John Wendt

John Wendt

       From the 1900 Census
Name - John Wendt
Aged - 11 Years
Birth Date - Oct. 1888
Birth Place - Illinois
Home in 1900 - 1st Ward, Elgin, Kane Co., Ill.
Race - White

       From the 1910 Census
name - John C. Wendt
Aged in 1910 - 21 Years
Birth Place - Illinois
Home in 1910 - 1st Ward, Elgin, Kane Co., Ill.
Street - Seneca street
Race - White

       From the June 15, 1935 issue of 'The Elgin Courier-News'

Co. E       3rd Ill. Nat. Guard, Inft.

 From the March 10, 1916 issue of 'The Elgin Daily Courier'

WON'T OFFER I. N. G. UNTIL WAR DEPT. ASKS ILLINOIS AID

     Springfield, Ill., Mar. 10,- The Illinois national Guard will not be offered to the war department for service in Mexico until the department asks for aid.

     This was the statement issued by Governor's Secretary Sullivan in denying the rumor that Governor Dunne had offered the Illinois national Guard for service in Mexico.

       From the March 17, 1916 issue of 'The Elgin Daily Courier'

VACCINATE MILITIA IS NEW STATE ORDER

     All members of Company E. I. N. G., will be inoculated within the next few days with the typhoid vaccine, in preparation for any possible call to the front.   Captain William R. Peck stated today that he had sent for the vaccine to the government and expected a supply with the necessary instruments in a short time.

       From the March 22, 1916 issue of 'The Elgin Daily Courier'

DENIES I. N. G. HAS ORDER TO PREPARE

     Springfield, Ill., March 22,- "I do hereby officially deny that any order has been given by this department or received here relating to the preparation of the I. N. G. for active service or preparedness."  Signed Acting adjutant general Colonel R. J. Shand.

     The above statement was made by Colonel Shand this afternoon to the United Press in refutation of the report that the I. N. G. commassary officers and quartermasters had been ordered to prepare for mobilization.

       From the April 6, 1916 issue of 'The Elgin Daily Courer'

ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR I. N. G. CAMP

Elgin Militia to go to Fort Sheridan August 6-13

     Springfield, Ill., April 6,- One of the most comprehensive encampments ever arranged for the Illinois national guard was announced today by Adjutant General Dickson.

     Two camps, one at Fort Sheridan, Chicago, and the other at Camp Lincoln, Springfield, will be maintained.   Six battalions of field artillery and the field hospital corps will go into camp with the regular army at Sparta, Wis.   The engineer corps of Chicago will go into the joint United States army camp at Belvoir Tract, Av.   The signal corps will go into camp at Fort Sheridan at a date to be set later.   The first cavalry will take a practice march out of Chicago early in July.   The naval reserves will drill with the Atlantic fleet.

     The regiments will go into camp at Fort Sheridan, as follows:

     First infantry, July 16-23;   Seventh infantry, July 23-30; Second infantry july 30 August 6;   Third infantry August 6-13; Sixth infantry, August 16-20.

     Regiments will go into camp Lincoln as follows:

     Forth infantry August 20-27, Fifth infantry, August 27 Sept. 3; Eighth infantry Sept. 3-16

     The first school of instruction for officers ever held in Illinois will be at Fort Sheridan August 9-16.

 From the June 15, 1915 issue of 'The Elgin Courier-News'

Compny E in Drive After Bandit Villa in June 1916

     Ninteen years ago this month, June 1916, Company E, 129th Infantry, of Elgin left to join Uncle Sam's regulars in the punitive expedition against the Mexican bandit war leader, Pancho Villa.   The company entrained, proceeded to San Antonio, Tex., and there were quartered for the grater part of a six-month period.
     Capt. William R. Peck, in command of the company during the expedition to the border, some years ago penned an interesting acount of the unit's experiences during the Mexican campaign, excerpts of which follow;
     "In June 1916, Company E was called to the Mexican border where trouble was stirring-we always suspected that it was started by the Germans to divert the attention of America from the fight abroad."
Billeted in Pig Pens
     "We left Elgin 100 strong and went into camp first at Springfield, Ill.   Here the first taste of army hardship began.   Men were quartered in pig pens at the state fairgrounds, put through strenuous maneuvers and given equipment for fighting.   We were sent to Camp Wilson at San Antone.   Ariving there on July 5, in mud that virtually pulled off our shoes.   We cleared the region of mesquite, scrub oak, drained it and pitched tent, making it eventually an ideal camp.   The began our strenuous training.
     "Long, arduous hikes brough broken arches and blistered feet, one of them being from San Antone to Austin, Tex., a distance of 214 miles, marching with heavy packs.   This hike tried our endurance harder than anything we had ever experienced.   Some of the men were forced to give up the march, joining the company the next day.   Pup tents were pitched in open spaces near Austin and maneuvers began, the men being taught warfare that would have been put into practice had we invaded Mexico.
Lauded By Funston
     "Before our return to Austin, our battalion gained the reputation of being one of the best in the Eleventh Provisional Division, composed of Illinois and Wisconsin troops.   General Funston was alive at this time, and when he reviewed the troops he remarked on the splended showong of our regiment and kept us in Texas five months longer than  any other Illinois regiment.   He complimented the spirit of the regiment highly, and said that if he could keep it in the regular army he would do so.   Col. Charles Greene of Aurora was the regimentsl commander.
     "The Texas Training was a round of unforgetable annoyances-the pestering with vermin of all sorts, chiggers, ticks and scorpions.   There were some illnesses, but no deaths.   At last on Jan. 31, 1917, the troops were brought back to God's country-Fort Sheridan, this time, but landed there fresh from a tropical atmosphere of 60 to 70 degrees, in weather 22 degrees below zero.

       From the 1920 Census
name - John Wendt
Aged - 31 Years
Birth Place - Illinois
Home in 1920 - Elgin, Kane Co., Ill.
Address - 115 Cherry street
Race - White
Occupation - Mason
Marital Status - Married
Spouses Name - Josephine Wendt
Spouses Age - 31 Years

       From the 1930 Census
Name - John G. Wendt
Birth Year - About 1889
Race - White
Birth Place - Illinois
Marital Status - Married
Home in 1930 - Elgin, Kane Co., Ill.
Street - Erving Parkview
Ward - 1
Home owned or Rented - Owned
Home Value - 10,000
Radio Set - Yes
Aged at First Marriage - 20 Years
Attended School - No
Able to Read & Write - Yes
Occupation - Cement Finisher
Industry - Cement Contractor
Spouses name - Josephine Wendt
Spouses Age - 41 Years

       From the 1940 Census
Name - John Wendt
Aged - 51 Years
Race - White
Birth Place - Illinois
Marital Status - Married
Home in 1940 - Elgin, Kane Co., Ill.
Occupation - Cement finisher
House owned or Rented - Owned
House Value - 5,500
Attended School - No
Highest Grade Completed - 8th Grade
Spouses Name - Josephine R. Wendt
Spouses Age - 51 Years

       From the 1956 Kane Co. Honor Roll
Name - John C. Wendt
War - W1
Rank - Pvt.
Unit -

Co. D       384th Inft.

Died - Jan. 1, 1942
Interred - Bluff City Cemetery, Elgin
Location - Lot 80, Section 2
Issued a Gov't Headstone

       Obit, From the Jan. 2, 1942 issue of 'The Elgin Daily Courier-News'
     John C. Wendt, who moved from Elgin to Webster, Wis., last April, died there yesterday following a lingering illness.   Funeral arrangements are incomplete.   The body will be brought to Elgin.
     Besides the widow, Josephine, he is survived by two brothers, William and Clarence Wendt of this city, and four sisters, Mrs. Rica Rasmusen of Long Beach, Calif., Mrs. Minnie Walters of Bartlett, Mrs. Emma Dummer of Chicago, and Mrs. William Lorenz of Dundee.   He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters.
     Mr. Wendt, who was 53 years old, served in the United States army during the first Worls war.