Civil War Sesquicentennial
We welcome you to visit us at the Prospect House & Civil War Museum as we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. You will be able to see a new display of Cap Colehour’s life in 1861 through some of the many letters that he left behind from that time period. You will learn that Cap was a Unionist that did not necessarily support the freeing of the slaves. He was adamant that the Union should not be broken up. Cap’s collections tell the story of a young soldier... a brother...a son. It tells of life after the Civil War when soldiers – the lucky ones – returned home. It tells of lives built on memories that never quite faded.As a native of Illinois, Cap was a stanch supporter of Abraham Lincoln as reflected in the many Lincoln memorabilia in the Civil War Museum at the Prospect House. You will learn that Cap was not the only patriot in his family as there were also two brothers, nine first cousins, five brothers-in-law and four second cousins that enlisted for Civil War service. Two of these family members did not return from the war. Judging by some of Cap’s letters home from the war he did not think that he would make it home either. But despite two gunshot wounds, one in each shoulder, a case of typhoid fever and the general horrible conditions of war, Cap made it home after serving for three years and lived a long life.