MEN of EARLY OCONTO COUNTY

Oconto County, Wisconsin, served as the home for many pioneers fueling the western expansion of the United States. Hiram Ames, his wife the former Angeline Rider, and their daughter Georgianna, arrived from Maine in the late 1850's and started farming near Pensaukee. Three more daughters were born to this union before Hiram answered the sound of the drums of the Civil War.

Leaving his family behind, at the age of 32, this 5 foot 9 inch, blue eyed, ruddy completed, farmer jointed the "Oconto County River Sackers," Company F, 12th Infantry Regiment of the Army of the Northern Republic. Waiting until after celebrating Christmas with his family in 1863, he enlisted for three years on December 29, 1863 and took his first military training in Madison, Wisconsin.

Not long after enlisting, Hiram Ames, joined other members of Wisconsin's 12th Infantry Regiment at Vicksburg, Mississippi, until they moved to Clifton, Tennessee, from May 5 to May 14, 1864. Then as part of the northern Army of the Tennessee, led by General William Tecumseh Sherman, Private Hiram Ames, marched from May 14th to June 8th to Ackworth, Georgia, via Huntsville and Decatur, Alabama, and Rome, Georgia. After participating in several battles in northern Georgia, Private Ames, participated in the Battle of Atlanta, before heading to northwest Georgia and Northeast Alabama to stop elements of the southern Army of the Tennessee, led by General John Bell Hood, from harassing Union supply and communications lines.

Official government records claim Private Ames died of infection of the Bowls either October 17th or 18th, 1864. An eyewitness account filed on February 28, 1867, by Lieutenant Frederick J. Bartels, also of Company F, 12th Wisconsin Infantry, said, "Hiram Ames died near Snake Gap, Alabama, while on the March between Altoona and Snake Gap," and was buried in a field.

ASIDE Bob Mandler: While I was born in South Dakota I'm currently retired in the South. Much to my surprise, while researching my family I found this eyewitness account of Hiram Ames's death. He died only a few miles from where I live. I retied after 20 years service in the US Marine Corps and I worked another 20 years as an Air Force historian.

Below is biographical data on individual family members gleaned from documents from the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay, and from documents retained by the National

Acknowledgements: Fulwider Campbell.The genealogy takes the family until 1982. The spellings and style are taken from the original source documents.
Thanks to the research and documents completed by "Billie" and my mother, Delia J. Mandler (Berg), with the aid of a computer and the Internet I was able to take my research one step beyond where they had gone. These two women left us a golden trail to our ancestors. If those two ladies had access to the Internet there is no telling what additional knowledge we would have of our families.

Private Hiram Ames, died while serving with Company "F", Twelfth Infantry Regiment (Wisconsin) of the Army of the Northern Republic (Union) during the Civil War. The unit was also known as the "Oconto County River Sackers."

The following is from several documents of Muster and Descriptive Roll(s) of the Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry.
Name: Ames, Hiram Rank: Private
Where born:
    State: Maine
    Town or County: Frankfort
Age: 32
Occupation: Farmer
Enlisted:
    When: Dec 29, 1864
    Where: Madison. Wis By Whom: G. E. Bryant
Terms of service years: 3
Description:
    Eyes: Light (also listed as blue)
    Hair: Light
    Complexion: Rudy (also listed as rosie)
    Height: 5 feet 9 inches
Residence:
    Town: Pensauke(e) County: Oconto

Remarks: Died Oct 17, 64 of disease (see above). One document says he was, "A good and faithful soldier." Hiram Ames is shown in an 1840 census in Franklin County, Maine.

The following is from the Civil War Widows' Pension Records found at the National Archives.

Hiram Ames and Angeline Rider (or Ryder) married on February 4, 1855 (or 1854) at Bucksport, Hancock County (or Bangor, Penobscot County, Maine.) Parenthetical information is taken from documents filed by an attorney for additional pension claims in the 1900's and might not be reliable.

Hiram Ames's widow, Angeline, and four daughters, survived him. Georgia Anna Ames, (my great-grandmother) was born on April 23, 1855 in Bangor, Maine. The other three sisters were listed as being born in Abrams, Wisconsin: Nancy B. Ames, April 18 1860; Flora Ela Ames, August 18, 1861; and Lula M. Ames, July 24, 1862.

Angeline was born on June 1, 1840 (1839 in the 1880 census) in Bucksport, Maine. She died on September 11, 1927 in Abrams, Wisconsin. Her mother is listed as Nancy Rider and her father is listed as Nathaniel Rider on her marriage record to Abram C. Lowell on September 3, 1865. The 1880 census shows both of her parents were born in Maine. At the time of her death, Angeline was receiving $50 per month pension for being a Civil War veteran's widow.

Angeline married Abram C. Lowell (Abraham Chase Lowell) on September 3, 1865. A. C. Lowell served with a Wisconsin cavalry unit during the Civil War and was disabled during a battle north of New Orleans. Following their marriage, A. C. Lowell filed as guardian of the four daughters of Hiram Ames.

Since their father, Hiram Ames, died during the Civil War the U.S. Government paid A. C. Lowell $2 per month as guardian to care for each girl until they reached their 16th birthday. At the time of his death on February 18, 1913, A. C. Lowell received a $25 monthly Civil War disability pension.

Censuses show Angeline and A. C. Lowell had several children from their union. A Wisconsin 1870 Censes shows Ada Lowell age 2, born in Wisconsin and Abba (Anna?) Lowell born April 1870 in Wisconsin. An 1880 Censes shows a daughter Roselthy Lowell age 10 has been added and they have adopted a son named Henry Tooli age 7 (another Pensaukee surname) whose birth father was born in Ireland and birth mother was born in Canada.

Angelina Lowell is listed in the 1920 Federal Census living in Abrams Township, Oconto County. She is widowed head of household and married daughter Anna Nutt is the only person listed living with her. The 1860 Federal Census shows the Ames family in Pensaukee lived next door to the Nutt family. Their daughter, Anna, had the married surname of Nutt. (I'm not sure which daughter used the name Anna.)

Angelina Lowell is buried in Brookside Cemetery (S4 R5) - Angeline 1839 1927 Mother.

ASIDE  Bob Mandler: "Billie" wrote that Angeline was an immigrant from Ireland (In the first pages Georgianan). Also, I have not been able to find documentation showing any relationship to Ireland. The census report shows that Angeline's parents were born in Maine. However, Angeline did not record the location of her birth on the marriage certificate to A. C. Lowell. One document indicates there is a marriage certificate on file for Angeline and Hiram Ames in a county court house in Maine.

Georgianna was first married to Ed Signor in 1871. They divorced (according to my mother's notes) and her second marriage was to William Schwartz. This information is from the Pre 1907 Wisconsin Marriage Index - Oconto County WI (this is the state not the county record).

    Date of registration: November 27th 1883
    The color: White
    Full name of husband: William Schwartz
    Full name of wife previous to marriage: Georgie Anna Ames
    Occupation of said husband: Farmer
    Residence of said husband: Pensaukee, Oconto County Birthplace of said husband: Germany
    The place, town or township, and county where the marriage was contracted: Pensaukee, Oconto Co Wis
    Time when the marriage was contracted: November 3d, 1883
    By what ceremony contracted: Civil
    Name of person pronouncing marriage: D. E. Whiting
    Residence of person last named: Oconto, Oconto Co Wis

    Names of subscribing witnesses: A. C. Lowell, Emma Schwartz
    Date of certificate of Marriage: Nov 3d 1883
    Name of the father of said husband: Charles Schwartz
    Name of the mother of said husband: Frinnie R. Schwartz
    Name of the father of said wife: Hiram Ames
    Name of the mother of said wife: Angeline Ames

The following information is listed online. Following the name is the date,vol., page, vol. and sequence # in which the above record can be found at the University of Wisconsin. The Signor marriage is also listed.

    Georgie A. Ames 03 Nov 1883 01 0258 N 07204
    William Schwartz 03 Nov 1883 01 0258 N 07172

NOTE Bob Mandler: The marriage took place in 1883, not 1884 as it appears in some family documents.

Georgianna died at the age of 78 on Friday February 2, 1934. She is buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Ramona, South Dakota, and shares a common footstone with William Schwartz. Her obituary says she was born April 23, 1855, in Maine (Ramona newspaper dated Feb 8, 1934). Her obituary in The Madison (South Dakota) Leader (no date) said she "moved to Abrams, Wis. as a young girl." At the time of her death four sons and three daughters survived her. There were also 19 surviving grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

ASIDE Bob Mandler: I spoke with two cousins around 80 years-of-age who remember Georgianna (they knew her as Grandma Schwartz). They told me the family was very poor in South Dakota and lived in a three-room house with one bedroom. Sometimes more than 12 of them would sleep in three beds in the one bedroom. One claimed that about the age of four she remembers sleeping in bed with Grandma Schwartz.

Schwartz is a common name and some say it means "black" in German.

The William Schwartz, obituary published in the Madison Weekly Sentinel (South Dakota) said "William Ferdinan Schwartz was born at Belle Lake, Wis., on Nov 3, 1862." This date means that he and Georgianna were married on his 21st Birthday.

She was seven years older than he. She had four children, three living, at the time of their marriage. Together they had five children. One of those children, Abbie Rosetha Schwarz was my father's (Willard Francis Mandler) mother. She was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Sioux Falls SD. My father and mother were buried at the Willow Creek Lutheran Church Cemetery, Dell Rapids SD (mailing address.) The church is located in the county about 3 '/z miles west and two miles north of Baltic SD. A 1910 censes report from South Dakota indicates William Schwartz's parents were born in Germany.

The Madison newspaper said William Schwartz "was a carpenter by trade and worked at this profession for many years, until the past year when he accepted a position as grain buyer in the W. I. Thompson elevator, in which capacity he was still serving up to his death."

The paper also claimed he "died in his home in Ramona Thursday night about 11:30, March 20, 1913, of typhoid pneumonia, after a lingering illness of about a month."

For more on the family see the Signor-Schwartz Family Genealogy.