Louis Waldter, one of the prominent old settlers of Wymore, Nebraska, and a veteran of the Civil war, has been a resident of this state since 1857. His career as a soldier began with his enlistment November 11, 1862, in Company E, Second Nebraska Cavalry, Colonel R. N. Furnas and Captain Lewis Hill commanding. After thirteen months of hard service, he was honorably discharged, and returned to his home. During a portion of that time he was confined in the hospital, and has never fully recovered from the effects of the exposure and hardships.
The birth of Mr. Waldter took place in Rhenish Prussia, on February, 1831, and he is a son of Henry Waldter and Mary Waldter, both of whom died in their native land. There were three sons in their family. By trade our subject was a painter, and in 1848 and 1849 he served in the German Revolution, in the ranks. He landed in New York. From there he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and thence to Chicago. From that city he made his way to St. Louis and then to St. Joe, and still later to Nebraska. During these days he experienced many stirring adventures, and once came very near being lynched, his oppressors going so far as to place a rope around his neck.
While residing in Missouri he was united in marriage with Emma Thomas. She died in Nebraska in 1863, aged twenty-one years, leaving three children, namely: Mary Margaret, Theodore and Lewis. On December 24, 1864, Mr. Waldter married Elizabeth Sherfey. In 1873 our subject located in Richardson county, Nebraska, and in 1885 he took up a homestead in Trego county, Kansas, but later returned to Nebraska. In politics he is a Republican, and represented his party in the state legislature at Lincoln, Nebraska, from 1867 to 1869.
© 1999, Lori L. Laird, NEGenWeb Project