Herbert A. Shaw

Thank you for your wonderful website. I find I must get something off of my chest which I found in the History of Norton Co. KS.

Page 26 of the History of Norton Co. KS lists my great grandfather Herbie Shaw.  I disagree with this information.  Herbie died of epilepsy and was not insane.  He was a Civil War Veteran who was wounded and who was in a prison of war camp.  That book does my great grandfather a great injustice.

The following is my documented research on Herbert A. Shaw:

Herbert A. Shaw, Civil War Soldier and father of Clarence Norton Shaw, the first white child born in Norton County Kansas. 

I do not have a lot on Herbert Shaw, my great grandfather, because he died very young.  I do know he was born in Montrose, Lee Co. Iowa, July 6, 1844.  His parents were Anthony and Sophia (Spinning) Shaw.  The family were Mormons at the time he was born. (See Church Record of the Ambrosia Branch of the Mormon Church Organized September 14th 1844.  In this record it says "Herbert A. Shaw was born July 6, 1844 in Montrose Lee Co. Iowa and Blest by the Church April 27, 1845.")  

Supposedly the family came to Lee Co. Iowa in 1843.  (See History of Scott Co., Iowa 1882 pg 1163 Charles E. Shaw, (brother of Herbert).  I think because Joseph Smith, the Mormon leader, was killed across the Mississippi River in 1844 and because there was a lot of animosity against Mormons, Anthony Shaw took his family to Lake Co. Illinois to get out of the turmoil.  They stayed there until 1853 at which time they returned to Iowa and settled in Dixon, Scott Co. Iowa.  At this time they were no longer Mormons.  In fact his brother Charles Edward Shaw was a member of the Christian Church.

Herbert lived in or around Dixon, Iowa until 1862, as a farmer, when he volunteered as a soldier in the Civil War.

Herbert A. Shaw's civil war papers show that he was a soldier in Company I, 16th Regiment of the Iowa Volunteers [16th Iowa Infantry], signing up March 19, 1862 in Davenport, Iowa.

He reenlisted as a veteran March 19, 1864 after serving faithfully as a volunteer soldier. His father, Anthony, died October 5, 1863 while he was in the Civil War but Herbert probably did not get to go home until March and April 1864 as he was absent with leave March and April 1864.  On March 31, 1864 he appears on the Detachment Muster-out Roll in Davenport, Iowa and was mustered out by reason of reenlistment as a Veteran Volunteer per G.O. Nos 305 & 376 dated respectively War Dept, Sept 11 & Nov. 21 1863.  He is listed in the M. and D. Roll of Veteran Volunteers Davenport, Iowa April 1, 1864, enlisting March 19, 1864 and mustered in April 1, 1864 in Dixon, Scott Co. Iowa, re-mustered by reason of reenlistment as veteran volunteer in same Regt in accordance with Gen. orders 305 & 376 dated War Dept. Sept. 11th & Nov. 21 1863.  (He must have considered reenlisting just before his father died.)  As I said, his father died October 5, 1863.

Herbert was in the Battles of Shiloh, Iuka, Corinth, Vicksburg and was wounded near Atlanta on July 9, 1864 in the battle of Nickajack Creek.  He took a shell to his right hand which crippled his hand a great deal.  He returned to duty after being hospitalized in Chattanooga for one month and then was captured and sent to probably Andersonville Prison November 1864 during Sherman's march.  He was reported as having been absent without leave on November 20, 1864.  On November 21, 1864 he was reported missing near Gorden Station, GA while enroute from Atlanta GA to Savannah GA.  They at first thought he had deserted but then it was found he was a prisoner of war.  He must have been a prisoner from November 20, 1864 until May 1865, approximately six months.  The record of May & June 1865 says he was absent and sick in the hospital at Davenport, Iowa.  He was before this time back on the Company Muster Roll having been found a prisoner of war.

After his discharge he married Artie Zimmerman, daughter of Henry and Nancy Blakely Zimmerman September 18, 1870 in Jones County Iowa.  The family went from Jones Co. Iowa to Gilson, Adams Co. Nebraska.  From there they went to Norton Co. Kansas in December of 1872.  

My grandfather, Clarence Norton Shaw, was the first white child born in Norton Co. KS and his parents and grandparents were one of the first to settle in Devizes, Norton Co. KS.  They later moved to Indianola, Red Willow Co. Nebraska.

Herbert died from an epileptic seizure after going back to Scott CO Iowa where his brothers and mother lived in 1881, seeking medical attention.  I have been unable to find his burial site, but was told by an ancestor of William Henry Shaw that William Henry Shaw buried one of his brothers in the Devizes cemetery in Norton County, KS.  I hope to one day find a stone there commemorating this Civil War Hero, Herbert A. Shaw.

Sincerely, Eleanor Shaw Garretson