Remembering Plymouth County's only Civil War casuality

(Sentinel photo by Luke Widbin) This monument in Veterans Memorial Park in Le Mars honors Pvt. Isaac B. Gripp, the lone casuality of the Civil War for Plymouth County. Due to a mistake made decades ago, Gripp's name was etched as "Tripp." [Click to enlarge]

Plymouth County either sent or became home to hundreds of Civil War veterans, explained Martin Balmer, former director of Plymouth County Veteran Affairs.

Of those men, only one known died in service -- Pvt. Gripp.

Gripp's is the sole name etched in the Civil War memorial at Plymouth County Veterans Memorial Park on the corner of 10th Street and Third Avenue Southeast.

Engraved on the stone is a Union soldier and a Confederate soldier saluting each other at Appomattox Courthouse, where the South surrendered to the North. Etched in the base of the stone is a quote from President Abraham Lincoln. Also, the top of the memorial is adorned by two hats, one with an infantry insignia and one for the cavalry.

After extensive research on Gripp through county records, state records and overall Civil War regiment information, very little could be found. Then after searching the key dates known from Plymouth County Veterans Affairs' records, the name I. B. Gripp was found with all of the key timeline dates matching.

The problem was at some time, many years ago, Plymouth County either received the information on Gripp incorrectly from the state of Iowa or copied it incorrectly. The name in the record book -- and on the monument -- is Isaac Tripp, not Gripp.

Where very little was known about this individual initially to Plymouth County, we now know more than ever before who this person was and the sacrifice he made for our country and the equality of man.

Born in Rochester, Ind., in 1844, Isaac Gripp and his family relocated to Pleasant Township in Union County, Iowa, in 1854. The family built a log cabin on the banks of the Grand River.

Union County records from an 1860 census say Isaac, then 16, had two older brothers in the house -- William Gripp, 21, and Jacob Gripp, 18 -- and a sister Anna, 13. They lived with their parents Frederick, 64, and Anna (Imel) Gripp, 58. Frederick died later that year.

Older siblings not in the house in 1860 included half-sister Mary (Neff) Braman, Phoebe (Gripp) Jackson, Peter Gripp, and Rachel (Gripp) Reasoner.

Two years later, with the country at war, President Lincoln called for 500,000 volunteers to fight for the Union army July 1, 1862. In response, a large number of regiments were raised in Iowa. According to the Iowa Official Register, Iowa contributed proportionately more men to Civil War military service than did any other state, north or south, sending more than 75,000 volunteers to the armed forces.

On August 12, 1862, Gripp, now 18, was inducted into the Union army in Afton, Iowa, as a part of the 29th Iowa volunteer Infantry, as was his brother Jacob, now 21.

Organized at Camp Dodge in Council Bluffs, the 29th regiment was under the command of Col. Thomas H. Benton Jr., a man who was previously a politician. Benton Jr. raised up 10 companies, which were all mustered into service on December 1, 1862.

Gripp was assigned to Company "H," under the leadership of Capt. James L. Hafer, Lieutenants Lewis K. Myers and Amos C. Cooper. Company "H" was comprised entirely of men from Union County.

After previous plans to join Gen. William T. Sherman fell through, Gripp and the 29th Iowa Infantry marched to St. Joseph, Mo., and from there went by rail to St. Louis to report to Benton Barracks. December 20, 1862, around 900 men from the 29th regiment were given the task of guarding prisons in the St. Louis area.

This assignment was only temporary, as the regiment was ordered to embark on transport on Christmas day and proceed to Columbus, Ky., en route to Helena, Ark.

In Columbus, several Iowa infantry divisions provided reinforcements for Union troops stationed there under Brig. Gen. James Tuttle, awaiting an attack. The 29th regiment was stationed there from December 25, 1862, until January 8, 1863. Due to the addition of these reinforcements, the Confederate army chose not to attack in Columbus.

Unfortunately, the Union army was attacked by something else in Kentucky -- disease.

Pvt. Isaac Gripp became ill with smallpox, one of the first of many in the regiment to fall victim to disease. Too sick to travel with his brother Jacob and the 29th regiment to Helena on January 8, Gripp stayed behind in Columbus.

On January 17, 1863, he died.

By the time the 29th Iowa Infantry regiment reached Helena on January 26, more than 400 men were sick from measles, smallpox and exposure. According to records, 267 men, including Pvt. Gripp and Capt. Hafer, would eventually lose their lives to disease. Another 43 would be mortally wounded in battle, bringing the total to 310.

As for the rest of his family, Jacob Fred Gripp continued to fight for the Union army until the end of the war and was discharged for wounds May 31, 1865, more than a month after the Civil War had ended. He married Mary Katzenbarger in June 1867, the younger sister of his older brother William's wife, and died at the age of 66 in 1908.

Their mother Anna (Imel) Gripp died in 1878, twice-widowed. Of her eight children, only Isaac preceeded her in death.

The real unknown part of this story is why Isaac Gripp is buried in Plymouth County.

Records indicate he is buried in the Garfield Township Cemetery on 340th Street, located in rural Kingsley, which three counties and the state of Iowa agree on.

There is a small cemetery on the gravel road, surrounded by corn fields, with a stone that reads Church of the Bretheren.

Although his name is not visible in the cemetery, there is one unmarked stone slightly seperated from the others that sits less than a foot above the ground. This small stone could be just the tip of the iceberg, however.

In the Civil War era, veterans grave markers were sometimes long granite pillars, 42 inches long, 13 inches wide, and 4 inches thick, according to Balmer. These stones have a tendency to sink into the earth over time, possibly leaving what is seen in the Church of the Bretheren cemetery.

Another possibility is Gripp's grave is marked as unknown, and the stone is all there is. Adopted in 1873, unknown dead were buried under a small block of marble or durable stone 6 inches square and 30 inches long.

Balmer said steps will be taken to correct the name on the Veterans Memorial Park stone and to find further information on the unmarked stone, which will possibly be unearthed to see if it has sunk into the ground.