Editor s Note: This column is the third in a series that highlight the lives of three Black North Iowa farmers and their struggles.
Sol Stratton was a horse whisperer. He had always handled horses expertly and was a skilled saddleryman and horse-tack repairer and maker, the perfect match for the needs of the 8th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment.
On July 1, 1861, Solomon Stratton enlisted as a private in the 8th Illinois for a period of three years. He served with honor and distinction until being mustered out on December 18, 1863.
Carlos Henry Verbeck was appointed 2nd Lieutenant, Company Commander of D Company, 8th Illinois Cavalry Regiment on August 20, 1861 for the duration or until so ordered. He was twice promoted and led his company without interruption until February 1, 1865.
In the past dozen years or so, America has lost something.
A tectonic shift from pride in the good created and punctuated by this nation, to the accentuation of all the people that we have been accused of wronging.
We have watched our history, good bad and indifferent, re-interpreted by radical factions in ways that convince our children and grandchildren to be embarrassed to be an American.
JW Sayles Submitted
What gets lost in the proactive and systematic demonization of this nation as a whole, are the amazing and courageous individual stories that are found within every American family tree.