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Was William D. Haas a Founder of Millersburg’s G.A.R.?
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 17, 2019
William D. Haas was born on 13 March 1843 in Perry County, Pennsylvania, and died on 5 October 1919 in South Renovo, Clinton County, Pennsylvania.
He is buried at Fairview Cemetery, Clinton County, Pennsylvania. His grave marker at the cemetery, pictured above from Findagrave, indicates he was born in 1844 (not 1843 as other information gives), and that he served in the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company D.
According to information found at the Pennsylvania Archives (shown above), a William D. Hays enrolled in that regiment Company H on 20 August 1861 at Bloomfield [Perry County], Pennsylvania. He was mustered into service as a Private on 31 August 1861 at Harrisburg. At the time he was an 18-year-old laborer who resided at Benevenue, Dauphin County. On 20 September 1861 he transferred into Company D. On 18 December 1863, William re-enlisted at Key West, Florida. On 15 April 1865 he was promoted to Corporal. And, on 25 December 1865 he received an honorable discharge. The Veterans’ Card also notes that the muster rolls show his surname as Hayes.
Note: Benevenue was an unincorporated community in Reed Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on Duncan’s Island, just north of where the Clarks Ferry Bridge crosses the Susquehanna River. It had a post office of that name from 1831 to 1907, when it was discontinued.
According to the Pension Index Card from Fold3, William D. Hays applied for a pension on 29 May 1888, which he received and collected until his death. His widow, Elizabeth applied on 25 October 1919. She collected until her death, which according to her grave marker (pictured above), occurred in 1935.
According to information found on Ancestry.com, the widow Elizabeth was Elizabeth “Eliza” Lenker, daughter of Frederick Lenker and Charlotte Lenker. In 1870, this family is living in Millersburg, Dauphin County, where Frederick was a laborer.
In 1880, the William D. Haas family is found in Millersburg, where William is employed as a laborer.
On 29 June 1881, the name of William D. Hays was listed as one of the charter members of the G.A.R. Post at Millersburg:
Despite the fact that a William D. Hays is found on the charter of the Millersburg Kilpatrick Post of 1881, he is not named on the Millersburg Soldier Monument.
Therefore, based on this limited research, it has to be concluded that the William D. Hayes, William D. Hays, and William D. Haas are the same person – that he married a member of the Lenker family of Millersburg, that he was a charter member of the G.A.R. Post at Millersburg, that he served in the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry, and that he died in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, and is buried in a cemetery there.
Research on this veteran is ongoing and comments from readers would be greatly appreciated.
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The photo of William D. Haas is cropped from a larger image found on a publicly posted tree on Ancestry.com.
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