Emmons County villages often celebrated and revered their Civil War veterans. Marion Eugene Waldroff of Winona, and later, Williamsport, was one such veteran. But he kept a secret until his grave. When he enlisted with the Wisconsin 37th Regulars in 1864, he was recorded as a strapping, 16 year old. At 5’9”, he was taller than most men. (The average height in the Civil War was 5’5”.) But Eugene, as he was called, was only thirteen years old. The next year, he would spend his fourteenth birthday fighting in one of the last major battles of the Civil War. The Williamsport, Emmons County farmer had served at the siege of Petersburg, VA. His unit was in battle about every two to three days for the rest of the war. One year later, the Confederates surrendered in April 1865. The 37th Regulars participated in the Grand Review before President Lincoln in Washington. The 37th returned to Madison, WI and was disbanded. Waldroff then re-enlisted in the Wisconsin 22nd Regulars, Co, “F” and was stationed at Ft. Sully, Dakota Territory, where he was promoted to Corporal. His subsequent Army records recorded his enlistment record age, and added on a year, making him a 17 year old. After his enlistment was up, he became a civilian employee for the Indian Service and was in charge of the government beef herds at the old Fort Grand River, the Agency that pre-dated Standing Rock Agency. In the spring of 1872, he was with a construction crew who laid out the town of Warrenton, four miles from the present site of Bismarck, North Dakota. He helped with the construction of Standing Rock Agency, and remained in the government service until 1878, where he was in charge of government transportation at Fort Yates, Fort Lincoln, and the cantonments at Green River and Glendive, MT. In 1880 he was living at Fort Abraham Lincoln, along with his wife Mary, (born 1851 Indiana) and listed as an Interpreter.
Waldroff came to Emmons County in the early 1880s and went into business at Winona around 1884. He was Deputy Sheriff for Sheriff William Wade, Emmons County’s first Sheriff (1883-1888). In 1888 he was appointed Deputy Postmaster at Williamsport, where he and his wife operated the Waldroff House, a hotel. In 1893, he was also the agent for the Lyons and Woodmansee Agricultural Implements, out of Steele, N.D. The Emmons County Record reported on March 01, 1895 that Eugene Waldroff had made improvements on the old Frank Smith place, and he and Mrs. Walroff would move from Bismarck.
In June 1897, Sheriff Peter Shier appointed Waldroff to serve as one of the special Deputy Sheriffs for the Coudotte trial, the first of the Spicer murder cases held at Williamsport. In February 1899, the Emmons County Record reported that Waldroff had been ailing, and a doctor removed a large tumor from his side. He died on 21 May 1899 and was buried at St Mary’s Cemetery in Bismarck, ND. Fearful of losing his Civil War pension, for lying under oath, Marion Eugene Waldroff never admitted to being a heroic thirteen year old soldier.
More biographical data located here. |