Author: Benjamin R Hieronymus
Benjamin Robert Hieronymus was born June 27, 1841 in Illinois. He married Susan Mary Mountjoy on September 10, 1861, and joined the 117th Illinois August 7, 1862. His first son, Robert Enoch, was born December 18, 1862 while he was serving.
He obtained a common school education in a school held in a primitive log cabin, which he attended only in the winter, as he had to work on a farm in the summer. He afterward had the benefit of a good course of study in the Atlanta High School.
Benjamin began his service as a Private. At the time of this letter, he had been promoted to 1st Sergeant and was promoted to Lieutenant on January 30, 1865.
He mustered out with the regiment August 5, 1865. During that long period the whole distance traveled by his company was as follows: by railroad, eleven hundred and twenty-six miles; by steamboat, six thousand one hundred and thirty-nine miles; and marching two thousand and eighty-six miles. Total, nine thousand, three hundred and fifty-one miles.
After the war, Benjanim was a well known banker a, a leader in civic and church work. He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Illinois National Bank and elder emeritus of First Christian church.
Benjamin died March 19, 1926, in Springfield, IL
Benjamin and Thomas Hieronymus