Teubner Cemetery

Charles and Josephine Teubner

Charles Teubner died unexpectedly of unknown causes on September 10, 1851.

In his will, he mentioned his wife, his children, his mother, his brother Fred, his sister Christian (sic.) and his niece Francisco (sic.), for whom it seems he and his wife were caring at this time. On top of his family members, Teubner mentioned Hermann’s Masonic Lodge and the Oddfellows, two organizations with which he was affiliated.

Not even three years later, on May 19, 1854, his wife Josephine died of cholera after treating patients from a boat that had arrived from St. Louis. In her will, she appointed her brother George Husmann as guardian of her two sons. Going beyond being buried side-by-side, when Josephine died Charles’ body was exhumed and the couple were reburied together in a double coffin.

Charles Manwaring

While Captain Charles Manwaring’s death in 1864 is made complicated by competing accounts of the events —  including the journal of James Riggs, an article published in the Missouri Republican and the written affidavits of two soldiers who were present at Manwaring’s death — the following seems to be the most probable explanation for the Captain’s murder:

Manwaring, who was serving in the Army during the Civil War and, at the time, was stationed in St. Louis, had returned to Hermann to visit his wife and young son. There was likely a military parade through Hermann the day that he was shot, so there would have been soldiers and militiamen in the streets. A group of bushwhackers disguised in Union militia uniforms — the number ranges from seven to 25 depending on the account — rode through town on horseback and tried to cross the Missouri to the north side. Captain Manwaring, upon seeing this group of strangers, went down to the wharf to ask after their identities and their business in Hermann. They simply said they were from another militia and had confidential business on the other side of the river. Manwaring refused to let them cross without knowing their identities, and as they tried to leave the town by land and cross the river elsewhere, he stopped them once again. Not allowing them to leave Hermann, whether by horse or by boat, without knowing their identities, Manwaring tried to make an arrest. At this arrest attempt, the leader of the guerrilla group grabbed his revolver and shot Manwaring.

After a panic in which two others were wounded and the shooters escaped, it was discovered that Manwaring had been shot in the back of the head. He was taken back to the Teubner-Husmann house, where he held on for about a day before passing and being buried on this hill. The shooters were pursued and were identified as Confederate bushwhackers trying to escape Union territory by dressing as Union militiamen using stolen uniforms. While they escaped, they abandoned their horses which were then turned over to the government and sold for profit.

For his sacrifice in attempting to hold back Confederate soldiers, Manwaring is remembered locally as a Civil War hero. He was only 32 when he died, leaving behind his wife Amalia and his infant son Charles. Amalia never remarried, and she and her son followed the Husmanns to California. Amalia and Charles are both buried in the Husmann plot of the Tulocay Cemetery in Napa, where George and Louise Husmann are also buried.