Joseph Bauer (April 18, 1845 – October 12, 1938) was a

German-American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

labor organizer and politician.

Life

Bauer was born on April 18, 1845, in the

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...

. When he was seven, he immigrated with his parents to America, settling in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. He began working as a shoemaker when he was fourteen, and was working in the profession when the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

broke out. In October 1861, at the age of 16, Bauer enlisted in the 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. He was mustered in as a private in Company K a month later. In June 1863, he transferred to the

5th New York Independent Light Artillery The 5th Independent Battery, New York Volunteer Light Artillery or 5th New York Independent Light Artillery ("1st Excelsior Light Artillery") was an artillery battery that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The batt ...

. He was mustered out with the rest of his battery in July 1865. He fought in a number of battles, including the Battle of Gettysburg; he intended to attend the 1938 Gettysburg reunion, but he broke his foot beforehand and had to stay home for health reasons. After the War, he worked as a shoemaker in a number of cities, including

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, and Elmira, before settling for good in Rochester. He was active in organized labor and was a member of the

Knights of Labor The Knights of Labor (K of L), officially the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was the largest American labor movement of the 19th century, claiming for a time nearly one million members. It operated in the United States as well in ...

and the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

. In the 1880s, he organized a union of horsecar railway employees. He was also marshal of Rochester's first Labor Day parade. In 1888, Bauer was elected to the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

as a Republican, representing the Monroe County 2nd District. He served in the Assembly in

1889 Events January * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the Dakotas ...

. He was appointed Doorkeeper of the Assembly in

1894 Events January * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United States. * Ja ...

1895 Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...

1896 Events January * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports Wilhelm Röntgen's dis ...

1897 Events January * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a punitive expedit ...

, and

1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...

. Bauer was an active member of the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (United States Navy, U.S. Navy), and the United States Marine Corps, Marines who served in the American Ci ...

. He was elected Commander of the New York State Department in 1937. He served as grand marshal Rochester's Memorial Day parades. His first wife was Louisa Wolf of Buffalo. They had ten children together. She died in 1915. In 1934, he married Mrs. Fannie Hamman, who died in 1936. Bauer died in

Genesee Hospital Genesee Hospital was a hospital in Rochester, New York, United States, that was open from September 19, 1889, to May 21, 2001. Closure In April 2001, Via Health, the company that owned the hospital, announced that the hospital would close within ...

on October 12, 1938 at the age of 93. He had seven surviving children, 24 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren, and 15 great-great-grandchildren. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bauer, Joseph 1845 births 1938 deaths Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly American trade unionists of German descent People from the Grand Duchy of Baden Immigrants to the United States Shoemakers Politicians from Rochester, New York People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Union army soldiers Knights of Labor people American Federation of Labor people Burials at Mount Hope Cemetery (Rochester) Grand Army of the Republic officials 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature