Saturday, January 31, 2009

John Hebeleiter

John Hebeleiter was born in 1821 in Munich, Germany or in Austria.

John immigrated to America sometime before the war broke out and eventually settled in western Michigan.

He stood 5’5” with gray eyes, brown hair and a dark complexion, and was a 40-year-old wagon-maker probably living in Kent County when he enlisted in Company C on May 13, 1861. (Company C was made up largely of German and Dutch immigrants, many of whom lived on the west side of the Grand River in Grand Rapids. This company was the descendant of the old Grand Rapids Rifles, also known as the “German Rifles,” a prewar local militia company composed solely of German troopers.)

He was wounded on or about July 18, 1861, during the action at Blackburn’s Ford, and discharged for chronic rheumatism and general debility on January 4, 1862, at Camp Michigan, Virginia.

In 1863 he applied for and received a pension (no. 18898).

His widow applied for and received a pension (no. 687743).

No comments: