Jacob Fredrick Bickel was born April 9, 1824 in Graben, Baden, the second surviving son of Jacob Fredrich Bickel and Christina Roesch.
John immigrated to America 1847 with his cousin Rinehart. By 1860 he had moved with his wife and children to Mound City Missouri, a small town about 40 miles north of St. Joseph. In August of 1861 John enlisted in the Union Army in St. Joseph for three months. His company went with Colonel Peabody’s to Lexington to fend off the state militia who were commanded by the governor of Missouri who wished the state to secede. After his three months was over, Jacob re-enlisted in November 1861 for three years and went to Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis with the 13th Missouri Volunteers, a German regiment. Later his company was combined with an Ohio regiment to become Ohio 22nd. Company H. On the company roster, he is listed as a butcher.
From St. Louis John went with his company with U.S. Grant down the Mississippi River then to Ft. Henry, then to Ft. Donelson and finally to Shiloh, which was the bloodiest battle to date. Following the battle at Shiloh the Union forces went to Corinth and successfully cut off the Southern railhead. John’s unit moved on to Little Rock but John remained behind in Corinth. A few years later, on his way to join his company in Little Rock, John injured his foot while getting off the train. Although he mustered out with the rest of his unit in November 1864 his foot pained him the rest of his life and gave him difficulty walking. By the end of his life he was on crutches.
After finding out that his wife died, John went to Iowa where Rinehart lived. There he married Sabra Shepard Wetzel Lewin and the couple had two sons, John William (my ancestor) and Charles and a daughter Christina who died in childhood. He also raised his wife’s children by her first husband Oliver Perry Lewin who died in the Civil War. Sabra’s brothers were also Union soldiers in the War.
In the early 1870’s John and Sabra moved to his previous home, Mound City Missouri where he resumed being a fruit farmer. Iohn filed for and received a disability pension for his service in the Civil War . He died on April 1, 1906. On his headstone is carved his name, dates and “Co. H Ohio 22 INF.”