Albert Schreiber

The oldest child of Carl Schreiber and Elizabeth Sprenger was Albert.

Albert claimed to be two years older than he actually was, so that he could enlist in the US Army. At the time of his enlistment he was a shoemaker 5' 10 3/4" living at 246 Light Street. He served for five years, from 6 Aug 1866 to 6 Aug 1871, with the US 7^th Cavalry under Gen George Custer, riding in Troop D commanded by Capt Thomas B. Weir. He fought with Custer in the Indian Wars, and participated in several campaigns throughout the Kansas Territory. My grandfather liked to tell us that Albert had missed Custer's massacre in the Battle of the Little Big Horn only by incredible luck. ("At the time of the massacre, he was in Fort Pitt, being treated for an Indian arrowhead.") Actually the Little Big Horm battle took place in 1875, years after Albert had been discharged, and his service record mentions no wounds.

Albert Schreiber's Military Service Record

Albert's military career with Custer needs no exaggeration. He participated in another famous battle, only on that occasion it was the Indians who got massacred. It took place in the predawn of 27 Nov 1868 against the combined forces of Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa and Comanche led by chief Black Kettle. The site is now the Black Kettle National Grassland near the western Oklahoma border, and there is a Black Kettle Museum nearby in Cheyenne, Oklahoma. Albert was discharged on 6 Aug 1871 at Mount Vernon, KY with the rank of Corporal.

Returning home, he and Catherine Henkel were married within the year in St. Matthew's Lutheran Church, by Rev L. D. Maier. At first he continued his previous occupation as a shoemaker. Later he became an oil dealer.

In 1917 he applied for and received an army pension, Certificate 7129. He described himself at this time as 6 feet tall, brown eyes, weight 242 pounds. We have one picture of him, showing a white-haired man with a moustache. When Catherine died in 1920, Albert moved in with his daughter Rosa Koenig. Albert and Catherine are buried in Oak Lawn Cemetery, Lot 4747 Belleview, Baltimore, along with their oldest son John.

1880 Census – 5/53/27/23 – 173 N. Bethel St

Schreiber,Albert	33	Prussia	Shoemaker
Catherine	26	Hesse-Cassel
John	7	Md
Francis	5	Md
Kate E	2	Md
Rosa	4/12	Md

1900 Census – 12/88/8(174A)/7 – 1629 Orleans St
1910 Census – Baltimore Ward 6 p265 ED75 sheet 3B – 1629 Orleans St
1920 Census – 18/78/6/45 – 1629 Orleans St
Baltimore City Directories – 1920-1929 – 808 N. Rose St