William Ockler

William Ockler was born March 26, 1843, in what was then the Province of Saxony, in the Kingdom of Prussia (now central Germany).[1] He emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1857, sailing from Hamburg to Quebec, and then to Detroit, and finally Milwaukee. His father purchased a farm in Muskego, Wisconsin, in neighboring Waukesha County, where the family settled.[2]

In 1864, he volunteered for service in the Union Army amidst the American Civil War. He was enrolled as a private in Company E of the 19th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment.[3] Ockler joined the regiment in New Bern, North Carolina, where they had been stationed for nearly a year as part of the Union blockade of Confederate ports. This was a particularly active period in this coastal battle, as the Union soon abandoned their control over Havelock, and Plymouth. In late April, they boarded boats and returned to Yorktown, Virginia, where they joined the Army of the James. Ockler's company was used as skirmishers in the Second Battle of Fort Darling, and he was wounded during that operation.[3] The regiment then went on to join the Siege of Petersburg. Shortly after their arrival however, their veterans were all given furlough for re-enlisting, and the remnant of the regiment—including Ockler—participated in the Second Battle of Fair Oaks. The regiment spent most of the rest of the war engaged in picket duty on the line around Richmond, Virginia.[4]

After the war, Ockler served several years as town treasurer and justice of the peace in Muskego. He was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1870, running on the Democratic Party ticket. He represented Waukesha County's 3rd Assembly district, which then comprised roughly the eastern quarter of the county.[1] His district was abolished in the 1871 redistricting act.[5] He subsequently served two terms on the Waukesha County board of supervisors, then moved to the town of Weston in Dunn County, Wisconsin, where he cultivated a farm for the next 25 years.[6]

About the year 1900, Ockler retired to a house in the neighboring city of Menomonie, Wisconsin. He died at his home in Menomonie on September 10, 1918, after several months of illness.[6]

William Ockler was one of seven children of Tobias Ockler and his wife Erdmund (née Weber).[2]

William Ockler married Helena Haefner in 1871. They had at least 8 children together, seven of which survived them.[6]