Noah was the second child of William and Sarah Frank, Barbara’s little brother.
The Civil War had been underway a few months when he enlisted in the 3rd Illinois Cavalry, Company G and was sent first to Camp Butler, where he got measles, but improved. (On our trip to Boston this summer, we saw the sign for Camp Butler near Springfield, IL and stopped. It is a cemetery now).
He was then sent to Camp Benton in MO, where he thought he was getting better, but died in January 1862 at the age of 18. It might have been pneumonia as a complication of the measles as that was common. He had been in the army for less than five months.
Here are some comments from the Civil War Muse about Camp Benton:
“The presence of so many troops in one great encampment, the crowded condition of the barracks, inexperience of the soldiers, inclemency of the winter months and the inability of the department to do all that was required occasioned a large amount of sickness,…many measles patients were afterwards attacked with pneumonia and died.”
Either Noah, Isaac, Edward or Columbus Frank, though it is most likely Columbus
We have three letters from Noah and also a hammer he made. Here are some excerpts:
Camp Butler
Sept. the 20, 1861
Dear Brother,
I received _ letters today and was glad to hear that you was all well. I have not been sick an hour since I left home. the boys are in high spirits this evening. We have drawed our full uniform today and we will get the saddles this week.
Dear sister i received your letter the other day and was glad to hear that you was well I am perfectly well and out of danger from the measles I would have written sooner but Mr. Thomas was coming home and I thought he could tell you better about the times than I could in a letter…tell Isaac and Ed to write to me for it does me good to get a letter from them if it is only a dozen words and tell Martha to put in a few words to when you are writing and tell bub and Sarah I would like to see them write soon from Noah to Barbara Frank.
Bub was Noah’s little brother, Columbus, aged five.
An entry from Minnie Lee’s journal about her uncle, Noah
I believe this is a picture of Darwin M. Schenck. There were only a few letters readable on the back of the picture, and they matched up with him from Noah’s Company G. They may have been friends and exchanged pictures.
Father of Newton Lucas. He was born in Butler Ohio, and grew up on the farm there. He moved to Crawfordsville, Indiana in 1833 where he earned his medical degree. In 1836 he moved to Mt. Sterling, Illinois where he taught school and practiced medicine. He also had a lumber and mercantile business, and later bought his farm 1 1/2 miles south of Mt. Sterling, along with other land in the area. He had over 1000 acres and an estate worth about $30,000 at the time of his death.* He was married to Sarah Ann Keith, 1817-1890, and they had 12 children. Sarah was born in Hardin County, KY and died in Brown County, IL.
They named many of their children after famous people: George Washington, Henry Clay, John Hardin, Ethan Allen, and Daniel Webster Lucas. The ones with “non-famous” names are Newton, William, Martha Ann, Mary Elizabeth, Helen, James Edward and Rosa Roat (adopted child). Newton may have been closest to Ethan Allen – they had neighboring farms and Ethan was the executor of Newton’s will. The only other sibling we have a photograph of is Mary Elizabeth (1843-1940).
Duke City Roots 