On April 25, 1898 the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris
on December 10, 1898. As a result Spain lost its control over the
remains of its overseas empire -- Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines
Islands, Guam, and other islands. The conflict lasted 10 weeks.
Upon my research, we have two veterans that were born in Kendall that participated in the Spanish American War.
Harris
Lyell Danenhower (1863-1954): The 1870 Federal census
says he was six years old when him and his family moved away from
Kendall to Piatt County, Illinois. Nevertheless, he's still from
Kendall and a veteran from our area in my book.
He
enlisted at the age of 35yrs in 1899 and was discharged in 1901 in San
Fransico, California. He left the service with a disability. The
record shows "old fracture of the tibia and fibula". Ouch! Harris seems
to have changed one's place
of residence for another many times throughout his life, meaning
according to the census records he led a life that moved around a lot. Maybe a troubled life? Possible. At the age of 62yrs, he
admitted himself to the U.S, National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers a couple times and the institutions were in two different locations, different states. In his final years, he was in Erie County, PA and passed away at the ripe age of 90. He is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Erie County, PA.
Thomas Henry Derrick (1874-1952): He too was born in Kendall. Thomas enlisted as a private at the age of 24 in Company E, in the 7th Artillery on 22 Mar 1898. His place of residence at that time was in Fort Slocum, which is near the Long Island Sound.
He had honorable discharge on 15 Oct 1898. As you can see, he was also a teacher. Thomas became a husband and a father to only one child, Elizabeth. The family resided in DeLand, Florida and in 1952 he passed away. He is buried in Oakdale Cemetery, Deland, Velosia County, Florida.
