Jacob Alwine, Elkhart County, Indiana (1837 - 1920) Jacob Alwine was born August 11, 1837 at Johnstown in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, and died January 9, 1920 in Clinton Township, Elkhart County, Indiana (see Endnote 1). The names of his mother and father are not recorded on his death certificate, but it is known that he was the son of Jacob (b. about 1800) and Catherine (nee Blough) Alwine. Catherine was the daughter of Jacob (b. 1775) and Catherine (Saylor) Blough of Conemaugh Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Jacob (the senior) was one of the children of Philip Alwine (b. 1773) and Sarah Mueller, who settled in Conemaugh Township in Somerset County in the early 1800s. The line of descent connecting Jacob Alwine to Hans Jacob and Catharina Allwein is as follows: Generation 1: Hans Jacob and Catharina Allwein -- Berks County, Pa Generation 2: John and Eva (Christian)Allwein -- Berks County, Pa Generation 3: Philip and Sarah (Mueller) Alwine -- Somerset County, Pa Generation 4: Jacob and Catharine (Blough) Alwine -- Cambria County, Pa Catherine, wife of Jacob (the senior) Alwine, had four children: Abraham (b. September 10, 1829, d. May 3, 1899) John (b. April 11, 1832, d. July 18, 1904) Jacob (b. August 11, 1837, d. January 9, 1920) Samuel (b. 1843, d. unknown) After the death of Catherine, Jacob (the senior) married her sister, Fannie (Blough) Hershberger, widow of Benjamin Hershberger (see Endnote 2). The younger Jacob moved at some point early in his adult life from Cambria County, Pennsylvania to Indiana. He moved first to the town of LaGrange in LaGrange County, then in the spring of 1856 he moved to Clinton Township in Elkhart County, Indiana, where he lived near Goshen with John Alwine, his uncle. It was from Goshen, Indiana that he enlisted August 22, 1862 with Company D of the 100th Regiment of the Indiana Volunteers. Later he was transferred to Company K and served with that unit until his discharge on June 14, 1865 about 5 weeks after the War's end. His regiment joined Sherman's devastating "March to the Sea" in August to December, 1864. After the war Jacob Alwine returned to Elkhart County and married Mary "Polly" (Lehman) Decker. The marriage license was issued by the state of Indiana on June 29, 1866. The marriage ceremony was conducted by Moses W. Hess, minister of the German Brethren Church, on July l, 1866. Polly Lehman was born April 4, 1835 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. She married Samuel Decker October 6, 1859 -- he died August 28, 1862. According to Jacob Alwine, "Polly Alwine was never married except to said Decker and myself" (correspondence with the Pension Office dated May 6, 1915). There were four children born to Jacob and Polly Alwine: Henrietta "Hattie" (b. April 17, 1867), Lewis (b. June 13, 1869), Angeline "Angie" (b. March 27, 1871), and Anna (b. February 27, 1873) (see Endnote 3). Jacob first filed for pension support on January 10, 1887 at about age 50. He began receiving pension support soon thereafter, and after his death his wife Polly made a declaration for widow's pension, which she earned until her death on August 20, 1924. Endnotes 1. This information comes from U.S. government pension records. As is typical in such records there is a variety of birth dates given, even though they are in most cases self-reports. The death certificate from the Indiana State Board of Health reports that he was age 82 at the time of death, which would place the year of birth at 1837. In his original January 6, 1887 application for pension support as a Civil War veteran, he states he is 49 years of age, which would also produce a date of birth of 1837. And, in requests for increasing his pension filed May 17, 1912 and July 31, 1914, he states that he was born August 11, 1837. However, in a family data circular submitted by him on May 6, 1915, the date August 11, 1842 is given. In another request for increasing his pension filed on May 30, 1916, he states that he was born August 11, 1841. Finally, in a statement filed with the Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Pensions on August 9, 1916, he states that the date of his birth was August, 1839. This conforms with his military records which indicate that he was 23 when he enlisted, which would put the year at 1839. In a memorandum from the Commissioner of the Bureau of Pensions dated (oddly enough) August 11, 1916, the Department of the Interior accepted "August 11, 1839, as the date of soldier's birth." Still, I use 1837. 2. The source of this information is the History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania with Genealogical and Personal History, edited by William H. Koontz, Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1906. Except for that of Jacob, the dates of birth given for these children come from John F. Alwine's Descendants of Hans Jacob Allwein (Buxton, NC). 3. This information on Jacob and Polly's children comes from information supplied by Jacob to the Bureau of Pensions in 1898 and again in 1915. The more recent report gives Anna's birth as February 22, 1875. The more recent report indicates that Henrietta's married name was Gephart, Angeline's married name was Whitehead, and Anna's married name was Ellinger. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Duane F. Alwin Professor, Department of Sociology Senior Research Scientist & Program Director Survey Research Center Office: 4067 Institute for Social Research Phone: 734-764-6597 Fax: 734-647-4575 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~