Wheaton in DuPage County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Wells H. Blodgett
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, November 11, 2025
1. Wells H. Blodgett Marker
Company D
37th Illinois Infantry
United States Army
September 30, 1862
Newtonia, Missouri
Topics and series. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Heroes • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Medal of Honor Recipients series list.
Location. 41° 51.987′ N, 88° 8.353′ W. Memorial is in Wheaton, Illinois, in DuPage County. It can be reached from County Farm Road near Manchester Road. The marker is part of the DuPage County Veterans Memorial, which is near the county complex. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: 115 County Farm Road, Wheaton IL 60187, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this memorial is in Greater Chicago. It is also in the American Midwest and on the Great Lakes. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture and also the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: James W. Robinson Jr. (here, next to this marker); The Medal of Honor (here, next to this marker); James H. Monroe (here, next to this marker); Fred Faulkner Lester (here, next to this marker); Robert J. Miller (here, next to this marker); "For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today" (here, next to this marker); Lester W. Weber (here, next to this marker); DuPage County Veterans Memorial (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Wheaton.
More about this memorial. The plaque is one of
this page online
Overall, 1,500 Union servicemembers received the Medal of Honor during the Civil War.
Regarding Wells H. Blodgett. Wells Blodgett was the seventh of eight children of Israel and Avis Blodgett, two of the earliest settlers in DuPage County, who set up their home in what is now Downers Grove. (Their land, linked above, is today home of the Downers Grove Museum). Blodgett's older brother, Edward, was a major in the 96th Illinois Infantry during the Civil War.
Prior to the war, Wells worked in a legal practice in Chicago, where he had been acquainted with Abraham Lincoln, who seeking the Republican nomination for president. When war broke out in 1861, the 21-year-old Blodgett almost immediately enlisted in an Illinois militia. Soon thereafter he joined the U.S. Army as a 1st Lieutenant in Company D of the 37th Illinois Infantry, which was dispatched to southwest Missouri. The 37th fought at the Battle of Newtonia, on September 30, 1862. While it was a Union defeat, Blodgett earned his medal after he and an orderly successfully fended off a group of 40 Confederate soldiers and captured eight of them. Blodgett's heroics are described in his very brief Medal of Honor citation: "With a single orderly, captured an armed picket
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, November 11, 2025
2. Plaques for the county's six Medal of Honor recipients
Later in the war, Blodgett was colonel of the 48th Missouri Infantry. He returned to law after the war, and became a prominent lawyer in St. Louis and served in the Missouri legislature. He died in 1929 and is buried in St. Louis.
Also see . . .
1. Congressional Medal of Honor Society: Wells H. Blodgett. (Submitted on November 20, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
2. Missouri Encyclopedia: First Battle of Newtonia.
Excerpt: "The First Battle of Newtonia was a strategic as well as a numerical victory for the Confederates. Not only did they repel the Federal attacks in both the morning and afternoon, but they also suffered considerably fewer casualties. An estimated 225 to 250 Union soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured during the battle, while Confederate losses numbered less than 100."(Submitted on November 20, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
Courtesy of Missouri Historical Society Photographs and Prints Collection, 1893
3. Wells H. Blodgett (1839-1929)
Credits. This page was last revised on November 21, 2025. It was originally submitted on November 20, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 60 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on November 20, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.
