Charles Koch

Name: Charles Koch Company: E Died August 7, 1863, at St. Paul, Minnesota.
Birth Date: 1829 Place: Germany	Mustered In Date: February 11, 1862 Rank: First Lieutenant Age: 31 Residence prior to military service: St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota Vocation prior to military service: Carpenter and Contractor
Death Date: August 7, 1863 Place: St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota

Charles Koch Biography and Civil War Narrative

Charles Koch was born in Germany in 1829. He married Christine Berger, born February 1829 in Hesse-Darmstadt (Germany). Charles and Christine migrated to America in 1854. They had a son, Charles Jr., born August 1854, in New York. That same year they continued their migration to St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota. Charles set up a carpentry and contracting business, operating out of "a little old shop on West Seventh street." A second son, William, was born October 1856 in Minnesota. At the time of the 1860 U.S. Census, Charles "Cook" (age 30) worked as a Master Carpenter and lived with his wife, Christina (age 30) and his two sons, Charles Jr. (age 5) and "Wm" (age 4).

In Pen Pictures of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Biographical Sketches of Old Settlers, T. M. Newson described Charles Koch as "a short, somewhat thick-set man; quick in his movements and an active member of the German Society." According to Newson, Koch was an actor who orginated "German theatricals." He also was the president of the German Reading Society.

On February 11, 1862, at age 31, Charles Koch was mustered in as First Lieutenant of Company E of the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Company E participated in the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi (May 26-30, 1862), the Battle of Corinth (October 3-4, 1862), Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign (November 1862 to January 1863), and the Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi (May 18-July 4, 1863).

Concluding his account of the Siege of Vicksburg, Colonel Lucius F. Hubbard reported, "Its ranks had been sadly thinned. Many a comrade had made his last sacrifice for his country, and many more lay languishing in the hospitals from wounds or disease." Not long after the fall of Vicksburg, First Lieutenant Charles Koch was sent home because of illness, probably contracted during the Siege of Vicksburg. On August 2, 1863, Jacob Amos was promoted to First Lieutenant, taking Koch's place. Five days later, in St. Paul, Minnesota, Charles Koch died of the disease he contracted while serving in the 5th Minnesota. According to Newson, the funeral "was a very large one."

Christina Koch and her two sons continued to live in St. Paul. The 1870 census shows 40-year-old Christine "Keeping House" while 15-year-old Charles worked as a Segar [sic] Maker and 13-year-old Willie was at school. By 1880, the two boys had moved out of the home. A boarder and dressmaker, Anna Bowser (age 28), lived with Christina at 73 Goodrich Avenue. Son William, who worked as a Painter, lived at 135 Goodrich St. with his wife, Mary, a 3-year-old daughter, Christine, and a 1-year-old son, William.

Meanwhile, Charles Jr. lived at 63 Banfil Street, just two doors down from the home of Jacob Amos, the soldier who replaced Charles Koch as First Lieutenant of Company E. Charles (age 25) still worked as a Cigar Maker and lived with Charles (age 43) and Augusta (age 41) Peppler. Augusta may have been Charles Koch Sr.'s sister, since in the 1900 census, she is listed as Charles Jr.'s aunt. Augusta had been widowed and continued (in 1900 as well as 1910 and 1920) to share a home with Charles. In 1900 and 1910 Charles operated a Saloon. In the 1920 census, the occupation of 65-year-old Charles is listed as "None."

The 1900 census shows 71-year-old Christina Koch living at 274 Goodrich Ave., still with the family of her son William. William (age 43, still a Painter) and Mary (age 44) had been married 23 years, and of 8 children born to them, 7 were still living. In their household were son Charles (b. December 1881, Clerk), daughter Maria (b. February 1883, Stenographer), daughter Elsie (born December 1888, at school), son Thomas W. (b. October 1891, at school), and son John E. (b. November 1898). William and Mary's married daughter Christina Cope (sp? age 23) also lived with them as well as her two sons William J. (b. November 1897) and Gorge [sic] (b. February 1899).

At the time of the 1910 U. S. Census, Christina was 81, living with her daughter-in-law Mary Koch who was now separated from William. Also in the Koch household were five of Mary's children: Charles (age 29), Mary M. (age 27), Elsie (age 21), Thomas W. (age 19), and John E. (age 12). Charles continued to work as a Clerk for a rail road; Mary and Thomas were both Stenographers.

First Lieutenant Charles Koch's widow, Christina (Berger) Koch, died in Ramsey County, Minnesota, on August 14, 1914, at the age of 86.

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