My Genealogy Hound

THOMAS PENWARDEN, ex-Sheriff of Perry County, and a prominent real-estate dealer of Du Quoin, is one of the wide awake and enterprising citizens to whom the prosperity of this place is due. A native of Elgin County, Canada, he was born January 28, 1843, and is a son of John Penwarden, a native of Devonshire, England. The grandfather, David Penwarden, and his son John were both sea-faring men. In 1842 the family came to America, locating in Elgin County, Canada, where the father was frozen to death when Thomas was only nine years old. He had married Sarah Bromell, also a native of Devonshire. After the death of her first husband she was again married, and is now living in Minnesota. In the Penwarden family were three sons and a daughter, of whom Thomas is the eldest. John, a soldier of the late Civil War, who was wounded in battle, is now a farmer of Wisconsin; Margaret is the wife of Henry Shepherd; and David, who was one of the boys in blue, is now living in Port Huron, Mich.

A year after his father’s death, Thomas Penwarden started out to make his own way in the world. After that he received no school privileges, and for some years had a hard struggle to get along. Going to Kansas, he experienced all the trials of frontier life. We there find him when the Civil War broke out. When the first call for thirty thousand troops was made he promptly responded, and in July, 1861, became a member of the Third Kansas Infantry. Soon afterward he was transferred to the Fifth Regiment, and for some time served on the western frontier, taking part in the battles of Wilson’s Creek, Mo., and Pea Ridge, Ark. He afterward went on the Red River expedition. During his service he received three wounds, one in the left hand at Wilson’s Creek, another in the right knee at Helena, Ark., and the third at Mark’s Mills, where he was shot through the head. His comrades, thinking life extinct, left him on the battlefield, where he lay unattended from Monday at ten o’clock until Wednesday noon. During this time the field was in possession of the rebels. He was wounded in April, and although it was thought he could not recover, the following August he was again in the ranks, and was with Sherman on the memorable march to the sea, taking part in all the important engagements of the Atlanta campaign. He received an honorable discharge in Leavenworth, Kan., July 7, 1865, after four years of faithful service, during which time he was always found at his post, valiantly defending the Old Flag and the cause it represented.

After his return from the army, Mr. Penwarden located in Du Quoin, and in 1866 married Miss Jennie Huston. They have two sons, Robert and John, both of whom are upon the farm. For some years after his marriage, Mr. Penwarden engaged in mining and farming. In 1880 he was elected Sheriff of Perry County, and served for two years. In 1886 he was again elected, and filled the office for four years. During his first term the only man on whom capital punishment was inflicted in the county was hung.

On his retirement from office, Mr. Penwarden returned to his farm near Du Quoin, and soon afterward embarked in the real-estate business, in which he is now extensively engaged. He is also filling the office of Public Administrator. He is a leading member of the Grand Army post, is a Royal Arch Mason, and in politics has been a life-long Republican. No man in Perry County is more widely and favorably known than Mr. Penwarden, whose friends are legion.