Person:Rudolph Minger (1)

BIOGRAPHY: Written by Mae Brown Siemers Rand.

Rudolph Minger, born 4 February 1841 in Mulchi, Switzerland, was the ninth and youngest child of Johann Ulrich and Anna Maria (Hofer) Minger. Records of his birth date vary; The 4th of February 1841 is the date recorded on his baptism certificate in the possession of his great granddaughter, Clara Frommelt, Guttenberg, Iowa. Rudolph was baptized in the church at Messen, Switzerland on 21 Feb 1841. One of his sponsors was his father's brother, Bendicht Minger of Mulchi; the name of another sponsor, although difficult to read, appears to be his mother's sister's husband, Johannes Bartschi. Other pertinent information on the baptism certificate states that Johannes Minger (father of Rudolph) was the son of Bendicht of Mulchi and that Anna Hofer (mother of Rudolph) was the daughter of Jakob of Limpach. The certificate is dated 3 March 1845 which was the year the Mingers left Switzerland for America. Rudolph was then four years old. We can believe that he was one of the little ones who rode on the oxcart when his family crossed the country of France to reach the seacoast.

The Minger family settled on a farm near New Philadelphia, Ohio. In the 1850 Tuscarawas County, Ohio census Rudolph is listed as being nine years old and that he had been attending school. An entry dated 21 April 1853 in an old book (now in the possession of Reuben White, Guttenberg) reads, "Reudolfel Minger, working one day on the railroad." Rudolph was then twelve years old. In 1856, at the age of 15, Rudolph and his family left Ohio and moved to Guttenberg, Iowa where Rudolph was confirmed three years later in the Evangelical Lutheran Church. In the 1860 Clayton County, Iowa census he is listed as a farm laborer and living at home, which was on Section 32 in Jefferson Township.

Rudolph enlisted as a private in the Civil War on 2 October 1862 at Dubuque, Iowa in Company D, 27th Infantry Regiment of Iowa Volunteers. (his brother-in-law John Anderegg was in the same company.) At the time of his enlistment Rudolph was 21 years of age, 5 feet 7 inches tall, and had blue eyes, black hair and a light complexion. In September 1863 during the Company's march from Durvells Bluff, Clarendon, Arkansas on the White River towards Little Rock, Arkansas, Rudolph showed the effects of exposure connected with service in the field. In a letter signed by the First Lieutenant of the 27th Infantry the following is written: "Rheumatism troubled him (Rudolph) to such an extent that he had finally to be transferred temporarily to the so-called Pioneer Corps of our Brigade; thus he could fill the position of a soldier without being liable to Picket daily and similar exposures to the weather. I remember distinctly that I urged him repeatedly to use the ambulance but in vain. He endeavored to struggle along. The same spirit he evinced shortly afterwards when he asked to be permitted to rejoin his Regiment considering himself sufficiently strong again to march, but again he had over estimated himself, when our Regiment marched on to Tupelo, Missouri in July 1864. He had to be ordered again to the Pioneer Corps, not being able to endure the march. To be properly understood, I will say here, that as a Pioneer he had frequent chances to ride on Wagons and preferred this to going into a Hospital."

Rudolph was mustered out of the Civil War on 12 December 1865 in Mobile, Alabama. His record stated that he was engaged in the capture of Little Rock, Arkansas on 10 September 1863; Ft. Devussy, Louisiana on 14 March 1864; Old Oaks, Louisana on 18 May 1864 and Lake Chicot, Arkansas on 6 June 1864. He was accountable for one knapsack, one haversack and one canteen.