German Immigrant - Farmer - Freemason - Union Soldier

Johannes Allmann was born near Rhine, Germany on September 17, 1842 to Adam and Sophia Peiter Allmann. He was the seventh of their ten children. In the spring of 1846. at age three, Johannes together with his parents and siblings departed London, England on the SS Switzerland for a new life in the United States. On May 11, 1846 they disembarked at New York. It was most likely during their immigration processing in New York that Allmann became Allman and Johannes became known as John. For the next ten years or so the family lived in Amherst, New York, making the adjustment to the American way of life.

About 1857 the family moved west to Wisconsin where John’s father Adam purchased land in Lima in Sheboygan County. There the family engaged in farming. On May 26, 1861, at age 18, John enlisted in the Union Army and was assigned to Company “C”, 4th Regiment of the Wisconsin Infantry.John’s first military service took him far from home, first to Baltimore, MD, then and then to Louisiana by way of the steamship Constitution which arrived at New Orleans on May 1, 1862. Over the next 45 days the 4th Wisconsin would contribute to the surrender of Confederate Fort St. Philip and the occupation of New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The rigors of infantry marches took their toll on John’s right foot and on July 28, 1862 he was discharged from military service at Baton Rouge due to a disability with his foot that preceded his enlistment.

John returned to his home and family in Lima, Wisconsin and for a short while went back to farming. That same year, 1862, John became affiliated with the local Masonic Lodge and was raised to Master Mason. On February 27th, 1864 John again enlisted in the Union Army, this time with the 36th Wisconsin Infantry. John’s superiors must have soon recognized the value of his previous military experience for on April 1, 1864, just 45 days into his new enlistment, they promoted him to sergeant. Just two months after that promotion, on June 1, 1864 at the Battle of Cold Harbor, John was wounded and disabled when his company advanced through an open field against a barrage of Confederate musket fire and grape shot from cannons. Two of the grape shot projectiles hit John, shattering the bones of his lower left arm just below the elbow, requiring many months of hospitalization and rendering that limb almost useless except for the hand. Over subsequent years John would go through examinations for his disability resulting in a near full pension over his remaining lifetime.

On April 20, 1865, John was discharged from Harvey USA General Hospital at Madison, Wisconsin and from military service. He again returned to his home and family in Lima, Wisconsin and on October 12th of that year married Ms. Amanda Reid, daughter of John D. Reid and Rebecca Lathrop Stark, a divorcee, of Maquoketa, Iowa. They made their first home in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, about five miles from Lima. There John worked as a salesman while Amanda kept house. Over the next 25 years they would have eleven children including Elizabeth, Amanda, George, Mary Ellen, John, Catherine, Clarence and Myrtle. Three others died as infants.

About 1872 the family moved to Iowa, first settling in Dubuque County. John’s parents and siblings remained in Wisconsin where they lived out their lives. By 1878 the family had relocated to neighboring Delaware county near Manchester where John farmed for another twenty years on rented property. John and Amanda then moved to Buchannan county and by 1900 were living in Washington township. There is some indication that in his later years, i.e. his late 60s, John suffered from dementia. From 1910 census records it appears that John and Amanda had divorced. John was living at a boarding house and Amanda was in another state. The divorce is further confirmed by John’s death certificate as well as in an attorney’s letter attached to Amanda’s Widow’s Pension Application form which indicates that they divorced and that after John died Amanda was re-married briefly to another man whom she also divorced.

On October 18, 1912, at the age of 70, John passed away in a hospital at Independence, Iowa. He had adapted well to his home in America, fought bravely for the Republic in the War Between the States, endured the pain and difficulties of his incapacitating war wounds, provided for a very large family through farming, been active in his church, his Masonic Lodge, and the community and left a legacy of twenty-five grandchildren. His funeral service was held at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Independence with many family members, friends, and Masonic brothers in attendance. He was buried at Wilson Cemetery with Masonic services conducted by an honor guard from the Independence Lodge AF & AM. Seven years later Amanda, John’s wife of more than forty years, was reunited with him.