Civil War Blog

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 26, 2011

Charlemagne Tower (1809-1889)

Charlemagne Tower (1809-1889) was the founder of Tower City, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.  A biography of him appears in A Centennial History of Tower City and Porter Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. As noted in the previous post, his name was omitted from the list of Civil War veterans although the biography states he did have Civil War service as a captain. This post is an attempt to provide more information about Tower, his Civil War service, and the some of the incidents during the time he was Provost Marshal of Schuylkill County and responsible for the drafting of men into military service.

A portion of the biography of Charlemagne Tower as it appears in A Centennial History of Tower City and Porter Township (1968) follows:

Charlemagne Tower, the founder of Tower City, Pennsylvania, the first of three towns bearing his name, was born April 18, 1909, near Waterville, Oneida County, New York, the son of Reuben Tower, a prosperous businessman.  His given name he bore proudly and worthily, since he was, through his mother, a direct descendant of the first Holy Roman Emperor.  He attended private elementary schools, graduated from Harvard University, and studied law with the greatest legal minds of the day. He practiced law in New York City for several years until the death of his father when he returned home to manage the family business enterprises with his brother.  The depression of the late 1830s was felt in that remote region of New York and business became bankrupt in 1841.

He continued his legal career, and shortly, Alfred Munson of Utica, New York, became so impressed with the talent of the young Charlemagne, that he employed him to travel through Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky to investigate and make secure his title to thousands of acres of land he had purchased for speculative purposes in that region. So successful was Tower, that Munson sent him on a more important and prospectively lucrative mission.  Munson held claim to 8,000 acres of land in the western part of Schuylkill County, a part of 21,000 acres which had been acquired by James H. Wilson in the latter part of the 18^th Century.  Munson did not know the true worth of his lands, nor was he certain of the validity of the claim, and in order to determine the former and secure the latter, he sent Tower to Orwigsburg, the county seat, in May of 1846.

Tower set upon his task with his customary vigor and was soon sending reports to his employer of the great coal deposits on most of the acreage.  He perfected the title, sometimes by court proceedings, sometimes by buying the interests of alleged owners, and sometimes by evicting those who had squatted on the land….

In November 1851, when the county seat was moved from Orwigsburg to Pottsville, Tower bought a home and office on Mahantongo Street, where he and his associates pursued their profession and continued the extensive real estate dealings in which Tower was engaged….  He also developed a very extensive local practice and hired Christopher Loeser and J. Wallace McCoo, attorneys, to assist him.  His main interest however, was land….

The Civil War briefly interrupted his legal career and his land dealings.  Obsessed with patriotic fervor and his desire to come to the aid of his country he formed a company of volunteers within a matter of days after the firing upon Fort Sumter.  His company arrived in Washington and on April 22, 1861, he as captain and his company were sworn into military service.  The company was attached to Colonel Nagle’s regiment and saw some action in isolated skirmishes. On Jul 26, 1861, when the enlistments expired, the company was discharged and it returned to Pottsville.  On April 18, 1863, he was appointed Provost Marshal for Schuylkill County and assumed the onerous duty of conscripting, by draft, the men needed for military service.  This was, to say the least, an unpopular chore and he and his assistants and their families received numerous threats upon their lives.  The draft was so vigorously resisted by the farmers and miners that Tower was assigned two companies of militia to assist him in enforcing conscription.  The miners of the Heckscherville Valley, gathered a mob of about 3,000 people to march on Tower’s home, but he retaliated immediately by marching his armed men into their midst and bodily seized those who had been drafted and swore them into military service.  During his tenure as Provost Marshal he conscripted his full quota of 20,000 men which earned him a citation from President Lincoln.

After the war he pursued his main purpose [land acquisition] with renewed vigor.  The time was ripe to make the lands productive and, in 1868, he leased 1503 acres to two independent coal companies or fifteen years at a royalty of 30¢ per ton.  Tower Colliery (later East Brookside) was opened in late 1868 and Brookside (West Brookside) early in 1869.  During the latter year, the combined production of both operations was 800 tons but the tonnage increased in subsequent years until the sale of all Tower’s land and that of Munson and Williams, a total of 11,000 acres, in 1871 to the P. & R. C. & I Company for a grand total of $3,000,000.

In 1868, Tower laid out his first town [Tower City, Pennsylvania] with the assistance of William H. Yohe, J. W. McCool and Preston H. Miller, surveyor.  Within four years it was a humming business community but suffering an acute housing shortage to accommodate the influx of hundreds of persons seeking employment in the mines surrounding the town.

After the sale of his land, he left the county and moved his family to Philadelphia.  Now that he was a millionaire, the [practice of] law was no longer a challenge and so he set out to conquer the business world….

Tower’s health began to fail as the result of a stroke in 1885, and his former vigor left him, and in 1887, he sold his [business interests].  On July 24, 1889, he died at his home on Spruce Street, Philadelphia.

One instance of resistance to the draft in Schuykill County was previously reported on this blog.  More information is still being sought on the nature and level of this resistance.  The figure of 20,000 conscripted men from Schuylkill County seems quite high, considering that Tower was only Provost Marshal for about two years, especially if there was resistance to the draft.  However, if these conscriptions were from the more eastern part of the county, including Pottsville, the figure may be correct but this would assume that a great number were drafted and didn’t volunteer.  Draft resistance may have been more localized in the western part of Schuylkill County and therefore more in the geographic area of this Civil War Research Project.

The Wikipedia article on Charlemagne Tower notes the following about his Civil War service, but does not mention his role in forcibly conscripting draft resistors during the time he was Provost Marshal of Schuylkill County:

Within ten days of the outbreak of hostilities at Ft. Sumter, SC on April 12, 1861, Tower recruited some 270 Schuylkill County men to enter the Union Army under a three month enlistment agreement. This unit was referred to as the “Tower Guards”, and they were created as Company H of the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment, which in turn was attached to a brigade commanded by Major General Robert Patterson. Tower was installed as the unit captain, and he uniformed and armed his troops at his own expense.

This unit most notably served in the engagement at Falling Waters in July 1861. This battle is considered a Union victory, but the failure of Patterson to pursue Confederate movements into the Shenandoah Valley allowed them to regroup and contributed to the later Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run.

When the unit was mustered out of service later in July of that same year, the members of Tower’s unit presented him with a ceremonial sword in “their respect for him as a man and soldier, and their esteem for him as a friend.

A previous post on this blog described the actions of Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson and how those contributed to the Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run.

More than 40 men who have already been identified as from the greater Lykens Valley area also served in the 6^th Pennsylvania Infantry.  However, in reviewing a list of the men who were in the 3 month companies of this regiment in 1861 and who would have served between April and July 1861, only a few names are recognizable from the Civil War Research Project.  Also, only 77 names appear in the list for Company H which was led by Capt. Charlemagne Tower, which according to the Wikipedia article previously cited, is about 200 men off the count.  Many or all of these men may have joined other companies, but since the Wikipedia article does not give their names, it is not possible to check.  The 6^th Pennsylvania Infantry also had companies as part of the emergency forces of 1862, but Charlemagne Tower was not credited for recruiting them.

Information for this post was found in A Centennial History of Tower City and Porter Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania (1968).  The picture of Charlemagne Tower was modified from a picture found on Wikipedia and is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | Comments Off on Charlemagne Tower – Civil War Leader
Tags: Draft, Porter Township, Regiments, Tower City, Tower family

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 25, 2011

In 1968, Tower City and Porter Township in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, celebrated its centennial.  The “History Book Committee” was chaired by Howard G. Stutzman whose strong qualifications for the job were given in a brief biography on one of the book’s opening pages:  attorney, historian, civil leader, churchman, public speaker, political leader, World War II Navy veteran, active member of American Legion, charter member and past president of Tower City-Porter Township Rotary Club.

Notably, Stutzman chose to have a section of the book on “The War Veterans,” beginning with several pages on the Civil War.  Two pictures of Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) members are featured, with most of the persons in the pictures identified.  Three is also a list of known Civil War veterans with an asterisk next to the names of those who did not survive the war.

One common error repeated in this book is that the G.A.R. members who were pictured were said to be wearing their Civil War uniforms. The “uniforms” worn by the veterans were actually the official garb of the G.A.R., not the uniforms worn by the men in the war.  The “star” chest medal worn by the veterans was the official “badge” of the G.A.R. and the emblem on their caps was also of the G.A.R. and not of any official Pennsylvania regiment or U.S. military regiment.

Another error (of omission) is noted when reading the biographies in the final section of the book.  Charlemagne Tower, who was the founder of Tower City, formed a company of volunteers in the early days of the Civil War.  He captained the company and the biography credits him with taking part in some skirmishes before the company was discharged on 26 July 1861.  Later, he became Provost Marshal for Schuylkill County and was responsible for conscripting men into military service.  Tower’s name does not appear in the list of Civil War veterans in the centennial history.

The text of the section on the Civil War follows, including the names of the veterans:

G.A.R.

From earliest times our community’s men responded in great numbers to the defense of our country in time of war. There were some early settlers who must have served in the Revolution, but records of substantiation are not available.

During the War Between the States almost half of the able bodied male citizens of Porter Township responded to Lincoln’s call for volunteers.  Some were killed in battle and others died of wounds and illness.  Those who returned home became leaders in this community in all phases of its development.

A year after Lee surrendered at Appomattox the veterans of the Union Army organized the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) was long a potent political force in the post Civil War period and not until the 20^th Century did its power fade.  A local post was inaugurated here a few years after the war’s end and called the “Captain William Thompson Post” in honor of the son of Alexander Thompson who died in service.  The Post meetings were held in the P.O.S. of A. building until the membership dwindled by deaths.  These veterans were solely responsible for the proper observance of Memorial Day and the annual parades were always led by the veterans until the last survivors passed away.  Henry A. Updegrave was long the Grand Marshall, dressed in his army uniform astride a bay horse. for all those who served in the most costly civil war in the world’s history.  The

When membership was at its height the Post held encampments each summer in the groves around the community, listening to orations, adopting resolutions and highlighted by a mammoth fireworks display.

The official record of the proceedings of the past are lost, so an accurate list of veterans is not available, but below are the names of all Civil War Veterans buried in our local cemeteries:

William Adams —  David Alspach — Henry J. Alspach — William Bailey — Jacob Boyer — Isaac Brown — Esias Brown — I. H. Campbell — Isaac Carl — Conrad H. Caslow — Benjamin Charlesworth —Jacob Clouser —Christian Crous — Henry Culbert — Philip Deitrich — Joseph Ehrhart — I. J. Eisenhower — William Forman — Francis Fox — John Fox — Isaac Frantz — Jacob Gamber —William Goodman — Jesse Grim —- H. O. Grim — *Isaac Hand — Josiah Hand — Fred Heckert — William Henry — Samuel H. Hepler — John Hoffman — John Horn — John Hornish — Benjamin Houtz — *Isaac Houtz — George Irving — John Jones — William Jones — Paul Kessler — Harry Keubler — Edward King — William Klinger — Charles Knecht — Josiah Knorr — Lewis Kopp — Lewis Krebs — John Lebo — William Long — Peter Lucas — Harrison Manwiller — Charles Maurer — Isaac Mease — John Messner — *Aaron Miller — Daniel Miller — *Jeremiah Miller — Jonathan Miller — *Edwin Moyer — Isaac Moyer — George Myers — Hazelet McElwain — Henry Neidlinger — Thomas Nolen — William Owens — Abe Reed — Joseph Reed — Henry W. Reedt — William H. Reedy — Jonas Reigle — Frank Reiner — L. Reinoehl — Peter Rhoads — Henry Rishe — Edward Robson — Henry Rowe — Elias Schell — Samuel Schell — Samuel Schwenk — Christian Seibert — Richard Shutters — Henry Sponsler — *William Sponslor — George K. Stoudt — J. W. Strohecker — David Thompson — *William Thompson — Aaron Updegrove — Daniel Updegrave — Henry K. Updegrave — John Updegrove — Solomon Updegrove — John Warner — G. W. Wagner — Henry Witmer — Isaac Wolf — John Wolf — Benjamin Workman —Jacob Workman — Joseph Zeiter — William Zimmerman

*died in service

The records of the Tower City G.A.R., like those of many other communities throughout our geographic area of study, were lost over the years and this 1968 list of veterans had to be re-constructed from the names of those who were buried in local cemeteries.  Those natives who are buried elsewhere who left the Tower City-Porter Township area at some point after the Civil War or those who only lived in the area for a short time, are probably not included in the list.  Again, this points out the difficulties of compiling a master list for this Civil War Research Project.  In addition, there are several names on the list that are very commonly found in the surrounding area (e.g., John Hoffman) and identifying which one’s records match the one on this list proves to be difficult.  The regimental names, companies and rank of the veterans are also not included.

Fortunately, a few of the veterans are described further in the extensive “Biographies” section, but for most of the veterans in the list, a reconstruction of their lives and Civil War service has only begun.  All persons with information on any of the veterans are urged to contribute it to the project.  The types of information being sought are listed in the Civil War Research Project description.

Information is being sought on any of the above-named Civil war veterans as well any others who may not have have been included in the list but have an association with Tower City or Porter Township at any time in their lives.  Also, if anyone has any information on the “unknown” G.A.R. members in the group photo, it will be gratefully received!

Information for this post was found in A Centennial History of Tower City and Porter Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania (1968).  Tomorrow’s post will focus on Charlemagne Tower who was omitted from the veterans list, but was included later in the volume.

Category: Research, Resources, Stories | 14 Comments »
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, G.A.R., Porter Township, Thompson family, Tower City, Tower family, Updegrave family

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 24, 2011

Gideon Pillow (1806-1878)

Pillow, the northernmost borough in Dauphin County, was incorporated in 1864 as “Uniontown.”  Priot to this, the original town, Schneidershtettle [Snydertown], was named after John Snyder, a land developer, but early on, the local residents began referring to it as Uniontown.  When a post office was created in 1847, to avoid confusion with another Pennsylvania town of the same name, the post office was named “Pillow,” in honor of Maj. Gen. Gideon Pillow, a general in the Mexican War.  On old maps, the community remained “Uniontown,” and the post office was referred to as “Pillow.”

Portion of 1875 Map of Mifflin Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, showing Uniontown and Pillow Post Office

Gen. Gideon Pillow was born in Williamson County, Tennessee, 8 Jun 1806.  After graduating from the University of Nashville in 1827, he began practicing law, and was a partner of future president James K. Polk.  During the Mexican War, President Polk gave Pillow a commission and he quickly came into conflict with the U.S. commander in Mexico, Gen. Winfield Scott.  Pillow had a letter published in which he wrongfully claimed credit for some Mexican War victories, which in fact were victories won by Scott.  Scott had Pillow arrested and held for court martial.  However, due to the intervention of the president, Pillow was recalled to Washington.  Although the trial was held, he escaped any due punishment because he got someone else to admit authorship of the letter.

Pillow then tried to extend his influence into presidential politics in an effort to prevent Winfield Scott from getting elected president in 1852, instead supporting Franklin Pierce.  Although he tried to get the Vice Presidential nomination, he was rebuffed.  In 1856, Pillow tried for the Vice Presidential nomination, and was again unsuccessful.

According to information in “The History of Pillow Pennsylvania,” by Paul E. Troutman, Jr., Gideon Pillow was a wealthy farmer, politician and lawyer who owned over 6000 acres of land and hundreds of slaves.  His only military experience was what he had read in a book on military procedure.

When the Civil War began, Pillow chose to fight for the Confederacy.  At Fort Donelson, after what seemed an initial success in providing a Confederate escape route from Gen. Ulysses Grant’s forces, Pillow called the men back to the trenches while they waited for supplies.  The result was that this delay offered Gen. Grant an opportunity and the Confederates had no choice but to surrender.  However, Pillow escaped, but first turned his command over to Gen. Buckner, who ended up being the one who actually surrendered the fort.  When Grant was criticized for attempting to take Fort Donelson with so few men, he responded that he knew Pillow from the Mexican War and believed that he would run or surrender rather than fight.

Afterward, Pillow took command of the 3^rd Division of the Army of Central Kentucky but his reputation finally caught up with him.  Confederate President Jefferson Davis suspended him from command for his “grave errors in judgment” resulting in the surrender of the army at Fort Donelson.  Thereafter, Pillow had “desk” assignments, first as commander of the Bureau of Volunteers and Conscription for the Army of the Tennessee, and later as Commissary General of Prisoners. In April 1865, he was captured at Union Springs, Alabama, but was paroled in Montgomery in May.  A presidential pardon was received in 1865.

After the Civil War, Gideon Pillow had financial difficulties and never regained the prominence he held before the war. Pillow died in Lee County, Arkansas, 8 October 1878, and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee.  In 1965, the citizens of Uniontown (Dauphin County), after referring to their community as “Pillow” for many years, voted overwhelmingly to change the name of the borough to “Pillow.”   It is highly doubtful that Gideon Pillow ever set foot in the community with a post office that bore his name.

For the purposes of this Civil War Research Project, it is interesting to note that an area in Dauphin County is named for a Confederate general, and one who was considered inept by many of his contemporaries.  However, it was the national government that had initially named the post office for Gideon Pillow, and this was done at a time (1847) when his friend and former law partner was the president; the post office was a huge area of patronage for the presidency and clearly, getting a post office named after him seemed an honor that would live into posterity. It is ironic, considering that so many soldiers from the Lykens Valley area served under Gen. Grant and were present at Fort Donaldson. Whether there was any reaction to the fact that a post office in their valley area was named for the losing general is not known.  And, whether this fact was brought up when the vote was taken in 1965 to change the borough name from Uniontown to Pillow is also not known.

Anyone with further information on Gideon Pillow, his Civil War exploits, or his relationship with the Borough of Pillow, is urged to contribute it.

Information for this post was found in The History of Pillow Pennsylvania and Surrounding Communities, published in 2004 by the Pillow Historical Society.  The book can be purchased from the Pillow Historical Society, P.O. Box 193, Pillow, PA  17080.  Click here for purchase information.

Other sources include the Wikipedia article on Gideon Pillow.  The portrait of Gideon Pillow is from Wikipedia, and is in the public domain because the copyright has expired.  The map of Uniontown and Pillow Post Office is from the collection of the Civil War Research Project.

Category: Research, Stories | 3 Comments »
Tags: Pillow, Uniontown

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 23, 2011

In yesterday’s post, two immigrant ancestors of Dietrich‘s from the Lykens Valley area were presented.  The information on those immigrant ancestors was printed in Our Dietrich Lines, a genealogy by William Dietrich, a direct descendant of both Dietrich immigrants, Michael Dietrich and Lenhart Dietrich.  It was also pointed out that there was no ancestral connection made between these two Dietrich immigrants and although many Dietrich descendants in the Lykens Valley area and beyond can claim one or both of these immigrants as their ancestor, there are other Dietrich‘s who have no connection to these two Dietrich lines.

The purpose of this post is to identify persons with the Dietrich surname who may have some connection to the Lykens Valley and who served in the Civil War.  In some cases, the names appear in one of the previously mentioned genealogical lines; in other cases, the genealogical connection with an immigrant ancestor has not yet been established.

Elias Dietrich (1836-1902) – Lykens Union Cemetery

Elias Dietrich (1836-1902).  Also found in the records as Detrich, Detrick, Deitrick, and Deitrich.  Elias served in the 55th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company G, as a Private, from 19 January 1865 to 30 August 1865.  He married Amanda Welker (1840-1917) in 1860 in Berrysburg, Dauphin County.  The couple had 14 known children (birth and death dates approximate):  Louisa Dietrich (1862-1932); Solomon Dietrich (1863-1931); George Dietrich (1864-1943); Amanda Dietrich (1865-1947); Sarah Dietrich (1868-1947); John Dietrich (1868-1935); Isaac Dietrich (1871-1938); Samuel Dietrich (1874-1935); Alfred Dietrich (1875-?); Catherine Dietrich (1878-1952); Edward Dietrich (1880-1951); Harry Dietrich (1881-1946); Mamie Dietrich (1883-1961); and Valera Dietrich (1885-1886).   From the 1870 census through the 1890 census, Elias was living in Wiconisco Township and working as a laborer.  In 1900, his occupation was laborer in coal mines.  Son Samuel, age 26, was living at home,and employed as a tailor. Son Harry, age 18, was living at home, and employed as a laborer in coal mines.  Elias died in 1902 from Bright’s disease.  Elias Dietrich was a direct descendant of Lenhart Dietrich and his genealogy appears in Our Dietrich Lines.

Emanuel Dietrich (1837-1920)

Emanuel Dietrich (1837-1920).  Also found as Dietrick and Deitrich.  Emanuel was born in Schuylkill County.  During the Civil War he served in the 199th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company C, as a Private, from 9 March when he enlisted at Scranton, Lackawanna County, through 28 June 1865 when he was mustered out with his company at Richmond, Virginia.  His pension index card noted that he was a re-enlisted veteran so he may have served in another regiment or regiments not known at this time.  He married Sarah [?] Dietrich and they had at least two children, Bertha Dietrich, born about 1868, and Harry Franklin Dietrich, born about 1878.  Census records from 1890 through 1910 show him living in Shickshinny, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania and working as a coal miner.  In 1910, son Harry, age about 31, was living in his father’s household and working as a clerk in a coal company.  Emanuel died in 1920 and is buried in Pine Hill cemetery, Shickshinny.  Emanuel’s connection to the immigrants Michael Dietrich or Lenhart Dietrich has not been established nor has an exact connection to the Lykens Valley area.  In initially considering him for the Gratz Civil War Project, he may have been confused with another Emanuel who served in the 213th Pennsylvania Infantry and whose information is given below.

Emanuel C. Dietrich (1841-1865).  Also found as Deterich and Dietrick.  Emanuel was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and was a machinist by occupation.  He served in the 213th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company H, as a Private and then as a Corporal, enlisting at Philadelphia on 28 February 1865.  Military records show that he died at Laurel, Maryland on 14 August 1865 of chronic dysentery.  The pension index card names his widow as Lizzie A. Cowan.  A son, Harry Eugene Dietrich, born 16 Aug 1863, also survived him.  The widow’s pension was filed from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and the couple’s marriage record is from Franklin County.  The Civil War Research Project has copies of more than 30 pages of his military and pension records but no direct connection has been made yet with the Lykens Valley area.  Also, no direct genealogical connection has been made to the immigrants Michael Dietrich or Lenhart Dietrich.

Jeremiah Dietrich (1833-1894).  This name was first found in Our Dietrich Lines as a Civil War veteran who served in the 25th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company D, as a Private, from 8 April 1861 to his discharge on 25 Jul 1861.  This was one of the first regiments to answer the call to service and was also known as the National Light Infantry.  Jeremiah is a direct descendant of Lenhart Dietrich.  Jeremiah was married three times, once to a woman named Mary Troy, who spent some time in prison for living in adultery (the story is detailed in Our Dietrich Lines).  The third wife, Christianna [Bolich] Dietrich survived Jeremiah and claimed his pension.

John Dietrich (about 1818-before1890).  Also found as Deitrick.  John served in the 151st Pennsylvania Infantry, Company I, as a Private, from 3 November 1862 to 27 July 1863 when he was mustered out with his company.  During the Battle of Gettysburg he was captured and for a time he was held prisoner.  At the time of his enlistment, he was a resident of Schuylkill County.  John died before 1890 and his widow Matilda Dietrich, who was living in Tower City in 1890, indicated to the census his service in the 151st Pennsylvania Infantry.

John R. Dietrich (? -1863).  According to information in Our Dietrich Lines, John R. Dietrich was a member of the 9th Army Corps.  He died on 5 August 1863 at Mill Dale, Mississippi.  However, he has not been found in any of the Pennsylvania regiment lists, perhaps indicating that he was a member of the Regular Army.  During the time period of John’s reported death, the 9th Army Corps was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee under the leadership of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, and was involved in the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi.  John R. Dietrich was a direct descendant of Lenhart Dietrich.  John married Christine Schwartz (1840-1915) and had at least three children:  Louisa Dietrich, born about 1859; James Dietrich, born about 1860; and Amanda Dietrich, born about 1862.

Philip Dietrich (1824-1894).   Also found as Dieter and Deitrick.  Philip was living in Porter Township, Schuylkill County at the beginning of the Civil War.  At age 40, Philip joined the 50th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company A, on 7 March 1864, and was mustered out with his company on the 20 July 1865.  After the war he worked as a farmer and a laborer and lived in Rush Township, Dauphin County, as well as Tower City where he was at the time of the 1890 census.  Philip married Lovina [?] Dietrich and had at least 3 children:  Sarah Dietrich, born about 1844; Amanda Dietrich, born about 1846; and Catherine Dietrich, born about 1848.  Philip’s connection to the Dietrich immigrants Michael Dietrich or Lenhart Dietrich has not been established.

Thomas E. Dietrich (1832-1911) – Millersburg Civil War Memorial

Thomas E. Dietrich (1832-1911) – Lykens G.A.R. Memorial

Thomas E. Dietrich (1832-1911).  Also found as Deitrich, Detrick, and Deitrick.  Thomas first joined the 10th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company F, as a Private and served from 26 April 1861 to 31 July 1861.  Then he joined the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Company B, as a Corporal and then was promoted to Sergeant. He served in the cavalry from 7 October 1861 through 18 July 1865.  According to reports, he spent time in a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky.  After the Civil War he lived in Wiconisco and Millersburg and worked as a house carpenter.  He first married Caroline Coleman (1832-1906) with whom he had four children:  Kate Dietrich (1866-1939); Johanna Dietrich (1868-1868); Sarah Dietrich (1870-1924); and Hattie Mae Dietrich (1875-?).  He second married Lydia J. Alleman (1851-1927) and had one child, Dora Dietrich, born about 1886.  After Thomas’ death, Lydia applied for and received his Civil War pension.  Thomas E. Dietrich is one of the few individuals who lived in the Lykens Valley area who is honored on both the Millersburg Civil War Monument and the Lykens G.A.R. Monument.  Thomas Dietrich is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Millersburg.  He was a direct descendant of the immigrant Michael Dietrich.

Daniel Deeter (?-about 1898).   Also found as Dater and Dieter.  Daniel joined the 211th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company B, as a Private, on 5 September 1864 and served until 7 June 1865 when he was discharged by General Order.  The handwriting on his Pennsylvania Veterans’ File Card (shown above) is difficult to read, but from what can be read, it appears that he was a blacksmith.  In 1890, he was living in Weishample, Schuylkill County.  His Civil War pension records indicate that after he died, his wife Mary Ann [?} Deeter applied for and received his pension.  He has not yet been connected to one of the Dietrich lines of immigrants Michael Dietrich or Lenhart Dietrich.

In addition to the above-named Dietrich‘s, there are many others who are listed in Steve Maczuga’s Pennsylvania Civil War Project and in the Pennsylvania Veterans Card File as Civil War veterans.  For example, the total number of entries in Maczuga’s data base for each of the following spellings of “Dietrich” is as follows:  Dietrich (22); Deitrich (46); Deeter (8); Dietrick (8); Deitrick (43); Dieter (11); and Deiter (6).  Surely some of those could represent some veterans from the Lykens Valley area.  Much more research is needed on the Dietrich family’s participation in the Civil War.

Information on the above Civil War veterans was compiled from several sources, including military records, census records and pension index cards available through Ancestry.com.  The portrait of Emanuel Dietrich is from the files of the Civil War Research Project.  Pennsylvania Veterans File Cards are from the Pennsylvania Archives.

Copies of the book, Our Dietrich Lines, are still available from the author, William Dietrich, who lives in Schuylkill County, or from Marion Dietrich Bowman (also in Schuylkill County), who worked with William Dietrich in compiling and editing the final text.

———————————–

Postscript:  Added 3 March 2011/Amended 3 January 2012 with new e-mail address

I received notification from the author William Dietrich that he can be reached at  dietrichpa @ frontier.com (remove spaces on either side of “@”) for purchasing copies of the book. I am awaiting a physical address from him, which I will post when I receive it.

Category: Queries, Research, Resources, Stories | 3 Comments »
Tags: Berrysburg, Dietrich family, Lykens Borough, Millersburg, Monument, Porter Township, Regiments, Rush Township, Tower City, Weishample, Wiconisco

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 22, 2011

According to information published in Our Dietrich Lines (2007), a published work on the Dietrich family, there are two immigrant Dietrich ancestors who came to Pennsylvania and whose descendants settled in the Lykens Valley area.  The author, William Dietrich, carefully traces all the descendants of Michael Dietrich (his father’s line) and Lenhart Dietrich (his mother’s line).  Often, the descendants lines overlap and interconnect with each other as well as with many other families in the Lykens Valley area.

The author points out that he has found more than 50 different spellings of the name – in baptismal, census, other public records, and private sources.  These spellings include Dietrich, Deitrich, Dietrick, Deitrick, Deterich, Deeter, Dieter, Deiter, Detrick, Deeterich, Deeterick, etc.  Often, within the same family, children spelled the surname differently than their parents, and disagreements abound as to the “true” spelling of the name.  For the purposes of this post, the spelling most used by William Dietrich is used here – “Dietrich.”

Michael Dietrich (1736-after 1810) was born in Richweiler/Sims, Germany, the son of John Jacob Dietrich (1695-1752) and Anna Margaretta Heinrich.  He arrived from Rotterdam in Philadelphia aboard the ship Phoenix on 1 October 1754.  Other German names on the ship were:  Miller, Schneider, Enders, Messerschmidt, Schwartz, Wert, and Herman.  Michael first settled in Lancaster County near his brother Nicholas who had arrived in 1749.  While in Lancaster County he married Maria Sarah Bernhard on 5 February 1769.  Two of his children were born there.  By 1773, records show that Michael and his family moved to Elizabethville, Dauphin County.  Records also show large land holdings in Upper Paxton Township, Wiconisco Township, Mifflin Township, and Jackson Township (Dauphin County).  Michael’s eldest son, Jacob Dietrich, was a Captain in the War of 1812 and died on his way home from Fredericksburg, Maryland.   Several generations of this Dietrich family are buried in the family cemetery in Dietrich, Dauphin County, which was later deeded to the St. Paul’s United Brethren Church.  This church was referred to as the Dietrich Church because of the original ownership of the land.  The cemetery was buried in 1965 after the church was closed and sold and no records have been located.

St. Paul’s (Dietrich) Church, Dietrich, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. Established in 1873. Closed in 1965.

Lenhart Dietrich (1732-before 1803) was born in Germany.  No information is given on his ancestry.  Lenhart (or Leonard is he is sometimes called), arrived in Philadelphia from Rotterdam (via England) on 26 September 1753 on the ship Brothers.  He first settled in Berks County where he owned land between 1762 and 1784 and thereafter re-settled on land in Hubley Township (then known as Pine Grove Township), Schuylkill County, and finally to Lower Mahanoy Township, Northumberland County.  During the Revolutionary War, he served in the 4th Battalion of the Berks County Militia.  Records show that he was married twice, the first time to Catherine Schwartz and the second time to Catherine Shaffer.  His descendants settled primarily in the western end of Schuylkill County and many are buried in the St. Paul’s (Artz) Cemetery in Sacramento as well as in the other cemeteries in the area.  Other descendants are buried in the Klinger’s Cemetery in Erdman, Dauphin County, and in the Lykens Cemeteries in Lykens Borough, Dauphin County.

St. Paul’s (Artz) Church and Cemetery, Sacramento, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, as it appears today.

There is no connection made between the lines of Michael Dietrich and Lenhart Dietrich other than they have the same surname.   There is also no guarantee that persons in the Lykens Valley area who bear the Dietrich surname are related to one or the other of these pioneer Dietrich’s.

Some of the surnames that appear in the descendants of Michael Dietrich (marrying daughters) are:  Eisenhower (or Eisenauer), Matter, Daniels, Richards, Snyder, Seminky, Hoffman, Lehman (or Lehmann), Romberger, and Esterline,

Some of the surnames that appear in the descendants of Lenhart Dietrich (marrying daughters) are:  Artz, Kuntzeman (or Kuntzleman), Holdeman, Kimmel, Klinger, Bauman, Bowman, Troutman, Kuhlman, Romberger, Wolf, Kiehl, Moser, Schwalm, and Reinoehl.

William Dietrich supports much of the information in the book with pictures, photographs of documents, and newspaper obituaries.  The book is extensively researched and well referenced with with source material.  There is a complete surname index and the Table of Contents is very useful in locating the major sections and subdivisions.  One drawback to its usage is that some of the lines are not carried down to the present and that many of the Civil War-age-eligible men are not researched enough to determine whether or not they were Civil War veterans.  Where known from the obituary, Civil War service is given.  It is possible that there are dozens more men with the Dietrich surname also who were veterans of the war, but they have not been so noted in Our Dietrich Lines.  It’s also possible that there are good number of others who married Dietrich daughters (and their descendants) who also served and who bear the surnames listed in the paragraph above.

In tomorrow’s post, the names of nine Civil War veterans who bear the name of “Dietrich” will be presented with some of the known information about them.

Material in this post is a condensation of information in Our Dietrich Lines.  The photo of St. Paul’s (Dietrich) Church is found on page 13.  Copies of the book are still available from the author, who lives in Schuylkill County, or from Marion Dietrich Bowman (also in Schuylkill County), who worked with William Dietrich in compiling and editing the final text.

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Postscript:  Added 3 March 2011/Amended 3 January 2012 with new e-mail address

I received notification from the author William Dietrich that he can be reached at  dietrichpa @ frontier.com (remove spaces on either side of “@”) for purchasing copies of the book. I am awaiting a physical address from him, which I will post when I receive it.

Category: Overviews, Research, Resources, Stories | 3 Comments »
Tags: Dietrich, Dietrich family, Elizabethville, Erdman, Hegins, Hubley Township, Jackson Township, Lower Mahanoy Township, Lykens Borough, Mifflin Township, Sacramento, Upper Paxton Township