the growing divide between North and South over the issue of slavery. The news of radical abolitionist John Brown's impending execution after his failed raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, October 16-19, 1859, brought the Millburn congregation together for a special meeting. 

On December 2, 1859, the congregation passed a resolution that read in part: "That we will do good to those who have escaped from bondage as we have opportunity by supplying their present wants and aiding them in their flight." 

Excerpt of the resolution passed by the Millburn Congregational Church under the leadership of 

Reverend "Father" Dodge, December 2, 1859.

Original in the archives of the Millburn Congregational Church.

This resolution was in direct opposition to the federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which required that all "escaped slaves" be returned to the South and that citizens of free states cooperate or be fined and jailed. Involvement in the Underground Railroad was dangerous and illegal, and therefore very secretive, making the open defiance of Reverend Dodge and his congregation quite extraordinary. 

In 1862, due to deteriorating health, Reverend Dodge resigned his position. 

From letter of Anna White to David Minto, November 1862: "I believe we are to have a new minister at Millburn before a great while. Mr. Dodge is to be released from the church next Tuesday. There seems to quite a difference of opinion in regard to which they shall have presbyterian or a congregational minister but I presume it will come out all right." 

Minto Family Collection, Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County (BBDM 93.45.502.2)

Though Dodge gave up his duties as pastor, the door to his home was always open. William and Sarah Dodge welcomed their neighbors with a cup of tea and comforting words. 

During the Civil War, Dodge's support of his neighbors remained unwavering. A number of young men from Millburn enlisted, including two of Dodge's grandsons: Samuel W. Dodge (1838-1909) and George C. Dodge (1842-1904), who served with the 96th Illinois Infantry. On the home front residents worked tirelessly for the war effort by making quilts and bandages, and writing letters to the "Soldier Boys." 

Following the war, the congregation's membership had grown and a new church was needed. When the church was dedicated in January 1867, "Father Dodge" had the honor of addressing the congregation in the old church. With his aged Bible in hand, Dodge walked alongside the new pastor, Reverend Bross, followed by a procession of the membership to the new church. 

Reverend Dodge led a procession from the old church to the new Millburn Congregational Church (shown above), 

on January 20, 1867. Photo circa 1880.

Photo courtesy of Historic Millburn Community Association www.historicmillburn.org

Reverend "Father" Dodge died on April 1, 1869, leaving a legacy of good works and selflessness. He was steadfast in his anti-slavery activism and concern for the oppressed, and was "greatly revered for his knowledge and for his great goodness of heart." 

Diana Dretske, Curator ddretske@lcpfd.org

Sources: 

• Ancestry.com
• Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County www.LCFPD.org/museum
• Congregational Library and Archives, Boston, Massachusetts. Online collections www.congregationallibrary.org "Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society." 
• Dodge Family Association www.dodgefamily.org 
• Historic Millburn Community Association www.historicmillburn.
• John J. Burns Library, Boston, Massachusetts. https://libguides.bc.edu/Burns. This library is the repository for books from the personal library of Boston lawyer, Robert Morris (1823-1882).
• WikiTree. William Bradford Dodge. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Dodge-2227
• Boyle, Elizabeth A.  "Mobility, Migration, and the 1855 Philadelphia National Convention: Robert Morris." (2013) Colored Conventions: Bringing 19th-Century Black Organizing to Digital Life. http://coloredconventions.org/ 
• Centennial Historical Committee. The First Hundred Years: The Story of the Millburn Congregational Church 1840-1940. (Millburn, Illinois, 1940). 
• "Dedication of the New church at Millburn," Waukegan Gazette, January 27, 1867. www.historicmillburn.org. 
• Genealogy of the Descendants of John White of Wenham and Lancaster, Massachusetts : 1638-1900 : in Memorials of Elder John White, One of the First Settlers of Hartford, Conn , and of His Descendants, Almira Larkin White, Haverhill, Mass., Chase Bros., printers, 1900-09.
• Halsey, John J. A History of Lake County, Illinois. (Chicago: R.S. Bates, 1912). 
• Hefferman, James. "Robert Morris: A Man of Energy and Will." John J. Burns Library's Blog jamesburnslibrary.wordpress.com.
• Johnson, Reinhard O., The Liberty Party, 1840-1848: Antislavery Third-Party Politics in the United States. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2009). 
• National Park Service. African American Heritage Sites in Salem: A Guide to Salem's History, (Revised edition, 2008). 
• "Obituary: Rev. William B. Dodge," Waukegan Gazette, April 10, 1869. www.historicmillburn.org
• Portrait and Biographical Album of Lake County, Illinois (Chicago: Lake City Publishing Co., 1891). 
• Turner, Glennette Tilley. The Underground Railroad in Illinois. (Newman Educational Publishing Company, Glen Ellyn: Illinois, 2001).
• Wilson, Cynthia. "Robert Morris Sr. (1823-1882)," March 25, 2018. www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/morris-robert-sr-1823-1882/.