Rev. Johann Herman Heinrich Bierbaum

Rev. J. H. H. Bierbaum, a clergyman of Cecil, Wis., and a former soldier of the civil war, was born Oct 7, 1841, in Femme Osage, St. Charles Co., Missouri, and is the son of Adolph and Mary (Foderhase) Bierbaum.¹  His father was a native of Germany, where he was bred in the manner in which every male child is reared under the laws of "Der Faderland."  He was a tailor by calling and after coming to Missouri he became a farmer, in which vocation he passed his life after coming to America.  He was a man of cultivation and gave his children good educations.  Mr. Bierbaum attended the Missouri College until the war, and was only 19 years old when the troubles in his native State began.  Two alternatives lay before him - fight for or against the confederacy and he chose the latter without considering the former.  In the statistical history connected with this work, the service performed in Missouri by the various regiments raised within her boarders for the Union service is, of necessity, faintly outlined.  But only those who served or suffered for principles' sake knew what it was to be a Union man in a state which had been the stamping ground of succession for years.  The history of that element in Missouri during the discussions in Congress, the Kansas difficulties and the enactment of laws touching the vexed question of slavery in the territories is one that will engage the attention of statesmen and students of history through many decades of the future; and the quality of the patriotism which sustained a Union man who took up arms at the very outset of the internecine difficulties in behalf of liberty will be fully appreciated.

Mr. Bierbaum enlisted Sept. 20, 1860, in Company E, Missouri Infantry in the regiment of Colonel Arnold Krekel at St. Charles, Mo., and was discharged in February, 1861, in accordance with an order from the Department abolishing the command.  In August, 1862, Mr. Bierbaum re-enlisted in the State Militia at Marthasville, Mo.  He had been, meanwhile, in the midst of the activities consequent on the struggle of Governor Jackson to compel Missouri to follow other slave States into secession, and had been a witness of much that had transpired in his native county.  After he enlisted regularly in the Missouri Volunteers and Militia he was in constant action.  On the organization of his company he was made Corporal and afterwards was promoted to Sergeant, passing the grades of promotion until he became 1st Lieutenant and in 1863 was made Captain of his company.  He was in the sharp actions at Mexico, Wright City and Fulton and in numerous skirmishes between the local guerrillas and the Union enrolled troops of Missouri.  His brother Frank enlisted at the same time with himself, was hurt in action at Wright City, and died afterwards.  The service differed in some respects from that in the regiments of the general Government and included bowie knife practice as well as shot gun activities and required men who understood tactics not laid down in Hardee and other works on military instruction.  But Mr. Bierbaum lived to see his native State free from the element of bushwhackers and guerrillas, and had the satisfaction of knowing that he did his share to establish law and order in the very heart of discord and disrule.  During the war he was twice slightly wounded and contracted measles and rheumatism from the effects of which diseases he has continued to suffer since.  After partial recovery in 1864 and 1865 he weighed 94 pounds, his present weight is 208 pounds. (1888)

After the war was over he resumed his studies for the ministry of the gospel at the Missouri Seminary and was a student there until May, 1868, when he was ordained by the Evangelical Synod of North America and settled in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.²  In 1873 he changed his field of labor to New Holstein where he preached four years.  In 1877 he removed to Cecil where he has since officiated.  The field of his operations includes a radius of about 20 miles and his influence is of far greater extent, as he possesses the character in his good work which he displayed in his contest with rebellion.  He is a man of excellent business capacity and combines executive ability of a high order with his versatile qualifications.

He was married Sept. 20, 1870 to Pauline Fiebig,³ and they had 12 children, eight of whom have passed to the land of the Hereafter.  The oldest son, Arminius, born July 5, 1871, died Aug. 28, 1887, of heart disease at the age of 16 years.  He was a boy of great promise and the pride of his parents.⁴