Lieutenant Edwin Calvin Silliman

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military Service: 6 Aug 1862, Illinois; American Civil War (North) 86th Illinois Infantry, Co.C Sergeant and Promoted to 2nd Lt During this time, Edwin was witness to and a participant in numerous battles and skirmishes, some of the bloodiest fighting in the Western Theatre of the war, including the Battles of Chickamauga, Georgia; Resaca, Georgia; Rome, Georgia, Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia, Peach Tree Creek, Georgia, Jonesboro, Georgia, Averasborough, North Carolina and Bentonville, North Carolina and marched with General Sherman to the Sea.

Notes:

Edwin Calvin Silliman was born on November 18, 1840 in Hallock Township in northern Peoria County, Illinois, the son of Marshall Bennett Silliman and Clarissa (Hyde) Silliman, Marshall was born on May 12, 1812 in Delaware County, New York, the second son of the Rev. Gershom Silliman and Polly (Colman) Silliman, who were both natives of Connecticut. Rev. Silliman was a Lieutenant in the War of 1812. In 1814, Rev. Silliman moved with his family to Jackson County, Ohio, remaining there 14 years. In 1828, he again moved with his family to Illinois, where they settled about four miles west of Chillicothe, Illinois in Peoria County, arriving in September of 1828. There they built a log cabin. Edwin was born in his parents log cabin, which according to his obituary "was one of the first built on the 'high prairie,' or the open land beyond the high bluffs." Rev. Silliman was the first Baptist Minister to permanently locate in Peoria County. Marshall was married on Nov. 16, 1837 to Miss Clarissa Hyde, a sister of Norman Hyde, one of the first settlers in Peoria and it's 1st Probate Judge. Clarissa died Nov. 5, 1842, leaving Marshall with two young sons, Edwin C. Silliman and Norman H. Silliman. Marshall B. Silliman was married 2nd on Feb. 6, 1844, to Nancy Y. Hawley, a daughter of Truman Hawley, who came to Peoria County in 1834, and who settled near Mt. Hawley. Truman kept the Post Office there for many years. Nancy died on June 4, 1885, at the the homestead in Hallock Township, while Marshall died on March 11, 1888, at Toulon.

Edwin married Sarah Marie Haynes on 25 Dec 1866 in Illinois. Sarah (daughter of Samuel Haynes and Irene Atwood) was born on 20 Aug 1840 in Marshall County, Illinois; died in Mar 1922 in McLean County, Illinois; was buried in Chenoa Cemetery, Chenoa, McLean County, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]