This week I bid on and won three different collections of historical documents related to the Civil War era, all of which I share and discuss in this short video.
Shortly after confirming in my own mind that I do indeed have a Civil War ancestor I began scrutinizing some of the documents I had assembled, particularly the regimental roster for Company F of the 27th Wisconsin and the plat map for Scott Township in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. I was particularly interested in the half dozen other men in Scott Township who had traveled more than thirty miles to Hartford on October 18th, 1865, to enlist as replacement troops in the 27th Wisconsin. My wife and I were in Manila working for the UN from year 2000 until nearly the end of 2014 and that meant we got one month of paid home leave every other year and we'd use that home leave to visit my family on the Puget Sound in western Washington and my wife's family in Milwaukee for a week or two. My mother-in-law in Brookfield WI was a bit hyperactive for someone in her mid-eighties and still liked to drive her Dodge Odyssey van at any opportunity and it seemed she felt most comfortable and in control when she was behind the wheel. So when I suggested I might like to visit the Washington County Historical Society in West Bend she was more than happy to oblige us, but I was fairly certain I would have a half hour or less to reconnnoiter the Society's holdings. I got lucky as their shelf for locally produced Civil War memoirs was quite short. It contained a book in a binder with about 130 typed pages written by a woman named Miller. She called it 'Before The Colors Fade' and it was about the Civil War veterans in Scott Township in Sheboygan County she had met, known or who were relatives of hers. Suffice it to say that she was not a historian, but she did have some great anecdotes, some of them about people who were relatives of mine. I skimmed through the document for about ten minutes as my mother-in-law was already anxious about getting on the road again. My research had interrupted her monologue and there was more of it I needed to hear. So when I got to the part where a wedding was being described, including what was worn by her friend, a sixteen year old Frona Lubach, who was playing the Wedding March on the piano, I had already decided to have the book photocopied to be mailed to my dad's address in western Washington. Frona, it turns out, was the fourth daughter of my grandfather's Uncle Ed Lubach. My grandfather was a newly minted clergyman in 1916, ordained in Illinois at the seminary where he had attended college. His first name was John, but he was known by his middle name, Ed. Lomira, WI, was his first pastorate, less than twenty miles from Beechwood where this wedding described in the memoir took place. I wrote the Washington County Historical Society a check for fifty dollars to cover the cost of back-to-back photocopying and mailing with enough left over for a small donation and was in and out in less than twenty minutes. My copy of Mrs. Miller's manuscript is in a manila envelope in a plastic storage box in a closet in Honolulu. I'll dig it out for another look when I get back there in November. It gave me a good sense of the community in Sheboygan County where my Civil War ancestor lived for ten years and where his widow and youngest son lived for the remainder of their lives. Ed Lubach and his wife , Anna (Luhn), were mentioned on the society page of the Sheboygan Press anytime they had visitors or made an appearance in town. Ed was born in 1863 and lived until 1937. It's possible the wedding described in the memoir was that of Frona's older sister, Mary, to Henry Hicken, grandson of the Henry Hicken who served in Company F of the 27th Wisconsin with my great great grandfather. Frona married Henry's younger brother, Edgar, about three years later. Two siblings from one family marrying two siblings from another family was not at all uncommon among immigrants from Prussia. Mrs. Miller's memoir mentions several other such unions, particularly where Civil War service had established family bonds. My great grandfather William's younger sister, Louise, married, Carl, the older brother of William's wife, Hannah. My grandfather attended college and seminary in Illinois with his double cousin, Arthur, the oldest son of Carl and Louise. On completing seminary Arthur married a girl named Edna whose brother, William, married my grandfather's younger sister, Emma. This union made the two ministers not just double cousins, but also brothers-in-law in a round about way. My grandfather's younger brother was best man at both weddings. I still haven't gotten around to requesting NARA's Civil War service and pension records for Henry Hicken. I have a hunch that he may have been at the Jefferson Barracks Military Hospital in St. Louis when my great great grandfather died there on July 27, 1865. I won't know until I've seen his pay stubs if Heinrich was the last soldier from the 27th Wisconsin to see my Civil War ancestor alive. Frona Hicken's daughter married a guy named George Standish. They moved to Colorado and it looks like they still have descendants in Steamboat Springs. Myles had nine grandsons.
When I received my great great grandfather's Civil War Service and Pension Records from the National Archives and Records Administration it included copies of my great great grandmother's application for a Widow's Pension and a letter from the Pensions Board explaining why Marie's request had been denied along with the application which was granted for her four minor children a year later after Marie remarried to her next door neighbor, Ludwig, whose wife Henrietta, had died in 1862. The grant paid two dollars each for Marie's children as Ludwig's wards until age 21. I also requested service and pension records for two other soldiers both of whom were brothers-in-law of Wilhelm, my great great grandfather. One of those brothers-in-law, August, was the husband of Marie's younger sister, Sophie. The other was Wilhelm, the oldest of Marie's two younger brothers. Their notarized signatures were witness to the signature of Marie on the document requesting a widow's pension which the government denied because her marriage to Wilhelm took place in Prussia in 1852 prior to immigration. Both of the witnesses to Marie's signature were also witness to the marriage of Wilhelm and Marie (Ebert) Lubach. Wilhelm Ebert Jr. was probably the ring bearer and I would be surprised if his Uncle August wasn't the best man at the wedding. It took place on the east bank of the Oder in a village called Zehden which the Poles now call Cedynia. The document also includes the name of the pastor who married them. When Wilhelm registered to emigrate in 1856 he listed his occupation as schaferknecht which translates into sheep's knight. I'm not sure if he ever received a degree in animal husbandry, but I do know that on my 9th birthday I was given a German shepherd puppy with a pedigree that included Rinty von Rin Tin Tin III. On my dad's advice we named the puppy Schaar von Regental. My dad told me it meant Star of Rain Valley. I've since learned that Schaar refers to a hand tool used for shearing sheep. The same week I received the Civil War records from NARA I also received a fairly terse e-mail from Paul Krez, a New York insurance lawyer and great grandson of Colonel Konrad Krez, who commanded the 27th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry in which Wilhelm and Sophie's husband, August, served as "replacement troops". I confessed to him that I had taken the liberty of translating the three Civil War poems Colonel Krez published in 1875. The two poetry chap books Krez published while studying law in Heidelberg were rewarded in 1848 by the King of Prussia with a bounty on his head and orders to shoot him on sight.
Shortly after confirming in my own mind that I do indeed have a Civil War ancestor I began scrutinizing some of the documents I had assembled, particularly the regimental roster for Company F of the 27th Wisconsin and the plat map for Scott Township in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. I was particularly interested in the half dozen other men in Scott Township who had traveled more than thirty miles to Hartford on October 18th, 1865, to enlist as replacement troops in the 27th Wisconsin. My wife and I were in Manila working for the UN from year 2000 until nearly the end of 2014 and that meant we got one month of paid home leave every other year and we'd use that home leave to visit my family on the Puget Sound in western Washington and my wife's family in Milwaukee for a week or two. My mother-in-law in Brookfield WI was a bit hyperactive for someone in her mid-eighties and still liked to drive her Dodge Odyssey van at any opportunity and it seemed she felt most comfortable and in control when she was behind the wheel. So when I suggested I might like to visit the Washington County Historical Society in West Bend she was more than happy to oblige us, but I was fairly certain I would have a half hour or less to reconnnoiter the Society's holdings. I got lucky as their shelf for locally produced Civil War memoirs was quite short. It contained a book in a binder with about 130 typed pages written by a woman named Miller. She called it 'Before The Colors Fade' and it was about the Civil War veterans in Scott Township in Sheboygan County she had met, known or who were relatives of hers. Suffice it to say that she was not a historian, but she did have some great anecdotes, some of them about people who were relatives of mine. I skimmed through the document for about ten minutes as my mother-in-law was already anxious about getting on the road again. My research had interrupted her monologue and there was more of it I needed to hear. So when I got to the part where a wedding was being described, including what was worn by her friend, a sixteen year old Frona Lubach, who was playing the Wedding March on the piano, I had already decided to have the book photocopied to be mailed to my dad's address in western Washington. Frona, it turns out, was the fourth daughter of my grandfather's Uncle Ed Lubach. My grandfather was a newly minted clergyman in 1916, ordained in Illinois at the seminary where he had attended college. His first name was John, but he was known by his middle name, Ed. Lomira, WI, was his first pastorate, less than twenty miles from Beechwood where this wedding described in the memoir took place. I wrote the Washington County Historical Society a check for fifty dollars to cover the cost of back-to-back photocopying and mailing with enough left over for a small donation and was in and out in less than twenty minutes. My copy of Mrs. Miller's manuscript is in a manila envelope in a plastic storage box in a closet in Honolulu. I'll dig it out for another look when I get back there in November. It gave me a good sense of the community in Sheboygan County where my Civil War ancestor lived for ten years and where his widow and youngest son lived for the remainder of their lives. Ed Lubach and his wife , Anna (Luhn), were mentioned on the society page of the Sheboygan Press anytime they had visitors or made an appearance in town. Ed was born in 1863 and lived until 1937. It's possible the wedding described in the memoir was that of Frona's older sister, Mary, to Henry Hicken, grandson of the Henry Hicken who served in Company F of the 27th Wisconsin with my great great grandfather. Frona married Henry's younger brother, Edgar, about three years later. Two siblings from one family marrying two siblings from another family was not at all uncommon among immigrants from Prussia. Mrs. Miller's memoir mentions several other such unions, particularly where Civil War service had established family bonds. My great grandfather William's younger sister, Louise, married, Carl, the older brother of William's wife, Hannah. My grandfather attended college and seminary in Illinois with his double cousin, Arthur, the oldest son of Carl and Louise. On completing seminary Arthur married a girl named Edna whose brother, William, married my grandfather's younger sister, Emma. This union made the two ministers not just double cousins, but also brothers-in-law in a round about way. My grandfather's younger brother was best man at both weddings. I still haven't gotten around to requesting NARA's Civil War service and pension records for Henry Hicken. I have a hunch that he may have been at the Jefferson Barracks Military Hospital in St. Louis when my great great grandfather died there on July 27, 1865. I won't know until I've seen his pay stubs if Heinrich was the last soldier from the 27th Wisconsin to see my Civil War ancestor alive. Frona Hicken's daughter married a guy named George Standish. They moved to Colorado and it looks like they still have descendants in Steamboat Springs. Myles had nine grandsons.
When I received my great great grandfather's Civil War Service and Pension Records from the National Archives and Records Administration it included copies of my great great grandmother's application for a Widow's Pension and a letter from the Pensions Board explaining why Marie's request had been denied along with the application which was granted for her four minor children a year later after Marie remarried to her next door neighbor, Ludwig, whose wife Henrietta, had died in 1862. The grant paid two dollars each for Marie's children as Ludwig's wards until age 21. I also requested service and pension records for two other soldiers both of whom were brothers-in-law of Wilhelm, my great great grandfather. One of those brothers-in-law, August, was the husband of Marie's younger sister, Sophie. The other was Wilhelm, the oldest of Marie's two younger brothers. Their notarized signatures were witness to the signature of Marie on the document requesting a widow's pension which the government denied because her marriage to Wilhelm took place in Prussia in 1852 prior to immigration. Both of the witnesses to Marie's signature were also witness to the marriage of Wilhelm and Marie (Ebert) Lubach. Wilhelm Ebert Jr. was probably the ring bearer and I would be surprised if his Uncle August wasn't the best man at the wedding. It took place on the east bank of the Oder in a village called Zehden which the Poles now call Cedynia. The document also includes the name of the pastor who married them. When Wilhelm registered to emigrate in 1856 he listed his occupation as schaferknecht which translates into sheep's knight. I'm not sure if he ever received a degree in animal husbandry, but I do know that on my 9th birthday I was given a German shepherd puppy with a pedigree that included Rinty von Rin Tin Tin III. On my dad's advice we named the puppy Schaar von Regental. My dad told me it meant Star of Rain Valley. I've since learned that Schaar refers to a hand tool used for shearing sheep. The same week I received the Civil War records from NARA I also received a fairly terse e-mail from Paul Krez, a New York insurance lawyer and great grandson of Colonel Konrad Krez, who commanded the 27th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry in which Wilhelm and Sophie's husband, August, served as "replacement troops". I confessed to him that I had taken the liberty of translating the three Civil War poems Colonel Krez published in 1875. The two poetry chap books Krez published while studying law in Heidelberg were rewarded in 1848 by the King of Prussia with a bounty on his head and orders to shoot him on sight.