Brown County MN Archives Biographies.....Bobleter, Joseph 1846 - 1909
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Source: See Below
Author: L. A. Fritsche

GEN. JOSEPH BOBLETER.

    In the memorial annals of Brown county no name stands out more distinctly
than that of the late Gen. Joseph Bobleter, of New Ulm, an honored veteran of
the Civil War, colonel of the Twelfth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry,
brigadier-general of the Minnesota. National Guard, merchant, editor, banker,
treasurer of state and at the time of his death serving the people of New Ulm as
mayor of that city. An appreciation of General Bobleter written by Maj. L. A.
Eritsche and read before the thirtieth annual convention of the National Guard
Association of the state of Minnesota at New Ulm on October 8, 1909, concludes
as follows: "It often happens that men with specific proclivities are apt to be
one-sided in their ideas of life, but not so with the late General Bobleter. He
was highly public spirited; always ready to do favors and assist his fellow
citizens in whatever walk of life. A true friend, he probably placed more trust
in mankind than he should have done. He was jovial and always ready and willing
to assist others in having a good time. He was hospitable and his house was ever
open to his friends. He was a good man, a good citizen, indulgent father, a good
and kind husband, and no higher compliment can be paid anyone. Tracing his life
from childhood to the time of his death, there is one noticeable trait of
character which may serve as a worthy example to all young men. His will power,
his determination, his consistency in all his undertakings were conspicuous and
predominant features, overcoming all obstacles and thus leading up to the
desired end. All in all, it can be truthfully said that the late General
Bobleter was a man who not only understood the need of his times, but was always
ready to offer I is services, his strength and his knowledge to meet the demands
of the commonwealth as a man, a citizen, a public servant and, above all, as a
soldier."

     The story of the life of General Bobleter reads like a romance and is all
the more interesting, because it is true. He was born at Dornbirn, a village inf
the Austrian Tyrol, April 19, 1846. His mother died when he was an infant and he
was reared by kinsfolk. In 1852 his father and uncle came to the United States,
seeking new homes, and located near Dubuque, Iowa. The uncle homesteaded a place
there and the father after awhile came to Minnesota, locating at New Ulm in
1856. Two years later, in 1858, the uncle returned to Austria to bring his
family to the new home in this country and with them came the lad, Joseph
Bobleter, then twelve years of age. Upon his arrival here, Joseph Bobleter began
working on farms during the summers and continued his schooling during the
winters, quickly acquiring a thorough and accurate knowledge of the English
language. Though but sixteen years of age at the time, in September, 1862, he
enlisted in the Thirteenth United States Infantry for service during the Civil
War and served with that command until honorably discharged nine months later.
In December, 1863, he enlisted for service in the United States navy and was
stationed on the "Blackhawk," Admiral Porter's flagship. He participated in the
Red River expedition and after General Bank's defeat at Pleasant Hill was one of
a detachment to carry dispatches to Admiral Porter, who had preceded the land
forces toward Shreveport, about eighty miles distant. The dispatch boat came
near being captured before Porter's fleet was reached, seven men of the
detachment being killed and twelve wounded, among the latter being young
Bobleter, who was severely wounded in the left leg by a fragment of a shell. In
December, 1864, he was honorably discharged and in the following month enlisted,
for a third time, this time as a private in the Second Iowa Cavalry, with which
he served until mustered out in the following September. In the following
December Joseph Bobleter for the fourth time offered his services to the
government, re-enlisting in his old regiment, the Thirteenth United States
Infantry, with which he served on the frontier for three years, being mustered
out at Pt. Abercrombie in November, 1868.

     Upon the completion of his military service, Joseph Bobleter located at New
Ulm, which place his father had helped to found and had later helped to defend
during the Sioux uprising, and there he spent the rest of his life, one of the
most useful and energetic citizens of that place. Upon locating there he became
engaged as a clerk in Doctor Weschcke's drug store and soon after established a
drug store of his own. In 1878 he established the New Ulm Review, a Republican
newspaper, which he edited until 1887. In the meantime, in 1883, he was elected
representative from this district to the state Legislature and served one term
as a member of the House. In 1886 he was elected state treasurer and showed such
ability in the administration of the affairs of that office that he was
successively re-elected in the years 1888, 1890 and 1892. Upon his retirement
from public office he became financially interested in the Columbia National
Bank of Minneapolis and for a time served as cashier of the same. Subsequently
he became associated with the Brown County Bank of New Ulm, serving that
institution for some time as cashier and later as president. In 1885 and in 1886
General Bobleter served his home town as a member of the city council and in the
spring of 1908 was elected mayor of New Ulm and was serving as the city's chief
executive at the time of his death in the summer of that same year.

     General Bobleter's military spirit did not rest upon his retirement from
the army in 1868 and in 1871 he perfected a local organization known as the New
Ulm Military Company, which was mustered into the service of the state as an
unassigned company of the Minnesota National Guard on May 25, 1871, and in
August of that same year became Company E of the Second Regiment. When the Third
Battalion was formed in July, 1873, Company E, of the Second Regiment, Captain
Bobleter, became Company A of the Third Battalion and Captain Bobleter was
promoted to the command of the battalion, with the rank of major. In the
following winter, owing to the refusal of the Legislature to continue the
appropriation for the National Guard, the militia organization went to pieces;
but, nothing disheartened, Major Bobleter reorganized his New Ulm company in
1874 and in September, 1875, secured its formal recognition by the state, under
the name of the Governor's Guard, the same being maintained up to 1878 as the
only military company in Minnesota. In 1882 when the militia was formally
reorganized, Major Bobleter was made major of the Second Battalion and four
months later was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Second Regiment, In the
spring of 1898, upon the breaking out of the Spanish-American War he was
commissioned colonel of the Twelfth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and
served in that capacity until the regiment was mustered out at New Ulm on
November 5, 1898. In 1903 Colonel Bobleter was elected brigadier-general of the
Minnesota National Guard and was thus serving at the time of his death, July 2,
1909, having only thirteen days before reviewed the Third Regiment at its annual
encampment.

     General Bobleter was twice married. On September 5, 1869, the year
following his location at New Ulm, he was united in marriage to Mary Schneider,
who died in 1907. In the year 1908 General Bobleter married, secondly, Mrs. Ida
Schoregge, who survives, together with three children of the first union.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY MINNESOTA
ITS PEOPLE, INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS

L. A. FRITSCHE. M. D.
Editor

With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records
of Many of the Old Families

VOLUME II
B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY, Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana

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