Civil War Blog

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 22, 2013

Isaac Hepler (1838-1918) was a Civil War veteran who, after the war, spent the remainder of his life in Gratz Borough, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, where he ran a successful business.

The above family photo is of the Isaac Hepler family and was taken around 1890.  Standing in back are sons Joseph Hepler and George Hepler and second wife Amanda [Harper] Hepler.  Seated in front are Thomas Hepler and Hannah Hepler and standing next to her father Isaac is Lottie Hepler.  An original of the photo is in the collection of the Gratz Historical Society.  It has also been published in A Comprehensive History of the Town of Gratz Pennsylvania.  The Hepler family genealogy appears in that book on pages 290 to 292.

The following sketch appeared in the Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County: published in 1896 by J. M. Runk and Company of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania [Note: click on book title for free book download].

Isaac Hepler, merchant, Gratz, Pennsylvania, was born in Eldred Township, Schulykill County, Pa., August 5, 1840. He is a son of George W. Hepler and Hannah [Graiter] Hepler. His grandfather, Christopher Hepler, was born and reared in Schuylkill county and was a farmer. He died in his native county about 1845. He married Catherine Wagner and they were the parents of a large family of sons and daughters.

George W. Hepler, father of Isaac Hepler, was born in Eldred Township, Schuylkill county, Pa., May 16, 1810. He died in his native township and was buried there. He married Hannah Graiter and their children are: Catherine Hepler, Mrs John Berger, residing near Williamsport, Lycoming County; Andrew K. Hepler, died in Schuylkill county in 1882 and is buried at Gratz, Pennsylvania; Polly Hepler, died young; Isaac Hepler; Hannah Hepler, Mrs. J.B. Fox, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania; Lizzie Hepler, Mrs. David Williert, Uniontown, Pennsylvania; George Hepler, laborer, Rocktown, Pennsylvania; and John Hepler, laborer, Ashland, Pennsylvania.

Isaac Hepler was not permitted to attend school very long as his help was needed on the farm as soon as he was strong enough to do farm work, and his father died when he was eight years old. The farm contained one hundred and thirteen acres, but it was heavily encumbered with debt, and Mrs. Hepler found it difficult to keep the family together. She died when Isaac was nineteen years of age. The farm was then sold, and after paying debts he found that his share was just $19. He went out from home and found work for one year with his uncle, John Haas.

In October 1862, he enlisted at Harrisburg in Company K, One Hundred and Seventy-second Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers [172nd Pennsylvania Infantry], for nine months. During six months of the time the company did artillery duty. They were first ordered to Washington, D.C., thence to Newport News, thence after a week’s stay to Yorktown, Va., which place they left July 2, 1863, for Gettysburg, Pa. On the way to Gettysburg, Mr. Hepler was taken sick on board the boat and was ordered to the hospital. He refused to go and recovered his health on the march. The regiment did not reach Gettysburg in time to take part in the battle. Mr. Hepler was ordered to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, thence to Warrenton Junction, where he was discharged, his term of service having expired, and came home.

He then worked eight months for his uncle, John W. Hepler, after which he was employed on the public works at Girardville and Goss Creek. His next employment was as carpenter in the mines, building breakers. He had never served any apprenticeship at carpentry, but had natural aptitude for using tools. He bought him a set of rough implements and went to work, earning the regular wages of $2.25 to $3 per day, and none knew or discovered that he was not an instructed carpenter. While building one breaker it became necessary to attach the block and tackle to a point fifty feet from the ground. All the other workmen refused to attempt the difficult and hazardous undertaking, but Mr. Hepler safely accomplished the feat, and was rewarded by an advance in his wages from $2.50 to $3 per day.

In 1866 Mr. Hepler, with his brother Andrew Hepler as partner, opened a store and hotel, his brother attending to the business at home while he went out on the road as huckster. After five years in the business Mr. Isaac Hepler sold his interest, and in 1871, his brother again being his partner, bought property and a hotel at Gratz, Pennsylvania. Building a store room adjoining the hotel, they put in a general stock of merchandise. After five years the partnership was dissolved, Isaac Hepler taking the store and Andrew Hepler the hotel. Mr. Hepler has continued the mercantile business alone since 1876, and also owns and manages a farm of fifty-five acres.

Isaac Hepler has been twice married. First, 19 August 1865, to Miss Matilda Knarr, who died August 15, 1869, leaving one child, Lewis F. Hepler, who was killed on the railroad 17 March 1891, at the age of twenty-three. His second marriage, 25 November 1875, was with Amanda Harper, daughter of Joseph Harper, deceased. Their children are: George Edgar Hepler, Joseph Harper Hepler, Lottie Florence Hepler, Thomas R. Hepler, Hannah M. Hepler, Robert Roy Hepler, and Annie Hepler, all at home.

Mr. Hepler is a Democrat, but is very liberal in his views and has never sought office. He is a member of the Lutheran Church. He sustains a reputation for the most unswerving rectitude, and enjoys the highest esteem of his neighbors.

While the family name of Isaac’s mother is recorded as “Graiter” in the biographical encyclopedia article (above), it more correctly was “Kratzer.”  Isaac’s name is very often found in the records as Isaac Kratzer Hepler or Isaac K. Hepler.

In 1904, Isaac Hepler installed new lighting in his store as reported on 9 January by the Patriot:

Isaac Hepler and Israel Daniel, are this week, greatly improving their respective places of business by substituting new acetylene gas lights for the old oil lamps.

In 1905, Mrs. Amanda [Harper] Hepler‘s cousin died and she attended the funeral in Sunbury, as reported by the Patriot on 25 April:

Captain Thomas William Hoffman, cousin of Mrs. Hepler, was born near Berrysburg, Dauphin County, in 1839.  His mother was a member of the Harper family and his father, Amos A. Hoffman was a direct descendant of Johann Peter Hoffman (1709-1798).  Thomas William Hoffman was the recipient of the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Siege of Petersburg.

For additional information on Isaac Hepler, see the following prior blog posts:

Gratz During the Civil War – George Moyer House

Gratz During the Civil War – George Ossman, Boot and Shoe Maker

Gratz During the Civil War – Zacharias Laudenslager House

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

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | 1 Comment »
Tags: Berrysburg, Gratz Borough, Uniontown

Posted By Jake Wynn on January 21, 2013

Being Inauguration Day, it seems relevant to explore a topic relating to the nation’s capital. The statue adorning the top of the Capitol Dome fits that bill. While most of us have probably not taken special notice to the 15,000 pound bronze statue sitting atop the nation’s most recognizable landmark, it attracted much attention during the dome’s construction in the 1860s.

Freedom, as she stands today

Freedom, or as she was originally known as, Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace, was designed by American sculptor Thomas Crawford. He was chosen to design the sculpture in 1855 by Captain Montgomery Meigs, later to become famous for creating Arlington National Cemetery, who was overseeing construction of the Capitol Dome for Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. One of the models originally created by Crawford was deemed by Davis to be inappropriate, because upon its head sat a “cap of liberty.” This headgear, Davis believed, would be construed as a symbol of emancipation, and was changed to a helmet adorned with bronze feathers.

Crawford’s first model of Freedom

Thomas Crawford would never see his finished Freedom. He died suddenly in 1857, just before the final plaster model was to be shipped for casting. Of the statue, Crawford said:

I have endeavored to represent Freedom triumphant – in Peace and War…In her left hand she holds the olive branch while the right hand rests on a sword which sustains the Shield of the United States.  These emblems are such as the mass of our people will easily understand…. I have introduced a base surrounded by wreaths indicative of the rewards Freedom is ready to bestow.

Ironically, the Statue of Freedom was completed with the assistance of a Maryland slave. The contract for the bronze casting belonged to Clark Mills of Washington D.C. His foundry, which lay on the border between the District of Columbia and Bladensburg, Maryland would be responsible for casting the 19’ 6” statue.

Clark Mill’s Bronze Foundry, where the statue was cast

The slave, Philip Reid, did most of the work, endeavoring through much of 1860 and 1861 separating and casting the different sections in bronze.  Reid would be one of the last enslaved people to ever work on the United States Capitol, and while he worked on the statue, he became a free man, when President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in the District of Columbia.

The statue was completed in 1862 and would have to wait for the new Capitol Dome to be structurally sound in order to handle Freedom’s seven and a half ton payload. Once the dome was deemed sufficient, Freedom was hoisted above the Capitol. A 35 gun salute paid tribute as the statue was completed atop the Capitol Dome on December 2, 1863, standing over Washington D.C at a height of nearly 300 feet.

Freedom sitting atop the Capitol dome sometime during the winter of 1863-1864

Reaction surrounding the installation of Freedom was mostly positive. Or was it?

Here is an interesting editorial piece about the statue published by the Philadelphia Inquirer on December 21, 1863, just a few weeks after the statue’s ascendency to the top of the dome.

The Statue on the Dome of the Capitol.

To the Editor of the Age – Public attention has recently been drawn to the so—called colossal statue of Liberty, which has just been placed over the Capitol dome at Washington, after having been coated with a weather-proof chemical preparation which gives it a mulatto color. When the writer visited Mr. Crawford’s studio some years ago in Rome, he saw the model, and understood that it was that of the statue of America. The lamented artist himself was then moribund, but the Italian assistants in charge of the studio, conversed freely upon the different works there.

The Internal evidence presented by an examination of the statue itself, or even of the engraving of it on the five dollar greenbacks, shows it to be that of America and not that of Liberty. The shield is emblazoned with the arms of the United States, the head is adorned with a diadem of stars, and the helmet with an eagle’s head and plumes, and the broach marked with the cipher U.S. The pedestal in the cut on the greenbacks is marked with the inscription “E Pluribus Unum” which is probably, however, an adoption by some other hand than Mr. Crawford’s. The Phrygian cap and other well known emblems would be appropriate to a statue of Liberty, and not the helmet, spear and shield. If these consideration should be insufficient to decide the question (which should certainly be done in justice to the artist and his work), then Mr. G. S. Hillard, of Boston, the friend of Crawford, and the author of “Six Months in Italy” is probably most able to set the matter at rest.

For the information of the New York World, which objects to the mulatto color given by the weather proof coating, it may be stated that the exposure of the statue in the Capitol grounds previous to putting it into position, plainly verdeloped verdigris on the bronze surface, and showed, doubtless much to the disgust of the Republican officials, that the head of the presiding genius of the Capitol, like that of many others equally loyal, was a Copperhead.

The seemingly negative post ends with a clever play on the term Copperhead. The term had been coined by Republicans and hurled as an insult at Peace Democrats who railed for peace at the expense of the Union war effort. The statue undoubtedly provided an outburst of partisan politics.

What do you think about the statue?

Have you taken notice to it before?

We must use moments like these to take a deeper look at places and people we come across every day, because it might just yield some surprising stories.

Photos for this post come from the Library of Congress, the Architect of the Capitol and the National Archives.

Category: Reflections, Research, Stories | 2 Comments »
Tags: African American

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 20, 2013

When the Civil War was finally over, nearly 3,000,000 from the Union and nearly 1,400,000 from the Confederacy had taken up arms against each other.  Counted among the dead were about 360,000 from the North and 258,000 from the South.  The war had taken a toll on the nation.  How many of these were fighting primarily to “preserve the Union” or “permit secession,” is not known – and how many were fighting to end the scourge of slavery, or preserve it as an “institution,” is also not known.  What is known is that Lincoln’s views on slavery evolved during the war, and while his stated aim at the beginning of the war was to keep the Union together, gradually, through such instruments as the Emancipation Proclamation, and the debate over the Thirteenth Amendment, he moved the nation in the direction of accepting that slavery was an offense to God – and had to be removed.  And, that’s what he stated when he stood on the steps of the Capitol to take the oath of office for the second time, 4 March 1865.

Fellow-countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it—all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.

One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.

Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered—that of neither has been answered fully.

The Almighty has his own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.” If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.

As the war was drawing to a close, Lincoln reflected on the impending end of slavery, the end of the war, and the reconstruction ahead.  The closing sentence of the address is said to be Lincoln’s reconciliation – binding up the wounds, caring for those who bore the battle, and achieving a just and lasting peace among ourselves.  But, these aims were not immediately realized.  Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre on 14 April 1865, just one month and 10 days after he delivered the Second Inaugural Address.

In the days, months and years that followed the nation struggled with reconstruction – then there was a reaction against the freedmen that resulted in the rise of hate organizations, discrimination, segregation, terror and lynchings, denial of the right to vote, and a return of the doctrine of states’ rights.  The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s slowly but surely called the attention of the nation to the unfinished business of the Civil War.

Ninety-eight years after Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, 28 August 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial – with the words of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address behind him.  In his speech given that day in the Civil Rights March on Washington, Dr. King stated that the nation had still not lived out “the true meaning of its creed… that all men are created equal.”  It was his hope that very soon “the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood….” and that his “four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Today, 20 January 2013, is the official inauguration day in the United States, so-changed by the Twentieth Amendment which reduced the amount of time between the presidential election and the inauguration.  Because today is a Sunday, the ceremonial swearing in will take place in private at 12 noon – to meet the Constitutional requirement.  Tomorrow, the public will celebrate the inauguration at the Capitol and President Barack Obama will deliver his Second Inaugural Address.  It is most fitting that the address will also be delivered on the national holiday for the American who reminded us all back in 1963 that much work still had to be done to expand freedom for all.

President Barack Obama’s Second Inaugural is the only such address that will occur during this Sesquicentennial of the Civil War and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural was the only inaugural address that was delivered during the Civil War.

But on the eve of the 2013 address, the nation is bitterly divided, and many of the issues which supposedly were fought over and resolved during the Civil War and in the Civil Rights Movement, have resurfaced again.

The President has an opportunity to stand in this continuum of history and move the nation in a positive direction toward fulfillment of the American Dream – toward what King later called “the promised land.”

There is still much work to be done – to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for those who have borne the battle, and to achieve that just and lasting peace among ourselves.  Time will tell if what results is one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Category: Reflections | 2 Comments »
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, African American

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 19, 2013

The 44th Annual G.A.R. National Encampment was held in Atlantic City in September 1910.  It was one of the largest attended G.A.R. encampments held in the 20th century.  For many of the veterans, it would probably be their last encampment.  Getting to Atlantic City was relatively easy for veterans from Pennsylvania – two railroads provided service to the city – and it was estimated that nearly one-third of all the attendees represented Pennsylvania G.A.R. Posts.  One of those who attended from the Lykens Valley was Benjamin F. Smith, who was probably one of the shortest of all the men who served in the war.  He represented the Kilpatrick Post of Millersburg, Dauphin County.  One of the representatives from Reading, Berks County, was Mahlon Shaaber, who was the subject of a post here on this blog on 2 January of this year.  He may have been the tallest.  A photo was taken of Shaaber and Smith and captioned, “The Long and Short of It.”

On the 100th Anniversary of the Atlantic City encampment, a historical plaque was unveiled in Atlantic City recognizing the encampment:

44th NATIONAL ENCAMPMENT

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC

From 19 September to 24 September 1910, about 45 years after the last shot of the Civil War was fired, the 44th National Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Encampment (convention) was held in Atlantic City.  The G.A.R., a Union (Northern) Civil War veteran’s organization, had in attendance over 18,000 of its 214,000 members arriving from across the nation, many still suffering from wounds inflicted decades before in the war Between the States.  The days of the gathering were marked by parades, and meetings for the Encampment were held at Steel, Million Dollar, Steeplechase, and Young’s Ocean piers.  Among the notable Civil War veterans in attendance were Major general Daniel E. Sickles, Lt. General Nelson A. Miles, and Johnny Clem, the famous “Drummer Boy of Chickamauga.”  It was the only time in the 83-year history of the Grand Army of the Republic that a National Encampment was held in New Jersey.

Erected on 25 September 2010 to Commemorate the 100th Anniversary.

The Philadelphia Inquirer gave extensive coverage to the encampment when it occurred in 1910.  A condensed version of the story, which appeared on 22 September 1910, is given below along with three of the five pictures from the article.

WITH UNSTEADY GAIT VETERANS PASS IN REVIEW

But With the Old Spirit That Won The Many a Vicotry

FIFTEEN THOUSAND IN GRAND PARADE

ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY — 21 September 1910 — Between columns formed by 100,000 on-lookers, who greeted the veterans with the wildest enthusiasm, 15,000 “Boys in Blue” of the Grand Army of the republic this morning proudly marched through the streets of the resort bearing aloft the battle standards carried by them during the strife of the 60s.

A hundred bands blared martial airs, cannon beckoned and the spectators paid tribute as the gray haired veterans with faltering step and halted gait hiked over a four mile route, including a part of the Boardwalk, in the annual review, the biggest event of the encampment.

Vice President Sherman, who arrived this morning and departed during the afternoon, reviewed the grizzled boys, some of them in line for the last time, with Commander-in-Chief VanSant and other notables of the organization.  It was a stirring spectacle.  The veterans tried to march with a sprightly step and their faces were wreathed in smiles.  They realized that the hike would task their their physical resources, but march they would and did.

Dropped in the Ranks.

More than two score, the years of each ranging around the sixty mark, dropped exhausted in their tracks, while ears streamed down the cheeks of the onlookers.  Others with the fatigue of the march plainly in evidence trudged along, some on crutches, others with empty sleeves, unwilling through dogged determination to drop out.

An equal number of onlookers were prostrated.  A cool breeze from the ocean swept the resort, but there was a broiling sun, hottest at noon, when the review was at its height.

None of those prostrated is in a serious condition.  The majority were discharged from the Atlantic City Hospital late in the afternoon.

Keystone Battle Flags.

Pennsylvania, headed by the Philadelphia posts, was third in line, and the boys from that state were accorded a continual ovation.  At least 5000 Pennsylvanians were in the review.  Pennsylvania also carried the greatest number of battle flags.  And the sight of the flags, proudly borne by the veterans, never failed to bring cheers….

Leading the Pennsylvania veterans, behind the department officers, was the famous George G. Meade Post , No. 1, of Philadelphia….

A might host of visitors swarmed to Atlantic City for the review.  Beginning early in the morning, the crowd scurried about the city for vantage points.  There were comparatively few grandstands along the route.  The principal one was at park Place, in front of which was the reviewing stand.

Getting in Line.

Meanwhile the crowds were forming in a solid line along the route.  The veterans, headed by the bands and fife and drum corps, were gathering in line.  Many of the posts came this morning and left tonight.  These, withe miles of spectators almost swamped the railroad facilities.

Commander in Chief VanSant and General Towler, his Chief of Staff, who was Marshal, gave the order to move.  Trumpets blared and the parade was on.  Mr. Sherman had reached the resort only a short time before and was escorted to the reviewing post by the Morris Guards of this place….

Most of the staff and the post commanders rode in flag-bedecked barouches….

One-Legged Veterans.

Samuel C. Cambridge… was one of the one-legged men who marched.  In front of the reviewing stand , however, he tottered and almost fell….

The clatter of the wheels of four cannon mingled with the foot steps of the veterans…. More battle flags were shown….

“When Johnny Comes Marching Home” blared from the instruments of the Letter Carriers Band of Philadelphia….

The first post from the interior of the State for go by the reviewers was Post No. 19 of Lancaster.  Post No. 21 introduced rolling chairs….

The veterans still clung to their historic fifes and drums and it was the music which first greeted the ears of the onlookers as the column neared them.  They were members of the Civil War Musicians Association, the youngest of whom is 72 years.

Two grizzled veterans carried aloft the banners of the organizations, while four Atlantic City girls, dressed in white, marched beside them.

Pennsylvania Bucktails.

Illinois in the Lead.

Illinois, given the right of line, because of the seniority, was the first department to pass, and was followed by Wisconsin.  Then came the Pennsylvanians.  Behind the band of Orphans’ Industrial School came Mahlon Shaaber, of Reading, who lacks a fraction of three inches of being seven feet tall, carrying the department’s standard….

Twenty-six battle flags, wrapped around the staffs and held high in the air, proclaimed the George G. Meade Post.  This post boasts of more battle flags than any in the country….

A striking figure was the presence of the Veteran Guard, headed by Lieutenant Frank Taylor and Adjutant Charles F. Kennedy, garbed in blue trousers, buckskin coats, and huge black shakos.  They guarded twenty battle standards.  With Post No. 2 was Theodore Hoff, who stands six feet-seven inches, while down the line marched B. F. Smith, of Millersburg, whose height is four feet ten inches….

The Western veterans carried several novel signs and emblems by which heir States are known.  The plan for the Armies of the Blue and Gray to hold their annual gatherings on the battlefield of Gettysburg in 1913 at the time of the anniversary of the battle, is gaining strength.  Colonel John W. Frazier, of Philadelphia, father of the scheme, says he believes the government will provide the veterans with shelter and rations.

Business Meeting.

The first business session will be held tomorrow morning and will be executive.  The battlefield reunion project may be introduced then, also the placing of the statue of General Robert E. Lee in the Capitol, at Washington, will be discussed.

The matter of the veterans receiving a dollar a day pension is another business question to be presented….

There was reunion of maimed and one-limbed veterans this afternoon and was one of several such meetings, including that of the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry.

Tonight there were camp fires at the Fraternal Eagles’ Home, the Steel Pier, and the Million Dollar Pier.  The members of the Ladies of the G.A.R. and the Women’s Relief Corps also met tonight holding their first business session.

Many souvenir items exist from this encampment and are actively traded on eBay and other on-line trading sites.  They include badges and buttons, posters, and programs from the event.  There are also many picture postcards available including regular cards that were specially overprinted to recognize the G.A.R.‘s visit to the city.  The picture of Shaaber and Smith (near top of this post) was sold as a post card at the time, and although Shaaber was not identified then, his identity is now known as a result of  the information that appeared here on this blog on 2 January 2013.  The other tall veteran who is identified in the Inquirer article (above), Theodore Hoff, was 6 foot 5 inches tall, according to his Pennsylvania Veterans’ Index Card, and certainly competed with Mahlon Shaaber in height, although the Inquirer article describes Shaaber as more than 5 foot 8 inches and Hoff as 6 feet 7 inches – clearly noting that Shaaber was taller.

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The news article is from the on-line resources of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | 2 Comments »
Tags: G.A.R., Millersburg

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 18, 2013

Jacob Scheck of Tremont, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, was a German immigrant who arrived in America before the Civil War with his parents.  His father, George Scheck was a master mason and the family appears in the 1860 census for Pine Grove, Schuylkill County.  In 1860, Jacob was working as a boatman on the Schuylkill Canal along with his two brothers, Christian Scheck and Frederick Scheck.

Early in the Civil War, on 9 September 1861, Jacob Scheck enlisted in Company C of the 50th Pennsylvania Infantry as a Private.  His older brother Frederick Scheck also enlisted the same time.   At the time of his enrollment at Schuylkill Haven, Jacob was 18 years old, stood 5 foot, 8 inches tall, had a light complexion, blue eyes and light hair.  He was mustered into service at Harrisburg.

In the upper right had corner of the Pennsylvania Veterans’ Index Card at the Pennsylvania Archives (shown above), the notation “Muster-Roll” indicates that the information on the card was taken directly from the muster rolls of the company and not from Bates.  This is due to variations in the spelling of the surname – his name was “Jacob Sheck” in the muster roll.  The Bates page is shown below (Volume 1, page 1290):

Bates gives the enlistment date as 9 September 1861 – the correct date for the initial enlistment.  The Pennsylvania Veterans’ Index Card (above) notes that Jacob Scheck re-enlisted at Blaine’s Crossroad, Tennessee, on 1 January 1864, but this fact is not given in Bates.  A promotion from Private to Corporal is noted in Bates at 26 November 1864, while the Pennsylvania Veterans’ Index Card gives the date as 20 November 1864.

In consulting the Register of Pennsylvania Volunteers for Company C, 50th Pennsylvania Infantry (shown below), the initial enlistment date of 31 December 1863 is given – which is actually the re-enlistment date.  The date of 1 January 1864 is the muster date for the re-enlistment.

Also, it should be noted that in both Bates and the Register of Pennsylvania Volunteers, the rank of Jacob Scheck is given as “Corporal” at enlistment, a rank he did not achieve until November 1864 (either 20 or 26 November).  Jacob Scheck first enlisted as a Private and then re-enlisted as a Private – and was promoted to Corporal in the eleventh month following his re-enlistment.

The sources illustrated above are secondary sources which have been copied from primary source material.  It is always necessary to consult the original sources (if available).

After the Civil War, Jacob Scheck is found in the 1880 census for Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, where he is working as a railroad engineer.  His family at that time consisted of a wife Ellen Scheck( born about 1845) and four daughters:  Emma Scheck, born about 1870; Ella Scheck, born about 1871; Minnie Scheck, born about 1873; and Jennie Scheck, born about 1875.  In 1890, still residing in Easton, Jacob reported no Civil War-related disabilities.

In 1892, Jacob Scheck first applied for an invalid pension based on his Civil War service.  The delay in awarding his a pension may have been due to the spelling variation.  By 27 June 1894, he died, not receiving any benefits from the government.  His wife Ellen may have preceded him in death; no record has been found that a widow pursued a pension claim.

A Pennsylvania Veterans’ Burial Record has been located for Jacob Scheck.  According to the record, he is buried in Hays Cemetery, Lincoln Street, Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.

A picture of the grave marker of Jacob Scheck was found on Findagrave and the portrait of him, found at the top of this post was cropped from a photo of him posted on that site.

More information is sought of Jacob Scheck, particularly since it is now known that he had roots within the geographic area of the Civil War Research Project – he lived in Tremont and Pine Grove as confirmed by records at the Pennsylvania Archives and the U.S. Census.  A file has been established for him and he will be added to the updated Veterans’ List in April.  Any additional information on him would be greatly appreciated and can be added as comments to this post or sent via e-mail to the Project.

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Pennsylvania Veterans’ Burial Records are available at Ancestry.com.

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