D.L.
Ambrose
by Jordan Fausel
Shortly after moving to Illinois, Daniel
began attending school. He later went on to attend Otterbein,
probably at the academy, although it is unclear at what age or in what
year. A number of his other male siblings attended and graduated
from Otterbein University, including Mathias Hathaway (M.H.) Ambrose.
There are some different accounts
of when exactly Ambrose mustered into the Union Army. The dates
vary, but it was sometime between April and June of 1861. He was
a member of the Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry. The Seventh
was the first to muster in the state of Illinois. Private Ambrose
was assigned to Company H, which was mostly comprised of soldiers from
Logan county in Illinois, and they were assigned to Camp Yates near
Springfield. Four of Daniels brothers, including Mathias H. and
William H., would later join the Union armies as well. Their
family was one of deep patriotism, and they were strong opponents of
slavery.
Ambrose served in the Seventh for
four years. Along the way he wrote a narrative of his own
personal experiences of the war. Unfortunately, the book has a
very limited circulation, and few copies exist in their original
form. Today, most can only be viewed on a microfilm or
micro-card. Although it is not specified when sources, including
the “Illinois Civil War Archives”, say that Ambrose rose to the rank of
1st Lieutenant sometime around July of 1864. However, the
Otterbein archives lists his highest rank as a Captain. Some of
the well-known battles he participated in were the battle at Altoona
Pass, Sherman’s March to the Sea, Corinth, and Fort Donelson. The
Seventh mustered out on July 9, 1865.
After the war, Daniel returned to
Illinois. In the ten years following the war Ambrose found plenty
of things to occupy his time. He wrote his regiments history,
which is possibly the only primary source about his Seventh. In
1866, he graduated from the Otterbein academy after another year of
study and began teaching. It was also during this time that he fell in
love with his future wife Fanny.
Mary Francis “Fanny” Tichenor and Daniel
L. Ambrose were married on July 27, 1873. Daniel was working as a
newspaper reporter shortly thereafter. They moved into a cottage
in a working class neighborhood. By 1878, Daniel and Fanny had
two children. They had a son Winifred and a daughter Clara, and
by the end of the summer Mrs. Ambrose was pregnant again, and would
have another son Frank.
It was a joyful time for the Ambrose family as the
kids were born and
Daniel moved from “printer” to “editor” of the Sangamo Monitor.
He wrote editorials, titled “Under the Gas Light”. They were
often vague, but in some way were related to his life. He became
known as the Rambler, after the titles of his editorials.
However, life would soon turn dark for him.
Around May of 1879, Fanny became ill
with what was then known as “brain fever”. Medicine for the
illness was not available and Daniel watched his wife suffer through
the terrible ordeal. She died several days after lapsing into a
deep coma. He wrote a ramble about the ordeal to try to ease the
pain, but just a few short weeks later he was again struck with a
terrible loss. His infant son Frank died from something called
“brain dropsy”. The seven-month-old child was laid to rest along
side his mother July 3, 1879. Ambrose sank deeper into
depression, and poured out his grief once again in the same
manner. At one point he questioned his own will to live.
Eventually, he found comfort in knowing his wife and child were in a
better place, and went back to writing with the same gusto as before.
After his Aunt Clara Leib came to help
with the children, Daniel moved to a new house. In the 1880’s he
took a job as a Statehouse correspondent in Chicago. About ten
years later he moved to Chillicothe, Missouri where he took a position
as editor. In 1895, he moved back to Canton, Illinois to live
with his daughter Clara. There he became editor of the Daily
Register, and was affectionately know as “Captain Ambrose”. In
1913 he gave an impassioned speech on patriotism, Civil War Vets, and
the American flag at the Memorial Day Festival in Canton.
Daniel Leib Ambrose died at 8am on
February 15, 1922, at Clara’s home in Canton. His obituary was on page
one of the Register and included a photograph and these words: “A
gallant soldier, an able newspaper man, a loyal friend and citizen,
always greatly beloved, Captain Ambrose’s memory will long be kept
green by the many friends in Canton who knew and appreciated his worth.”
Bibliography
Furry, William. "Remembering the Rambler: The
sad story of Daniel Leib Ambrose, editor of the Sangamo Monitor,”
Illinois Times, vol. 27, no.
36 (April 25-May 4).
http//www.cwc.lsu.edu/
http//www. illinoiscivilwar.org/cw7.html]
http//www.familysearch.com
http//www.sancohis.org/Historico.htm