Manley Minkler 1832-1918 Civil War Veteran

 4-7                  Manley Minkler 1832-1918

4/21/2014 Ver 0

Grandfather of Ila Mae Schoonover-Green

Born; 10 Sep 1832 in Painesville, Lake County, Ohio.
Died; 7 Jan 1918 in the National Military Home at Leavenworth, KS.  
Buried in Garnett, KS cemetery.
Father; Barnabus Minkler.
Mother; Lucinda Sampson
Married; Cordelia Alice Hopkins
Date  26 Feb 1857 in Lemoille, IL
Children: (6) Eugene, Ida Minkler-Folks, William, Harry A., Charles and Estella E.

 

‘Manley M. Minkler, an Anderson County pioneer, was born 10 Sep 1832 at Painesville, Lake County, Ohio.  He died 7 Jan 1918 at the National Military Home at Leavenworth, KS.   He was married 26 Feb 1857 at Lemoille, IL to Cordelia A Hopkins who was born in 1835 at Livingston, County, NY.  She died 9 Mar 1897.  Both are buried at the Garnett, KS cemetery.

At the opening of the Civil War, Mr. Minkler joined many of his new Kansas neighbors in enlisting in company F. 11^th Kansas Regiment where he served from 23 Aug 1862 to 31 Aug 1865.  Mrs. Minkler remained at home with two infant children caring for the home place.

Mr. Minkler believed the Bush City, Kansas area to be an ideal dairy country.  Even prior to the war he was engaged in making cheese at his farm for a quarter of a century and had an extensive market for his products.  In 1874, the Garnett cheese factory was put into operation by Manley M. Minkler and J.C.Wooster.  Mr. Minkler secured a claim from the government for Kansas land in 1855 in East Monroe Township, and in 1870 acquired land in Lincoln township for a public school.  The trees around the school were planted by an early teacher, Ida Minkler, a granddaughter of Manley Minkler.  The school was named Minkler Star.  Six of his great-great grandchildren attended the Minkler Star before it closed in 1962.  The building has been moved to Bush City and is used as a community building.

The Minkler children were Eugene who died in infancy; Ida Minkler Folks born in 1860 died 9 Oct 1887; William born 1 Nov 1861 died 22 Apr 1899 married 6 Feb 1888 Amanda Mulkey; Harry A. born Oct 1867; Charles born 29 May 1871 died 21 Jul 1955 married Lucy Nichols; and Estella E. born 25 May 1876 married Nov 1899 John Schoonover.’ Transcribed.

Civil war; 11^th Kansas Regiment, Company F (Union).

It began as a Volunteer Infantry regiment 29 Aug 1862 and saw the battle of Old Fort Wayne and the Battle of Prairie Grove before being re-mustered in April 1863 as the 11^th Regiment Volunteer Cavalry.  The cavalry saw the Second battle of Lexington, Battle of Little Blue River, Second Battle of Independence, Battle of Byram’s Ford, Battle of Westport, Battle of Mine Creek, and Battle of Bridge Station/Battle of Red Buttes. The regiment was mustered out of service 17 July 1865. The 11^th suffered  61 men, mortally wounded and 112 died of disease.  173 of 1,000, dead, or 17.3% fatality rate, nearly 1 of every 5 volunteers. This was hardly the worst death rate in the Civil War but still horrible.  How many more wounded?  Wikipedia has the details of these battles.  Manley Minkler served for the entire duration. 

At the beginning of the Civil war a Regiment consisted of 10 companies, each with exactly 100 men. With attrition from disease, battle casualties, and transfers, by the mid-war, most regiments averaged 300-400 men. Again, the 11^th seems lucky by comparisons.