BIO: Gustav ALTMAN, Huntingdon County, PA

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Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley: 
Comprising the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata and Perry, 
Pennsylvania, Containing Sketches of Prominent and Representative 
Citizens and Many of the Early Settlers.  Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. 
Runk & Co., 1897, pages 205-208.
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  GUSTAV ALTMAN, Alexandria, Huntingdon county, Pa., was born at 
Dessau, on the Elbe river, in central Prussia, July 11, 1839. His 
parents were Wilhelm and Ida (Fritsche) Altman. Wilhelm Altman was born 
September 28, 1819; he was a goldsmith and jeweler, and served in the 
German army. His first wife, who was Ida Fritsche, died in 1858. Their 
children are: Franz, deceased; Gustav; William, a merchant of 
Rochester, N. Y., Carl, engineer on a railroad of Breman, Germany; 
Matilda (Mrs. Buzzard), of Staten Island; Otto, died in Huntingdon, 
Pa.; Emil, died in New York; and Ida, died in Germany. The father 
married again, and was living with his second wife at the time of his 
death, which occurred in his native place, July 17, 1875.
  Gustav Altman attended school in his native town of Dessau until he 
attained to his fifteenth year; he then left school, intending, 
however, to continue going during the winters, while he went to sea in 
the summer. He accordingly went to Bremen to seek a berth on a sailing 
vessel, but without success, and he was advised to go to New York. Upon 
this advice he acted, his parents furnishing him with money for the 
voyage. Without any companion the boy set out to seek his fortune 
beyond the sea. The passage from Bremen to New York occupied fifty-two 
days; the sailing vessel was at one time becalmed in mid-ocean, and at 
others, she encountered very rough weather. At length, the young 
emigrant landed at New York, and proceeded at once to the home of an 
uncle, who was a farmer in New Jersey, and with whom he remained for a 
year and a half, working as farm hand, at $4 a month. At the end of 
that time, the uncle having exchanged his farm for some property in New 
York, young Altman accompanied him to that State, and soon found work 
there in a machine shop, where he continued for a year. He and some 
associates then determined to go on a whaling voyage, and set out at 
once for New Bedford, going by boat as far as Newport, and making the 
rest of the journey by rail. Arrived at New Bedford, the young 
adventurer met with some old salts, who privately advised him to give 
up his project, and be content to remain a "land lubber." Their 
arguments prevailed, and Gustav Altman and his companions decided to 
return to New York. But they had spent all their capital in going to 
New Bedford; so they walked as far as Newport, and there went on board 
a boat bound for New York harbor. When the fare of the passengers was 
collected, the young men said that they had no money, but would 
willingly work their passage. They were told that there were enough of 
such men on board; the captain therefore compelled them to leave their 
coats with him, until they should be able to redeem them by the payment 
of a dollar. In the pocket of Mr. Altman's coat was a book which he had 
brought from his home in Germany and which he prized very highly, as it 
contained his diary, the portraits of his father and mother, and other 
mementoes of the family. He begged the captain earnestly to allow him 
to retain this precious wallet, but received only a hard-hearted 
refusal, given, it would seem, solely for the purpose of causing pain 
to the poor, lonely boy, as the pocket-book could have been of no great 
value to any one else. When he reached New York the boy was too proud 
to ask his uncle for the dollar with which to buy his coat; so he went 
directly to Honesdale, Pa., where he was employed at the coal mines by 
the Pennsylvania Railroad. As soon as he had earned some forty or fifty 
dollars, which was of course, not for a number of weeks, he went on 
foot to New York, sought the steamboat captain and redeemed his coat; 
but, sad to say, the precious book and its contents were lost, and the 
unsympathizing captain, not having troubled himself at all about the 
article, could give the young man no idea how to find it.
  Young Altman then went to see his uncle, bade him good bye, and set 
out to look for work. He was employed at threshing for a few days at 
Lewistown, Pa., after which he came on foot to Porter township, and 
solicited and obtained work from the farmers. For a year he worked for 
Samuel Neff, and the following winter for William Stryker, for board 
and schooling; and was afterwards with him until 1859, on good wages. 
Mr. Stryker wished him to remain another year, offering increased 
wages, but Mr. Altman declined the offer, as he had an opportunity to 
learn the business of a miller. When Mr. Stryker remonstrated with him 
on giving up $13 per month to receive only $4, the young man replied 
that he hoped to make it up after a while. For the advantage of knowing 
a regular business, he had the good judgment to relinquish a present 
gain. He at once went to work in the mills of Benjamin L. Neff; during 
the first year his wages were $50; during his second, $75; in the third 
year, Mr. Neff rented the mill on shares to Mr. Altman and Mark Bodley. 
They had conducted the mill for a year when the war of the Rebellion 
broke out. Gustav Altman then enlisted at Petersburg, Pa., in Company 
H, Fifteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers, Capt. Joseph Johnson, for three 
months. The company proceeded first to Harrisburg, Pa., then to 
Carlisle, Pa., and then to Lancaster, Pa.; the regiment was assigned to 
Negley's brigade, and was under General Pattison. They were ordered to 
Martinsburg, Va., were in a fight at Falling Waters, then overtook the 
rebels under Johnson's command at Bunker Hill; from that point the 
Confederate troops fell back to Winchester, and the Union force went to 
Harper's Ferry. The "rebs" had been there before then, and "destroyed 
about everything in sight." At Harper's Ferry, the time of the 
Fifteenth expired, and they were ordered to Carlisle, where they were 
paid off and discharged. 
  Mr. Altman resumed the charge of the mill, and continued in the same 
until the following spring, when he went to Ohio, and worked in a mill 
at Massillon. After a few months, becoming dissatisfied, he went to 
Cincinnati, but could not find work there; and learning that the United 
States Government was paying teamsters $30 per month, he enlisted in 
that capacity, and proceeded on transports from Paducah, Ky., to 
Huntsville, Ala., being assigned to the Twelfth Indiana Artillery, to 
take charge of their ammunition wagons at the latter point. At 
Huntsville Mr. Altman was attacked by camp fever, but was only kept 
from attending to his duties for a week. He was next ordered to 
Nashville, Tenn., where he became so ill that he was carried by three 
men to the hospital; during this attack he was many times at the point 
of death. On account of disability, he was discharged, and returned 
home. Nashville was at this time surrounded by southern troops, but 
disabled soldiers were allowed free passage out of the city, under a 
flag of truce. Reaching the rebel lines, they showed their passes at 
headquarters, and were obliged to hand over for inspection all letters 
and other papers which they carried. Among there were many letters from 
comrades in Nashville to friends in the north; these were allowed to 
pass through unless they contained matter relative to the state of 
military affairs. At Owensboro, on the Ohio, they boarded transports 
for Louisville, Ky., where Mr. Altman remained for a week to 
recuperate.
  Returning to Petersburg, Pa., he in short time went to work at Neffs 
Mills, and afterwards at Andrew Heffner's mills, in McConnellstown, at 
a time when raids of southern troops were daily looked for in 
Pennsylvania, and the people were alert and in arms for the defense of 
their homes. Companies were organized, called Home Guards, for this 
purpose. Mrs. Heffner not wishing her husband to join one of these 
companies, Mr. Altman begged his employer to give him his gun and let 
him go in his stead, which Mr. Heffner did. They company of which the 
gallant young miller was one, set out to intercept the expected 
raiders. Their plan was to station men at certain points on the lookout 
for them, with bundles of straw, to be fired when the hostile body 
should approach, as a signal to the rest of the company. By some 
accident, a sentinel set fire to the straw, and the Home Guards started 
bravely in the direction of the light, passing through McConnellstown 
on their way, and throwing the good people of the place into a sad 
panic. In the town and along the country roads many were hiding 
themselves, their horses and their valuables; but the alarm soon 
subsided, and all settled down again in their homes. A day or two 
later, Mr. Altman joined Captain Thomas' company, in the Forty-sixth 
State Militia; they were ordered to Philadelphia, to quell some 
disturbances, camped there for several weeks, were then discharged and 
returned home.
  But Mr. Altman's martial services were not yet ended. He must have 
inherited the blood of the ancient German warriors; he was certainly 
full of their spirit, for he could not stay quietly by the mill while 
there was war in the land. For one winter he worked at Wallace's mill, 
at Union Furnace; but on February 29, 1864, he once more enlisted, this 
time for three years, in Company C, Captain Lawson, of the Seventy-
seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was away to the front again, and 
all through the Atlanta campaign with Sherman. But just before that 
long march, a very interesting episode occurred. Mr. Gustav Altman went 
back to Petersburg and was married. No leave of absence was to be 
obtained, so the bridegroom-elect slipped away from his regiment, 
taking byways to Harrisburg in order to escape the vigilance of 
pickets, walking all the way there, and going from that place to 
Petersburg, where he was married to Margaret Guisler, daughter of 
Michael and Rosanna Guisler. For a week he remained with his bride, and 
then rejoined his regiment, which had by this time moved to Pittsburg. 
While stationed at Pittsburg, he paid one more stolen visit to his 
bride, and then returned to Pittsburg to find that his regiment had 
left for the front. Many others were in the same plight as himself, and 
they all set off to overtake the regiment, which they did not do until 
they reached Nashville. At Tunnell Hill, Ga., they had the first 
encounter with the Confederates, beginning May 7, and not ending until 
the morning of May 13. Then followed the fights at Resaca and Kingston; 
then on the 23d, at New Hope Church, Gustav Altman was in the hottest 
of the battle; then came the engagements at Kennesaw Mountain, and at 
Smyrna, where there was hard fighting; besides these, there was much 
skirmishing along the Chattahoochee river. On the 20th and 21st of 
August, they were engaged at Peach Tree Creek; on the 25th, they were 
employed in destroying the Montgomery railroad, and directly after, the 
Macon road. At Lovejoy, the regiment was engaged on September 2, 3 and 
4, and on the evening of the 5th Mr. Altman was wounded at the battle 
of Franklin, being struck on the left arm by a bursting shell. He was 
obliged after the battle to go to the hospital, where he received his 
discharge, June 13, 1865; it was the Cumberland hospital, at Nashville, 
Tenn.
  Home once more, at Petersburg, Mr. Altman did any work that offered 
itself for a while, until there was an opening for him at his own 
trade. In 1868 he became head miller in a mill at Petersburg, Pa., 
where he remained for eight years. He then rented a mill in Alexandria, 
of James H. Dysert, and afterwards became a partner with Mr. Dysert in 
the milling business. This connection continued until 1888, when Mr. 
Altman and William M. Phillips bought the mill property, and have 
conducted it ever since. Mr. Altman built a brick dwelling at 
Petersburg, which he has since sold; he owns other property in that 
borough. The firm owns land and other real estate besides the mill. Mr. 
Altman is a Republican, and active in political work.
  Three of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Altman are deceased; the 
surviving are: Ida (Mrs. Frank Fouse), Alexandria, Pa.; Bertha (Mrs. 
George Lloyd), of Porter township; and Gustav. Mr. Altman was already a 
member of the Lutheran church before he left the fatherland, and he and 
his family still attend that church.