De Wayne Stebbins and Ulysses S. Grant

Wednesday, January 25, 2012



De Wayne Stebbins    1835-1901

 Local author and historian Ginnie Johnson, who blogs at http://kewauneecountyhistory.blogspot.com/ , recently posted a story about Senator De Wayne Stebbins and the Hotel Stebbins in Algoma, Wisconsin.  Her post reminded me of an interesting event in the life of this colorful character in my family's past. 

Wisconsin State Senator Stebbins, the husband of my great-great-great aunt Frances Elliott Newell Stebbins and a candidate for governor of Wisconsin in 1900, was among the most well-known citizens of Algoma.  His life's experiences were numerous and his pursuits varied enough to be those of several men.  During the course of his "dash", he was a gold miner (unsuccessfully), a Civil War naval officer, a real estate dealer, a government harbor inspector, a newspaper publisher, a banker, a legislator and later state senator.  He was credited with naming the pioneer town after the Indian word for wolf or Ah-ne-pee (later Ahnapee and now Algoma). 

At the age of 16, he received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated from that institution, serving for a time in the navy.  At the opening days of the Civil War, after waiting for naval orders that did not arrive, he enlisted as a private in Company K, 21st Wisconsin Infantry.  When De Wayne reached Louisville, Kentucky, the order came to transfer him to the navy as an officer in Porter's western flotilla.  He served on the Clara Dolson, steamer Mound City, steam ship Carondelet of the Mississippi squadron, Portsmouth and was second in command under Farragut on the double-turreted monitor Kickapoo.  Among the notable events of his Civil War experience was the time he most likely saved the life of General Ulysses S. Grant.

On a dark and foggy night in April, 1863, the Mound City ran the gauntlet past the batteries at Vicksburg.  Proceeding on the river, they participated in several attacks.  After running the batteries, Stebbins helped to transfer General Grant's army across the river.  De Wayne Stebbins shared a personal account of that night and his experience with General Grant, who later became our 18th president Ulysses S. Grant.  The story of the siege of Vicksburg was written in a 5/26/1955 article in the Algoma "Record-Herald" newspaper.  It read:

 "In the dark and mist from the river, a lookout challenged two approaching figures.  Stebbins, the deck officer, ordered his men to prepare to fire on the boat in the belief that Confederate spies might be floating downstream in a canoe or on a log.  While Stebbins delayed his command to make certain he did not kill his own men, a voice came from the darkness:  'General Grant desires to see Admiral Porter.'  A moment later the Union hero stepped aboard, saved from the fate of General Stonewall Jackson, Confederate leader who was accidentally slain by his own men.  Had circumstances been reversed there is no telling how American history would have been altered, so vital were each of these men to success of his own cause."

Emerging from the thick river mist on that foggy night, De Wayne's direct orders to his men to prepare but hold their fire upon Grant's unidentified vessel is attributed to saving the general's life.

The stories of our ancestors--like those of De Wayne Stebbins--are the true life adventures that bring America's history to life.