Joseph Lincoln's older brother, Charles, enlisted at St Charles at the beginning of the war and was placed in Company K. Joseph was mustered into Company K on Nov 11, 1861. His residence was listed as being Winona. He said that he was 23 years old when he enlisted, but records indicate that he may have been 17 years old. Volunteers under the age of 18 were supposed to get parent's permission to enlist. Whether or not that was the reason for his stated older age is not known.

He was used to help fill the ranks which had been thinned by injury and illness. He first joined the regiment in January of 1862. In the spring he came down with the mumps on both sides. He was a comrade of Ernst Meyer and they helped nurse each other in the spring of 1862, when they were both ill. Lincoln was wounded in June 1862, which resulted in his being discharged on Sept 6, 1862.

After the war, Lincoln decided to study medicine. He studied at Lawrence University in Appleton, MO and graduated from Chicago's Rush Medical College in 1871. That same year he set up practice in Bowling Green, Ohio and lived there for the rest of his life. Lincoln was married Emma Norris in 1885. They had a son, John, who later became a druggist, (1874) and a daughter, Eudora (1876). Lincoln was a member of the Wiley G. A. R. Post #46 in town. He died on March 24, 1926. He had lived to be 82 years old. He was buried at the Oak Grove Cemetery, located on Ridge Street in Bowling Green.

Sources:

National Archives pension records, Ernst Meyer.

Roster of the First Minnesota Infantry, 1910.

Roster of the Survivors, First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, 1917.

Sons of the Union Veterans website.