Charles Christian Wehrum
Charles Christian Wehrum was born on October 31, 1841, in Pirmasens in modern-day Germany to Heinrich and Charlotte Wehrum. He was baptized on November 9. He left Germany in November 1851 and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. By the early 1860s, he was working as a blacksmith.
He enlisted in the Union army on April 29, 1861, and he mustered in as a corporal in the 12th Massachusetts Infantry on June 26, 1861. He was promoted to sergeant in January 1862 and then to 2nd lieutenant on August 11, 1862. He was wounded in the Battle of Antietam on September 17, but he eventually recovered and rejoined the regiment. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant in November 1862. He was wounded in the right arm in the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, and he spent the next three months recovering. He rejoined the regiment in September 1863, and he was promoted to captain in April 1864. He mustered out on July 8, 1864.
Wehrum settled in New York City after the war, and he was naturalized on October 4, 1864. He married Elizabeth Schumacher around 1865, and they had at least seven children: Charles, born around 1870; John, born around 1872; Edward, born around 1874; Delafield, born around 1875; Frederick, born around 1877; Jennie, born around 1879; and Charles, born around 1882. They lived in New York City, and Wehrum worked as a bookkeeper and a “kindling wood dealer.” By 1880, they employed at least one white servant.
He applied for a passport in May 1889, and he described his occupation as “Gentleman.” According to his passport application, he was 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with dark hair and brown eyes. He attended veterans’ reunions throughout the late 1800s, and he served on the New York Board of Education from 1891 until 1896. In June 1896, he joined the German-American Sound Money League, which vowed to “support the party which by its platform emphatically declares for the maintenance of the gold standard.” His wife died on November 25, 1905, “after a brief illness,” and he passed away in New York City on March 11, 1908.
DATABASE CONTENT
| (4918) | Wehrum, Charles Christian ~ Wehrum, Carl Christian | 1841-10-31 | 1908-03-11 |
- Conflict Side: Union
- Role: Soldier
- Rank in: Corporal
- Rank out: Captain
- Rank highest: Captain
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
Documents - Records: 2
People - Records: 1
- (4918) Wehrum, Charles Christian is the [friend of] (4942) Swarman, Frederick
Places - Records: 2
Regiments - Records: 1
- (50) [enlisted] ~ 12th Massachusetts Infantry
Groups - Records: 1
- (6) [member/supporter] ~ Grand Army of the Republic
SOURCES
1870, 1880, and 1900 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Rhineland, Bavaria, Palatinate and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1556-1973, available from Ancestry.com; Military Service Records of Charles C. Wehrum, available from Fold3.com; Index to Petitions for Naturalization Filed in New York City, 1792-1989, available from Ancestry.com; Passport Applications, 1795-1925, available from Ancestry.com; The New York Times, 14 January 1892 and 28 November 1905; The Indianapolis (IN) Journal, 18 June 1896; Boston Evening Transcript, 12 March 1908
