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Levi Gable of Lykens-Wiconisco – Served in 3 Regiments?
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on July 11, 2018
On 26 April 1861, after enrolling at Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, a shoemaker from Wiconisco, Levi Gable, was mustered into service in the 10th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company F, as a Private. At the time, he was 23 years old. Nothing much more is known about him except that he served his three month term of enlistment and was mustered out with his company on 31 July 1861.
One of the difficulties in determining in which regiments Levi Gable served is that there are several men of the same name. Because the enrollment of the Levi Gable who served in the 10th Pennsylvania Infantry was as Lykens, that service is used as the baseline for connecting other evidence to this Levi Gable.
In a prior post here, a list of Civil War soldiers buried at Lykens cemeteries was presented. That list was compiled by Claude Keiser, son of Henry Keiser. Henry Keiser served in the 10th Pennsylvania Infantry and was responsible for compiling the list of veterans for the Lykens G.A.R. Monument. Claude Keiser‘s list included a Levi Gable, buried in Union Cemetery in Lykens. Union Cemetery is a small section of of the greater Lykens Cemetery and is bounded by an alley, Spruce Street, and South Second Street. However, in walking that section, no grave marker for Levi Gable was seen. In a published list of the some of the sections of the Lykens Cemetery, a Levi Babel was found in Row 13 of the Union Cemetery. The written designation states that Levi Babel had a “govt. tbst.” [government tombstone] with no dates and on which was inscribed, “Company H, 173rd Pennsylvania Infantry” That stone can no longer be found in the cemetery.
From the Lykens G.A.R. Monument found on North Second Street, Lykens, the name of Levi Gable can be seen among a listing of Privates who were not members of the G.A.R.:
From the database, “Headstones Provided for Deceased Union Civil War Veterans” (Ancestry.com), the following was found:
The card from the database states that the Levi Gabel who served in Company K of the 173rd Pennsylvania Infantry who is buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery at Lykens, died on 27 February 1871. The contract for the stone was dated 21 January 1883 (or 1888).
Is this the same person who served in the 10th Pennsylvania Infantry?
The 173rd Pennsylvania Infantry was a drafted militia placed under national service. According to the Registers of Pennsylvania Volunteers found at the Pennsylvania Archives, the Levi Gabel who served in Company K of that regiment was enrolled as a Private at Camp Curtin at age 25 on 9 November 1862 and was mustered into service at the same place on 11 November 1862. He was discharged on 18 August 1863 with his company. Many of the members of this regiment and company were also from the Lykens Valley area, so it is likely that this is the same person who is buried at Lykens. The Veterans’ File Cards, shown above and below, are from the Pennsylvania Archives.
From the Pennsylvania Archives (above), it is learned that a Levi Gable also served in Company H of the 210th Pennsylvania Infantry. The Registers of Pennsylvania Volunteers, also from the Pennsylvania Archives, note that Levi Gable served as a Corporal in Company H, and was enrolled at Harrisburg, 15 September 1864, at age 26. He was mustered into service the same day at Camp Curtin and was mustered out with his company on 30 May 1865.
While the dates of service in the three regiments are not overlapping, there is nothing specific to connect the Levi Gable of the 210th Pennsylvania Infantry to the soldier buried at Lykens.
Finally, there are two death notices that have been located in the Lykens Register. The first is from the edition of 16 October 1896, in events of 1871:
Levi Gable, a former resident of this place, who removed to Newport, Perry County, about two years ago, died this week and will be buried in this place [Lykens] on Sunday by Lykens Council, No. 112, O.U.A.M., of which he was a member. Mr. Gable was a shoemaker and worked at his trade while her, but soon after removing was attacked by a stroke of paralysis, from which he lost the use of one side and was almost helpless. He was thirty-two years old.
The second appeared in the Lykens Register of 23 October 1896, events of 1871:
The remains of Levi Gable, whose death we announced last week, arrived at this place by rail on Saturday evening and were conveyed to the residence of F. J. Douden. The funeral took place from the Lutheran Church, the Rev. Mr. Landis officiating.
In checking the Perry County newspapers, the following was located in the Newport News, 25 February 1871::
We are informed that Mr. Levi Gable of this place, since his last paralytic stroke, has become partially deranged, and is at time very dangerous, and has to be watched almost continually to keep him from inflicting bodily injury upon himself or some member of his family. He is worse at night than through the day.
Mr. Gable died on Thursday night.
And from the Newport News, 11 March 1871:
BURIAL of LEVI GABLE – From the Upper Dauphin (Lykens) Register, of last week, we clip the following:
The remains of Mr. Gable (whose death in Newport, Perry County, we announced last week) arrived at this place by mail on Saturday evening, when they were taken in charge by a delegation from Lykens Council American Mechanics, and conveyed to the residence of Mr. F. J. Douden. The funeral took place on Sunday morning from the Lutheran Church, Rev. Landis officiating, and was attended by a large number of the Senior and Junior Order of Mechanics of this place, and by the public generally. Deceased was borne to the cemetery on the shoulders of his brother Mechanics to the solemn music of the Lykens Cornet Band, followed by mourning relatives and friends. He was thirty-two years of age, and leaves a wife and two children.
This latter article is the first mention that there were survivors – a wife and two children.
The 1870 Census for Newport, Perry County, Pennsylvania, names Levi Gable as 32 year old head of household, a laborer, with wife Mary Gable, age 25, and two small children, George Gable, born about 1868, and Harry Gable, born about 1869, Not much more has been located about the survivors, except that a Lutheran baptismal record has bee located for George Gable at Lykens, before the family moved to Perry County.
A check of the Pension Index Cards on Fold3 for the three regiments in which Levi Gable purportedly served, gives no evidence that the widow ever applied for benefits based on her husband’s war service – nor did anyone apply for the minors.
At the time of this writing, no further evidence has been seen to confirm or refute the idea that the Levi Gable who died in 1871 and is buried at Lykens served in the three aforementioned regiments.
Readers are invited to contribute addition information by adding comments to this post.
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