The general and reception committees for the entertainment of the Illinois Ex-prisoners of War Association and the Jefferson County Soldiers' Reunion to be held conjointly at the fair grounds next week, met in the parlors of Goodale's restaurant last night and completed arrangements for making the occasion one of the most successful ever held in this part of the state. Capt. S. H. Watson was selected chairman of the reception committee with Gen. C. W. Pavey as assistant. The matter of police protection for visitors was delegated to Capt. Stephenson. Other persons serving on committees were Will Crooker, Harry W. Watson, Wilbur Satterfield, Frank Moyer, Fred Walker, Pearl Legge, June Davisson, A. B. Roseberry, Ray Hitchcock, Orlie Claybourn, Oscar Easley, Finis Stephenson, F. R. Heiserman, Clarence Harriss, Bert Powlesson, and Elmer Harpool.

Mt. Vernon Register - October 9, 1895

Several hundred people were in attendance at the campfire reunion of the Ex-Prisoners of War at the fairgrounds last night. The event was to commemorate the heroism and valor of the citizen soldier form '61 to '65.

In one month, the month of August 1863, between 4,500 and 5,000 deaths occurred within the stockade at Andersonville. In all, 13,717 Union soldiers perished in that prison pen.

(Andersonville was in Georgia and as many as 30,000 were crowded into a log stockade that enclosed only 16 1/2 acres. More than 12,000 graves are there. Libby and Belle Island were in Richmond. Other prisons were: Rock Island, IL: Johnson's Island in Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio; and Fort Lafayette in New York harbor.

The last surviving Civil War Veteran, Walter Williams, died December 19, 1959 at the age of 117. He was from Houston, Texas and served in the Confederate Army. The last Union Veteran, Albert Woodson died on August 2, 1956 at the age of 109. (He was from Duluth, Minnesota.)

In the national cemetery at Florence, Ala., 4,000 Federal troops lie buried, only one of whom is known, the rest are unidentified and unknown. In all, nearly 60,000 Northern soldiers died in the military prisons of the Confederacy.

At 9 o'clock the Ex-Prisoners Association of the State met in annual session in the county court house. The association has the names of 500 members upon its rolls, not more than 100 of whom were present this morning. A slim showing was accounted for by the fact that the officers of the association failed to secure reduced rates on any of the railroads of the State except those coming into the city. It was naturally expected that many would be kept away by the infirmities of age and the ravages of disease.

The meeting was called to order by President Pavey, prayer was offered by Rev. J. Carroll Harris, pastor of the First Baptist Church, and an ex-prisoner. Committees were appointed, after which Springfield was chosen as the place and "Soldiers Day" during the next State Fair as the time of holding the next meeting. Officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows: Gen. G. W. Pavey, President, Mt. Vernon; George R. Pinckard, Vice-President, Monticello; Dr. J. Little, Bloomington; Rev. John Hood, Chaplain, Galesburg; C. C. George and E. R. Roberts, Springfield; J. S. Ewell, Adrian; E. B. Keneipp, Mt. Carmel; Dr. J. Little, Bloomington; Executive Committee.

More than 4,000 people were present at the fairgrounds by 1 o'clock. The two principal addresses were delivered by Col. Horace A. Clark, of Mattoon, and Chaplain McCabe, a Methodist Minister.

Col. Clark made the opening address. "America" and the "Battle Hymn of Republic were sung, followed by Miss Tyson of Jerseyville with a solo, and a medley by the Allman sisters of Salem.

There was not such a gathering of people from the surrounding country as was expected at the seventeenth annual reunion. The three day affair closed with an old fashioned soldiers love feast.

The following comprises the list of ex-prisoners of war who registered their names as in attendance, with the number of their regiment, present post office address, and place of imprisonment.

Soldiers and Sailors who registered at the State Fair.

The following comprises the list of ex-prisoners of war who registered their names as in attendance, with the number of their regiment, present post office address, and place of imprisonment: