As another Veterans Day draws near, it is an opportune time to recall the valor of Tazewell County’s three Medal of Honor recipients. Among of the 3,536 Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients, Tazewell County three recipients were all recognized for their actions at Civil War at Vicksburg. The Medal of Honor is granted by the U.S. Congress to military veterans who have “distinguished themselves through acts of conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.”
These three honorable men were: Pvt. John G. K. Ayers of the 8th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, Co. H, and the 1st New Jersey Volunteer Light Artillery, Battery D, a Pekin carpenter; Pvt. William Reed of the 8th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, Co. H, a Pekin school teacher; and Cpl. Thomas C. Murphy of the 31st Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Co. I, a Green Valley farmer who became a physician after the war. Dr. Murphy is the only one of the three to be buried in Tazewell County, and his Medal of Honor and Certificate are proudly displayed in the Tazewell County Recorder of Deeds Office.
Last year, Tazewell County Clerk John C. Ackerman and Steve Saal, director of the Tazewell County Veterans Assistance Commission, launched plans to erect a first-ever monument honoring Ayers, Reed, and Murphy. During the primary election on 19 March 2024, an overwhelming majority of voters approved Ackerman’s and Saal’s ballot initiative entitled, “Proposition for the Erection of a Monument for the Soldiers and Sailors of Tazewell County.” This binding vote calls on Tazewell County to fund a monument on the Tazewell County Courthouse lawn within one year of voter approval of the ballot question.
The proposed new “Tazewell County Medal of Honor Memorial” has been outlined as an 8-ft. tall black granite obelisk bearing the biographies and photos of the three heroes. Black granite has been selected so it will blend with the current Tazewell County Veterans Memorial. The new memorial would cost an estimated $80,000, but Ackerman suggested earlier this year that the County Board could utilize existing reserve funds or even a very small portion of the $22 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding the county has yet to utilize. If either of these funding sources are used, no new tax revenue would be required for the construction of the memorial.
The Tazewell County Clerk & Recorder of Deeds Office has created a public handout that includes the biography of all three heroes. Ackerman also created a 17-minute video that tells the stories of our county’s Medal of Honor recipients, that may be viewed on Facebook HERE.
Following are biographies of Ayers, Reed, and Murphy derived from the County Clerk handout:
John G. K. Ayers was born in Washtenaw County, Michigan, on 30 Oct. 1837. By the time of the Civil War, Ayers was living and working in Pekin as a carpenter. He enlisted in the Union Army on 25 June 1861, and his enlistment records describe him as 5 ft. 7 inches in height, with a light complexion, light eyes, and dark hair. As Illinois’ soldier quota was already filled, he traveled to St. Louis with others wanting to fight for the Union, and joined the newly-formed 8th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, Co. H, at the rank of Private. The 8th Missouri Volunteers saw action during the Battle of Fort Donelson, Battle of Shiloh, Siege of Corinth, Fort Hindman, Yazoo Pass Expedition, Battle of Port Gibson, Battle of Raymond, Battle of Jackson, Battle of Champion Hill, Siege of Vicksburg, Battle of Chattanooga, Battle of Missionary Ridge, the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman’s March to the Sea, the Carolinas Campaign, and the Battle of Bentonville.
Ayers was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on 31 Aug. 1895 for his bravery at Vicksburg, Mississippi. His citation simply reads “Gallantry in the charge of the volunteer storming party.” During the Siege of Vicksburg, on 22 May 1863, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered an assault on the Confederate fortifications known as the Stockade Redan. The plan called for a storming party to build a bridge across a moat and to plant scaling ladders against the enemy embankment in advance of the main attack, to draw fire away from the real planned attack. The volunteers for this diversionary charge knew the odds were against survival and the mission was called a “forlorn hope.” Only single men were accepted as volunteers, and even then, twice as many men as needed came forward and were turned away. Among the 150 volunteers for the mission was John Ayers.
After charging an open plain in full view of the Confederate Army, the withering fire was such that most of the volunteers were cut down, and those who made it through sought shelter in a ravine under the Redan. There they stayed and fought until nightfall, when the survivors made their way to return to the Union lines, Pvt. Ayers being one of them. 85 percent of the men who made the charge made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
After his discharge from the 8th Missouri in July 1864, Ayers enlisted as a recruit Private in Battery D, 1st New Jersey Volunteer Light Artillery, serving from 23 Sept. 1864 until his discharge on 17 June 1865.
William Reed was born in Laurelton, Pennsylvania, on 22 Feb. 1839. He later moved to Pekin before the outbreak of the Civil War, working here as a teacher. At the time of his enlistment, he was described as 5 ft. 5 inches tall with dark hair, blue eyes, and light complexion. Answering Abraham Lincoln’s call for Union Army volunteers, Reed went to the Tazewell County Courthouse only to be told too many had already stepped forward, fulfilling Illinois’ quota for enlistments. Undeterred, he joined others – including John Ayers of Pekin – in St. Louis to join the Missouri Infantry, as that state was having issues fulfilling their quota. There he enlisted on 25 June 1861 as a Private in the 8th Missouri Volunteers, in which he saw action with his regiment comrades in the campaigns and engagements mentioned above in Ayers’ biography.
Like Ayers, Reed was one of the 150 volunteers in the “forlorn hope” action during the Siege of Vicksburg on 22 May 1863, and with Ayers he was one of the 81 who survived and successfully made it back to Union lines. For his heroic actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor on 12 Dec. 1895.
Following the Civil War, Reed returned to his home state of Pennsylvania and entered the merchandise business. He went on to own many highly successful businesses, served on the Town Council, and was recognized as the founder of the Huntingdon Orphans Home. Fittingly, he died on Memorial Day, 30 May 1918 at his home, recognized by his community as one of their most (if not their most) prominent business and public citizens. He is buried in Riverview Cemetery in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Thomas C. Murphy was an Irish immigrant to the U.S., born on the Emerald Isle on 1 Feb. 1844. He was a resident of Green Valley, Illinois, at the time of his enlistment in the Union Army during the Civil War. His military enlistment records say he was 17 years old when he signed up to fight the Confederate State of America on 15 Aug. 1861. The enlistment papers say he enlisted in Pekin, and describe him as a farmer by trade, 5 ft. 6 1/2 inches in height, with a fair complexion, grey eyes, and red hair. He was a mustered in as a member of the 31st Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Co. I, at the rank of Private, and was promoted to Corporal in March 1862. He and his regiment took part in the Battle of Belmont, Battle of Fort Donelson, Battle of Champion Hill, Battle of Big Black River, Siege of Vicksburg, Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Battle of Atlanta, and Battle of Jonesboro, first under the leadership of Col. John A. Logan, then Col. Lindorf Osborn, and finally Col. Edwin S. McCook.
Like Ayers and Reed, Murphy earned his Medal of Honor for valor that he showed during the Siege of Vicksburg on 22 May 1863. During a second major attempt to directly assault the Confederate fortifications at Vicksburg, and before the successful laying of the siege there, Cpl. Murphy and his regiment were in the thick of the battle. His Medal of Honor certificate says, “He crossed the line of heavy fire of Union and Confederate forces, carrying a message to stop the firing of one Union regiment on another.” As a sign of respect for their actions throughout the Siege of Vicksburg, his regiment was given the honor of being the first to march into the captured city following the city’s surrender. For his heroism, Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor on 23 June 1916.
After his discharge from the Army on 19 Sept. 1864, Murphy returned to Tazewell County. In 1868, he graduated from Rush Medical College in Chicago, then came home to our county to marry Virginia Maria Placket at Green Valley on 2 Feb. 1871. They had six children, four of whom survived to adulthood. The Murphys lived for a while in Kansas, but came back to Illinois, living at Manito and Hopedale. After Virginia’s death, Dr. Murphy spent his last years with his daughter in Biloxi, Mississippi, dying there on 31 Dec. 1920. His body was brought back to Tazewell County and was laid to rest in Green Valley Cemetery. He is the only one of Tazewell County’s Medal of Honor recipients to be buried in Tazewell County.
