Additional Details

Elias Helwig was born in the eastern section of Germany in the vicinity of Dresden, near the Czechoslovakian border, on the Dresden-Prague highway. At his death at age 40 in Germany, Elias' estate consisted of a home and grist mill run by water power on a parcel of three acres. Following Elias' death, Christina met and married Mr. Sheibe, a widower. Together they emigrated to the United States in 1852 with his six children from a previous marriage and Christina's seven children. The family entered the U.S. through the port of New York. After the passages had been paid, the remaining proceeds from the sale of the property were used to purchase a farm in the hill country of Holmes County, Ohio, near Millersburg. The Helwig children lived with the Sheibes until their teen years when they left to seek employment. The sisters did housework, two as far away as Pittsburgh. The two brothers took up woodworking.

Census records from 1860 list Lewis Helwick, age 17, as an apprentice living with the James Farra family in Holmes County, Ohio. James Farra is listed as a cabinet maker. and presumably this is where Lewis learned his carpentry skills. In 1861 Lewis volunteered for duty in Company E of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry 16th Regiment and served until 1864. According to company military records, Lewis was engaged in the following battles: Cumberland Gap; Tazewell, Tennessee; Chickasaw Bluff; Thompson's Hill; Champion Hill; Black River Bridge; Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi. Lewis' name was recorded as Lewis E. Helwick on his Civil War enlistment papers. The family name was legally changed from Helwig to Helwick in 1886.

In the reunion photo below Lewis Helwick is seated third from the left. The year of the reunion is unknown.

Lewis A. Helwick (seated 3rd from left) and other veterans of the 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry
soldier standing 2nd from left believed to be Cpl. Theodore Wolbach (Co. E)
soldier seated at left believed to be Capt. Richard W. Tanneyhill (Co. E)
image courtesy of Katherine Helwick Fielder, great granddaughter of the soldier

In the reunion photo below, Lewis Helwick is on the left. The back of the photo lists Doc Hattery as the person on the right. "Doc" was a physician in Bolivar.

Lewis A. Helwick (left)
image courtesy of Katherine Helwick Fielder, great granddaughter of the soldier

After marrying Catherine Baad in 1867, the Helwicks moved to Bolivar, Ohio, where Lewis established his cabinet making and undertaking business. His store carried,

a complete line of all desirable styles and grades of household and cabinet furniture, embracing not only the common grades but also fine upholstered and marble top goods, parlor and bed room suites, wardrobes, safes, sofas, spring beds and mattresses, mouldings and picture frames, etc., manufacturing himself and securing fine goods direct from manufacturers. He gives special attention to undertaking and keeps on hand a fine hearse and undertakers' supplies. He will promptly attend funerals in town or country on reasonable terms and preserve or embalm bodies at the request of friends of the deceased.

In addition to the store, Lewis established a two-story woodworking shop and a planing and saw mill run by a coal and wood burning boiler furnace. He was a Mason and a member of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church. Lewis Helwick's funeral service was conducted in German and in English. He was interred in the mausoleum in the Fort Laurens Cemetery.

Lewis A. Helwick and wife Catherine Baad Helwick
image courtesy of Katherine Helwick Fielder, great granddaughter of the soldier