Loudenbeck, Joseph A.

LOUDENBECK

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 9/22/2019 at 16:44:33

Joseph A. Loudenbeck

(From the 1891 Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, p.482)
JOSEPH A. LOUDENBECK, one of the old soldier citizens of Pottawattamie County, was born on a farm in Hancock County, Indiana, June 22, 1842, the son of Reuben LOUDENBECK, who was a native of Pennsylvania and of German descent. He was married to Margaret EARL, and to them were born eleven children, three of whom died in infancy. The living are: Isaac, Mary, John, Joseph, David, Sarah, Emma, William. Mr. LOUDENBECK lived on a farm in Hancock County several years, and then moved to Jasper County, Iowa, in 1854, and then in the spring of 1869 removed to Madison County. He was too old to participate in the Civil War, but enlisted three times before he was accepted in the "Grey Beards," 37th Iowa, where he served until he was discharged on account of sickness. He is still living, at the age of seventy-four years, is a member of the Methodist Church, and an honest, upright man. He had three sons in the Civil War: Isaac, Joseph and David. Isaac and David were in the 5th Iowa Volunteer Infantry; the former enlisted in 1861 and the latter some time afterward, and they were both taken prisoners at the battle of Mission Ridge and confined in Libby and Andersonville prisons eleven months and both died from starvation at Andersonville!

Joseph A., our subject, was but twelve years of age when his father moved with teams to Jasper County, Iowa, and was but twenty years old when he enlisted March 22, 1862, in Company G, 17th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served until June 10, 1865. He was in the battles of Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge, Port Gibson, Jackson (Miss.), Corinth, Champion Hill, and many skirmishes. He was taken prisoner at Tilon, Louisiana, and confined at Andersonville six months, lacking thirteen days. His brothers had died before he entered the prison. When he went to Andersonville, he weighed 200 pounds, and when he came out he was reduced to 135 pounds! He had been starved almost to death from the poor and insufficient food, which consisted principally of corn meal, ground coffee, and old rotten mule meat. The drinking water was impregnated with filth, and he slept on the ground with no covering; his clothes were taken from him, except his shirt and drawers, which were reduced to a few rags, which scarcely covered his emaciated form. He was finally exchanged. He was wounded at Missionary Ridge, being shot through the right thigh, and he still carries the bullet. He was in the field hospital two weeks at Missionary Ridge, and was then sent home. He rejoined his regiment within two months, and thus the young Western soldier endured all the vicissitudes of war and was honorably discharged at Davenport, Iowa.

After the War, Mr. LOUDENBECK came to Pottawattamie County, and in October 1870, settled on his present farm. He is well known as an honest and industrious man, and is one of the oldest settlers of Lincoln Township. Lewis PAINTER, his brother-in-law, came at the same time, and they were the only settlers in this township. Mr. LOUDENBECK is a pioneer, an old soldier citizen, and a typical American, and his descendants will do well to remember his good record. Politically, he is a Republican and is a member of the G.A.R. Post No. 201 of Lewis, Iowa.

He was married in Jasper County, Iowa, to Miss Emily PAINTER, a sister of Lewis PAINTER, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work, and they have two children, viz.: Maggie, who married Ed YOUNG, a son of Adam YOUNG of Lincoln Township, and they have two children, Reuben and Nellie; and Carrie, who married George DERNIGER of Lincoln Township, and they have one child, Maggie.