Michale Ahl

Every life has a story… Michael Ahl was born February 22, 1849 in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. His parents, Adolphus and Elizabeth, brought him to the United States when he was a young boy. He was the oldest of nine children. When Michael was 16, he enlisted in Battery B of 1st Light Artillery Company of Indiana on October 20, 1864. He served just shy of one year at the end of the Civil War, being discharged with a disability on August 22, 1865. **(NOTE: Michael’s father, Adoph(us), died of a gunshot when entering his “neighbor’s” home one evening in 1868. Conrad Pfenning mistook him for an intruder. Strange as it might sound, Conrad later became Michael’s father-in-law. Eleven years later, Conrad took his own life. Many believed he was overcome with guilt from the accidental killing of Adolph). In 1870 Michael married Sarah Pfenning. She was born in Indiana. In 1871, the young couple homesteaded in the Turkey Creek precinct (Certified homestead date was December 18, 1877 at the Nebraska City land office). Michael was the only one of his siblings to leave Indiana and move to Nebraska. He made his living as a wagon maker. Mr. Ahl was known for being kind and generous to a fault. For eight years he served as County Commissioner for Saline County. An 1880 Federal Census showed two children living in Micael’s family: Adolph and Caroline. Michael’s wife Sarah was born in 1851 and died in 1937. Michael died March 16, 1896 of pneumonia. Michael and Sarah are buried at Andrew Cemetery, Block 3.