Stebbins, Haevers and Presidential History

DeWayne Stebbins and Ferdinand Haevers were two Kewaunee County men who changed the course of American presidential history. Both served in the Civil War. Stebbins enlisted in Co. A, 21st WI, Vol. Inf. on August 13,1862 but transferred to the Navy. Haevers was in New Orleans at the outbreak of hostilities and somehow enlisted with the Confederacy.

Stebbins, from Ahnapee, saved the life of General, later President, Ulysses S. Grant. And, it was only because Red River's Ferdinand Haevers shot the horse instead of William McKinley, that McKinley gained the presidency only to be assassinated.

Born in New York in 1835, Stebbins came to Wolf River, now Algoma, with his parents in 1856. He graduated from the Naval Academy in the same class as Admiral George Dewey, known for the victory in the Battle of Manila Bay Battle during the Spanish-American War. Following his Army enlistment, Stebbins was commissioned by the Navy as a Master's Mate. He served on the S. S. Corondelet and then on the Mound City, a ship in Porter's Fleet. Stebbins was promoted to Ensign in 1864, then was promoted to Master and transferred to the Kickapoo, a double turreted monitor that was sent to Farragut's Fleet at Mobile. Stebbins was transferred again - this time to the Portsmouth -and on July 4, 1865 was transferred to the Michigan where he remained until discharged on January 6,1866.

It was when Stebbins was on the Mound City that he was credited as saving the life of General Ulysses S. Grant, although the fact has never been actually proven. As the story was told, Stebbins was serving in Porter's Fleet during the siege at Vicksburg. One dark night when he was Officer of the Deck on the Mound City, a sentry challenged men in a small skiff. Thinking the approaching men were spies, Stebbins ordered his men to fire but then suddenly delayed the command to make sure he didn't fire on his own men. Just then a voice in the darkness was heard to say, "General Grant desires to see Admiral Porter."

Ferdinand Haevers was a Belgian immigrant to Kewaunee County. Haevers, an orphan, was said to have been a stowaway on an immigrant ship that landed in New Orleans. Somehow he found his way north to Wisconsin, however went south again with an employer. Haevers was in New Orleans at the outbreak of the Civil War. Whether it was the hoopla and excitement in the city at the outbreak of hostilities, or whether he was coerced, Haevers enlisted in the Louisiana 14th in 1861. He was discharged in 1865.

Haevers was captured early in the war and put in a prison camp from which he managed to escape. Finding a Kentucky unit, he joined it. While he was out foraging, he saw a Union officer ride into a clearing. Shooting entered his thoughts before he  remembered learning that an officer without his horse was as good as dead. So, he shot the horse instead of the man. The gunshot brought soldiers to the officer's assistance. The officer was William McKinley. Haevers was captured once again and this time was sent to an Ohio prison camp.

Haevers' Confederate background did not appear to matter when he returned to Red River. He was an office holder, a large land owner and one whose leadership was admired in Red River, Kewaunee County and beyond. As for Stebbins, he was another whose leadership was admired in Kewaunee County and beyond. Big Steb, as he was called, was a long-time leader in Wisconsin's Assembly.

Kewaunee County is small, somewhat remote, and often forgotten about in Wisconsin's politics. Its citizens have played on a world stage. Sometimes that gets forgotten.