William H. Allvord, born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania in 1842, was a distinguished Civil War veteran and pioneer of Gage County, Nebraska. He was one of five brothers who served in the war, three of whom were wounded. Enlisting first with the Second Pennsylvania Infantry in 1861, Allvord later re-enlisted with the Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He endured imprisonment at Andersonville and was severely emaciated by the experience. After the war, Allvord settled in Nebraska, where he farmed in Highland Township and engaged in public service. He was married to Martha Buchanan, and they had two daughters, one of whom survived to adulthood.
The name of William H. Allvord is inscribed high on the roll of the honored veterans of the Civil War and of Gage County’s pioneers. He was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, in 1842, being a son of George and Mary (Shumper) Allvord, also natives of the Keystone State, and the former was of German descent. The mother died when her son William was but a child, leaving six sons and five daughters, and five of the sons served as soldiers in the Civil War — H. Fred, David, William H., George, and Jacob. Three were wounded, David, William H., and Jacob, but all returned home at the close of their services, and the military record of this family is one of which the members have every reason to be proud.
William H. Allvord spent the early years of his life on a farm in Perry County, Pennsylvania. At the first call of Lincoln for troops, seven days after Fort Sumter had been fired upon, this patriotic lad offered his services to the Union cause, enlisting with the three-months men in the Second Pennsylvania Infantry, but four months elapsed before his discharge. He was under fire at Williamsport, Virginia, and Chambersburg, and after his second enlistment, in 1863, in Company E, Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Brooks commanding, he took part in the battles of the Wilderness, Po River, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and on to Petersburg, taking part in the siege of that place. He was wounded near that city, and on the 16th of June, 1864, was taken as a prisoner of war to Andersonville, where he was confined until the following December, a period of six months and four days. While there incarcerated, he was threatened by Colonel Wertz that if he did not obey and move more quickly a ball and chain would be put on him. On entering this prison pen, he weighed one hundred and seventy-five pounds, but ere his term had expired, his weight was reduced to seventy-five pounds, being thus emaciated through starvation and exposure, and he suffered all the horrors of that noted rebel prison. After his release, Mr. Allvord returned home on a thirty days’ furlough, on the expiration of which period he went to Petersburg, where he was wounded in the right leg on the 31st of March, 1865. He was then taken to a hospital at Washington, D.C., where he was honorably discharged from the service as a corporal, having been promoted for gallant conduct on the field of battle.
After the close of the struggle, Mr. Allvord returned home, and for a time thereafter was engaged in the mining of coal in Pennsylvania for eastern parties. During the past twenty-six years, he has made his home in Nebraska, and his valuable and well-cultivated farm is located in Highland Township, Gage County. Ere leaving the state of his birth and while home from the war on a furlough, he was united in marriage to Martha Buchanan, who was called to the home beyond at the age of fifty-four years, passing away in Gage County. She was a loving wife and mother, a kind neighbor, and was loved and honored by all who had the pleasure of her acquaintance. At her death, she left one daughter, Sarah Sloan, who makes her home in Saline County, Nebraska. One daughter, Mary, is deceased. In political matters, Mr. Allvord is a staunch Republican, and on its ticket has been elected to offices of public trust, having served for one year as road overseer and has also been a member of the school board. He maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through membership with the Grand Army of the Republic, having joined one of the first posts organized in the east. Religiously he is a believer in the Church of Christ, and his wife was identified with the United Brethren.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company, A Biographical and Genealogical History of Southeastern Nebraska, 2 volumes, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.