Jackson-Edgar County IL Archives Biographies.....Ingersoll, Ezekiel J. 1836 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 25, 2008, 3:26 am

Author: George Washington Smith (1912)

   CAPTAIN EZEKIEL J. INGERSOLL. The fabric of human life woven by the Fates for
the children of men is far too often, nay, almost always, of rough and gloomy
texture, and presents to the casual observation only its darker tints, its
rasping and resisting qualities for service, and the shadows which inevitably
belong to it. There are, there must be, bright patches in every expression of
it, but for the greater part the sombre hues predominate, or seem to, and give
class and character to the whole web.

   It is a genuine pleasure to chronicle a striking exception to the rule. This
is to be found in the lives of Ezekiel J. and Harriet Helen (Lawrence)
Ingersoll, esteemed residents of Carbondale for over fifty-three years. Their
earthly career, from the time of their union in marriage on September 21, 1858,
to the present time (1911) has seemed to flow steadily on in one calm, full
current of active goodness, and to be altogether bright with the light shining
from their benignant spirits and reflected from the happiness they have bestowed
on others.

   Mr. Ingersoll was born at Greensburg, Indiana, on November 18, 1836, and when
he was but two years old was taken by his parents to Lebanon, Ohio. There he
grew to manhood and obtained his education. In 1853 he moved to Paris, Illinois,
and on June 6, 1859, became a resident of Carbondale, which has ever since been
his home. Soon after his arrival in the city he began business here as a
jeweler, in a room of the building now occupied by the First National Bank. But
this he was not destined to continue long without a serious interruption
involving continued danger to him and apprehension among the numerous friends he
had in the city even then, after living only a short time among its people.

   The Civil war came on and put the patriotism of men all over the country to
the severest test it had ever known. Early in the contest Mr. Ingersoll
responded to the call for volunteers to defend the Union against forced
dismemberment, enlisting on July 20, 1862, in Company H, Seventy-third Illinois
Infantry, in which he served to the close of the conflict. He had received a
fair military education by a three years' service in a well drilled militia
company, and in the Federal army, where trained officers were badly needed, his
promotion was rapid. He passed all the ranks from sergeant-major to captain,
reaching the last in February, 1863, after the battle of Stone River. In the
battle of Chickamauga he received a wound, and in that of Franklin another. His
wounds did not disable him, however, and he was with his regiment in other hard
fought battles and a great many skirmishes. Near the end of the war he acted as
major, and at times was in command of the regiment, which he handled with
intrepid courage and highly commendable skill and sagacity.

   Mr. Ingersoll's interest in the welfare of Carbondale and Jackson counties,
and his services in promoting the progress and improvement of both, won for him
the regard of the whole people long ago. The residents of the city showed their
appreciation of his merit and their faith in his ability and integrity by
electing him mayor four times; and. the people of the legislative district
theirs by making him their representative in the Thirty-eighth General Assembly.
In this body he was assigned to several important committees and rendered his
district and the whole state signal and appreciated service. He assisted in
drafting the law which transferred the Lincoln monument to the state of
Illinois. This law provides that the custodian of the monument shall be an
Illinois soldier as long as one remains in the state. And when the last veteran
shall have been laid to rest the position must be given to the son of a soldier
of Illinois, and so on down the line in perpetual succession. During the session
Mr. Ingersoll also secured an appropriation of forty thousand dollars for the
erection of the building, on the campus of the University, devoted to science,
and in many other ways made his presence in the General Assembly felt greatly to
the advantage of the people.

   In fact, during his service in that body he attracted the attention of all
portions of the state and won the approval of its leading men on all sides.
Governor Oglesby appointed him a trustee of the Southern Illinois Normal School,
and he was continued in this position by Governors Fifer, Tanner and Yates,
serving in it sixteen years in all. The present condition of this great
institution shows that it has been well managed, and its history during the
period of his trusteeship reflects great credit on everybody connected with the
control and government of it.

   In political relations Mr. Ingersoll is an uncompromising Republican, and has
been from the organization of the party. He called the first Republican meeting
ever held in Jackson county. He assisted in organizing the Lincoln and Hamlin
Club of Carbondale in 1860, and served as its president. He has supported the
candidates of the party at every election since then, and expects to stand by
the convictions that have guided him thus far to the end of his life with
unswerving loyalty.

   In fraternal life he has been an active and enthusiastic member of the
Masonic order and the Grand Army of the Republic. In the former he belongs to
Shekinah Lodge, No. 241, and was its worshipful master four years. In the latter
he holds membership in John W. Lawrence Post, No. 297, of which he has been post
commander five years and still holds the position (1912). He has also been
Adjutant of the Southern Illinois Soldiers and Sailors' Association.

   As noted above, Mr. Ingersoll was married on September 21, 1858, in Paris,
Illinois, to Miss Harriet Helen Lawrence, a native and at the time of her
marriage a resident of that city. On September 21, 1908, they celebrated their
golden wedding, without pomp or splendor of display, but modestly and quietly,
in an atmosphere redolent with the fragrance of a half century of true domestic
happiness and fidelity, and on that occasion received the voluntary and cordial
testimony of the whole city that they were held in the highest esteem by its
people of all classes and conditions.

   There was abundant reason for this outpouring of popular approval. During the
whole time of their previous residence in Carbondale Mr. and Mrs. Ingersoll had
been potential aids in every good work done in the community. In the church, in
the Sunday-school, in all organizations for the amelioration of human sorrow and
the uplifting of mankind laboring in the city they had been untiring toilers,
and hundreds of unfortunates had been recipients of their bounty. They had
reared five orphans of other parents from childhood to manhood and womanhood,
and bestowed on them a full measure of parental care and affection, and they had
done all their good deeds without ostentation, and from a genuine love of their
fellow creatures. The people of Carbondale revere them for the uprightness of
their lives, the usefulness of their citizenship, the sincerity and largeness of
their charity toward all mankind, and their intrinsic worth in every way, and
were glad of an opportunity to manifest their feelings on the subject.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

A HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People, and its Principal
Interests

BY
George Washington Smith, M. A.
VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED

THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1912


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