John C. Lauffer

   Another name for John was John C Lauffer.

  General Notes:

On February 26, 1864, 17 year old John Lauffer joined Company F, 11th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, under the command of Gen. Richard Coulter. According to Private Lauffer's muster papers from the National Archives, he was a farmer from Westmoreland County, 5'7", with hazel eyes, brown hair, and dark complexion. The papers go on to state that he was "taken prisoner by the enemy on August 19, 1864 at Weldon Railroad," near Petersburg Virginia, and spent about nine months as a POW in several Southern prison camps. He was released from the notorious Andersonville Prison on May 2, 1865, and was mustered out of the service in Annapolis, Maryland, on June 8, 1865. Documents signed by a Saltsburgh, Pennsylvania, physician on May 6,1865, indicate that Private Lauffer was suffering from a severe case of typhoid fever but was well enough to travel. In the years after the War, John Lauffer traveled around the country lecturing on his wartime experiences. Michael Bash of Apollo accompanied him.
The handbill advertising his appearances read as follows:
Private J Lauffer, formerly of the 11th Penn'a. Veteran Volunteers, will deliver his Historical Lecture on the pleasures and hardships of camp life,on the battlefield and in the different prisons.
From the days of the Revolution to the close of the Civil War, largely illustrated by the fine paintings, maps and pictures of Libby, Belle Island, Salsbury, and Andersonville. Teachers, scholars, and students should attend this lecture. They will learn more history than they would in months of book study. He will relate many mirthful anecdotes of soldiers' life,the entire performance being strictly moral,chaste, and instructive to both ladies and gentlemen. In connection with the Lecture,Private Lauffer and son will sing army songs,accompanied by fine instrumental music.
Many thanks to Jeff Edward Lauffer, Private Lauffer's great grandson, for sharing this.

John was a farmer in Bell Township. He died a tragic death at age 76 when a wagon with team of horses he was driving spooked and John and his friend, Wayne Hill, were thrown from the wagon and both died from their injuries This was on or near the Lauffer farm on August 3, 1921.

John married Mary Agnes Rumbaugh, daughter of Daniel Rumbaugh and Unknown, on 20 Nov 1866. (Mary Agnes Rumbaugh was born on 22 Feb 1848 in Pennsylvania, died on 2 Jan 1924 and was buried in Pine Run Reformed Cemetery, Apollo, Pennsylvania.)