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Jacob Beller – On Staff of Commander-in-Chief of G.A.R.
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on October 15, 2018
An obituary of Jacob Beller of Millersburg appeared in the Elizabethville Echo of 2 May 1912:
Civil War Veteran of Millersburg Dead
The death of Jacob Beller, a veteran of the Civil War, aged 76, occurred at his home on Union Street, Millersburg last Friday, after a short illness of pneumonia. Deceased served during the war in the Eighteenth Regiment, U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, and was taken prisoner by the Confederates and held in Andersonville Prison for more than six months. At the time of his death he was an aide on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the G.A.R. and a member of Kirpatrick Post No. 212, G.A.R. of Millersburg. He is survived by one daughter and a sister of Millersburg, and a brother in San Diego, California. Funeral services were held on Monday afternoon, Rev. Burke of the Methodist Episcopal Church officiating. The G.A.R. had charge of the funeral.
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The report of his funeral appeared in the Lykens Standard of 3 May 1912:
Death of Jacob Beller
Jacob Beller, aged 76 years, a veteran of the Civil War, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Irvin Noll of Millersburg, last Friday afternoon, after a short illness of pneumonia. He was an aide on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the G.A.R. and a member of Kilpatrick Post, No. 212, G.A.R. The funeral services were held Monday afternoon at 2 o’clock and were in charge of the G.A.R., the Rev. E. W. Burke of the Methodist Episcopal Church, officiating. A short service was held at the house, after which the interment was made in Oak Hill Cemetery. From there they proceeded the M. E. Church, where the funeral sermon was preached.
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That he was on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the G.A.R., had not been previously known, and resulted in additional research. A headline and brief mention of this was reported in the Harrisburg Telegraph of 13 January 1912:
APPOINTMENT FOR MILLERSBURG MAN
Jacob Beller Made an Aid of the Staff of Commander-in-Chief G.A.R.
Millersburg, Pennsylvania, 12 January [1912] — Jacob Beller, a member of Kilpatrick Post, No. 212, G.A.R., of Millersburg, has been honored with the appointment of aid on the staff of the commander-in-chief of the G.A.R.
Harvey M. Trimble
In 1912, Harvey M. Trimble was the Commander-in-Chief of the G.A.R. and the above photo of him appeared in the Los Angeles Times, 10 January 1912, when he was there planning for the 46th Annual Encampment which was to be held there beginning on 9 September 1912. While a long list of those who accompanied Trimble appeared in an article describing the preparations, the name of Jacob Beller did not appear. However, it is possible that he was too ill to make the cross-country journey in January. He died about three and a half months later.
Not much more is known about the role Jacob Beller was expected to play as aide to Harvey M. Trimble.
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News clippings from Newspapers.com.
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