Jackson County IA Archives Biographies.....Fischer, Theodore January 1, 1821 - June 15, 1894
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ken Wright wright@prestontel.com January 30, 2010, 4:04 pm

Source: Sesquicentennial History
Author: Bellevue Herald-Leader

Bellevue Herald-Leader, Sesquicentennial History Edition, 1983

Friends Served Through Civil War Together

Fischer Served His Country In Two Major Wars

Theodore Fischer, Sr., is one of the few men in Jackson County to have served 
in two major wars during his lifetime. As a young man he saw action in the 
Southwest with a Missouri company during the Mexican War, and when Jackson 
County fell short of enlistments during the Civil War, Fischer was drafted to 
serve in the Second Iowa Infantry and again saw battle action with General 
William Tecumsah Sherman’s army as it marched through the South.

Theodore Fischer was one of the early pioneers of Tete des Morts Township. He 
was born in Wesphalia, Germany, January 1, 1821, and died June 15, 1894, at 
the age of 73.

He came to America in 1841, landing in New Orleans. Fischer went upriver to 
St. Louis, and worked for a time on steamboats on the Mississippi. In 1843 he 
went to Galena and from there to Mineral Point, where he worked at dirt 
washing in the lead mines. Afterwards he made several trips to New Orleans 
suffering privation and hardship during the trips.

When the Mexican War broke out, Fischer enlisted in Captain Waldeman’s Company 
B, Missouri Light Artillery, and was mustered out of the regular Army on June 
21, 1846. With an ox team he rode 900 miles from St. Louis to Sante Fe where 
he distinguished himself during campaigns including: Palo Alto, Buena Vista, 
Cerro Gordo, Cherubusco, Chapultepec, San Pascual Tobasco and Vera Cruz.

Following the war he was honorably discharged and received a medal and 
condemnation from his commanding officers. Fischer returned to St. Louis where 
he married. His young wife died giving birth to a baby girl. Fischer later 
married Caroline Meneke, also from St. Louis. They came to Jackson County in 
1849 to exercise a land warrant he had received from the federal government 
for service in the Mexican War. He took up land in Tete des Morts where he 
farmed until 1864.

His township was short of volunteers in the Civil War and he left a wife and 
nine children at home on the farm. Fischer served without being seriously 
wounded during the last months of the war as Union troops severed southern 
supply lines and disrupted interior transportation links in the drive to the 
sea and the destruction of the Confederacy. Following the war, Fischer 
returned to his farm where he lived until retiring. He is buried in St. 
Donatus Catholic Cemetery.


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