Members of the list;
I could really use some help in finding some information relating to my
g-g-grandfather, Samuel Beutler. I know very little about this man, his
life, his family, and I am at somewhat of a loss of where to even look. It
seems he lived in the Berne and Monroe area of Adams County. It is evident
my family was not very influential or powerful in Adams County, just common
folk trying to live out their lives, so there is very little written about
them. Even the excellent BerneSat database maintained by the staff of the
Heritage Room in the Berne Library is painfully silent about this man and
his wife.
Here is what I know. There is a very short article written about him in the
publication: "The 1979 History of Adams County, Indiana, Dick D. Heller,
Jr., Editor" on page 359. It even includes a small picture of him in his
Union Army uniform. Because he volunteered to serve in the Union Army, it
would then be logical that, even though he was an immigrant from
Switzerland, he was not of the Anabaptist or Mennonite faiths. Had it not
been for this one paragraph article, I would have never known that the
family name was once Beutler, or associated him with my g-grandfather. The
article was written by L. Luther Yager.
Can anyone help me in this quest? Who is L. Luther Yager, and is he still
living? Can he be contacted? If he is not still living, does his papers
still exist as to where he got the information on the article? In 1979 the
picture still existed, I am hoping it still does, but how to find who now
has it? Does anyone know anything about Samuel Beutler and his wife,
Elisabeth Christener, or have them in their database?
I have ordered from the NARA his military file and pension application. I
hope this to tell me where he is buried. The short article by Yager reports
that he was mortally wounded in the battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, Mississippi.
I have an undocumented report that he is buried in Paducah, Kentucky.
Any assistance you can give in helping me find information on this family
member would be most welcomed. Someone somewhere has that picture, and
hopefully others. He had three sons and two daughters who married and had
families, so other people would have him in their line as well. I am hoping
that some of those people read these posts.
Thank you.
Rick Beitler
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil
is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke
Springfield, MO
<mailto:rabone@mchsi.com> rabone(a)mchsi.com
All out going email from myself is scanned by Symantec AntiVirus software.
If you got it from me, it is virus free!