Civil War Veterans

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, I wanted to honor the veterans in our family. In all of the cases listed below, the men who fought were all born on foreign soil. Each was born in a different country. All were immigrants to the United States with their families. These men must have felt compelled to fight for new life that they and their family had established.

John Loll, my 3rd great granduncle, was born in Marcholsheim, Alsace, France on 08 Oct 1843. He is the son of Antoine Loll and Mary Ann Jehl, my 4th great grandparents. He arrived in the United States on 07 Oct 1852 at the Port of New York when he was 9 years old with his family. At the age of 18 he would serve in the Union Army. In February of 1862 he would be wounded in battle and would die as a casualty of war on June 10, 1862 in a hospital in Washington, D.C.

John Lauer, was the husband of my 3rd great grandaunt Francisca Loll. Francisca was the sister of John Loll above and the daughter of Antoine Loll and Mary Ann Jehl, my 4th great grandparents. John was born 15 May 1841 in Baveria, Germany the son of George Lauer and Ursula Bendorfer. John is said to arrived with his parents to the United States in 1846. John would have been around 20 at the start of the war. A Proud People A Proud Heritage, compiled by the compiled by the History Committee of St. Joseph Parish, Lucinda, Pa. indicates that John was taken as a prisoner of war on April 25, 1864. He later re-joined his regiment on December 16, 1864.

James McDonald, my 3rd great granduncle, as told in family stories handed down over the years is believed to have fought in the Civil war. I have personally not verified this information but a grave marker recorded at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Crown, Clarion County, Pennsylvania found in Virginia McDonald, my 1st cousin 3x removed, genealogy records indicated that James McDonald was corporal in the 63rd regiment of the war. James would have been about 32 at the time of the civil war. James is estimated to be born around 1829 in Ireland, the son of David McDonald and Bridget, my 4th great grandparents. As told by Virginia McDonald,

"Michael McDonald's brothers were scrappers and some of them fought in the Civil War." - Virginia McDonald

The Michael McDonald she references was her grandfather and my 3rd great grandfather. I am hopeful that future research will indicate other Civil War veterans in the McDonald branch of the family based on Virginia's first hand accounts of visiting the Michael McDonald family as a child.

References:

1. The Lolls, Book I. The Antonine Loll Family Tree, Page 5
2. The Lolls, Book I. Summary Data on Anthony and Mary Ann Keal Loll Family, Page 10
3. A Proud People A Proud Heritage, compiled by the compiled by the History Committee of St. Joseph Parish, Lucinda, Pa.
4. Find A Grave Memorial# 114581616 www.findagrave.com
5. National Park Service. U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
6. U.S.,1890 Veterans Schedules (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com, 2005), McDonald, James. James started his military service as a private in the 63rd Regiment Volunteers of F company.  His service was  August 1861 through October 1863. (2 years and 2 months)  He was shot in the right arm.
7. A. J. Davis, History of Clarion County Pennsylvania: with Illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers (Syrcuse, N. Y.: D. Mason & Co., 1887), Brief Personals. Loll, Joseph. Page xxxiii.
8. A. J. Davis, History of Clarion County Pennsylvania: with Illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers (Syrcuse, N. Y.: D. Mason & Co., 1887), Chapter XIX Company F, 63rd Regiment. Battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines. Page 194-195.
9. A. J. Davis, History of Clarion County Pennsylvania: with Illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers (Syrcuse, N. Y.: D. Mason & Co., 1887), Chapter XIX Company F, 63rd Regiment. Battle of Chancellorsville. Page 199-200.
10. A. J. Davis, History of Clarion County Pennsylvania: with Illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers (Syrcuse, N. Y.: D. Mason & Co., 1887), Chapter XIX Company F, 63rd Regiment. Page 201
11. A. J. Davis, History of Clarion County Pennsylvania: with Illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers (Syrcuse, N. Y.: D. Mason & Co., 1887), Chapter XIX Company F, 63rd Regiment. Page 202.
12. A. J. Davis, History of Clarion County Pennsylvania: with Illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers (Syrcuse, N. Y.: D. Mason & Co., 1887), Chapter XIX Company F, 63rd Regiment. Page 207.
13. John Woolf Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and personal history of the Allegheny Valley Pennsylvania, III vols. (New York:  Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), Page 839. View the book here: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/John_Woolf_Jordan_Genealogical_and_Personal_Histor?id=VNQqAAAAYAAJ