William Finkler
2nd great-grandfather of Nancy Piggush
Private Co. C 10th Michigan Cavalry
Dates of Service: 15 Feb 1865 - 11 Nov 1865
Early Life: William Finkler (Finckler, Finkle’or Finklar)1 was born in 1840 in Lorraine County, Ohio according to his Civil War Volunteer Enlistment documents.2 His parents, Jacob Peter Finkler (b.1805, d. 09-01-1875) and Margaret (Umlor) Finkler (b.08-15-1807, d. 05-20-1887) were immigrants from Germany, probably near the states of Hesse or Bavaria. William was the fourth of eight children. The Finkler family moved from Huron County Ohio to Wright Township, Ottawa County, MI in the early 1840s.3 The Finklers lived on a farm approximately 1/2 mile south of the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Wright.4 They lived and worked with their relatives and friends, mostly other German Catholic immigrants. As was the case with most immigrant communities of the mid-nineteenth century, the community was close knit. The German language predominated.
On June 25, 1864 William purchased 40 acres in Wright Township from George and Sophrona Porter: (T)he East quarter of the South West quarter of Section (11). . .In Township (8)... North Range (13). . .West...containing Forty acres of land. . . more or less.5 William probably farmed this acreage the few short months before he enlisted or before that if he rented the ground.
Service in the Union: William enlisted in Company C of the Tenth Michigan Cavalry at Grand Rapids on February 15, 1865.6 Was his reasoning to select a service for which he felt he was suited rather than being drafted into the Infantry? We are not privy to why he did so. We know his close neighbor, Anthony Host, enlisted in the same unit about the same time.7 John Omlor, who must have been a friend of William’s was already a trooper in Company C.8
By February 22 of 1865, William was in Jackson, MI, probably at Camp Blair.9 He arrived in Knoxville, TN with other new 10th MI Cavalry recruits, on Thursday, March 16, 1865. According to Arthur Calvin Mellette’s diary, the men would have stepped off the train with their feet sinking into miserably frigid mud while being pelted by an equally cold and wet downpour.10
Yet, a March 27, 1865 letter of the Rev. Henry Cherry describes a different view of Knoxville and the camp to which William was posted:
[W]e have been located on the opposite side of the Holstein (sic) river from Knoxville. We are so high up the hill that we have a fair & beautiful view of the city & the river. . . Directly back of our camp & about 200
feet higher than we are, is a strong fort with 8 Cannon & to the South of us a
quarter mile distant & about as high as the fort back of us is another larger & stronger fort with 12 guns. Fort Sanders is in full view from where we are, on the
Knoxville side of the river.11
Sadly, days after his arrival at the 10th MI’s camp William, like so many of his comrades, fell ill. Fellow trooper and neighbor, Anthony Host, described William’s condition:
He was taken sick with the mumps and by exposure in camp the mumps went down on him. . .he took cold. . .was taken to the asylum Hospital at Knoxville Tennessee in three or four days he got better and went to convalescent camp and by reason of exposure and army diet contracted stomach trouble was treated there and after about two weeks went to the Regiment from that time on until about the first of June following got medicine and contracted stomach trouble and was troubled with the stomach from that time until he died.12
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The March 1865 Monthly Returns for the 10th MI Cavalry list William as sick, and at the Dismount Camp in Knoxville, TN. The April Monthly Returns list him as sick at Knoxville. A later entry in the same month lists him at the Dismount Camp but not on the the sick list. The May entry shows him at the same camp.13 Troopers at a dismount camp performed numerous duties, such as bringing in herds of mules and horses from distant places, obtaining forage or grazing the animals, serving picket or guard duty, horse shoeing, veterinary work, chopping wood, building living quarters, caring for the sick, horse mounted patrols, drills—dismounted and on horseback—,guarding prisoners, and engaging in battle actions when a nearby post was under attack. Again we know nothing about the duties Private Finkler performed.
William, along with his fellow troopers suffered, through the March cold and the April rains in Knoxville.14 Yet, on the evening of April 10 he surely did not miss hearing Knoxville’s ringing church bells and the roaring cannons of the military posts’ celebrating the news of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Sadly too, William would not have missed the bellowing of those same cannons but four days later, sounding the tragic wailing for the country’s murdered President.15
With news of the war’s end, William’s and his fellow troopers’ hearts must have soared with dreams they’d soon be home. But that was not to be. Even after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, military service dragged on for William: In June 1865 the 10th MI Cavalry was encamped at Lenoir, TN some twenty miles southwest of Knoxville.16 It would remain at Lenoir until September 2d when it moved south and a bit further west to Sweetwater, TN. There the regiment was refitted and provided sound horses.On September 24 the regiment was ordered to West Jackson, TN. It moved by rail going by way of Chattanooga to Nashville and then to Johnsonville, TN where the regiment’s horses were shod.17
Mustering out for William came two months later, first at Memphis, TN. William was paid and totally out of service on November 15th.18
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There are no known photos of William Finkler. His enlistment papers describe him as “blue eyes, dark hair, fair complexion is five feet 9 inches high.” The above two photos are of William’s oldest brother Jacob Peter Finkler (also a Civil War veteran) and his youngest brother Henry Finkler and their wives. (Photos copied from Chester Township History & Genealogy, my place.frontier.com, accessed 02/15/2021.
Home again: There is scant information about William's life after his military service. On September 26, 1866 he married Helana/Hellana (“Lana”) Schwarz (Schwartz/Swartz).19 The marriage took place at either St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Wright (which was then a missionary church sponsored by St. Mary Catholic Church in Grand Rapids) or at St. Mary’s (where the marriage records were found). On November 15,1867 Lana brought their first child, Frances Catherine (“Kate”) Finkler into the world. Kate had only a few short months of nurture with her mother. Lana suffered some mental illness or breakdown. She was admitted to the Michigan Asylum Hospital in Kalamazoo in late June 1868. But the cause of her death, only 45 days later, is recorded as from “consumption”.20 No doubt life was extremely difficult for William due to the loss of his young wife, having to care for 9 month old Kate, his own sickness, and the need to keep up a farm for his livelihood. It is probable that baby Kate was cared for by William’s sister, Mary (Finkler) Krupp and her husband Jacob.
On February 15, 1870 William married again to Magdalena (“Lena”) Kramer at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in the Town of Frank, Seneca County, Ohio.21 William and Lena returned to Wright and probably lived on and farmed the property William had purchased. On November 25, 1870 Lena gave birth to John Francis Finkler.
On May 17, 1871 William passed to his eternal reward. Two days later he was buried in St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Wright. According to the church records, William was 32 years of age.22 There is no known Ottawa County certificate recording the death and cause for William.23 In an affidavit, William’s doctor, Charles E. Koon, M.D. affirms that he was well acquainted with William when William enlisted and at that time William was an exceptionally healthy and able bodied man. Dr. Koon also related the following:
From the latter part of 1865 to the time of his death in May, 1871 I treated him several times for Bilious Colic & Obstruction of the Bowels from which he had never to my knowledge suffered before enlistment in said service. I am sure if he had I should have known as I was the Family Physician from 1856. . . .. I remember his death in 1871 from the above mentioned disease.24
The widowed Lena moved back to Ohio with her baby son, John. Lena, herself, would die on September 6, 1872, leaving the 2 year old orphaned, Johnny, to be raised by Lena’s family and friends in Ohio. Little three year old orphaned Kate would be raised, cared for and loved by her Aunt Mary and Uncle, Jacob Krupp. Frances-Kate matured into a beautiful young woman who married Charles Gross. They became the parents of 13 children and lived in Wright Township. John Finkler married Catherine Holmer. They lived in Bellevue, Ohio and became the parents of 11 children. Though he had but two children William’s descendent’s now number in the hundreds.25
A Tribute: While William’s few month’s of service in the Union were not marked by an officer’s uniform, or recorded in accolades of his heroism, it is surely the case that he like so many soldiers and sailors of the Union, gave up his health, a family, and a long life, for our benefit and in order that our country remain a more perfect Union, a United States.
GRAVESITE: St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Wright Twnshp. Ottawa County MI.
Compiled by: Nancy Piggush, 2015
Updated: February 2021
1 Early documents display various spellings for the Finkler surname: Finkle’ with the accent was found in an early church record, Finklar was found in an early U.S. Census, Finckler is on the grave marker.
2 Compiled Service Record, Finkler, Wm., Pvt. Co.C, 10th Michigan Cav.; Publication No. M545, National Archives, Washington D.C. (hereafter "Finkler Service Record”). The spelling for the county in William’s Volunteer Enlistment and muster rolls varies as Leorrane, Lorane, and Lorain County, Ohio. Additionally, it appears William signed the Enlistment papers by his mark, an “X.” with another writing in William’s name.
3 See Top of The County—1776 to 1976, Compiler: Bicentennial Heritage Committee, (Grand Rapids: A&A Affiliates, Inc. 1976) p. 49
4 Ibid.
5 From the records of the
Ottawa County MI Register of Deeds, Grand Haven, MI.
6 Finkler Service Record.
7 Compiled Service Record, Host, Anth., Pvt Co. C. 10th Michigan Cav.; Publication No. M545, National Archives, Washington D.C. Host was mustered out of service on June 30, 1865 by order of the War Department.
8 Compiled Service Record, Omlor, John, Pvt. Co. C. 10th Michigan Cav.; Publication No. M545. National Archives, Washington D.C. On 10-24-1863 Omlor enlisted for three years. He mustered out November 1865.
9 The Michigan historical marker at Camp Blair reads in part: During. . . (the) Civil War. . . one of Michigan's military headquarters was In Jackson. Camp Blair was planned 1863 as a draft rendezvous point and as a center for convalescing troops. Named for incumbent governor Austin Blair, a Jackson resident, it was built on this site to house 2,500 soldiers. The 11-acre camp comprised offices, a hospital, barracks, and store-houses. The first troops arrived during the spring of 1864. In the year following the war over 22,000 Michigan troops returned home via Camp Blair. The June 27, 1866, Jackson Weekly Citizen reported demolition of the camp started: It will only be remembered among the histories of the Great Rebellion. The location of Camp Blair was lost until members of Sons of Union Veterans researched the site in 2006.
10 The Civil War Diary of Arthur Calvin Mellette,” ed. by G.W. Wolf & J. Kant, Covington County Historical Soc., Watertown, S.D. 1983, p.20.
11 William Hardy, The Toils and Opportunities of War: A Michigan Chaplain in East Tennessee, Journal of East Tennessee History, 77 (2005) p. 7 (Rev. Henry Cherry March 27, 1865 letter to Amos Gould in Owosso, MI.)
12 Affidavit of Anthony Host, 6/5/1895 in the F. Gross & J. Finkler Dependants’ Pension Application under Vet. Wm. Finkler Co. C, 10th MI Can. No.2276, NARA, Washington, D.C. (hereafter “F. Gross & J. Finkler Pen. App.)
13 Michigan Historical Center, Seeking Michigan: Tenth MI Cav. 1865 April to May, Monthly Returns to Adjutant General,59-14 Ovs 66 Folder 6.
14 David H. Kimble Diary, Company G Tenth Michigan Cavelery (sic), published in 1900 at MI (publisher unknown). See diary entries for March & April 1865.
15 See the news article Death of Lincoln in Brownlow’s Knoxville and Rebel Ventilator, April 11, 1865.
16 L.S. Trowbridge, A Brief History of the Tenth Michigan Cavalry, (Detroit: Friesema Bros. Printing, 1905) p.42. And See the note at the bottom of the Sept. 1865 Monthly Return for the Tenth MI Cav. to Adjutant General (Sept. Mo. Ret.)
17 Seeking Michigan: Tenth MI Cav. September 1865 Monthly Return to Adjutant General 59-14 Ovs 66 Folder 6
18 See the summary 10th Regiment Michigan Cavalry at MIGenWeb, accessed 2/17/21.
19 Marriage certificate of William Finkler and Lana Schwartz acquired from Grand Rapids, MI, Catholic Diocese. The certificate recites Lana’s first name as Magdalena. Yet, none of the documents in the F. Gross & J.Finkler Pension App. refer to her as Magdalena. The documents refer to her as “Hellana” or “Lana”.
20 07-04-1895 Affidavit of William M. Edwards,(Superintendent of Kalamazoo Asylum), F. Gross & J. Finkler Pen. App.
21 08-20-1897 affidavit of Rev. J.L. Boehmer, F. Gross & J. Finkler Pen. App.
22 1871 Death and Burial Records
of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Wright Township, Ottawa County, MI.
23 Thomas Murphy an Ottawa County Notary Public affirmed the following: “I hereby certify that there is no official record of the death of the soldier William Finkler. It was the duty of the assessing officer to report all deaths and the cause thereof but said officer neglected to report such deaths to county clerk as the law decreed at that time.”, F.Gross & J. Finkler Pen. App
24 Affidavit of Charles E. Koon, M.D. received in the U.S. Pension Office on 07-25-1895, F. Gross & J. Finkler Pen. App.
25 The families and names of many of these descendants may be found in the Charles and Catherine Gross Family Reunion— August 15, 2004 genealogy manual, Compiled by: The Gross Family Reunion Committee. Edited by Chris Brown, who is a great, great, great grandson of William Finkler.