Hege, Constantine Alexander, 1843-1914

Moravian Constantine Alexander Hege (1843-1914) served in the 48th North Carolina Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. He later owned an iron mill in Salem, N.C.

Constantine Alexander Hege was born in Davidson County, N.C., on 13 March 1843, to Solomon and Catherine Guinther Hege. Although, as a member of the Moravian Church he opposed the Civil War, he was obliged to enlist in the Confederate Army. Hege served for 14 months in Company H, 48th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, before being captured on 14 October 1863 at the battle of Bristow Station, Va. After being released from the Old Capitol prison in Washington, D.C., he worked in an iron mill in Bethlehem, Pa. When the war ended, he moved to Salem, N.C., where he started Hege's Salem Iron Works. In 1877, he obtained a patent for a set of works for circular sawmills, making his iron works known across the country. Hege married Frances Mary Spaugh in 1870. The couple had three children: Walter Julius, Ella Florence, and Rose Estelle.