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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Philadelphia Memorial to Octavius V. Catto

Recently, a new memorial to Ocvatius Valentine Catto was ceremonially unveiled in Philadelphia in the central square of the city, just to the west of the south gate entrance to the City Hall Plaza. Previously, on this blog, a post entitled Octavius V. Catto, told of this African American’s relationship to the Civil War and […]

Marks Hornet – African American Soldier from Elizabethville

In the 1860 Census of Washington Township, (Post Office Elizabethville), Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, there appears a family identified in the “Color” column as “m” for Mulatto.  The head of the family was Marks Hornet, a 38 year-old laborer.  He indicated to the census that he was born in Pennsylvania, that did not own any real […]

Obituary of Major John W. Simpson

Major John W. Simpson was an African American Civil War veteran from Philadelphia who settled in Harrisburg after the war.  He died on 6 April 1899 and is buried in Lincoln Cemetery in Harrisburg.  The Harrisburg Patriot commemorated his life with a lengthy obituary: MAJOR J. W. SIMPSON Prominent Colored Citizen of This City Passes […]

Cassius Mars – Founder of Stevens Post in Harrisburg

On 8 April 1914, the Harrisburg Patriot reported that Cassius Mars had died: WAR VETERAN DIES Cassius Mars, aged 71 years, a Civil War veteran, died Monday at his home, 1201 North Fourth Street, after a few days’ illness, of pneumonia.  He was a charter member of David R. Stevens Post No. 520, Grand Army […]

Rev. George Shorter – 127th United States Colored Troops

Rev. George Shorter, who is buried at East Middletown Colored Cemetery (also known as the Old Negro Burying Ground), Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, served in the 127th U.S. Colored Infantry, Company F, during the Civil War.  He died on 2 October 1916 and his obituary appeared in the Harrisburg Patriot on 5 October 1916: SHORTER FUNERAL […]