Albert Leistikow
Albert Leistikow, son of Christian and Dorothea (Henriette) Leistikow, was born October 18, 1828, in the village of Labenz, County (Kreis) Scheifelbein located in an area of the country of Pomerania that is now part of Poland.
According to family researcher Wayne L. Waggoner, Albert immigrated to the United States on the ship 'Aurora' from Hamburg, arriving in New York on November 23, 1854. Traveling with him were his brothers Leopold and Heinrich, and cousin Carl Leistikow, son of his uncle Frederick Wilhelm Leistikow. According to family legend, one of Leopold's brothers died either during or very soon after the voyage to America. If true, this would have been Heinrich, as there is no record of his life in America. (There is some mystery as to the ship they traveled on, as this site shows the Aurora left Hamberg November 11, 1854 and sailed directly to Australia.)
Albert enlisted in the Union Army for a 3-year hitch, joining Company 'F', 19th Regiment, Illinois Infantry. After his hitch was finished, he re-enlisted in Company 'D', 31st Regiment, Illinois Infantry on August 18, 1864, and served until the end of the war. He was discharged July 19, 1865. Regiment history for Albert can be found here: 19th Illinois Infantry (1861 thru mid-1864) and 31st Illinois Infantry (mid-1864 thru the end of the war).
Albert never married. After the war, it is known that Albert worked for many years on the farm of his younger brother Leopold Leistikow, but later in life he joined other Leistikows up in Minnesota. Researcher Don Leistikow found, via Albert's pension file, that he "did go north to work for Franz Leistikow west of Minneapolis in '81". The family referred to Albert as the 'Old Soldier'. The 1900 census found Albert in Excelsior Township, Hennepin County, MN and his occupation was shown as 'carpenter'. There are no Leistikows shown as owning property in Excelsior Township in a historical 1878 map, but there is a 'carpenter shop' shown on 2nd Avenue. I wonder ... could he haved worked there? He would have been 78 in 1900, so it's unlikely. It was known in the family that Albert had a hobby of making baskets, some of which are shown in the picture above. In 1890, Albert applied for and received a Civil War veterens pension. Albert died April 28, 1913 in the Minnesota Soldiers' Home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, (then known as the Old Soldiers Home).