GeneaBloggersTRIBE

Thursday, February 2, 2017

He Used a Different Name in the Civil War


August Falk, my half-grand uncle (half-brother to my grandfather), served in the Civil War as John Krause. August was born in Prussia 11 Oct 1842 to Ludwig and Marianna (Kuss) Falk. Marianna died about 1849 and Ludwig remarried. In 1858 the family immigrated to the United States: Ludwig and his second wife Anna Louisa, August, his two sisters and a half-brother and half-sister. The family settled in Muscoda Township, Grant County, Wisconsin.

August used the name John Krause when he enlisted in Company G, Wisconsin 27th Regiment Infantry 16 Aug 1862, at age 19. His future brother-in-law, August Schrader, had enlisted in that same company 4 days before. A researcher for August's family, stated that August had taken the place of John Krause for a payment of $300. and then just continued to use that name for the remainder of his life. August was wounded and met a lovely Irish nurse (Mary Ellen Sweeney) at the hospital and they were married 24 Jan 1866 in Brooklyn, NY. Later the family moved to Illinois and eventually August and Mary Ellen were divorced. August, as John Krause, died 17 Dec 1915 in the Veteran's Hospital in Danville, Illinois.

It was fortunate that one of August's half-brothers, who was living in Halsey Oregon in 1917, had his Congressman write a letter to the Pensions Department, telling the story of the change of name to try to locate August. The letter was sent after August had died, but the letter stayed in the pension file, so in the 1970s a researcher for the Krause family found the letter and was able to make the connection with the Falk family in Halsey Oregon.. So when I started researching in the 1980s the information was there for me.






No comments:

Post a Comment