Memorial Day Remembrance: Gideon Mellen

Gideon Mellen was a corporal in Company E of the 58th Illinios Infantry.  He is also my great-great-great grandfather. He was born in Ohio sometime around 1816. His first wife, Lucretia Baldwin Anthony of Atwater, Ohio died in the second year of their marriage leaving one son, Charles Mellen. Gideon remarried in 1843 to my great-great-great grandmother Sarah Ann Miller in Bucyrus, Ohio. They came west and ultimately settled in Jefferson Township, Green County, Wisconsin.

In December 1861 Gideon enlisted in Company E which was based mostly from the Chicago area with volunteers from the Freeport, Illinois area. When he enlisted he may have been around forty-five years old with a family of four children, the oldest fifteen and a fifth child he would never meet.

Here is a summary of the 58th regiment's activity through the battle of Shiloh

"This regiment was recruited at Camp Douglas, Chicago, and was
mustered in to the U. S. service on Feb. 11, 1862. It left
Camp Douglas, 887 strong, via the Illinois Central railroad,
for Cairo, and reported to Brig.-Gen. E. A. Paine on the 12th.
It was immediately furnished with arms and started from Cairo
about midnight with orders to proceed up the Ohio to Smithland,
Ky., thence up the Cumberland to the vicinity of Fort Donelson
and report to the officer in charge of the United States
forces. In the afternoon of Feb. 14 two companies were de-
ployed forward and were briskly engaged for a short time, and a
few casualties occurred during the evening and night. The reg-
iment was under fire a short time on the morning of the 15th
and again in the afternoon, and while attempting to secure an
advanced and desirable position was considerably cut up and
thrown into confusion by a masked battery, upon which it ap-
proached to within 250 yards. The conduct of the men on this
occasion was remarkable - raw in the matter of experience and
armed with the most worthless guns, they behaved as well as
veterans of a hundred battles. During the first day of the
battle of Shiloh the 58th was almost continuously under fire,
and when charge after charge had been repulsed, the regiment
was obliged to surrender a few minutes before 6 o'clock in the
evening. The loss to the regiment in the engagement was
frightful, amounting in killed, wounded and prisoners, to up-
wards of 450, of whom 218 were prisoners."

Gideon was taken prisoner after fighting in the area known as the "Hornet's Nest".  He ended up in a southern prison called Camp Oglethorpe in Macon, Georgia.  He died in October 4, 1862 in the camp mostly from starvation and sickness. This is just a brief summary.  I hope to write more.

The Hoeft Family line extended? Part 2

Johann Daniel Hoeft and Wilhelmine Roloff Hoeft are potential parents for my great-great grandfather Karl Friedrich Hoeft.  In a previous post I talked about Karl being associated with Berlinchen.  Johann and Wilhelmine are also referenced in the same records.  Johann was born about 1799 and was listed as a laborer in Berlinchen in 1870 and he was also referenced as an Ortsarmer, a designation for the poor and jobless.  He died 26 March 1876 in Berlinchen. Wilhelmine was born about 1803.  Wilhelmine died April 11, 1870 in Berlinchen.  Berlinchen Book Records

From FamilySearch.org returned records of two daughters of Johann and Wilhelmine who both died young.  Hanne Luise was born 6 December 1839 in Doelitz.  She died 24 March 1840 in Doelitz.  Dorothea Sophia Hoeft was born 2 August 1841. She died 14 November 1843 in Petznick.

So the family group looks something like this so far:

Johann Daniel Hoeft + Wilhelmine Roloff

1. Karl Friedrich Hoeft
2. Christian Friedrich Hoeft
3. Hanne Luise Hoeft
4. Johann Friedrich Hoeft
5. Dorothea Sophia Hoeft.

The two daughters names were unknown to me and according to the parish records they both died as children.

The connection to Christian Hoeft of Watertown, Wisconsin remains a question.  Someone in my Hoeft family received a wedding invitation to Maria Hoeft's wedding to John Trescher.  Her parents were Christian and Albertine Manthey Hoeft.  According to the Berlinchen records another Christian Hoeft was married to Wilhelmine Rohde and lists his parents has Johann Daniel Hoeft and Wilhelmine Hoeft.  So this Christian married to Wilhelmine could be my great-great grandfather's brother and the other Christian could be a cousin. The records on this side of the ocean have not yielded the parent's names for Christian Hoeft of Watertown.

The Hoeft family line extended? Part 1

After many years of genealogy research I had not extended my Hoeft family beyond what I basically knew when I first started in the last century.  Maybe I didn't try hard enough or ask enough questions. I recently entered the name Karl Friedrich Hoeft and a result was returned from the database Pomerania, Germany, Parish Register Transcripts, 1544-1883.

Now Karl Friedrich was not an uncommon name nor did I know of a connection with Sandow.  In a previous post I talked about a connection to Berlinchen. So what can I make of this record?  According to the tombstone in Rock Lily Cemetery in Winslow, Illinois Karl (or Charles) date of birth was listed as June 17, 1833. I will want to compare it to the death record from Green County, Wisconsin. I am not deterred by the date since June 17th could easily be July 17th.  What did the informants know and how did they know.  I am not aware of a Hoeft family bible though it could exist somewhere.

The next record I found was this:

In my records Karl married Ernestine Marie Gransee about 1864.  This record places it squarely in 1864 in Falkenberg. This village is the birthplace of their first known child Wilhemine Hoeft born in 1865. Note Karl's birth date is placed about 1834.  In the actual record itself it notes the ages.  The age for Marie Gransee is also consistent with the birth year 1841 of Ernestine Marie Gransee. Her death certificate stated her birthday as February 20, 1841.

I next found records for two people I believe to be brothers to Karl.  Christian Friedrich Hoeft and Johann Friedrich.

This connection is based on a woman named Emilie Marie Hoeft born in 1875 in Kreis Soldin to Christian Hoeft and Albertine Manthey.  My great aunt Florence Haeft Henry had kept an old wedding invitation for Emilie's marriage to John Trescher in Rock County, Wisconsin.

In a census record for 1900 the reported birth month and year was April 1836.  The record above says 8 April 1837. Close but maybe not conclusive.

Another issue is with the Berlinchen record I referenced in a previous post.  In it Christian Hoeft, son of Johann Daniel Hoeft and Wilhelmine Roloff was married to a Charlotte Louise Wilhelmine Rohde in 1861.  As I noted above the Christian Hoeft I believe is Karl's brother was married to Albertine Manthey.  Possibly Albertine was a second wife?

The other brother was Johann Frederick Hoeft.  From Familysearch.org I found the record below.

Again the birth year is off by one.  The records I have indicate a birthdate of August 2, 1840. Also his birthplace is listed on his death certificate as Zachau, Pommern.