
The Sturdy family, from left: Ruth, Walter (standing), Frank, and John; undated (Courtesy Cindy Naughton, Kitty Lackey, and Diane Sturdy Gravlin)
This entry is an edited version of an article that originally appeared in the May 2025 edition of The Prairie Land Buzz Magazine. Copyright Raymond Bruzan. Published with permission.
Contributor: Raymond Bruzan
A Virginia-born soldier who fought for the Confederacy never could have imagined that he would someday locate in the northern state of Illinois and live fewer than eight miles from the former home of Abraham Lincoln. That same soldier probably would be pleased that one of his possessions would become a historic artifact treasured by a Springfield museum.
While I was researching historic Orange Judd homes in Rochester, I was surprised to discover that John William Sturdy, who once owned one of the village’s 19th-century houses, had been a Confederate soldier. I was immediately curious as to how and when John Sturdy chose to locate in Sangamon County. These details weren’t always easy to come by, and the search itself became an adventure.
The Sturdy name is well known in Rochester. Descendants of John Sturdy have served multiple terms in elected offices and taken active roles in local business and housing development. Dr. Mark Sturdy, whose veterinary clinic is less than a block south of his great-grandfather’s former home, suggested I contact his mother, Joan Sturdy, for more family information.
Joan, the widow of Meryl Sturdy, graciously invited me into her home, shared some Sturdy genealogy and asked if I would like to see John Sturdy’s traveling trunk. I quickly said yes and followed her into the garage. There I took photographs of a large trunk that had John’s name painted on it. John had used the trunk to move his belongings from Virginia to Illinois after the end of the Civil War.
Regretfully, Joan knew of no photographs of John Sturdy, and, despite hours of research, I’d had no luck finding one either.
Continued research revealed several interesting items about John’s family, as well as his years in the Confederate Army. John was the son of Thomas Sturdy, an immigrant from Ireland, and Eliza Neer of Virginia. They lived in the northern Virginia community of Harper’s Ferry.
John was 21 in April 1861, when he enlisted in the Confederate Army from Harper’s Ferry. His name is listed in two different units, the First and Second Virginia Infantry regiments. He was assigned to the Confederate Carbine Factory in Richmond, Va.
Sturdy was captured by Union forces on May 6, 1865. He was imprisoned at Athens, Ga., until May 25, when he was sent home to Harper’s Ferry.
After the war, John probably heard stories about land being available farther west. I was unable to determine the year Sturdy arrived in Illinois, but did find evidence that he was in Sangamon County as early as 1877. He probably was welcomed to Cooper Township by other settlers from Loudoun County, Va., such as the Neer and Saunders families, who already were landowners and successful farmers.
John Sturdy married Ruth Anna Saunders, the daughter of Edward and Mahala Saunders, who themselves had moved to Illinois from Loudoun County in 1884. John and Ruth settled on a farm near Buckhart, where their sons Walter and Thomas were born. An 1894 map identifies John Sturdy as owning a 45-acre Cooper Township farm; records indicate Edward Saunders bought the property for Ruth and John.
Stories recorded in Springfield newspapers between 1890 and 1910 often mention gatherings and dinners at the Sturdy home. John and Ruth also provided a home for the teacher who taught at the one-room school in Buckhart. John joined the Buckhart lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was elected township assessor. Newspapers briefly mention the Sturdys’ travels back to Loudoun County to visit family members and friends.
As Walter and Thomas assumed more farm responsibilities, John and Ruth moved off the farm. In 1914, they bought and moved into a two-story home on Mill Street in downtown Rochester. John joined the Rochester IOOF lodge, and Ruth shared produce from her garden with neighbors.
John died at age 84 on Sept. 11, 1923. Ruth, 70, died on Aug. 6, 1930.
John Sturdy and his traveling trunk are mentioned in my 2015 book, The Orange Judd Historic Walking Tour Guide of Rochester, Illinois. More Sturdy family details, along with a photo of the trunk, are included in another book, Cotton, Violins and Shots in the Night – A Timeline Visit to Rochester, Illinois, co-written by Pamela Bruzan and myself.
In 2024, Diane Sturdy Gravlin, daughter of Meryl and Joan Sturdy, sent me an unexpected email. Diane was cleaning out the family storage facility, where John Sturdy’s trunk had been kept. She asked me if I knew of a history museum that would be interested in the trunk. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum directed me to the Illinois State Military Museum at Camp Lincoln in Springfield. Military museum historian Carla Townsend expressed interest in adding the trunk to their collection, and Diane donated the Sturdy family heirloom to the museum. It is expected to go on display there at some point.
Shortly after the trunk was delivered to the museum, Diane sent me a thank-you note – along with a photograph showing John, Ruth, Walter and Thomas Sturdy. It was a delightful moment, after a 10-year search, to finally have a picture of John Sturdy in my possession.
John and Ruth Sturdy and their sons are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Cooper Township. The cemetery website lists the graves of nine Sturdy family members and 32 Neers. I suspect they were related, for they all once lived in Loudoun County, Va.
Mourners often comment that their deceased loved ones are now at peace. Hopefully, the family of John Sturdy, the Confederate soldier whose life’s journey took him to the north, has found that sense of peace in Oak Hill Cemetery near Buckhart.
Raymond Bruzan, educator and author, has written articles for the Journal of Chemical Education, The American Biology Teacher, Illinois Times, and The Prairie Land Buzz Magazine. He is the author of seven books related to Rochester Township history, three of which have received Awards of Excellence from the Illinois State Historical Society. Contact: rmb601@yahoo.com.
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Nice job recording history in print. Enjoyed this piece very much. Thank you!
Fascinating. Great job!
Great work, very informative!
The 2nd Virginia infantry became part of the famous Stonewall Brigade which had many engagements throughout the civil war including Gettysburg.