Civil War Blog

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on June 20, 2011

Portraits of John Hess and Caroline Hess

A recent donation of two large size portraits to the Gratz Historical Society has re-opened the question, “Who is John Hess?”  Originally, the name of John Hess was added to the list of veterans from the Lykens Valley area because the name appears on the Millersburg Civil War Monument.  Since no other John Hess was identified in the Lykens Valley, there was speculation that the John Hess in Lykens Township and the John Hess named on the monument were the same person.  However, it appears now that they might not be the same person, and that the John Hess from Lykens Township did not serve in the Civil War.

The John Hess from Lykens Township was a registrant for the 1863 Civil War Draft, but no record has been found of Civil War service.  Family records and cemetery records indicate a birth year of 1840 and death year of 1905.  He is buried in Gratz Union Cemetery.

John Hess (1840-1905) – Gratz Union Cemetery

1863 Lykens Township Draft Registration for John Hess, age 23, a Farmer, Married, and born in Pennsylvania

In 1899, John Hess announced plans to build a house on Lot #34 in Gratz, the site of the former Lykens Hotel [the Lykens Hotel will be discussed in a future post on Civil War Gratz].  This project is described in A Comprehensive History of the Town of Gratz, pages 285-287.  Some background information was given on John Hess, including that he had been a farmer in Lykens Township and had also operated a hotel in Pillow, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  Because of the size house that Hess planned to build, some have speculated that he intended to operate the property as a hotel.  Lot #34 is on the southeast corner of Market and Center Streets at the main intersection in Gratz.  The house that was built there around 1900, a large Victorian, is still standing but is unoccupied.

This John Hess lived in Lykens Township in 1890, but his name was not found in the 1890 Veterans Census.  No Pension Index Card was found for a John Hess with wife Caroline who died about twelve years after he did.  Neither of these facts is sufficient to conclude that this John Hess did not serve in the Civil War, but no biographic information supports a contention that he did serve, no family record has been found showing Civil War service, and he is not included in a Gratz area Civil War veterans list.  His grave is also not marked with a G.A.R. star-flag holder.

Returning to the Millersburg Civil War Monument, the name of John Hess is noted:

Since no Civil War record has been found for John Hess from Lykens Township, it must now be assumed that this is a different John Hess.

In examining Steve Maczuga’s “Pennsylvanian in the Civil War,” a database of Civil War soldiers and their regiments, 35 entries are found for persons named “John Hess.”  One of these stands out in that the regiment and company was composed heavily of soldiers from the Lykens Valley area – that of the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Company B.  Previously, this “John W. Hess” has not been connected with any Lykens Valley area person, but the initial speculation was that the John Hess on the Millersburg Monument was the same person as the one living in Gratz and that this person served in the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry.  The Maczuga record is shown below:

One positive indication is that this John W. Hess had a muster location in Dauphin County.  However, we know from other information that the company of this regiment was formed in Dauphin County and the enlistee could have been from anywhere – including from another state.

Next, turning to the Pennsylvania Archives, the Pennsylvania Veterans’ Card File is examined.

From the card is is learned that John W. Hess was born around 1843 (he was 18 when he enrolled in 1861).  His occupation was miller.  His residence was Dauphin County.  It now appears that this is a different John Hess than the one in Lykens Township and Gratz. More information is still needed to determine for certain that it is a different person.  If it is a different person, then this John W. Hess will have to be connected to the Millersburg area to bring more certainty to any conclusion that he is the person named on the Millersburg Monument.  Curiously, the John W. Hess who served in the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry has not been located in the 1890 Veterans Census nor has a Pension Index Card been located for him.

These questions and research associated with any veteran of the Civil War point out the problems in getting accurate and complete information.  Much information is still out there in the hands of family members who have not yet understood the value of sharing it in order to develop more knowledge about their ancestors.  The portraits of John and Caroline Hess that were recently donated to the Gratz Historical Society had not been seen before at the Society and the John Hess portrayed, who was born in 1840, was assumed to be the Civil War soldier.  That now might not be the case – and there is likely another John Hess who now must be researched – one who did serve in the Civil War.

Category: Queries, Research, Stories | 2 Comments »
Tags: Gratz Borough, Lykens Township, Millersburg, Pillow, Regiments

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on June 19, 2011

This is the second part in a series on Civil War Gratz.  This post focuses on the first public school in Gratz which was on Lot #11.  The 1862 map of Gratz has a space marked “S.H.” where the school house existed.  Most records indicate that there was a free public school located on Lot #11, which should be actually located one lot to the west of the one marked “S.H.”  Counting the lots on the north side of Market Street between West Street and Pine, it can be noted that one lot is missing.  The map is probably not drawn to scale and there was probably a vacant lot that the mapmaker failed to note on this 1862 map.  Eight lots are shown on the 1829 and 1876 maps but only seven lots are shown on the 1862 map.

First Gratz School – Lot #11 – Click on map to enlarge.

1876 Map – Lot #11 – Eight Lots between West Street and Pine Street

Records from 1838 indicate that this lot was purchased by the “Common School Society.”  Early common school trustees were Christian Enterline, Michael Williard, J. B. Crain and Daniel Good. Free Public Schools had been created in 1834 and by 1858 a school district was established to coordinate laws for all public school schools.  The school district was called the Free School Society and the county records indicate that at that time, the Free School Society owned the lot and the building at this site.  The trustees were prominent individuals in the early history of Gratz and undoubtedly were interested in education for their own children as well as the children of the community.  This remained as the Gratz Free School until 1871 when the property was sold and a new school was built on Center Street across from Simeon’s Church.  Today, there is a monument at the site where the 1871 school stood.

One of the earliest pictures that has been found of the first Gratz school is from 1905 and was taken after the owner made a significant Victorian-style addition to the east side of the small building.  Pictured below is the 1905 addition (at right in picture).  The original school building, dating from perhaps 1822 when it was a small, two-story house, is believed to be at the left in the picture.  This was the only known school in Gratz during the Civil War.

1905 Photo

Records available to the Civil War Research Project indicate that in 1860, only one teacher was employed to teach about ninety enrolled students, about forty-five of whom would report on any given day.  The school year began on 15 October and lasted for six months.  The teacher was paid $25 per month.  Teacher training was done in Harrisburg at “Institutes” conducted by the county and this training was interrupted by the Civil War.  The 1863-1864 school term saw an outbreak of smallpox and Institute classrooms in Harrisburg were used as a hospital for the smallpox victims.  In addition, the closeness of the war to Harrisburg in 1863 disrupted the county’s efforts to coordinate instruction. Teachers were also young men who were eligible for military service.  The records show that the Gratz School employed men who later served in the war as well as veterans of the war.

Teachers at the Gratz School during the Civil War period were:  (1) Jonas Keiser, was empoyed intermittently during the years 1855-1863.  His teaching service was interrupted by military service in the Civil War. After the war, he moved to Delaware.  Jonas is named on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument.  (2) Rudolph Dornheim, whose dates of teaching were not recorded.  He moved to Philadelphia around 1910 but is buried in Gratz Union Cemetery.  Dornheim was a cabinetmaker and also saw service in the Civil War.  (3) William H. Showers, whose home was next to the school (Lot #9), was a teacher in 1858 and then returned to teach from 1861 to 1863.  No record of Civil War service for him has been found.  (4) Henry Umholtz taught “high school” just prior to the war in about 1860.  The school was probably not “graded” during the Civil War period, so this reference may be to learning beyond the basics rather than a specific age or grade level student.  (5) Cyrus K. Snyder taught from about 1863 to 1869.  Perhaps this was the same Cyrus Snyder who was from Mifflin Township, Dauphin County, and who served in the 173rd Pennsylvania Infantry, completing his service in August 1863.  The veteran Cyrus Snyder is named on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument and is buried in Wiconisco Cemetery.  (6) John W. Hoffman, a Civil War veteran taught from 1867 to 1870, and then again in some years through 1877.  Presumably, this is the John W. Hoffman who is buried in the Gratz Union Cemetery (born 1843-died1926), and not the John W. Hoffman who is buried in the Peace Cemetery in Berrysburg (born1836-died1907).  Both had Civil War service and one is named on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument.

A more recent picture shows the first school building as it appeared around 1997.  The building is still standing today.

About 1990 Photo

About twenty years ago, the Gratz Historical Society obtained the minutes book of this Gratz school.  The minutes cover the period from 1859 to 1869 and conclude with the ordering of brick for the new school which was completed by 1871.  A summary of this minutes book was given in A Comprehensive History of the Town of Gratz Pennsylvania as was a complete history of the Gratz schools.

The history of Lot #11 is found in A Comprehensive History of the Town of Gratz Pennsylvania, p. 77-96 and p. 137-140.  The history of schools in Gratz is found in the same reference, p. 694-719.  The Gratz Historical Society also maintains a collection of materials on all the schools in Gratz and the surrounding area and some of these materials are displayed in the school exhibit in the Gratz Historical Society Museum.  In addition there is a collection of photo albums and later yearbooks from the schools of the area.  Finally, one of the buildings of the Gratz Historical Society is a one-room school house in Erdman, Lykens Township, Dauphin County.  Annual programs are held at the school which is set-up very much as it would have been at the beginning of the 20th Century when one-room school houses were the major sites of public education in rural America.

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | Comments Off on Gratz During the Civil War – First Public School
Tags: Berrysburg, Crain family, Dornheim family, Enterline family, Erdman, G.A.R., Good family, Gratz Borough, Hoffman family, Keiser family, Lykens Borough, Lykens Township, Mifflin Township, Regiments, Showers family, Snyder family, Umholtz family, Walking Tour, Wiconisco, Williard family

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on June 18, 2011

Today we begin a series of posts to try to determine what Gratz looked like during the Civil War, 1861-1865.  One of the purposes of this series will be to determine what buildings remain from the period.

We begin with some of the available maps.

The first map is of the “Lot Plan” of Simon Gratz which was recorded in Dauphin County deeds of 1829.  It is used to show the original Simon Gratz lot numbers. The map was reproduced in A Comprehensive History of the Town of Gratz, page 77.  These original lot numbers are referenced to property histories that are found in the book.  The orientation of the map is north at the top and south at the bottom.

1829 Map.  Click on map to enlarge.

According to A Comprehensive History of the Town of Gratz Pennsylvania:

Simon Gratz laid out a town, called and forever hereafter to be called the town of Gratz. A draft was made consisting of ninety-six lots, and numbered one to ninety-six inclusive… with the following streets and alleys and of the widths as represented by the above plan viz… Market Square one hundred feet wide, Market Street to be eight feet, East Street and West Street each sixty feet, centre Street fifty feet, Pine and Chestnut Street each forty feet, and East, West, North and South Alley each twenty feet.  Each of the ninety-six lots containing in breadth fifty feet.  Those fronting Market Square 190 feet in length and those fronting Market Street being in length 200.

The second map is of Dauphin County in 1858 and was originally published by William J. Barker of Philadelphia.  The “inset” map of Gratz is shown below.  Names of property owners are indicated.  Note that the orientation of this map is south at the top and north at the bottom; therefore the map is intentionally shown upside down so that its orientation matches the other maps.  Unfortunately, the map the Pennsylvania Archives has provided on its web site is split and a portion of Gratz is found in two different sections.  For the purpose of this post, the two sections were joined and some of the names in the seam may not be readable.

1858 Map. Click on map to enlarge.

The third map is from 1862 and is by A. Pomeroy, Publisher, of Minor Street, Philadelphia.  The orientation is north at top and south at bottom.  This is the only known map of Gratz from the Civil War years.

1862 Map.  Click on map to enlarge.

The final map is of unknown origin and is probably from the mid-1870s.  Its orientation is north at top and south at bottom and it contains the original Simon Gratz lot numbers.

1876 Map.  Click on map to enlarge.

In addition to the maps, there is also census information from 1860 as well as other resources from the book A Comprehensive History of the Town of Gratz Pennsylvania – including a list of property owners from 1865, taken from Dauphin County tax records and keyed with the original lot numbers. The book contains detailed information on each property in Gratz listing all property owners and genealogies of every family that lived on the property.  There are pictures of the buildings from various eras and the people who lived in those building.  Most important for this series of posts, the book will be used to determine what buildings or portions of building still exist from the Civil War years.

Finally, a word about the original lot numbers and the current street addresses in Gratz.  Lot numbers were only used on deeds and were never used as street addresses.  Mail sent to Gratz was sent to the Post Office and picked up by addressees and Gratz was small enough that the postmaster knew everyone.  When street addresses were finally assigned and home delivery became common in rural areas, the numbering system was designed so that houses on the west side of Center Street had “West Market Street” addresses and on the east side, had “East Market Street” addresses.  During the Civil War, there was no home mail delivery.  Today, many residents choose to have post office boxes in the Gratz Post Office and do not use their street addresses.

Tomorrow, Lot #11 will be examined in part 2 of this series.  Additional properties will be presented during the months ahead.

The 1858 map and the 1862 map are from the Pennsylvania Archives:  1858.  1862.

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | Comments Off on Gratz During the Civil War
Tags: Gratz Borough, Gratz family, Walking Tour

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on June 17, 2011

St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, located in Klingerstown, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, has a relatively new cemetery for the Lykens Valley area, the first recorded burial being recorded there in 1894, the same year the church was built.  It was that of Barbara [Wiest] Klinger (1832-1894), the wife of David S. Klinger (1827-1916).  The church is located on Main St. just south of the main intersection of Klingerstown at Ridge Road.  Traveling north from Gratz on Erdman Road, the church is on the right side after passing through the Klingerstown Gap.  Because of the cemetery’s late establishment, the grave of only one Civil War veteran was found here, that of William W. Rothermel (1842-1922).  Rothermel was the subject of a previous posts on this blog.  See:  Sgt. William W. Rothermel – Civil War Veteran.

St. Michael's Church Cemetery.

The cemetery is located behind the church building. No record has been found that David S. Klinger served in the Civil War, but he was of the age of service for the war and he surely had relations who did serve.

William W.Rothermel‘s grave is prominently marked with a G.A.R. Star and Flag Holder.

William W. Rothermel (1842-1922)

The first Reformed minister of this church was Rev. Joseph H. Schlappig (1837-1918).  He was ordained in 1866 and started his ministry at Mt. Pleasant Mills, Pennsylvania.  He served the Reformed congregation at Klingerstown from 1890-1896 while also serving in Line Mountain, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.  Rev. Schlappig was a Civil War veteran and served in Nevins Independent Battery, Pennsylvania Light Artillery.

Rev. Joseph H. Schlappig (1837-1918)

Schlappig’s term of service in the Independent Battery was from 10 July 1863 to 7 January 1864.  In 1895, Joseph Schlappig applied for a pension based on his Civil War service.  The record shows that his application was accepted and he received a pension.  It is not know if any other Reformed ministers who served this congregation were veterans of the Civil War.

The first Lutheran pastor of St. Michael’s was Rev. Solomon Berger Stupp (1857-1928) who attended Muhlenberg College from 1877 through 1880 and Philadelphia Seminary from 1880 through 1883. Rev. Stupp served St. Michael’s from 1895 to 1897.  Rev. Stupp would have been too young to have served in the Civil War.  No record was available to indicate whether any of the later Lutheran pastors were Civil War veterans.

Today, St. Michael’s is a Lutheran congregation that is served by Rev. Jan Mills who also is the pastor of Zion (or Klinger’s) Lutheran Church in Erdman, Lykens Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  The cemetery at St. Michael’s is still active and well cared for by members of the congregation.

Information on St. Michael’s Church Cemetery was taken from the Klingerstown Bicentennial Album, 1807-2007.  Copies of this book are still available from the Klingerstown Fire Company which is located next to St. Michael’s Church and Cemetery.

Klingerstown Fire Company

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | 1 Comment »
Tags: Cemetery, Erdman, Gratz Borough, Klinger family, Klingerstown, Line Mountain, Lykens Township, Regiments, Schlappig family

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on June 16, 2011

A recently received donation to the Schwalm Research Library of the Gratz Historical Society of the complete ten-volume first edition of The Photographic History of the Civil War generated heightened excitement and interest in the Civil War Research Project during one of the regular Wednesday research sessions.  The books arrived in Gratz on 2 June and were the gift of Julia Bayly, a Freelance Writer-Photographer of Fort Kent, Maine.

Ms. Bayly contacted the Gratz Historical Society after reading the series of posts on this blog which described the ten-volume set which was issued for the 50th Anniversary of the start of the war.  The first post in that series described the set.  The next ten posts focused on each volume:  (1) The Opening Battles.  (2) Two Years of Grim War.  (3) The Decisive Battles.  (4) The Cavalry.  (5) Forts and Artillery.  (6) The Navies.  (7) Prisons and Hospitals.  (8) Soldier Life and the Secret Service.  (9) Poetry and Eloquence of Blue and Gray.  (10) Armies and Leaders. The final post gave index references to Pennsylvania regiments that were represented in the ten volumes.

Excerpts of the correspondence with Julia Bayly follow:

Well, through the wonder that is the internet I have come across the site for the Gratz Historical Society and Museum. At the time I was researching Francis Miller’s Photographic History of the Civil War, because I have a complete first edition set.  Truly a remarkable work….

I stumbled across your site and the mention of the museum having five of the 10 volumes. That really got me to thinking that this work is way too important to languish in my personal collection….  Rather, such books should be with people who really appreciate them and will use them for research and make them accessible to the public….

I would be willing to donate the volumes so long as they are always made accessible to the public for enjoyment and learning….

I am very glad to be giving them to a place where they can be used and enjoyed. Books should never be stashed away and kept from people.  I remember when I went to Winnipeg to do research at the Manitoba archives I was allowed to read the actual journals and log books going back to the 1800s – not copies, but the real books, one which had been kept by my great-great uncle. It was an amazing experience and the closest thing to time travel we have.

Ms. Bayly provided also some information about herself and her work:

I have been a print journalist for close to 25 years covering everything from politics to crime to agriculture to sports to features in Maine. I also do a fair amount of travel writing (perhaps someday I can visit Gratz and do a story on it!) I am a lifelong lover of the written word and firmly believe there is no such thing as having too many books.  However, I also believe books are meant to be read and a collection like the 10-volume Civil War set deserves to be housed where it will be read by those who will appreciate it. This is what prompted me to consider donating them.

I chose the Gratz Historical Society after conducting an online search.  I was drawn to it by the website and the reference to the incomplete set you already have. I honestly have no idea where the books originally came from, as they were among several boxes of items from my childhood home in Portland, Oregon.  At the very least, they are well traveled!

When not writing I am an active musher of sled dogs in the winter and bicyclist in the summer. Perhaps some day I will figure out a way to combine the two.  I live  in Fort Kent with 11 sled dogs, two cats, a flock of laying hens and whatever wild critters happen to be wandering by.

After being notified that the books arrived in good condition and were being processed to be added to the collection, Ms. Bayly reported an amazing coincidence:

Here’s something funny – I am raising meat chickens this summer and they came shipped from a hatchery in Gratz! Funny how these connections happen in life.

One of the truly remarkable things that has been learned from this Civil War Research Project is that a small community in the heartland of Pennsylvania can have such a widespread influence regionally and nationally.  The internet has now made it possible to tell stories quickly and efficiently and continue to make new connections in the present and future.

Category: Reflections, Research, Stories | Comments Off on Photographic History Donation to Gratz Historical Society
Tags: Gratz Borough