Worn soldier boots, helmet, and dog tags

John Schaefer

Birth Year: 1831
Birth Place: Grand Duchy of Hesse (Germany)
Residence at Enlistment: Arenzville, IL
Regiment(s): Co G, 18th IL Inf Con
Military Notes:

Entered service in March 1865 and mustered out 16 December 1865 at Pine Bluff, AR. Applied for an invalid’s pension in 1890. The 1929 Illinois Roll of Honor lists a “John Schaeffer” as a veteran (war not specified) buried in Otgen [Oetgen] Cemetery in Beardstown.

Death Year: 1914
Death Place: Beardstown, IL
Burial Place: Beardstown, IL
Cemetery Name: St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery
Find-a-Grave#: 144446305
Spouse(s): Julianna Helfenbein (m. 1858 in Cass County, IL)
Remarks: Resident of Arenzville when he entered service

Alternate spelling: Shaefer. Born in 1831 in Frischborn, Grand Duchy of Hesse, he emigrated before 1858 and settled in Arenzville. A family story relates that he served in the Union Army (“under McMillian”) during the Civil War and was away long enough that his daughter Katherine did not recognize him when he returned. His obituary in the Virginia (IL) Gazette – 24 Jan 1914- states he enlisted when he was 33 years old and served under Capt R J Green (a brother to William Green of Arenzville).