William P. Stephenson was born in 1834 in Ontario, Canada.
William left Canada and came to Michigan sometime before the war broke out, eventually settling in the Lansing area. In the spring of 1861 William became a member of the Lansing company called the “Williams’ Rifles,” whose members would serve as the nucleus of Company G.
He stood 5’5” with hazel eyes, brown hair and a sallow complexion and was a 27-year-old engineer possibly living in Ingham County when he enlisted in Company G on May 10, 1861. By the end of the year William had been detailed as a blacksmith at Fort Lyon, Virginia, and by the end of April, 1862, he had been appointed field guard. By the first of August he had been recommended for a discharge. Although he was reported to have allegedly deserted on September 21, 1862, at Upton’s Hill, Virginia, and was dropped from the company rolls in compliance with G.O. no. 92 (War Department regarding deserters), in fact William been admitted to Fifth Street hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 12, 1862, and was discharged for a varicocele on October 15, 1862 at Fifth Street hospital. (The charge of desertion was removed in December of 1872.)
It is quite possible that William remained in Pennsylvania and that he might have been the same William P. Stephenson who enlisted on August 12, 1862, in Company F, One hundred twenty-fourth Pennsylvania infantry, and who was mustered out of service on May 16, 1863, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
It is not known if William ever returned to Michigan. He was probably the same William P. Stephenson who, in 1880, was working as a merchant and living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his wife Pennsylvania native Sarah (b. 1842).
He was probably married to a second wife named Irene.
In 1873 he applied for and received a pension (no. 140270).
William died on October 20, 1918, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was presumably buried there.
In 1918 his widow was living in Pennsylvania when she applied for and received a pension (no. 867404).
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Monday, November 01, 2010
Jacob Stegg
Jacob Stegg was born in 1829 in Germany.
Jacob immigrated to America sometime before 1857.
He married Miranda Lowry (1822-1901) on January 6, 1857, in Alexandria, Clark County, Missouri, and reportedly resided at one time in Cleveland, Ohio, before moving to Detroit shortly before the war broke out. He was a professional musician and had played with Graul’s Detroit City Band.
Jacob was 32 years old and probably a musician living in Grand Rapids when he enlisted as Principal (or First) Musician in the Band on June 10, 1861. He was apparently in charge of the Regimental band by the time it left Grand Rapids on June 13, 1861. Jacob was reported as “entitled to pay as Sergeant of the First Class Musician from January 1, 1862 to January 31, 1862, and to the pay of Band Leader from February 1 to February 28, 1862.” Jacob was mustered out of service on August 13, 1862, at Harrison’s Landing, Virginia, probably when the Regimental bands in the Army of the Potomac were abolished.
According to eyewitness testimony, however, Stegg may not in fact have been at Harrison’s Landing. August Schmidt, a good friend and former member of Company C, testified to the pension board in 1890 that he and Stegg
were good friends, and it may be that there are only few living that knew him as well. He was Bandmaster in the [Old Third] and went out with the Regiment in June 1861. I believe today that the first cause of his lung sickness was the march through the City of Baltimore, where the Band played Dixie continually from the northern depot to the other depot, a distance of about 2 1/2 miles, and there he drank ice cold water and almost fainted, then again all the long distance through Washington the Band played again and the next day at our first camp near chain bridge Stegg was very sick. After the first Bull Run our Regiment was in camp near the Potomac on Hunter’s place, and we did mostly fatigue duty and the band had rest and Stegg gained his health again, also kept well while we were building Fort Richardson and afterwards took a forward position in the woods from where we did picket duty -- during all that time Stegg was apparently in good condition, and he kept his Band well in hand.
Then we went down the Potomac to Fortress Monroe and then commenced the so-called Peninsula campaign, during that campaign Stegg took sick on the lungs and at times would spit blood after coughing. We often told him to go to the hospital and get cured but he was very ambitious and would not. After the battle of Fair Oaks [May 31, 1862] I cannot say whether I saw him or not, our Regiment was very much on picket duty. Then came the Seven Days fight which was for our (Kearny’s Division) a nine days’ fight. At Harrison’s Landing our Band was discharged but I cannot recollect that I saw Stegg there. The reason I can say so much about Jacob Stegg, is that Jacob was a German and I belonged to the German company C [and he] often, or as often as circumstances would allow, visited our [company and he] often shared our meals. In conclusion I will say that Stegg was a very sick man on the lungs and stomach as well I believe and had he taken our well meant advise [sic] to go to the hospital in time he might live today.
Julius Faenger, formerly Lieutenant of Company C, wrote to the board in 1890 that Stegg “complained of being very sick after the first Bull Run battle” and was experiencing problems with his lungs “spitting blood as far as I can recall he became very sound and strong again during our stay in front of Washington and Alexandria - but was taken severely ill in the campaign of the peninsula having a bad cough and spitting blood.” He added that “The [Regimental] Band was discharged at Harrison’s Landing but cannot say for certain that I saw him there.”
On June 30, 1886, James L. Reed, former Band member and then living in Hastings, Barry County, wrote to Stegg’s widow acknowledging that he faintly remembered “some of the circumstances set forth in the inclosed [sic] affidavit [Schmidt’s?] He did recall that Stegg “complained of some trouble with his lungs. I do not remember any circumstance of the Band having to play as set forth in said affidavit, where the horns, or horn, became clogged with dust etc.”
Rudolph Ludwig of Cincinnati, Ohio, testified in 1888 that Stegg (and probably his wife) rented a room from him in Washington while Stegg was still in the service in early 1862 on into 1863. Stegg apparently worked in Washington as a musician, playing principally the violin. Ludwig claimed that Stegg was “greatly affected by disease of the lungs, causing cough, weakness and other symptoms of such disease and in ‘his] opinion entirely disabling him for manual labor: he was able at times to follow his occupation of a musician . . . but was often disabled from that.” Ludwig did not see Stegg alive again but he lived near Stegg’s widow Miranda between 1871 and 1881.
M. J. Shiff, manager of the Scanlan Minstrel troupe in New York City, testified in 1886 that about January of 1864 Stegg was hired by the troupe, comprised mostly of violinists, and Stegg traveled with the troupe through most of 1864.
By the end of 1866 Jacob was living in Quincy, Illinois where he was undergoing treatment for consumption by a Dr. Julius Guenther between October 22, 1866, and March 1, 1867, when he died of consumption, at his residence on the west side of Tenth Street, between Maine and Jersey Streets in Quincy. He was buried in Woodland cemetery: block 10, lot 17, Quincy. (There is also one Elizabeth Lowry, who died in 1885, buried in the same plot.)
In 1867 his widow applied for and received pension no. 271,740, drawing $8.00 per month beginning in March of 1867 and increased to $12.00 on March 19, 1886. She was still living in Quincy in 1890.
Jacob immigrated to America sometime before 1857.
He married Miranda Lowry (1822-1901) on January 6, 1857, in Alexandria, Clark County, Missouri, and reportedly resided at one time in Cleveland, Ohio, before moving to Detroit shortly before the war broke out. He was a professional musician and had played with Graul’s Detroit City Band.
Jacob was 32 years old and probably a musician living in Grand Rapids when he enlisted as Principal (or First) Musician in the Band on June 10, 1861. He was apparently in charge of the Regimental band by the time it left Grand Rapids on June 13, 1861. Jacob was reported as “entitled to pay as Sergeant of the First Class Musician from January 1, 1862 to January 31, 1862, and to the pay of Band Leader from February 1 to February 28, 1862.” Jacob was mustered out of service on August 13, 1862, at Harrison’s Landing, Virginia, probably when the Regimental bands in the Army of the Potomac were abolished.
According to eyewitness testimony, however, Stegg may not in fact have been at Harrison’s Landing. August Schmidt, a good friend and former member of Company C, testified to the pension board in 1890 that he and Stegg
were good friends, and it may be that there are only few living that knew him as well. He was Bandmaster in the [Old Third] and went out with the Regiment in June 1861. I believe today that the first cause of his lung sickness was the march through the City of Baltimore, where the Band played Dixie continually from the northern depot to the other depot, a distance of about 2 1/2 miles, and there he drank ice cold water and almost fainted, then again all the long distance through Washington the Band played again and the next day at our first camp near chain bridge Stegg was very sick. After the first Bull Run our Regiment was in camp near the Potomac on Hunter’s place, and we did mostly fatigue duty and the band had rest and Stegg gained his health again, also kept well while we were building Fort Richardson and afterwards took a forward position in the woods from where we did picket duty -- during all that time Stegg was apparently in good condition, and he kept his Band well in hand.
Then we went down the Potomac to Fortress Monroe and then commenced the so-called Peninsula campaign, during that campaign Stegg took sick on the lungs and at times would spit blood after coughing. We often told him to go to the hospital and get cured but he was very ambitious and would not. After the battle of Fair Oaks [May 31, 1862] I cannot say whether I saw him or not, our Regiment was very much on picket duty. Then came the Seven Days fight which was for our (Kearny’s Division) a nine days’ fight. At Harrison’s Landing our Band was discharged but I cannot recollect that I saw Stegg there. The reason I can say so much about Jacob Stegg, is that Jacob was a German and I belonged to the German company C [and he] often, or as often as circumstances would allow, visited our [company and he] often shared our meals. In conclusion I will say that Stegg was a very sick man on the lungs and stomach as well I believe and had he taken our well meant advise [sic] to go to the hospital in time he might live today.
Julius Faenger, formerly Lieutenant of Company C, wrote to the board in 1890 that Stegg “complained of being very sick after the first Bull Run battle” and was experiencing problems with his lungs “spitting blood as far as I can recall he became very sound and strong again during our stay in front of Washington and Alexandria - but was taken severely ill in the campaign of the peninsula having a bad cough and spitting blood.” He added that “The [Regimental] Band was discharged at Harrison’s Landing but cannot say for certain that I saw him there.”
On June 30, 1886, James L. Reed, former Band member and then living in Hastings, Barry County, wrote to Stegg’s widow acknowledging that he faintly remembered “some of the circumstances set forth in the inclosed [sic] affidavit [Schmidt’s?] He did recall that Stegg “complained of some trouble with his lungs. I do not remember any circumstance of the Band having to play as set forth in said affidavit, where the horns, or horn, became clogged with dust etc.”
Rudolph Ludwig of Cincinnati, Ohio, testified in 1888 that Stegg (and probably his wife) rented a room from him in Washington while Stegg was still in the service in early 1862 on into 1863. Stegg apparently worked in Washington as a musician, playing principally the violin. Ludwig claimed that Stegg was “greatly affected by disease of the lungs, causing cough, weakness and other symptoms of such disease and in ‘his] opinion entirely disabling him for manual labor: he was able at times to follow his occupation of a musician . . . but was often disabled from that.” Ludwig did not see Stegg alive again but he lived near Stegg’s widow Miranda between 1871 and 1881.
M. J. Shiff, manager of the Scanlan Minstrel troupe in New York City, testified in 1886 that about January of 1864 Stegg was hired by the troupe, comprised mostly of violinists, and Stegg traveled with the troupe through most of 1864.
By the end of 1866 Jacob was living in Quincy, Illinois where he was undergoing treatment for consumption by a Dr. Julius Guenther between October 22, 1866, and March 1, 1867, when he died of consumption, at his residence on the west side of Tenth Street, between Maine and Jersey Streets in Quincy. He was buried in Woodland cemetery: block 10, lot 17, Quincy. (There is also one Elizabeth Lowry, who died in 1885, buried in the same plot.)
In 1867 his widow applied for and received pension no. 271,740, drawing $8.00 per month beginning in March of 1867 and increased to $12.00 on March 19, 1886. She was still living in Quincy in 1890.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Roelof Steffins updated 12/29/2023
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| Steffens plot in Zeeland Cemetery |
Roelof Steffins was born on June 28, 1837, in the Netherlands, the son of Hendrick (b. 1795) and Maatje (b. 1795).
Roelof’s family immigrated to America and evnetually settled in western Michigan where by 1860 Roelof was working as a lumberman and living with his parents in Blendon, Ottawa County.
Roelof, known also as "Ralph," stood 6’0” with blue eyes, light hair and a light complexion and was 23 years old and probably still living in Blendon when he enlisted in Company F on May 13, 1861. He was absent sick in the hospital in August of 1862, but eventually recovered and reenlisted on December 24, 1863, at Brandy Station, Virginia, crediting Vergennes, Kent County. He was presumably absent on veteran’s furlough in January of 1864, and probably returned to the Regiment on or about the first of February.
Roelof was transferred as a Sergeant to Company F, Fifth Michigan infantry upon consolidation of the Third and Fifth Michigan Regiments on June 10, 1864, and was shot in the left side of his chest on June 21 near Petersburg, Virginia. Dan Crotty, formerly of Company F (in both Third and Fifth Michigan infantry), wrote some years after the war that he came across Steffins in a field hospital near Petersburg, “shot through the lungs,” he wrote, “and in a fearful way. The maggots crawl all over his body. No one has as yet seen to him, for there is not enough help, and a great many died for want of care. I go to work and wash his wound, and get some clean drawers and a short for him. He seems to think he is going to die, but I cheer him up as well as I can, in the mean time I have no hopes for his recovery -- but he got over it, and now is at home after the war and doing well.”
According to the Grand Rapids Eagle, in mid-October Roelof returned to his home in western Michigan, “on a furlough of 20 days to visit his family and friends in this vicinity. Young Steffins has been in numerous bloody battles with that gallant command, escaping serious injury until the 16th of last June, when, in a battle before Petersburg, he was seriously wounded by a musket ball, which passed directly through his body. Since the battle, and up to within a short time past, he has been in hospital. He is still afflicted by the wound, but is in a fair way to permanently recover his health.”
Roelof remained absent wounded through February of 1865, and entered Broad & Cherry Streets hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 1, 1865. He was mustered out as Corporal on July 5, 1865, at Jeffersonville, Indiana.
After the war Roelof returned to Michigan.
He married Dutch-born Jentje “Jane” (1838-1912), and they had at least five and possibly six children: Harvey (b. 1868) and Mary (b. 1869), Katie (b. 1875), Jenny (b. 1874) and Jacob (b. 1879), and possibly another son.
By 1870 he was working as a farmer and living with his wife and and two children in Blendon, Ottawa County; just two houses away lived another former member of the Third Michigan infantry, Wilbur Scott and his family. By 1880 Ralph was working as a farmer and still living in Blendon with his wife and children; he lived just several houses away from James Mowry who had also served in the Old Third during the war.
He was a member of the Old Third Michigan Infantry Association.
He was still living in South Blendon, Ottawa County in 1883 when he was drawing $8.00 per month for a wounded left chest (pension no. 100,649, dated October of 1869), and he resided in South Blendon for some years.
Roelof died on February 4, 1904, at his home in Holland, Ottawa County. His Petersburg wound eventually caught up with him, and according to an obituary, Steffens “died suddenly of internal bleeding caused by a gunshot wound received in the battle of Petersburg. The mine ball passed through his right lung.” He was buried in Zeeland cemetery.
In March of 1904 (?) his widow applied for and received a pension (no. 658545).
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Anton Steffes
Anton Steffes was born in 1829 or 1834 in Muhlbach, Germany, the son of John and Mary (Ohlich).
Anton left Germany and immigrated to America sometime before the war broke out, eventually settling in western Michigan.
He stood 5’10” with blue eyes, dark hair and a dark complexion and was a 27-year-old farmer possibly living in Allegan 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 reportedly discharged on November 19, 1861, at Fort Lyon, Virginia, for chronic rheumatism.
According to his service record, however, he was apparently sent to Columbian College hospital in Washington, DC on November 10, 1861, where he remained until he was discharged on March 1, 1862. The discharging physician noted that he suffered “from tuberculosis, for which he should be discharged from the service, and has but little rheumatism during the first week after his admission” on November 10, 1861.
Anton returned to Michigan.
He married Ohio native Louisa Strickfaden (1845-1918) and they had at least six children: Catharine (b. 1867), John (b. 1869), Susan (b. 1871), Mary (b. 1873), Anton (b. 1877) and Sophia (b. 1880).
In 1870 he was probably working as a farmer and living with his wife and two children in Jamestown, Ottawa County; his father John was probably also living with them. By 1880 Anton was working as a farmer and still living in Jamestown with his wife and children. He was living in Byron, Kent County in 1883 when he was drawing $8.00 per month in 1883 for disease of the lungs (pension no. 194,043, dated 1881).
Anton died in 1884 in North Dorr, Michigan, probably from tuberculosis.
His widow applied for and received a pension (no. 218826). By 1890 his widow was living in Jamestown, Ottawa County.
Anton left Germany and immigrated to America sometime before the war broke out, eventually settling in western Michigan.
He stood 5’10” with blue eyes, dark hair and a dark complexion and was a 27-year-old farmer possibly living in Allegan 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 reportedly discharged on November 19, 1861, at Fort Lyon, Virginia, for chronic rheumatism.
According to his service record, however, he was apparently sent to Columbian College hospital in Washington, DC on November 10, 1861, where he remained until he was discharged on March 1, 1862. The discharging physician noted that he suffered “from tuberculosis, for which he should be discharged from the service, and has but little rheumatism during the first week after his admission” on November 10, 1861.
Anton returned to Michigan.
He married Ohio native Louisa Strickfaden (1845-1918) and they had at least six children: Catharine (b. 1867), John (b. 1869), Susan (b. 1871), Mary (b. 1873), Anton (b. 1877) and Sophia (b. 1880).
In 1870 he was probably working as a farmer and living with his wife and two children in Jamestown, Ottawa County; his father John was probably also living with them. By 1880 Anton was working as a farmer and still living in Jamestown with his wife and children. He was living in Byron, Kent County in 1883 when he was drawing $8.00 per month in 1883 for disease of the lungs (pension no. 194,043, dated 1881).
Anton died in 1884 in North Dorr, Michigan, probably from tuberculosis.
His widow applied for and received a pension (no. 218826). By 1890 his widow was living in Jamestown, Ottawa County.
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