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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Where is the Diary of William Thomas?

William Thomas was born on 3 April 1838 in Wales and came to America at an early age with his father, John Thomas, who was a coal miner.  The family settled in Wiconisco, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania.  Like his father, William became a coal miner and in 1860, he was working in the mines around Lykens.  […]

Harry W. Fox of Lykens – 55th Pennsylvania Infantry

A brief mention was made in the Lykens Register of 10 June 1897 of Harry W. Fox: Harry W. Fox returned this evening from his visit to Johnstown where he attended the reunion of his old regiment, the Fifty-Fifty Pennsylvania. The name of Harry W. Fox appears on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument as a veteran […]

Death of Riley Bressler, 1899

When Riley Bressler died on 7 December 1899, two local newspapers published lengthy obituaries of him. The West Schuylkill Herald of Tower City, Schuylkill County, said the following in its 14 December 1899 edition: DEATH OF RILEY BRESSLER Riley Bressler who’s serious illness we mentioned in last week’s issue, passed peacefully away at about 1 […]

Who Was Thomas Williams (Mulatto) of Girardville?

Previously on this blog, it was noted that Thomas Williams, a mulatto, was one of the first to volunteer as a soldier from Girardville, Schuylkill County: In his compilation of articles on the History of Pottsville and Schuylkill County, Joseph H. Zerbey provided the following about the Girardville volunteers…. The first contingent from Girardville included:  […]

Civil War Soldiers Buried at Lykens – The Claude Keiser List

For the 17 May 1917 edition of the Lykens Standard, Claude Keiser, son of Civil War Veteran Henry Keiser and a member of the local Sons of Veterans, provided a list of soldiers of that war and other wars who were buried in the Lykens cemeteries. ____________________________ I.O.O.F. Cemetery, Lykens William P. Miller —–Jonathan Hoffman […]