Need help pointing me in the right direction...

[Shibboleth]

Hello,

I am at a bit of a dead end and I was hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction. In researching my ancestry I discovered my great great grandfather in the South Dakota 1885 Civil War census. Unfortunately it doesn't list his regiment.

http://history.sd.gov/Archives/forms/civlwar/confederateveteranslastname.pdf

John J. Jacobs

Here are the odd facts. He came over from Prussia in 1850 which from my understanding most German 48's were on the side of the Union. The other odd fact is that he married in June 1862 in Wisconsin.

If anyone has some insight on where I should look next for possible information I would really appreciate the help.

Thank you.

 

[AndyHall]

The John J. Jacobs in CSRs don't seem to be him, but there are quite a few John Jacobs, as well. Do you have any other data points for him that might help? Alternatively, are you sure that the John J. Jacobs in the 1885 South Dakota census is the right man?

 

[Shibboleth]

One good thing about South Dakota in the 1800's is that not many people wanted to leave civilization to live in a house made out of dirt so as far as I can tell he was the only John J. Jacobs living in McCook county at the time. Unfortunately the first real record that I have been able to find of him is his marriage in 1862 in Wisconsin. All of the rest of the information on him is self reported on census records. I can't even give a true date of birth because he was inconsistent on that date. I may have to start digging in the Wisconsin records to see if I can come up with any other information.

Thank you for the reply.

 

[Bonny Blue Flag]

A big and warm Texas welcome, Shibboleth!

You have come to the right place for all things Civil War!

Someone on this website will know.

--BBF

 

[wayne jackson]

welcome from TEXAS,where did you get that name?

 

[Littlestown]

Welcome Shibboleth. Do you have birth (even if approximate)/death dates? Do you know where he died and is buried? Any pension records?

 

[jessgettysburg1863]

Welcome to the site and
a big hello from Australia.

Jess.

 

[pattyjo]

Hello from North Carolina

 

[Shibboleth]

Thank you for the warm welcome.

He was born in approximately 1819 but he has listed it as late as 1923 and as early as 1916. He died in 1903 and was buried at Graceland Cemetery in Madison South Dakota. I have never researched pension records.

 

[kholland]

Welcome from Maryland.

 

[johan_steele]

He may have been in one of the "galvanized" regiments, I would start there and look for his name. If you can id what Regt you might be able track him via the Regt as some had records of which CS Regt thay had served in. Also see if you can track into the GAR records and see if he is listed on the GAR rolls. If he's in both then he had to have served in one of the Galvanized Regts against the Dakota & Lakota.

There is also a real possibility that the records are wrong that he only served in a US Regt & never a CS one.

The 1862 Wisconsin wedding record throws a real kink in a CS service record.

 

[Littlestown]

Thank you for the warm welcome.

He was born in approximately 1819 but he has listed it as late as 1923 and as early as 1916. He died in 1903 and was buried at Graceland Cemetery in Madison South Dakota. I have never researched pension records.

Are you researching on Ancestry?

 

[AndyHall]

Are you researching on Ancestry?

He is included in a family tree on Ancestry, by user Wookiemat17. No clarification on the CW service, though.

 

[kel1985]

Welcome from Pittsburgh, I guarantee there is someone on this board who can steer you in the right direction.

 

[Shibboleth]

He may have been in one of the "galvanized" regiments, I would start there and look for his name. If you can id what Regt you might be able track him via the Regt as some had records of which CS Regt thay had served in. Also see if you can track into the GAR records and see if he is listed on the GAR rolls. If he's in both then he had to have served in one of the Galvanized Regts against the Dakota & Lakota.

There is also a real possibility that the records are wrong that he only served in a US Regt & never a CS one.

The 1862 Wisconsin wedding record throws a real kink in a CS service record.

Thank you for the information. Something doesn't add up. It may be that I located the wrong marriage information. The names and location are correct but Wisconin had and has a large population of Germans so it could be a different couple that were married on that date. The first child between them shows up in 1868 which is a long period from 1862. I do know they had one child that died. So that could have been their eldest. I just need to do better research on their time in Wisconsin.

The Ancestry family tree under wookiemat is mine. Just an FYI.

 

[DixieRifles]

There is no service records for Wisconsin.

I looked at the Pension records on Fold3. Here is what I found in the two categories of records.

Search of Widow's Pension Records

John Jacobs
Series: Illinois (not sure what that means, unless his widow filed in IL)
Service: A 36 Wis Inf


Civil War and later Pension Records

John Jacobs - Co. D 32 Wis Inf

John Jacobs - Co. A 36 Wis Inf - Date of filing Mar 29, 1865 (I assume this means his widow applied for pension in 1865, so he had died during the war??)

 

[ExNavyPilot]

If you go to the Wisconsin Historical Society website, which taps into the extensive state archives on Civil War vets, you'll see that there were a lot of John Jacobs from Wisconsin. ( http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/roster/ )

Here's the page from the website.

If you determine that one of these is your John Jacobs, you can get his service record from the Society for $12.

Good luck in your research...and welcome to the forum!

 

[DixieRifles]

There were other John Jacobs in the Pension Records that I searched. I just eliminated the ones that had other middle initials.

 

[marlenej]

Hi,
I don't know if this will help, but it might give you some clues:

The 1885 SD Veteran's Census indicates that John J. Jacobs enlisted in April 1861. Given that the Battle of Fort Sumter took place on April 12, 1861, and the Baltimore Riot five days later on April 17, 1861, I'd start by looking at Confederate records for South Carolina, Louisiana, Maryland, and Virginia. Create a list of possible candidates from the NPS Soldiers and Sailors database and then look at the service records on Fold3 to eliminate soldiers who died. (If John Jacobs did, in fact, receive a Civil War pension, you could also try to contact the South Dakota State Archives to obtain his pension records.)

As an aside, look carefully at census returns. You mentioned that they lost one child, but in 1900, John's wife indicated that she had 7 children of which 4 survived. The other three (John, Charles, and Augusta) died between 1870 and 1880. Only the last child, Annie Elizabeth, was born in Dakota Territory in 1879, which gives you a timeframe for when the family left Milwaukee.

~Marlene

 

[Battalion]

Hello,

I am at a bit of a dead end and I was hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction. In researching my ancestry I discovered my great great grandfather in the South Dakota 1885 Civil War census. Unfortunately it doesn't list his regiment.

http://history.sd.gov/Archives/forms/civlwar/confederateveteranslastname.pdf

John J. Jacobs

Here are the odd facts. He came over from Prussia in 1850 which from my understanding most German 48's were on the side of the Union. The other odd fact is that he married in June 1862 in Wisconsin.

If anyone has some insight on where I should look next for possible information I would really appreciate the help.

Thank you.

1850 Census
Orleans Parish, LA
(taken 12 November 1850)

John J. Jacobs - Age 31 (b. ca. 1819) - shoemaker - b.Germany

New Orleans was a typical entry point for immigrants...but John Jacobs is a very common name.
No need to get excited.