Saving The Past for the Future
(How did this New Testament, carried by a Union soldier find it's way from Michigan to Oklahoma? Check back, I will be researching the family tree of the contributor to see if a link can be determined)
UPDATE: In the 1910 Census of Holdenville there is a Fredrick Arnold Dustman and wife Mary. This is the nephew of Arnold, the original owner of the Testament. He is buried in the same cemetery as Arnold in Michigan.
lItem Number: 2072
Description: New Testament, 3” X 4 ¾”, printed in the German language in 1862.
Name inside Book: Arnold F. Dustmann and also Dustman
Inscription: Co. F 87 P (Pennsylvania) 1st Brig 3rd Div 6th Army Corps
Arnold Friedrich “Fred” Dustmann was born May 10, 1835 in Prussia
and died in Van Buren County, Michigan on March 10, 1891. He is buried in
Chambers Cemetery in South Haven, Van Buren County.
Arnold Friedrich "Fred" Dustman was the Prussian-born son of Hermann Heinrich Dustman and, in 1860, was a carpenter living in Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania. He stood 5' 9" tall and had dark hair and blue eyes.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted in Gettysburg September 30, 1861, and mustered into federal service the same day at Cockeysville, Baltimore County, Maryland (where the regiment was then stationed), as a private with Co. F, 87th Pennsylvania Infantry. A year later, he was responsible for the accidental death of 87th Pa comrade John Quincy Colehouse while on a march in western Virginia. The hammer of Dustman's rifle became entangled in brush, and, when he jerked it free, it discharged. Colehouse was just ahead, and the bullet crashed through the back of his skull, killing him instantly. Dustman received no punishment for the incident.
Dustman was captured at the battle of Carter's Woods June 15, 1863, and incarcerated on Belle Isle in Richmond. Following his release, he deserted from Camp Parole, Annapolis, Maryland, on July 28 but came back on his own October 1, 1863, and returned to duty with the regiment on October 20. While his captain described him as a "sober and obedient soldier," the experience of prison broke him, and he was hospitalized or on sick furlough for most of the rest of his army career. He returned to active duty on September 19, 1864, solely to be mustered out and was honorably discharged at the end of his term in York October 13, 1864.
In 1866, moved to South Haven, Van Buren County, Michigan.