Thanks for the information. It seems unlikely that Peter Larro was a Confederate sympathizer or a boatman. The family was French Canadian from an area just east of Montreal, an area where French Canadians were primarily farmers. According to the 1900 Census, he immigrated from Canada in 1848. In Feb 1860 he became a Naturalized US Citizen in Kankakee. In Oct 1860 he married another French Canadian, Lucy Rainville, in Kankakee. In Aug 1862 he received a letter from his brother John from a camp near Jackson, Tennessee. (John had joined the 20th IL Vol Inf in June 1861.) In his letter to Peter, John mentions that "...if you got to go to war try to come in 'or Regt or in anny order old Regt cuse you whant have ta do so much duty...." (Clearly, John's English language skills were lacking.) Two months later in Oct 1862 Peter signed the Oath of Allegiance in St. Louis. Peter and Lucy had a child in April 1863, six months after he signed the Oath. Their next child was born July 1866, three years and two months after their previous child and a year after the Civil War ended. To me this is pretty stong evidence that he joined the war not knowing his wife was pregnant. I have searched high and low and have not been able to find his service record under numerous spellings of his last name.

There is evidence to suggest that Peter was a farm laborer prior to 1862. In the 1870 Census and subsequent Censuses his occupation is listed as "carpenter", which I believe to be correct since I inherited numerous of his inscribed "PLARRO" 19th Century carpentry tools.

Any help in provided leads to Peter Larro's Civil War service records would be most appreciated.