Alternate Spellings of Surname: Lasch, Losch, Lost. Alternate Given Names: Constant/Constantine and Daniel/David

 

They were first-generation Americans who were sons of German immigrants. They were also brothers-in-arms during the American Civil War. The older of the two, whose surname would be misspelled as “Lost” by an overworked Union Army clerk, would later come to embody that name. Lost to his family forever, through a twist of fate, he paved the way for his younger brother to become his family’s “constant,” literally and figuratively.

Formative Years

Born in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania on 26 October 1838 and 31 October 1847, respectively, David Losch (1838-1961) and Constantine Frederick Losch (1847-1896), who was known to family and friends as “Constant,” were sons of husbandman Johannes Losch (1801-1888) and Regina (Agster) Losch (1812-1877), who were both natives of the Kingdom of Württemberg (now part of Baden-Württemberg in Germany).

They were raised and educated in the public schools of Allentown with their Allentown-born siblings: John A. Losch (1832-1897), who was born on 2 December 1832, grew up to become an attorney and would later migrate west to Nebraska, where he would open a private law practice; Charles Losch (1835-1913), who was born on 23 September 1835 and would later found a successful livery business in Allentown; William C. Losch (1836-1879; alternate death year: 1878), who was born on 25 August 1836 and would later migrate west to California, settle in Solano County and become the husband of Matilda Eliza Miller (1836-1933); Sarah Losch (1840-1913), who was born on 15 November 1840, would never marry and would reside in Allentown for most of her life until migrating west in 1905 to California, where she would live with her unmarried sister, Mary Alice Losch; Walter Losch (1845-1882), who was born on 16 June 1845 and would later serve with Company E of the 5th Pennsylvania Militia during the American Civil War; Alfred C. Losch (1849-1871), who was born on 25 August 1849; Mary Alice Regina Losch (1851-1946), who was born in 1851, would become known to family and friends as “Alice,” would later become a trained nurse, would never marry, and would also reside in Allentown for most of her life before migrating west to California circa 1905 (with her unmarried, older sister, Sarah Losch); Franziska Losch (1854-1862), who was born on 4 April 1854 but would die in childhood in 1862; and Jacob Frank Losch (1857-1911), who was born in April 1857 (alternate birth year: 1858) and would later became the husband of Laura A. Storch (1859-1940) and migrate west to West Point, Cuming County, Nebraska.

Still residing with their parents in Allentown’s Third Ward in 1860, laborer David Losch and his brother, Constant, were evidently living a comfortable existence, according to that year’s federal census, which noted that their father was a nursery operator who had amassed ten thousand five hundred dollars in real estate and personal property (the equivalent of nearly four hundred and ten thousand U.S. dollars in 2025). Also residing with the family that year were David and Constant’s siblings: Sarah; Walter, who was employed as an apprentice to master stone cutter Tilghman Schmoyer; Alfred; Mary Ann; Franziska; and Jacob.

American Civil War

Incorrectly listed as “David Lost” by historian Samuel P. Bates in his History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, David Losch enrolled for military service in Allentown on 5 August 1861 — the day on which the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was founded. He then officially mustered in for duty at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg on 30 August 1861 as a private with Company I of that new regiment. Military records at the time described him as a twenty-two-year-old laborer residing in Allentown, who was five feet, four inches tall with Auburn hair, gray eyes and a light complexion.

* Note: One of the first two companies from Allentown to join the Pennsylvania Volunteers’ 47th Regiment, Company I was also the largest of the regiment’s ten companies to muster in during the summer and early fall of 1861, with most of its one hundred and two members logged in as available for duty on 30 August — the same day that Coleman A. G. Keck was commissioned as a captain with the 47th Pennsylvania and placed in charge of I Company. Most of Company I’s members were Keck-recruited novices.

Following a brief training period in light infantry tactics at Camp Curtin, Private David Losch and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were marched to the Harrisburg train station, where they boarded Northern Central Railway cars on 20 September and headed for the nation’s capital. Arriving in Washington, D.C. during the wee hours of the next morning, they disembarked and marched to that city’s Soldiers’ Rest, where they were fed and allowed to sleep for a few hours before marching for the Kalorama Heights in Georgetown in the District of Columbia.

Ordered to pitch their tents at Camp Kalorama, roughly two miles from the White House, they continued to drill. On 22 September, C Company Musician Henry D. Wharton penned these words to his hometown newspaper, the Sunbury American:

“After a tedious ride we have, at last, arrived at the City of ‘magnificent distances.’ We left Harrisburg on Friday last at 1 o’clock A.M. and reached this camp yesterday (Saturday) at 4 P.M., as tired and worn out a setting [sic, set] of mortals as can possibly exist. On arriving at Washington we were marched to the ‘Soldiers Retreat,’ a building purposefully erected for the benefit of the soldier, where every comfort is extended to him and the wants of the ‘inner man’ supplied.

“After partaking of refreshments we were ordered into line and marched, about three miles, to this camp. So tired were the men that, on marching out, some gave out, and had to leave the ranks, but J. Boulton Young, our ‘little Zouave,’ stood it bravely, and acted like a veteran. So small a drummer is scarcely seen in the army, and on the march through Washington he was twice the recipient of three cheers.

“We were reviewed by Gen. McClellan yesterday [21 September] without our knowing it. All along the march we noticed a considerable number of officers, both mounted and on foot; the horse of one of the officers was so beautiful that he was noticed by the whole regiment, in fact, so wrapt [sic, wrapped] up were they in the horse, the rider wasn’t noticed, and the boys were considerably mortified this morning on discovering they had missed the sight of, and the neglect of not saluting the soldier next in command to Gen. Scott.

“Col. Good, who has command of our regiment, is an excellent man and a splendid soldier. He is a man of very few words, and is continually attending to his duties and the wants of the Regiment.

“…. Our Regiment will now be put to hard work; such as drilling and the usual business of camp life, and the boys expect and hope for an occasional ‘pop’ at the enemy.”

Acclimated somewhat to their new life, the soldiers of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry finally became part of the Army of the United States when they were officially mustered into federal service on 24 September. Three days later, they were assigned to the 3rd Brigade of Brigadier-General Isaac Ingalls Stevens, which also included the 33rd, 49th and 79th New York regiments. By that afternoon, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were on the move again.

Ordered onward by Brigadier-General Silas Casey, the Mississippi rifle-armed 47th Pennsylvania infantrymen marched behind their Regimental Band until reaching Camp Lyon, Maryland on the Potomac River’s eastern shore. At 5 p.m., they joined the 46th Pennsylvania in moving double-quick (one hundred and sixty five steps per minute using thirty-three-inch steps) across the “Chain Bridge” marked on federal maps, and continued on for roughly another mile before being ordered to make camp.

The next morning, they broke camp and moved again. Marching toward Falls Church, Virginia, they arrived at Camp Advance around dusk. There, about two miles from the bridge they had crossed a day earlier, they re-pitched their tents in a deep ravine near a new federal fort under construction (Fort Ethan Allen). They had completed a roughly eight-mile trek, were situated close to the headquarters of Brigadier-General William Farrar Smith (also known as “Baldy”) and were now part of the massive U.S. Army of the Potomac (“Mr. Lincoln’s Army”). Under Smith’s leadership, their regiment and brigade would help to defend the nation’s capital from the time of their arrival through late January when the men of the 47th Pennsylvania would be shipped south.

Once again, Company C Musician Henry Wharton recalled the regiment’s activities, noting, via his 29 September letter to the Sunbury American:

“On Friday last we left Camp Kalorama, and the same night encamped about one mile from the Chain Bridge on the opposite side of the Potomac from Washington. The next morning, Saturday, we were ordered to this camp [Camp Advance near Fort Ethan Allen, Virginia], one and a half miles from the one we occupied the night previous. I should have mentioned that we halted on a high hill (on our march here) at the Chain Bridge, called Camp Lyon, but were immediately ordered on this side of the river. On the route from Kalorama we were for two hours exposed to the hardest rain I ever experienced. Whew, it was a whopper; but the fellows stood it well – not a murmur – and they waited in their wet clothes until nine o’clock at night for their supper. Our Camp adjoins that of the N.Y. 79th (Highlanders.)….

“We had not been in this Camp more than six hours before our boys were supplied with twenty rounds of ball and cartridge, and ordered to march and meet the enemy; they were out all night and got back to Camp at nine o’clock this morning, without having a fight. They are now in their tents taking a snooze preparatory to another march the morning…. I don’t know how long the boys will be gone, but the orders are to cook two days’ rations and take it with them in their haversacks….

“There was a nice little affair came off at Lavensville [sic, Lewinsville], a few miles from here on Wednesday last; our troops surprised a party of rebels (much larger than our own.) killing ten, took a Major prisoner, and captured a large number of horses, sheep and cattle, besides a large quantity of corn and potatoes, and about ninety six tons of hay. A nice day’s work. The boys are well, in fact, there is no sickness of any consequence at all in our Regiment.”

Sometime during that phase of duty, as part of the 3rd Brigade, the 47th Pennsylvanians were moved to a site they initially christened “Camp Big Chestnut,” in reference to a large chestnut tree growing there. The site would eventually become known to them as “Camp Griffin,” and was located roughly ten miles from Washington, D.C.

On 11 October, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers marched in the Grand Review at Bailey’s Cross Roads. In a mid-October letter to his own family and friends, Captain John Peter Shindel Gobin, the commanding officer of Company C, reported that Companies D, A, C, F, and I (the 47th Pennsylvania’s right wing) were ordered to picket duty after the regiment’s left-wing companies (B, E, G, H, and K) had been forced to return to camp by Confederate troops.

Around that same time, Private David Losch contracted typhoid pneumonia while stationed with his regiment at Camp Griffin. Confined to the 47th Pennsylvania’s regimental hospital there, he was treated by the 47th Pennsylvania’s Regimental Surgeon Elisha W. Baily, M.D., but died there at that hospital at Camp Griffin from typhoid-related complications on 29 October 1861. Dr. Baily subsequently made the following notation in the U.S. Army’s death ledger:

“Lasch David Priv 47 Pa Inf 1861 Oct 29 Reg Hospl Pneumonia Typhoides E. W. Baily R. S.”

Meanwhile reports of David’s death began to appear in newspapers nationwide:

• A brief notice entitled, “From Washington,” that was dated 31 October but appeared in the 1 November 1861 edition of the Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Telegraph newspaper, stated that “The only Pennsylvania soldiers reported today, among the deaths at the hospitals, are Daniel Losch [sic], of the Forty-seventh and B. F. Haskell, of the First regiment.” Although that statement indicated that he died at one of the Union Army hospitals in the District of Columbia, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers’ own regimental surgeon, Dr. Baily, had completed the death ledget entry for “Losch, David” himself, noting that he was a private who had died at the 47th Pennsylvania’s regimental hospital, which was located at Camp Griffin, near Langley, Virginia at the time of David Losch’s death.
• Dr. Baily’s death ledger entry was subsequently corroborated by Washington, D.C.’s Evening Star, which reported on 31 October 1861 that “The following soldiers died yesterday: Daniel Losch [sic], company I, 47th Pennsylvania, Camp Griffin.”
• The Philadelphia Inquirer of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and The Sun of Baltimore, Maryland then published versions of that same casualty report on Friday, 1 November 1861, noting that the death of “Daniel Losch [sic], Company I, 47th Pennsylvania” ocurred “at Camp Griffin.”

The news report that provided the greatest certainty regarding the status of Private David Losch, however, was his hometown, German-language newspaper, Der Lecha Caunty Patriot, which announced both his death and that of his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer, drummer boy Alfred Eisenbraun, in its 6 November 1861 edition. Roughly translated, it read as follows;

Deceased: Last Saturday, at the military hospital in Georgetown in the District of Columbia, Alfred E., a son of  Mr. John D. Eisenbraun of this city, in his 16th year;– And at the same place last Wednesday, David, a son of Mr. John Losch, also of this city, at the approximate age of 22 years. The former was the drummer in Captain Rhoads’ company and the latter was a regular soldier in Captain Keck’s company [both of which are part of] the 47th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. The former [Eisenbraun] was buried in Georgetown, and the remains of the latter [Losch] have been returned to this city [Allentown] for burial.– Gently rest their ashes!

Just twenty-three years old at the time of his passing, Private David Losch’s body had been embalmed prior to its return to his parents for his funeral and burial at the Fairview Cemetery in Allentown.

Life then moved on for surviving members of the Losch family, as life does for grieving adults even today. Tragically, the Losch family then suffered another loss when Franziska Losch (1854-1862), died in childhood in Allentown sometime in 1862. Following funeral services, she was laid to rest in the Losch family plot at the Fairview Cemetery in Allentown.

But, once again, life went on for the Losch family, much as it had before Franziska’s death — until the winter of 1863 when David Losch’s younger brother, Constantine F. Losch, decided that he, too, would leave all he knew behind in order to enlist in the Union Army.

1863

Rather than signing up for military service in Allentown, as his older brother David had done, Constantine Losch traveled to the city of Norristown in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and enlisted at a large Union Army recruiting depot there. Enrolled with the Union Army on 17 December 1863 (alternate date: 19 December 1863), he then officially mustered in for duty there that same day at the rank of private, and was assigned to Company G of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (the same regiment in which his brother David had enrolled in 1861, but with a different company). Military records at the time described Private Constant Losch as an eighteen-year-old bricklayer and resident of Allentown who was five feet, five and three-quarters of an inch tall with brown hair, black eyes and a fair complexion. He would not connect with his regiment until January or early February of 1864, however, at which time he disembarked from a ship at the harbor in Key West, Florida, where roughly half of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers had been assigned to garrison duty since late 1862.

* Note: Having garrisoned Fort Taylor in Key West, Florida prior to their engagements in the Expedition to Saint John’s Bluff, Florida in early October 1862 and in the Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina on 22 October 1862, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers had been ordered back to Fort Taylor on 15 November 1862, and had spent the entire year of 1863 and first two months of 1864 as a divided regiment, with the men from Companies A, B, C, G, and I based at Key West’s Fort Taylor while Companies D, F, H, and K garrisoned Fort Jefferson, the Union’s remote outpost in the Dry Tortugas off the coast of Florida. (The regiment was then divided further in early January 1864 when a detachment of men from Company A was sent north to retake possession Fort Myers, which had been abandoned in 1858 following the U.S. government’s third war with the Seminole Indians.)

1864

Initially stationed at Fort Taylor following his arrival in Florida, Private Constant Losch may have been moved, at some point during the early phase of his service, to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, where many of his fellow G Company men were stationed. What is known for certain is that, as February was coming to a close, both halves of the battle-hardened 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry began preparing to embark on the regiment’s history-making journey to Louisiana. Their departure was then effected in two phases. On 25 February 1864, the men from Companies B, C, D, I, and K of the 47th Pennsylvania boarded the steamer Charles Thomas, and headed for Algiers, Louisiana (across the river from New Orleans). They were then followed on 1 March by the men from Companies E, F, G, and H. Upon the second group’s arrival in Algiers, the now almost fully reunited regiment moved by train on 28 February to Brashear City (now Morgan City, Louisiana) before heading to Franklin by steamer through the Bayou Teche.

After disembarking at Franklin, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was attached to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division of the U.S. Department of the Gulf’s 19th Army Corps, wherecit then officially became the only Pennsylvania regiment to serve in the Red River Campaign of Union Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks. (Unable to reach Louisiana until 23 March, the men from Company A were assigned to detached duty in New Orleans while they awaited transport to take them to where the main part of their regiment was stationed. Charged with guarding and overseeing the transport of two hundred and forty-five Confederate prisoners, those A Company men were finally able to board the Ohio Belle on 7 April, and reached Alexandria with their prisoners on 9 April.)

Red River Campaign 

The early days on the ground in Louisiana quickly woke Private Constant Losch and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers up to just how grueling their new phase of duty would be. From 14-26 March, most members of the regiment marched for Alexandria and Natchitoches, Louisiana, by way of New Iberia, Vermilionville (now part of Lafayette), Opelousas, and Washington. From 4-5 April 1864, the regiment added to its roster of Black soldiers when Aaron Bullard (later known as Aaron French), James Bullard, John Bullard, Samuel Jones, and Hamilton Blanchard (also known as John Hamilton) enrolled for military service with the 47th Pennsylvania at Natchitoches. According to their respective entries in the Civil War Veterans’ Card File at the Pennsylvania State Archives and on regimental muster rolls, the men were then officially mustered in for duty on 22 June at Morganza. Several of their entries noted that they were assigned the rank of “(Colored) Cook” while others were given the rank of “Under-Cook.”

They then resumed their march. Often short on food and water throughout various periodd of their long harsh-climate trek through enemy territory, the men encamped briefly at Pleasant Hill (now the Village of Pleasant Hill) the night of 7 April before continuing on the next day.

Marching until mid-afternoon on 8 April, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were rushed into battle ahead of other regiments in the 2nd Division. Sixty members of the 47th were cut down that day during the volley of fire unleashed in the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads (also known as the Battle of Mansfield due to its proximity to the town of Mansfield). The fighting waned only when darkness fell. The exhausted, but uninjured collapsed beside the gravely wounded. After midnight, the surviving Union troops withdrew to Pleasant Hill.

The next day, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were ordered into a critically important defensive position at the far right of the Union lines, their right flank spreading up onto a high bluff. By 3 p.m., after enduring a midday charge by the troops of Confederate Major-General Richard Taylor (a plantation owner who was the son of Zachary Taylor, former president of the United States), the brutal fighting still showed no signs of ending. Suddenly, just as the 47th was shifting to the left side of the massed Union forces, the men of the 47th Pennsylvania were forced to bolster the 165th New York’s buckling lines by blocking another Confederate assault during what would later become known as the Battle of Pleasant Hill.

The casualties for the Union were severe, and included the 47th Pennsylvania’s second-in-command, Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren Alexander, who was struck by artillery shrapnel in his leg, and both of the regiment’s color-bearers, who had been shot while preventing the American flag from falling into enemy hands. Still others were captured by Confederate troops, marched roughly one hundred and twenty-five miles to Camp Ford (the Confederate Army prison camp located near Tyler, Texas), and held there as prisoners of war (POWs) until they were released during prisoner exchanges that began on 22 July and ended in late November 1864. Corporal James Huff, who had been wounded in action during the Battle of Pleasant Hill on 9 April, was one of the “more fortunate” POWs (he was finally released on 29 August 1864), but at least three members of the 47th Pennsylvania never made it out alive.

Following what some historians have called a rout by Confederates at Pleasant Hill and others have labeled a technical victory for the Union or a draw for both sides, the 47th Pennsylvanians fell back to Grand Ecore to resupply and regroup. They remained there for a total of eleven days (through 22 April 1864), where they engaged in the hard labor of strengthening regimental and brigade fortifications in a brutal climate. They then moved back to Natchitoches Parish, where they arrived in Cloutierville at 10 p.m. that night, after marching forty-five miles. While en route, the Union forces were attacked again — in the rear — but they were able to end the encounter quickly and continue on.

The next morning (23 April 1864), episodic skirmishing quickly roared into the flames of a robust fight. As part of the advance party led by Union Brigadier-General William Emory, the 47th Pennsylvania took on the Confederate cavalry of Brigadier-General Hamilton P. Bee during the Battle of Cane River (also known as “the Affair at Monett’s Ferry” or the “Cane River Crossing”). Responding to a barrage from the Confederate’s twenty-pound Parrott guns and raking fire from enemy troops situated near a bayou and on a bluff above, Brigadier-General Emory directed one of his brigades to keep Bee’s Confederates busy while sending two other brigades to find a safe spot where his Union troops could ford the Cane River. As part of the “beekeepers,” the 47th Pennsylvanians supported Emory’s artillery.

Meanwhile, more of Emory’s troops found and worked their way across the Cane River, attacked Bee’s flank, and forced a Rebel retreat. They then erected a series of pontoon bridges, enabling the 47th and other Union units to make the Cane River Crossing by the next day. As the Confederates retreated, they torched their own food stores and the cotton supplies of their fellow southerners. In a letter penned from Morganza, Louisiana on 29 May, Henry Wharton described what had happened:

“Our sojourn at Grand Ecore was for eleven days, during which time our position was well fortified by entrenchments for a length of five miles, made of heavy logs, five feet high and six feet wide, filled in with dirt. In front of this, trees were felled for a distance of two hundred yards, so that if the enemy attacked we had an open space before us which would enable our forces to repel them and follow if necessary. But our labor seemed to the men as useless, for on the morning of 22d April, the army abandoned these works and started for Alexandria. From our scouts it was ascertained that the enemy had passed some miles to our left with the intention of making a stand against our right at Bayou Cane, where there is a high bluff and dense woods, and at the same attack Smith’s forces who were bringing up the rear. This first day was a hard one on the boys, for by ten o’clock at night they made Cloutierville, a distance of forty-five miles. On that day the rear was attacked which caused our forces to reverse their front and form in line of battle, expecting too, to go back to the relief of Smith, but he needed no assistance, sending word to the front that he had ‘whipped them, and could do it again.’ It was well that Banks made so long a march on that day, for on the next we found the enemy prepared to carry out their design of attacking us front and rear. Skirmishing commenced early in the morning and as our columns advanced he fell back towards the bayou, when we soon discovered the position of their batteries on the bluff. There was then an artillery duel by the smaller pieces, and some sharp fighting by the cavalry, when the ‘mule battery,’ twenty pound Parrott guns, opened a heavy fire, which soon dislodged them, forcing the chivalry to flee in a manner not at all suitable to their boasted courage. Before this one cavalry, the 3d Brigade of the 1st Div., and Birges’ brigade of the second, had crossed the bayou and were doing good service, which, with the other work, made the enemy show their heels. The 3d brigade done some daring deeds in this fight, as also did the cavalry. In one instance the 3d charged up a hill almost perpendicular, driving the enemy back by the bayonet without firing a gun. The woods on this bluff was so thick that the cavalry had to dismount and fight on foot. During the whole of the day, our brigade, the 2d was supporting artillery, under fire all the time, and could not give Mr. Reb a return shot.

“While we were fighting in front, Smith was engaged some miles in the rear, but he done his part well and drove them back. The rebel commanders thought by attacking us in the rear, and having a large face on the bluffs, they would be able to capture our train and take us all prisoners, but in this they were mistaken, for our march was so rapid that we were on them before they had thrown up the necessary earthworks. Besides they underrated the amount of our artillery, calculating from the number engaged at Pleasant Hill. The rebel prisoners say it ‘seems as though the Yankees manufacture, on short notice, artillery to order, and the men are furnished with wings when they wish to make a certain point.

“The damage done to the Confederate cause by the burning of cotton was immense. On the night of the 22d our route was lighted up for miles and millions of dollars worth of this production was destroyed. This loss will be felt more by Davis & Co., than several defeats in this region, for the basis of the loan in England was on the cotton of Western Louisiana.

“After the rebels had fled from the bluff the negro troops put down the pontoons, and by ten that night we were six miles beyond the bayou safely encamped. The next morning we moved forward and in two days were in Alexandria. Johnnys followed Smith’s forces, keeping out of range of his guns, except when he had gained the eminence across the bayou, when he punished them (the rebs) severely.”

Having finally reached Alexandria on 26 April, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers learned they would remain at their latest new camp for at least two weeks. Placed temporarily under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey, they were assigned yet again to the hard labor of fortification work — this time helping to erect “Bailey’s Dam,” a timber structure that enabled Union gunboats to pass through the Red River’s rapids. According to Wharton:

“We were at Alexandria seventeen days, during which time the men were kept busy at throwing up earthworks, foraging and three times went out some distance to meet the enemy, but they did not make their appearance in numbers large enough for an engagement. The water in the Red river had fallen so much that it prevented the gunboats from operating with us, and kept our transports from supplying the troops with rations, (and you know soldiers, like other people, will eat) so Banks was compelled to relinquish his designs on Shreveport and fall back to the Mississippi. To do this a large dam had to be built on the falls at Alexandria to get the ironclads down the river. After a great deal labor this was accomplished and by the morning of May 13th the last one was through the shute [sic], when we bade adieu to Alexandria, marching through the town with banners flying and keeping step to the music of ‘Rally around the flag,’ and ‘When this cruel war is over.’ The next morning, at our camping place, the fleet of boats passed us, when we were informed that Alexandria had been destroyed by fire – the act of a dissatisfied citizen and several negroes. Incendiary acts were strictly forbidden in a general order the day before we left the place, and a cavalry guard was left in the rear to see the order enforced. After marching a few miles skirmishing commenced in front between the cavalry and the enemy in riflepits [sic] on the bank of the river, but they were easily driven away. When we came up we discovered their pits and places where there had been batteries planted. At this point the John Warren, an unarmed transport, on which were sick soldiers and women, was fired into and sunk, killing many and those that were not drowned taken prisoners. A tin-clad gunboat was destroyed at the same place, by which we lost a large mail. Many letters and directed envelopes were found on the bank – thrown there after the contents had been read by the unprincipled scoundrels. The inhumanity of Guerrilla bands in this department is beyond belief, and if one did not know the truth of it or saw some of their barbarities, he would write it down as the story of a ‘reliable gentleman’ or as told by an ‘intelligent contraband.’ Not satisfied with his murderous intent on unarmed transports he fires into the Hospital steamer Laurel Hill, with four hundred sick on board. This boat had the usual hospital signal floating fore and aft, yet, notwithstanding all this, and the customs of war, they fired on them, proving by this act that they are more hardened than the Indians on the frontier.

“On Sunday, May 15, we left the river road and took a short route through the woods, saving considerable distance. The windings of Red river are so numerous that it resembles the tape-worm railroad wherewith the politicians frightened the dear people during the administration of Ritner and Stevens. – We stopped several hours in the woods to leave cavalry pass, when we moved forward and by four o’clock emerged into a large open plain where we formed in line of battle, expecting a regular engagement. The enemy, however, retired and we advanced ‘till dark, when the forces halted for the night, with orders to rest on their arms. – ‘Twas here that Banks rode through our regiment, amidst the cheers of the boys, and gave the pleasant news that Grant had defeated Lee.”

Having entered Avoyelles Parish, they “rested on their arms” for the night, half-dozing without pitching their tents, but with their rifles right beside them. They were now positioned just outside of Marksville, Louisiana on the eve of the 16 May 1864 Battle of Mansura, which unfolded as follows, according to Wharton:

“Early next morning we marched through Marksville into a prairie nine miles long and six wide where every preparation was made for a fight. The whole of our force was formed in line, in support of artillery in front, who commenced operations on the enemy driving him gradually from the prairie into the woods. As the enemy retreated before the heavy fire of our artillery, the infantry advanced in line until they reached Mousoula [sic, Mansura], where they formed in column, taking the whole field in an attempt to flank the enemy, but their running qualities were so good that we were foiled. The maneuvring [sic] of the troops was handsomely done, and the movements was [sic] one of the finest things of the war. The fight of artillery was a steady one of five miles. The enemy merely stood that they might cover the retreat of their infantry and train under cover of their artillery. Our loss was slight. Of the rebels we could not ascertain correctly, but learned from citizens who had secreted themselves during the fight, that they had many killed and wounded, who threw them into wagons, promiscuously, and drove them off so that we could not learn their casualties. The next day we moved to Simmsport [sic, Simmesport] on the Achafalaya [sic, Atchafalaya] river, where a bridge was made by putting the transports side by side, which enabled the troops and train to pass safely over. – The day before we crossed the rebels attacked Smith, thinking it was but the rear guard, in which they, the graybacks, were awfully cut up, and four hundred prisoners fell into our hands. Our loss in killed and wounded was ninety. This fight was the last one of the expedition. The whole of the force is safe on the Mississippi, gunboats, transports and trains. The 16th and 17th have gone to their old commands.

“It is amusing to read the statements of correspondents to papers North, concerning our movements and the losses of our army. I have it from the best source that the Federal loss from Franklin to Mansfield, and from their [sic] to this point does not exceed thirty-five hundred in killed, wounded and missing, while that of the rebels is over eight thousand.”

Continuing on, the 47th Pennsylvanians marched for Simmesport and then Morganza, where they made camp again. While encamped at Morganza, the nine formerly enslaved Black men who had enlisted with the 47th Pennsylvania in Beaufort, South Carolina (1862) and Natchitoches, Louisiana (April 1864) were officially mustered into the regiment between 20-24 June 1864.

The regiment then moved on and arrived in New Orleans in late June. As they did during their tour through the Carolinas and Florida, the men of the 47th had battled the elements and disease, as well as the Confederate Army, in order to survive and continue to defend their nation.

But their service was not yet done. On the Fourth of July, they received word from their superiors that the 47th Pennsylvania had been ordered back to the Eastern Theater of the war. So, they packed up their equipment and began their departure in two phases. On 7 July 1864, the men from Companies A, C, D, F, H, and I boarded the U.S. McClellan. While all of that was unfolding, Private Constant Losch and the men from Companies B, G and K remained behind, awaiting transportation, and eventually departed aboard the Blackstone in late July. They then rejoined their regiment at Monocacy. (But they had missed a memorable encounter with President Abraham Lincoln and the Battle of Cool Spring at Snicker’s Gap in Virginia.)

Sheridan’s 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign

Attached to the Middle Military Division, United States’ Army of the Shenandoah beginning in August 1864, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was assigned to defensive duties in and around Halltown, Virginia during the opening days of that month. Involved at that time in the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign of Union Major-General Philip Sheridan, they subsequently engaged in a series of back-and-forth movements over the next several weeks between Halltown, Berryville, Middletown, Charlestown, and Winchester as part of a “mimic war” being waged by Sheridan’s Union forces with those commanded by Confederate Lieutenant-General Jubal Early.

From 3-4 September, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers also fought in the Battle of Berryville. But it would be the last fight for multiple commissioned officers and enlisted members of the regiment because those 47th Pennsylvanians had completed their respective, original three-year terms of enlistment and had decided not to re-enlist. Among those awarded honorable discharges at Berryville on 18 September were G Company’s Sergeant David K. Diefenderfer and Corporals Solomon Becker, Horatio Nelson Coffin and Reily M. Fornwald.

The remaining members of the 47th Pennsylvania who stayed, however, like Private Constant Losch, were about to engage in their regiment’s greatest displays of valor.

Battle of Opequan, Virginia

On 19 September 1864, Private Constant Losch and his fellow 47th Pennsylvanians helped to inflict heavy casualties on Lieutenant-General Jubal Early’s Confederate forces during the Battle of Opequan (also spelled as “Opequon” and referred to as “Third Winchester”) as part of a large Union force led by Union Major-General Philip H. Sheridan (“Little Phil”) and Brigadier-General William H. Emory, commander of the 19th Corps. Still considered by many historians to be one of the most important battles of Sheridan’s 1864 campaign, that military engagement resulted in a Union victory that helped to ensure the reelection of President Abraham Lincoln.

The 47th Pennsylvania’s march toward destiny began at 2 a.m. as the regiment left camp and joined up with others in the Union’s 19th Corps. Advancing slowly from Berryville toward Winchester, the massive movement of troops and supply wagons soon bogged down, enabling Early’s Confederates to dig in. When they finally reached Opequan Creek, Sheridan’s men came face to face with Early’s army. The fighting, which began in earnest at noon, was long and brutal. The Union’s left flank (6th Corps) took a beating from Early’s artillery, which was positioned on higher ground.

Meanwhile, the 47th Pennsylvanians and their fellow 19th Corps members were directed by Brigadier-General Emory to attack and pursue Major-General John B. Gordon’s Confederate forces. Casualties mounted as Confederate cannon opened fire on Union troops trying to cross a clearing. When a nearly fatal gap began to open between the 6th and 19th Corps, Sheridan responded by ordering the units of Brigadier-Generals Emory Upton and David A. Russell to plug the hole. Russell, hit twice — once in the chest — was mortally wounded. As the battle intensified, the 47th Pennsylvania opened its lines long enough to enable the Union cavalry under William Woods Averell and General George Crook’s foot soldiers to charge the Confederates’ left flank.

The 19th Corps, with the 47th in the thick of the fighting, then began pushing the Confederates back. Retreating in the face of the valor displayed by Sheridan’s “blue jackets,” Early’s “grays” left twenty-five hundred wounded behind. Finally stopping eight miles south of Winchester, they turned and fought the 47th Pennsylvania and other Union regiments in the Battle of Fisher’s Hill (21-22 September) — another Union victory in which Sheridan’s Union men outnumbered Early’s three to one. Skedaddling further, the Rebels headed for Waynesboro, with Sheridan’s men in dogged pursuit.

Afterward, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers returned to the Union’s encampment at Cedar Creek. A week later, the regiment lost its two most senior leaders when Colonel Tilghman Good and his second-in-command, Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander, mustered out upon expiration of their respective terms of service.

Battle of Cedar Creek, 19 October 1864

It was during that part of the American Civil War that Major-General Sheridan began the Union’s “scorched earth” campaigns — starving the Confederacy into submission by destroying Virginia’s farming infrastructure. Viewed through today’s lens of history as inhumane, the strategy claimed many innocents, but also contributed to the war’s shift in the Union’s favor — especially during the Battle of Cedar Creek on 19 October 1864, as Early’s seemingly unstoppable troops peeled off in growing numbers to forage for food, enabling the 47th Pennsylvania and others under Sheridan’s command to rally and win that tide-turning engagement.

From a military standpoint, it was an impressive, but heartrending day. During the morning of 19 October, Early launched a surprise attack directly on Sheridan’s Cedar Creek-encamped forces. His troops captured Union weapons while freeing a number of Confederates who had been taken prisoner during previous battles — all while pushing seven Union divisions back. According to Bates:

“When the Army of West Virginia, under Crook, was surprised and driven from its works, the Second Brigade, with the Forty-seventh on the right, was thrown into the breach to arrest the retreat…. Scarcely was it in position before the enemy came suddenly upon it, under the cover of fog. The right of the regiment was thrown back until it was almost a semi-circle. The brigade, only fifteen hundred strong, was contending against Gordon’s entire division, and was forced to retire, but, in comparative good order, exposed, as it was, to raking fire. Repeatedly forming, as it was pushed back, and making a stand at every available point, it finally succeeded in checking the enemy’s onset, when General Sheridan suddenly appeared upon the field, who ‘met his crest-fallen, shattered battalions, without a word of reproach, but joyously swinging his cap, shouted to the stragglers, as he rode rapidly past them – “Face the other way, boys! We are going back to our camp! We are going to lick them out of their boots!’”

Sheridan then rode from his headquarters in Winchester to spur his men into a fierce counterattack that pounded Early’s forces into submission. So effective were the men of the 47th Pennsylvania during that fight that they were later commended for their heroism by General Stephen Thomas who, in 1892, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his own “distinguished conduct in a desperate hand-to-hand encounter, in which the advance of the enemy was checked” that day. Bates later described the 47th’s actions as follows:

“When the final grand charge was made, the regiment moved at nearly right angles with the rebel front. The brigade charged gallantly, and the entire line, making a left wheel, came down on his flank, while engaging the Sixth Corps, when he went ‘whirling up the valley’ in confusion. In the pursuit to Fisher’s Hill, the regiment led, and upon its arrival was placed on the skirmish line, where it remained until twelve o’clock noon of the following day. The army was attacked at early dawn…no respite was given to take food until the pursuit was ended.”

But once again, casualties for the 47th Pennsylvania were high. Multiple members of the regiment had been captured and taken to Confederate prisons, where they were held as held as prisoners of war (POWs); a shocking number later died from starvation or physical abuse. In addition, the equivalent of nearly two full companies of men from the 47th were dead with many, many others wounded.

Following those engagements, the 47th was based at Camp Russell near Winchester from November through most of December. Rested and somewhat healed, the 47th was then ordered to Camp Fairview in Charlestown, West Virginia to bring stop guerrilla attacks that had been damaging the Union’s railroad operations and supply distribution in the region. They trudged through a snowstorm to reach their new home five days before Christmas.

1865 – 1866

Still stationed at Camp Fairview as the New Year dawned, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers spent much of that snowy month in winter quarters when not on guard duty. When the weather improved, they resumed their pursuit of Confederate guerrillas. According to historians at the Pennsylvania State Archives, who uncovered details about the regiment’s time at Camp Fairview by reading the diaries of Jeremiah Siders of Company H, the 47th Pennsylvanians were also “employed building blockhouses at all the railroad ‘posts’ (meaning loading stations).” As the end of March 1865 loomed, according to The Lehigh Register, “The command was ordered to proceed up the valley to intercept the enemy’s troops, should any succeed in making their escape in that direction.”

While returning to Virginia as winter waned, the 47th Pennsylvania marched through Winchester and Kernstown. On 9 April 1865, a celebration broke out among the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers at their camp upon receiving word that General Robert E. Lee had surrendered his Confederate Army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox. In a letter penned to the Sunbury American, 47th Pennsylvanian Henry Wharton described that moment:

“Letter from the Sunbury Guards.
CAMP NEAR SUMMIT POINT, Va.,
April 12, 1865

“Since yesterday a week we have been on the move, going as far as three miles beyond Winchester. There we halted for three days, waiting for the return or news from Torbett’s cavalry who had gone on a reconnoisance [sic] up to the valley. They returned, reporting they were as far up as Mt. Jackson, some sixty miles, and found nary an armed reb. The reason of our move was to be ready in case Lee moved against us, or to march on Lynchburg, if Lee reached that point, so that we could aid in surrounding him and [his] army, and with Sheridan and Mead capture the whole party. Grant’s gallant boys saved us that march and bagged the whole crowd. Last Sunday night our camp was aroused by the loud roar of artillery. Hearing so much good news of late, I stuck to my blanket, not caring to get up, for I suspected a salute, which it really was for the ‘unconditional surrender of Lee.’ The boys got wild over the news, shouting till they were hoarse, the loud huzzas [sic, “huzzahs”] echoing through the Valley, songs of ‘rally round the flag,’ &c., were sung, and above the noise of the ‘cannons opening roar,’ and confusion of camp, could be heard ‘Hail Columbia’ and Yankee Doodle played by our band. Other bands took it up and soon the whole army let loose, making ‘confusion worse confounded.’

“The next morning we packed up, struck tents, marched away, and now we are within a short distance of our old quarters. – The war is about played out, and peace is clearly seen through the bright cloud that has taken the place of those that darkened the sky for the last four years. The question now with us is whether the veterans after Old Abe has matters fixed to his satisfaction, will have to stay ‘till the expiration of the three years, or be discharged as per agreement, at the ‘end of the war.’ If we are not discharged when hostilities cease, great injustice will be done.

“The members of Co. ‘C,’ wishing to do honor to Lieut. C. S. Beard, and show their appreciation of him as an officer and gentleman, presented him with a splendid sword, sash and belt. Lieut. Beard rose from the ranks, and as one of their number, the boys gave him this token of esteem.

“A few nights ago, an aid [sic] on Gen. Torbett’s staff, with two more officers, attempted to pass a safe guard stationed at a house near Winchester. The guard halted the party, they rushed on, paying no attention to the challenge, when the sentinel charged bayonet, running the sharp steel through the abdomen of the aid [sic], wounding him so severely that he died in an hour. The guard did his duty as he was there for the protection of the inmates and their property, with instruction to let no one enter.

“The boys are all well, and jubilant over the victories of Grant, and their own little Sheridan, and feel as though they would soon return to meet the loved ones at home, and receive a kind greeting from old friends, and do you believe me to be

“Yours Fraternally,
H. D. W.”

The long war appeared to be over; just two days later, however, that fragile peace was shattered when a Confederate loyalist fired a bullet that changed the course of American history forever. As a result, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were ordered to head for Washington, D.C. Stationed there by 19 April 1865, they were now responsible for helping to ensure that the nation’s capital was safe in the wake of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln — a terrible act of blind hate that threatened to reignite the civil war they had just helped to end. Making camp near Fort Stevens, they were issued new uniforms and additional ammunition.

Letters sent to friends and family back home during that period and newspaper interviews that were conducted, post-war, with survivors of the 47th Pennsylvania, confirm that at least one 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer was given the high honor of guarding President Lincoln’s funeral train while others may have guarded the Lincoln assassination conspirators during the early days of their imprisonment and trial, which began on 9 May 1865.

During that phase of duty, the regiment was head quartered at Camp Brightwood. On 14 May 1865, Private Constant Losch was promoted to the rank of corporal. Attached to Dwight’s Division of the 2nd Brigade, Department of Washington’s 22nd Corps, he and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantrymen also participated in the Union’s Grand Review of the National Armies on 23 May.

Nine days later, on 1 June 1865, more soldiers were honorably discharged at Camp Brightwood by General Orders, No. 53 as their terms of enlistment expired. Meanwhile, Corporal Constant Losch was packing up his gear and getting ready to head for the nation’s Deep South.

Reconstruction

On their final swing through the South, the still-serving 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were stationed in Savannah, Georgia by early June. Attached again to Dwight’s Division, they were now assigned to the 3rd Brigade, U.S. Department of the South. Ordered to relieve the 165th New York in July, they were then headquartered at a mansion that had been previously owned by the Confederacy’s Secretary of the Treasury. Their duties in both states were largely related to civil governance and the rebuilding of shattered communities.

Finally, on Christmas Day, Corporal Constantine Losch and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers mustered out for the last time in Charleston — a process that continued through early January 1866. Following a stormy voyage north, they disembarked in New York City and were transported to Philadelphia by train, where the regiment was officially honorably discharged at Camp Cadwalader between 9-11 January 1866.

Return to Civilian Life

Following his honorable discharge from the military, Constant Losch returned home to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, where he entered into an apprenticeship with coachmaker John Becker in Catasauqua, Lehigh County. Following the completion of that training, he was hired by his brother, Charles Losch, who operated a livery business in Allentown. Still single and still employed by his brother, Charles, as a carriage maker. He also still lived at home with his parents in Allentown’s Third Ward, along with his siblings: John, who was employed as a “freight teamster”; Sarah, who was described by that year’s federal census enumerator as being “at home”; Alfred, who was employed as a carriage trimmer; and Alice and Jacob, who were both still enrolled in, and attending classes at, their local school. Their father, whose real estate and personal property were valued at twenty thousand six hundred dollars (the equivalent of roughly five hundred and twenty-five thousand U.S. dollars in 2026), was still employed as a “nursery man.” Later that same year, however, Constant launched his own freight delivery business at the corner of Allentown’s Church and Chestnut streets.

Less than six years later, Constant Losch was also launching his own family line. On 22 February 1876, he married Elenora L. E. Keiper (1855-1935), who was a daughter of Allentown natives Mary Ann (Moll) Keiper (1828-1909) and Owen W. Keiper (1825-1880), who was the proprietor of Allentown’s Lafayette Hotel. Sadly, though, the Losch family then lost its matriarch when Regina (Agster) Losch died at the age of sixty-four in Allentown on 24 June 1877, and was subsequently buried at the same cemetery where her son, David, was already at rest — Allentown’s Fairview Cemetery.

Two years later, on 31 July 1879, Constantine Losch and his brother narrowly avoided a disaster when an arsonist attempted to destroy a carriage manufacturing business that was located above a Losch-owned business. According to The Allentown Democrat, “Shortly after 10 o’clock on Thursday night [31 July 1879] fire was discovered in the rear part of Gackenbach & Seislove’s carriage factory, located on the west side of Church street, immediately above Charles Losch’s livery stable, corner Linden and Church streets.”

“It was first seen by Mrs. Geiger, living in one of Wm. Ritter’s brick houses above the factory, who gave the alarm. — Messrs. George Engleman and George Youse were first in the shop, and extinguished the flames with several buckets of water procured from the livery stable. The fire was undoubtedly of incendiary origin, as it was started at two places — on top and beneath one of the workmen’s benches. Shavings were lying on the floor and on the bench. On the north side of the building, close to where the fire was, is a window, one of the panes of which had been broken. Some believe that the fire was started through this opening, but as the keys were also in the lock of the door it is just as likely that the incendiaries entered the factory through the door. No one was seen to run from the building when the alarm was given. If the fire had not been detected almost instantly a very destructive conflagration must have ensued. The large livery stables of Charles and Constantine Losch, and numerous other buildings, surround the carriage factory, and would have supplied material for a tremendous blaze. Scarcely any damage resulted.”

During the 1880s, Constant Losch continued to steer his livery business to success. According to The Allentown Democrat, “Mr. Losch’s stock is always noted for excellence, and people in search of a good horse, or a pair, or more, will never go amiss in calling on him. He is a reliable man, and pleasant to deal with.” Other newspaper articles of this period also noted that he employed several men from the area to drive the carriages and wagons that he owned, including one who drove his “heavy team.” Meanwhile, Constant’s brother, John Losch, was still single and still living at their widowed father’s home in Allentown; he had begun helping his father with their family’s nursery business. Also still living at home were their unmarried sisters, Sarah and Mary Alice Losch.

Still childless as of the spring of 1882, Constant Losch and his wife boarded a train and headed west on a month-long trip, during which time he visited with his brother, attorney John Losch, who had migrated to the State of Nebraska sometime after the summer of 1880 and had then opened a law practice there in the town of West Point in Cuming County. But another disaster occurred shortly thereafter, when another fire broke out at the carriage factory above Charles Losch’s livery stable, in August of that same year, destroying both the factory and the livery stable, as well as “those in close contiguity on the south,” according to The Allentown Democrat. Although neighbors were able to remove the horses and a few of the carriages, “Some thirty sleighs on the second floor of the stable, 5 tons of hay and 700 bushels of oats were consumed.”

“All the buildings on the Losch premises were burned. North of the burned carriage factory and immediately adjoining it stands the block of brick dwellings belonging to Mr. William G. Ritter. In the first house lived Mr. Frank Gangwere. The roof and the back porch and windows caught fire, but the efforts of the firemen saved the block…. The small frame dwelling at Linden and Church streets, adjoining Mr. Charles Losch’s office, was occupied by Mr. L. F. Becker, the pretzel man. The flames soon communicated to it and in a short time it was in ruins…. The sparks were carried a distance of several blocks, and much property was endangered thereby. The roofs of the American Hotel stable and the stable of Frank Hennings, on Sixth street, were burning at one time…. Charles Losch places his loss at between $3,000 and $4,000, with an insurance of $2,000 on the buildings and $1,000 on hay, straw and feed. The origin of the fire is unknown.”

But the Losch brothers rebuilt and continued to prosper. Sadly, though, before that decade ended, the Losch family suffered another major loss when its patriarch, Johannes Losch, passed away at the age of eighty-seven at home in Allentown, on 24 September 1888. Following funeral services, Johannes was laid to rest at the same cemetery where his wife had been interred — the Fairview Cemetery in Allentown.

Sometime circa 1890, Constantine Losch sold the freight portion of business to N. H. Dell in order to focus on his burgeoning livery business, which was located at 117 North Church Street in Allentown. From 1890 to 1893, he also served as a city assessor in Allentown, as well as a precinct delegate for the Republican Party. He also remained active with the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers’ association, and served on the planning committee for the organization’s twentieth annual reunion. On 31 January 1895, he took part in an event that was later described by Allentown’s Morning Call newspaper:

“A monster sleighing party made up of three four-horse sleighs and one two-horse sleigh and all crowded left the Grand Central for Laurys yesterday afternoon. Landlord Strauss prepared a fine turkey and waffle supper for the party. A special Lehigh Valley train brought them back to town at 2 a.m., and trolley cars were at the station to carry them up town.

“The following constituted the party: J. P. Boyer, B. F. Kepner, W. S. Kulp, Jeremiah Klotz, Frank Glick, David Merkel, W. H. Hunsicker, C. F. Losch, Dr. D. Hiestand, G. B. Schelly, V. F. Wonderly, C. H. Cohn, V. D. Barner, M. C. Ebbecke, J. D. Newhard, J. George Snyder, James M. Seagraves, Joseph Hartman, W. B. Marshall, F. P. Hudsicker, Harvey Butz, H. J. Gackenbach, F. C. H. Schweyer, G. B. Newhard, Horace Gackenbach, D. H. Erdman, Jonas George, J. F. Hunsicker, A. R. Groner, H. W. Hunsicker, Dr. C. J. Otto, Francis Leibenguth, and Frank Faust and their wives.”

Still childless as the nineteenth century began to wane, Constant Losch and his wife, Elenora, continued to reside in Allentown, where they both remained active in that city’s civic and social circles.

In late April of 1894, Allentown’s Morning Call newspaper reported that the city council had directed fire department leaders to employ Constant Losch’s livery business to “take charge of the ambulance, be paid $2 a trip and be held responsible for its care.”

Illness, Death and Interment

A robust man for much of his adult life, Constantine F. Losch suffered a sudden episode of apoplexy at 11 p.m. on 1 July 1896 and died at the age of forty-eight in Allentown early the next afternoon (at 12:30 p.m. on 2 July). According to Allentown’s Morning Call newspaper:

“The attack came on him like a flash. He said he had a pain in his head and immediately after lost consciousness. Dr. J. D. Christman was sent for. He recognized that the case was very serious and suggested that consulting physicians be called. Dr. C. D. Schaeffer and Dr. Const. H. Martin were called. They were with him all night and one all the time yesterday morning. They recognized at once that the case was hopeless and that death was only a question of hours.

“Mr. Losch was a broad-shouldered athletic man of 48. Although he looked healthy he complained for the past several months. He went to the Republican national convention and was taken sick in St. Louis. Upon his return home he recovered, but wasn’t himself. Only three days ago he told a number of friends ‘Boys, I can’t stand work as I used to.’”

Following funeral services, Constantine F. Losch was laid to rest at the same cemetery where the remains of his brother, David Losch, had been interred roughly thirty-five years earlier — Allentown’s Fairview Cemetery.

During the probate of Constantine Losch’s last will and testament, it became clear that he had done well in life. According to the appraisals of his property that were made by James W. Crader, Constant Losch had owned real estate that was valued at twenty-six thousand fourteen dollars and personal possessions worth roughly eleven thousand two hundred and forty dollars, making the total value of his estate roughly thirty-seven thousand two hundred and fifty-four dollars (the equivalent of roughly a million and a half U.S. dollars in 2026). Among his holdings were seventeen horses: Colonel, George, Harry, Joe, and Ned (bay horses); Alice, Annie, Bessie, Daisy, Dolly, Kate, and Lady (bay mares); Billy and Ned (light bay horses); Frank and Jim (black horses); and May (a sorrel mare); multiple styles of buggies, carriages and wagons, including eight single sleighs, five Piano Box buggies, five two-seated surreys, three Phaetons, three two-seated sleighs, three truck sleighs, one cab Landeau, one three-seated surrey, one two-horse coach, and one party sleigh; bridles, harnesses, saddles, and whips; a twenty-eight-foot by one hundred-foot brick house at 382 Linden Street in Allentown; one lot on Linden Street; two lots on the East Side of Fourth Street (between Hamilton and Linden) and an adjoining lot on Jordan Street; one lot on Hill Street; six lots on Lawrence Street; a livery stable, blacksmith shop and lot on Church Street; two stone houses and lots on Seventh Street; and a frame house and lot on Tenth Street.

What Happened to the Widow of Constant Losch?

Elenora L. E. (Keiper) Losch survived her husband by nearly four decades, and was actively engaged throughout that time as a volunteer with charitable organizations and public service agencies, including the Allentown Hospital’s Senior Auxiliary and the Phoebe Deaconess Home. In addition, she was a dedicated congregant of the Salem Reformed Church, a member of her minister’s Bible study group and the church’s Social Circle, as well as its Willing Workers chapter and Women’s Missionary Society. Badly injured when a door closed on her arm during one of her visits to the Phoebe Deaconess Home in the early 1930s, her health subsequently began to decline. Following her death at the age of eighty in Allentown on 23 May 1935, she was laid to rest beside her husband at the Fairview Cemetery in Allentown. She was survived by her sister-in-law, two nephews and four nieces.

When her last will and testament was probated, it revealed that she still owned the following Allentown properties: 113 North Church Street, 233 North Tenth Street, 233 North Jordan Street, 380 and 382 Linden Street, 31 North 4th Street, four lots on Lawrence Street, and at least one lot on Jordan Street, for a total value of roughly eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-four dollars.

What Happened to the Siblings of David and Constant Losch?

Very little is presently known about David and Constant Losch’s brother, Alfred C. Losch (1849-1871), save for the fact that his life was brief. He reportedly died at the age of twenty-two in Louisiana on 13 December 1871, but was buried in the family plot at the Fairview Cemetery in Allentown. Far more is known about their surviving siblings.

William Losch/Losh (1836-1879)

David and Constant Losch’s brother, William Losch (1836-1879; alternate death year: 1878), used the surname variant of “Losh” after migrating west to California circa early to mid-1863. Making his way via a series of trips by train, ship, stagecoach and/or wagon, he began to build a new life for himself in the town of Suisun in Solano County, where he opened a stationery store that would quickly expand into a post office and telegraph station for Wells Fargo. That fall (1863), according to journalist Kristin Delaplane, “The new postmaster, William Losh, moved the post office, boxes and all, to the telegraph office one door north of the Suisun Bakery.” Sometime that same year, according to Delaplane, “William Losh, postmaster and telegraph operator, was accidentally shot by an employee of the Sacramento post office.”

“Passing through town, the Sacramento man out of courtesy called in at the local post office. Losh offered to show him the town. They wound up at Chrisler’s saloon. Their conversation flowed to [the] merit of arming oneself and the Sacramento man reached in his pocket to show his pistol when it unexpectedly went off, the ball [striking] Losh’s jaw bone and then lodging in his neck. The doctors Norman and McMahn extracted the ball and declared the wound ‘not serious.’”

Stitched up, William Losh resumed business operations. By New Year’s Day (1864), his store “on Main Street near Sacramento Street” in Suisun City, “carried letter paper, bill and legal cap, envelopes, pens, penholders, pencils, ink,” and “advertised ‘quick sales and small profits,’” also according to Delaplane. In addition, he also served as an agent and telegraph operator for Wells Fargo, and “was the agent for the Mutual Insurance Co.” A single man during those first two years, he subsequently married Matilda Eliza Miller (1836-1933) in that county on 24 November 1864. Together, they became the parents of: Florence May Losh (1866-1868), who was born in Solano County on 2 April 1866 but then died there at the age of two years, eight months and ten days, on 12 December 1868, and was buried at the Fairfield Cemetery in Fairfield, Solano County; and William Colfax Losh (1867-1916), who was born in Suisun City in December 1867 and would later wed Margaret Hogan (1859-1917), who was known to family and friends as “Madge.” The next two years proved to be history-making ones when the town of Suisun was incorporated as a city on 9 October 1868, and as rail lines owned by the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroad companies were physically joined at Promontory, Utah on 10 May 1889, making real the plan approved by President Abraham Lincoln on 1 July 1862 to create a Transcontinental Railroad for the United States of America.

As his city prospered and grew, so did his family. William Losh’s son, Eugene A. Losh (1870-1906), was born in June 1870, followed by: Francis Adams Losh (1872-1953), who was born on 2 September 1872, became known to family and friends as “Frank” and would later wed Mae C. Gregg (1873-1954); and Grace M. Losh (1876-1939), who was born on 22 November 1876 (alternate birth date: September 1876) and would later adopt the married surname of “Harry.”

Sadly, though, William Losh did not live to see his surviving children grow to adulthood. He died at the age of forty-two in Solano County, California on 8 March 1879 (alternate death year: 1878), and was subsequently buried at the Fairfield Cemetery (now known as the Suisun-Fairfield Cemetery) in Fairfield, Solano County. A monument was later erected at his grave, per stipulations of the 1913 will of his brother, Charles Losch (1835-1913), who bequeathed three thousand dollars to William’s children for use in that monument’s design and construction. According to the Solano County Courier, it was expected to be “the largest and most attractive monument” at the time of its completion circa 1917. The project was supervised by William’s son, Francis Adams Losh, who contracted with Doyle Brothers of Vallejo, California to design and erect the monument.

Walter Losch (1845-1882)

David and Constant Losch’s brother, Walter Losch (1845-1882), grew up to become a stone cutter and the owner of a marble and granite-carving business, which was located at the corner of Seventh and Linden Streets in Allentown. In 1870, he resided at a hotel operated by Benjamin Hagenbuch in Allentown. In 1879, The Allentown Democrat noted that Walter had carved “a massive and tall family monument” of “red Scotch granite” for the grave of Reuben Krock at the “Petersville Cemetery” and a “dark Scotch granite monument” for the grave of Adam Kuntz’s wife, Caroline (Stem) Kuntz, at the “Bath Cemetery,” which included “a very handsome lot enclosure, consisting of heavy granite posts and galvanized bars.” Still unmarried as of 1880, Walter Losch was living at the hotel of Joseph F. Newhard in Allentown’s Fifth Ward. He continued to support himself through the creative but hard work of tombstone carving. Ailing with diabetes during his final months and still single, Walter Losch died at the age of thirty-seven in Allentown on 19 June 1882, and was also buried at Allentown’s Fairview Cemetery. Eulogized by The Allentown Democrat as “an enterprising and public-spirited citizen, an intelligent and progressive gentleman, widely known and universally a favorite in social circles,” he was also described as someone who “was possessed of a kind and generous nature, of a warm, social disposition, and of a frankness of manner that made him many warm, personal friends.” Also famous because he had designed and carved the monument to Revolutionary War Patriot, Captain John Brady, which is located at the Muncy Cemetery in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, as well as the granite headstone for Captain Brady’s grave at the Hall Station Cemetery in Pennsdale, Lycoming County, Walter Losch saw to it that his siblings would benefit from his hard work as heirs to his estate, which was administered by his sister, Mary Ann Losch. Subsequent news coverage of his death in the 5 July 1882 edition of The Allentown Democrat noted that he had also “assigned his [life insurance] benefit claim to a favorite sister.” That insurance benefit claim was worth between three to five thousand dollars at that time (the equivalent of as much as one hundred and sixty-five thousand U.S. dollars in 2026). An advertisement that was published in the 16 August edition of that same publication also made clear that his unmarried sisters, Sarah and Mary Alice Losch, would continue to benefit from his success through the sale of his company to “the right sort of man, one having a knowledge of the business” (see image of their advertisement in Sarah Losch’s profile below).

John A. Losch (1832-1897)

John A. Losch (1832-1897), who never married and initially helped to operate the businesses owned by his father and brothers, opted to migrate west sometime after August 1880. Traveling by train, stagecoach and/or wagon, he settled in the town of West Point in Cuming County, Nebraska, where he opened a law office. Still there when his brother, Constant Losch, arrived for a visit in June of 1882, he subsequently returned to Allentown, where he resumed work at his family’s nursery business. Still single during the 1890s, John A. Losch retired from the family business circa 1891, and devoted his time to travel. A long-time boarder at the Merchants’ Hotel, he later rented a room at the American Hotel. Diagnosed with mental illness in the early winter of 1897, he was subsequently hospitalized. According to The Allentown Democrat, the stress of having to manage the estate of his late brother, Constant Losch, caused “worriment” that “broke down his health.” Described in that same news report as “a quiet, unassuming man” and “a wealthy bachelor citizen … who about four weeks ago was taken with insanity” and was “removed to Kirkbride’s Asylum, Philadelphia, for treatment” in early March 1897, he died there at the age of sixty-four, on 6 March 1897, with his brothers, Charles and Jacob F. Losch, at his side. John Losch’s remains were then returned to Allentown for funeral services, followed by interment in the Losch family plot at the Fairview Cemetery, on 9 March of that same year.

Probate papers for his estate later documented that John A. Losch owned personal property and real estate worth roughly twenty-four thousand four hundred and twenty-two dollars (the equivalent of approximately nine hundred and eighty-three thousand U.S. dollars in 2026) — a significant portion of which had been derived from his inheritance of properties in Allentown that had previously been owned by his brother, Constant Losch. In addition, that will noted that John Losch had appointed his brother, liveryman Charles Losch, to serve as the executor of his estate.

Jacob Frank Losch (1857-1911)

Following his graduation from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1877, David and Constant Losch’s brother, Jacob Frank Losch (1857-1911), studied law for two years, during which time he began to practice law as an attorney and also married Pennsylvania native Laura Anna Storch (1859-1940) in 1879. That same year (1879), he migrated west with his wife to the State of Nebraska, where he found work as a teacher. They then became the parents of Blanche Regina Losch (1879-1945), who was born in Cuming County, Nebraska on 28 July 1879 and would later wed Arthur Lemuel Tucker (1879-1945). By June of 1880, Jacob and his wife and daughter were residing in Union Precinct in Saunders County, where he employed as a school teacher. Sometime circa 1883, he left teaching to open a law office in the town of West Point in Cuming County. More children soon followed at their West Point home: Grace May Losch (1880-1953), who was born circa May 1880 and would later wed Ponca, Nebraska native Norris A. Huse (1882-1937) on 28 May 1905; Lulu Losch (1884-1951), who was born in West Point on 15 January 1884 and would later wed Harley Audrey Twichell (1886-1944; alternate surname spelling: “Twitchell”); Glenn Constantine Losch (1886-1952), who was born on 21 March 1886 and would later migrate north to Idaho and then marry Grace Edwards in Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana on 6 February 1915; John Roy Losch (1888-1955), who was born on 2 February 1888 and would also later migrate north to Idaho, where he would marry Alice Mary Coltman (1889-1978); Mark Clement Losch (1892-1931), who was born on 10 February 1892 and would later wed Nora Katherine Ackroyd (1891-1983); Richard J. Losch (1898-1965), who was born on 4 August 1898 and would later wed Genevieve Gelleher (1900-1975); and Frank Losch (1901-1995), who was born on 18 September 1901 and would later wed Geneva Alderman (1899-1975) in the pastor’s study at the First Congregational Church in Omaha, Nebraska on 2 May 1925.

During his legal career, Jacob Losch took time out to travel for personal reasons, returning home to Allentown twice to visit family and friends. A prominent attorney for much of his professional life, he retired circa 1899, but continued to remain busy by “devoting his time to managing his heavy property interests,” according to The Norfolk Daily News. In November of 1911, Jacob Losch traveled to Idaho to attend the wedding of his son, John Roy Losch, who was slated to marry Alice Mary Coltman (1889-1978) in Bonneville County on 27 November. While there, however, Jacob “was stricken with paralysis,” according to The Allentown Democrat. After receiving stabilizing medical care, he was transported back to the town of West Point in Nebraska, where he died on 26 November 1911. Following funeral services, Jacob Frank Losch was laid to rest at the Mount Hope Cemetery in West Point. He was survived by his children — Blanche Regina (Losch) Tucker, of Portland Oregon, Grace (Losch) Huse, of Norfolk, Nebraska; Lulu (Losch) Twichell/Twitchell, of Moorecraft, Wyoming, Glenn and Roy Losch, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Mark, Richard and Frank Losch, who were all still residing at home in West Point — as well as by his brother, Charles Losch, of Allentown.

Sarah Losch (1840-1913)

David and Constant Losch’s sister, Sarah Losch (1840-1913), never married. A resident of Allentown for most of her life, she was able to support herself as an adult via financial bequests made to her by her parents and brothers, following their respective deaths. In frail health for much of her life, she made the decision to leave all she knew behind in order to migrate west to California. According to The Allentown Leader, she left Allentown by train in late March 1905 to convalesce because she was “suffering from nervous prostration,” and was accompanied by her sister, Alice, who was a trained nurse. After reaching California, the duo settled in the town of Orange in Orange County, where they remained until Sarah’s death.

Following her passing in her early seventies, on 3 January 1913, a formal funeral service was held for Sarah Losch in Orange. Her remains were then brought back home to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley by train, accompanied by her sister, Alice Losch, for private commital services prior to interment in the Losch family plot at Allentown’s Fairview Cemetery. In addition to Alice, Sarah was also survived by her brother, Charles Losch.

Charles Losch (1835-1913)

Following his marriage to Susannah Elizabeth Brader (1837-1903) in Allentown during the mid-1850s, Constant Losch’s brother, Charles Losch (1835-1913), settled with her in Allentown, where they became the parents of Henry Losch, who was born circa 1857. Employed as a cigarmaker, according to the 1860 federal census, Charles subsequently founded a successful livery business at the corner of Church and Linden Streets. More children soon followed: Alice Losch, who was born circa 1861; and Andrew C. Losch (1863-1933), who was born on 17 August 1863 and would later wed Ella Bralide [sic].

Charles Losch and his wife, Susannah, were then divorced sometime before the end of that decade, according to the federal census, which documented that Charles was a teamster who resided at a hotel operated in Allentown by Levi Hottenstein and 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry veteran William Sieger in late September 1870. (Although there were nineteen other boarders listed as residents of that hotel on that census sheet, the names of Charles Losch’s wife and children were not among them.)

* Note: Separated from Charles Losch sometime after the birth of their son Andrew on 27 August 1863, Susannah (Brader) Losch (1837-1903) subsequently divorced him and then married widower and 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry veteran Nathaniel G. Miller (1829-1892). That second marriage occurred sometime before the birth of the first child that Susannah had with Nathan — Carrie Miller (1869-1930) — who was born on 11 June 1869 and would later wed Edward H. Cassel (1868-1929). By 1870, the blended households of Nathan Miller and Susannah (Brader Losch) Miller included Nathan’s children from his first marriage: Tusnelda F. Miller (1853-1905), who had been born on 12 September 1853 and would later wed Theodore F. Cole (1853-1892), who was a son of 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry veteran and industrialist James B. Cole; and Constandena Miller (1855-1928), who was born on 6 May 1855 and would later wed Jesse W. Renninger (1857-1920). Also living with Susannah and Nathan in 1870 were Susannah’s children from her first marriage to Charles Losch: thirteen-year-old Henry Losch, twelve-year-old Alice Losch and seven-year-old Andrew Losch. 

Susannah and Nathan Miller then became the parents of another child — Alfred T. Miller (1871-1937) — who was born on 29 March 1871. A yet-to-be-determined event(s) then occurred within their household that altered their family structure further. According to the federal census of 1880, which was enumerated in June of that year, Susannah’s children from her first marriage (Henry, Alice and Andrew Losch) were no longer living with her. Andrew Losch may have married around that time because his son, Byron, was born in 1888, but the whereabouts of Henry and Alice Losch remain less clear, signaling that both may have married or died before that census was taken. (According to Find a Grave, a woman named “Alice J. M. Losch” who was buried at the Union-West End Cemetery in Allentown in 1879, had died at the age of twenty on 1 June of that year. Researchers currently theorize that she may have been the daughter of Charles Losch.)

As Charles Losch’s freight and livery business continued to grow, he taught his son, Andrew, how to paint and trim carriages, ensuring that he would have a future trade. But trouble was just over the horizon. On 31 July 1879, Charles Losch and his brother experienced a scare when an arsonist attempted to destroy the Gackenbach & Seislove carriage factory that was operating above Charles Losch’s livery stable. Fortunately for the brothers, the fire was discovered by George Engleman and George Youse, who grabbed buckets of water from the stable and dumped them on the two spots in the carriage factory where the arsonist had kindled fires using wood shavings. Had they not succeeded, the two Losch-owned livery stables would have been destroyed, along with the carriage factory and other neighboring wood structures.

Once again, though, the Losch brothers persevered and continued to prosper in the face of adversity — but then a genuine disaster struck — another fire broke out at the carriage factory above Charles Losch’s livery stable in August 1882. Although his neighbors and firefighters were also able to save his horses and a few of his carriages during that second fire, this fire was far different. It spread much faster, destroying the factory and the livery stable and its contents, including all of the horse feed it contained and thirty sleighs. Raging out of control, it then spread to and beyond the wooden and brick structures nearby, destroying and damaging many, as sparks from the fire were carried on the wind as far away as the American Hotel’s stable (the roof of which also caught fire). By the time it was all over, Charles Losch estimated that he had lost three to four thousand dollars in total (the equivalent of as much as one hundred and thirty-one thousand U.S. dollars in 2026). Fortunately, his insurance covered most of the loss, enabling him to rebuild, which he did. He then continued to grow his business. Among the people he employed was 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry veteran Peter Fegley.

Unfortunately, one of the saddest realities of his life as a liveryman was that his horses were not always treated well by the businesses and individual travelers who rented them. Allentown’s newspapers repeatedly published reports during the 1880s and 1890s of legal actions pursued by Charles Losch against those who had damaged or even killed his horses through “hard driving” or other forms of abuse. After thirty years as a liveryman, he finally decided he had amassed enough money, announced his retirement in January 1900 and sold his livery business that spring. As a result, his new life was a comfortable one, as evidenced by an expedition he took with Louis Sourwine during the summer of 1901. According to Allentown’s Morning Call newspaper, Charles Losch and his friend “left on July 8th and spent five days at Niagara Falls and Buffalo.”

“From the latter place [Buffalo] they went by way of the great lakes to Cleveland, Detroit and Duluth. From Duluth they went to St. Paul and from there they left for North Dakota and crossed over to Canada through Assiniboia and Alberta…. At Banff they made a stop, taking in the Canadian National Park…. From Banff they crossed the summit of the Rockies, down the Gorge of the Wapta, or the Kicking Horse River. There they passed through the picturesque Selkirks, through the Great Glacier of the Selkirks and through the Fraser River canons and the last mountain range and on to Seattle, where they arrived on July 22. On Thursday, July 25th, they left on the steamer, ‘Queen,’ for the voyage along the Alaskan coast, visiting Fort Wrangel, Juneau, Douglass Island, Lynn Canal, the Great Muir Glacier in Glacier Bay, Sitka, etc. The trip took twelve days going and coming. At Douglass they visited the famous Treadwell gold mines, where there are five crushing mills, aggregating 790 stamps, the largest in the world. On their return to Tacoma they left for Yellowstone National Park…. From there they struck eastward to Minneapolis, to St. Paul and from there home.”

Later that decade, however, the health of Charles Losch began to decline, following “a slight stroke of paralysis on 10 May 1908, according to The Morning Call. Following his death at the age of seventy-nine in Allentown on 17 November 1913, he was also interred in the Losch family plot at Allentown’s Fairview Cemetery. He was survived by his sister, Mary Alice R. Losch, of Orange, California, and by his son, Andrew Losch of Wennersville, Pennsylvania.

His death was not the end of his life story, however; multiple newspapers would soon report that the legitimacy of his last will and testament was being challenged by his son, Andrew Losch, who questioned Charles Losch’s directive to spend much of his quarter of a million dollar estate on designing and erecting massive monuments to the Losch family at cemeteries in Pennsylvania and California — questions that then fueled speculation regarding Charles Losch’s sanity during his final years.

* Note: To learn more about the contents of Charles Losch’s final will, its subsequent legal challenges and the monuments that were later built because of its provisions, read part two of the Losch family’s biography.

Mary Alice Regina Losch (1851-1946)

Mary Alice Regina Losch (1851-1946), who was known to family and friends as “Alice,” grew up to become a nurse. During the summer of 1882, she served as the administratrix of the estate of her brother, Walter Losch. Still single in late March 1905, she accompanied her unmarried sister, Sarah Losch, on a trip west to Orange County, California, to help her recover from “nervous prostration,” according to The Allentown Leader. The sisters ultimately settled there, in the city of Orange, where they continued to live together until Sarah’s death on 3 January 1913. After planning and attending her sister’s funeral there, Alice accompanied her sister’s remains back to Pennsylvania via train for interment at the Losch family plot at Allentown’s Fairview Cemetery.

Alice then returned to California. Residing in Redlands later that same year (1913), she subsequently filed for probate of her sister’s estate. From at least 1918 into the late 1930s, she remained single and resided at 206 South Glassell in the city of Anaheim in Orange County, according to the Anaheim city directory and the State of California’s voter registration rolls, the latter of which described her occupation between 1918 and 1920 as “Capitalist.” Ailing during her final years, Mary Alice Regina Losch was eventually hospitalized at the Los Alamitos Sanitarium, where she died at the age of ninety-five on 22 July 1946. Following funeral services, she was laid to rest at the Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, Orange County. She was survived by one nephew, Roy Losch, of Long Beach, California, and by one grand-nephew, E. C. Losch, also of Long Beach.

 

Sources:

1. “24 Years Ago Today: October 15th, 1879, the Brady Cenotaph Was Unveiled in the Muncy Cemetery. Short Sketch of Brady” (report regarding one of the monuments carved by David and Constant Losch’s brother, Walter Losch). Muncy, Pennsylvania: The Muncy Luminary and Lycoming County Advertiser, 15 October 1993.
2. “A Big Fire on Sunday” (report regarding the destruction by a fire of unknown origin of Charles Losch’s livery stable and multiple other buildings in Allentown, which also set fire to the roof of the American Hotel’s stable). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 16 August 1882.
3. “A Thrilling Runaway” (mention of an accident involving one of the horses from Constant F. Losch’s livery business). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Critic, 20 January 1891.
4. “A Wheelbarrow Starts a Runaway” (mention of an accident involving one of the wagon teams from Constant F. Losch’s livery business). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 28 April 1892.
5. Alice and Sallie Losch [sic, “Mary Alice R. Losch” and “Sarah Losch”] (sisters of David and Constant Losch), in “Strictly Personal.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 27 March 1905.
6. “Allentown Politicians” (mention of Constant Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Sunday Critic, 19 February 1888.
7. Andreas, A. T. History of the State of Nebraska: “Cuming County.” Chicago, Illinois: The Western Historical Company, 1882.
8. Andrew C. Losch (a nephew of Constant Losch and a son of Charles Losch), in Death Certificates (file no.: 8250, registered no.:123, date of death: 28 January 1933). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
9. “Attempt to Fire a Carriage Factory” (description of the fire at the Gackenbach & Seislove carriage factory in Allentown, which was located above the livery stable operated by Constant Losch’s brother, Charles, at the corner of Linden and Church Streets). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 6 August 1879.
10. “At the Courthouse: Under Will Estate Goes to a Sister” (filing of a probate petition by Mary Alice R. Losch for the estate of her sister, Sarah Losch, both of whom were sisters of David and Constant Losch). Santa Ana, California: The Santa Ana Daily Register, 13 January 1913.
11. Babal, Marianne. “Before Apps, There Was an Agent for That,” in “Early History.” San Francisco, California: Wells Fargo, retrieved online 25 July 2026.
12. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
13. “Beautiful Monument for the Losch Family Contracted for: Executors of Liveryman’s Estate Settle Will Contest and Now Are Carrying Out Extraordinary Provisions for Memorial.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 19 December 1916.
14. “Charles Losch Called by Death” (obituary of David and Constant Losch’s brother). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 17 November 1913.
15. “Charles Losch’s Livery Stable: Horses and Carriages to Hire” (advertisement), in The Campaign of 1896. A Daily Record of the Triumphs of the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth, p. 148. Buffalo, New York: The Courier Company, circa 1896.
16. “Chat About Your Friends” (mention of the stroke suffered by Constant Losch’s brother, Charles Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 12 May 1908.
17. “Const. F. Losch Is Dead: The Well-Known Liveryman Passed Away Yesterday.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 3 July 1896.
18. “Correspondence of the Baltimore Sun. Washington, Oct. 31” (a notice dated “October 31” stating that “The following soldiers died on Wednesay: Daniel Losch, company I, 47th Pennsylvania, at Camp Griffin”). Baltimore, Maryland: The Sun, Friday, 1 November 1861.
19. “Death of a Well Known Landlord” (obituary of Constant F. Losch’s father-in-law, Owen W. Keiper). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 7 April 1880.
20. “Death of Walter Losch, the Marble Cutter” (obituary of a brother of David and Constant Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 21 June 1882.
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22. “Death Removes an Old Resident” (obituary of Constant F. Losch’s mother-in-law, Mary Ann (Moll) Keiper). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 20 December 1909.
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28. Delaplane, Kristin. Echoes of Solano’s Past: Buildings Turn Into Dwellings and Barrooms. Vacaville, California: Historical Articles of Solano County Online Database, Solano County Historical Society, 1 February 1998.
29. “Deny Insanity or Undue Influence: Heirs of Losch Estate File Answer to Petition of Son, Andrew” (report on court proceedings related to the disputed final will and estate of David and Constant Losch’s brother, Charles Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 6 May 1914.
30. Diaries of Jeremiah Siders (Company H, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry), in “Pennsylvania Military Museum Collections, 1856-1970” (MG 272). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
31. “Died at Kirkbride’s Asylum for the Insane” (report of the mental illness and death of Constant Losch’s brother, John A. Losch, in Philadelphia). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 10 March 1897.
32. Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, p. 1589. Des Moines, Iowa: The Dyer Publishing Company, 1908.
33. “For Abusing a Horse” (report regarding the arrest of Oliver Ehrich and William Schrader for abusing and damaging a horse they had rented with a carriage from Constant Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 6 August 1891.
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35. “From Washington” (a notice dated “October 31” stating that “among the deaths at the hospitals, are Daniel Losch, of the Forty-seventh”). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Telegraph, 1 November 1861.
36. “Funeral of Miss Sarah Losch” (funeral announcement of David and Constant Losch’s sister, Sarah Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 27 January 1913.
37. “Getting Down to Business,” in “The Deadlock Is Broken” (appointment of Constant Losch to handle ambulance service for the city of Allentown). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 20 April 1894.
38. Gobin, John Peter Shindel. Personal Letters, 1861-1865. Northumberland, Pennsylvania: Personal Collection of John Deppen.
39. Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. New York, New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885.
40. Grodzins, Dean and David Moss. “The U.S. Secession Crisis as a Breakdown of Democracy,” in When Democracy Breaks: Studies in Democratic Erosion and Collapse, from Ancient Athens to the Present Day (chapter 3). New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2024.
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42. “Handsome Pair of Horses Sold” (praise for liveryman Constant F. Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 7 May 1884.
43. “Home from a Long Trip” (report on a trip to Alaska by Constant Losch’s brother, Charles Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 24 August 1901.
44. “Home from the West” (report on the trip to West Point, Nebraska by Constant Losch and his wife to visit Constant’s brother, attorney John F. Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 5 July 1882.
45. Hottenstein, Levi (hotel keeper), Maria, Jacob, Charles, and William; Sieger, William (hotel keeper) and Lizzie; Losch, Charles (teamster); Shoemaker, Jane, Keider, Ellie, Bear, Kate, Tolan, Anna, and Fisher, Amelia (domestic servants); Smith, Louis, Berlin, William, Westhafer, Elias, Hartzel, Wilson, Hauk, Charles, Knerr, Benjamin, and Bates, Thomas (clerks in store); Lehr, Louis (brick mason); Rirold, Ferdinand, Henderson, Chas., Able, William, and Wush, William (barbers); Emery, Richard (surveyor); Tosear, Charles and Schafer, Willoughby (carpenters); Weikell, Aphan (shoemaker); Schlough, Granville (harnessmaker); Brobst, George (boarder); and Schaul, Julius (clothing merchant), in U.S. Census (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
46. Irwin, Richard Bache. History of the Nineteenth Army Corps. New York, New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1893.
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48. Last Will and Testament of Constantine F. Losch (also includes subsequent will-related paperwork of his widow), in Wills and Probate Records (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1896 and 1935). Allentown, Pennsylvania: Office of the Register of Wills, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
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50. “List of Jurors for November Court” (mention of liveryman Constant F. Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 11 November 1896.
51. “Liveryman Losch to Retire” (announcement of the retirement of Constant Losch’s brother, Charles Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 18 January 1900.
52. “Losch” (death notice of David and Constant Losch’s brother Charles Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 22 November 1913.
53. “Losch” (death notice of Constant F. Losch), in “Deaths.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 8 July 1896.
54. “Losch” (death notice of David and Constant Losch’s sister, Sarah Losch), in “Deaths.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 27 January 1913.
55. Losch, Constant, in Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (Company G, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
56. Losch, Constantine F., in Records of Burial Places of Veterans (Fairview Cemetery, Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Military Affairs.
57. Losch, David, in U.S. Registers of Deaths of Volunteers (47th Pennsylvania Volunteers’ Regimental Hospital, Camp Griffin, near Langley, Virginia, date of death: 29 October 1861). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
58. Losch, David, John and Regina, in Burial Records (St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania). Allentown, Pennsylvania: St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.
59. “Losch Estate Will Bring $180,000, High Bids at Sale” (report on the sale of stocks previously owned by Constant Losch’s deceased brother, Charles Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Leader, 18 December 1916.
60. Losch, Jacob F. (a brother of David and Constant Losch), Laura A. and Blanche, in U.S. Census (Union Precinct, Saunders County, Nebraska, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
61. Losch, Jacob F. (a brother of David and Constant Losch), Laura A., Blanch R., Grace M., Lulu, Glen C., John Roy, Mark C., and Richard J.; and Robbins, Margaret (servant), in U.S. Census (West Point City, West Point Township, Cuming County, Nebraska, 1900). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
62. Losch, John (the father of David and Constant Losch), Regina, John (son), Sarah, Constant, Alfred, Alice, and Jacob, in U.S. Census (Allentown, Third Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
63. Losch, John (father), John (son), Sarah, and Mary A., in U.S. Census (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
64. Losch, John Roy (the groom, who was a nephew of Constant Losch and a son of Jacob F. Losch) and Alice Mary Coltman (the bride), in Marriage Records, Bonneville County, Idaho, date of marriage: 27 November 1911, in “Western States Marriage Records.” Rexburg, Idaho: McKay Library (Special Collections), Brigham Young University-Idaho.
65. Losch, Miss Mary A. R. (a sister of David and Constant Losch), in Index to the Great Register of Orange County (Voter Registration, Orange County Precinct No. 2, Anaheim, Orange County, California, 1818-1920). Sacramento, California: Office of the Secretary of State.
66. Losch, Walter (a brother of David and Constant Losch), in Records of Burial Places of Veterans (Fairview Cemetery, Allentown, Pennsylvania). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Military Affairs.
67. Losch, Walter and Mary A. R., in Probate Records (Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, July 1882). Allentown, Pennsylvania: Office of the Register of Wills, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
68. Losh [sic, “Losch”], Chas. (a brother of David and Constant Losch), Susannah and Alice, in U.S. Census (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1860). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
69. Losh [sic, “Losch], John, Regina, Charles, William, David, Sarah, Frederick [sic, “Constantine Frederick” or “Constant F.”], Alfred, and Walter, in U.S. Census (Borough of Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1850). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
70. Losh [sic, “Losch], John, Regina, David, Sarah, Walter, Constantin [sic, “Constantine” or “Constant”], Alfred, Mary Ann, Franciscus [sic “Franziska”], and Jacob, in U.S. Census (Borough of Allentown, Third Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1860). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
71. Lost [sic, “Losch”], David, in Civil War Muster Rolls (Company I, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
72. Lost [sic, “Losch”], David, in Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (Company I, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
73. “Marker for a Pioneer’s Grave” (report on monuments to Revolutionary War Patriot, Captain John Brady, that were designed and carved by David and Constant Losch’s brother, Walter Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 19 July 1882.
74. Mary Alice Losch (a sister of David and Constant Losch), in Orange County Directory, 1936-1938. Long Beach, California: Western Directory Co.
75. Miller, Nathan, Susan [sic, “Susannah Elizabeth (Brader Losch) Miller”] (the ex-wife of Charles Losch and second wife of widower Nathan Miller), Susnella [sic, “Tusnelda”], Christ, and Carrie; and Losch, Henry, Alice and Andrew (the children of Susannah Elizabeth (Brader Losch) Miller from her first marriage to Charles Losch), in U.S. Census (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
76. Miller, Nathan, Susan [sic, “Susannah Elizabeth (Brader Losch) Miller”] (the ex-wife of Charles Losch and second wife of widower Nathan Miller), Carrie and Alfred; and Ehrig, Eli and Keiper, Joseph (boarders), in U.S. Census (Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
77. “Miss Mary Alice Losch” (obituary of David and Constant Losch’s sister). Santa Ana, California: The Santa Ana Register, 23 July 1946.
78. “Miss Sarah Losch” (death announcement of David and Constant Losch’s sister, Sarah Losch), in “Obituary.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 4 January 1913.
79. “Monster Sleighing Party: It Made Merry at Laury’s Yesterday Afternoon and Evening.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 31 January 1895.
80. “Monuments Erected” (description of several of the monuments and gravestones carved by David and Constant Losch’s brother, Walter Losch, for Lehigh Valley area cemeteries). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 17 December 1879.
81. “Monument to Cost $3,000” (report regarding the monument to be erected at the grave of Constant and Charles Losch’s brother, William Losh, at the “Fairfield Cemetery” in Solano County, California). Suisun City, California: Solano County Courier, 25 October 1917.
82. “Mrs. Elenora Losch Dies After Illness of Year” (obituary of Constant F. Losch’s widow). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 24 May 1935.
83. Munro-Fraser, J. P. History of Solano County Comprising an Account of Its Geographical Position; the Origin of Its Name; Topography, Geography and Springs; Its Organization, Township System; Early Settlers, etc. San Francisco, California: Wood, Alley & Co., East Oakland, 1879.
84. Newhard, Joseph F. (hotel keeper), Rebecca, Theodore, Alice, Ralph, Harold, and Charles; Brown, Robert; Weiandt, Annie; Mack, Mary, et. al., and Losch, Walter (Constant Losch’s brother), in U.S. Census (Allentown, Fifth Ward, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 1880). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
85. Noyalas, Jonathan. “The Fight at Cedar Creek Was Over. So Why Couldn’t Union Troops Let Their Guard Down?” Arlington, Virginia: HistoryNet, 27 February 2023.
86. “Peter Fegley, Aged War Veteran, Dead” (obituary of Peter Fegley, a veteran of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry who had been employed in the livery business owned by Constant Losch’s brother, Charles Losch). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 16 August 1909.
87. Reports and Other Correspondence of W. D. C. Rodrock, Chaplain, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (Record Group R29). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 1864-1865.
88. Roberts, Charles Rhoads. History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Its Families, pp. 837-838 (“C. F. Losch”). Allentown, Pennsylvania: Lehigh Valley Publishing Company, 1914.
89. “Roster of the 47th P. V. Inf.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 26 October 1930.
90. “Royal Arcanum — Two Death Losses” (mentions the insurance benefit assigned by David and Constant Losch’s brother, Walter Losch, to one of their sisters). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Allentown Democrat, 5 July 1882.
91. Schmidt, Lewis G. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
92. Scott, Robert N. The War of War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, series I, vol. XXXIV, part II: “Correspondence, etc.-Union,” Chapter XLVI: “Louisiana and the Trans-Mississippi,” p. 199. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1891.
93. Sheridan, Philip Henry. Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, General, United States Army in Two Volumes. New York, New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1888.
94. “Survivors at Easton: The Gallant 47th Regiment Holds Its Annual Reunion.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Critic, 23 October 1891.
95. “The City’s Honor Upheld” (letter co-signed by Constant Losch in his capacity as a city assessor). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 16 February 1892.
96. “The History of the Forty-Seventh Regt. P. V.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Lehigh Register, 20 July 1870.
97. “The Primaries: Results of the Balloting in the Various Election Districts Last Night” (mention of Constant Losch’s political involvement with the Republican Party). Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Critic, 8 February 1890.
98. “Valuable Real Estate Sold: It Was the Property of the Late Const. F. Losch.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 10 March 1897.
99. Wharton, Henry D. Letters from the Sunbury Guards. Sunbury, Pennsylvania: Sunbury American, 1861-1868.
100. William C. Losh, et. al. (a brother of David and Constant Losh), in “Auxter2021 Family Tree.” Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com, retrieved online 24 July 2026.
101. “Young Couple Wed Saturday” (marriage of Geneva Alderman to Frank Losch, who was a nephew of Constant Losch and a son of Jacob F. Losch). West Point, Nebraska: Cuming County Democrat, 7 May 1925.