The following affidavit addressed to Iowa Gov. Samuel J. Kirkwood was penned by 29 year-old Hiram B. Gray (1832-1863) of Mason City, Cerro Gordo county, Iowa. Hiram was the orphaned son of James L. Gray (1792-1857) and Zillah Beulah [unknown] (1796-1856) or Oberlin, Lorain county, Ohio. In October 1861, Hiram recorded his Last Will & Testament in Iowa, indicating his intention of enlisting in the service of his country but I have not found any record of his service. He willed his property to his only surviving sibling, Hester Ann Gray of Oberlin, Ohio. Hiram died on 1 July 1863 and his sister died a few years later.

In his affidavit, Hiram solemnly attests to the reprehensible actions of Datus E. Coon (1831-1893), who allegedly appropriated the company roll book of the Cerro Gordo Guards and falsely presented himself as the individual responsible for mustering a sufficient body of men to secure a Captain’s commission from the Governor of Iowa. A biography of Coon reveals that he served as the publisher of the Cerro Gordo Press in Mason City “until the war broke out in 1861. Upon receiving the news of the fall of Fort Sumter, he made the resolute decision to enlist in the army as a cavalry man and obtained a captain’s commission from Governor Kirkwood of Iowa, tasked with raising a company within three weeks. The company was successfully assembled, proceeded to Davenport, Iowa, and was subsequently assigned to the Second Iowa Cavalry [Co. I].”

[Source: An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower California; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. p.- 291-292]

Transcription

To His Excellency, Samuel J. Kirkwood, Governor of the State of Iowa

I, H[iram] B. Gray of Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, do solemnly swear that I am a member of the Military Company known as the Cerro Gordo Guards, of said county, that I have been a member of the same since its first organization, that I was duly elected corresponding secretary for the company, and that no business has been done for the company or by the same, with any of the State authorities, except as it has been through me. That sometime in the month of June (prior to the 15) Datus E[nsign] Coon who was then one of our corporals borrowed our company roll of the Orderly Sergeant and without the knowledge or consent of the company or officers, carried the same to Des Moines & Iowa City.

And further, that said Coon, returned to Cerro Gordo county with a commission as Captain of the Cerro Gordo Horse Guards. And further, that no such company had been organized in the county, and that the said Coon had never been elected to the said office.

And further, that in consequence of losing our said Roll, we were obliged to reorganize, which reorganization created some dissatisfaction, and some of the original members would not sign another Roll. And further true, said Coon reported to the people of Cerro Gordo county, and the Cerro Gordo Guards, that the Governor said that the Cerro Gordo Guards would never be called into service, and that it was his [request] for every man that could to join his Horse Company. And further, that in consequence of said report, our said company has been nearly broken up, and the members have become nearly discouraged in regard to keeping up an organization or carrying out to drill.

And further, that said Coon has failed to organize his said Horse Company, and that he is about to leave the said county, or has already left with a few men without horses, representing to them that they can go right into the cavalry service as soon as they reach Burlington—that the government has horses in readiness for them. And further, that I have good reason to believe and do believe that Sam Coon used our said company roll for the purpose of procuring himself a commission. And further, that in consequence of the facts herein set forth, some 15 or 20 of our men have left with other companies.

Des Moines, July 31, 1861
— H. B. Gray

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