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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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Frederick
A. Reckler There
have come to the United States from the German empire and other alien lands men
of limited financial resources, but imbued with a sturdy independence and a
laudable ambition to succeed, and who have taken advantage of the wonderful
possibilities afforded here. Gradually,
step-by-step, they have risen to places of prominence in various lines of
activity. Of these there can be none mentioned who deserves more favorable
attention than Frederick A. Reckler, for many years one of Jasper County's
successful farmers, and who, having by his thrift gained a competency, is now
living retired in his cozy home in the city of Newton.
He is one of the honored veterans of the great war between the states,
having proved his patriotism to his adopted country by gallantly fighting in
defense of the Stars and Stripes on many a sanguinary field, and even after
being desperate wounded and languishing for months in the terrible prisons of
the South gladly returned to the front and continued to do what he could to save
the national Union.
Mr.
Reckler was born in Saxony, Germany, November 28, 1831. He is the son of Simon
Gottlieb Reckler, who spent his life in Germany, a tailor by trade, and his
death occurring when his son Frederick A. was nine years of age.
The father was in the German army against Napoleon.
His wife, also a native of Germany, lived and died there, the subject
being the only member of the family to come to America.
He grew to maturity in his native land and was educated there.
Believing that the new world held great opportunities for him, he set
sail across the Atlantic in 1857, going by way of Liverpool to New York.
From there he traveled by rail to Davenport, Iowa, and secured employment
on a farm near there. With characteristic German thrift he worked there steadily
until the outbreak of the Civil War when he went to Wisconsin, and on April 22,
1861, only a few days after Fort Sumter had been fired upon, he enlisted in
Company C, Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, under Captain McGee. At first he
was sent to Washington, D. C., and he was at Arlington Heights for some time
drilling; he was then plunged into real war by taking part in the first great
battle of the war, Bull Run. During
this fierce engagement he received a very severe wound that would have meant
death to many another of less hardy constitution. A bullet struck him in the left breast, passing through
a small German Testament and on through his body just below the heart, coming
out at the back. He still has this
Testament, the hole through it bearing grim evidence of the long and dangerous
conflict. Mr. Reckler was captured
in this battle and for six weeks he lay exposed in a field hospital with scant
attention; he was then taken to Libby prison, later to the prison at Salisbury,
North Carolina, and still later to New Orleans. Shortly before General Butler
captured the Crescent city, the prisoners there were returned to Salisbury and
paroled. Mr. Reckler was suffering
with scurvy and was very sick of numerous ailments, so he was sent to the
military hospital at New York City, where he remained eight weeks, after which
he returned to Wisconsin and began farming.
But he could not be content to stay away from the front and in October
1863, he returned to his regiment and, as a private in the Army of the Potomac,
he took part in many of the greatest battles of the war, including Mine Run,
Spottsylvania and the Wilderness. After
a remarkable army record, in which he proved himself to be a fearless and.
splendid soldier, Mr. Reckler was honorably discharged on June 28, 1864, and he
soon afterwards returned to Wisconsin. A
year later he came to Iowa, locating near Davenport and there farmed on rented
land for five years, then came to Jasper County and bought one hundred and sixty
acres in Newton Township, in 1869 and here he continued to reside until 1905,
when he turned the care of the farm over to his sons and moved to Newton, where
he is spending his declining years in the midst of plenty as a result of his
able management of the farm. In
1867 Mr. Reckler was married to Henrietta Junck, who was born in St. Louis, of
German parentage. To this union
eight children has been born, namely: Mary, Christian and one infant are
deceased; the five living are, Fred H., who resides on a farm in Sherman
Township; Emil is on the farm in Newton Township; Harriet married William
Hildebrandt and they live in Arkansas; Lena married Harmon Jensen and they live
on a farm in Sherman Township; Laura married August Snelle and is living at home
with her parents. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Reckler are members of the German Lutheran Church.
Politically, he is a Republican, and he belongs to Garrett Post, No. 16,
Grand Army of the Republic. The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 677. |
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