It has been a while since my last post - over 3 years to be exact. I wish I could be more regular in my posts but I have so much going on. Since my last post I retired, we moved, and we started a new genealogy business OurAncestories Genealogy. I have also been working on enhancing my genealogy skills and have completed course work in methodology and American research and recently started my course work in German research. We have been pretty busy. One of the things I have been working on is gathering information for a heritage tour to Germany and a family reunion. As I gather information for these events, I figured I should probably start adding them to my blog. One major thing has changed since my last post in 2023. AI has become an integral part of genealogy research. I will be using AI to help collect the data, develop the information, and write the biographies. I will also be adding sources to the information in each biography so others can find the information themselves. I hope these new changes will help my fellow researchers.
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| Private Henry John Poeppelmann 118th Ohio Infantry |
The 1850 Census is the first census where we see Henry listed with his family. They were living with the Hoying family in McLean Township, Shelby County, Ohio. Henry (age 12) and his siblings Mary (age 8), Bernard (age 5), Clemens (age 3) and Frederick (age 1) were all listed on this census. His father's real estate value is listed as $400. (2)
The family is listed in the 1860 Census, still in McLean Township. The family farm is valued at $1500 and his father's personal estate is valued at $350. The children in this census are Henry (age 20), Mary (age 17), Bernard (age 15), Clement (age 12), Fredrik (age 10) and Dina (age 8). Anna Shafer (age 30) is also living with the family. (3)
On 22 August 1862, at 22 years of age, he enlisted as a Private in Company C of the 118th Ohio Infantry. His three years of service came at a high personal cost. During the war, Henry sustained an oblique bullet wound to his left leg. This combat injury resulted in severe, long-term complications, leaving him with extensive chronic leg ulcers, chronic rheumatism, and eventually the loss of his left foot. Following the surrender of the Confederacy, Henry was honorably discharged on June 25, 1865, returning home to Ohio with a lifelong disability. (4, 5, 6)
The 118th Ohio Infantry played an important role in the Civil War. Organized at Lima, Cincinnati, and Camp Mansfield in August and September 1862, the 118th Ohio Volunteer Infantry spent its first year guarding the Kentucky Central Railroad from Buston's Station to Paris. By late 1863, the regiment was integrated into the 23rd Army Corps for General Burnside's grueling East Tennessee Campaign, enduring severe winter privations and holding their lines under fire at the Battle of Mossy Creek. In May 1864, the unit joined General Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, where they suffered catastrophic losses on May 14 at the Battle of Resaca, losing over a third of their fighting force in a single charge. Undaunted, the regiment fought through the bloody engagements at Kenesaw Mountain and the grueling Siege of Atlanta before turning north to help shatter General Hood's army at the monumental battles of Franklin and Nashville in late 1864.
In the final months of the war, the battle-tested 23rd Army Corps transferred the regiment east across the country to North Carolina. There, the 118th Ohio participated in the successful operations against Fort Anderson and the capture of Wilmington, eventually advancing to Bennett’s House to witness the final surrender of General Johnston and his army. After nearly three years of hard service, the regiment was officially mustered out on June 24, 1865, having sustained 184 total fatalities—losing 56 men killed or mortally wounded and 128 to disease. (7)
On 16 January 1868, Henry married his wife, Elisabeth (née Kenkle), a Prussian immigrant who had come to the United States in 1854. The young couple relocated westward to Patterson Township in Darke County, Ohio, to establish their own homestead. The 1870 census shows them starting out with a modest farm real estate value of $700 and personal value of $292. They had a toddler daughter, Anna (age 1) and also Carolina Kenkle (age 9) in the household. (8)
Over the next decade, Henry built a substantial agricultural operation. An 1875 plat map reveals that he owned a 79-acre tract of land in the northeastern corner of Patterson Township. Proving the tight-knit nature of the Poeppelman family, Henry’s younger brother Frank ("F.H.") owned the adjoining 79-acre plot. (9)
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| 1875 Plat Map for Patterson Township. H.J. and F.H. Poppleman own land in the upper right corner. |
According to the 1880 Federal Census Agricultural Schedule for Patterson Township, Darke County, Ohio, Henry Poeppelman is listed as the owner of an 80-acre farm, which consisted of 55 acres of tilled land and 25 acres of woodland. The total value of his farm was estimated at $2,900, with an additional $150 in farming implements and machinery and $300 in livestock, while the total estimated value of all farm productions sold, consumed, or on hand for 1879 was $714. His livestock inventory as of June 1, 1880, included 2 horses, 4 milch cows, 3 other cattle, 30 swine, 75 barnyard poultry, and 8 other poultry. Over the course of 1879, his farm had 7 acres of grassland mowed (producing 13 tons of hay), dropped 4 calves, produced 400 pounds of butter, and gathered 510 dozen eggs. The farm's crop yields for 1879 featured 3 acres of barley yielding 70 bushels, 16 acres of Indian corn yielding 600 bushels, 8 acres of oats yielding 290 bushels, 3 acres of rye yielding 60 bushels, 11 acres of wheat yielding 193 bushels, a 1/4 acre of sorghum producing 12 gallons of molasses, and a 1/2 acre of Irish potatoes yielding 50 bushels. (10)
By the 1900 Census, Henry had left his farm and was residing in Ft. Loramie. He had transitioned his career from farmer to carpenter but had been unemployed for 6 months. They were renting a house on Elm Street along with the family of August Bruken. Henry (age 58), his wife Elizabeth (age 51) and three of their children, Mary (age 26), Josephine (age 21) and Henry (age 11) occupied the home. Mary was a seamstress. Henry and Elizabeth had 8 children, only 7 were still living at this time. (11)
As we near the end of Henry's life, he is living with his wife Elizabeth and two children, Emma (age 26) and Henry Jr. (age 22) in the 1910 Census. Their home was on Elm Street in Ft. Loramie. He owned the home and relied on his children for support. Emma is a dressmaker working from home and Henry Jr. is a laborer doing odd jobs. His sister, Maria Hilgefort, is a widow living next door. Henry (age 67) was never able to read or write. (12)
Henry died on 18 July 1912 after a short bought of bronchitis. He was survived by his wife, two sons, Bernard and Henry, and four daughters, Mary, Anna, Josephine, and Emma. His burial took place on 22 July in St. Michael's Cemetery. (13)
