Saturday, October 17, 2009

George fights in the Civil War

Brother George did not join Jacob in his search for gold. The Boucher account said that Georg served in the Civil War.  So, I searched through the U.S. Civil War Collection and found that George (yes, he added the "e" to the spelling of his name) fought as a Union soldier, at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, under Captain Williams. He enlisted 5 Nov 1861 in Pittsburgh, PA at age 23 and was discharged 5 Nov 1864—reason listed was "expiration of service." He served as a corporal in the 19th Infantry C.

Imagine, a boy arriving in America at age 10.  Then a little more than 12 years later, at age 23, he enlists to fight on the side of the Union. George clearly felt a sense of allegiance and/or duty to his new country. One has to infer that his intelligence and/or leadership skills distinguished him enough to become a corporal. The different life choices of these two brothers might also point to tempermental differences between the two.

The Boucher account says that George subsequently died from the effects of a wound received while in the Civil War. But this does not occur for many years (sometime after 1880 and probably before 1890). More later about George's life after his service in the Civil War.

George was described as having gray eyes, brown hair, fair complexion and standing 5'7" tall. I saw his signature!

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Eglise Lutherienne

Eglise Lutherienne
Protestant Church in Soultz-Sous-Forets, near to Retschwiller. Johann Jacob Orth (b: 1803) is said to have been a pastor in this church. Johann Jacob was the father of Magdalena (b: 1829), Jacob (b: 1836), and Georg (b: 1838).