Drafted and Disabled

By Eilene Lyon

Last month I shared some background on my Arbogast ancestors  who migrated to Ohio from Alsace, France. Of the Arbogast children who traveled with their parents to America, my 3^rd great-grandfather was John C. Arbogast Jr. He was 12 when he landed in Tuscarawas County in 1840. He still lived with his parents a decade later, appearing by name for the first time in American records on the 1850 census.¹

He married Julia Elizabeth Baumgartner  in June 1853 in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jefferson Township, Tuscarawas County.² Their first two children were born in Ohio, including my 2^nd great-grandmother, Louise Eliza (Arbogast) Schaaf (b. 1856).

In February 1858 John moved his family briefly to Bureau County, Illinois, then relocated to Jersey County which borders the Mississippi River. He purchased 200 acres of land and settled down to farming.³

During their time in Jersey County, Elizabeth gave birth to 14 more children. One of these, son Jacob, died at age five in October 1864.⁴ Two months later, John was drafted into Company C of the 53^rd Illinois Regiment.⁵ He was 36 years old at the time, with six young children at home. Many men in his position paid a substitute to take their place, but he did not have the means.⁶

The 53^rd Illinois originally formed in 1862, and in December 1864 they were engaged in the siege of Savannah, Georgia.⁷ John probably would have joined the regiment as they began their campaign through the Carolinas that lasted from January to April 1865. The 53^rd Illinois was consolidated with the 41^st Illinois on January 4, 1865 and they began their march to Beaufort, South Carolina. They participated in battle at Bentonville, North Carolina, on March 20 and 21.⁸

Two days prior to this battle, John, suffering from exposure, came down with a lung fever, which also affected his eyes. His ailment was severe enough to put him in the hospital, under care of the regimental surgeon. Perhaps his illness saved his life, but it led to a lifelong disability, for which he was able to obtain a pension in the 1890s.⁹

He remained with his regiment until his discharge at Louisville in July 1865. Prior to heading to Kentucky, the regiment marched in the grand review in Washington, D.C. on May 24, 1865.

John and Elizabeth buried two more young children before 1880, but the remaining 13 all lived well into adulthood. Though I have a photograph of Elizabeth and another of 12 adult children, I have not found any photographs of John.

By 1890, John and Elizabeth were living in Hazel, Hamlin County, South Dakota.¹⁰ They had two children living in adjacent counties. About 1895, they relocated to Emmet County, Iowa, where they also had two children living.

John died July 5, 1896, in Forsythe, Emmet County, of kidney failure.¹¹ Elizabeth filed for a widow’s pension, for which she received $8 a month from the federal government, plus $2 for each of her two youngest children. She died in Palo Alto County, Iowa, in 1907. Both are buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery  in Emmet County.

Featured image: Harper House served as the Union Army hospital during the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina. This is probably where John was treated for his lung fever in March 1865. (Wikimedia Commons)