CAPTAIN JAMES M. TREICHLER
Captain and Mrs. James M. Treichler
Captain James M. TREICHLER occupies a pleasant home in Orient, a thriving
village situated on the Creston and Northern branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. He was in early life identified with farming, but owing to
injuries received in the service, he was eventually compelled to change occupations,
and later engaged in painting and paper hanging, which business he pursued until
a short time ago. He is now retired from active business life to enjoy his home
which he so richly deserves. He has now passed the seventy-first milestone of his
journey through life. He was born in Trappe, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania,
on the 10th day if January, 1844. His parents were Abram and Margaret (MILLER)
TREICHLER. At this place still stands the old Lutheran church built in 1744, one
of the remaining landmarks of the earlier settlements. The grandfather of his
mother (James MILLER) was one of the founders of this church. At the close of
the civil war in November, 1865, Captain TREICHLER came to Cedar county, Iowa,
and in the spring of 1866 his father and family also came to Iowa and settled upon
a farm in the Coon Creek settlement; on this farm his father and mother continued
to live until they were called to their final rest. His father's family consisted of
nine children, of whom seven are still living.
Captain TREICHLER remained a member of his father's family in Pennsylvania
until the breaking out of the Civil war. He enlisted as a private in Company H,
Ninety-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, in September, 1861. This regiment
was enrolled at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and later assigned to the Army of the
Potomac. His promotion to fifth sergeant occurred at Brady Station, Virginia, by
special order from regimental headquarters. From fifth sergeant he was promoted
sergeant-major of the regiment. This position he held until the discharge of the
regiment at the expiration of its three years service, at Cedar Creek, Virginia. He
was then placed in command of the re-enlisted veterans of his regiment; and the
detachment was soon consolidated with the reenlisted veterans of the Ninety-fifth
Pennsylvania Infantry and called the Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.
In this regiment he commanded Company G until the close of the war. In a very
short time he received his commissions as second lieutenant, first lieutenant and
captain. He also filled the office of adjutant of his regiment the remainder of his
service, but retained the command of his company. Captain TREICHLER served three
years and ten months and was engaged in all the general battles of the Army of
the Potomac from Yorktown to Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. His regiment
belonged to the Second Brigade, First Division, Sixth Army Corps; commanded by
General SEDGWICK until his death at Spottsylvania.
In 1873 Captain TREICHLER was united in marriage to Miss Emma DANCE, a
daughter of Major John and Phebe (HODSON) DANCE, both natives of England.
They came to America in 1880 and first settled in Ohio, where they lived for four
years. They then removed to Cedar county, Iowa, and took up their abode upon
the farm which Mr. DANCE entered from the government. Still later he removed to
Linn county and there both he and his wife passed away. In their family were
four children, of whom two are yet living. Mrs. Emma WESTCOTT, an aunt of
Mrs. TREICHLER, was housekeeper for Queen Victoria at Buckingham palace for
a number of years and was married while in her service, at which time she received
from the queen a beautiful Dresden china set. Mrs. TREICHLER's great-aunt, Mrs.
DATE, was housekeeper for Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, at Kensington Palace, when Victoria was a young girl.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. TREICHLER has been blessed with eight children:
Frank A., a farmer; Leroy and Cyril H., lumbermen at Kellerton; Rex O. and
Winslow A., lumbermen at Afton; Gladys E., who is in Omaha, Nebraska, with
her brother James E., foreman of the Ralph Printing Company, and who is pursuing
a musical education in voice culture; and Samuel H., who is rural mail carrier
on route No. 2, Orient, and is also connected with the TREICHLER Brothers Lumber
Company of Kellerton and Afton. Both Captain and Mrs. TREICHLER are members
of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which they are actively and
helijfully interested. He also belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and thus
maintains pleasant relations with his comrades who wore the blue during the dark
days of our country's history. In politics he has always been an earnest Republican
and has served in several local offices. His aid and support can be counted upon
to further plans and measures that are working for the progress and development
of his section of the state. Those who know him esteem him because of his upright
life and his record furnishes an example which others might well follow.
Mrs. TREICHLER is a lady of liberal culture and broad reading. She has been
a successful teacher for ten terms and that she possesses poetical talent is shown
by the number of her productions that have appeared in print. The following poem,
dedicated at his death to her father, who was a veteran of the Civil war, is entitled:
PIN MY GRAND ARMY BADGE ON MY BREAST
"Our comrades are going, as years roll along, Like autumn leaves dropping they fall one by one.
When I, too, grow weary and lie down to rest. Oh, pin then my 'Grand Army Badge' on my breast.
CHORUS TO FIRST AND SECOND VERSES. "When taps shall have sounded 'Lights out' for the night.
And when from earth's battle my soul wings its flight. With arms calmly folded for my 'tent' of rest.
Oh, then pin my 'Grand Army Badge' on my breast.
"And then in the Maytime my comrades will bring, Carnations and lilies, sweet gifts of the spring,
The flag that I love then, to mark where I rest, Asleep with my 'Grand Army Badge' on my breast.
CHORUS. "Thus wrote an aged vet'ran, who fought the good fight
For God and his country, for freedom and right, Lov'd hands now have laid him to peacefully rest.
In sleep with his 'Grand Army Badge' on his breast.
CHORUS TO LAST VERSE. "For taps softly sounded 'Lights out' for the night.
He's freed from earth's battle, his soul wing'd its flight. His wounded arms folded for his 'tent' of rest.
And pinned was his 'Grand Array Badge' on his breast."
This song was set to music and copyrighted by the late composer, C. V. STRICKLAND, of Huntington, Indiana, and has
become popular as a memorial and campfire song.
SOURCE: KILBURN, Lucian M., supervising editor. History of Adair County Iowa, Pp. 208-10.
The Pioneer Publishing Co. Chicago. 1915.
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, February of 2009
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