Louisa Bittlingmeier Schneider's Civil War Pension Application
William Schneider was Louisa Bittlingmeier's first husband. He was the son of Phillip and Sophie Schneider.
William had been serving with the New Jersey Volunteers, Company E, Second Regiment since the beginning of the war and had fought in many battles,
including Second Manassas, Antietam and Gettysburg. Prior to his enlistment, he worked as a "silver plater".
On January 5, 1864, the couple were married at the German Evangelical Reformed Church on Mulberry Street in Newark. Four months later,
Corporal William Schneider was killed in action in a skirmish at Lauren Hill (Spotsylvania Courthouse) in Virginia, on May 8, 1864.
He was only 27 years old and Louisa was a very young widow. She was also pregnant.
Louisa applied for William's pension on October 14, 1864. On November 22, 1864, she gave birth to William Schneider, Jr.,
6 months after William Sr.'s death. On December 16, 1865, when William Jr. was one year old, Louisa applied for a pension for the baby.
By this time she was remarried, again to a soldier, named Jacob Bechtold. Sadly, the baby died 3 weeks later, on January 8, 1866.
From the U.S. Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934
Source Citation: The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; NAI Title: General Index to Civil War and Later Pension Files, ca. 1949 - ca. 1949; NAI Number: 563268; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773 - 2007; Record Group Number: 15; Series Title: U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; Series Number: T288; Roll: 416
Source Information: National Archives and Records Administration. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.
Original data: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. T288, 546 rolls.
