JOHN H. B. RENFRO. A native of southern Tennessee, not far from the
border line of Alabama, but becoming a resident of Illinois at an early age,
years before the dense cloud of the Civil war shrouded our country in gloom,
the late John H. B. Renfro, of Carbondale, where his life ended on the 26th
of October, 1908, grew to manhood in an atmosphere very different in its
political character from that in which he was born. And when the destructive
besom of sectional strife swept the land, leaving a trail of blood and ruin
in its wake, he joined the forces gathered to save the Union from
dismemberment, and fought valiantly for the flag under which his life began.
In his military service he manfully exemplified the valor and
resourcefulness of the citizen soldiery of Illinois on one side of the
momentous conflict, as he would probably have exemplified the same qualities
in the military spirit of his native state on the other if he had remained
in the locality of his birth and been reared under the influence of its
political teachings.
Mr. Renfro came into being on January 2, 1842,
in Lincoln county, Tennessee, and in his boyhood he came to Hardin county,
Illinois, where he became established as a farm hand and later took up a
tract of wild land which he transformed into a well improved and productive
farm. His parents joined him here. He had obtained what education he was
able to secure in the public schools. During his boyhood he had witnessed
several public auctions of slaves, which he never thought right, and at the
beginning of the war he enlisted in the Federal army, in Company C,
Forty-eighth Volunteer Infantry, of which he was third sergeant. He took
part in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson and the sanguinary battle of
Shiloh. In the last named engagement he was wounded in the right lung and
disabled for further service for a time, but after recovering his health he
rejoined his regiment. He remained with it until August 27, 1864, when he
fell from a wagon and broke one of his arms. This accident occurred in the
neighborhood of Jonesboro, Georgia, and from there he returned to his
Illinois home. His brother Phenix, who was a boy at home, while hunting got
blood on his clothes, and being suspicioned of the ambushing and killing of
two northern soldiers was sentenced to be shot. The crime, however, was
committed by a neighbor, who came to Phenix Renfro and told him of the
circumstances and asked him to get his brother, who was a northern soldier,
to save him, but if he could not that he, himself, would come forward in
time to save him. Our subject, however, saved his brother. J. H. B. Renfro
was discharged from the service on March 25, 1865, and resumed his residence
in Elizabethtown, Hardin county, this state. In the fall of the same year he
was elected treasurer of the county, and was reelected in 1867. In 1869 he
was elected county clerk, and this office he filled with great acceptability
to the people of the county for a continuous period of seventeen years.
Mr. Renfro was first married on May 4, 1870, to Miss Emeretta Leone
McClellan. They had two children, their sons Robert E. and C. Duncan Miller
Renfro, both of whom are residents of Carbondale. Their mother died on
November 9, 1892, and on April 29, 1894, the father contracted a second
marriage, uniting himself with Miss Fannie J. Holden, of Carbondale, he
having become a resident of this city in 1888. They became the parents of
five children, four of whom are living. They are: Harvey L., Anna Lois,
Laura Jeannette and Margaret Josephine. A son, named Samuel B., died a
number of years ago.
During his residence in Carbondale the father
served two years as township clerk, two years as city attorney and four
years as police magistrate and won general approval by the manner in which
he discharged the duties of each of these positions. In fraternal life he
was a Freemason for a long time, and also belonged to the Grand Army of the
Republic. In the latter organization he was a past commander of John W.
Lawrence Post, No. 297. Throughout his long service in public life, in the
army and in civil offices he never shirked a duty or gave one slight
attention. His citizenship was valued wherever he was known, and was worthy
of the regard it won.
Extracted 15 Jan 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, volume 2, pages 706-707.