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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

John McCollum – First Defender, Buried at Williamstown

John McCollum is buried in the United Methodist Church Cemetery in Williamstown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  Previously on the Civil War Blog, he was featured with the following information: John McCollum (1833-1901). He is buried in the McCollum family plot and a ground marker notes his name as “John.”  Census records indicate he was born at sea […]

William Irving, First Defender

William Irving was one of Lykens elderly and respected citizens.  He was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1841 and came to Lykens Borough, Dauphin County, in 1874 and entered the bottling business in which he engaged until 1874 when he entered the hotel business.  He conducted the Valley House which was located at Main and […]

Story of the First Defenders as Told in 1935

In the post yesterday, the story of the last reunion of the First Defenders was told.  That reunion was held in 1935 in Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.  One member of that group, which originally consisted of 530 veterans, was able to attend the reunion.  Only three were still alive.  Their combined ages totalled 286 years.  […]

The 1935 Reunion of the First Defenders

The following article appeared in a local newspaper in 1935.  It described what was to be the last reunion of the First Defenders from Pennsylvania who answered the call in the first days after the attack on Fort Sumter.  Lt. William Irving, of Lykens, Dauphin County, who was one of only three survivors of that […]

William Irving, First Defender

William Irving was one of Lykens elderly and respected citizens.  He was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1841 and came to Lykens Borough, Dauphin County, in 1874 and entered the bottling business in which he engaged until 1874 when he entered the hotel business.  He conducted the Valley House which was located at Main and […]