Born on January 20, 1828, near Basil, Fairfield County, Ohio, Rezin A. De Bolt was admitted to the bar in 1856. He moved to Trenton, Grundy County, Missouri, two years later, and continued to practice law.

In the spring of 1861, De Bolt was one of many Unionists who, according to a county history, “took the stump and traveling over the surrounding counties they addressed the people, defending the Union with burning words and with matchless eloquence, calling on them to stand by it and prevent its severance.”

He enlisted in Company B, 23rd Missouri Infantry on August 26, 1861, at Trenton, Missouri, and was mustered into service as captain of the company on September 22, 1861. The 23rd Missouri Infantry was engaged in the Battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1862, where De Bolt was captured and held as a prisoner of war. He was exchanged in October 1862.

In February 1863, the 23rd’s assistant surgeon declared De Bolt unfit for service due to “general debility,” and De Bolt himself claimed to be incapacitated due to disease contacted while he was “closely confined” as a prisoner. He resigned in March 1863.

Elected circuit court judge for Missouri’s eleventh judicial circuit in November 1863, De Bolt also assumed command of an independent company of “jayhawkers” and went on at least one “jayhawking expedition” in the summer of 1864. Accused of commencing “a system of indiscriminate plunder” on the people of Carroll County, Missouri, De Bolt was nevertheless commissioned major of the 44th Missouri Infantry in November 1864. He was soon detached from the regiment to serve as provost marshal of the District of North Missouri. Meanwhile, the 44th Missouri Infantry played a critical role in the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee.

De Bolt resigned from the army again in April 1865, citing the fact that he would be able to do the state “more & better service on the bench than as a soldier.” His resignation was accepted and he was honorably discharged that July.

Following the war, De Bolt was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Congress (1875-1877), then resumed his law practice. He died on October 29, 1891 (some sources state October 30), and is buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery, Trenton, Missouri.

Carte-de-Visite by T.L. Rivers, St. Louis.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31907