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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

The Machamer Boys of Wiconisco

| November 10, 2012

The names of four members of the Machamer family appear on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument which is located on North Second Street in the Borough of Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  The four men are:  Henry Machamer, Isaac Machamer, Israel Machamer and David Machamer  The Machamer family had roots in Wiconisco. HENRY MACHAMER (1836-1862) It is […]

Jeannie Gourlay and Norman Harsell – The Film That Never Was

| November 9, 2012

Jeannie Gourlay, a Scottish-born actress, was a player in the stock company of John T. Ford at his Washington theatre on the night President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, 14 April 1865.  In the post yesterday, a time line was presented which gave several key dates in the life of Jeannie Gourlay.  After the assassination, Jeannie […]

Jeannie Gourlay – Cast Member at Ford’s When Lincoln Was Assassinated

| November 8, 2012

Jeannie Gourlay, a Scottish-born actress, was a player in the stock company of John T. Ford at his Washington theatre on the night President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, 14 April 1865.  The playbill for that night erroneously stated that her role in the Tom Taylor comedy, Our American Cousin, was that of Mary Trenchard, when […]

The Ditty Brothers of Millersburg & Elizabethville

| November 7, 2012

Three Ditty brothers of Millersburg and Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, answered the call to service in the Civil War.  The family was profiled in the Commemorative Biographical Enyclopedia of Dauphin County, by William Henry Egle, published by J. M. Runk and Company of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 1896: Joseph Franklin Ditty, was the son of John Ditty […]

Spielberg Lincoln movie opening Nov 9

| November 6, 2012

Lincoln is an upcoming 2012 biographical war drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as United States President Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln. The film is based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s biography of Lincoln, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, and covers the final four months of Lincoln’s life.  The timing of the film’s release coincides with 150th anniversary of the days […]