Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database (Illinois State Archives):
Taxis, Gideon R. - SGT - Co. D - 127 IL US Inf
Residence - Gardner, Grundy Co., IL; Joined, 13Aug1862; Age, 31; Born, Elk, Clarion Co., PA
Height, 5' 10-1/2"; Hair, Dark; Eyes, Blue; Complexion, Light; Married; Mechanic
Discharged for disability 20Mar1863 at St. Louis MO
American Civil War Soldiers (ancestry.com)
Gideon Taxis; Residence, Gardner, Illinois; Enlistment date, 13Aug1862; Side Served, Union;
State Served, Illinois; Service Record, Enlisted as a Sergeant on 13 August 1862
Received a disability discharge on 20 Mar1863
Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System Search Detail (National Park Service):
Civil War Pension Index (ancestry. com):
Taxis, Gideon R.
Service: D127 Ill. Inf.
Date of filing, 1865Apr18; Invalid
Application No., 66262; Certificate No., 51819
(Federal Pension Roll of 1883: Taxis, Gideon R., Morris, Paralysis r leg; 18.00)
National Graves Registration Database (Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War):
Will County Illinois USGenWeb Necrologist Reports (© 2002 The ILGenWeb Project All Rights Reserved):
Headstone Reading, Oakwood Cemetery, Joliet, IL; Block F, Plot 52:
<------------------ Separate Stones---------------> <-------------------- One Stone --------------------->
HUSBAND
George A. Vance
April 21, 1869
July 28, 1904
WIFE
Helen I. Taxis Vance
January 30, 1875
February 18, 1924
Gideon R. Taxis
127th Illinois Infantry
Civil War
March 16, 1831
May 16, 1911
(no GAR marker)
Lucy Ellen Freeman Taxis
December 25, 1836
March 27, 1905
Published Obituaries:
Additional Biographical Material:
Marriage: Taxis, Gideon R. - Lucy E. Freman; 1858-12-10; #00000832, Grundy Co.
(Illinois Statewide Marriage Index)Death: Taxis, Charlotte M.; 18932-11-15; #0990560; Will Co., Joliet Twp.
(Illinois Statewide Death Index)
US Census Records:
1870 - Gardner, Grundy Co., IL
Gideon R. Taxis, 38; b.- Pennsylvania; Carpenter; Lucy E. Taxis, 32; b. - Ohio;
Charlotte Taxis, 10; b. - Illinois; Anna Taxis, 8; b. - Illinois
1880 - Morris, Grundy Co., IL
Gideon Taxis, 49; b.- Pennsylvania; Circuit Clerk; Lucy Taxis, 44; b. - Ohio;
Charlotte Taxis, 20; Daughter; b. - Illinois; Anna Taxis, 17; Daughter; b. - Illinois;
Lena Taxis, 6; Daughter; b. - Illinois; Howard Taxis, 17; Nephew; b.- Illinois
1900 - Joliet, Will Co., IL
Geo R. Taxis, 69; b. - Pennsylvania; Married - 52 years; Lucy E. Taxis, 63; b. - Ohio
1910 - Joliet, Will Co., IL
Gideon R. Taxis, 82; b. - Pennsylvania; Widowed; Charlotte M. Taxis, 50; Daughter; b. - Illinois
Notes From a Great Granddaughter:(Researchers interested in sharing Taxis family data may email the contributor of the following)
Gideon R. Taxis arrived in Illinois at least by the summer of 1855, as the first hotel in Gardner [Illinois] was the Eagle - a story and a half high - built by G.R. Taxis and Scott Armitage during the summer of 1855. While building, the carpenters slept on shavings in a box car on the C&A side tack the best the young town could give. During the night, they were bunted hither and thither by passing trains, never knowing when retiring where they would find themselves in the morning... The first warehouse in town was built in 1857 with Taxis and Armstrong doing the carpenter work. Also, the first school house in Gardner was built by Taxis and Armstrong.
In 1864, a Baptist Church was organized in Gardner, with 7 members, one of whom was Mrs. L.E. Taxis [ wife of Gideon].
Gideon Taxis' occupation throught the years included: Circuit Clerk for Grundy County (10 years), carpenter, real estate agent and bank teller.
His cause of death, at the age of 80, is listed on the death certificate as a cerebral hemorrhage. The Joliet News article states in part: "... a highly respected citizen...had been in poor health for three years, but his condition did not become serious until yesterday, when he was taken with a paralytic stroke, from which he failed to rally...he was one of the founders of teh Ridgewood Baptist Church, and is numbered among its canrter members and its senior deacons. He was known as a man of his word, and he ... was a man among men."
---The history of the 127th Illinois Infantry gives insight into the situation in 1862 in which Gideon Taxis found himself. He was mustered-in at Chicago on 5 September 1862. The 127th Illinois served 6 September through 9 November at Campt Douglas, Illinois, guarding prisoners from Harper's Ferry. From there they departed over the Illinois Central railway for Cairo; boarded the steamer Emereld, landing at Memphis; and joined Sherman's Yazoo Expedition, 20 December 1862 to 3 January 1863.
Gideon was injured on or about 29 December 1862. By 8 February 1863, he was in Overton Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee with a leg wound. The official army description for the discharge signed 20 March 1863 in St. Louis, Missouri, was disability due to injuries, described as paralysis of the right leg, with atrophy.