Luman L. Cadwell (May 22, 1836 – July 8, 1925)
The gravesite of Medal of Honor recipient, Luman Cadwell, was referenced in a recent Driftless Journal article, “Filling vases and a need.”
Mr. Cadwell’s grave is located in Decorah’s Phelps Cemetery. A brief about his life and heroism is included here…
Luman L. Cadwell (May 22, 1836 – July 8, 1925)
Luman Cadwell received the Medal of Honor, the country’s highest award for bravery during combat, for his action during the American Civil War.
On Sept. 20, 1864, Cadwell along with another soldier, Albert Westinghouse, swam across the 150-foot Alabama Bayou near New Orleans in order to retrieve a small boat which his company then used to gain access to a Confederate camp stationed on an island in the middle of the Bayou and destroy buildings, supplies, artillery and capture Confederate forces.
The following is was printed in the July 15, 1925 Decorah Journal:
Major L. L. Cadwell passed away last Wednesday, July 8, 1925, at Decorah hospital, where he had stayed since last fall. Death was due to infirmities of old age.
The funeral was held at his former home on south Maple Avenue, Saturday afternoon. At Major Cadwell’s request the Masonic burial service was used. Grant Bollman officiating both at the house and at the grave. A firing squad from the American Legion fired three volleys at the grave, and Charles Greenley blew taps.
There was a wilderness of flowers by friends and by organizations of which Mr. Cadwell was a member. He was the oldest Elk in Iowa, having passed his 89th birthday last May. More than 50 years he had been a Mason.
Mr. Cadwell was highly respected in this community as a good, public-spirited citizen. He was beloved for his kindliness, his sympathy with others in their trials, and for the warm appreciation he felt and expressed for any kindness shown him.
The following sketch of his life is found in the Winneshiek County History, published in 1913.
Luman L. Cadwell, a venerable and highly respected citizen of Decorah, has made his home here for about three decades and for some years was identified with financial interests as cashier of the Citizen Savings Bank. He is the proud possessor of a medal which was awarded him by congress for gallantry in action during the Civil War, and for the past thirteen years he has served as commander of the Colonel Hughes Post, G. A. R. His birth occurred in Binghamton, Broome County, New York on the 22nd day of May 1836, his parents being Nathan and Eliza (Richards) Cadwell, who were natives of Massachusetts and Connecticut respectively.
Luman L. Cadwell was reared and educated in New York and Wisconsin and afterward devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits for a short time. Subsequently he entered the service of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in Tennessee as a conductor, acting as such until the beginning of the Civil War. Returning to his native state, he enlisted in 1862 at Schenectady, becoming a member of Company B Second New York Cavalry, serving with that command until November 1865, and being mustered out at Albany, New York. He was wounded several times and barely escaped with his life. He made a splendid record as a brave and valiant soldier and was awarded a medal by Congress for gallantry in action – an honor of which he may well be proud, for there are only two similar medals in the state.
In 1912 he was brevetted major by Governor Dix of New York. For the past 13 years he has served as commander of Colonel Hughes Post G. A. R., and on the 10th of December 1912 was appointed aid-de-camp to Alfred B. Beers, commander in chief of the Grand Army.
When the country no longer needed his military aid, Mr. Cadwell made his way to Prairie du Chien, Wis. and entered the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad. Crossing the Mississippi River, he began running a train on the Iowa and Dakota division. Before and after the war he was in the railroad service for 26 years, running a passenger train during 21 years of that time. In 1883 he abandoned railroad work and came to Decorah, being here identified with the Citizens Saving Bank in the capacity of cashier for a number of years. He is now spending the evening of life in a well-earned ease, having accumulated a handsome competence by dint of good management and wisely directed effort.
On the 16th of September 1860 Mr. Cadwell was united in marriage to Miss Anna Johnson, a daughter of Nelson and Sarah (Streeter) Johnson, natives of Massachusetts. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cadwell were born two children, namely Herbert H., who passed away in 1904 at the age of 34 years; and Bessie, who died in infancy. They adopted a daughter, Grace, who is now the wife of George Schulze and resides in Decorah. Mr. and Mrs. Schulze have two children, Katherine and Nathan, who are 13 and 11 years of age respectively. In 1876 Mr. Cadwell erected a handsome and modern two-story brick residence at number 815 Maple Avenue, which has since remained his home.
He served as a member of the school board for 24 years and during a part of that time acted as its president. He is now serving for the sixth year as a member of the city council, the value of his labors in this connection being widely acknowledged. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to the blue lodge, chapter, commandery and Eastern Star. His name is also on the membership rolls of the Knights of Pythias. He has now passed the seventy-seventh milestone of life’s journey and enjoys the respect and veneration which should ever be accorded one who has traveled thus far on this earthly pilgrimage and whose career has been at all times upright and honorable.
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