Frederick Ernest Noble was born on August 21, 1838 as Friedrich Ernst Nöbel, son of Frio Noble and Hetta Walther, in Altenburg, near Leipzig, Germany.  Family papers say as he approached the age of 18, in 1856, and was facing national service training he fled Germany and emigrated to the United States.  Records state however, that Noble was rejected as unfit for service at the time. In the U.S. Noble changed his name to Ernst or Ernest F. Noble and settled near Aurora, in Dearborn County, Indiana; and was employed there as an accountant.

According to the Indiana Adjutant General’s Report, Ernst Noble, while living in Aurora, Dearborn County, Indiana enlisted on September 13, 1861 into Company A of the 7th Indiana Infantry as a Corporal; the very day the 7th was organized.

The 7th Indiana Infantry was organized and mustered into service at Indianapolis, Indiana on September 13, 1861. That month it was ordered to Cheat Mountain, West Virginia. It saw duty in the Cheat Mountain District of West Virginia until December, 1861. It then saw action at Greenbrier on October 3rd & 4th  then scouted through the Kanawha District from October 27th through November 7th.  It participated in the Battle of Winchester on March 22nd & 23rd, at Mt. Jackson on March 25th, occupied Mt. Jackson on April 17th and  marched to Fredericksburg, Virginia from May 12th through the 21st  and returned to Front Royal by May 30th.  It also participated in the Battle of Port Republic on June 9th,  was part of Pope's Campaign in Northern Virginia from August 6th through September 2nd, participated in the Battles of Groveton on August 29th,  Bull Run on August 30th,  the  Battles of South Mountain, Maryland on September 14th,  Antietam on September 16th & 17th and the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia on  December 12th  to the 15th.

He apparently was discharged from the 7th Indiana Infantry during the latter part of 1863, because on January 1, 1864 he reenlisted and was transferred out on September 20, 1864 and into the 20th Indiana Infantry into Company G as Private and a veteran from the 7th Indiana Infantry. The 20th Indiana Infantry was organized at Lafayette, Indiana and mustered into service on  July 22, 1861, but Noble only became a part of it with his transfer from the 7th. He was then promoted to Second Lieutenant on December 2, 1864 and to First Lieutenant on December 16, 1864. According to the Official Army Register he was discharged as First Lieutenant Ernst Noble on January 1, 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky.

Frederick Ernest Noble after the war migrated to Australia and was married in Australia in 1885 to Ellen Peters; resulting in a number of children. He and his family lived at a number of different locations in the vicinity of Melbourne, Victoria, including Carlton, Richmond and at finally at 73 Brougham in Kew; where he was living when he passed away.

Nobel applied for a pension from the United States government through the U.S. Consul General in Melbourne in 1899 and his declaration reveals that he suffered from the  disabilities of rheumatism, heart disease, bad eyes, urinary organ problems, general debility, sunstroke and resulting headaches. A pension was eventually granted and with it he received five years of back dated pension money allocated at $15.00 a month.

Frederick Ernest Noble died in 1911 at age 73 in Kew and was buried in the Boroondara Cemetery Lutheran Section, Grave 64, Compartment A. He is buried with his infant son Harold Oscar Noble who died in 1899. After his death his widow, Ellen, also applied for a widow’s pension which she was granted and continued receiving it when she moved to Launceston, Tasmania.  Ellen Peters Noble died in Launceston, Tasmania on June 30, 1941 and was buried in the Western Junction cemetery.

In addition to his wife Ellen applying for a widow’s pension, one Mary Rosina (Huigel) Noble also applied for a widow’s pension, being a former wife of Frederick Ernest Noble, and presented the pension board with a copy of her marriage certificate; dated March 22, 1864 It certified that she was married to Frederick Ernest Noble in Dearborn County Indiana and she further provided evidence that she had been abandoned and deserted in April 1878; stating he disappeared and his presence was thereafter unknown.

Adjutant General’s Report, State of Indiana

Barry Crompton, Victoria

Dearborn County Historical Society, Indiana

Victorian Death Index, 1910-1919

Elizabeth Hore, Victoria

Elizabeth Obotaire, Hawthorne Library

“From Philippi to Appomattox: Narrative of the Service of the Seventh Indiana Infantry

            in the War for the Union”, Butternut Press, 1993

Historical Data Systems, Inc.

Sons of Union Veterans

U.S. Consul General Papers, Melbourne

U.S. Pension Papers, Washington, D.C.

7th Indiana Infantry, Regimental Histories

20th Indiana Infantry, Regimental Histories