John Weisenhamer's German New Testament

Collection ID: BIB.005096
Type: Bible - Printed Book
Date: 1863
Geography: New York (United States)
Language: German
Medium: Printed on Paper
Dimensions: 4.6 × 3 × 1 in. (11.8 × 7.7 × 2.6 cm)
Exhibit Location: On View in Impact of the Bible in America

On August 14, 1862, John Weisenheimer mustered into the 107th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, one of many German-speaking units in the Union army during the Civil War. His unit suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Gettysburg and other engagements. He inscribed his name in this Bible one year after Gettysburg while serving with the Invalid Corps—a unit composed of wounded and disabled soldiers who performed light-duty tasks—at Lincoln Hospital in Washington, DC.

Printed in 1863 by the American Bible Society, New York. Acquired by John Weisenhamer.[1] Acquired before 2017 by Chris Mandell of ElevenElevenBooks, Spencerport, New York; Purchased in 2017 by Ted Steinbock, private collector, Louisville, Kentucky; Privately purchased in 2020 by Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.

Notes: [1] New Testament contains the signature of John Weisenhamer of the 23rd Artillery at Lincoln General Hospital in DC.