;

Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Marks Hornet – African American Soldier from Elizabethville

In the 1860 Census of Washington Township, (Post Office Elizabethville), Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, there appears a family identified in the “Color” column as “m” for Mulatto.  The head of the family was Marks Hornet, a 38 year-old laborer.  He indicated to the census that he was born in Pennsylvania, that did not own any real […]

Was William P. Crabb an African-American?

The William P. Crabb who joined the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry on 15 August 1864, did so at Harrisburg, claiming to be 25 years old (born in Adams County), was of dark complexion, residing in Frailey Township, Schuylkill County, and was employed as a miller. Prior to the above enlistment, a William P. Crabb, age 21 […]

More on Fort Jackson

Fort Jackson was on land of forty-one acres, fifty-five perches, in Gratz Borough, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, and was part of 350 acres of land owned by Solomon Laudenslager, who inherited it from his father Jacob Laudenslager who had received the original patent in 1807.  In 1862, a sheriff’s sale transferred ownership from Solomon Laudenslager to […]

Joseph Witman – Tinsmith of Gratz and Halifax

Joseph Witman (1833-1898), a tinsmith of Gratz and Halifax, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, had an interesting Civil War service record which covered the entire period of the Civil War.  He served first in the 10th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company F, as a Private, from 26 April 1861 until his discharge on 31 July 1861, and then joined […]

The “Colored” G.A.R. Posts of Pennsylvania

In an essay entitled, “Sites of Memory, Sites of Glory: African American Grand Army of the Republic Posts in Pennsylvania,” Barbara A. Gannon presents a list of those posts, which includes the Stevens Post in Harrisburg, previously discussed here on this blog in a connection to Gratz native, John Peter Crabb, who for a time […]