Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Making his mark literally. More from the Iowa-Alman Act in a moment. Eat up the summer with an Iowa Soybean Association Farmer membership powered by the Soybean Check-Off. Access timely industry info, engage in on-farm research, and join producer programs all designed to support your operations' unique needs. Activate or confirm your membership before August 31st to be entered to win one of many unique prizes, including a solo stove. Visit IA Soybeans.com today to learn more. The Iowa Soybean Association driven to deliver for Iowa's nearly 37,000 soybean farmers. On July 24th, 1862, Jerome Palmer of Hinkletown, Iowa enlisted in Company B-28 Iowa Infantry. He served in the Civil War for three years before mustering out at Savannah, Georgia on July 31st, 1865. He returned to the foot and Kyoto areas, opening the first hardware store in Kyoto. The flag that Company B took into battle had been hand-sewn by women from Merengo. And to this day, you can see evidence of artillery shots, as well as blood stains from one of the flag's carriers. It's preserved at the Iowa Masonic Library and Museum in Cedar Rapids. But this story is about Jerome Palmer, and something he did in Virginia, which was not known for nearly 150 years after the end of the Civil War. From July to October, 1864, in the heat of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, the Iowa regiments under General Philip Sheridan became known for their bravery on the Valley's battlefields. They took control of a town named Newtown. Staying over at a store there, Palmer took out a drawer from a wooden cabinet and began sketching on the bottom of it. He drew the American flag and wrote the word "union" above it, among other war-related things, and then wrote his name and Company identification on the bottom of the drawer. He put the drawer back and continued his service in the war. No one knew the drawer with writing on it was there until someone tried to restore the cabinet. And in the summer of 2009, they turned over the drawer and found what Palmer had sketched 145 years before. It's now on display in a museum there, forever memorializing the service of Iowan Jerome Palmer, who enlisted for service in the Civil War on this date in 1862. And that's Iowa Almanac for July 24th. Follow us on Twitter @IowaAlmanac. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein.