John Wales January was born November 29, 1845 in Clinton County, Ohio. He moved to Minonk, Illinois in 1852. He was 5’ 8” tall with hazel eyes, black hair and dark complexion. He enlisted as a Private in Company B, 14th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry on January 1, 1864. He was one of fourteen men taken prisoner during a raid on Macon, Georgia on July 31, 1864. He was a prisoner at Andersonville, Georgia and Florence, South Carolina for nine months. Both his feet became infected with gangrene and Mr. January amputated his own feet with a pocket knife. On his release from prison he was taken to David’s Island, New York for recovery. He weighed 45 pounds on his arrival and took seven months to recover. He was awarded an invalid pension in 1866.[1] He married Elizabeth Ellen Spruce on February 3, 1869 in Woodford County, Illinois. They had six children, Fannie (1869), Minnie (1871), Emsley (1874), John C. (1877) Alice (1880) and William (1882). He moved to Dell Rapids from Minonk, Illinois in 1889. He farmed and in winter months gave lectures about his experiences. He was a member of the Dahlgren Post No. 20, Grand Army of the Republic in Dell Rapids. He was the Commander of the Lake Madison Veterans Association in 1894 and 1899. John January died on November 12, 1907. He was buried on November 15, 1907 in Lot 24, Block 3, Grave 10, Dell Rapids Cemetery.[2]
The following text account is a portion of an autobiography printed on the reverse side of the photo above. Advisory: Some readers may find the content disturbing.
"I was captured by six rebel soldiers, sent to Andersonville, and there kept until the fall of Atlanta made it necessary for us to be removed to prevent falling in the hands of the Union forces. I was taken to Charleston, S.C., with others, and placed by the enemy under fire of our soldiers and gun-boats; remained here ten days and was taken to Florence, S.C., where we passed the winter of '64-5, and on or about February 15th I was stricken down by an attack of swamp-fever, and for three weeks I remained in a delirious condition; the fever abated and reason returned. I soon learned from the surgeon, after a hasty examination, that I was victim of scurvy and gangrene and was removed to the gangrene hospital. My feet and ankles, five inches above the joints presented a livid, lifeless appearance, and soon the flesh began to slough off, and the surgeon, with a brutal oath, said I would soon die. But I was determined to live, and begged him to cut my feet off; telling him if he would do that I could live. He still refused; and, believing that my life depended on the removal of my feet, I secured an old pocket-knife (I have it now in my possession) and cut through the decaying flesh and severed the tendons. The feet were unjointed, leaving the bones protruding without a covering of flesh for five inches. At the close of the war I was taken by the rebs to our lines at Wilmington, N.C., in April 1865, and when weighed learned that I had been reduced from 165 pounds (my weight when captured) to forty-five pounds. Every one of the Union surgeons who saw me then said I could not live; but, contrary to this belief, I did, and improved. Six weeks after release, while on a boat enroute to New York, the bones of my right limb broke off at the end of the flesh. Six weeks later, while in the hospital on David's Island, those of my left hand had become necrosid and broke off similarly. One year after my release I was just able to sit up in bed, and was discharged. Twelve years after my release my limbs healed over, and strange to relate, no amputation has ever been performed upon them save the one I performed in prison. There is no record of any case in the world similar to mine. My own theory of the cause, is this: while delirious I was so weak that the pulsations of my heart were too feeble to throw the blood to the extremities, and below the point of circulation death took place."
[1] American Civil War Research Database, www.civilwardata.com.
[2] WPA South Dakota Graves Registration Project, Field Form Veteran, Dell Rapids, Minnehaha County, South Dakota, June 15, 1941.