Gottlieb Hahn is the third ancestor of my son in law to have served in the Civil War. He also enlisted late in the war and sadly died on his way home in 1865.
The Biography of
Gottlieb Hahn
Civil War Veteran
By
Ann M Sinton
Copyright, 2020, Ann M Sinton
Biography
of Gottlieb Hahn (1826 – 1865)
Civil
War Veteran
Gottlieb was
born in Altdorf, Germany on Aug 9, 1826, the son of Andreas Hahn and Maria
Dorothea Henne. His father made an
application for emigration in March 1855 and arrived in May 1855. Gottlieb
immigrated with them and they settled in Shade Twp., Somerset Co, Pennsylvania.
I have found only one sibling of Gottlieb, Anna Maria, who was born in 1829 in
Germany.
Gottlieb and
his wife Catharine Civilla Hiller were married on Jan 1, 1855 in Richland Twp,
Cambria Co, Pa. by the Rev John
Stull. The first census the family is
found in is in 1860. By this time,
Gottlieb had married and has 3 young children, Matilda, Catharine and Anna. His
wife is also a native of Germany.
Gottlieb’s father, age 65, is living in the household with them. Gottlieb’s occupation is a farmer and he owns
real estate valued at $1200 with a personal estate worth $214.
In 1863, a
fourth child, John is born. About the same time Gottlieb is registered for the
Draft and about a year later he is enlisting at Chambersburg on Sep 26, 1864 in
Co C 52nd PA Infantry at age 38.
On Jan 31, 1865, his last child is born, Elizabeth.
The 52nd’s first State Color. This regiment was
organized in Oct 1861.This flag was raised over Fort Sumter as the first Union
flag in the fort since April 1861. It was also raised over Fort Ripley, Castle
Pinckney and then over Charleston.
This was the 52nd’s second State Color received
by the regiment sometime after April 26, 1865. They mustered out on July 12,
1865.
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His wife at
age 38, is left with 5 children, applied for his military pension. One witness stated the Gottlieb was a man of good character and habits and was respected by everyone in his company. He was
a sober man and had been guilty of no indiscretion that could have caused his
sickness. There is nothing in the
pension file that states whether or not the widow of Gottlieb Hahn ever
received any payment.
Catherine
Hiller Hahn and her 5 children are found still living in Shade Twp in 1870. Her
real estate is now worth $1500 and her personal estate is $625. No one in the family is shown with a job so
her assets and proceeds from her farm must be enough to care for her
family. In 1880, the family is still
intact, with 22 year old daughter, Catherine, working and son John working on a
farm. Catherine never marries again, and passes away on July 17, 1912 at age 84
in Shade Twp. She is buried in Otterbein
Cemetery in Hooversville, Pa.
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At the time of Catherine Civilla Hahn's death , she was collecting $12 a month pension for Gottlieb's service.
Interesting side story – Gottlieb’s daughter, Anna, would later survive the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889 at age 30 and live to be 100 years old as stated in her obituary.
Gottlieb is
Cullen Flanders’ great great great grandfather.
The following are excerpts from the Somerset Daily American published on Jan 21, 1946 – an essay by Elaine Swank. This essay won third place in a Bar Association Contest was entitled – “ Home Life in Early Somerset County”. This essay is mainly about home life for Gottlieb Hahn and his wife Civilla.
“” Near the middle of the
nineteenth century, Catherine Hiller departed from her home in Germany to come
to America. After thirty-six days on the
Atlantic ocean, Miss Hiller arrived in her new country. A year after her
arrival she married Gottlieb Hahn, a plasterer and stone mason whom she had
known before she left Europe. At this
time, Mr Hahn was employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The young couple began their married life on a
farm near Johnstown.
For nine happy years the Hahns
lived on this farm but one day a friend visited and told of the opportunities
in the West. The friend’s stories _____ Mr Hahn’s interest so much that impulsively he
sold the farm and made plans for traveling.
The Civil War however, caused him to cancel his plans and ideas. He, as well as many other able-bodied men,
answered the call to join the Northern army.
Before leaving, he purchased a small tract of land and a cabin in Shade
township near the _______ village of Wilbur.
The house was not so well built as the one in which they had previously
lived, but to the Hahns it was home. It
was a place where the three children, Catherine, called Katie, Matilda known
better as Tillie, and John could grow up in happy times and security.
The Log cabin which had been built
many years before was placed in a pictorial setting. The neighboring hills stood as a _____
shelter. Crisp green leaves on the aged trees _______ ______ from the _____ _____. Tall grasses
abutted the cabin ______ and looked impatiently as if to see all that
happened. “”
“” After living in the cabin for a
year, the Hahns found it necessary to add another room. Now they tried the left
as a store room. Otherwise, the house had not undergone many changes.””
“”Mrs Hahn selected sample grains
and took them to Hooversville to John___ Hoover’s Grist Mill where the grains
were ground into flour for daily use. “”
“” Mrs Hahn’s farm was one of the
few farms with a good orchard, apples, which grew in abundance, were the
favorite snack of the family and also a source of income. Many of them were sold as soon as they were
picked, others were made into cider and sold as vinegar. “”
“”The coming of cold weather raised
the question of winter clothing. During
the summer months, the children had little use for heavy winter garments. Now clothing had to be made for each member
of the family. A small field of flax and
wool sheared from a flock of sheep supplied the chief materials for the
clothing. As in other households, and
in, Mrs; Hahn’s the spinning wheel hummed continuously for many days.
Mrs Hahn busied herself with making
clothes for herself and her children.
Sitting before her spinning wheel, she often let her mind wander to the
time when this cabin was first built.
Many times her thoughts centered on the lives of the first settlers
here. They made all their own clothing. Although much of it was inadequate for their
needs.””
“”The clothing of the women and
children has changed very little, Mrs Hahn, making linsey petticoats, realized
this,_____. She glanced toward a corner on which lay neatly made mittens for
Katie and Tillie.
In the evening, friendly Mr Fidler
brought the Hahns two healthy young rabbits which he had killed while
hunting. Mrs Hahn cooked the meat. In a
large kettle over the huge fire; when a\the meat was well cooked, she added
vegetables to the rich broth. She served
the mixture at the old rough table. The children sat on stools, which, like the
table, were made of split logs; they ate from earthenware dishes.
After supper, the children gathered
before the cozy fire and listened with eagerness to stories from the Bible and
Aesop’s Fables, which their mother quietly read.””
“”During January 1865, a child was
born to Mrs Hahn. The mother named the baby Elizabeth because that was a name
of which Mr Hahn was fond. However,
Elizabeth was never able to see her father. That same year. Mrs Hahn heard that
her husband had died of typhoid in a hospital in New York. Although grief-stricken,
Mrs Hahn ____for the welfare of her family.
She was no longer able to participate in the events of the countryside.
There was work which had to be done in order that food and shelter could be
secured.
One of the events which attracted the attention of Mrs
Hahn’s family and the whole countryside was a wedding. “”
“” I remember being to two
weddings, my sister Katie’s and my daughter Ivy’s says Mrs Elizabeth Hahn
Berkebile. Oh you were at three –ours. Adds Mr Calvin Berkebile, her husband.
Sundays, Mrs Hahn, being a God
loving mother, went with her children to church services. At first, these _____
were held in the neighbors homes where rows of benches were the only seats for
the congregation. Later, they attended the Otterbein church.
Katie, Tillie, John and Elizabeth
Hahn, along with the Fidlers, Yoders and Petermans, went to school three to
five months of the year.””
“”In the fall, the neighbors helped
Mrs Hahn with the butchering. In the year 1880, when the meat was all hung in
the smoke house, one of the boys lighted a fire to cure the meat. During the evening, the fat dripping from the
meat ignited and the blaze struck the building.
Before it could be stopped, the fire spread to the cabin. Frantically, Mrs Hahn and the children
escaped. Elizabeth, who was then fifteen, was suffering from scarlet fever.
That night the entire cabin and almost everything in it were completely
destroyed by the fire.
October 13, 1885, when she was
twenty years old, Elizabeth became the bride of Calvin Berkebile, a son of a
neighboring farmer. They were married in Hooversville. Mr Berkebile was a
farmer, but had other abilities too. For
about fifteen years he was a butcher. He
also spent several years working in the mills of Pittsburgh and Johnstown. At one time, he had a news stand in
Hooversville. “”
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