Nikolaus Burger (1841 - 1932)

Born 10 Sep 1841 in Oberspitzenbach, Siegelau, Waldkirch, Freiburg, Baden, Deutscher Bund

Ancestors

Husband of Mathilda Louisa Wilhelmina (Schwieger) Burger — married 16 Dec 1858 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States

Descendants

Died 6 Jun 1932 at age 90 in Comfrey, Brown, Minnesota, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jack Schaffer [send private message]

Biography

Nickolaus Burger was born on 10 Sep 1841 in Oberspitzenbach, Black Forest, German Federation.^[1] He died in Comfrey, Minnesota, USA on 6 Jun 1932.^[2]

Find A Grave has this biography composed by Lowell Tjentland, local military historian, that was originally published in the Cottonwood County Historical Society Newsletter:

Nick Burger was born in Baden, Germany, on September 10, 1841. He was educated through two years of college but disliked academic life, dropped out and was drafted into the German Army. Although he had an uncle who was an Army General, he also disliked the Army, deserted and sailed to America.

He started out as a butcher in New York, later took a train to Leavenworth, Kansas, and joined a wagon train headed for the Colorado gold fields. He was captured by friendly Indians who persuaded him to go back east to New York. It was there on June 24, 1862, that Nick joined the Regular US Army Artillery. Nick differed from most Civil War veterans because he was a member of the Regular U. S. Army. Most veterans had been members of regiments that were furnished by the individual states.

Nick was captured by the Confederates on June 15, 1863, and was taken to Belle Isle Prison where he lost 26 pounds in about two months. After the Battle of Gettysburg, Nick was exchanged for captured Confederate soldiers and he went back to his Artillery unit. Nick fought in many more battles in Northern Virginia and Maryland and once got to see President Lincoln while he was visiting the troops. In one instance, Nick was kicked by a horse and fractured his leg. He was sent to a hospital in York, Pennsylvania where he was confined for some time.

After the war, Nick moved west to Chicago where he held various jobs and married Mathilda Schwieger on December 14, 1868. He had his own butcher shop in a town south of Chicago, worked in a packing plant in Chicago where his asthma forced him to seek the open air and he ended up in Minnesota.

Nick Burger had an active interest in public matters and served as Delton township treasurer, chairman of the board of supervisors and school treasurer. He was also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R) and attended its district, state and national conventions. Note the marker at his gravestone.

Nick and his wife lived on their Delton homestead until 1911 when he retired and moved to Comfrey. They are both buried in the Delton Township Cemetery which was located on their farm. He was the last living Civil War Veteran from the Northeast part of the county and as he grew older much attention was given to him especially around Memorial Day. We are fortunate that his daughter, Bertha Potter, wrote a biography of Nick while he still remembered the details of his war years. It first appeared in the "Comfrey Times" on October 27, 1927 and was also part of his obituary in 1932. It was reprinted in the "Comfrey Times" on June 30, 1983.

Transcripts

Birth

Im Jahre eintausend, achthundert, ein und

vierzig, den zehnten September, früh drei

Uhr, wurde dahier geboren, u. demselben?

abends sechs Uhr? getauft:

Nikolaus Burger

unehelicher Sohn der ledigen Kreßenz Burger,

ehelicher Tochter des Johannes Burger, Schwein=

händlers, u. der Barbara Kury von hier.

Zeugen sind: Karl Burger, ledig, zugleich

Pathe mit Agatha Nopper, ledig, beide von

hier u. Alexander Winterhalter, hiesiger Lehrer.

Oberspitzenbach ? 10ten September 1841

Schmid Pfarrer^[1]

English translation:

In the year 1841, the 10th of September, 3:00

in the morning,

Nikolaus Burger

was born here [= in this village] and baptized the same

day at six in the evening:

illegitimate son of the unmarried Kressenz Burger,

legitimate daughter of Johann Burger, swine

merchant, and Barbara Kury from here.

Witnesses are: Karl Burger, unmarried

also godparent with Agatha Nopper, unmarried, both from

here, and Alexander Winterhalter, teacher here.

Oberspitzenbach ? 10th September 1941.

Schmid Pastor

It is worth noting that this baptismal record is found in the record book of a Roman Catholic parish.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Staatsarchiv Freiburg, L 10 Nr. 5547, , Katzenmoos, Elzach EM; Katholische Gemeinde: Standesbuch 1830-1849, picture 99, #12
2. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDH7-ZY7

• Birth record: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CHQ6-R5W2
• Family records
• Sabacky, E. R. The Nicholas Burger & Mathilda Schwieger Burger Family History, 1841-1994. Unpublished family manuscript.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/67260416/nicholas-burger : accessed 18 April 2022), memorial page for Nicholas Burger (10 Sep 1841–6 Jun 1932), Find A Grave: Memorial #67260416, citing Delton Cemetery, Cottonwood County, Minnesota, USA ; Maintained by MarillaW (contributor 47325501) .