Civil War Blog

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 3, 2011

(Part  15 of an ongoing series on the Battle of Gettysburg).  Around the base of the Pennsylvania Memorial at Gettysburg are a series of plaques which, by regiment and company, note the names of every soldier who was present at the Battle of Gettysburg.  This post will present the plaque recognizing the men who served in the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry.  By clicking on the plaque it should enlarge so the names can be more clearly read.  Following the plaque is a list of the men who have thus far been identified as eligible for inclusion in this Civil War Research Project who, it is believed, served for a time in the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry.  Not all the names may appear on the Pennsylvania Memorial plaques.  If a name does not appear, it could be that the soldier did serve in the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry, but was not part of the regiment during its days at Gettysburg – or it could mean that the soldier was erroneous included in the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry list.  There could also be errors on the plaque.  Readers are invited to submit comments about any names appearing below, or on the plaque, especially if they believe the soldier was from the Lykens Valley area and should be included in this study.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Men from the Lykens Valley area who probably served in the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry:

Patrick Eagen — John F. Helt — David H. Shaffer

Information for this post was taken from the files of the Civil War Research Project.  A separate digital file is kept on each of the above-named men. Information is sought on any men from the Lykens Valley area who were soldiers or sailors during the Civil War.

Category: Memorials | Comments Off on 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry – Pennsylvania Memorial at Gettysburg
Tags: Monument

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 2, 2011

The year 2011 represents the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the National Civil War Museum.  Several prior posts on this blog have featured the museum’s “Walk of Valor” (see also part 2 and part 3) and the centerpiece statue “Moment of Mercy.”

The National Civil War Museum is located high on a hilltop overlooking Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  The museum aims to provide a balanced view and to inspire lifelong learning through preservation and research about the Civil War.   It has become a national destination for “families, students, civil war enthusiasts and historians to experience and research the culture and history of the American Civil War.”

The establishment of the museum in 2001 was not without controversy.  Then Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed, himself a Civil War buff, helped quietly acquire a 25,000 piece collection of Civil War artifacts through the Harrisburg Authority, a utility and bond-issuing agency that supplied more than $30 million for what now is the core of the museum’s collections.  Reed’s dream of a tourism triangle that included Gettysburg, Harrisburg and Hershey was his supposed motivation – Harrisburg being known as the “Crossroads of the Union” during the Civil War – to have Harrisburg as the site of a national museum dedicated to a fair and balanced portrayal of all aspects of the national struggle.  But critics lambasted him for proposing an expensive monument to his own ego.

Nevertheless, the museum was built and obtained its building and grounds debt-free.  However, it was left without an endowment that would have supplemented its income and help to finance improvements and exhibit changes.   The basic collection of artifacts that was gifted to the museum lies largely unused and untouched in the museum basement with only a portion of the items on display.  As far as visitors go, it certainly does not match rival Gettysburg or any in of the Smithsonian museums in Washington, but it is holding its own as a center of Civil War study.  Critics now say that the exhibits need to updated and made more interactive to meet the needs of today’s computer-savvy youth.

As far as center of study goes, scholars regularly meet at the museum for seminars and examination of artifacts.  The Sons of Union Veterans has its national headquarters there.  Civil War re-enactors regularly hold encampments on the lawn.  And school groups have annual planned visits there.

The one fact that has helped make this museum different that all others about the Civil War is that it attempts to tell the whole story of the Civil War from beginning to end and from many possible points of view.  The museum at Gettysburg battlefield focuses primarily on that battle, although it puts the battle in the context of the total struggle.  Some Civil War sites have expanded their scope beyond the reason they were famous – or infamous, as in the case of Andersonville, Georgia, site of the Confederate prison – which today is the National Prisoner of War Museum and includes a full-sized replica of the cell in which P.O.W. John McCain was held during the Vietnam conflict.

Still, a quick look at the “Walk of Valor” gives the visitor the impression that this is primarily a Pennsylvania museum and has a long way to go to prove it its national scope.  It appears that more than half the bricks on the walk recognize Pennsylvania veterans of the war while sections set aside for other states have barely any memorial bricks in them.

Only a few of the more than 80,000 South Carolinians who served in the war are recognized on the Walk of Valor

The dedication plaque at the entrance:

Click on picture to enlarge.

While the museum has not fully realized recognition as “the” national museum dedicated to the Civil War, it is making strides toward that goal.  The fact that it is in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, has special meaning for the soldiers who are recognized in our Civil War Research Project – less than an hour from the Lykens Valley area and in the same county.

Some of the information for this post was taken from an article which appeared in the Harrisburg Sunday Patriot-News, 20 February 2011.

Category: Memorials, Museums, Resources | Comments Off on National Civil War Museum – 10th Anniversary
Tags: Gratz Borough

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 1, 2011

Sinnary Bohner (1844-1930)

Sinnary Bohner (1844-1930), was born near Hebe in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, the son of Jacob Bohner (1814-1876) and Salome [Brosius] Bohner (1813-1878).   When Sinnary was a teenager, his family moved to Ohio, where Jacob was a farmer and his sons Adam, Edward, Sinnary, and Zachariah were working as farm laborers.

Sinnary, was only 17 when the Civil War began, and therefore waited until 29 February 1864 to enroll in the 2nd Company of the 27th Michigan Sharpshooters, a special group of marksmen who were armed with the Spencer repeating rifles and who were attached to the 27th Michigan Infantry.  The company was called “Vosper’s Sharpshooters” after their captain, John Vosper, 46, of Sarinac, Michigan.  The Spencer repeating rifle was considered the most effective infantry weapon of the war, and because “Vosper’s Sharpshooters” were so successful in battle, the entire 27th Michigan Infantry asked to be supplied with the Spencer and be re-named a sharpshooter regiment.  Although they were supplied with the Spencer rifles, the War Department didn’t approve their request to be renamed.  Sinary was mustered out of service on 20 May 1865.

According to family records, Sinnary Bohner was severely wounded at either the Battle of the Wilderness or Petersburg in 1864.  A bullet caused extensive damage to his lungs and made it difficult for him to breathe and do strenuous work.  Because of the location of the bullet, it was never removed, so he carried it with him for the rest of his life.   Evidence of the severity of the wound and Sinary’s disability is found in his pension application papers which are in the possession of his direct descendants.  Copies of those pension papers have been obtained by the Civil War Research Project.

About 1872, Sinnary married Deborah Ann Larkin of New York who was said to be of Native American ancestry.  They had at least nine children who were born during the period 1873 to 1894.  In 1880, the family lived in Hillsdale County, Michigan, but returned to Northumberland County sometime before 1900.  Census records indicate that Sinnary worked as a day laborer doing odd jobs, but at least one family member reports that Sinnary became a veterinarian in the lower Northumberland County area and there are many family stories of his “doctoring of animals.”

The Civil War Research Project also has records indicating that Sinnary’s brothers, Edward Bohner and Adam Bohner also served in the military during the Civil War.

Sinnary Bohner died on 30 November 1930 and was buried in the Trinity Church Cemetery in Dalamatia (also known as Georgetown), Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.

The obituary of Sinnary Bohner appeared in a local newspaper in 1930.

WAR VETERAN DIED SATURDAY

SINNARY BOHNER, CIVIL WAR VETERAN DIED AT HOME AT DALMATIA

FUNERAL TUESDAY AFTERNOON

Sinnary Bohner, one of the few remaining Civil War veterans of the lower end of the county, died Saturday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock at his home in Dalmatia, following an illness caused by the infirmities of old age.  He was ailing for about one month and was aged 86 years, 8 month, and 7 days.

He was born near Hebe and was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Bohner and was a resident of Jackson Township during the greater part of his life, having moved to Dalmatia about ten years ago.  On 29 February 1864 he volunteered in the service of the Union Army and was a member of the 2nd Company of Sharpshooters, attached to the 27th Michigan Infantry and was wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness.  He received his discharge on 20 May 1865, having served one year and three months.

Surviving are his widow and following daughters:  Mrs. Henry Crout, Gladwin, Michigan; Mrs. Daniel Witmer, Philadelphia; Mrs. Burlington Kieffer, Rebuck; Mrs. Charles Wald, Mrs. Edward Dreibelbis, Mrs. Harry Garrett, and Mrs. Charles Zeigler, of Dalmatia. Seven grandchildren and one son residing in the west, also survive.

Funeral services were held from his late home Tuesday afternoon at 2 o’clock, followed by services in Dalmatia L. & R. Church in charge of Rev. Roy Freeman.  Interment was made in the Dalmatia Cemetery.

Copies of some of the pension papers of Sinnary Bohner are available at the Gratz Historical Society.  According to his Pension Index Card, Sinnary applied for a disability pension in 1865 and received a pension, although the date he received it is not indicated on the index card.  Following his death, Sinnary’s widow Deborah applied for and received a widow’s pension, which she collected until her death in 1937.  In 1918, Sinnary was receiving $35 per month, a significant amount for that time.  By 1926, the amount had increased to $65 per month.  In 1931, the widow’s pension was $40 per month.

The Pension Index Card is from Ancestry.com.  The portrait of Sinnary Bohner was enhanced from a photocopy of a picture supplied by a member of the family; the original is in the possession of the family.

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | Comments Off on Pvt. Sinnary Bohner – 27th Michigan Sharpshooters
Tags: Bohner family, Brosius family, Dalmatia, Georgetown, Hebe, Jackson Township, Larkin family, Rebuck, Regiments

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on March 30, 2011

Ancestry.com provides an database index to the surviving 1890 Veterans Schedules which listed Union veterans who were heads of households or their widows.  The index will held find the exact schedule on which the information about the veteran is found.  The schedules are easily located through Ancestry.com and copies of them are available to Ancestry.com members.  The following information is provided about the index:

This database is an index to individuals enumerated in the 1890 special census of Civil War Union veterans and widows of veterans available on microfilm M123 (118 rolls) from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Although this schedule was to be used to enumerate Union veterans, in some areas, Confederate veterans were listed as well.

The 1890 veterans schedules provided spaces for the following information: names of surviving soldiers, sailors, and marines, and widows; rank; name of regiment or vessel; date of enlistment; date of discharge, length of service; post office address; disability incurred; and remarks. Although all of this information is available on the census schedules themselves, information listed in this index includes the veteran’s name or widow’s name, rank, year of enlistment, and year of discharge.

Veterans schedules are often used as a partial substitute for the 1890 federal census, which was destroyed by fire. While fragments of the 1890 census may exist in state and local repositories, they are often difficult to track down and are incomplete. Although they do not list everyone who was included in the 1890 census, the veterans schedules are a partial head of household list for those who were old enough to have served in the Union military during the Civil War.

Veterans schedules can be used to verify military service and to identify the specific military unit in which a person served. A search of the state where an individual lived in 1890 may yield enough identifying information to follow up in service and pension records at the National Archives; it can often trace Civil War veterans to their places of origin.

Th following special schedule from Lykens Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, is shown as an example of the 1890 Veterans Schedule:

Click on picture to enlarge.

The first two columns show information taken from “Schedule No. 1” which was the 1890 compilation sheet for Lykens Township.  The “House Number” and “Family Number” correspond to the information found on Schedule No. 1, which for Pennsylvania, was destroyed by fire and for Lykens Township, there is no known back-up copy available.  The next column contains the name of the veteran (or the widow, but in the case of this sheet, no widows are listed).  The rank, company, regiment, state, dates of service and length of service follow.  Twelve veterans are listed here.  We know from other information that John Gunderman was a neighbor of Harrison Riegle and they are listed next to each other on the sheet.

The second table (at the bottom of the sheet) gives the post office address of the veteran or widow (in this case, all received mail at Gratz), the disability incurred (assumed to be incurred during the war) and remarks.  The information provided by the veteran was recorded by the census taker.  Some sheets contain no information leading to the possible conclusion that the census taker did not ask, or was too lazy to record anything.  This sheet appears to have comprehensive information about disabilities followed in some cases by remarks.

Not all the information may be correct.  One of the pieces of information from this sheet was previously questioned in the post on the Unknown Military Musician.

William Reed served in a New York regiment, but resided in Lykens Township in 1890.

Several of the men who were neighbors in 1890, served in the same regiment in the Civil War.

The names on this sheet are:

Hiram G. Fowler — John W. Fowler — William Reed — Philip McKiney — George Lubold — Sinary Erdman — Samuel Stroup — Henry Williard — John Bellon — Martin Schaffner — John Gunderman — Harrison Riegle.

The fire in 1921 in the basement of the Commerce Building destroyed most of the 1890 Census and part of the veterans schedules.  These veterans schedules are only available for states with letters beginning with “K” to the end of the alphabet plus the District of Columbia.  Thus, Union states such as Connecticut and Delaware are not available because they were destroyed.  The damage to the census led to a public outcry for the establishment of a permanent “National Archives.”  In December 1932, the Librarian of Congress, sent to Congress a list of documents to be destroyed, among them about 50% of the 1890 census records which had been heavily damaged by smoke and water.  By 1935, the approval had been granted and the damaged records were destroyed.

Original source data is from:  Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M123, 118 rolls); Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.  The copy of the 1890 Veterans Schedule from Lykens Township is from Ancestry.com.  Some of the information on the fire that damaged and destroyed the census and the congressional order to destroy the remains was taken from Wikipedia.

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | Comments Off on U.S. Census Returns – 1890 Veterans Schedules
Tags: Gunderman family, Lykens Township, Reigle family

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on March 29, 2011

(Part  14 of an ongoing series on the Battle of Gettysburg).  Around the base of the Pennsylvania Memorial at Gettysburg are a series of plaques which, by regiment and company, note the names of every soldier who was present at the Battle of Gettysburg.  This post will present the plaque recognizing the men who served in the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry. By clicking on the plaque it should enlarge so the names can be more clearly read.  Following the plaque is a list of the men who have thus far been identified as eligible for inclusion in this Civil War Research Project who, it is believed, served for a time in the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry.  Not all the names may appear on the Pennsylvania Memorial plaques.  If a name does not appear, it could be that the soldier did serve in the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry, but was not part of the regiment during its days at Gettysburg – or it could mean that the soldier was erroneous included in the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry list.  There could also be errors on the plaque.  Readers are invited to submit comments about any names appearing below, or on the plaque, especially if they believe the soldier was from the Lykens Valley area and should be included in this study.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Men from the Lykens Valley area who probably served in the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry:

John H. Bowers — Benjamin Franke — George W. Huff — Jacob R. Keiser — William Lehman — Morris Meck — Nelson C. Meck — Joseph H. Miller — Reuben Hoffa Shade — George Sheesley — Joshua Wald

Information for this post was taken from the files of the Civil War Research Project.  A separate digital file is kept on each of the above-named men.  Information is sought on any men from the Lykens Valley area who were soldiers or sailors during the Civil War.

Category: Memorials | 4 Comments »
Tags: Monument