William Kreutzer was born on September 11, 1828, in Benton, New York, to John Kreutzer. According to one early biographer, his “father died when he was in his teens, and he was thrown largely on his own resources for the acquirement of education.” Nonetheless, he graduated from Genesee College in 1853. He spent the next three years as a Greek instructor there, and he earned a Master’s degree in 1856.

 

He spent the late 1850s working as a high school principal in Clyde, New York, and he accepted a position as principal of the Lyons Union School in August 1860. According to that year’s federal pension, he owned $1,000 of personal property.

 

When the Civil War began, Kreutzer reportedly “made many addresses, urging support of the Union cause.” During the winter of 1861-62, he received a commission as a captain of Company F of the 98^th New York Infantry. He took part in the Peninsula campaign, and he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in February 1863. He served as assistant adjutant general in the Department of the South for most of 1863, and he was promoted to colonel on November 14, 1864. He mustered out on August 31, 1865.

 

Kreutzer returned to Lyons after the war, and he operated a hardware store there. He also earned a admission to the bar and occasionally practiced law. He married Emma Wood in April 1866, and they had at least two children: William, born around 1868; and Frederick, born around 1869. By 1870, they owned $4,500 of real estate and $9,000 of personal property. He applied for a federal pension in January 1874 and eventually secured one. By 1880, they employed at least one white domestic servant.

 

In the 1880s, Kreutzer opened a law and insurance office in Lyons. According to one writer, he had a “deeply scholarly turn of mind,” and he was “one of the best-grounded students of the classics in Western New York.” He published a history of the 98^th New York Infantry, and he served as an editorial correspondent for local newspapers.

 

He supported the Republican Party, and he served as a presidential elector for candidate James Abram Garfield in the election of 1880. He served as chairman of the party’s county convention from 1894 until 1896. He died in Lyons on May 27, 1901.

SOURCES