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Death of Henry Culbert & Suicide of His Son
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 11, 2019
Henry Culbert, who has been identified as a Civil War veteran from the Lykens Valley area, was previously mentioned on this blog, but at the time, not much was known about him:
Henry Culbert served in Company A of the 24th U.S. Infantry according to the grave marker. Henry Culbert told the 1890 census takers that he served in the 22nd U.S. Infantry. For prior posts, click here, including Tower City Veterans’ Memorial.
Although not much more has been discovered at this time about his Civil War service, some brief notices of his death have been located in local and area newspapers.
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From the West Schuylkill Herald, 2 January 1914:
Henry Culbert, a former well known resident of Reinerton, is critically ill at the home of his brother, M. J. Culbert at Pine Grove.
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From the Pottsville Republican, 8 January 1914:
Henry Culbert, of Reinerton, Porter Township, who came here [Pine Grove] on a visit recently, was taken with pneumonia and died after a brief illness at the home of Mrs. Michael Culbert, in the Annex. Undertaker M. Shellhamer prepared the body for shipment and forwarded it to Tower City, where interment was made today in the Greenwood Cemetery at that place. The deceased is survived by four sons and one daughter, the latter being Mrs. Charles Workman, of town. Mr. Culbert was well known here and frequently visited here. He was a member of the Tremont Lodge of Odd Fellows.
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From the Lebanon Semi-Weekly News, 8 January 1914:
PINEGROVE
Pinegrove, January 8
Henry Culbert, of Reinerton, Porter Township, died while on a visit to Mrs. Michael Culbert, in the Annex. Undertaker J. M. Shellhamer forwarded the remains to Tower City, where interment was made in the Greenwood Cemetery. Deceased is survived by four sons and one daughter, the latter being Mrs. Charles Workman of town. Mr. Culbert was well known here and was a frequent visitor. He was a member of the Tremont Lodge of Odd Fellows.
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From the Pine Grove Press Herald, 9 January 1914:
Henry Culbert, died at Culbert’s Hotel, in the Annex, on Saturday afternoon, at about 2:30 o’clock, of pneumonia. Undertaker J. M. Shellhamer was notified who prepared the body and shipped it to his home at Tower City, from which place interment will be made in the beautiful Greenwood Cemetery. Four sons and one daughter survive. Mrs. Charles Workman, of town, is the daughter. The deceased is reputed to be about 61 years of age. Interment took place on Wednesday.
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From the West Schuylkill Herald, 9 January 1914:
Robert Culbert of Mason City, Iowa; Leo Culbert of South Bend, Indiana, and Harry Culbert of Wade, spent several days in this vicinity. They came here for the purpose of attending the funeral of their father, the late Henry Culbert.
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From the West Schuylkill Herald and Pine Grove Press, 10 January 1914:
Henry Culbert, formerly foreman at Lincoln Colliery and later residing at Reinerton, died last Saturday afternoon at the home of his sister-in-law, Mrs. Michael Culbert, North Pinegrove, from typhoid pneumonia. Funeral was held on Wednesday forenoon. Interment was made in Tower City.
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From the West Schuylkill Herald, 16 January 1914:
Leo C. Culbert Commits Suicide
Leo C. Culbert, aged 25 years, who was a resident of Reinerton for many years and is well known at that place on Monday committed suicide by swallowing a quantity of carbolic acid at his boarding house at South Bend, Indiana.
No reason is advanced why he committed the deed. In the afternoon he sent a telegram to his friend Lincoln Sponsler at Toledo, Ohio, asking him to come at once to South Bend. Sponsler wired back that he would start at 2 p.m. As soon as Culbert got the telegram he went to his room and that was the last seen of him alive. Sponsler arrived several hours later but Culbert was dead. At the time of his death he was manager of a Gas and Electric Company. He left two notes, one to notify his brother, Dr. Robert Culbert, at Mason City, Iowa, and another to the gas company, bot none of them throw any light on why he ended his life.
The deceased was a son of the late Henry Culbert whose funeral took place last week and which the son Leo attended, returning to South Bend the latter part of last week.
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Genealogical records indicate that Henry Culbert was born in England on 21 December 1848, the son of Harry Culbert. Henry came to the United States about November 1853, arriving at New York. The 1870 Census has him living in Tremont, Schuylkill County, and working as a miner. On 18 May 1871, he married Sarah Lehr at Pine Grove, and with her had at least eight known children. Sarah was born in 1850 in Pennsylvania and died on 7 September 1911 at Tower City.
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Henry Culbert applied for a disability pension on 10 September 1900, but according to the Pension Index Card, shown above from Ancestry.com, he was not given benefits. Also, the card indicated that his service was in the 15th U.S. Infantry and the 24th U.S. Infantry. The pension application files available from the National Archives would have to be consulted to determine why the pension was not awarded.
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Henry Culbert‘s grave marker at Greenwood Cemetery is shown above, with G.A.R. star-flag holder and designation of his service in the 24th U.S. Infantry.
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News clippings are from Newspapers.com.
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