Source:
Ancestry.com—New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957; U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865; U.S., American Civil War Regiments, 1861-1866.
He sailed with his father and siblings from Antwerp, Belgium on the ship “Mount Vernon,” arriving in New York, New York on August 12, 1946. He became a naturalized citizen.
He enlisted in Company E, Wisconsin 19th Infantry Regiment as a Corporal on March 7, 1862. See “U.S., American Civil War Regiments, 1861-1866” for a history of the regiment. Matthias mustered out on August 9, 1865 at Richmond, Virginia.
In 1880 Matthias lived in Pepperton, Stevens County, Minnesota. He was a widower. In 1900 Mathias was an “inmate” at the Minnesota Soldiers Home in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. In 1910 Mathias was an “inmate” at the Wisconsin Veterans Home in Farminton, Waupaca County, Wisconsin. The 1910 census reported that he had been married for five years. His name was written Herig but interpreted as Hessg on
Ancestry.com’s 1910 census record.