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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Gratz During the Civil War – Henry M. Witmer, Saddle & Harness Maker

In the years before the Civil War and in the years following the war in which veterans returned and lived in Gratz, this property, known as Lot #42 on the original Simon Gratz subdivision, was owned by three families.  Each of the families had a number of Civil War veterans who were associated with it.  […]

The 1863 Draft for Upper Dauphin County

In July of 1863, President Lincoln issued a proclamation ordering a draft to raise five hundred thousand men for the Union army. It was the first compulsory draft in American history.  The draft was intended to encourage enlistment, but in many cases it had the opposite effect.  Federal troops had to be called out in […]

Veterans

Veterans of the Civil War identified as having some connection to the Lykens Valley area and included in the Civil War Research Project.   Updated 12 April 2011. ++++ Updated 19 April 2012. A Nicholas Adams (1843-1927)—- William Adams (18xx-xxxx) —- Joseph J. Alleman (1847-xxxx) —-William Alleman (1844-1894) —- John Allman (1838-xxxx) —- David Alspach (1839-1864) […]

The Gratztown Militia and the Home Guards

Early in the nineteenth century, perhaps at the very beginning of the settlement of Gratz, a militia was formed to protect the area from intruders and from hostile Indians, of which there were some.  At the beginning of settlement, Gratz was on the frontier and had a “well regulated militia.”  The early settlers of the […]