Josiah Benjamin Lauffer

   Another name for Josiah was Bartel.

  General Notes:

From the 1906 Lauffer History

Last address 868 Chester St., Oakland, Cal. His has been a very interesting career. At twenty years of age he commenced making trips on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. He made ten or eleven trips to Vicksburgand New Orleans between 1858 and 1860. It was then his purpose to learn the river in order to be a pilot. He tells us: "In 1861 the war broke out and the Rebels blockaded the lower Mississippi, and that stopped my boating scheme".

In 1861 I enlisted for the War as a private soldier. I served nearly through the war. Was promoted and was discharged in July, 1865, as Captain of Company K, 11th regiment, Pa. Volunteers. During my service I took part in many of the principal battles of the war, was twice slightly and once severely wounded. " ''I will here mention my brother Israel, who also was a soldier. He belonged to the 101st Regiment. He was wounded and taken prisoner and died a prisoner of war. One thing more of importance I wish to call to your attention. I never saw it mentioned anywhere that my grandfather, John Lauffer served in the Revolutionary War, but it is a fact that two of his brothers and himself served during that period. My grandfather being very young at the time served as a scout. This I heard from his own lips. In those times records may have been kept very imperfectly. There may be no record to show that he served under Captain Bonnet, and in the War of 1812, he furnished a soldier, that is he hired and paid a man out of his own pocket to serve in the war, he at the time being unable to serve himself. "

"After the War I engaged in store business in Penn Station for about four years, during which time I was postmaster. From there I moved on a farm in Penn Township, lived there four years and from there to Harrison City. I again engaged in the mercantile business and was postmaster for six years. In 1886 I moved to Humboldt County, Cal., lived there for four years, then moved to San Francisco. I have been employed at the U. S. mint for nearly nine years. I was also employed at the Navy Yard at Vallejo nearly two years."

Josiah married Anna J. Sowash on 26 Nov 1866.