Andrew Jackson Wanzer (1873-1889) is my great-great-grandfather. He was born on July 16, 1837, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He married Malvina Abigail Chase on April 12, 1858, and they began a family. Their first child, Nettie, was premature and died at birth in the winter of 1858. They would go on to have seven more children: George Alvin (1862-1915), Edward Benjamin (1864-1944), Frank Marion (1867-1941), James C. (1869-1928), Olive Jeannette (1872-1872), Hattie B. (1877-1911), and Mortimer Leroy (1878-1947), Mortimer is my great-grandfather. Andrew Jackson Wanzer died on December 29, 1889, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he is buried.
“Jack” is somewhat enigmatic in that the Wanzer branch ends with him. Malvina, or “Vine,” on the other hand, her line goes back to the early 1700s on her mother’s side (Mason), and her father’s side (Chase) goes back to the mid-1600s in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Chase patrilineal line from Malvina goes back seven more generations to Thomas Chase (1592-1627) in Suffolk, England.
The Wanzer line is where I will be focusing my research. The Wanzer name is a derivation of the WANSHAER. Any Wanzer, or other derivation in America before 1920, are descended from Jan Jansen Wanshaer “the first and only person to come to America, by that name, reached New Amsterdam … about 1642…”1 Jan is believed to have been born in 1621 in Cadzand, Holland in the Dutch province of Zeeland.
What we know of “Jack” is mostly from his Union Army service record. He was a lumberman in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, 5′ 7 3/4″, dark eyes, black hair, and a dark complexion. We also have a brief history of his unit the Wisconsin 5th Infantry and Company G2. During his service, he wrote at least four letters to “Vina” that have been kept in the family.
- Enlisted August 29, 1864, Albion, WI.
- Mustered In September 13, 1864, Madison WI
Wisconsin 5th Infantry Company G - Between October and November 1864, he made Corporal
- Letter 1 December 27, 1864, Parks Station, VA
- Letter 2 March 21, 1865, Warnes Station, VA
The unit is camped just northwest of Appomattox - Lee Surrenders April 6, 1865, Appomattox, VA
- Letter 3 April 17, 1865, Berk Station, VA
- Letter 4 April 29, 1865, Danvill, VA
- Mustered Out June 20, 1865, Hall’s Hill, VA
What is now High View Park, Arlington, VA
The two letters below in the appendix are from Jack to Vina, dated March 21 and April 17, 1865, respectively.3, 4 They are of interest in part because they frame Lee’s surrender at Appomattox on April 6, 1865. Jack’s unit was camped near Appomattox, and he mentions their being at the surrender after participating in the capture of Petersburg.
Appendix
The letter scans are of both sides of a folded letter so the page layout is the left image, 4 | 1, and the right 2 | 3. The transcriptions below the scans are as the letters were written, with no corrections. The forward slash (/) indicates a new line. Anything between straight brackets ([ ]) was not clear in the scan and presumed correct.
Letter 2 – March 21, 1865
Page 1
March the 21st, 1865 / [?] Warnes Station VA / My dear wife I take my / pen in hand to let you / know that I am well at / this time I have wrot 4 / or five letters to you in / the last 6 or 7 days but I / thought that I would / be on a march be fore this / time but that dont make / much difference I will / right you one to day and / I will send you the / receipt for forty dollars / that I have sent to you / by express I have sent all / of the recipts to you for / the money that I have / sent to you and I have / sent [?] you 2 shirts and / one blanket I sent them / in a box with L T Johnson
Page 2
and we Directed it to / James Davidson I have / wrote to you all a bout / it in my other letters I / dont know how soon we / will have to march from / here our orders is Just the / same that they was when / I wrote my last one to / you it is warm As / summer here the grass is / green here and every thing / is pleasent I think that / this cruel war Cannot / last much longer for / our army is getting the / Johneys is getting in clost / quartersand thay ar getting / beat in every fight that / is faught Shearman and / Sheridan is playing them / the duce and our army
Page 3
is holding the Johneys / tight so they have to stay / here so that thay Cannot / reinforse one another so I / think that the Johneys / will have to surrender / be fore 2 months from / this time I dont see any / chance for the Johneys at / all I must close for this / time I would Just say that / our Captin has left and we / dont cry a bout it I think / that oald Squires will / be discharged from this / company be fore long he is / under a coart martial / this day all of our company / is well and looks fine / I will close for this time / right often and dont forget / this from your Jack Wanzer / to vine
Letter 3 – April 17, 1865
Page 1
Berks Station / April the 17th 1865 VA / My dear wife I take this time to / let you know that I am well / and have got to my company / all right I found them / encamped in the pine woods / and we ar a bout 52 miles / from peters burgh our regiment / was at the surrender of general / lees army and after the surrender / they marched to where we ar / and we dont know how long / we will stay here but one / thing is sure that this war / is a bout to a close all of / the boyes is in good health / and feels fine we think that / we will be at home by the / 4th of July and I dont see / any thing in the way at / this time the weather is / warm here and pleasent
Page 2
Our regiment has been in / thre fights since I was at / home our regiment has lost / 2 hundred men our company/ lost 26 men in killed and / wounded James Conlin was / killed dead on the field / and Samuel Virnow was / wounded bad and the boyes / thinks that he is dead but / we dont know surtin all of / the boys went in to the fight / that was from our town but / Noah A Decker and he runn / a way and we dont know ware / he is he is one coward from / Blackriver falls Oald quires was / shot in the stearn and he / has 5 holes tht will tell which / way he was going I have knot / got much news to right / at this time but we think
Page 3
that our boyes will go to / Washington in a short time / our boyes is got the praise of / the capture of peters burgh / and our regiment was the / first in to the Johneys / fort our boys from wisconsin / is Just the boyes that can / Climb the brest work our / regiment had a hard a hard fight / with general Euiels men at / litle salor creek and thay / helped to capture 10,000 prisoner / Samul kinnion and cooper / got back to ther regimen / all right I must close / for this time Our boyes has / been excused from all / field duty for our bravery / I will put this confedeate / bill in this letter to let / you see it right as soon as
Page 4
get this I hope you / ar well good By / This from your / A J Wanzer / To his wife Vine wanzer / I got a letter from my / sister Ann since I / got Back here / you can write to ann / and tell her what I want / Just as well as I can
- William David Wanzer, History of the Wanzer Family in America, from the Settelment in New Amsterdam, New York, 1642-1920, Medford, MA: Medford Mercury Press, 1920. ↩︎
- E.B. Quiner, The Military History of Wisconsin: A Record of the Civil and Military Patriotism of the State, in the War for the Union, With a History of the Campaigns in Which Wisconsin Soldiers Have Been Conspicuous – Regimental Histories – Sketches of Distinguished Officers – The Role of the Illustrious Dead – Movements of the Legislature and State Officers, Etc., Chicago, IL: Clarke & Company, 1866. ↩︎
- Andrew Jackson Wanzer to Malvina Abigail Chase Wanzer, March 21, 1865, Jonathan Wanzer Family Genealogy Collection, Klamath Falls, OR.) ↩︎
- Andrew Jackson Wanzer to Malvina Abigail Chase Wanzer, April 17, 1865, Jonathan Wanzer Family Genealogy Collection, Klamath Falls, OR. ↩︎