The McHenry County Historical Museum in Union, Illinois, has a display on the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) that existed in the county at one time. One of them was Marengo's Harley Wayne Post #169.
It was organized on December 29, 1882 and was the second GAR post in the county and named after Captain Harley Wayne who was killed at the Battle of Shiloh. Our McHenry County Round Table president had told me that this man's mansion was in Union.
Almost a third of the post members had belonged to the 95th Illinois Infantry Regiment that was primarily from McHenry County. They met every second and fourth Friday in large gatherings at the Marengo Opera House.
After 1905, the meetings attracted smaller numbers of veterans and were much more infrequent. The last recorded meeting took place on December 8, 1922 when seven of the remaining twelve members got together.
They officially disbanded in 1930.
The last Marengo veteran, Samuel Wise, died in 1936.
--Old Secesh
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