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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Understanding Walt Whitman

| August 31, 2012

The largest, single monument honoring a Civil War-era personage in Pennsylvania, is not a stone temple on the Gettysburg battlefield but is a bridge between Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Named the “Walt Whitman Bridge” when it opened in 1957, it is today one of the largest suspension bridges on the east coast of the United […]

John W. Simonton – President Judge, 12th Judicial District of Pennsylvania

| August 30, 2012

John W. Simonton, the presiding judge at the trial of Keiper and Rowe, the two Halifax National Bank robbers and murderers of bank cashier and Civil War veteran Charles W. Ryan, was himself a Civil War veteran, having served as a Private in the 1st Pennsylvania Infantry (Militia of 1862), Company K.  The biography and […]

Fred R. Gilbert, Merchant Tailor of Millersburg

| August 29, 2012

The following sketch of the life of Frederick R. Gilbert is from the Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, published in 1896 by J. L. Runk and Company of Chambersburg: Frederick R. Gilbert, merchant tailor, was born at Loyalton, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, 16 November 1825, the son of John Gilbert, and Elizabeth [Rathron] Gilbert.  His great-grandfather, […]

Isaac Lyter, Bank Teller – Another Look

| August 28, 2012

Isaac Lyter (1844-1912) was previously featured here as part of a series of posts on the Halifax Bank robbery.  The following biographical sketch is from the Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, published in 1896 by J. M. Runk and Company of Chambersburg.  While it sheds little light on his military service, additional interesting information is […]

Advertisements from August 27, 1862

| August 27, 2012

The following advertisements were taken from the Lancaster Examiner and Herald dated August 27, 1862. Selected text from each ad are typed out beside the photo of the ad. You may see the entire August 27, 1862 edition of the Examiner here. The Lancaster Academy. Mr. George R. Barr, of this city, having procured the large and beautiful rooms […]