Dutcher, Edward F.

Born: 1818-04-02 Litchfield County, Connecticut

Died: 1900-04-10 Oregon, Illinois

Flourished: Oregon, Illinois

Edward F. Dutcher was a lawyer, postmaster, and Union Army officer. He received his early education at Lenox Academy, Lenox, Massachusetts, and Salisbury, Connecticut. In 1836, Dutcher moved to Lockport, New York, to read law. He earned admission to the New York bar and commenced practicing in Lockport. In 1844, Dutcher moved to Orleans County and entered into a law partnership with Judge Royal Chamberlain. Two years later, he moved from New York to Ogle County, Illinois, settling in Oregon, where he opened a law practice. In addition to his law practice, Dutcher served as postmaster of Oregon from October 1847 to May 1849. In 1849, Dutcher married Elizabeth Van Volkenburg, with whom he had six children. In 1850, he was practicing law and owned real estate valued at $1,500. By 1860, the value of his real property had increased to $5,000 and he had a personal estate of $2,000. In August 1862, he enlisted as a private in the Illinois volunteers. A month later, Governor Richard Yates authorized Dutcher to raise a company of infantry with the rank of second lieutenant. Dutcher successfully raised the company, and the unit elected him major of what would become the Seventy-Fourth Illinois Infantry. He saw action at Perryville, Murfreesboro, and other engagements until disability forced his resignation in March 1863. Dutcher was a Democrat and Episcopalian.

Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department, RG 28, 1845-1855, 18:146, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Oregon, Ogle County, IL, 28; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Oregon, Ogle County, IL, 228; The History of Ogle County, Illinois (Chicago: H. F. Kett, 1878), 622; The United States Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Galley of Eminent and Self-Made Men: Illinois Volume (Chicago: American Biographical 1883), 236-37; Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Gravestone, Riverside Cemetery, Oregon, IL.