Charles C. Coon was born around 1842 in Illinois to Thomas and Maria Coon. His father was a farmer who owned $8,600 of real estate and $1,250 of personal property by 1860. Coon grew up and attended school in Rockton, and by 1860, he was working as a farm laborer.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on August 1, 1861, and mustered in as a private in Company G of the 44^th Illinois Infantry on September 13. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 9¾ inches tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. He took part in the Battle of Pea Ridge, the Battle of Perryville, the Battle of Stones River, the Battle of Chickamauga, the siege of Chattanooga, the Atlanta campaign, and the Battle of Nashville. On February 16, 1865, he became a corporal in Company A of the 153^rd Illinois Infantry. He eventually earned a promotion to sergeant, and he mustered out on September 21, 1865.

 

Coon returned to Illinois after the war, and he married Rebecca Hunt on June 13, 1867. They had at least three children: Mabel, born around 1869; Cecil, born around 1874; and Orvil, born around 1878. They settled in Rockton, and Coon worked in a reaper shop and then a paper mill. By 1870, he owned $300 of personal property. He remained in Rockton for the rest of his life, and he died there on August 10, 1911.

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