Born on July 23, 1838, on the Isle of Jersey, James Edward Teale and other family members arrived in New York on the ship Westminster in July 1843. The Teale family settled in New York, then Wisconsin, before moving to Cuyahoga County, Ohio. In the fall of 1855, the Teale family moved to Illinois. In 1859, Frederick Teale moved to Decatur County, Iowa, and his brother James moved there as well by 1861.

James Teale enlisted in Company B, 12th Illinois Infantry on May 25, 1861, in Caseyville, Illinois, and performed garrison duty in Cairo, Illinois, until the regiment was mustered out on August 1, 1861.

He then joined Company F, 13th Illinois Cavalry at Galena, Illinois, on October 31, 1861, and was mustered into service as a sergeant on December 31, 1861. In May 1863, he became quartermaster sergeant of Company C, 13th Illinois Cavalry (Consolidated), and in March 1864 became regimental commissary sergeant. In July 1864, he was promoted to second lieutenant of Company G, and to first lieutenant in July 1865, before being mustered out that August.

The 13th Illinois Cavalry served in southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas in 1862 and 1863, participated in the capture of Little Rock and Steele’s Camden Expedition, then occupied Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Engaged in various expeditions from Pine Bluff in 1864 and early 1865, the 13th Illinois was mustered out in August 1865.

Amazingly, of six of the seven Teale brothers served in the Union Army—James in the 13th Illinois Cavalry, Joseph in the 13th Illinois Infantry, Thomas in the 15th Illinois Infantry, George in the 96th Illinois Infantry, Frederick in the 4th Iowa Infantry, and Eugene in the 17th Illinois Cavalry.

Following the war, James Teale settled in Decatur County, Iowa, and became the senior member of a mercantile firm. “One of the leading and most respected citizens of Decatur County,” according to his newspaper obituary, Teale was also described as “an upright and honorable man and a most kind and indulgent husband, a good neighbor and citizen, and always true and faithful as a friend.”

In declining health in the late 1890s, Teale was “most patient and uncomplaining during his sickness, always thinking more of the welfare of others than himself.” He died on July 8, 1900, and his loss “cast a gloom” over Davis City. Teale is buried in the Old Davis City Cemetery in Davis.

Carte-de-Visite by Habicht & Mealey, Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31952