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| Casper Meisner |
Casper Meisner was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria, (what is now modern-day Germany) on March 6, 1812. Little is known about Casper's life in Bavaria, however, the late 1840s was a period of great upheaval in many of the German states. In 1848, this social unrest led to the March Revolution (Märzrevolution) throughout the region. The supporters of the revolutions, known as the Forty-Eighters, wanted a more democratic government with increased human rights protection. The Forty-Eighters were not successful in their opposition to the conservative aristocracy and many of them immigrated with their families to the United States of America. It is unknown if Casper was a Forty-Eighter, however, records show that he arrived in the United States in 1848 at the age of 36 years old, with his wife Kunigunda (1814-1864) and his three children: Anna Maria "Mary" (1837-1899), George (1842-1909), and John (1840-1923). In August 1850, census records show the family was living in Troy, New York, approximately 10 kilometers north of Albany. Troy's population in 1850 was 28,785, which was comparatively small to the largest city in the nation at the time, New York City, which had a population of over 515,000. Casper found work in Troy at a "junk store" and made business connections that served him later in life. On Friday, August 25, 1854, a disastrous fire destroyed about 200 buildings in Troy, leaving over 300 families homeless. The Meisners were one of the families (many who were immigrants) that lost their home and all their possessions. Many families were left with only the clothing they wore the day of the fire. In the ensuing hours and weeks following the disastrous fire, residents of Troy and the surrounding cities assisted the victims by providing the families with shelter, food, and support. Sometime after June 12, 1855, Casper and Kunigunda decided to move west to Tama County, Iowa, to become farmers. Like many people who ventured west to become farmers, Casper and his family suffered great hardships when they first moved to the area. In a biographical sketch of Casper's son George, the hardships the Meisner family endured were described:
"There, the earlier years of the subject of this sketch were spent, and it is no disparagement to the management of his father nor any discredit to Mr. Meisner himself to say that those years witnessed a series of long, hard struggles in the Meisner household. Those struggles did not consist alone in the difficult undertaking of making a start in a comparatively new country unsurrounded by the helps and conveniences found in the East; there were struggles, oftentimes, for bread and butter, with nothing with which to keep "the wolf from the door" save the willing hands and stout hearts of father, mother and children...There was no idling around the Meisner homestead. There was no wasting either of energy or material. Everything was turned to account. Everything was made to pay. Such industry and management must, of necessity, win. The Meisners could not always remain in straightened circumstances. Each year brought an improvement in their worldly affairs, and as the children grew up and added their aid to that of their parents the progress became more rapid."
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| 1850 United States Federal Census |
On May 25, 1858, Casper and Kunigunda's daughter, Mary wed a young German immigrant, Iowa farmer, and state militia member, Frederick Shafer. By 1860, Casper owned and ran a successful farm with his wife and two sons in York Township, Iowa. According to the 1860 Census, the Meisner farm was valued at $1,211, the highest valued farm in the surrounding area. The financial success of the family was quite an achievement having moved to the United States only 12 years prior.
After the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, the Southern states of the United States began seceding from the Union. Throughout the country, the U.S. Government called for volunteers for the military. Official hostilities began on April 12, 1861, and Casper, his son John, and his son-in-law Frederick Shafer joined the Union cause. Casper's youngest son George tended to the family farm because he was not accepted into the military due to an eye condition. Casper was 49 years old at the time of the call for volunteers, however most likely due to his strong desire to serve, Casper misrepresented his age and enlisted in the U.S. Army, Company C, 10th Iowa Infantry Regiment, stating on documents that he was 43 years old.
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| The Tenth Iowa Regiment on the march, April 28, 1862 |
Casper enlisted with Company C on September 6, 1861, and fought in several key battles, including the Battle of Iuka, Battle of Corinth, Battle of Port Gibson, Battle of Raymond, Battle of Champion Hill, Battle of Big Black River Bridge, the Siege of Vicksburg, and the Third Battle of Chattanooga. Remarkably, every engagement he took part in ended in Union victories, though his regiment suffered significant losses—over 235 killed and 277 wounded during the war. Casper sustained a minor forehead injury on May 16, 1863, at the Battle of Champion Hill in Hinds County, Mississippi; at that time, he was 51 years old. Due to his age, he was moved to the Invalid Corps (which later became the Veteran Reserve Corps) on July 25, 1864, and received an honorable discharge later that year. Both of Casper’s sons served as well: John joined Company E of the 24th Iowa Infantry Regiment, and Frederick volunteered for Company E of the Iowa 28th Infantry Regiment.
Upon his return to Iowa following military service, Casper discovered that his son George had achieved considerable success in business and had acquired ownership of more than 400 acres of productive land in Tama County. In contrast, the war years proved challenging for Casper's spouse, and on November 22, 1864, only a few months after Casper's homecoming, Kunigunda passed away, leaving Casper a widower.
Kunigunda's death represented the conclusion of a significant phase in Casper’s life. She had accompanied him from Bavaria to America, raised their children through adversity, survived the 1854 Troy fire which resulted in substantial loss, and contributed to the establishment of their Iowa farm during years of frontier hardship. Her passing left Casper, at the age of 52, with a functioning farm and grown children, yet without the partner who had been instrumental in many aspects of his life.
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| Hayes Cemetery |
After the death of his wife, Casper moved into a new phase of his life, which included a new marriage, becoming a saloon owner in two states, and relocating to Nebraska.
On July 30, 1865, Casper married a 28-year-old German immigrant named Sophia Anna Steuder. Sadly, Sophia disappears from the records shortly after their marriage.
Casper traveled between Troy, New York, and Iowa and Casper may have used some of the revenue that his farm and landholdings produced and went into the saloon business for a brief period. According to Iowa State Gazetteer, Shippers' Guide and Business Directory Page 599, Casper was listed as a saloon owner in Toledo, Tama County. Casper also was listed in 1867 (Volume 39) and 1868 (Volume 40), Troy, New York business directory, The Troy Directory, as the saloon owner of the Lager Beer Saloon on 92 Broadway Street. Such a journey would have been unlikely had Sophia still been alive, suggesting she may have died before this period of travel.
On July 5, 1869, Toledo held a large celebration connected to Independence Day festivities, with a parade led by prominent members of the German American community. Casper, carrying the American flag on horseback, rode at the head of the procession.
The festivities took an unexpected turn. Near the Foster House, his horse became unruly and threw him to the ground, dislocating his elbow. The local newspaper reported the incident with light humor, suggesting that Casper’s “patriotic ardor” matched that of his spirited mount.
Despite the injury, the event is revealing. It shows that Casper held a leadership role among the local German population and remained publicly active, proud of both his heritage and his service to the Union.
Casper’s saloon business in Iowa brought him into the center of an unusual political dispute in 1870. The Toledo town council voted to grant him a free six-month saloon license. One council member, C. W. Hyatt, resigned in protest and published a long denunciation in the local paper.
Casper responded with characteristic sharpness and wit, signing his response:
“Shoo fly, don’t bodder me! — CASPER MEISNER”
As for his saloon in New York, by 1870, Casper must have sold his business interests in Troy because the Lager Beer Saloon was now listed in directories as owned by farmer Conrad Derolf of Newtonville, New York.
On March 11, 1871, Casper married Anna Tehel, formalizing the household arrangement indicated by the 1870 census. Anna brought two young children, Anna and Joseph, into the marriage, making Casper not only a husband once more but a stepfather late in life.
This third marriage coincided with a period of transition. Casper had spent fifteen years in Iowa, first as a farmer, then as an entrepreneur. But change was coming. His son George, now a thriving farmer and rising landowner, had already begun acquiring property in Buffalo County, Nebraska. The frontier was pushing westward again, and in the early 1870s, Casper would follow.
After purchasing some land in Buffalo County, Nebraska in the fall of 1870, Casper sold all interests in his Iowa businesses and land in the spring of 1871, and he moved with Sophia to join his son George in Buffalo County, Nebraska. After farming for a few years, Casper went into the mercantile business in Shelton, Nebraska.
The Nebraska Mortality Schedule associated with the 1880 census records his death on March 16, 1879, from chronic bone disease. This diagnosis—broad by modern standards—could have represented anything from osteomyelitis to bone cancer, both painful and progressive conditions.
Casper was 67 years old. He was laid to rest at the Shelton Cemetery.
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| Located in Shelton, Nebraska |
"[Casper] was a man of indomitable energy, and a hard worker all his life. Having met with some financial reverses he knew the value of a dollar, and thus learned to manage his affairs with care and discretion. He was devotedly attached to his family, and it may be said that the latter part of his life he lived chiefly for them. He gave his children the best of counsel, and he enforced all his teachings with a good personal example in himself."
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| Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Shelton, Nebraska. Photo Credit: C. Frazier. |
Pictured above are Casper's children: George Meisner, Mary Meisner Shafer, and John Meisner.
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| Photo of Casper Meisner. Unmarked tintype from circa 1860s found with other photos of the Meisner family. |
List of names from the Iowa 10th Infantry (Company C), who died while serving with Casper Meisner during the Civil War: Truman Bixby, William H. Bryon, Luke Camp, Eli Clark, Charles T. Davis, George M. Gray, Jacob Lux, James Newport, Hiram R. Pugh, Phillip Ramey, Wesley Randall, Cyrus Rowland, Van Buren Rugg, John M. Stebbing, George W. Tomkins. Rest In Peace.
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