#59--John Bayard Hannah-Captain in the 54th Illinois Regiment

Memorial Day was Monday so it seems appropriate to write about an ancestor who served in the military.  I have written about my great grandfather, John Wesley Hannah and his service in the Civil War (Blogs # 38 -41) and John M. Hannah (Blog #4), my great, great grandfather who also fought in the Civil War.  In a letter to my Aunt Tim Hannah Parke, her cousin, Phillip Emsinger Hannah wrote that there were “three John Hannah’s that fought in the Civil War. “Old John”, my great great grandfather, Little John, or my great grandfather, and Big John, who was John Bayard Hannah.  So I thought I would blog about John Bayard Hannah and his service in the Civil War.  That would complete the trio.  My great grandfather and John Bayard’s father were brothers so that means that John Bayard Hannah is one of my cousins.

John Bayard Hannah was born in Brown County Ohio in August 9, 1829 to Henry Hannah and Catherine Beard.  Sometime before 1840, the family moved to Helt, Indiana, where his father farmed. In 1857 John Bayard married Elizabeth Frances Lawrence.

Regimental Flag of the 54th Illinois

According to the 1860 census, John and Elizabeth had two sons:  Bayard Lee, born 1829 and Phillip Emsinger, born in 1860.  John Bayard was now living in Paris, Edgar County, Illinois and was a lawyer.  The census lists his real estate as worth $4,000 and his personal property as $1400.  In 1861 his third son, Henry was born, while in 1877, John Gray Lawrence, the fourth son, was born.

Monument at Vicksburg for the 54th Illinois

When the Civil War started, John Bayard enlisted in the 54th Regiment Infantry on February 12, 1862 as Captain of Company F and mustered out on February 17, 1865.  The 54th served in western Tennessee until 1863.  The 54th then moved to Mississippi where they were involved in the siege of Vicksburg.  They next moved to Arkansas where they were involved in the capture of Little Rock on September 10, 1863.  The 54 Infantry
remained in various locations in Arkansas until the end of the war,

According to his obituary, John Bayard Hannah was a charter member of Paris Lodge 268, A. F. & A. M., served as a Justice of the Peace, and was active in his church.  John Bayard died on April 3, 1913 and was buried in the cemetery in Paris.