This cache is located in Buehler’s Preserve. It can be found at the end of the trail that continues from the east end of the Meeker Street Walk Bridge.
Brevet Brigadier General John Corson Smith was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Feb. 13, 1832. He moved to Galena in the mid-1850s and formed a carpentry and contracting business with B.W. Marble of Galena. They assisted in the construction of the Methodist Episcopal Church on Bench Street. Smith married Charlotte Gallagher, of Galena in March of 1856. They had five children. From 1859 to 1861 Smith was the Assistant Superintendent of Construction for Dubuque’s Post Office and Custom House.
In 1862 Smith enlisted in a new company of volunteers which was comprised mostly of men from Jo Daviess County. Smith was elected Captain of the Company. On September 6, 1862 the unit was mustered into the army as I Company of the 96th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Smith was mustered in as a Major in the Regiment Staff. He engaged in many battles in the Western Theater such as Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. He was promoted to Lt. Colonel on September 20, 1863. On February 20, 1865 he was appointed brevet Colonel and on June 20, 1865 was brevetted Brigadier General for meritorious services. His brother, First Lieutenant Thomas J. Smith, was also in I Company of the 96th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. First Lt. Thomas Smith was fatally wounded at the battle of Resaca, GA on May 14, 1864 and died on June 9, 1864 in the Resaca Hospital.
Following the war John Corson Smith was appointed assessor for the Department of Internal Revenue. He moved to Chicago in the early 1870s and became involved in several business ventures and Republican politics. He was elected Illinois State Treasurer in 1878 and 1882. He served as lieutenant governor of Illinois from 1885 to 1889. Smith died on December 31, 1910 in Chicago. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.