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Solomon Coleman – Militia Man From Lykens Township
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on October 3, 2018
In the Miners Journal of 13 December 1906, the following funeral report was given:
BURIAL OF SOLOMON COLEMAN
The funeral of Solomon Coleman, of Kaska, who died last Sunday, was held yesterday afternoon, the cortege proceeding to Middleport by trolley where services were conducted at the Lutheran Reformed Church by Rev. C. W. Eberwine, of Port Carbon. Interment was made in the Middleport Cemetery. Many friends and relatives of the deceased paid their last tributes of respect at the church and grave, and there were numerous handsome floral offerings. J. B. Fanoy, of Port Carbon, was the funeral director.
The funeral report does not indicate that Solomon Coleman was a Civil War veteran. No reference to veteran status is seen at his grave:
A Solomon Coleman from Lykens Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, served in the 36th Pennsylvania Infantry (Emergency of 1863), Company C, as a Private, from 4 July 1863 to 11 August 1863. This company and regiment was also known as the Gratztown Militia or the Home Guards.
The Solomon Coleman who died in December 1906 is buried at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Cemetery, Middleport, Schuylkill County. According to his death certificate, his parents were Frederick Coleman and Lydia [Shade] Coleman, both of Lykens Township. He was also known as Solomon A. Coleman or Solomon Andrew Coleman.
In 1890, a Solomon Coleman, living in Mt. Carmel, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, reported to the census that he was a Civil War veteran, but had lost his papers and couldn’t remember his dates of service. Records on Ancestry.com show that this same Solomon Coleman married a Susan Koppenhaver around 1870. She was probably born around Sacramento, Schuylkill County, which is where her parents were from.
Was this the same Solomon Coleman who served in the 36th Pennsylvania Infantry (Emergency of 1863)?
The answer is not clear because there is another Charles Coleman from the Lykens Valley area who could have been the one who served in the militia. That Charles Coleman was born 6 January 1812 probably in Lykens Township and died December 1879, most likely in Dauphin County. His parents were Charles Coleman and Maria Barbara [Stein] Coleman. An, he was married to Susanna Stang.
He is buried at Zion (Klinger) Cemetery, Erdman, Lykens Township:
Nothing at or near this grave at Erdman indicates that this Solomon Coleman was a Civil War veteran.
Of the two men named Solomon Coleman, it is more likely that the one who died in 1906 is the one who served in the militia. However, it is possible that the one who died in 1879 was the one who served in the militia.
More research needs to be done before a firm conclusion is reached.
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