Civil War Blog

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 12, 2016

On 5 April 1899, a story appeared in the Harrisburg Telegraph telling of a “Mad Stone” that was first acquired from the Indians by a Pennsylvania Dutchman, Ferdinand Fred, in the mid-Eighteenth Century, and then was transported to Louden County, Virginia, near where the Battle of Ball’s Bluff was fought during the Civil War.  The story described the sale of the stone for the price of $682.50.

THE “MAD STONE” SOLD

It Brought $682.50 at Public Auction in Virginia

The people down in Louden County, Virginia, appear to have gone mad over a “mad stone,” which has been referred to two or thre times in these dispatches.  The stone was obtained from the Indians about the middle of the last century by Ferdinand Fred, a Pennsylvania Dutchman, who moved across the Potomac and settled in Loudon County at the foot of the Catoctin Mountain, not far from where the Battle of Ball’s Bluff was fought during the Civil War.  It has been handed down from generation to generation, not only as an object of interest, but as a valuable piece of property from which a steady revenue has been derived.  Person who have been bitten by animals, poisonous reptiles and insects, have come for miles around to be healed by its application to the wound, and it is credited with thousands of successful cures.  The faith in the stone extends to the medical fraternity, and many persons who have been bitten by dogs and other animals, rattlesnakes, spiders and other venomous creatures, have been sent by their physician to test its  efficacy, writes a Chicago Record correspondent.

The tone has always belonged to the Fred family and has brought in an income of several hundred dollars a year.  When the last owner died he provided in his will that the stone should be kept forever in the family and offered free to sufferers, but the heirs quarreled over it, and by order of the Court, the executors offered it at auction.  It was sold for $450 to one of the heirs, but the rest claimed that it would bring more money if the public were allowed to bid.  At the request of the executors the Court set aside the first sale and ordered it put up at auction a second time.  On Tuesday last the public as well as the heirs were allowed to bid for it, and it was finally knocked down to C. B. Turner, M.D. of Snickersville, Loudon County, for $682.50.

At the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, 21 October 1861, Lt. Oliver Wendell Holmes of the 20th Massachusetts Infantry, was seriously wounded, but miraculously survived.  In 1902, he was appointed Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He served until the age of 90, retiring in 1930 as the oldest Supreme Court justice in history.  Perhaps his proximity to the “mad stone” at the time he was wounded assisted in his recovery, though we’ll never know for sure.

Category: Stories | Comments Off on The “Mad Stone” Melarkey – Another Supernatural Story of the Civil War
Tags: Pennsylvania Dutch

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 11, 2016

John Henry Herring was living in Llewellyn, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, when he enrolled in the 50th Pennsylvania Infantry on 19 August 1961.  He was mustered into service in Company A as a Corporal on 9 September 1861, and at a date unknown was promoted to 1st Sergeant.  He remained with the regiment in that capacity until 1 January 1864 when he re-enlisted at Blaine’s Crossroads, Tennessee.  On 18 March 1865 he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and was honorably discharged with his company on 30 July 1865.

When he enrolled, he gave his age as 19 and his occupation as wheelwright.  He was 5 foot 7 inches tall, had a florid complexion, gray eyes, and black hair.

At some point after his Civil War service he first moved to Texas, where he is found in the 1880 Census of Throckmorton County.  He was then working as a wool grower.  In 1900, still in Throckmorton County, Texas, he was working as a farmer.

In 1910, he was in Long Beach, Los Angeles, California, where he was living on his “own income,” presumably wholly or partly on a Civil War pension.  In that census, he indicated that he had been married for 20 years.  Other records show that his wife was Alice J. Lehman, who was born about 1857 or 1858 in Tremont, Schuylkill County.  Alice was located in the 1900 Census of Tremont, but appears with her husband in California in 1910.  She died in Los Angeles County on 10 July 1932, according to California death records.

John H. Herring first applied for a pension on 12 September 1898, which he received and collected until his death on 31 July 1912,.  Alice J. [Lehman] Herring applied for widow’s pension benefits shortly after her husband’s death in 1912.  She collected until she died on 10 July 1932.  [Pension Index Card above from Fold3].

John Henry Herring is buried at the Sunny Side Cemetery, Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California.  Some additional information about him can be found at his Findagrave Memorial.

More information is sought on this 1st Lieutenant of the same company of the 50th Pennsylvania Infantry that was populated mostly with men from the Lykens Valley area.  Does any reader have a picture of him?   Please add comments to this post or submit via e-mail.

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The Pennsylvania Veterans’ File Card is from the Pennsylvania Archives.

Category: Queries, Research, Resources, Stories | Comments Off on John H. Herring – Died in California, 1912
Tags: Llewellyn, Tremont

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 8, 2016

In a prior post on this blog entitled Lykens Railroad Station, maps were presented showing the locations of Civil War era railroad structures at the terminus of the Lykens Valley Railroad in Lykens Borough.  Today’s post will feature some of those structures as photographed in 1916 and found in the files of the Interstate Commerce Commission, Washington, D.C., as well as some other pictures from private collections. Note:  Click on any photo to enlarge.

The photo above is captioned “Original Lykens Station.”  However, according to the maps, the 1858 station was said to be about one block east of Market Street which which would not be where this pictured station was located.  An addition was constructed to the station shown in the picture, thus creating the larger station which is still standing in Lykens.  Note the stone building at the right-center of the picture, which has been identified as a Blacksmith Shop, and the Water Tower, which was located just to the left and behind the Blacksmith Shop.  Probably, these three structures were the ones used during the Civil War.

The above view shows the expanded station in the same location.  The expansion was completed post-Civil War.  The Blacksmith Shop and Water Tower are seen at the right.

A close-up view of the expanded station includes four railroad workers posing for the Interstate Commerce Commission photo in 1916.

The Blacksmith Shop, shown above in close-up as it appeared in 1916.  This is believed to be the same structure as is identified on the Civil War period maps.

The Turntable and Engine House were featured on a stereoscopic view card.  Five engine bays were unusual for a small railroad, indicating that a number of engines were in service on this line at the time of the Civil War.  According to the maps, the engine house was located East of the Blacksmith Shop and Water tower.

Three locomotives appear in the above late-19th Century photograph – along with a number of railroad employees.  The different type of doors and the possible closure of the center and far right bays, may indicate that the photograph is not of the Lykens Engine House, although it has been identified as such.

The Yard Office shown above may also have been one of the Civil War era structures.

A close-up of the Water Tower shows that it is of the same stone construction as the Blacksmith Shop, and probably built at the same time – thus in use during the Civil War.  From:  Interstate Commerce Commission, 1916.

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Comments are welcome, especially from railroad enthusiasts!

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | Comments Off on Civil War Railroad Structures of Lykens
Tags: Lykens Borough, Railroad

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 7, 2016

The McClellan House was located at 912 Walnut Street, Philadelphia.  A historical marker was placed on the sidewalk in front of where the house once stood.  The marker reads:

McCLELLAN HOUSE

Father and son lived at 912 Walnut St. after 1832.  Home of George McClellan, M.D., founder, Jefferson College, until he died in 1847.  Home until 1842 future Gen. George B.McClellan, commander, Army of the Potomac, 1861-62; U. S. Presidential candidate in 1864.

Many of the buildings in the area near the historical marker are presently part of Thomas Jefferson University.

On the house’s former location, at street level, is a convenience store.

Category: Memorials | Comments Off on Gen. George McClellan’s Philadelphia Home – Historical Marker
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Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 6, 2016

Henry H. Weaver is buried at David’s Cemetery, Killinger, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  He died in late 1861 or early 1862 at Jeffersonville, Indiana, of disease, presumably “congestion of the lungs.”

From the Diary of William Thomas, of Lykens Borough, who also served in the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Company B, with Weaver, which was compiled by John Rowell in Yankee Cavalrymen, we learn:

The weather was especially important to thee men who drilled and marched in the open and only had tents for shelter.  From their observations, we learn that December of 1861 was generally pleasant, but some days were “Cold and rainy.”   “Cold and gloomy,” and “Cold and rough winds all day.”  Consecutive diary entries in early January recorded, “No drill on account of the rain,” “raining all day,” and “Cold day,” and “Cold and Snowy.” Then another day of rain was followed by two cold days and then by a “very cold day[,] the ground Froze [,] Hard and Slipy [,] Horses can Hardly Walk.”  Two days later, “Had a Thunder storm in the night and pretty near all our tents Drowned out with the rain.”

Exposed to the variable weather, marching in mud, and often soaked to the skin, large numbers of the men were soon in the hospital.  Deaths occurred frequently.  On December 20, William Thomas wrote, “Solemn procession in the afternoon after the corpes of H. H. Weaver of Company B with our Black Horses to the station w[h]ere he was sent home to his friends in Millersburg.  [pages 36-37].

Henry H. Weaver enrolled in the regiment on 11 November 1861 at Camp Cameron and was mustered into service on the same day, Company B, at the rank of Private.  At the time he enrolled, he was an 18 year old, 5 foot 8 inch tall farmer, who resided in Dauphin County. He had dark complexion, brown hair and blue eyes.

On 11 August 1890, Henry’s father, George G. Weaver applied for pension benefits based on his son’s service, which he received and collected until his death.  At this time it is not known when George died, but since he was born about 1811, he could not have lived too long after he applied for and received the pension.  Henry’s mother, Hannah [Heim] Weaver, died in 1888.  The above Pension Index Card is from Ancestry.com.

Henry H. Weaver is named on the Millersburg Soldier Monument as shown above.

For those wishing to do further research on Henry H. Weaver, several documents from the pension file are reproduced below.  Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the documents.

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | Comments Off on Henry H. Weaver – Died in War at Jeffersonville, Indiana
Tags: Killinger, Milersburg