Charles Peter Henry Bielenberg was born in Wevelsfleth – a fishing village in the province of Holstein – at that time a possession of Denmark, - now Germany, on May 1, 1846. In July 1854, the Bielenberg family immigrated to the United States and settled in Davenport, Iowa. Charles Bielenberg attended the public school of Davenport Iowa until 1864. On May 7, 1864, at the age of eighteen, Charles enlisted in the 44th Regiment Infantry Iowa Volunteers. He was mustered into the U. S. Army on June 1st, 1864 in Davenport Iowa (1). The 44th Regiment did garrison duty at Memphis and La Grange, Tennessee (2). At the end of his enlistment on September 15, 1864, Charles Bielenberg returned to Iowa. On January 21, 1865 he re-enlisted, this time in the 8th Regiment Infantry Iowa Volunteers. He was deafened and taken ill during the bombardment of Mobile Alabama and the siege of Spanish Fort. In August 1865 he was hospitalized at Montgomery, Alabama from August-October and was sent back to Davenport to recuperate. He was honorably discharged on December 18,1865 (1).
At the close of the war, Charles Bielenberg headed west to seek his fortune in the Montana Territory where his half-brother, Conrad Kohrs, and his twin-brother, John N. Bielenberg and his youngest brother, Nicholas J. Bielenberg had begun to establish themselves. In the spring of 1866, at the age of twenty, he traveled to Montana by way of steamboat departing from St. Louis up the Missouri River and arriving at Fort Benton of the Montana Territory. Having no money to pay expenses for any other means of travel, Charles Bielenberg walked to Helena, arriving there on June 10, 1866. From Helena he went onto Virginia City to be employed in one of Conrad Kohrs’ butcher shops butcher shop for three months. In the fall of 1866, Charley Bielenberg came to Deer Lodge and opened the “City Market” butcher shop, with Nicholas Bielenberg and Conrad Kohrs as partners in the business. Here he went into the butchering and meat cutting business and operated the City Market in Deer Lodge for 30 years (1). In 1873, Charles Bielenberg become associated with his twin brother John Bielenberg, engaging in the stock business, raising horses and cattle. The firm of Bielenberg & Brothers was known all over the Territory. Their stock was of the highest grade, and always brought the best prices in Chicago, to which they shipped each year several herds (3).
Charles Bielenberg remained in the cattle business with his twin brother Johnny Bielenberg, until John's death in 1922. It was shortly there after that Charles Bielenberg resigned from his position as foreman of the Kohrs & Bielenberg ranches. It is said that Charles furnished many free cowhides for floor coverings in miners shacks and cabins. The ranch was known as the Bielenberg and Brother (1). Mr. Bielenberg was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic (G. A. R.) of which he has been patriotic instructor for several years, the Society of Montana Pioneers, the Elks, No. 289 of Anaconda and the Kiwanis club of this city. His position as patriotic instructor of the Grand Army was a beloved duty to him. Having the financial means he considered himself better able to bear the expenses of spreading patriotic doctrine around the state than the Grand Army with its dwindling membership (3). Mr. Bielenberg was married in 1869 to Miss Mary Wilhelma, of Iowa, and has three children: Clara, Katie and Charles O. Bielenberg (3). A room was set aside as the Patriotic Room in the Powell County, Courthouse in his honor and the G. A. R. He furnished a grand piano (square Steinway) in the room for public use. The piano remained there until 1964 when the room was needed for other purposes. His patriotism also was evident when he enlisted in Captain Stewart's Company No.12, August 12-24, 1877, for the Nez Perce Indian uprising .In an application for a Civil War pension he listed as distinguishing marks and scars a : scar on left forearm from a bite by a pet bear (1).
References
2. Scott County Men in the Civil War. Retrieved 12 April 2010 from
http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/civwarrosters.htm
3. Col. Charles P. H. Bielenberg, Noted Character, Is Dead. Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana. November 2, 1924.
4. Deer Lodge Notes; Anaconda Standard,: 11-02-1922; Volume: XXXIV; Issue:60; Page: 4; Anaconda, Montana
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