Santa
Clara County
Biographies
WILLIAM D. LOUDON
It is no disrespect to any other body of our citizens to say that the men who fought for the Union in the great Civil war have a claim upon all Americans such as no other men in the country have. It is to those who comprise the present Encampment, and those who a re numbered among the bivouac of the dead, that we are indebted for any country at all, and every citizen owes a debt of personal gratitude to those who, in their youth and early manhood, in the supreme hour of the nation's need, rallied to the call of Abraham Lincoln, and after four weary years saw the triumph of the armies commanded by Ulysses S. Grant. There have been other crises in the history of the government, but not since its foundation has there been any other in which the existence of the government itself was at stake. The survivors of the struggle view with varying emotions the great distant crisis, and while many are permitted to forget the carnage and slaughter, the dreary marches and fearful imprisonment, there are those in whose cars the bugle sounds with clarion clearness, and who, quickened by pain which has never left them since they were laid low, live over every detail with remarkable accuracy and definiteness. One of these is William D. Loudon, who gave his health, his strength, and his future for the Union, and who in all walks of his halting and uncertain career has proved himself worthy the wearing of the blue. Mr. Loudon arrived in California in 1886, and after two years in Oakland located at San Jose, where he started a furniture and stove store on South Second street, maintaining it with fair success until his ever uncertain health compelled the abandonment of all business projects in 1900. Since then he has lived retired.
Born in Switzerland county, Ind., May 4, 1843, Mr. Loudon comes of a family established in America by Lord Loudoun in early colonial days, and after whom Loudoun county, Virginia was named. Later bearers of the name have omitted the superfluous letter “u” from the spelling. Descendants of the ambitious lord scattered to different parts of the east and south, and Dr. D. W. Loudon, the father of William D., was born in Butler county, Pa. The doctor inherited the thrift and application of his Scottish ancestors, and after graduating in medicine practiced in the state of Indiana and also in Peoria, Ill., in time becoming the pioneer physician of Leavenworth, Kans. His last years were spent in Wyandotte, Kans., but his death occurred while on a trip to Colorado. It was while in Indiana that he married Annie Geer Riley, a native of the Hoosier state, and daughter of James Riley, who came from Ireland and settled in Indiana at a very early day. Mr. Loudon died in Iowa, leaving seven children, six of whom attained maturity, of these, William D. and James were soldiers in the Civil war, the latter having served in the Ninth Illinois Cavalry, in after years removing to his present home in San Diego, Cal.
William D. is the second in his father's family, and his earliest memories are connected with the farm in Switzerland county, Ind. July 21, 1861, when he was eighteen years old, he enlisted from Havana, Mason county, Ill. In Company C, Second Illinois Cavalry, under Capt. Hugh Fullerton. The boys who mounted horses in this company were required to furnish their own equipment, and their service was therefore the more commendable for many found the task a severe strain upon their resources. Mr. Loudon participated in the battles of Fort Donelson, Fort Henry, Shiloh and Belmont. At Holley Springs, Miss., December 20, 1862, his horse fell with him and he sustained severe injuries to his spine. Notwithstanding excruciating pain and numbness of faculties, he kept his place of duty for forty-eight hours, and afterward was cared for in the hospital, where he finally received his discharge March 31, 1863, the supposed cause of disability being pulmonary consumption. Later developments proved this diagnosis incorrect, and Mr. Loudon has since struggled with a painful and irritating spine trouble, from which he has received but temporary relief. Upon returning to his home in Havana it was supposed that his hours were numbered, but his strong will power and vigorous constitution bore up under the strain and he settled in his home town and in time was appointed deputy United States marshal. The duties of this office proved too arduous, however, and he was soon laid up again remaining inactive until locating in Leavenworth, Kans., in 1865. For a time he ran a repair shop in an effort to make a living, later turning his attention to real estate transactions on Fifth street. In Leavenworth he was united in marriage to Mary M. Austin, who was born in Arkansas. In 1886 he brought his family to California, where the climate and genial skies have added hope if not physical strength to his life, and where he has lived in almost perfect contentment, notwithstanding his great and insurmountable burden. Mr. and Mrs. Loudon have four children, of whom Margaret is now Mrs. Winslow of San Jose; William J. is with the Robinson Furniture Company of San Jose; Alta F. is the wife of Mr. Nash of the San Jose Transfer Company; and Maud is Mrs. Frank C. Tiernan of Santa Clara county. Mr. Loudon is a member of the John A. Dix Post, G.A.R., of San Jose. In national politics he is a Republican. He has many friends in San Jose, and while in business here he won the esteem and good will due an honorable and capable man of affairs. He has a clear brain, a retentive memory, and his descriptions of the thrilling events of the war are characterized by brilliancy, accuracy and disinterested judgment.
Transcribed
6-14-15 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 648-649. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Marilyn R. Pankey.