Henry Anderson Ewing, soldier and lawyer, was born at Bloomington, Ill., Aug. 9, 1841. His father, John W. Ewing, was born at Statesville, N. C., Feb. 9, 1808, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His mother was Maria Stevenson, born Nov. 4, 1802, at Statesville. Her father, James Stevenson, was born in the same place in 1762, son of Gabriel Stevenson, who came to North Carolina from Pennsylvania in 1760. Both the Ewing and Stevenson families came to America from the Scotch settlement in Londonderry, Ireland. Seven children were born to John W. and Maria (Stevenson) Ewing. James S. served as United States minister to Belgium during the last Cleveland administration; and William G., was for four years, from 1885 to 1889, United States district attorney for the northern district of Illinois, and was later judge of the superior court of Chicago. Henry A. Ewing spent his boyhood in Bloomington, Ill., and was educated in the city schools, where he acquired a good practical education. At the outbreak of the Civil war he responded to the call for volunteers and enlisted as a private, at Bloomington, May 25, 1861, in the Fourteenth Illinois infantry. On April 6, 1862, he was appointed sergeant of Company E, and on May 8, 1863, was commissioned second lieutenant of Company B. He resigned June 18, 1864. After being mustered in, the regiment remained at Camp Duncan until the latter part of June, 1861, then proceeded to Quincy, Ill., and from there to Missouri, where it did good work in suppressing the spirit of insurrection, it left Rolla, Mo., for Jefferson City, accomanying General Fremont on his campaign to Springfield, after General Price, and then returned to Otterville, Mo., and went into winter quarters. In February, 1862, the regiment was ordered to Fort Donelson and arrived the day after the surrender. From Fort Donelson it proceeded to Fort Henry and there embarked on transports, going up the Tennessee river to Pittsburg Landing, where it took part in the fierce engagements of April 6 and 7, the loss in killed and wounded being fully half the command engaged. The stand of regimental colors received forty-two bullet holes during this one battle. The charge in which this regiment participated, on the evening of April 7, resulted in victory for the Union forces. The regiment took part in the siege at Corinth, and after its evacuation proceeded to Memphis and thence to Bolivar, Tenn. It was in the engagement at Metamora, on the Hatchie river, and formed part of the right wing of Grant's army on its march into Mississippi, to Holly Springs and Yacona Patalfa. On Jan. 18, 1863, it went into winter quarters at Lafayette, Tenn. In the spring it was ordered to Vicksburg and took part in the siege until the surrender, July 4, 1863; it also accompanied the expedition to Jackson, Miss., taking part in that siege until the evacuation of the city. In August, it proceeded to Natchez, Miss., and marched across the swamps of northern Louisiana to Harrisonburg, on the Washita river, and captured Fort Beauregard. It accompanied General Sherman on the raid of Meridian, after its return from the North, where it had been on veteran furlough, and formed part of the army which advanced upon Atlanta. It was then consolidated with the Fifteenth Illinois infantry and was afterward known as the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Illinois Veteran Battalion. This battalion was detached to guard the railroad communication at and near Ackworth, Ga. as all Sherman's supplies came in over that road. In October, when General Hood made demonstrations against Sherman's rear, a large number of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth battalion were killed, and the larger number of the survivors were taken prisoners and sent to Andersonville prison. Those who escaped capture were mounted and acted as scouts on the march from Atlanta to the sea. They were continually in the advance and were the first to drive the Confederate pickets into Savannah, Ga. During the long and weary march through North and South Carolina the remnant of the battalion was on duty day and night, constantly in the presence of the enemy, and gained great notoriety as skirmishers. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth battalion was the first to enter Cheraw, S. C., and Fayetteville, N. C., and it took part in the battle of Bentonville. At Goldsboro, N. C., in the spring of 1865, the battalion organization was discontinued, as a sufficient number of organized companies of recruits had arrived to fill up the two regiments. After the capitulation of Johnston the regiment marched to Washington, D. C., and took part in the grand review, May 24, 1865. It afterward proceeded by rail and boat to Louisville, Ky., thence by boat to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and from Leavenworth marched to Fort Kearney, Neb., and back. It was mustered out of the service at Fort Leavenworth, Sept. 16, 1865, and on Sept. 22 arrived at Springfield Ill., where the regiment was discharged. The aggregate number of men who belonged to this regiment was 1,980, and the aggregate mustered out at Fort Leavenworth was 480. During the four years and four months of service the members of the regiment marched 4,490 miles, traveled by rail 2,330 miles and by water 4,490 miles, in all 11,670 miles. At the close of his military service, Mr. Ewing returned to Bloomington, where he took an active part in public affairs; he was elected sheriff and filled the office two years. He then began to study law, was admitted to the bar in 1867, and began to practice in his native town. In 1879 he was elected to the Illinois state legislature, but this was the only interruption of his professional career. He determined to come west and, in 1883, located at Iola, Kan., where he has been engaged in the practice of law and conducting a large farm which he owns near the city. In 1888 he was elected county attorney and, in 1890, was reëlected. In 1902, when Judge L. Stillwell was off the bench, Mr. Ewing was selected as judge pro tem. of the district court and filled the place with dignity and credit to himself. In 1908 he was again elected county attorney, which position he now holds. He has built up a fine practice and is now the head of the firm, of Ewing, Gard & Gard, one of the best known legal firms in Eastern Kansas. Mr. Ewing is a Presbyterian in religious belief and a Republican in politics. On March 28, 1866, he married Elizabeth Julia Merriman, born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts. Her father was Henry Merriman, a native of Hinsdale, Mass., and grandson of Jesse Merriman, also born in Massachusetts. Mrs. Ewing's mother was Sarah T. Bodurtha, a native of Berkshire county, daughter of Harvey and Dolly (Taylor) Bodurtha. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ewing: Henry Wallis, a dentist, but at present engaged in farming in Allen county, married Alice Sweet, of Fond du Lac, Wis.; May Brevard is the wife of Charles F. Scott; Adlai Merriman, a merchant of Iola, married Ella Taylor; Elliott Winchester is deceased; Richard Avery is a farmer of Allen county; Ruth Stevenson is the wife of Reverend Hanson, a missionary at Tian Fu, China; and Sarah Katharine is the wife of Roscoe Stroup, a civil engineer on the Panama canal.