hegnauer.family
hegnauer.family
H0002 The study's number for this person. Cite it and it will always lead here, whatever the spelling.
· A life in the study

Johannes Hegnauer

Born at Igis in 1840, emigrated to America in 1856, served in the Union army, 1861–64, and died at Leavenworth in 1917.

born 13 Nov 1840 at Igis, Graubünden died 31 Dec 1917 at Leavenworth, Leavenworth

From Igis to the Pacific
Also written John, John Hegenauer, John Hecknauer, John Hagenauer, John Haegnauer
and 2 more John Hagnauer, Johann Hegemann

Igis from the air, 1 Sep 1947. Werner Friedli, ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Stiftung Luftbild Schweiz, LBS_H1-010091, CC BY-SA 4.0

Igis and Missouri

Johannes (John) Hegnauer was born on 13 November 1840 in Igis, Graubünden, Switzerland, and baptized the next day. He was the eldest child of Luzius Hegnauer and Anna Margreth Bernet.1 His younger brothers and sisters were Leonhard, Christina, Martin, Christian and Barbara.

John was fifteen when he crossed the Atlantic with his parents and four younger siblings. They sailed from Le Havre on 22 August 1856 on the ship Chace (printed "Chase" on the passenger list) and reached New York on 29 September.2 The passenger list, dated the next day, gives the family as "Hegemann" and lists him as "Johann", 15.3 Late in life he gave 1851 as the year of his arrival.4 In 1860 he was nineteen and working as a farmhand on the family farm in Boeuf Township, Gasconade County, Missouri.5

Cavalryman

In August 1861, a few months before his twenty-first birthday, John enrolled at Camp Benton in St. Louis in Captain Ernest Pfaff's company of mounted volunteers, which became Company A of the Benton Hussars, a cavalry battalion raised at St. Louis that first year of the war. On 18 September 1861 the company was mustered into federal service at Bird's Point, Missouri, across the Mississippi from Cairo; the muster-in roll gives John's age as 20.6 As the Missouri regiments were reorganized, his company became Company A of the 5th Missouri Cavalry in February 1862 and, in November 1862, Company B of the 4th Missouri Cavalry.6–8 Meanwhile his father Luzius and his brother Leonhard served closer to home in the Gasconade County Battalion, which became the 4th Missouri Infantry, until February 1863 (see their profiles).

John's muster rolls survive for all three years. He was carried present on seventeen of the eighteen bi-monthly rolls covering August 1861 to August 1864, and no card records sickness, a wound, capture or furlough.6 A "present" on these rolls describes a man on the day the roll was taken, not every day in between, so they cannot prove that he was in any particular fight. But they show him with his company on either side of most of its actions, so he was very likely present when Pfaff's company rode out from Norfolk against part of Jeff Thompson's force at Hunter's Farm near Belmont on 26 September 1861; at Bentonville and Pea Ridge, Arkansas, on 6–8 March 1862; at the capture of Batesville, Arkansas, on 4 February 1863, which his company's history claims; and at Ivey's Hill near Okolona, Mississippi, on 22 February 1864, where the 4th Missouri Cavalry made a saber charge that a rail fence stopped.6, 8–9 He was still a private on the roll of 28 February 1863 and a corporal at the special muster of 15 April 1863, and he kept that rank to the end.6, 10

His one recorded absence came at the muster of 30 June 1864, when he was away from his company "On expedition with Genl A. J. Smith".6 So the rolls cannot say where he was on 10 June, when the 4th Missouri Cavalry cut its way out of the rout at Brice's Crossroads "with drawn sabers and revolvers": he was present on 30 April and away with Smith's force by 30 June.9 He may have stayed with Smith's column for its July expedition to Tupelo, but no card says so. On 31 August he was present with his company again, the day after it came back to Memphis from A. J. Smith's expedition to Oxford, Mississippi, so he was very likely on that expedition too, though no card places him on it.6, 9

“.6 So the rolls cannot say where he was on 10 June, when the 4th Missouri Cavalry cut its way out of the rout at Brice's Crossroads”

In September 1864 the company's re-enlisted veterans and recruits went off with General Mower, while the rest of the company, the men whose three years were running out, stayed in camp near Memphis.8 John was mustered out at St. Louis as a corporal "for expiration of term", at the end of his three-year term, in October 1864, with a $100 bounty still due to him. His last muster card seems to give the day as 26 October, and the National Homes register gives 25 October (see Research Notes).6, 11

Madison County, Illinois

By the late 1860s John, like his brother Leonhard, who had married at Highland in 1866 (see his profile), had crossed the Mississippi to Madison County, Illinois. On 24 August 1869 he married Catharina Appel there.12 The 1870 census found the newlyweds farming near Grantfork, John 29 and Catharine 23, with $600 in personal property.13 Family trees name a son, Carl Lucius, born in February 1872, but no record of his birth has yet been found. Catharine died a few years later, probably in 1876, the year family trees give; no record of her death has been found either. An Appel family account says she died after the stillbirth of another child.14

Kansas City and Webb City

By 1880 John had moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and married again. His second wife Mary was, like him, a native of Switzerland.15 In May 1885 "John Hegnauer and wife" sold a lot in W. H. Reed's addition to Kansas City for $750.16 In August 1890 he applied for a Civil War pension.7

By 1900 the couple owned a house at 504 North Liberty Street in Webb City, in the lead-and-zinc mining district of Jasper County, Missouri. John, nearly sixty, was working as a teamster at a lumber yard.4 From 1906 to 1908 a John Hegnauer of about his age was a registered voter at Lawton, Oklahoma, a town then only a few years old; he was probably this John (see Research Notes).17 When his brother Leonhard died in 1916, John was named among the surviving brothers.18

The Soldiers' Home

In 1909, at 68, John entered the Western Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers at Leavenworth, Kansas, a home for aging and disabled Union veterans.11 In November 1917 the Leavenworth Times, which printed the Home's weekly transfers, reported him moving between Barracks I and the Home hospital.19 He died at Leavenworth on 31 December 1917, aged 77, still a member of the Home, and was buried in the Leavenworth National Cemetery, Section 33, Row 7, Site 19.20–21

What we know

Proven

  • Birth at Igis, 1840
  • Baptism at Igis, 1840
  • Immigration at New York, 1856
  • Military service at St. Louis, Aug 1861 and Oct 1864
  • Marriage to Catharina Appel in Madison County, 1869
  • Property sale at Kansas City, 1885
  • and 3 more
  • 6 homes, from the census and other records

What's still open

  • Identity. The records are linked as one man as follows.
  • Service record. His compiled service record (NARA M405) was read card by card on Fold3 on 26 Sep 2026.
  • Enlistment and muster-in. The National Homes register says he enlisted at St.
  • Presence at his company's engagements. He is present on 17 of the 18 bi-monthly muster rolls (Aug 1861 to Aug 1864).
  • Rejected lead, the 2nd Missouri Infantry "John Hegnauer". This profile formerly cited the FamilySearch entry "Missouri, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861–1865", John Hegnauer, 1861 (FamilySearch record FFB2-WYJ), as a copy of John's cavalry record.

Sources

Source 1

1 Switzerland, Catholic and Reformed Church Records, 1840

Source 2

2 Port of New York, September 29, 1856

Source 3

3 New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1856

Source 4

4 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Webb City Ward 2

Source 5

5 United States Census, 1860

Source 6

6 Compiled service records of John Hegnauer, NARA M405, 1862

Sources 7–8

7 U.S., Civil War Pension Index, 1890
8 Annual Report of the Adjutant General of Missouri, 1864

Source 9

9 U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion, 1861

Source 10

10 National Park Service, Soldiers and Sailors Database

Source 11

11 U.S., National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1909

Source 12

12 Illinois, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1869

Source 13

13 1870 U.S. Federal Census, Township 5 Range 5

Source 14

14 The Appels of Highland Illinois, 2020

Source 15

15 United States Census, 1880

Source 16

16 Kansas City Daily Journal, 1885

Source 17

17 Oklahoma, Voter Records, 1907

Source 18

18 Appleton City Journal, 1916

Source 19

19 The Leavenworth Times, 1917

Sources 20–21

20 U.S., Burial Registers, 1917
21 U.S., Veterans' Gravesites, ca. 1775–2019

Life in time

with the history around it

13 Nov 1840

Birth, Igis, Graubünden, Switzerland

proven Source 1

How we know

  1. 1840 Birth 13 Nov 1840 · Igis, Graubünden · proven

    Two FamilySearch index entries of the Igis baptism register give birth 13 Nov and baptism 14 Nov 1840, parents Luzius Hegnauer and Anna Margreth Bernet. A third index entry reads 1839, which would precede his parents' June 1840 marriage and is probably an indexing error; the register image has not yet been checked. His age of 15 on the Sep 1856 passenger list, 19 in the 1860 census and 20 at his cavalry muster-in on 18 Sep 1861 fit 1840; his later records give birth years of 1840–1841 in Switzerland, and the 1900 census gives Nov 1841.

    Source 1

  2. 1840 Baptism 14 Nov 1840 · Igis, Graubünden · proven

    Two FamilySearch index entries of the Igis baptism register name parents Luzius Hegnauer and Anna Margreth Bernet.

    Source 1

  3. 1856 Immigration 29 Sep 1856 · New York, New York · proven

    Arrived at New York on the ship Chace (printed "Chase" on the passenger list), which had sailed from Le Havre on 22 Aug 1856, with his parents and four younger siblings. The passenger list, dated 30 Sep 1856, gives the family as "Hegemann" and him as "Johann", 15 (lines 155–161).

    The manifest lists the seven members of the Igis family by given name, birth order and age; "Johann, 15" fits his Nov 1840 birth. The ship reached New York on 29 Sep 1856 (New York Herald and New-York Daily Tribune, 30 Sep 1856); NARA and Ancestry date the list 30 Sep. His own 1900 census answer, 1851, is a later recollection and is outweighed by the contemporary manifest; the family was still at Igis in Feb 1851, when his brother Christian was baptized there.

    Sources 2, 3, 4

  4. 1860 Residence Boeuf Township, Gasconade · proven

    Age 19, farmhand, in his father's household.

    In the household of Luzi(us) and Margreth Hegnauer, the eldest child.

    Source 5

  5. American Civil War, 1861–65
  6. 1861 Military service between Aug 1861 and Oct 1864 · St. Louis, Missouri · proven

    Union cavalry, three years. Enrolled in Aug 1861 at Camp Benton, St. Louis, in Capt. Ernest Pfaff's company of Missouri Mounted Volunteers (Co. A, Benton Hussars); mustered in at Bird's Point, Mississippi County, Mo., 18 Sep 1861, age 20. The company became Co. A, 5th Missouri Cavalry (Feb 1862) and then Co. B, 4th Missouri Cavalry (Nov 1862). Private until at least 28 Feb 1863, corporal by 15 Apr 1863. Present on 17 of the 18 bi-monthly muster rolls from Aug 1861 to Aug 1864; absent on 30 Jun 1864, "On expedition with Genl A. J. Smith". Mustered out at St. Louis as a corporal at the end of his three-year term, Oct 1864 (26 Oct on his last muster card, 25 Oct in the National Homes register), with a $100 bounty due. His company served in Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.

    His compiled service record, two files of 23 cards (the Benton Hussars and 5th Missouri Cavalry cards as "Hecknauer", the 4th Missouri Cavalry cards as "Hegenauer"), gives the enrollment at Camp Benton in Aug 1861, the muster-in roll at Bird's Point on 18 Sep 1861 (age 20), every bi-monthly roll to Aug 1864, the promotion to corporal between 28 Feb and 15 Apr 1863, and the muster-out at St. Louis in Oct 1864 for expiration of term. The National Homes register ("enlisted 18 Sep 1861, St. Louis") joins the muster-in date to the enrollment place; its discharge date, 25 Oct 1864, differs by a day from the card's uncertain 26 Oct, so the fact ends in Oct 1864 (see Research Notes). The pension index names all three unit designations. The National Park Service index card (private in, corporal out) agrees with the cards; the Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles index, which says he enlisted as a corporal, is contradicted by them.

    Sources 6, 7, 10, 11, 23

  7. 1869 Marriage, with Catharina Appel 24 Aug 1869 · Madison County, Illinois · proven

    Madison County marriage record and marriage index (John Haegnauer and Catharina Appel, 24 Aug 1869). In the 1870 census John and Catharine Hagenauer, 29 and 23, are shown as married within the census year, in August.

    Sources 12, 13

  8. 1870 Residence Madison, Illinois · proven

    Township 5 Range 5, Grantfork post office. Age 29, farmer, personal estate $600; with his wife Catharine, 23; married within the year (August).

    John Hagenauer, born Switzerland about 1841, married in August of the census year to Catharine, matches the 1869 marriage.

    Source 13

  9. 1870 Son born: Carl Lucius Hegnauer family event

    Their page →

  10. 1880 Residence Kansas City, Jackson · proven

    With his wife Mary, born Switzerland.

    Born in Switzerland, with wife Mary. The age is recorded wrongly (born 1831).

    Source 15

  11. 1885 Property sale 15 May 1885 · Kansas City, Jackson · proven

    "John Hegnauer and wife" sold part of lot 4, block 2, W. H. Reed's addition, Kansas City, to Thomas Hurns for $750 (real estate transfers).

    A Kansas City transfer consistent with his residence there in 1880.

    Source 16

  12. 1890 Civil War Pension 19 Aug 1890 · Missouri, United States · proven

    Pension application filed as a veteran of Co. B, 4th Missouri Cavalry (also Co. A, 5th Mo. Cav. and Co. A, Benton Hussars); the class of claim is not shown in the index entry.

    Pension index card for John "Hegenaner", filing date 19 Aug 1890, with his three unit designations.

    Source 7

  13. 1900 Residence Webb City, Jasper · proven

    504 North Liberty Street. Teamster at a lumber yard; owned his house (mortgaged); naturalized; married 18 years to Mary; immigrated 1851.

    John "Hagnauer", born Nov 1841 in Switzerland, immigrated 1851, wife Mary.

    Source 4

  14. 1906 Residence between 1906 and 1908 · Lawton, Comanche · proven

    Registered voter, born about 1840–1841.

    Oklahoma voter registrations 1906, 1907 and 1908 for a John Hegnauer born about 1840–1841. Probably this man (name, age and a probable wife buried at Lawton), but not proven; see Research Notes.

    Source 17

  15. 1909 Residence between 1909 and 1917 · Leavenworth, Leavenworth · proven

    Western Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. Admitted in 1909, aged 68; a member at his death in 1917. In November 1917 he was being moved between Barracks I and the Home hospital.

    The National Homes register (admission 1909, age 68; death 31 Dec 1917) and the Leavenworth Times' weekly list of Home transfers (25 Nov 1917).

    Sources 11, 19

  16. 1917 Death 31 Dec 1917 · Leavenworth, Leavenworth · proven

    The National Homes register and the Leavenworth National Cemetery burial register both give 31 Dec 1917. He was a member of the Western Branch at the time.

    Sources 11, 20

  17. 1917 Burial after 31 Dec 1917 · Leavenworth, Leavenworth · proven

    Leavenworth National Cemetery. The VA gravesite index gives Section 33, Row 7, Site 19; the cemetery burial register gives the grave as "33-5792-5" and lists him as Hegenauer, John, Co. B, 4th Mo. Cav.

    The national cemetery burial register (Co. B, 4th Mo. Cav., died Dec 31) and the VA gravesite index (Section 33, Row 7, Site 19, Cpl) both place him in Leavenworth National Cemetery. Neither index entry gives the burial date, so it is recorded as after his death on 31 Dec 1917. The two grave numbers are in different forms and have not been reconciled against the register image.

    Sources 20, 21

  • proven
  • family event
  • history around the life

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Places in this life

11 places, in order
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
  1. 1 Igis, Graubünden Birth 13 Nov 1840 · Baptism 14 Nov 1840
  2. 2 New York City, New York Immigration 29 Sep 1856
  3. 3 Boeuf Township, Gasconade County Residence 1860
  4. 4 St. Louis, Missouri Military service between Aug 1861 and Oct 1864
  5. 5 Madison County, Illinois Marriage 24 Aug 1869
  6. 6 Madison County, Illinois Residence 1870
  7. 7 Kansas City, Jackson County Residence 1880 · Property sale 15 May 1885
  8. 8 Missouri, United States Civil War Pension 19 Aug 1890
  9. 9 Webb City, Jasper County Residence 1900
  10. 10 Lawton, Comanche County Residence between 1906 and 1908
  11. 11 Leavenworth, Leavenworth County Residence between 1909 and 1917 · Death 31 Dec 1917 · Burial after 31 Dec 1917

Hollow markers are placed approximately, at the town, county or region.

Family

Father Luzius Hegnauer 1819–aft. 1890 Mother Anna Margreth Bernet 1819–aft. 1884
This page Johannes Hegnauer 1840–1917
Wife · m. 24 Aug 1869 Catharina Appel c. 1847–bef. 1880 Wife Mary 1845–c. 1907
Son Carl Lucius Hegnauer b. c. 1870
Compare with… Pan, zoom and follow the family through the whole study, or see how Johannes Hegnauer is related to anyone else in it.
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Records

Search the archive →
Births and baptisms 3 records · 1839–1841
Marriages 2 records · 1869–1882
  • 24 Aug 1869 probable Marriage “John Haegnauer”, groom Madison County, Illinois Illinois State Archives · O06775
  • 1882 probable Marriage “John Hegnauer” Ancestry · O00029
Deaths and burials 6 records · 1884–1917
Census, land and residence 12 records · 1851–1909
  • 1851 probable Arrival “John Hegnauer” Ancestry · O00020
  • 1860 probable Residence “John Hegnauer” Boeuf Township, Gasconade County Ancestry · O00021
  • 1860 proven Census “John Hegnauer” Boeuf Township, Gasconade County FamilySearch · O02931
  • 1870 probable Residence “John Hegnauer” Township 5 Range 5, Grantfork Ancestry · O00022
  • 1880 probable Residence “John Hegnauer” Kansas City, Jackson County Ancestry · O00023
  • 1880 probable Census “John Hegnauer” Kansas City, Jackson County FamilySearch · O02902
  • 1900 probable Residence “John Hegnauer” Webb City, Jasper County Ancestry · O00024
  • 1906 probable Voter registration “John Hegnauer” Lawton, Comanche County FamilySearch · O02569
  • 1906–1911 probable Mortgage 1906, voter registers Oct 1906 and Mar 1907, deed 23 Jun 1909, mortgage “Hegnaner”, mentioned Lawton, Comanche County FamilySearch Full-Text · O04090
  • 1907 probable Voter registration “John Hegnauer” Lawton, Comanche County FamilySearch · O02568
  • 1908 probable Voter registration “John Hegnauer” Lawton, Comanche County FamilySearch · O02575
  • 1909 probable Residence “John Hegnauer” Leavenworth, Leavenworth County Ancestry · O00025
Military 4 records · 1891–1909
Newspapers 2 records · 1865–1917
  • 11 Nov 1865 probable Hotel arrivals “J Hegnaner”, hotel guest Lawrence, Douglas County Newspapers.com · O06439
  • 25 Nov 1917 proven Soldiers' Home transfer list “John Hegenauer; Hagenauer” Leavenworth, Leavenworth County Newspapers.com · O06256
Other records 1 record · 1884
  • 11 Aug 1884; 10 Mar 1885 probable Warranty deeds + abstracts “Hegnaner”, mentioned Kansas City, Jackson County FamilySearch Full-Text · O04089
Also cited as evidence: 1 record filed under relatives

In the papers

The newspaper room →
  1. “Hotel Arrivals. Lawrence, November 10th. Sherman House”

    Daily Kansas Tribune · as hotel guest

  2. Real estate transfers

    Kansas City Journal · as grantee

  3. Real estate transfers

    The Kansas City Times · as grantee

  4. “Real Estate Transfers”

    Kansas City Daily Journal · as grantor

  5. Pensions granted

    Kansas City Journal · as pensioner

  6. Pension granted (newspaper list)

    St. Joseph Herald · as pensioner

  7. Pension granted (newspaper list)

    St. Joseph Weekly Herald · as pensioner

Show 2 more articles
  1. “Gone to His Reward”

    The Republican Press · as brother

  2. Soldiers' Home transfers

    The Leavenworth Times

The evidence 15 facts with their grades, 23 sources, and the research notes

Facts

Fact Date Place Grade Sources
Birth 13 Nov 1840 Igis, Graubünden, Switzerland proven 1
Baptism 14 Nov 1840 Igis, Graubünden, Switzerland proven 1
Immigration 29 Sep 1856 New York, New York, United States proven 2 , 3 , 4
Residence 1860 Boeuf Township, Gasconade, Missouri, United States proven 5
Military service between Aug 1861 and Oct 1864 St. Louis, Missouri, United States proven 6 , 7 , 10 , 11 , 23
Marriage with Catharina Appel 24 Aug 1869 Madison County, Illinois, United States proven 12 , 13
Residence 1870 Madison, Illinois, United States proven 13
Residence 1880 Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri, United States proven 15
Property sale 15 May 1885 Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri, United States proven 16
Civil War Pension 19 Aug 1890 Missouri, United States proven 7
Residence 1900 Webb City, Jasper, Missouri, United States proven 4
Residence between 1906 and 1908 Lawton, Comanche, Oklahoma, United States proven 17
Residence between 1909 and 1917 Leavenworth, Leavenworth, Kansas, United States proven 11 , 19
Death 31 Dec 1917 Leavenworth, Leavenworth, Kansas, United States proven 11 , 20
Burial after 31 Dec 1917 Leavenworth, Leavenworth, Kansas, United States proven 20 , 21

Research notes

  • Identity: The records are linked as one man as follows. (1) The Igis baptism of 13/14 Nov 1840 names his parents Luzius Hegnauer and Anna Margreth Bernet. (2) "Johann", 15, is listed with the same parents and siblings on the 1856 passenger list. (3) John, 19, is in his father's household in Gasconade County in 1860. (4) The Union cavalryman: the National Homes register gives his birth about 1841 in Switzerland, enlistment at St. Louis on 18 Sep 1861, discharge on 25 Oct 1864 and Co. B, 4th Missouri Cavalry, the unit also named on the 1890 pension index card and in the Leavenworth burial register, so those three records are tied together by unit and dates. His compiled service record agrees with the register on the units and, within a day, on the dates, and gives his age as 20 at muster-in on 18 Sep 1861, which fits a birth in Nov 1840. The cards give no birthplace, residence or kin, so the link from the Gasconade farmhand to the cavalryman still rests on name, age and Swiss birth, and on the absence of any other John Hegnauer of that age in Missouri (the only other one found in the Missouri service records was 26 in 1861; see below). His pension file, which should settle it, has not been read. (5) The 1869 Madison County groom ("John Haegnauer") and the 1870 farmer at Grantfork (29, born Switzerland) fit by name, age and birthplace, and his brother Leonhard had married at Highland in 1866. (6) The Kansas City man of 1880–1885 was born in Switzerland and married to Mary, but the census age is wrong (born about 1831). (7) The Webb City teamster of 1900 was born Nov 1841 in Switzerland and married to Mary. (8) Leonhard's 1916 obituary names a surviving brother John, which fits the veteran who died at Leavenworth in 1917. The Home register's residence before admission and next of kin have not yet been extracted; they would test the links to Webb City and Lawton.
  • Birth year: One index entry of his Igis baptism reads 1839,22 which would be before his parents' marriage (14 June 1840). The other two read 1840, as does his age on the 1856 passenger list, in the 1860 census and on his cavalry muster-in roll (20 on 18 Sep 1861, which a Nov 1839 birth would not fit). 1840 is accepted. His own later statements drift to 1841.
  • Arrival: 29 Sep 1856 (ship Chace, list dated 30 Sep), with his parents and siblings. In the 1900 census he gave 1851 and 49 years in the United States; that conflicts with the contemporary passenger list and is not accepted.
  • Service record: His compiled service record (NARA M405) was read card by card on Fold3 on 26 Sep 2026. It is in two files: the 5th Missouri Cavalry file as "Hecknauer, John" (9 cards, including the Benton Hussars rolls of 1861 and the muster-in roll of Capt. Pfaff's company) and the 4th Missouri Cavalry file as "Hegenauer, John" (14 cards).6 There is no separate Benton Hussars file. The cards confirm the sequence Co. A Benton Hussars → Co. A 5th Missouri Cavalry → Co. B 4th Missouri Cavalry (1861–1864) given by the National Homes register and the pension index. Besides Hecknauer and Hegenauer, the cards spell the name Hagenauer, Hagnauer, Hegemauer and possibly Hagemauer, and the cross-reference jackets use Hagenauer and Hagemaur. The pension file (filed 19 Aug 1890) has not been read.
  • Enlistment and muster-in: The National Homes register says he enlisted at St. Louis on 18 Sep 1861. The cards separate the two events. He enrolled at Camp Benton, St. Louis, in Aug 1861: the 5th Cavalry cards give 1 Aug (the muster-in roll notes that it gives every man in the company the same date), and the first 4th Cavalry card gives 13 Aug, the company's organization date. He was mustered in on 18 Sep 1861 at Bird's Point, Mississippi County, Mo., opposite Cairo, aged 20. The register therefore combines the muster-in date with the enrollment place. His own day of enrollment is not known, so the military fact starts in Aug 1861.
  • Rank: The cards show him as a private on every roll to 28 Feb 1863 and as a corporal from the special muster of 15 Apr 1863 onward. That agrees with the National Park Service index card (private in, corporal out).10 The Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles index says he "enlisted as Corporal";23 the cards show that is wrong.
  • Muster-out date (conflict): He was mustered out at St. Louis "for expiration of term" in Oct 1864, with a $100 bounty due. The day is uncertain. His Sept–Oct 1864 card reads "Oct 26[?]/64". On the muster-out roll card both days are overwritten (the roll is dated 25 or 26 Oct, the muster-out to date 21 or 25 Oct). The National Homes register gives 25 Oct 1864.11 The difference is not resolved, so the fact ends "Oct 1864". The muster-out card gives his age as 24; by his Nov 1840 birth he was three weeks short of it.
  • Presence at his company's engagements: He is present on 17 of the 18 bi-monthly muster rolls (Aug 1861 to Aug 1864). The two special musters (18 Aug 1862 and 15 Apr 1863) do not state presence, and no card records sickness, hospital, wound, capture, desertion or furlough. The exception is the roll of 30 Jun 1864: absent, "On expedition with Genl A. J. Smith". A "present" describes him on the day the roll was taken, so presence on the rolls on either side of an engagement makes him very likely present, not proven present. On that basis he was very likely at Hunter's Farm (26 Sep 1861), Bentonville and Pea Ridge (6–8 Mar 1862; the company was split at Bentonville), Batesville (4 Feb 1863, as far as the company itself was there) and Ivey's Hill (22 Feb 1864). Brice's Crossroads (10 Jun 1864) is undetermined: he was present on 30 Apr and absent with Smith's force on 30 Jun. The June roll also stops about $2.37 of his pay for lost ordnance stores. That would fit losses in the rout at Brice's Crossroads, but the card gives no place or date, so it is not evidence that he was there. Tupelo (14–15 Jul 1864): presence unknown. The regiment is not in the Tupelo reports, but he may have been with a detachment under Smith, who led that expedition. Oxford expedition (Aug 1864): likely. He is present on the roll of 31 Aug, the day after the company returned to Memphis, with no absence noted for July–August, but no card places him on the expedition itself.
  • Rejected lead, the 2nd Missouri Infantry "John Hegnauer": This profile formerly cited the FamilySearch entry "Missouri, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861–1865", John Hegnauer, 1861 (FamilySearch record FFB2-WYJ), as a copy of John's cavalry record. It is not: FamilySearch files it under "Second Infantry (1861)". Its one card (Fold3 file 234238514) is a muster-out roll of Co. B, Rifle Battalion, Missouri Infantry, attached to the 2nd Missouri Infantry (3 months, 1861). That man enrolled at St. Louis on 15 Jun 1861 and was mustered out at the St. Louis Arsenal to date 31 Jul 1861, "age 26". A man of 26 in 1861 (born about 1835) does not fit John, who was 20 at his cavalry muster-in that September, so this is probably a different man. The dates alone would not have excluded John, since that service ended the day before his cavalry enrollment. The National Park Service card "Hegnauer, John", private, Co. B, 2nd Missouri Infantry, and the FamilySearch Civil War Soldiers Index entry for a "John Hegnauer" of Missouri (F9Y7-TP8), which has the same spelling, probably belong to the same man (not checked). None of them should be attached to John.
  • 5th Missouri State Militia Cavalry card: A National Park Service index card, "Hecknauer, John", Co. A, 5th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, is probably his 5th Missouri Cavalry card misassigned. His 5th Missouri Cavalry file is under the same name, and no militia file for him was found in the index of the Missouri service records.
  • Second marriage and Lawton: The 1900 census gives 1882 as the year of his marriage to Mary, but he was already with a wife Mary in 1880. A Mary A. Hegnauer (1 Mar 1841 – 21 Feb 1907) is buried in Highland Cemetery, Lawton, Oklahoma (Find a Grave memorial 61096155). She may be his second wife, which would explain both the Lawton voter registrations and his entering the Home two years after her death. But the 1880 census gives his wife Mary's birth as about 1845, and the 1900 census as Mar 1845 (as abstracted in the family tree; not yet checked against the image), four years later than the Lawton gravestone. The Lawton link is therefore probable, not proven.
  • Burial: The VA gravesite index gives Section 33, Row 7, Site 19; the burial register gives the grave as "33-5792-5". The two numbering forms have not been reconciled against the register image, which may also give the burial date.
  • Catharine: Family trees give her death as 24 Oct 1876 at Highland and her birth as 20 Apr 1847 at Baltimore, Maryland, without a record. An Appel descendant's account names her parents as Jacob Appel and Julia Duft and says she died after a stillbirth, but gives the year as 1887, which is impossible given John's remarriage by 1880. The Highland Evangelical church burials have not been searched.
  • Son Carl Lucius (born 1872): Known only from family trees (born Feb 1872). No baptism, census entry or other record naming him as John's son has been found, so the parentage is unproven. His later life is unknown; the Appel family researcher also lost track of him.
  • This profile is part of the Hegnauer one-name study.

Working notes

  • One baptism index gives 1839 (O01612); likely indexing error
  • Kansas City: bought lot 4 block 2, W. H. Reed's Addition, 11 Aug 1884, sold it with wife Mary 10 Mar 1885 (probable); Lawton, Okla.: mortgage 1906, voter registers Oct 1906 and Mar 1907, sold lot 12 block 21 Beal Addition 23 Jun 1909 as "John Hegnauer, widower"; owned Highland Cemetery lot (block 21½, lot 46) where only Mary is buried - he was NOT buried there (FamilySearch full text)

Sources

  1. 1

    "Switzerland, Catholic and Reformed Church Records, 1418–1996," database, FamilySearch, baptism of Johannes Hegnauer, 14 November 1840, Igis, Graubünden; born 13 November 1840; parents Luzius Hegnauer and Anna Margreth Bernet. FamilySearch record 6F8C-LKSS; also FamilySearch record 6F8C-5F3Y

    In the archive: O01659 , O01546

  2. 2

    "Port of New York, September 29, 1856," New York Herald, 30 September 1856, p. 10: "Ship Chase, White, Havre 36 days, with mdse and 200 passengers, to George Buckley" (loc.gov/resource/sn83030313/1856-09-30/ed-1/?sp=10); also New-York Daily Tribune, 30 September 1856, p. 8: "Ship Chace, White, Havre 36 days, mdse. and 200 passengers" (loc.gov/resource/sn83030213/1856-09-30/ed-1/?sp=8); the sailing from Havre, New York Herald, 12 September 1856, p. 8: "Sld 22d, Chace, White, NYork" (loc.gov/resource/sn83030313/1856-09-12/ed-1/?sp=8); images, Library of Congress, Chronicling America.

  3. 3

    "New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820–1957," database with images, Ancestry.com, manifest of the ship Chase [Chace], Le Havre to New York, list dated 30 September 1856 (the ship arrived 29 September), lines 155–161, "Hegemann" family: Lucie 36, Marguerite 37, Johann 15, Leonhard 13, Christian[e] 10, Martin 8, Christian 5, Swiss (the index misreads Johann's age as 19); citing NARA M237, roll 167; image NYM237_167-0280 (ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYM237_167-0280).

    Ancestry

  4. 4

    1900 U.S. Federal Census, Webb City Ward 2, Jasper County, Missouri, 504 North Liberty Street, sheet 10, dwelling 201, family 216, John Hagnauer (born Nov 1841, Switzerland; immigrated 1851; naturalized; teamster, lumber yard; owns, mortgaged), wife Mary; roll 866, ED 50; database with images, Ancestry.com.

    In the archive: O00024 Ancestry

  5. 5

    "United States Census, 1860," database with images, FamilySearch, John Hegnauer in household of Luzi Hegnauer, Boef Township, Gasconade County, Missouri; citing NARA M653, page 123. FamilySearch record MHZ1-DLY

    In the archive: O02931 Ancestry

  6. 6

    Compiled service records of John Hegnauer, NARA M405, Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Missouri; images, Fold3; indexed in "U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861–1865," database with images, Ancestry.com. (1) 5th Missouri Cavalry file, "Hecknauer, John," Co. A, 5th Mo. Cav., private, 9 cards: muster-in roll of Capt. Pfaff's Co., Missouri Mounted Vols., Bird's Point, Mo., 18 September 1861, age 20, enrolled 1 August 1861 at Camp Benton, St. Louis; Co. A, Benton Hussars, and Co. A, 5th Mo. Cav., muster rolls August 1861–October 1862, present; Fold3 image 215629932 (fold3.com/image/215629932); Ancestry record 2344/215629932 (ancestry.com/search/collections/2344/records/215629932). (2) 4th Missouri Cavalry file, "Hegenauer, John," Co. B, 4th Mo. Cav., private in, corporal out, 14 cards: muster rolls November 1862–August 1864, present except 30 June 1864, absent "On expedition with Genl A. J. Smith"; corporal from the special muster of 15 April 1863; muster-out roll, St. Louis, October 1864, age 24, mustered out for expiration of term, bounty due $100; Fold3 image 211860511 (fold3.com/image/211860511); Ancestry record 2344/211860511 (ancestry.com/search/collections/2344/records/211860511). Cross-reference jackets "Hagenauer, John" (Fold3 215628933) and "Hagemaur, John" (Fold3 211856675).

  7. 7

    "U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861–1934," database with images, Ancestry.com, John Hegenaner [Hegenauer], B, 4 Mo. Cavalry; A, 5 Mo. Cavalry; A, Benton Hussars Mo. Cavalry; application filed 19 Aug 1890, Missouri; citing NARA T288.

    Ancestry

  8. 8

    Annual Report of the Adjutant General of Missouri, for the Year Ending December 31, 1864 (Jefferson City, 1865), p. 170, history of Co. B, 4th Missouri Cavalry: organized 13 August 1861 at St. Louis by Captain E. Pfaff as Co. A, 5th Missouri Cavalry, lettered Co. B, 4th Missouri Cavalry, November 1862; veterans and recruits with General Mower from 2 September 1864, the rest of the company encamped near Memphis (archive.org/details/bub_gb_OgdAAAAAYAAJ).

  9. 9

    U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880–1901): vol. 3, pp. 197–198, Hunter's Farm near Belmont, 26 September 1861 (archive.org/details/warofrebellionco0003unit_v7h9); vol. 8, pp. 244–245, Nemett's report on Bentonville and Pea Ridge, 6–8 March 1862 (archive.org/details/warofrebellion08unit); vol. 22, pt. 1, p. 227, Batesville, 4 February 1863 (archive.org/details/warofrebellion012201rootrich); vol. 32, pt. 1, pp. 268, 270, Ivey's Hill near Okolona, 22 February 1864 (archive.org/details/warofrebellion321unit); vol. 39, pt. 1, p. 133, Brice's Crossroads, 10 June 1864, and p. 392, Oxford expedition, August 1864 (archive.org/details/warofrebellion391unit).

  10. 10

    National Park Service, Soldiers and Sailors Database, "Hegenauer, John", Co. B, 4th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry (Union), private in, corporal out; citing NARA M390, roll 21 (nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=939F3CA7-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A).

  11. 11

    "U.S., National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866–1938," database with images, Ancestry.com, John Hegenauer, Western Branch (Leavenworth); admitted 1909, age 68; born about 1841, Switzerland; enlisted 18 Sep 1861, St. Louis; discharged 25 Oct 1864, St. Louis; Co. B, 4th Mo. Cav.; died 31 Dec 1917; citing NARA M1749.

    In the archive: O00015 , O00025 , O00026 Ancestry

  12. 12

    "Illinois, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1800–1940," database with images, Ancestry.com, John Haegnauer and Catharina Appel, 24 August 1869, Madison County, Illinois; also "Illinois, U.S., Marriage Index, 1860–1920."

    Ancestry

  13. 13

    1870 U.S. Federal Census, Township 5 Range 5, Madison County, Illinois, post office Grantfork, dwelling 10, John Hagenauer (29, farmer, born Switzerland) and Catharine (23), married in August; roll M593_251, page 46B; database with images, Ancestry.com.

    In the archive: O00022 Ancestry

  14. 14

    chrisappel_1, "The Appels of Highland Illinois," story, Ancestry.com member tree (submitted 12 Aug 2020, last edited 4 Sep 2020); secondary account of Katherine (Appel) Hagnauer, her parents Jacob Appel and Julia Duft, and her marriage to John Hagnauer.

  15. 15

    "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch, John Hegnauer, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri; with wife Mary Hegnauer, born about 1845, Switzerland; citing NARA T9, roll 692, page 244C, ED 8. FamilySearch record M6XC-8Q1; Mary FamilySearch record M6XC-87M

    In the archive: O02902 , O00023 , O02901 Ancestry

  16. 16

    "Real Estate Transfers," Kansas City Daily Journal (Kansas City, Missouri), 15 May 1885, p. 7, col. 2: "John Hegnauer and wife to Thomas Hurns; part of lot 4, block 2, W H Reed's addition, $750"; image, Newspapers.com (newspapers.com/image/1022791432).

    Ancestry

  17. 17

    "Oklahoma, Voter Records, 1906–1956," database, FamilySearch, John Hegnauer, Lawton, Comanche County, 1906, 1907 and 1908. FamilySearch record D41Q-8N6Z; FamilySearch record D3MV-DVZM; FamilySearch record D9JS-1VMM

    In the archive: O02569 , O02568 , O02575

  18. 18

    "Passing of a Pioneer: Leonard Hegnauer, Well Known German Citizen Succumbs to Paralysis After Brief Illness," Appleton City Journal (Appleton City, Missouri), 9 November 1916, p. 1 (surviving brothers "Martin, Christian and John"); image, Newspapers.com (newspapers.com/image/863313858).

  19. 19

    "[Soldiers' Home transfers]," The Leavenworth Times (Leavenworth, Kansas), 25 November 1917, p. 9: "John Hegenauer, hospital to I" and "John Hagenauer, I to hospital"; image, Newspapers.com (newspapers.com/image/76615681).

    Ancestry

  20. 20

    "U.S., Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries, 1862–1960," database with images, Ancestry.com, Leavenworth National Cemetery register: "Hegenauer, John, B, 4th Mo. Cav., Dec. 31 [1917]," grave 33-5792-5; citing National Cemetery Administration.

    Ancestry

  21. 21

    "U.S., Veterans' Gravesites, ca. 1775–2019," database, Ancestry.com, John Hegenauer, Cpl, U.S. Army, died 31 Dec 1917, Leavenworth National Cemetery, Section 33 Row 7 Site 19.

    Ancestry

  22. 22

    "Switzerland, Catholic and Reformed Church Records, 1418–1996," database, FamilySearch, Johannes Hegnauer, indexed as born 13 and baptized 14 November 1839, Igis; parents Luzius Hegnauer and Anna Margreth Bernet. FamilySearch record 6F8C-G3LN

    In the archive: O01612

  23. 23

    "U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861–1865," database, Ancestry.com, John Hegenauer, enlisted as Corporal, Co. B, 4th Cavalry, Missouri (Union); citing Index to Compiled Military Service Records.

    Ancestry

Cite this page H0002

Evidence Explained

Hegnauer One-Name Study, “Johannes Hegnauer (H0002, 1840–1917),” hegnauer.family (https://hegnauer.family/people/h0002-johannes-hegnauer/ : accessed 28 September 2026).

Chicago (notes)

“Johannes Hegnauer (H0002, 1840–1917),” hegnauer.family, Hegnauer One-Name Study, accessed September 28, 2026, https://hegnauer.family/people/h0002-johannes-hegnauer/.

H0002 is this person's permanent number in the study. Names get respelled; the number never changes, so the link and the citation keep working.

Something wrong or missing? Suggest a correction