DRUMMOND, Capt. Col. Thomas

DRUMMOND, MILLER, LONG, CHURCH, EMSLEY, ADAMS, HARLAN

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 11/18/2014 at 10:27:53

The Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Monday, June 01, 1953
Mason City Centennial Edition, Section 3

1861: Lincoln Names Mason City Man Iowa Regiment Officer

[Section 3, Page 8] A note written by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861, naming Thomas Drummond, Mason City's first attorney, as lieutenant colonel of the 4th Iowa Cavalry, has recently come into the possession of the state historical society.

Drummond, credited with being the first lawyer to located in Cerro Gordo County, came to Mason City from Vinton in 1855 with Amos B. Miller, with whom he went into partnership in law and real estate.

Records show the first real estate transaction recorded here was the sale of north half of the block facing Federal east of Central Park by John B. Long and Anna Long to Thomas Drummond and Amos B. Miller for $100 on Dec. 13, 1855.

Returned to Vinton

The deed acknowledged before Judge J. S. Church, brother of Mrs. Mary Emsley Adams, prominent business woman and banker in Mason City.
On Dec. 25, 1858, Drummond, having by that time returned to Vinton to make his home, deeded his half of the property to Miller for $800.

Both Miller and Drummond lost their lives in the Civil War. Miller was among a number of Mason Cityans who were casualties at the battle of Pleasant Hill, La.

Drummond had a more dramatic role in the war. Lincoln wrote a note Dec. 14, 1861, approving his appointment as lieutenant colonel of the 4th Iowa Cavalry, a volunteer regiment of the Civil War.

Got School for Blind

Drummond had by then become editor of the Vinton Eagle and had served in the Iowa state Senate, where he pushed through a bill establishing the state school for the blind at Vinton. He was killed at the Battle of Five Forks, Va., April 1, 1865, near the close of the war.

The Lincoln note said:

"Thomas Drummond, Lieut. in the 5th Cavalry, was appointed last April from Civil life and without military education. The Governor of Iowa now wishes to appoint him Lieut. Col, of a Regiment of volunteers. Senator Harlan wishes it done, and if the Sec. of War and Adj. General deem it admissible, consistently with the public service, let it be done. A. Lincoln."

The Lincoln writing was on the back of a letter of recommendation in Drummond's behalf, signed by A. B. Miller, registrar of the Iowa state land office; J. W. Jones, state treasurer; and J. W. Cattell, auditor of state.

NOTE: The plaque located in the lobby of the Old Main at the Iowa School for the Blind, Vinton IA, in honor of Capt. Thomas Drummond states:

"CAPTAIN THOMAS DRUMMOND
Fifth Cavalry U.S. Army
Born in Brooks Co. Virginia, May 9, 1832
Edited the Vinton Eagle 1857-60
Member Iowa House of Representatives 1858
State Senator 1860
He secured the establishment of this College
Wounded at the Battle of Five Forks
April 1, 1865
And Died the Following Day."

Capt. Drummond's body was returned to Wheeling, West Virginia [the first capital of that state], and he laid in state at the Senate Chamber. He was buried next to his mother at The Methodist Cemetery, Saint Clairsville OH. The Drummond Post No. 203 at St. Clairsville was named in his honor.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, November of 2014

Cerro Gordo Biographies maintained by Lynn Diemer-Mathews.
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