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WILLIAM DITTUS
written by his son, Jacob Elbert Dittus
13 March 1901
age 19 years
(appears to have been a class assignment)
William Dittus was born at Baden, Germany, in 1843. His parents owned a snug little cottage in the village of Baden; and here he passed away his boyhood days. He attended the common school until he was twelve years of age, when his parents came to America.
They purchased a farm near the county-seat of Kankakee County, Illinois; and settled down to the quiet life of the country. Here William lived with his parents until he was eighteen years of age, when he responded to Lincoln's first call for troops. He enlisted, in the forty-second Illinois regiment, for a service of three years. He took part in a number of the most important battles of the war, but was so severely wounded at the battle of Lookout Mountain that he was unable to re-enter the army.
Determined then to have an education he attended the college at Fulton, Illinois, for about three years.
After leaving college, he taught school for several years. He then purchased a small farm near his father's and kept bachelor's hall for about eighteen months. Becoming tired of this solitary life, he married Mary Salina Dille of Kankakee, Illinois. She was the only daughter of John Dille, a prominent merchant of Kankakee.
They raised a family of eight children. Two of whom are dead and three are married.
William Dittus is somewhat above the average height, strongly built, and capable of great physical exertion. He is six feet two inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds. His hair, which was once a glossy black, is now sprinkled with gray.
His wife died in 1893, and since then his sole aim in life has been to keep a home for his children.
Now he is living the quiet life of a retired farmer, his greatest pleasures are watching the progress and prosperity of his children and to help them in time of need.
There are some inconsistencies with what Jacob wrote and what I have read
from other sources.
1. William was born in the year 1840. Census records and Civil War
pension file all show the year of birth
as 1840.
2. According to other reports, William's father, Christian, had died
in Germany and his mother, Katharina nie; Pfloger, followed
an older son, Jacob, to America.
3. William's Civil War Pension records show his stature as being 5'
11" and 175 pounds.
4. Jacob's mother, Salina, died in childbirth with the twelfth child.
William had just had his 61st birthday when this was written. Jacob
would have been in college studying to be a lawyer.
