Portraits

Jacob Widmann

Jacob Widmann was born in Monsheim, Enzkreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on 22 June 1832 to Johann Christoph Widmann and Christina Langjahr Widmann. Jacob was 19 years old when he left Germany for America. He appears to have been traveling with his future wife, Margaretha Reichert and her young son Andreas. Andreas’ birth record in Germany lists him as illegitimate with no father named. (It is possible that Jacob was the father of this child and that they were not allowed to marry in Germany.) The group arrived in New York aboard the “Victoria” on 29 September 1851.

Jacob and Margaretha traveled to Watertown, Wisconsin and were married on 17 June 1952 at St Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church. Andreas Reichert disappears from the records after his arrival in the US. It is presumed that he died before the birth of Jacob and Margaretha’s daughter Caroline on 8 September 1852 in Watertown. The births of William (1854), Maria (1857), John (1859), and Wilhelmine (1863) followed Caroline in Watertown where the family had a farm.

After the American Civil War started, Jacob registered for the draft in July of 1863 at Watertown. He entered service 24 March 1865 and served until 17 August 1865. He was 33 years old and married, so he would not have been in the first drafts of men called to serve. After the war, Jacob continued to farm in Jefferson County until about 1880 when the family relocated to Dodge County. The Widmann family then moved to Marshfield in Wood County, Wisconsin after June 1885. By 24 December 1886, Jacob was the co-owner of a hotel called the Central House in Marshfield that stood in the approximate location of the current Police Department. The other owner of the hotel was J.H.C. Eckhoff who was father in law to two of Jacob’s children. (John A Widmann married Anna Eckhoff and John C Eckhoff married Maria Widmann)

On 27 June 1887, the Central House burned down along with almost the entirety of the city of Marshfield. It is unclear what Jacob did after the fire. I would assume there would have been some insurance settlement, but it does not appear that he ever took part in any business ventures of note again. Jacob was not a very healthy man in his later years and was afflicted with some sort of heart condition and neuralgia that affected his vision and gave him headaches.

Jacob applied for his invalid pension from the US government in July of 1890. He was examined by a physician in March of 1891 for his application. He was found at that time to be 5 feet 8 inches tall and 148 pounds. His resting pulse was 119 bpm and his respiration rate was 24 rpm. He stated that he was struck by his headaches first during his military service. The attacks of temporary blindness followed by headaches had “no regularity” and could “last from one to three days.” Jacob had a heart murmur, “palpitations”, and a cough that was worse in the morning and could sometimes produce blood. Due to his debility, the government issued him an invalid pension.

Margaretha died 28 January 1896 and it did not take Jacob long to wed Louise Sophia Marie Rienow. The couple were married 11 August 1896 when Jacob was 64 years old. Jacob was Louise’s third husband. The marriage ended quickly with Jacob’s death on 21 October 1896. Jacob and Margaretha are both resting in Hillside Cemetery in Marshfield.

Louise applied for a widow’s pension from Jacob’s service during the Civil War. The file is quite thick and it appears that she was determined to get some money. In one of the correspondences by the government officials during her application process she was described as having a “grasping disposition”. The letter submitted by the investigator of the claim for the widow’s pension stated that Dr. Budge, Jacob’s attending physician, was asked by the new Mrs. Widmann to falsify the cause of Jacob’s final illness. Her pension claim was officially rejected in February 1902.

Louise was kicked by a cow in 1903 and severely injured. She never fully recovered and lived with her son Herman Ihlenfeldt until her death in 1905 at the age of 73.