By Chris McHugh and Tom Kearney, Guest Columnists

What looked like a promising move to a new land became a series of misfortunes for John Kearney and his family beginning with the death of his daughter-in-law Mary in 1857 and second wife Rose in 1860. In 1863, son Edward Kearney died in Savage’s first murder and John Kearney died two months later. The next Kearney death was one that was sadly similar to many American families of the 1860s.

John and Rose’s 17-year-old son George William Kearney enlisted at Shakopee in Company I of the Minnesota Ninth Regiment on Aug. 15, 1862 at the start of the Sioux Uprising. He was the cook for his company and saw action in several Civil War battles in the South. Before his departure to the southern front of the war, he stood guard at the mass hanging of 38 Dakota warriors on Dec. 26, 1862 in Mankato. It remains the largest mass execution in American history.

On June 10, 1864 George Kearney was mortally wounded at the battle of Brice’s Crossroads, in Mississippi where he was captured by Confederate cavalry raider General Nathan Bedford Forrest. This battle was “a complete disaster” according to a survivor, the Rev. John Aiton of Dakota County. The Ninth Minnesota in “spirited rear guard fighting for three days probably saved the Union force of 8,000 from capture. It was the last regiment to leave the battlefield with nine killed, 33 wounded, and 233 taken prisoner of whom 119 died in prison (66 at Andersonville).”

George Kearney was likely sent to the infamous Andersonville prison outside Atlanta where 125 Union troops died every day of disease. Ten months later he was sent to the McPherson Hospital at Vicksburg where “he died penniless, with no clothes or possessions and not yet 21 years old.” He was buried without ceremony at the National Cemetery in Vicksburg; one of only 4,000 identified Union soldiers out of 17,000 buried there.

Great-nephew Patrick Connors of Stillwater gave Pvt. Kearney a belated burial ceremony 128 years later in 1993 complete with gold and white mums, a small union flag, a toast with “White Mountain Cooler” a prayer and a banjo rendition of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and Civil- War era song “Laura Lee.” George Kearney’s 91-year-old nephew, Joe Kearney of Stillwater, was still alive then and attended the ceremony and was thought to be one of the last surviving family members of a Civil War soldier and certainly one of the few who had a grandfather born in 1796.

The railroad came to Savage and changed it from a river-oriented community to one built up around what was called Hamilton Station. The land between the original depot location and the river largely languished and would only come to life when M.W. Savage purchased his 700 acres for Dan Patch’s farm. The railroad cemented the basic design for Savage as it is found today.

The children of John and Rose Kearney finished their moves off the homestead and in some cases, their dispersal out of the area. Daughter Rose and husband, Patrick Boylan, and Peter and Catherine Kiernan Kearney stayed in the area. Mary and Andrew Welch farmed in Savage and Rosemount before moving to DeGraff. James Kearney is believed to have moved to Oklahoma while Thomas and Sarah moved to Oregon. John Kearney is thought to have lived in St. Paul.

Andrew Kearney moved to Stillwater in 1869, at the age of 19, walking from St. Paul, where he used the proceeds of his father’s estate to establish himself as a blacksmith. A big man with a sense of fairness, he sometimes was called from the blacksmith shop in downtown Stillwater to help settle disputes in the bars of that lumber town. He married twice because, like his father, he lost his first wife to early death. Andrew had 14 children and many of the family live still in Stillwater, although not one with the surname of Kearney. Andrew became a charter member of St. Michael’s Church in Stillwater and was one of two still alive at the church’s 50th anniversary in 1925. When he died he was eulogized for his citizenship in the St. Paul Dispatch.

As the family left the original homestead one mystery remains. Although little is known of John Kearney’s character, one story told by the Stillwater branch of the family is that “he was a miser” and had buried gold on the family farmstead under a tree. Could it be that this was the same tree under which the great Dan Patch was eventually buried 50 years later? None of the Savage Kearney family had heard this story, but also none have found any treasure, meaning it may yet be discovered.

 Next week: The Peter Kearney family moves up the hill continuing to live in Savage for 150 years. 

(In addition to Chris McHugh and Tom Kearney, the following other people contributed to this column: Terry Kearney, Peggy Ramirez, Mary Phillips, Linda Thomson, Jim Kearney, Mary Pat Kearney and Gretchen Desautels. The authors of this column are all descendants of John and Rose Kearney and have contributed in various ways to writing a series of columns to commemorate the state’s 150th anniversary.)

 This column is connected to the state’s 150th celebration and gives the city’s history as it is known from that era. It is the fourth in a series of columns written by many descendants of the Kearney family that will run over the next few weeks. Go to www.savagepacer.com to view past columns and stories about the state’s 150th anniversary.