Erastus Newton Bates

Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. A graduate of Williams College of Massachusetts in 1853, upon moving to Minnesota, became member of the constitutional convention of 1857 and served as State Senator 1857-1858. Became a resident of Centralia, Illinois in 1859, where he began the practice of law. His Civil War service began as Major of the 80th Illinois Volunteer Infantry in August 1862. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and then Colonel, he was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers in March 1865 in recognition of the helpful aid rendered to his country. For fifteen months he was a prisoner of war and escaped from Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia only to be recaptured and later exposed to the fire of the Union troops at Morris Island in Charleston Harbor,South Carolina. After the end of the war, he returned to Illinois and was elected to the state legislature in 1866. He was elected treasurer of Illinois in 1868 and re-elected under the new constitution in 1870, continuing in the office until January, 1873.