Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Rost, Captain Charles ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 2, 2008, 2:44 am Author: Past & Present Will County, 1907 Captain Charles Rost, whose effective public service entitles him to more than passing notice in this volume, is now superintendent of the county poor farm in Troy township. In this connection he has labored most diligently for the interests of the farm, which he has placed upon a profitable basis and at the same time has given every-possible attention to the comfort and care of the inmates, never practicing economy in administration to the point of sacrifice of the welfare of the unfortunates who are under his care. Captain Rost is a native of Kagenow, Pomerania, Prussia, born December 11, 1841. His father, Carl Rost, was a forester of Germany and came to the United States in 1862, settling upon a farm near Macomb, McDonough county, Illinois. There he carried on general agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred in 1881. In early manhood he wedded Mary Rosz, who survived him for seventeen years, passing away in 1898. In religious faith they were Lutherans. Their family numbered seven sons, six of whom are yet living, three being residents of Macomb, Illinois, one of Denver, Colorado, another of Kokomo, Indiana, while the subject of this review maintains his residence in Will county. Captain Rost is the eldest and when the family decided to emigrate to America he came alone ahead of the others in order to acquire a knowledge of the language and customs of the people and thus assist his family when they should establish their home in the new world amid surroundings and conditions with which they were utterly unfamiliar. It was in 1860 that Mr. Rost took passage on the old sailing vessel Columbia, being sixty-two days in making the voyage from Hamburg to New York. He first worked in a wire factory at Worcester, Massachusetts, but at the time of the Civil war he put aside business cares and all personal considerations that he might aid his adopted country in the efforts to preserve the Union. When the first call for three years' troops was made he offered his services and at Boston joined the boys in blue of Company B, Twentieth Massachusetts Infantry. While at the front he took part in thirty- one engagements, embracing all of the principal battles which led up to the final triumph of the Union arms. He was twice wounded at Gettysburg, after which he spent some time in the hospital at Portsmouth Grove, Rhode Island. He was taken prisoner at Antietam and was also captured in front of Petersburg in 1864, being incarcerated in Libby and at Belle Isle and Salisbury, North Carolina. He became sergeant, after the battle of the Wilderness was commissioned first lieutenant, and after the surrender of Lee was made regimental quartermaster. He was honorably discharged in Boston on the 14th of July, 1865, when the country no longer needed his aid. He was a brave and loyal soldier, never faltering in the performance of any duty and he returned home with a most creditable military record. There were nearly two thousand regiments in the Union army, and among the five that suffered the heaviest losses in battle during the Civil war is enrolled the name of Captain Post's regiment, the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteers. Its loss is given by the departments in Washington as eighteen officers killed, thirty-seven officers wounded, two hundred and eighty-nine enlisted men killed, six hundred and forty-one enlisted men wounded and lost as prisoners of war two hundred and forty-two. These losses date from the battle of Balk's Bluff, October 21, 1861, to the surrender of Lee's army. The regiment was recruited during this time, so that when the war ended three thousand, eight hundred and sixty-four men had served in the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteers. When hostilities had ceased Captain Rost made his way from New England to Leavenworth, Kansas, and was appointed to a position in the quartermasters department to take twenty- four six-mule teams across the plains by way of the Arkansas river and the Smoky Hill route, conveying supplies to the forts. He continued in the government employ until 1867, when he joined a battalion which was raised to suppress Indian raids. He raised a company in Leavenworth, of which he was made first lieutenant, with Oklahoma Payne as captain. This company participated in a number of hard fights along the Arkansas and Smoky Hill rivers and in the fall of 1867 Captain Rost was mustered out at Fort Ellsworth. He then made his way southward and was engaged on the construction of bridges and trestles on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad for six years. When work was begun on the extension from Cairo to Jackson, Tennessee, connecting with the Mississippi Central, he took a contract for constructing a portion of the line and while working in the swamps below Cairo he became ill with malaria fever. He then returned north to Macomb, Illinois, and when Major McClaughrey was appointed warden of the state penitentiary Mr. Rost accompanied him to Joliet as steward. He occupied that position for fifteen years, giving most capable and efficient service, and on his retirement from the office he was chosen superintendent to the county poor farm, which position he has ably filled to the present time, with Mrs. Rost serving as matron since 1896. No criticism has ever been passed upon Captain Rost by those familiar with his methods of conducting the farm. In fact, he has given a most able, public-spirited and businesslike administration and has won uniform commendation. The county buildings as they now stand were erected by him in 1892, the main building being a three-story stone structure with a capacity for two hundred inmates. The farm is situated four miles west of Joliet and comprises one hundred and sixty acres. It consisted of only eighty acres when Captain Rost took charge in 1892, but two years later he purchased eighty acres more, paying for it out of the earnings. The fields are highly cultivated and the farm work is carried on along such progressive and practical lines that the fields not only provide products for the use of the inmates, but also yield a profit of between ten and fifteen hundred dollars annually. The captain is also credited as having been one of the first to advocate the state care of the incurable insane. He addressed on several occasions the state supervisors' meetings, declaring it a shame and a crime in this enlightened Christian age to compel the aged, the crippled and the various unfortunate people to spend their remaining days in the poor houses, being forced to mingle night and day with the incurable insane. The results of his efforts are well known, for the state of Illinois has today a well regulated incurable insane asylum at Bartonville, Illinois, capable of caring for two thousand, five hundred inmates, and the inmates in the poor houses enjoy once more rest and peace, for the shrieks, songs and curses of the insane are heard no more. On the 13th of November, 1871, in Clarksville, Tennessee, was celebrated the marriage of Captain Rost and Miss Margaret O'Connor. They have become the parents of four children, of whom three are living: Alpha, the wife of Carl E. Haffner, of New York city; Lulu, the wife of Dr. J. F. Frederick, a physician of Joliet; and Carl, who was formerly with the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern railroad, but is now chief clerk in the store department of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad at Moline, Illinois. Captain Rost is a stalwart republican in his political views and while his official duties leave him little time for political work, he nevertheless stanchly supports the principles which constitute the platform of the organization. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Presbyterian church and he is identified with several fraternal organizations, including the Knights of Pythias; Matteson lodge, No. 175, A. F. & A. M.; Burlington post, No. 6, G. A. R.; and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. Captain Rost is highly esteemed in these different societies as one whose sterling qualities are in harmony with the principles of the fraternities. He is a man who in all life's relations, whether military, civic or social, has been found true to the best interests of the community at large and to every duty which devolves upon him. Additional Comments: PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/rost2393nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 9.1 Kb