Remembering William J. Wray, Warrenville Civil War Casualty
Our Museum Director Sara recently had the chance to visit Civil War Battlefields in Georgia and captured these photographs that sadly connect to our local history story here in Warrenville. 110 years ago today, Pvt. William J. Wray was killed in Resaca, Georgia on the battleground pictured here. William Wray was the adopted son of Hiram Leonard, who we know so well because of his daily journal which is part of our museum collection.
William was one of 50 Warrenville men and boys that volunteered to fight for the Union cause in the Civil War. When William left home, he was leaving his wife Caroline and young son, William Jr., here in Warrenville. Hiram promised to care for the two while William was gone, but we are sure he never imagined William would die in the war.
In May of 1864, Hiram noted in his diary that he had sent a care package off to William, one of many he had sent during William’s time with the 105th Infantry. Sadly, we don’t know if that last care package ever reached William before he was killed on the battlefield at Resaca, Georgia. Although William died while charging rebel Confederate forces on the 15th, the news didn’t arrive to Warrenville until May 26th, along with the details that another Warrenville boy, James Monk, had also died from injuries obtained in the charge. The Battle of Resaca, Georgia, started the movement of Union General Sherman towards Atlanta, a decisive march in the Confederate’s defeat.
After William’s death, Caroline eventually remarried Rolen Wilson, in 1865, but he passed away not long after they were married. Caroline went back to live with Hiram, who continued to be very generous caring from his adopted son’s widow and son. By a turn of fate, on October 12, 1874, Hiram and Caroline were married, even though he was almost 30 years her senior. When Hiram died 4 years later, Caroline and William Jr. inherited his property on Winfield Road. William Sr., Caroline and William Jr. are all buried with Hiram in the family plot at the Warrenville Cemetery. William Wray is one of 17 Warrenville men lost in the Civil War and one of 13 Warrenville Civil War Veterans buried in the Warrenville Cemetery.
