We have two small papier mache dolls thatwere made in Germany and imported into the U.S., as was common for playthings before the 20th century. It is their story that sets them apart from the millions of similar dolls exported to the U.S.

On November 29, 1864 an Indiana farmer, Peter Heckhart of Kewanna, was drafted into the Union Army during the Civil War. Either he chose to fight or he could not pay the $300 it cost to hire a substitute to fight in his place. He left a wife and three children at home in Fulton County. Before he left to join Company E of the 9th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, he gave his two daughters, eleven-year-old Arminta Elizabeth and eight-year-old Mary Etta, these dolls as early Christmas presents.

In less than a month, Peter Heckhart was dead of disease. No record exists of exactly when, where or why he died. For a hundred and twenty-one years, his family treasured these dolls as their last memory of him, before giving them to the Indiana State Museum in 1985.