Civil War Blog

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 31, 2011

(Part 2 of 12).  Contents of Volume I of The Photographic History of the Civil War:  The Opening Battles

The year 1911 was the 50^th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War.  In a memorial to the war, a ten volume set of books was published entitled The Photographic History of the Civil War. This series attempted, through photographs, to do what no other books had previously done – to bring the war close and personal through previously unpublished and unavailable photographs.  The series was edited by Francis Trevelyan Miller.

This post is part 2 of a 12 part series and will focus on the contents of Volume I, The Opening Battles.

Prefaces:  “Photographing the Civil War,” Henry Wysham Lanier.  “The Photographic Record as History,” George Haven Putnam.  “The Federal Navy and the South,” French E. Chadwick.  “Records of the War Between the States,” Marcus J. Wright.  “The Strategy of the Civil War Leaders,” Ellen Swift.

Part I:  The First of the Great Campaigns.

“Bull Run – The Volunteers Face Fire.”

Part II: Down the Mississippi Valley.

“The Fall of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson,” Henry W. Elson.  “Shiloh – The First Grand Battle,” Henry W. Elson.  “New Madrid and Island Number Ten,” Henry W. Elson.  “New Orleans – The Navy Helps the Army,” James Barnes.  “Fort Pillow and Memphis – Gunboats and Batteries,” Henry W. Elson.

Part III:  “The Struggle for Richmond,” Henry W. Elson.  “Yorktown – Up the Peninsula,” Henry W. Elson.  “Fair Oaks – In Sight of Richmond,” Henry W. Elson.  “The Shenandoah and the Alarm at Washington,” Henry W. Elson.  “Seven Days – The Confederate Capital Saved,” Henry W. Elson.

Part IV:  “Engagements of the Civil War up to July, 1862,” by George L. Kilmer.

One picture that is applicable to this Civil War Research Project is the following:

The above photograph was previously presented as part of the story of John C. Gratz (see post on Corp. John C. Gratz and the 96th Pennsyvania Infantry).  However, in comparing the two photographs, it is clear that the one from The Photographic History of the Civil War is cropped and because it is a printed version of the photograph, the resolution is not as good as the one previously presented which was from the digital collection of the National Archives.  The National Archives version is shown below for comparison:

By clicking on both pictures, the resolution becomes more obvious.  It is important to recognize that the technology available in 1911 to reproduce photographs in print was not as good as the technology available today – and even more important to recognize that the picture above from The Photographic History of the Civil War is from a digital version (PDF) of a printed version of an original photograph.  If the original negatives are available, it is always to refer to them and prints from them.  Absent the original negatives, high resolution digital copies of the original prints (high quality prints made from the original negatives) are the next best option.  However, many of the “thousands” of images in The Photographic History of the Civil War will be next to impossible to obtain, so use of the digital versions (PDF) of the printed copies will be the only recourse for genealogical researchers.

For a free download from Google Books, click here and select “PDF” in the upper right corner of the page.  When the “PDF” file opens in your reader, save the file to disk.  Use of the file is subject to restrictions that are spelled out on the first page of the PDF.  Essentially, the restrictions specify that the digital book may be used for personal, non-profit use only and that the Google Books “watermark” should not be removed from the pages.

Tomorrow, part 3 of this series will examine Volume II, Two Years of Grim War.

Category: Research, Resources | Comments Off on The Opening Battles
Tags: Gratz family, Regiments

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 30, 2011

Daniel Henry, whose father and uncles took part in the war for independence, was born in Reading in the last quarter of the18th century.  When Pottsville was laid out, he as a carpenter, moved there, and on 9 January 1825, his son, William Henry was born.

William Henry‘s mother died when he was eleven years old.  He then made his home with John Jennings.  Af fifteen, he was apprenticed to learn the carpenter trade, and after serving three years, worked in Pottsville until he was seized with a desire to better his condition and left to make his home in New Orleans.  He also worked some time in Cinciannati.  When he was twenty-two he married Elizabeth Thompson, daughter of George Thompson, one of the pioneer coal operators of the county.

When the rebellion broke out in 1861 he enlisted in the 96th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers for three years.

He was honorably discharged and again returned to the peaceful pursuit of carpenter.  In the spring of 1865 he went to work for his old commander, Colonel Henry L. Cake at Lost Creek, a mining village near Shenandoah.  In the summer of 1869 he came to Porter Township which was then little more than a wilderness.  At the spring election lf 1860 he was elected a school director in which capacity he served for nine years.  At the time of his election there were only three old log schoolhouses in Porter Township but after his election he persuaded the directors to borrow money to build new schoolhouses and the result was that in a few years Porter Township had two new brick and one new frame school buildings.  Mr. Henry was elected Justice of the Peace and served for twenty years and it is said that during his continuance in office he did not return one petty case to court, always succeeding in having the parties settle their difficulties at his office.

As a carpenter he built the First Methodist Church at Sheridan razed about 1885.  Mr. Henry was given the contract to carry the mails between Tower City post office and the W.V.R.R. Station at East Brookside.  His duties commenced at 5:30 a.m. and ended at 7:15 p.m.  Rain or shine he was always on duty and in all that time, excepting a few days of illness, he never missed a mail.  During his time as mail carrier he walked well over 13,000 miles.

1890 Veterans Census – Sgt. William Henry reported his service in the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company D, and also indicated that he incurred “Rheumatism” as a disability. Click on picture to enlarge.

William Henry applied for and received a pension for the disability he claimed he incurred during the Civil War.  The pension application was made in 1890, as indicated on the Pension Index Card, the index reference to the pension files at the National Archives.  The fact there is a Certificate Number on the card is an indication that he received a pension, although no date of receipt is given.

William Henry died 2 December 1908 at the age of 84 years.  He is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Tower City.

More information is sought on William Henry.  Information about his descendants from Centennial History is confusing because of punctuation errors.  One of his children may have followed his trade of carpenter.  Another may have taught school.  One of his grandchildren may have been a dentist in the Tower City area.  A child or grandchild served as Justice of the Peace in Tower City from the organization of the Borough in 1893 to his death in June 1934.

Also, more information is needed on William Henry‘s Civil War service.  The Civil War Research Project has a copy of the Diary of Henry Keiser which will be discussed in a future post.  It is the only known diary of a member of the 96th Pennsyvlania Infantry and it is possible that there are references to William Henry in that diary.  Surprisingly, references were found in the diary to John C. Gratz and were reported in an earlier post.  Plans are to compile a name index for the diary and provide the name index on this blog.

Information for this post was taken from A Centennial History of Tower City and Porter Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, pages 202 and 203.  The picture of William Henry in his G.A.R. uniform is from the same source. The Civil War Veteran’s File Card is from the Pennsylvania Archives.  The Pennsylvania Veteran’s Burial Card is from the Pennsylvania Archives, but was found on Ancestry.com.  The 1890 Veterans Census page from Porter Township is from Ancestry.com.  Pension Index Cards are from Ancestry.com and the card references files in the National Archives.

Category: Research, Stories | Comments Off on Sgt. William Henry – 96th Pennsylvania Infantry
Tags: G.A.R., Gratz family, Henry family, Keiser family, Porter Township, Regiments, Thompson family, Tower City

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 29, 2011

Nearly all of the men who served in the Civil War from the Lykens Valley area served in military units as soldiers.  But a few did serve as sailors or marines.  Finding information on the sailors and marines is much more difficult than finding information on soldiers who served in Pennsylvania Civil War regiments, because they are not included in the previously discussed lists – Steve Maczuga’s Pennsylvania Civil War Project or the Civil War Veterans’ Cards of the Pennsylvania Archives.

Further research is needed to get an accurate list of all from the Lykens Valley area who served at sea – as sailors, marines, merchant seamen, blockaders, or in the revenue service in the Civil War.  Occasional references to naval service are given for the following men:

John Carson (1819-1880).   John Carson was born in 1819 at “Carson Hall”, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, the son of Charles S. Carson (1791-1871) and Mary Ann Campbell (1796-1871), and he died 26 Jan 1880.  He is buried in Oswego , New York.  He married (probably later in life) to Susan Rinney of New London, Connecticut.  He worked as a clerk in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, then as a clerk in Harrisburg Post Office.  He was appointed Commissioner under the Secretary of the Treasury Department in 1845, and received the rank of 3rd Lieutenant in the U.S. Revenue Service.  His sea duties took him to Erie, Charleston South Carolina, and at his request to the Gulf of Mexico because he “wanted more action.”  Other service was in the Oregon Territory. In 1861, John received the rank of captain and in May 1864 assumed command of the revenue cutter James Campbell.  His roster relates his activities:  in September 1864 he requested leave to visit his home in Pennsylvania – it had been three years since he had a leave.  In August 1866 he explained by letter why his cutter James Campbell was inactive – they were in quarantine because of cholera.  He mentions severe storms, etc.  Capt. Carson had a long and illustrous career.  John Carson was the brother of Ann [Carson] Gratz, the wife of Theodore Gratz, the first mayor of Gratz, Pennsylvania.  Previous posts on Ann [Carson] Gratz include her children and her application for a mother’s pension after the death of her son, John C. Gratz.  More information is sought on John Carson, on the U.S. Revenue Service during the Civil War, and on John Carson’s “long and illustrious career.”

U.S.S. Miami in 1861

James Dolan (dates unknown).  James Dolan was found in the 1890 Veterans Census for Joliett, Porter Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.  He claimed service on the U.S. S. Miami, from 27 January 1862 to 10 February 1865.  However, he could not be located in the U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls for those dates.  More information is sought on him.

Theodore Minis Etting (1846-1927).  Theodore Etting was the grandson of Fannie Gratz, the sister of Simon Gratz, the founder of Gratz, Pennsylvania.  He was the second cousin of John C. Gratz, who died in the Civil War.  According to an on-line biography provided by the University of Pennsylvania, Theodore enrolled at Penn in 1861 as a member of the Class of 1865, but did not finish.  He left during the first term of sophomore year to volunteer for the Civil War, with an appointment as acting midshipman on 28 November 1862. After the war ended, Etting graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1868. He rose to the level of lieutenant before resigning from the Navy with an honorable discharge in 1877.  Two years later, in 1879, Etting earned an LL.B. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was awarded the Sharswood Prize for his subsequently published essay, “The Admiralty Jurisdiction in America.” A marine lawyer, he was elected to represent the eighth ward of Philadelphia as member of the Select Council in 1885.  Etting married Jeannette Verplanck of Fishkill-on-Hudson, New York, who died in 1925. Theodore Minis Etting died in his Rittenhouse Square apartment in Philadelphia on November 14, 1927. Funeral services were held at the Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany, and he is buried in the Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia.  Additional information on Theodore Etting is found in the Jewish Encyclopedia and “Officers of the U.S. Navy” but specific information on his Civil War service is being sought, such as campaigns or battles in which he participated.

Peter L. Metz (1843-  ).  Civil War pension records available to the Civil War Research Project indicate that a Peter Metz served in the navy as a Landsman and Quartermaster during the Civil War and in the 98^th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company K, as a Private. Recent research has confirmed that this is not the same Peter Metz who is buried in St. John (Hill) Cemetery in Berrysburg.  Peter L. Metz served aboard the U.S.S. Michigan during the Civil War and also the U.S.S. Red Rover, a hospital ship of the navy.  After his discharge, he lived in the Erie, Pennsylvania area and in 1907 a pension application indicates he was the proprietor of a shoe store.  It is not known at this time whether this Peter L. Metz had any connection with the Lykens Valley area, so more information is sought on him.

U.S.S. New Ironsides

Isaac Miller (1832-abt 1921).  In the 1890 Veterans Census for Millersburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Isaac Miller reported service aboard the U.S.S. New Ironsides as a Master Steward.  In 1870 he was living in Millersburg and employed as a laborer.  In 1880, still living in Millersburg, he indicated he indicated he was a retired coal shipping agent.  In 1900, he was a bank president in Millersburg, and his son Ross, age 26, living in his household, was working as a bank clerk.  Isaac Miller’s name appears on the Millersburg Civil War Monument.  The ship list for the U.S.S. New Ironsides has one Isaac Miller who was the Ship’s Carpenter.  The Pension Index Card notes service in the navy as well as in the 138^th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company A, and the possible death date is when his widow, Jemima, applied for a widow’s pension (which she did not receive).  More information is sought.

U.S.S. Winona

Thomas Norton (dates unknown).  Thomas Norton’s name appears on the Millersburg Civil War Monument.  His Civil War service has not been positively located, however, it is possible that he is the same Thomas Norton who served aboard the U.S.S. Winona and was living in Philadelphia in 1890.  There are also records for a Thomas Norton who served in Pennsylvania regiments during the Civil War, notably the 116th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company G;  198th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company A; and the 5th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company A.  More information is needed to determine which, if any, of the above service units is a match for the Thomas Norton whose name appears on the Millersburg Civil War Monument.

U.S. Brig Perry

Frederick N. Wise (1825-1901).   Pension records available to the Civil War Research Project show that Frederick N. Wise served in the navy during the Mexican War, but served in the 208^th Pennsylvania Infantry during the Civil War.  There are also copies of about 30 pages of pension records and statements in the files. Wise served aboard the U.S.S. Perry between 1847 and 1851.  He re-enlisted, then was listed as a deserter.  At the time of the Civil War, he joined the 208^th Pennsylvania Infantry at Snyder County on 30 August 1864.  In 1860, Frederick lived in Jackson Township, Dauphin County, and was a cabinet maker.  By 1870, he had moved to Berrysburg, Dauphin Co. and was still working as a cabinetmaker.  In 1880 he appears in Lykens Borough as a carpenter and by 1900 he was serving as a Justice of the Peace in Lykens.  He died on 4 July 1901 and is buried in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Lykens.  His name appears on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument.  Much more information is sought on Frederick N. Wise and a “sorting out” and interpretation of the available records is needed as well.

Dalles David Ditty (1844-1897).  His name appears on the Millersburg Civil War Monument and in the 1890 Veterans Census, while living at Millersburg, he only indicated Civil War service in a volunteer Pennsylvania cavalry.  However, other records show that he may have been a career military man serving for a time in the navy and stationed in 1880 at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.  In 1870, he was listed in the Millersburg census with occupation as “soldier.”  Not much is yet known about Dalles David Ditty so any information that can provided will be greatly appreciated.

Edward Lineham (1841-   ).  Found in Halifax Bicentennial Book cemetery list for St. Paul (Bowerman’s) Lutheran Church Cemetery, Enterline, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, as a Civil War veteran.  No other information was given.  In searching Civil War records, an Edward Lineham was found who served in Company H, of the New York Marine Light Artillery Battery on 20 May 1862.  It is not know if this is the same Edward Lineham who is mentioned in the Halifax Bicentennial Book.  Much more information is needed.

Some of the information for this post was found in A Comprehensive History of the Town of Gratz Pennslvania and on Wikipedia.  Pictures of ships are from Wikipedia or a naval history site on the web. and according to information given on those sites, the pictures are in the public domain either because their copyright has expired or because they were taken or produced by an employee of the government while on official duty.