Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database (Illinois State Archives):
Scutt, Hiram B. - Pvt - Co G - 2 IL US L ART
Residence, Dement, Ogle Co, IL; Join, 16Sep1861; Age, 21; Born, NY
Height, 5' 8"; Hair, brown; Eyes, blue; Complexion, light; Married; Teacher
Reenlisted as a veteran
Scutt, Hiram B. - Pvt - Co G - 2 IL US L ART
Residence, Malta, DeKalb CO, IL; Join, 01Mar1864
Height, 5' 7-1/2; Hair, brown; Eyes, blue; Complexion, light; Soldier
Mustered out, 04Sep1865
American Civil War Soldiers (ancestry.com)
Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System Search Detail (National Park Service):
National Graves Registration Database (Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War):
Scutt, Hiram B. - Co G - 2 Illinois Light Artillery
Died, 29Jul1889; Buried, Oakwood [Joliet] Will Co, Illinois
Will County Illinois USGenWeb Necrologist Reports (© 2002 The ILGenWeb Project All Rights Reserved):
June 13, 1915 - John Scutt, brother of the late H.B. Scutt, at his home in Los Angeles
Headstone Reading, Oakwood Cemetery, Joliet, Will Co, IL:
Hiram B. Scutt d. Juy 29, 1889 aged 47 yrs.
Adalaide J. Scutt d. June 23, 1911 aged 69 yrs.
Published Obituaries:
Joliet Daily Press
Monday, July 29, 1889, Front page
The Joliet public will be shocked to hear of the death of Hiram B. Scutt one of Joliet's best known citizens. His death occurred this morning at 9 o'clock from general paralysis at Geneva, Wisconsin. His son, Frank, having received a message of his failing condition from his mother, who was at the bedside of her husband, left this morning before the arrival of the message conveying the tidings of his death. They will reach Joliet tonight at the C.&A. depot at 10:30. Mr. Scutt's death leaves a vacancy in the board of supervisors and our public institutions lose a kind benefactor.
Joliet Daily Press
Tuesday, July 30, 1889
Chicago, July 30. - H.B. Scutt, the well-known barb-wire manufacturer of Joliet, died Monday at Geneva Lake. He had been at a private retreat for several weeks, suffering from paralysis. Mr. Scutt was a pioneer in the bar-wire fence business and was at one time immensely wealthy.
Additional Biographical Material:
The Herald News, Joliet, Illinois
Sunday, October 1, 2006 - Section F, page 4
(Excerpts from "Whiteside's Joliet" feature column)
Barbed wire helped to settle the American frontier. And much of the barbed wire that stretched across the nation was produced by Hiram Scutt in Joliet.
. . .Scutt was a young man when he came from New York to Joliet during the spring of 1861. He was a teacher looking for a job. But the job he found here was that of a soldier in the 2nd Illinois Artillery unit, which was the recruiting in Joliet.
He fought for four years in the Civil War and was part of General William T. Sherman's army that captured Atlanta. Returning to Joliet after the war, Scutt married Ada Ward, a native of the city.
He taught school, was a traveling salesman and worked several other jobs in mills before he had his first look at barbed wire. He recognized what the new fencing method could do for farmers all over the world.
"He hammered away at the various devices until he succeeded in getting something of his own pattern, which was patented," the Joliet News reported in its 1887 Business Men's Edition. "He was forseeing enough to understand that there would be an immense industry built on barbwire fencing. The immense waste and care of rail and board fences would naturally be superseded by the neat, economical and substantial barbed wire".
. . .[ In 1874] Scutt had opened his first plant, H.B. Scutt and Co., in Joliet. Within two years, he was selling his design of barbed wire in great quantities.
But his plant burned down in 1876. He quickly rebuilt and put in new machinery. By this time, there was a patent war going with all kinds of lawsuits challenging various patent rights. A dozen and a half Joliet businessmen had received barbed wire patents for three dozen various designs.
. . .[In 1884] Scutt sold his barbed wire company for a large profit. But he immediately started up a new company called the Joliet Barb Wire Co.
With his new wealth, Scutt built a mansion on a hillside along Broadway. Made from Philadelphia bricks, the house overlooked a beautiful view of the city and cost $25,000.
. . .With his son, Frank Scutt, servicng as plant superintendant, Scutt continued to produce barbed wire in Joliet throught the 1880s. . . . [The Joliet News said of Scutt] "No one man has done more to bring business and wealth to Joliet than Scutt".
Unfortunately, Hiram Scutt's life was cut short in 1889 when he was killed by a fall from a horse in Lake Beneva, Wis. But the mansion that he built still stands in Joliet
US Census Records
1870-Joliet, Will Co,Illinois
Scutt, Hiram B., 28, m/w, Selling [unreadable] , born- NY; Adilade J., 27; Frank, 2
1880- Joliet, Will Co, Illinois
H. B. Scutt, 38, born-New York, married, w/m, Mfg wire fence;
Adelaid Scutt, 37; Frank W. Scutt, 11; Ellen Kearney, 18