The Armidale Family History Group Inc will officially unveil a plaque marking the final resting place of an American Civil War veteran in the Armidale Cemetery at 11.30am on Saturday, July 30. It is the culmination of family history research that began in 2005.
William Jean Schwalbach was an all but forgotten Confederate soldier in the American Civil War who died on March, 27, 1909. He was buried in the Old Presbyterian Portion of the Armidale Cemetery without a headstone. His was an extraordinary life; he travelled the globe and settled in Armidale. The scope of his travels is amazing, given the era and the time his journeys would have taken.
Descendants of William Schwalbach live in Tamworth and will be attending the unveiling ceremony and Service by Presbyterian Minister, Rev David Seaman. There will be a band and men in Confederate costumes. Guests are expected from Victoria and Queensland for the event.
Born in 1844 in Geneva, Switzerland, Schwalbach was recruited into military service straight off the boat, when he arrived in New York. He was unable to speak English at the time.
On February 26, 1864, he enlisted into Company D, 25th New York Cavalry during the American Civil War.
The 25th Regiment fought a number of bloody battles and were engaged in the defence of Washington in the year of Schwalbach’s enlistment.
He was ‘mustered out’ on June 27, 1865 at Hart’s Island, New York. He remained in New York for some time after leaving the US Army.
It is thought he then spent some time at sea, including a stint with the Italian navy. In 1882, William Jean Schwalbach met and married Francis Emily Nichols in Stepney, Middlesex, England. They decided to migrate to Australia and start a new life.
William and Francis Schwalbach settled near Armidale, where William worked as a miner, though he had begun his working life as a clerk. The Schwalbachs had seven children.
William Schwalbach became a naturalised Australian in 1904. In that year, he applied for an American military pension, describing his role in the last major battle of the Civil War at Waynesboro, Virginia in mid-March, 1865.
William Schwalbach died five years later of bronchial asthma at Plumpton, near Armidale. Francis did receive an American Widow’s pension of US$12 per month, plus an extra US$2 per month for each child under the age of 16.
Francis died on March 14, 1923 and is understood to be buried alongside her husband.
Publicity Officer for the Armidale Family History Group, Adelle Makepeace, has urged the public to come along and witness what she describes as an important historical occasion for Armidale.
Story: Gary Fry
