Caldwell, Samuel

Born: 1834-04-14 Pennsylvania

Died: 1872-09-13 Peoria County, Illinois

Flourished: New Haven, Connecticut

Samuel Caldwell was a printer and army officer. Born in Salem, Pennsylvania, Caldwell attended Yale University, graduating in 1858 and performing an oration at the commencement ceremony. After graduation, Caldwell went to Farmington, Illinois and asked Abraham Lincoln if he could study in his law office. Lincoln assured the young man that another law office would be more educational, particularly with Lincoln's penchant to work away from home. Caldwell did not immediately begin studying law and worked as a printer until the American Civil War. In April 1861, he enlisted in the Eighth Illinois Infantry with the rank of corporal. Caldwell received promotion to second lieutenant in July 1861, to first lieutenant in March 1862, and to captain in February 1864. Caldwell married Mary Robison in Tazewell County, Illinois in January 1865.

Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Catalogue of Officers and Students in Yale College, with a Statement of the Course of Instruction in the Various Departments, 1858–59 (New Haven, CT: E. Hayes, 1858), 47, 49; The New-York Times, 21 Jun 1858, 2:5; Abraham Lincoln to Samuel Caldwell; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Tazewell County, 5 January 1865, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Gravestone, Springdale Cemetery and Mausoleum, Peoria, IL.