Born in Sandisfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, on May 3, 1830 (some sources state that he was born in Otis, Massachusetts, in 1829), Henry Noble attended the state normal school in Westfield, Massachusetts, then taught school for two years. In 1850, he moved to Dixon, Illinois, where he taught school, worked in the land office, and became engaged in real estate, banking, and farming.

The first man to enlist in Lee County, five days after the attack on Fort Sumter, Noble joined Company A, 13th Illinois Infantry at Dixon as a private. He was elected first lieutenant of the company on April 21, and was promoted to captain of Company A on May 24, 1861.

The 13th Illinois participated in the assault on Chickasaw Bayou in December 1862, the capture of Fort Hindman (Arkansas Post) in January 1863, and the Vicksburg Campaign.

Named an assistant quartermaster of volunteers in July 1863, Noble left the 13th Illinois but continued to rise through the ranks. Serving as a quartermaster at various locations in Arkansas for the remainder of 1863 and 1864, he was named acting chief quartermaster of the Department of Arkansas in March 1865, and given brevet promotions to major, lieutenant colonel and colonel for efficient and meritorious service. Noble served as chief quartermaster of the Department of Arkansas from June 1865 to October 1866. Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs praised Noble for his “integrity and efficiency,” having performed his duties to “my entire satisfaction.”

Mustered out of service in October 1866, he returned to Lee County, where he bought an interest in the Grand Detour Plow Works and also served as Dixon’s mayor. He died of pneumonia on April 15, 1891, and was mourned by the entire city of Dixon as a man of “unvarying geniality and courtesy,” possessing “warm sympathy and never-failing generosity.”

Noble is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Dixon.

Carte-de-Visite by J.H. Crawford, Dixon, Illinois.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31942