Civil War Blog

This post is a follow-up to several previous posts on the Lykens G.A.R. Building and the Heilner Post G.A.R. No. 232 on North Second Street, Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The first post of 10 December 2010 featured the G.A. R. Monument. The second post, 11 December 2011, told of some of the history of the building. The third post, dated 6 June 2011, told of the discovery of the minutes books of the Women’s Relief Corps No. 101. Additional information has now been located, including the original application for state funding to have the building restored and a news article which dates the erection of the monument to 1926.

Click on article to enlarge

State funding is secured to restore G.A.R. building

The following Lykens Area Senior Citizens officers were present for Sen. Shumaker’s check presentation (from left): Lottie Shadle, program chairman; Mark Shadle, president; Carl Thomas, vice president’ Elsie Thomas, secretary and Elsie Buffington, treasurer. (Sentinel photo by Duane Good).

LYKENS — Sen. John Shumaker has secured funding to renovate the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) building, which was built in 1852.

The exterior of the building is in its original construction; as it was when it was the First Methodist Church in Lykens. It as subsequently been an armory, a hospital during the influenza epidemic in 1917-18; the home of the Rescue Hose Co. No. 1, and until 1926, the headquarters of the Heilner Post No. 232 G.A.R. and the Auxiliary relief Corps No. 101, which disbanded in 1973.

The building was then sold to the Lykens borough. It now is the meeting place of the Lykens Area Senior Citizens under a 20-year lease dating from 1983 with an option to renew upon expiration for a similar period.

The building was placed in the Pennsylvania State Inventory of Historical Places in 1980 and on the National Register of Historical Places in 1986.

A memorial stone monument with a bronze plaque listing the names of 400 Civil War veterans from the Lykens-Wiconisco area was erected in 1926.

The application that was presented to the state in order to secure the funding was located and the following except is taken from the application. It tells of the history of the building and gives its significance to the community:

The G.A.R. Building is significant in that from the time of its construction in 1852 until the present time it housed a variety of community related functions. For seven decades after it was built it was the only public meeting place in the small community of Lykens.

In 1848 dedicated citizens met and determined that Lykens needed a permanent church. Edward Gratz, who owned considerable land in the area, donated a plot of ground and subscribed one hundred dollars ($100.00) to the project. In 1850 construction was begun and the building was dedicated as a Methodist Church in 1852. During 1853 to 1867 it was also a meeting place for the Lutheran and Presbyterian denominations making it a focal point in the lives of the Protestant families. In 1867 the Methodists moved into their newly constructed church.

from 1867 until 1885 the building was the residence of A. F. Englebert and his family and Emanuel Deibler and his wife. The Deiblers, intending to move to Kansas, and not being able to find a purchaser of the property, permitted the local unit of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Reserves to use the building as an armory. In 1888 the Department of Military Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the property and continued to use it as an armory. They also made it available for town meetings as well as other social functions such as dances, parties and other civic meetings.

On 1890 the building was purchased by the Trustee of the Rescue Hose Company #1 of Lykens. This organization of volunteer fireman which had been organized in 1883, now had a permanent home. The Lykens Register reports many incidents which required the services of the only firefighting organization in the area. By taking into its organization young men as volunteer fireman the permanent source of firemen was assured. During this period the building was still available for public functions.

In 1898 the building was sold to the Heilner Post No. 232 of the Grand Army of the Republic Department of Pennsylvlania. From 1898 to 1926 this organization was primarily responsible for the human service needs of Civil War veterans in this area. The G.A.R. Building became the meeting place of Civil War veterans of not only Lykens and vicinity, but those living in the surrounding towns of Gratz, Elizabethville, Williamstown, and Tower City. None of those towns had Civil War veterans organizations. [see comment below].

The Heilner Women’s Relief Corps No. 101, an auxiliary to the G.A.R. Post, also used the building. The women’s organization had its membership residents of Lykens and adjoining Wiconisco as well as Tower City, Reinerton, Joliett, Williamstown, and Elizabethville and at one time listed a membership of over 200. It was, by far, the largest women’s organization in the area. Being of a patriotic nature, these women were instrumental in seeing that the graves of departed veterans were decorated every Memorial Day; that the sick and infirm Civil War veterans were not forgotten, and by popular subscription sponsored the memorial marker which is in front of the building. During the 1918 influenza epidemic the building was pressed into use for a hospital.

During the first decades of the 20th Century the building was available for the newly formed Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Civic Clubs. Thus this building continued to serve as an important function in Lykens. It was the only building available to a range of public groups, until in the 1920’s, when other building were constructed or utilized for these purposes.

In 1926, with only five (5) G.A.R. veterans remaining, upon a token payment of a five-dollar gold piece to each, ownership of the building was assumed by the Women’s Auxiliary. They were able to maintain their organization until 1973, when, with only six (6) members remaining, the G.A.R. building was “sold” to the Lykens Borough with the stipulation, “subject to the condition that it shall be maintained… as a memorial to said Heilner Post No. 232, G.A.R., Department of Pennsylvania.”

The Lykens Area Senior Citizens have taken over the responsibility for the building. They were solely responsible for the reconstruction and renovation Project, restoring the building more closely to its original form, and assuring that the building will be properly cared for over, at least, the next 20 years.

The statement that there were no Civil War veterans organizations in the surrounding towns was not entirely true. The Tower City G.A.R. was called the William Thompson Post No. 174. The Williamstown G.A.R. was called the Chester Post No. 280. The Gratz G.A.R. was called the Kissinger Post No, 376. It is true that there was no G.A.R. post in Elizabethville or Wiconisco. Wiconisco veterans could choose between Lykens or Williamstown, with most choosing Lykens. Elizabethville veterans, for the most part, joined the Lykens G.A.R., but some went to Gratz or to the Kilpatrick Post No. 212 in Millersburg. A more complete list of the G.A.R. posts in the area of this study was published here on this blog on 28 November 2010.

Continuing from the application for funding:

The G.A.R. Building as it stands today is architecturally as originally constructed. The only significant structural change to the original 4-walled stone building was the replacement in 1926 of an old wooden addition by a concrete block structure.

The two cupboards – one at the rear of the main hall and the other in the concrete block addition – are of significance. In 1888 the building was used as an armory by the State Board of Military Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Dauphin County Deed Book Z, Vol. 7, page 123) and the cupboards were converted into gun racks. The port holes for storing the rifles are visible.

In 1985 a “Reconstruction and Renovation” project consisted of interior and exterior painting, replacement of some damaged wainscoting in the main hall with exact duplicate, installation of new lights and upgrading of electrical service to comply with existing building codes, replacing old steel-ribbed roof with similar type. These renovations did not affect the architectural appearance of the building.

In front of the building stands a stone monument, 7′ x 5′, listing on a bronze plaque the names of 400 Civil War Veterans from Lykens, Wiconisco, and vicinity. The monument was erected in 1926.

[The information is a combined effort of Miles Kott (deceased), former Mayor of Lykens and a past president of the Lykens Area Senior Citizens. John Russell, son of Joseph and Annie Russell, a former resident of Lykens, and Mark K. Shadle, president of Lykens Area Senior Citizens.

Information for this post was taken from the files of the Civil War Research Project.

Category: Memorials, Research, Stories | Comments Off on Lykens G.A.R. Building – Another Look
Tags: Elizabethville, G.A.R., Gratz Borough, Gratz family, Lykens Borough, Millersburg, Tower City, Wiconisco, Willaimstown, Women

How Many Samuel Fryberger’s?

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on October 2, 2011

Samuel Fryberger

A post on another blog and an article in the Shamokin News Item sparked curiosity about the Civil War soldier named therein – Samuel Fryberger. Is it possible that this Northumberland County soldier should be included in the Civil War Research Project? Although Shamokin is just outside the triangular geographic area of the project study, some of the soldiers from the Shamokin area did end up in or around the Lykens Valley area at some time or another in their lives.

Reference is first made to a blog post on the “48th Pennsylvania Infantry: An On-Line Journal Dedicated to a Civil War Regiment,” written by John David Hoptack, a Civil War historian, 16 March 2009. In his post, Hoptack gives information supplied by a descendant, Heather Makal – including a picture of Samuel Fryberger and a photo of his grave marker in the Shamokin Cemetery. The article points out that Fryberger was born in Fountain Springs (a community in Schuylkill County). Schuylkill County claim to have supplied more than 12,000 soldiers to the war effort – and quite often, if a veteran is found in the Schuylkill County list, there are links to the Gratz project. Within the geographic area of study of the Gratz project are areas such as Foster and Barry Townships and Tremont. Many of the veterans from Gratz and the area around Gratz went to Pottsville to enroll (rather than to Harrisburg) because it was easier for them to get to Pottsville – and many of the regiments formed in Pottsville were made up of residents from Upper Dauphin and Lower Northumberland County residents. So, should Samuel Fryberger be included in the Civil War Research Project?

The second story appeared in an article in the Shamokin News Item by Joseph W. Humes, 25 May 2011. The story was entitled, “Local Breaker Boy Befomes a Fighting Man in the Civil War.” Humes used the same source for his story, the descendant, Heather Makal. The same picture is included plus a staff photo of the grave marker in the Shamokin Cemetery. Again, the same reference to Fountain Springs as the place of birth. With the date of birth given as 28 October 1846 in both articles, the name of the regiment and company (48th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company H), and other basic information, finding additional information through on-line sources should have been quite easy.

The first search, through Find-a-Grave, produced another Heather Makal contribution. There was not much new information.

The search on Ancestry.com produced some interesting results. First, an 1850 census return came up for Barry Township (shown below) which shows a 7 year old Samuel Fryberger living in the household of a Christian and Roseanna Fryberger, with a sibling Mary, age 10. If Samuel Fryberger was living in Barry Township in 1850, he should be included in the Civil War Research Project.

Click on document to enlarge.

All of the persons in the household were born in Pennsylvania, but what stood out was the age of Samuel. If he was “7” at the time of the census, he would have had to have been born around 1843, not the 1846 as indicated in the Humes and Hoptack articles – and he wouldn’t have been a “boy” of 14 when he enrolled in the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry in 1861 – he would have been closer to 18. Is it possible the census taker wrote his “4’s” like 7″s?” As can be seen in the entry just below Samuel – Godfrey Brocius – the individual is “47” and the “4’s” are made quite differently – the “7’s” made consistently throughout the sheet.

Another possibility is that there is a second Samuel Fryberger. For this to be true, there would have to be at least one common record (census, military record, etc.) where there are clearly two individuals with the same name. Since only one Samuel Fryberger was found in the 1850 census, the 1860 census was searched next. Again, only one Samuel Fryberger (as Samuel Fryburg) was found – but this time in Fulton County, Ohio! That record is shown below:

Click on document to enlarge.

This time, the mother’s name is Mary, she is a widow, and there are five other children in the household. Again, all were born in Pennsylvania. But the Samuel in this census is 15 years old – therefore born about 1845, and closer to the reported age of the Samuel Fryberger in the Hoptack and Humes articles.

The next sources to check are the military records… and behold there are two Samuel Fryberger‘s… one in Ohio and one in Pennsylvania. First shown below is the Pension Index card for the Samuel Fryberger who served in the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry and Veteran Reserve Corps. Second show is the Pension Index Card for the Samuel Fryberger who served in the 111th Ohio Infantry, Company K.

Since there are two Pension Index Cards and two different widows -both collecting pensions after 1890, a quick check of the 1890 Veterans’ Census would give a geographic location for each of the veterans. Census sheets were found for both, and not surprisingly, the Samuel Fryberger from Pennsylvania was residing in Shamokin and the Samuel Frybarger from Ohio (who had been born in Pennsylvania) was residing in Fulton County, Ohio.

Two quick checks of the Pennsylvania military records found that there are several index cards for the Samuel Fryberger who served in the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry and the information on those cards confirms that Samuel Fryberger enlisted twice in Company H and then transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps. Also shown in the cards was that Samuel Fryberger claimed he was 18 when he first enlisted in 1861 – but then again claimed he was still 18 when he re-enlisted in 1864. This is consistent with the “lie” he told to the recruiters in order to enlist at the age of 14. However, there are other differences on the cards which make it appear that there there were two different Samuel Fryberger‘s – one who enrolled in 1861 and one who enrolled in 1864. The cards are shown below for comparison:

Nearly everything about Samuel Fryberger changed from 1861 to 1864. The height change was explained in the articles – he grew. The age change was also explained – he lied the first time. But his hair color, eye color, occupation, and residence also changed. Then, to make things even more baffling, his information only appears once in Register of Pennsylvania Volunteers for the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry:

Click on document to enlarge.

In the Pennsylvania Registers at the Pennsylvania Archives, there is no record of his first enlistment. The second enlistment in 1864 was at Pottsville. He was recruited by Capt. Charlemagne Tower. Tower was the Provost Marshal for Schuylkill County (as previously reported on this blog).

The service record for the other Samuel Fryberger indicates he joined the 111th Ohio Infantry on 6 September 1862 and was mustered out on 17 June 1865 in Salisbury, North Carolina.

As for records of the 1863 Draft, no information has been found for either Samuel Fryberger. According to family records, the Samuel Fryberger of the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry, was born on 28 Oct 1846. He would not have been 18 until 28 October 1864 and therefore was not expected to register in July 1863. For the Samuel Fryberger of the 111th Ohio Infantry, he was already in the service when the draft took place .

What has been discovered here is that there are clearly two persons named Samuel Fryberger who were about 3 years apart in age, that both were born in Pennsylvania, that one served in an Ohio regiment and that one served in a Pennsylvania regiment. What has not been discovered is which one (if either) has the connection to the geographic area of study for the Civil War Research Project.

Anyone with information to help sort out this confusion is asked to come forward. The Civil War Research Project is always looking for stories and pictures of veterans who have some connection to the Lykens Valley area.

Documents are from Ancestry.com and the Pennsylvania Archives. The photo of the Samuel Fryberger is linked to the blog site of John David Hoptack.

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | 2 Comments »
Tags: Barry Township, Foster Township, Fryberger family, Tremont

Descendants of Philip Keiser Jr. in the Civil War (Part 3 of 3)

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on October 1, 2011

Today’s post will focus on two of the middle children of Philip Keiser Jr.: (1) Elizabeth Keiser (1823-1882); and (2) Jacob Keiser (1828-?) – and their children, Edmund Umholtz (1843-1882) and Ellen V. Keiser (1852-1922). [Click on chart above to enlarge it]. Two days ago, the post focused on the oldest son of Philip Keiser Jr. (1800-1839). That post gave the Civil War service of Daniel Keiser (1820-1877) and three of his sons, Henry Keiser (1840-1933), William Keiser (1844-1921), and George Keiser (1846-1863). Yesterday the focus was on Philip’s youngest son, Jonas Keiser (1834- ?).

Elizabeth Keiser Umholtz (1823-1882)

Elizabeth Keiser (1823-1882) married John Umholtz (1818-1888). Elizabeth and John had one son, Edmon L. Umholtz (1843-1882). Edmon served in the 210th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company H, as a Musician from 13 September 1864 to 30 May 1865. John’s grandmother was a Hoffman, and like Elizabeth, was a descendant of Johann Peter Hoffman, Lykens Valley pioneer.

Edmon Umholtz (1843-1882)

During the Civil War, Edmon Umholtz married Catherine Buffington (1844-1877), a cousin in another line descended from Johann Peter Hoffman. Two children were born during the war: Milton Umholtz (1861-1877) and Henry Oscar Umholtz (1863-1950). Then Edmon and Catherine parted ways and Catherine re-married to Aaron Hopple (1847-1891), a plasterer from the Lykens Valley area and also a Civil War veteran of the 192nd Pennsylvania Infantry, Company H. Catherine had four sons with Aaron, all of whom died before their third birthdays. Then she died in 1877. Aaron re-married to Ida Bartlett and had three more children. He then spent his last days in the asylum for the insane in Harrisburg, where he died in 1891.

Elizabeth [Keiser] Umholtz‘s brother, Jacob Keiser (1828-?) served in the military in the pre-Civil War period. In 1852, he married Catherine Sheetz and a short time later a daughter, Ellen V. Keiser (1822-1922) was born. Then he divorced Catherine. Some family members say Jacob went to California. Army enlistment records show him joining the 1st U.S. Cavalry in 1855 and serving in the west, including Kansas. He then re-enlisted in 1860, just before the Civil War began and must have had second thoughts, because the records indicate that he deserted just before the war began. Not much is known of his life after the service and it is fairly certain that he never returned to the Lykens Valley area.

Ellen Keiser Umholtz (1852-1922).

After Edmon Umholtz and his wife separated, it didn’t take Edmon too long to marry again -this time to Ellen Keiser, the 16 year old daughter of his uncle Jacob Keiser who had disappeared from the scene as explained above. Edmon and Ellen settled in Gratz and began to raise a family. Six children were born to the couple before 1882, the year that tragedy struck.

After the Civil War, Edmon Umholtz operated a tavern and inn in Gratz. In December 1881, he was appointed an appraiser for the county and had to travel to Harrisburg and other areas of the state on county business. On returning from a trip in January 1882, he fell ill and died shortly thereafter. Before it was discovered that he had smallpox, much of the town was exposed to the disease through contact with him before he died and by attending his funeral. By the time it was discovered that he had died of smallpox, two of his young children had died, his mother Elizabeth fell ill with the disease (she also died of it two months later) and several townspeople also died, including some of the pallbearers. The undertaker and postmaster became ill but survived the epidemic. Ellen [Keiser] Umholtz, who did not get the disease, was quite shaken by the experience and decided to leave Gratz with her young daughter Carrie Umholtz who also survived.

Ellen then re-married William Elias “Eli” Dilfield (1845-1915) of Tremont, Schuylkill County, who had served as a saddler in the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Company B, from 22 February 1864 through 28 July 1865, service time interrupted only long enough for a broken leg to heal – the leg broken as a result of a fall from a horse. At the time she married Dilfield, he was operating a hotel in Tremont. Dilfield had been previously married to a woman named Sallie and had four children. It is not known what happened to Sallie. It appears from the records that Ellen had at least one child with Eli Dilfield. But he apparently helped raise Ellen’s child Carrie Umholtz. Later, Ellen, Eli and Carrie moved to Reading where all of them eventually died. Near the end of her life, Carrie Umholtz, who never married, changed her name to Carrie Dilfield. She is buried in the Charles Evans Cemetery next to her mother Ellen and step-father Elias.

This is the final part of a three part series on the descendants of Philip Keiser Jr. who were veterans of the Civil War. The project is always seeking information on Civil War veterans who have a connection to the defined geographic area of study. Submissions are very welcome – especially stories and pictures!

Information for this post was taken from the files of the project. There is a more complete genealogy of the Keiser family in the book, A Comprehensive History of the Town of Gratz Pennsylvania. Pension Index Cards are from Ancestry.com.

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | 4 Comments »
Tags: Bartlett family, Dilfield family, Gratz Borough, Hopple family, Keiser family, Regiments, Sheetz family, Tremont, Umholtz family

Descendants of Philip Keiser Jr. in the Civil War (Part 2 of 3)

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on September 30, 2011

Yesterday, the post focused on the oldest son of Philip Keiser Jr. (1800-1839). That post gave the Civil War service of Daniel Keiser (1820-1877) and three of his sons, Henry Keiser (1840-1933), William Keiser (1844-1921), and George Keiser (1846-1863). Today, the focus is on Philip’s youngest son, Jonas Keiser (1834- ?).

Jonas Keiser served only in the 26th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company D, as a Private, along with his brother Daniel Keiser (1820-1877) and nephew George Keiser (1846-1863). The pension index card shown above indicates that application was made from Delaware, and there is no indication that a pension was received. This was probably due to the short term of service in the 26th Pennsylvania Infantry – less than the three months that was required for most veterans in order to receive a pension.

Click on picture to enlarge.

However, Jonas Keiser did participate in the Battle of Gettysburg and his name does appear on the Pennsylvania Memorial as shown above (underlined in red).

Jonas Keiser also appears on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument:

Jonas Keiser was a carpenter who did contract work in the Gratz and Lykens Valley area. In 1860 he operated a tavern in Gratz and also taught school and for a time was Justice of the Peace. After the war, he moved to Shamokin, Northumberland County, with his family – he had married Lucinda Strayer, and with her had at least six known children. Lucinda had at least one brother who was a Civil War soldier, Lafayette Strayer (1824-1908). After Jonas and Lucinda spent some time in Shamokin, they moved permanently to Delaware, where he eventually died.

Tomorrow, the final part of this three part series on the descendants of Philip Keiser Jr. will appear and will focus on two of the middle children of Philip Keiser Jr.: (1) Elizabeth Keiser (1823-1882); and (2) Jacob Keiser (1828-?) – and their children, Edmund Umholtz (1843-1882) and Ellen V. Keiser (1852-1922). The project is always seeking information on Civil War veterans who have a connection to the geographic area of study. Submissions are very welcome – especially stories and pictures!

Information for this post was taken from the files of the Civil War Research Project. There is a more complete genealogy of the Keiser family in the book, A Comprehensive History of the Town of Gratz Pennsylvania. Pension Index Cards are from Ancestry.com.

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | 1 Comment »
Tags: Gratz Borough, Keiser family, Regiments, Strayer family

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