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The Yeager Family in the Civil War (Part 5)
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on May 26, 2015
In 1912, the Hon. James Martin Yeager wrote and published A Brief History of the Yeager, Buffington, Creighton, Jacobs, Lemon, Hoffman and Woodside Families and Their Collateral Kindred of Pennsylvania. Yeager was formerly the President of Drew Seminary for Young Women of Carmel, New York as well as a former Member of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania and a Marshal of the Middle District of Pennsylvania. On pages 82-85, he presented a list of Pennsylvania soldiers he identified with the Yeager surname who had fought in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865. In addition to the names of the soldiers, he named the regiment and company in which they fought. Sixty-three veterans were thus identified. A free download of Yeager’s book can be obtained at the Internet Archive.
There is much information still to be discovered about each of the veterans. Readers of this blog are urged to add information to what is provided below – particularly genealogical information about each of the men, including the names of their parents and their decent from the earliest Yeager’s who arrived in Pennsylvania. Additional stories about the Civil War service of these veterans is also sought, particularly if readers have access to the pension application files and military records from the National Archives. Pictures are especially welcome! Comments can be added to this post or sent by e-mail.
This post continues a multi-part series on these Pennsylvanians with the Yeager surname who served in the Civil War.
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John W. Yeager was born on 24 September 1844 and died on 3 September 1908. He is buried at the Charles Evans Cemetery, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania. During the Civil War he enrolled at Bernville, Berks County, and was mustered into service of Company I, 151st Pennsylvania Infantry, at Harrisburg, as a Sergeant, 1 November 1862. At the time of his enlistment, he was 18 years old, resided at Bernville, and was employed as a mechanic. On either 8 July 1863 or 28 July 1863, he was discharged on a Surgeon’s Certificate of Disability due to wounds he received at Gettysburg on 1 July 1863, which allowed him to apply for a pension on 31 December 1863.
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John H. Yeager served in the 10th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company F, as a Private, from 26 April 1861 through 31 July 1861. at age 19, he enlisted at Lykens Borough, Dauphin County and was mustered into service at Harrisburg. He was a resident of Berrysburg, Dauphin County, and was employed as a clerk. Not much more is known about him except that his parents were Henry Yeager (1819-1896) and Salome Lebo (1819-1887). He was previously named in the Lykens Valley area Veterans’ List.
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John W. Yeager enlisted in the 30th Pennsylvania Infantry (1st Pennsylvania Reserve), on 6 June 1861 and was mustered into service as a Private in Company G at Baltimore, Maryland, in July 1861. On 26 December 1862, he was discharged on a Surgeon’s Certificate of Disability. The record shows that he died on 19 February 1863 and his widow applied for benefits for herself and minor children on 18 May 1863. At the time of his enlistment, he was a 25-year old carpenter by trade and resided in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He is buried at the Morris Cemetery, Phoenixville, Chester County, Pennsylvania. For further information about him, see his Findagrave Memorial.
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George Adam Yeager, also known as George F. Yeager, was born on 25 August 1837 and died 15 August 1870. He is buried at the Charles Evans Cemetery, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania. He first served in the 1st Pennsylvania Infantry, Company G, as a Private, from 20 April 1861 through his discharge on 24 July 1861. He then enlisted in Company B, 50th Pennsylvania Infantry, where he started his service as a 1st Sergeant and on 15th February 1862, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, and on 17 December 1862, he became Captain of the company. Prior to his Civil War service he was employed as a clerk in Berks County. After his death, his widow, Margaret Elizabeth Knabb, applied for pension benefits, which she did not receive. Later, someone applied for benefits for a minor child (or children) and those benefits were also not granted. Additional information about his can be found at his Findgrave Memorial, including pictures of his grave marker and a brief biographical sketch.
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George M. D. Yeager was born about 1846 (based on the age of 18 he gave at enlistment in 1864). He was a laborer living in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, at the time the Civil War began. He was mustered into service in the 46th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company E, as a Private, on 15 October 1864, and was mustered out with his company on 16 July 1865. Not much more is known about him.
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George Yeager served in the 101st Pennsylvania Infantry, Company C, as a Private. He enrolled at Harrisburg and was mustered into service at that place on 15 March 1865, serving until his honorable discharge on 25 June 1865. His record indicates that he was 19 years old when he joined the infantry, was a painter, and he asserted that he was born in Northumberland County and still resided there when he enlisted. On 13 August 1890, he applied for an invalid pension, which he collected until his death; no widow survived him.
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Pennsylvania Veterans’ Index Cards are from the Pennsylvania Archives.
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