Another kind of quandary caused by the Civil War
MENNONITES OPPOSED BOTH SLAVERY AND CONSCRIPTION
No records of service in the Civil War have been discovered for Jacob Link. If he did not volunteer - he would have been 35 at the onset of hostilities on April 12, 1861 - this may have been in line with his understanding of his faith.
Jacob’s age or health might have also have been factors in his apparent absence from service. The average life expectancy from 1861-1870 was 42.8 years at birth. Jacob had experienced 81 percent of his expected lifespan.
Mennonites as a group were against slavery, and over the four years of hostilities, many did decide to serve the Union cause. A large number also paid $200 commutation fees when drafted which supported their opposition to conscription and taking of life. Just across the Ohio River, Pennsylvania Anabaptists enjoyed the advantage of representation by Senator Thaddeus Stevens whose constituents were often able to secure exemptions without paying the fee.
In the southern states, where very few Germans had migrated, failure to serve made Anabaptists appear to stand out as “traitors” to Southern Rights and slavery. Many made the decision to join members of their own faith further north once Ft. Sumter was fired upon.
“When war engulfed Virginia in the summer of 1861, Mennonite Christian Good was conscripted into the state militia. After Good experienced battle and failed to discharge his rifle, his perturbed captain asked him why he had refused to shoot at Union soldiers in clear view. The committed pacifist reportedly responded, ‘They're people; we don't shoot people’.”
- From Mennonites, Amish, and the American Civil War, by James O. Lehman and Steven M. Nolt.
Published by the Kent State (Ohio) University Press.
Many southern state Mennonites moved to the North
Mennonites generally stood united against conscription, a practice most European nations had relied on. Many Mennonites were in America in part to exit a stage where wars were frequent and involuntary soldiering often required. They were also against taking human life for any reason, including self-defense. However, Mennonites were also strongly against slavery. For that reason, a much lower percentage of Mennonite immigration led families to southern U.S. states. That quandry is well described by reviewer Sean Scott:
“While most Protestants north and south wholeheartedly supported their governments and sent scores of soldiers to fight in the Civil War, members of Anabaptist sects struggled to balance the conflicting duties of citizenship in both an earthly state and a heavenly kingdom. As religious outsiders who traced their origins to the radical fringe of the Protestant Reformation, many Mennonites and Amish had settled in America to avoid compulsory military service in Europe. More significant than challenging their civic loyalty and threatening their commitment to the principles of pacifism, the Civil War forced them to engage the political and cultural mainstream and adapt to the contingencies of war in order to protect their distinctive and countercultural religious beliefs.”
Review by Sean A. Scott of Mennonites, Amish, and the American Civil War
In 1860, Jacob was listed by the census as residing at the family home in Greene Township. He had the occupation of “farmer.” However, between 1859 and 1964, there were no children recorded as born into the family, the general period of the war. It was obviously a time of uncertainty, possibly interrupting family plans. Or perhaps Jacob actually was in service, the records of which are missing. Either way, the war weighed heavily on all residing within the chaos of those five years, and when the war was brought to a close, new options were on the table.