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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

“It would have been better if Mr. Ryan had not seized the pistol….”

| July 8, 2016

On 14 March 1901, a Civil War veteran, Charles W. Ryan was shot and killed during a robbery at the Halifax National Bank in Halifax, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, by one of the two men committing that robbery.  Ryan, who was serving as cashier at the bank, was also one of the bank’s founding shareholder members.  […]

Edward Crabb – Victim of Bigotry in Gratz

| July 1, 2016

Another Memorial Day has gone by and the grave of Edward Crabb, an African American Civil War soldier buried in Gratz Union Cemetery, continues to be un-decorated [no G.A.R.-Star-Flag-Holder and Flag].  In addition to being un-decorated, the Crabb family plot is one of the worst maintained in a cemetery which is known for its manicured […]

Different American History Books – For the North and For the South

| April 20, 2016

By 1899, Southerners were beginning to object to histories of the United States that were written by Northerners. This small note appeared in the Harrisburg Telegraph on 14 October 1899: The Confederate veterans of Virginia object to a history of the United States written by a Northern man and used as a text book in […]

The Draft of 1861 and the Second Amendment

| December 30, 2015

Further proof that the Second Amendment originally applied specifically to a “well regulated militia” and not individuals collecting personal arsenals of unregulated weapons for their own protection and defense, is found in an explanation of the Pennsylvania Draft of 1861 as it was presented to the public in an article appearing in the Reading Times, […]

Christmas and the Spirit of Giving

| December 25, 2015

In this Christmas season, don’t forget to reward your local historical society with a tax-deductible gift.  That gift can either be monetary, goods, or services. To determine whether a historical society is a legitimate 501(c)3 organization, properly registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the IRS provides current, on-line information about each group in this […]