Civil War Blog

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 8, 2014

Today’s post on the Shamokin Cemetery’s Soldiers’ Circle features thirteen graves in the second circle, first quadrant, beginning with photograph 80.  The photographs in this segment are numbered 80 through 92.  All of the stones in this section are sequenced in the order of the death of the veteran.  For each of the veterans, the best determination of the name is given and where possible some information about the military record.  Some errors may be noted where the information on the stone may not match other records.  Each grave photograph may be enlarged by clicking on it, and in some cases, readers may be able to identify or clarify some of the unknown information.  Comments can be added to this post or sent by e-mail to the Civil War Research Project.  The collected information on soldiers buried in the circle (including some military records, pension files, photographs, etc.) is available free-of-charge to veterans organizations, historical societies, and other non-profit groups.  Inquiries may be sent by e-mail or by regular mail, to the attention of Norman Gasbarro, P.O. Box 523, Gratz, PA  17030.

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#80 – Unreadable

An unreadable and heavily worn stone upon which only a few letters can be deciphered.

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#81 – Unreadable

Another unreadable and heavily worn stone upon which only a few letters can be deciphered.

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#82 – Josiah Simmers

Josiah Simmers was born in September 1842 and died on 15 November 1900.  He served in the 173rd Pennsylvania Infantry, Company F, as a Private, from 8 November 1862, but was reported as deserted on 17 November 1862.  As a result of the desertion, he was tried by a military commission and on the issuance of Special Order #151 at Philadelphia on 14 December 1863, he was assigned to serve for nine months in the 147th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company I, as a Private.  His service began on 19 December 1863 and his honorable discharge was received on 19 September 1864.  He applied for a pension on 19 July 1890.  He is also found in the records as Josiah Simmons.

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#83 – Unreadable

This stone is difficult to read.  Perhaps a reader knows who is buried here.  Click on the picture to enlarge it to see if the name looks familiar.  This veteran died after November 1900 but before 27 May 1901.

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#84 – William A. Culp

This government issue grave marker is relatively new in that the death date of 25 May 1901 is noted at the bottom; earlier issued stones were not in this format.  It may be that a previous stone was damaged and the family requested a replacement.  William A. Culp served in the 8th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company A, as a Private.  He enrolled at Shamokin and was mustered into service at Harrisburg.  At the time of his enrollment he was 24 years old, he resided in Shamokin, and was a laborer.  His military service was from 22 April 1861 to 22 July 1861.  There is possibly an interesting story here since two widow applied for his pension – one before his death year of 1901.  There is also another William A. Culp who is buried elsewhere in the Shamokin Cemetery who was also a Civil War soldier and who died in 1903.  The William A. Culp who is buried in the Soldiers’ Circle was born on 23 July 1834.

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#85 – Peter Trion

Peter Trion or Peter R. Treon was born in July 1841 or July 1842 in Rebuck, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.  He died on 28 June 1902 in Shamokin.  During the Civil War he served in the 172nd Pennsylvania Infantry, Company K, as a Private.  He was mustered in on 28 October 1862 and was mustered out with his compan on 1 August 1863.  He applied for a pension on 9 January 1880.  Peter also appears in the Trevorton Civil War list.

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#86 – Jacob Smith

Jacob Smith enrolled at Milton, Northumberland County, in the 131st Pennsylvania Infantry, Company E, as a Private and was mustered in on 14 August 1862.  One record indicates that he deserted at Camp Curtin on15 August 1862 but another record indicates that he served his full enlistment and was mustered out with his company on 23 May 1863.  At the time of enrollment, he said he was 22 years old and other records confirm this in that his birth date is given as 3 January 1839.  This Jacob Smith was a resident of Shamokin in 1890.  He died on 14 July 1902.  Prior to his death he had applied for a pension on 28 August 1890 and after his death his widow, Emeline Smith, applied on 21 July 1902.  There is another Jacob Smith in Coal Township, Northumberland County, in 1890, who served in the 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry and the two should not be confused.

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#87 – Thomas Tarr

Thomas Tarr, born about 1841 in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, is the only known African American buried in the Soldiers’ Circle.  He served in the 45th United States Colored Troops, Company I, as a Private from 6 August 1864 through either the 15 August 1865 or 4 November 1865.  He appied for a pension on 16 July 1890.  He was married to Mary Entry (who could be Mary Enty– see Enty Family).  Twenty-three pages of military records are available for him.

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#88 – Unreadable

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#89 – John R. Dillon

This stone is sunken in the ground but enough of the wording is visible to indicate that John R. Dillon is buried here.  John R. Dillon was born about 1836 and died on 26 March 1903.  During the Civil War he served in the 132nd Pennsylvania Infantry, Company H, as a Private.  He enrolled at Catawissa, Pennsylvania, and was mustered into service at Harrisburg on 14 August 1862 and was mustered out with his company on 24 May 1863.  At the time of his enrollment, he stated that he was 24 years old, that he resided in Catawissa, and was employed as a shoemaker.  On 7 July 1884, John R. Dillon applied for an invalid pension and after his death, Amanda [Strausser] Dillon, his widow, applied for pension benefits.

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#90 – Unreadable

This stone is badly worn and unreadable although some of the lettering is visible.  The veteran buried here probably died some time between the end of March 1903 and the middle of May 1903.

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#91 – Beneville Beissel

Beneville H. Beisel was living in Hegins, Schuylkill County, in 1890.  His surname is variously spelled in the records as Bisell, Beisel, Beissel, Bisel.  He was born 9 June 1831 and died 10 May 1903.  His service in the Civil War included the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company G, as a Private, and the 95th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company G, in which his company was assimilated on 18 October 1864.  His service dates were 17 September 1862 through honorable discharge on 18 June 1865.  A reported Civil War-related disability was that he was “ruptured” while in the service.  Beneville applied for a invalid pension on 11 July 1883.

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#92 – Jacob Schroyer

Jacob Shroyer (also found in the records as Schroyer and Schrayer), was born 30 June 1834 and died 29 June 1904.  There are several persons with this same name who served in the Civil War, but the one buried here served in the 2nd Michigan Infantry, Company B.  He was mustered into service on 18 May 1861.  It is unclear as to when his discharge occurred.  Jacob Shroyer applied for a pension on 5 July 1890.  His wife was Harriet [Rothermel] Shroyer.

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For all posts in this series, click on ShamokinSoldCircle.

Category: Queries, Research, Stories | 2 Comments »
Tags: African American, Cemetery, Hegins, Lykens Borough, Rebuck

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 6, 2014

A listing of the March 2014 posts on The Civil War Blog with direct links:

The Charter of the Kilpatrick G.A.R. Post of Millersburg

February 2014 Posts

The Susquehanna River Flood of March 1865 (Part 1 of 2)

The Shamokin Soldiers’ Circle – Photographs 6 -14

The Susquehanna River Flood of March 1865 (Part 2 of 2)

The Shamokin Soldiers’ Circle – Photographs 15 – 23

The Shamokin Soldiers’ Circle – Photographs 24 – 32

The Shamokin Soldiers’ Circle – Photographs 33 – 41

Harrisburg Burning

The Shamokin Soldiers’ Circle – Photographs 42 – 50

Harrisburg Burning – Again

The Shamokin Soldiers’ Circle – Photographs 51 – 59

The Shamokin Soldiers’ Circle – Photographs 60 – 68

Events of the World: March 1864

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Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 4, 2014

Today’s post on the Shamokin Cemetery’s Soldiers’ Circle features nine graves in the outer circle, fourth quadrant, beginning with photograph 69.  The photographs in this segment are numbered 69 through 77, followed by the path into the circle (photograph 78) and the path to the inner circle (photograph 79).  All of the stones in this section are sequenced in the order of the death of the veteran.  For each of the veterans, the best determination of the name is given and where possible some information about the military record.  Some errors may be noted where the information on the stone may not match other records.  Each grave photograph may be enlarged by clicking on it, and in some cases, readers may be able to identify or clarify some of the unknown information.  Comments can be added to this post or sent by e-mail to the Civil War Research Project.  The collected information on soldiers buried in the circle (including some military records, pension files, photographs, etc.) is available free-of-charge to veterans organizations, historical societies, and other non-profit groups.  Inquiries may be sent by e-mail or by regular mail, to the attention of Norman Gasbarro, P.O. Box 523, Gratz, PA  17030.

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#69 – Stone Broken at Ground – Unknown

As with several other grave sites in the Soldier’s Circle, this stone is broken of at the ground – or may have been removed.  If the graves are in sequential order of death, the soldier buried here died between Sseptember 1895 and early June 1896.

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#70 – Unreadable

Another badly weather-worn stone which is unreadable.  This soldier probably died in 1896.

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#71 – Unreadable

Some of the wording on this grave marker may be readable upon closer examination.  The soldier buried here probably died in early 1896.

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#72 – Samuel Fryberger

Samuel Fryberger was the subject of a post on this blog on 2 October 2011 entitled, “How Many Samuel Frybergers?”  He died on 6 June 1896.

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#73 – Charles Engle

More information is sought on Charles M. Engle who died on 23 July 1897.  Can anyone identify his Civil War service by regiment and company?

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#74 – Elias Fox

Elias Fox enrolled at Reading in the 5th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company H, as a Private, and was mustered into service in Harrisburg on 20 April 1861.  After completing his three months of service, he was discharged on 25 July 1861.  At the time he joined the infantry he said he was 36 years old.  Elias was born 21 October 1824 and died on 16 February 1898.  He applied for an invalid pension on 17 July 1890 while living in Shamokin.  After his death, his widow, Edith A. Fox, applied for and received pension benefits.

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#75 – Cyrus Zeigler

Cyrus Zeigler (also found as Cyrus Ziegler) died on 12 May 1898.  There is a man of this same name who is recognized on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument, but it is not known if the one buried here is the same one.  A possibility exists that this is the man who served in the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company D, but that has not been confirmed.

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#76 – Joseph M. ——–

This is a badly weathered grave stone that is very difficult to read.  The first name of the soldier appears to be Joseph and some other letters stand out, but the full name is unclear.  Death probably occurred after May 1898 and before November 1900.

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#77 – Unreadable

Another unreadable and badly weathered stone, although some of the letters can probably be made out if the photograph is enlarged.

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This completes the outer circle.

#78 – Path into Second Circle

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#79 – Path into Second Circle

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For all posts in this series, click on ShamokinSoldCircle.

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Tags: Cemetery

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 2, 2014

A third incident of arson in Harrisburg occurred in the early morning of 1 July 1865, the two previous incidents having occurred a few days prior and about two weeks prior.  This third incident resulted in the organization of citizens’ patrols.  The article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on 3 July 1865 also made note of the fact that soldiers were pouring into the city which was a major discharge point.  Among those regiments that were being discharged in Harrisburg and Camp Curtin at the time of the third fire were the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry, the 190th Pennsylvania Infantry, and the 191st Pennsylvania Infantry.

HARRISBURG.  Still Another Fire. Incendiarism.  The People Alarmed!  The Mayor Calls a Town Meeting.  Government Property Under Double Guard.  The Liquor Establishments Closed.  Citizens Patrol the Wards.  Pennsylvania Regiments Still Arriving.  Camp Curtin Filled with Soldiers.

Special Correspondence of the Inquirer.

Harrisburg, 1 July 1865 —

Still Another Fire – Incendiaries.

The fire fiends are still at work.  There is no doubt whatsoever that Harrisburg is infested with a few desperate characters, who have originated the fires that have occurred here within the last three weeks.  In the first fire of the series, they destroyed about thirty-five of the series, they destroyed about thirty-five thousand dollars’ worth of property in the very heart of the city.  The second attempt was made in the rear of the Brady House and the North Ward Girls’ Grammar School.  This square is composed of light frame tenements, and if the firemen had not arrived early the whole square might have been in a——- morning.  The third fire occurred early — morning in a stable in Raspberry Alley between Market and Chestnut Streets. On one side is the Jones House, on the other the Lochiel, to of the largest hotels in the city.

In close vicinity is the Dauphin Deposit Bank, Masonic Hall, Court House, Brant’s City Mills, and cetera.  The fiery element raged fiercely for a time, but through the gallant exertions of the firemen the flames were stayed, not, however, until after several buildings, the property of M. C. S. Legelbaum, were destroyed.

These fires have all occurred between the hours of two and four o’clock in the morning when it is the most difficult to arouse the people.  They are evidently designed to burn large and valuable districts.  Everybody is becoming alarmed.  The impression is gaining ground that it is an organized system to burn the place.

Although there is no paid fire department here the volunteer firemen have worked very efficiently,  A proposition has been before Councils to appoint a Fire Director for the city at a fixed salary, but the Fire Companies have strongly protested against it.  The war has brought here a very large number of itinerant and small traders and storekeepers, who for economy sake have occupied light frame buildings erected for temporary purposes.  Indeed the place is largely composed of this class of buildings.  This looks almost like inviting fires.  The wonder is that these conflagrations have not extended over more extended districts.  It is now urged that an ordinance be passed, prohibiting the erection of wooden buildings.  This would no doubt have a very good effect.

In view of the dangers surrounding the people a town meeting was called by the Mayor at the Court House this evening.  There was a large attendance.  The Mayor opened the meeting in a speech of some length, calling for immediate measures for the security of property. He laid the principal blame upon the bars and drinking saloons, and contended that they ought to be closed after a certain hour.  It was determined to close all drinking establishments at twelve o’clock.  The city was districted and patrols allotted to each district.

Captain Reichenbach, United States Quartermaster, at this point, addressed the meeting.  He said that he doubled the guards over Government property under his charge, and that this very evening he had set additional guards for several squared around his district.  He took occasion to obse3rve that, especially in localities where Government property was stored, the material of the building was very inflammable; in short, that they were mere “tinder boxes,” ready for firing at any moment.  He added, that although he did not know the feeling of the Mayor and Councils upon the subject, he would say that if any of his guards caught an individual under suspicious circumstances, they would hang him to the first lamp post.  This was greeted with cheers.

Our Patrol.

After the meeting an number of citizens reported to the Mayor for duty, and are on patrol to-night.  If an incendiary is caught is will certainly not be a convenient thing for him.  The recent heavy losses have excited the citizens to vengeance against these scoundrels, who will undoubtedly meet with summary punishment if detected.  The patrols are instructed to arrest all individuals out after twelve o’clock who cannot give a straight account of themselves.

The City Council also held a meeting this evening in an upper room of the Court House, where the citizens had assembled.  They passed a measure authorizing the appointment of an additional police force for secret night duty.

Camp Curtin is now full of soldiers, and more are arriving daily.  The streets present quite an excited appearance in the evening.  Hundreds of the old veterans are constantly tramping around, indulging in songs and other demonstrations.  Tradesmen are plying their vocations and making piles of money….

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For other blog posts on the Harrisburg fires of June 1865, see Harrisburg Burning.

News articles are from the on-line resources of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

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Posted By Brian Tomlin on March 31, 2014

March 1. Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes the first black woman to receive a medical degree. Crumpler was born in 1831 in Delaware, to Absolum Davis and Matilda Webber. By 1852 she had moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, where she worked as a nurse for the next eight years (because the first formal school for nursing only opened in 1873, she was able to perform such work without any formal training). In 1860, she was admitted to the New England Female Medical College. When she graduated in 1864, Crumpler was the first African American woman in the United States to earn an M.D. degree.

Dr. Crumpler practiced in Boston for a short while before moving to Richmond, Virginia, after the Civil War ended in 1865. Richmond, she felt, would be “a proper field for real missionary work, and one that would present ample opportunities to become acquainted with the diseases of women and children. During my stay there nearly every hour was improved in that sphere of labor. The last quarter of the year 1866, I was enabled . . . to have access each day to a very large number of the indigent, and others of different classes, in a population of over 30,000 colored.” She joined other black physicians caring for freed slaves who would otherwise have had no access to medical care, working with the Freedmen’s Bureau, and missionary and community groups, even though black physicians experienced intense racism working in the postwar South.  In 1883 she published a book based on notes she kept during her years of practice,  Book of Medical Discourses.

March 11.  The Great Sheffield Flood was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the Dale Dyke Dam broke as its reservoir was being filled for the first time. Two hundred and thirty-eight people died and more than 600 houses were damaged or destroyed by the flood. The immediate cause was a crack in the embankment, but the source of the crack was never determined. The dam’s failure led to reforms in engineering practice, setting standards on specifics that needed to be met when constructing such large-scale structures. The dam was rebuilt in 1875.

March 14.  Composer Gioachino Rossini‘s Petite messe solennelle premiered in Paris. The mass was first performed at the dedication (14 March 1864) of the private chapel in the hôtel of Louise, comtesse de Pillet-Will, to whom Rossini dedicated this refined and elegant piece, which avoids the sentimental opulence of most contemporary liturgical works. 

March 19. Mireille is an 1864 opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Michel Carré after Frédéric Mistral’s poem Mireio. The vocal score is dedicated to George V of Hanover. The opera premiered at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris on March 19, 1864; the first night was attended by Ivan Turgenev, who in a letter to Pauline Viardot, ridicules part of Act 3.

March 29. Great Britain gives the Ionian Islands back to Greece. The British had ruled the islands since 1809, which had previously been under Venetian and then French control. 

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