Civil War Blog

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on February 22, 2014

The G.A.R. Soldiers’ Circle at the Shamokin Cemetery, Shamokin, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, was described and pictured in the previous blog post in this series.  In today’s post, the map will be pictured which was drawn from the sequential series of photographs taken at the Circle in 2012 by the Civil War Research Project.  The maps is presented in four quadrants.  It is not drawn to scale and the numbers on the map represent the numbers of the photographic images that were taken – not the “official” grave-site location designations for the cemetery.  The best interpretation of the name on the grave stone is given on the map quadrant.  In later posts, research on each of the veterans buried in the Soldiers’ Circle will be presented.

The sequential photographs were taken beginning with the central monument which was featured here in a post on 27 October 2012.  Photographs of the central monument were numbered 1 through 5.  Then, beginning at the path into the circle, the outer circle graves were photographed and they are numbered 6 through 77.  The path photographs are numbered 78 and 79 and the graves of the second circle begin with photograph number 80 and continue through number 144.  The path photographs for the third or innermost circle are numbered 145 and 146.  The third, or innermost circle, begins with photograph 147 and ends with photograph number 157.   This third circle is not complete and does contain some graves from veterans of wars after the Civil War.

In each of the quadrants there are “unidentified” graves.  Some have unreadable stones.  Some have no stones, broken stones, or sunken stones.  The worst section is the first quadrant which has some of the oldest graves and stones which have the worst weathering.  If anyone reading these post can identify who is buried in those graves, the information would be greatly appreciated.  Comments can be added to this post or to any of the posts in this series or can be sent by e-mail to the Project.

When standing in the center of the circle, the path is identified as being at 12 o’clock.  The first quadrant pictured is from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock:

Click on map to enlarge.

The second quadrant pictured is from 3 o’clock to 6 o’clock:

Click on map to enlarge.

The third quadrant pictured is from 6 o’clock to 9 o’clock:

Click on map to enlarge.

The fourth quadrant pictured is from 9 o’clock to 12 o’clock:

Click on map to enlarge.

At this time, the individual names on the stones will not be presented in the text of the blog post.  The names, as identified on the map, will be presented in future posts as the photographs are presented.  All of the photographs will be presented, whether or not there are readable stones.

The next post in this series will feature the graves of veterans in photographs 6 through 14.

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For all posts in this series, click on ShamokinSoldCircle.

MapSoldCircle.

Category: Memorials, Research | Comments Off on The Shamokin Soldiers’ Circle – Mapping the Circle
Tags: Cemetery, G.A.R.

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on February 20, 2014

As soldiers were released from military service in 1865, they flooded into the three major discharge points in Pennsylvania:  Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh.  Frequently, these soldiers were the victims of local residents who sought to “relieve” them of their discharge money; sometimes the soldiers were themselves the perpetrators of crimes against the residents of these cities.  Today’s post is part 2 of a three-part series.  Selections from the Philadelphia Inquirer are given from May through August of 1865, describing some of the incidents.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 21 June 1865:

ANOTHER SOLDIER ROBBED — Mary Taylor had a hearing yesterday morning before Alderman Moore, upon the charge of robbing a soldier of one hundred dollars.  The defendant was committed to answer for the alleged offense.

A man named Gottschalk was also arraigned before Alderman Pancoast during the morning, on a similar charge.  It is alleged by the soldier, whom it is said he robbed, that he lost from one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars by the operation.  The accused was held for a further hearing.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 30 June 1865:

ROBBING A SOLDIER — Charles McCarty and Henry Smith were arrested on Wednesday afternoon on the charge of attempting to rob a soldier in the neighborhood of Front and Walnut Streets.  They were taken before Alderman Beitler, who committed them to answer.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 8 July 1865:

SOLDIER DRUGGED — About eight o’clock yesterday morning, Officer Meyers [or Meyets] found a soldier in an insensible condition lying on a lot at Seventeenth Street and Girard Avenue.  He was supposed to have been drugged, and was taken to Camp Cadwalader in the Humane Engine Company’s ambulance.  The doctor in attendance thought he could not recover.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 10 July 1865:

ROBBING A SOLDIER — On Saturday afternoon Evan T. Cash had a hearing before Recorder Eneu, charged with robbing a soldier named Peter Martin of the sum of five hundred dollars.  The evidence set forth that the complainant entrusted the money to defendant for safe keeping.  The accused acknowledged this, but said that he had expended it.  Cash was committed to answer.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 July 1865:

SOLDIER ROBBED — Martin Tully was before Alderman Toland yesterday morning, upon the charge of having robbed a soldier.  It seems that the soldier was discharged from the Seventh District Police Station, where he had been locked up for drunkenness.  When he left he had $750.  He went to Water and Callowhill Streets, where he again got drunk, and was relieved of his money by Tully.  The exact amount of his loss is not known, but $500 of the stolen money was found on Tully when he was arrested.  The accused was committed in default of $1200 bail to answer at Court.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 17 July 1865:

ANOTHER SOLDIER ROBBED — On Saturday morning George Powell and J. C. Clifford were taken before Alderman Cloud, upon the charge of robing a soldier of $360.  From the evidence it appeared that the soldier boarded with the accused in Beach Street, below Shackamaxon.  The soldier alleged that the defendants stole the money in the night while he was asleep.  They were both required to give bail, in default of which they were committed to answer for the offense.

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

Category: Research, Stories | Comments Off on Crimes Committed on and by Returning Soldiers (Part 2 of 3)
Tags: Women

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on February 18, 2014

Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, was born 3 June 1808 in Christian County (now Todd County), Kentucky.  What is not well-known about him is that his family had roots in Pennsylvania.

Samuel Emory Davis, the father of Jefferson Davis, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1756, and served in the Revolutionary War.  The mother of Jefferson Davis was Jane Cook, a niece of Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene (1742-1786), a descendant of Quakers from Rhode Island.  Quakers also played an important part in the early history of Pennsylvania.  Samuel Emory Davis took his family westward to Kentucky around 1793, later to Louisiana, and eventually settled in Warren County, Mississippi, where he died in 1824.

Evan Davis, the paternal grandfather of Jefferson Davis, was born in Philadelphia about 1725, but later moved to Augusta, Georgia, where he died in 1758.  Evan married Lydia Mary Emory Williams, who had two sons by a previous marriage.  Those two sons, who were half-brothers of Jefferson Davis‘ father, also served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

The paternal great-grandfather of Jefferson Davis was John Davis, who emigrated from the region of Snowdonia in North Wales in 1701 and settled in Philadelphia.

Jefferson Davis was married twice.  His first marriage was to the daughter of U.S. President Zachary Taylor who died in office in 1850.  Sarah Knox Taylor (1814-1835) died of malarial fever at Locust Grove, Louisiana and is buried there.  They had no children.

Varina [Howell] Davis

Davis married second to Varina Anne Howell, the granddaughter of Richard Howell (1754-1802), the third governor of New Jersey, who was also a soldier in the Continental Army.  Varina, although she was born in the South, went to school in Philadelphia where she attended the Madame Deborah Grelaud’s French School, a prestigious ladies’ academy.  While in Philadelphia she became well acquainted with her northern Howell relatives through visits and correspondence. This northern upbringing helped fuel controversies about her while living in Richmond during the Civil War and serving as the First Lady of the Confederacy.  After the death of Jefferson Davis, Varina wrote and published a biography of him in 1890.  In her later years she moved north and settled in New York City where she wrote for the New York World.  She died in New York City’s Hotel Majestic on 16 October 1906.

For more detailed information about the life of Varina [Howell] Davis, see the Wikpedia article.

For a blog post on the Pennsylvania roots of Alexander Stephens see:  Was Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens from Pennsylvania?

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Posted By Norman Gasbarro on February 15, 2014

The Shamokin Cemetery is located at the intersection of South Anthracite Street and West High Street in Shamokin, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.  Within the cemetery there is a monument to the men who died in the Civil War.  There is no direct path or road to the monument from South Anthracite Street and West High Street, but it can be easily be seen from most points in the cemetery, and on many days from many parts of Shamokin.

Surrounding the G.A.R. Soldiers Monument is the Soldiers Circle, containing the graves of 148 men who served in the Civil War.

The Soldiers Circle is actually three circles within each other surrounding the Soldiers Monument.  The outer circle contains 72 graves.  The middle circle contains 65 graves.  The inner circle (actually an “arc” or incomplete circle), contains 11 graves.  There are at least 25 more grave sites that could be placed in this inner circle should families choose to have a veteran re-interred here.  However, it is not known at this time if these additional plots are available nor is it known under what conditions or requirements the original burials were made here.

One unusual aspect of this burial area is that there are no wives or other family members also interred here.  It is not known why this was done and whether it was standard practice in other cemeteries at the time.

The biggest problem with this section is that it seems to have been exposed to the elements more than other parts of the cemetery and as a result about half of the stones are worn or broken and virtually unreadable.  The cemetery web site intends to provide an alphabetical list of burials at some point in the future.  Hopefully, the cemetery records will shed light on who is buried in all of the plots.

All the stones in the three circles have been photographed by the Civil War Research Project in clockwise sequence in the hopes that this alphabetical list will be able to identify the sites of those buried where there are unreadable or missing stones.  In the next post in this series, a map of the Soldiers’ Circle will be presented.  The map was drawn from sequential photographs of the circle that were taken in 2012.

A few of the stones appear to be recent replacements.  Perhaps someone will take this area as a project to replace or repair the damaged and missing stones.

Other views of the Soldiers Circle are shown below:

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A similar post was first presented here on 28 October 2012.

For all posts in this series, click on ShamokinSoldCircle.

Category: Memorials, Research, Resources | Comments Off on G.A.R. Soldiers’ Circle at Shamokin Cemetery
Tags: Cemetery, G.A.R.

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on February 13, 2014

As soldiers were released from military service in 1865, they flooded into the three major discharge points in Pennsylvania:  Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh.  Frequently, these soldiers were the victims of local residents who sought to “relieve” them of their discharge money; sometimes the soldiers were themselves the perpetrators of crimes against the residents of these cities.  A three-part series begins today.  Selections from the Philadelphia Inquirer are given from May through August of 1865, describing some of the incidents.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 23 May 1865:

A SOLDIER FLEECED — A soldier, an inmate of Summit House Hospital, named Joseph Connelly, of Mauch Chunk, was robbed by a couple of hundred dollars a day or two since.  It seems that he fell in with two persons in the neighborhood of Second and Green Streets.  A carriage was —eared and the party started out for a ride.  During the trip the soldier was drugged and on Washington Lane, near the Ridge Avenue — he was thrown out of the carriage, after having had his pockets rifled.  A police officer found Connelly lying on the road, and taking him with him, procured medical aid.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 9 June 1865

ASSAULTING A SOLDIER — A man, named Charles Myers, the keeper of a clothing store in Market Street, had a hearing yesterday morning before Alderman Jones, on the charge of committing an assault and battery upon a soldier.  From the evidence it appeared that the soldier went into Myers’ place of business, and after looking at some clothing refused to buy any, at the same time making a remark which did not please the proprietor.  Myers picked up a club and struck the soldier on the head.  He was bound over in $600 bail to answer.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 12 June 1865:

RIOT IN WASHINGTON  — Today a party comprising between a hundred and fifty and two hundred soldiers made a series of assaults on many unoffending persons of the Seventh Ward.  They visited disreputable houses and tipping houses occupied by both white and colored, indiscriminately attacking the inmates, driving them away, breaking up their furniture, helping themselves to liquor and eatables, and committing other outrages.

The rioters showed particular animosity against colored persons, who were severely beaten and robbed.  The Negroes rallied for resistance, when a fight occurred, the soldiers using their revolvers as did also their antagonists.  Finally a military guard arrived on the field and restored peace.

Among the casualties, D. W. Boyd, who went out with a revolver in his hand to restore quiet, was struck in the face by a brick, which was thrown by a soldier.  The cheek jaw bones were horribly fractured, and the sight of one eye destroyed.

Others of the soldiers, made a rush for him, and one was in the act of cleaving his head with an axe when a number of women succeeded in persuading them to spare his life.  To-night a strong military force has been sent to the locality, and the police are also out in full number to quell another apprehended outbreak and threatened act of incendiarism.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 16 June 1865:

ROBBING SOLDIERS — A soldier was robbed on Wednesday afternoon, at a public house in Front Street, near Richmond, of $207.50.

On Wednesday evening another soldier had his pocket picked of $100 at a restaurant in the neighborhood of Ninth and Market Streets.  A man who was in the place at the time was arrested on suspicion of having committed the robbery, and was held for a further hearing by Alderman Jones.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 17 June 1865:

ASSAULTING COLORED PERSONS — Charles Stevens, a soldier, was taken into custody yesterday morning at Ninth and Market Streets, for assaulting colored persons as they passed by him.  The accused had a hearing before Alderman Beitler, and was committed.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 17 June 1865:

SOLDIER ROBBED — On Thursday evening a soldier had his pocket picked of sixty dollars at a restaurant on Callowhill Street, near Sixth.  A young man, who gave the name of Clark, was soon after arrested on the charge of having committed the offense.  He was held to answer by Alderman Toland.

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 19 June 1865:

ROBBING A SOLDIER — William Kelly was arraigned before Recorder Enue on Saturday, charged with robbing Hugh McCullough, a member of the Third New Jersey Regiment, lately discharged, of $63.  It is alleged that the soldier got into a house on Front Street.  Kelly was there.  The latter was intrusted with the money for safe keeping.  The accused was not discovered until Saturday morning, when he was arrested and taken into custody and bound over to answer.

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

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