Boys In Blue: 1st Lt. Michael F Swartzcope, 31st Illinois Infantry, Company A

Michael F. Swartzcope of Illinois stood six-foot-five and a half and at 41 years of age he mustered into the 31st Illinois Infantry as a Private. Census records tell us that Michael worked as both a cooper and a surveyor before the war began. Over six foot tall and a surveyor…sound familiar? By the end of the war, Michael was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and Quartermaster. Michael’s Lincolnesque life continued after the war; Lincoln was a lawyer, and Swartzcope followed a law career as well, serving as a judge in Jackson County, IL from 1865 to 1869. Judge Swartzcope passed away on March 22, 1901 at the age of 80 at the Home for Disabled Veterans in Danville, IL.

©2012 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum