Civil War Blog

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on December 15, 2017

Aaron Weaver, who was born 30 October 1843, and who died on 18 July 1923, is buried at the Salem Lutheran Church Cemetery, Killinger, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  At his grave site, there is a G.A.R. Star-Flag Holder, which recognizes him as an honorably discharged veteran of the Civil War.  However, efforts to locate a good match among the several persons of that name who served in Pennsylvania regiments have not been successful.

The obituary of Aaron Weaver appeared in the Harrisburg Telegraph of 23 July 1923:

AARON WEAVER DIES SUDDENLY AT HOME; FUNERAL YESTERDAY

Millersburg — 23 July 1923 — Aaron Weaver, who died suddenly at his home in Upper Allen Township, was buried yesterday at Killinger.  He was 73 years old and his death was the third in the Weaver family within the past five months.  He was a brother of Jeremiah Weaver of this place.  The previous deaths in the family circle had been sudden also.

No mention was made in the obituary of Civil War veteran status.

Of the two possibilities for military service, the most promising match is for an Aaron Weaver who entered the 174th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company A, as a Private, on or about 29 October 1862, and was then reported as “deserted – date unknown.”  The age of this Aaron Weaver was not given in the Registers of Pennsylvania Volunteers, but his place of enrollment and muster were at Philadelphia.  No pension application was made for this Aaron Weaver.

The second possibility is for an Aaron Weaver who enrolled at Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, in the 115th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company G, as a Private and was mustered into service at Harrisburg on 4 June 1862.  The record for this Aaron Weaver indicates that he was “not accounted for.”  However, two Pension Index Cards have been located for the Aaron Weaver who served in this regiment.  The first shows an application from Pennsylvania on 23 July 1890 and awarding of a pension.  The second is for a widow’s pension, application made on 2 May 1910 by an Isabella Weaver from Pennsylvania.  She was awarded widow’s benefits.  Being that the Aaron Weaver who is buried at Killinger did not die until 1923, and the wife/widow’s name is different, this service record can be eliminated.

It is possible that the Aaron Weaver who is buried at Killinger served in a regiment from another state, served in a regular army regiment, or served in another service branch such as the navy.  However, no record has been located to confirm that.

Additional information is sought to confirm or refute that the Aaron Weaver who is buried at Killinger was a Civil War veteran.

__________________________________________

News clipping from Newspapers.com.

Category: Queries, Research, Stories | Comments Off on Aaron Weaver Buried at Killinger – Was He a Civil War Veteran?
Tags: G.A.R., Killinger, Millersburg

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on December 13, 2017

A brief notice of the death of George Waller appeared in the Harrisburg Daily Independent, 3 February 1890:

Died of Pneumonia

George Waller, residing in Lykens, and a brother of John Waller, of this city, died on Friday evening of pneumonia, aged about 46 years.  He was born in Marietta, Lancaster County, and had a large circle of friends and acquaintances who will regret to learn of his death.  During the war the deceased was a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-second Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers [122nd Pennsylvania, Infantry].

Two days later, the same newspaper noted that a series of resolutions of respect had been adopted by the Dauphin County Democratic Committee, of which he was a member.  And on 2 June 1890, the Harrisburg Telegraph reported that C. Martha Waller, administratrix, had filed her first and final report with the county.

Click on document to enlarge.

In mid-1890, a Martha C. Waller reported that she was the widow of the George Waller who had served in the 122nd Pennsylvania, Infantry.  At the bottom of the form she also noted that George was wounded in the war, without specifying the nature of the wounds.

The Pension Index Card (above, from Ancestry.com) for George Waller notes that he not only served in the 122nd Pennsylvania Infantry, but also in the 195th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company K.  However, there is no mention on this card that there was a widow who applied for benefits.

A card from Fold3 gives the same information – that no widow applied.  The only pension application therefore was made by George W. Waller on 12 September 1879.  Note that the card gives the date of death as 1 February 1890 and the place of death as Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

In the records at the Pennsylvania Archives, George Waller‘s Civil War service is documented as follows:

Mustered into service, 122nd Pennsylvania Infantry, 11 August 1862, Company K, as a Private.  Discharged on 5 May 1863.

Mustered into service, 195th Pennsylvania Infantry, 11 July 1864, Company D, as a Private.  Discharged on 4 November 1864.

George Waller is named on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument as a Private who was a member of the Heiler Post who was wounded in the Civil War:

And, George Waller is buried in one of the cemeteries in Lykens.  At the time the photograph was taken, 2012, his stone had been overturned and broken from its base.  There was also no indication at the grave site that he was a veteran of the Civil War.  If if widow is buried in the same plot, it was done without benefit of a stone.

Much more information is sought about George Waller, his Civil War service and his family. Readers who have additional fact about this veteran are urged to contribute by adding comments to this post.

Category: Research, Stories | Comments Off on Obituary of George Waller of Lykens
Tags: Lykens Borough

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on December 11, 2017

The name Joseph Way appears on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument as a Civil War veterans who served as a Private, but did not join the Heilner Post.

In attempting to determine Joseph Way‘s regiment and company of service, one card in the Pennsylvania Veterans’ Card File stood out as an excellent match (shown above, from the Pennsylvania Archives).

According to information on that card, Joseph Way enrolled at Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on 23 September 1861, in the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company G and was mustered into service as a Private the same day.  This company and regiment was heavily composed of Lykens Valley men,  At the time of his enlistment, Joseph Way was a 39 year old miner (born about 1822) who stood 5 foot 5 inches tall, had black hair, dark complexion, and blue eyes.  His birthplace was given as England.  In “remarks,” it was noted that he deserted, 26 January 1863.

In addition to the location of his enlistment, the fact that this was the same company and regiment in which Henry Keiser also served, made it even more likely that the correct regiment was identified for Joseph Way, and especially so because it was Henry Keiser who supervised the compiling of the list of names that were placed on the plaque on this monument.

Henry Keiser also was known as the diarist of this company and regiment, so he should have known whether Joseph Way received an honorable discharge, or whether he was listed as a deserter.  Henry Keiser does not mention Joseph Way in the diary, and for the date in question, 26 January, 1863, Keiser made the following entry:

Did not send George’s letter off until today when I added more to it.  I sent home for a box of eatables. Wrote a letter to William.  Israel Strauser and Grimms were sent back to the regiment again.

On the day before the supposed desertion, Keiser noted that the regiment had received a whiskey ration. On the day after the supposed desertion, Keiser noted that the regiment was told to prepare for inspection.  And, the following day six inches of snow fell, which by two days later had reached a foot in accumulation.  In this time period, there was no mention of any desertions.

Sometimes, it was reported in the records that a soldier had deserted, but years later, when that soldier applied for a pension, with some difficulty, the soldier had the record corrected.  No pension application record was found for Joseph Way who served in the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry.

So, at this time, the questions remains unanswered.  Who was Joseph Way and was he a deserter?  And, if he was a deserter, why is his name on the Lykens G.A.R. Monument?

Category: Queries, Research, Stories | Comments Off on Who Was Joseph Way of Lykens and Was He a Deserter?
Tags: Lykens Borough

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on December 8, 2017

Joshua A. Wald, who served in the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry, Company K, as a Private, from 27 February 1865 to 28 June 1865, died on 18 February 1926 in Dalmatia, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.   He applied for a pension on 11 July 1890, which he received and was collecting until his death, whereupon his widow, Alvarette [Heckert] Wald applied.  There is no record on the above card from Fold3 that she actually received the pension.  The same information is found on the Pension Index Card from Ancestry.com, shown below.

Other sources indicate that both Alvatetta, who died on 3 February 1944 and Joshua are buried at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed Church Cemetery, Lower Mahanoy Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.

The following biographical sketch was found in the Northumberland County Biographical Annals:

Joshua Wald, son of David Wald, was born 18 August 1846, in Lower Mahanoy Township.  He received his education in the pay schools in vogue during his boyhood, first attending school in his native township and later in Juniata County.  When only eight years old he began driving a mule on the towpath of the Susquehanna Canal and after a few years commenced boating, which he followed for seventeen seasons all told, two years before his service in the Civil War and fifteen years after.

He was only a youth when he enlisted in Company K, 83rd Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry [83rd Pennsylvania Infantry], for one year’s service, but he was mustered out at the end of eight months, by reason of the war closing.  Among his active engagements were the action at Hatcher’s Run and the operations before Petersburg, besides a number of skirmishes.

Resuming civil life, he continued boating until 1878, in which he engaged in the livery business at Georgetown [Dalmatia].  After about five years in that line, he went into the lumber business, in 1884, near Sunbury, contracting for logs and ties and peeling bark, and he was thus engages for two years, in 1887, commencing farming.  That year he purchased a seventy-five acre farm at Hickory Corners, in Lower Mahahoy Township, which place he cultivated for nine years.  This farm was formerly the property of WIlliam Schaffer and is now owned by Elmer I. Radel.  In 1897, Mr. Wald settled in Georgetown [Dalmatia] where he owns a fine residence and has since lived in practical retirement, though he occasionally engages in coal digging in the Susquehanna.  He is a respected citizen and trusted by his fellow citizens, but he has never cared to undertake the duties of public office.  Politically, he is a Republican.

In 1875, Mr. Wald married Alveretta Heckert, daughter of William Heckert and Lydia J. [Favinger] Heckert, who had three children”  Alveretta Heckert; Polly Heckert, unmarried; and Henry Heckert, unmarried, who lives at Millville, Pennsylvania.

Jacob Heckert, grandfather of Mrs. Wald, was a farmer in Lower Mahanoy Township.  His children were Catherine Heckert, Mrs. George Doney; Jacob Heckert; William Heckert; and Jessie Heckert.

Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wald:  Jennie Lucretia Wald, who died when fourteen months old; and Edward M. Wald, who died when three months old.

Category: Research, Stories | Comments Off on Joshua A. Wald – 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry
Tags: Dalmatia, Georgetown, Hickory Corners, Lower Mahanoy Township

Posted By Norman Gasbarro on December 6, 2017

A listing of the November 2017 posts on The Civil War Blog with direct links:

Joel Veatch – Right Arm Shot Off at Elbow

George VanHouten of New Jersey & Orwin – Widows Compete for Pension

October 2017 Posts

Nathaniel Stutzman of Hegins – Buried at Arlington National Cemetery

Why Does Jacob Umholtz Have a G.A.R. Marker at His Grave in Gratz?

Obituary of Cyrus Spangler

Obituary of Isaac Uhler – Born Near Elizabethville

Dr. William H. Uhler – Lykens Dentist

Mathew A. Taylor – Halifax Native Died in Iowa in 1926

J. Theodore Thomson, Buried at Halifax, Served in New Jersey Regiments

When Did Conrad Toby Die and Where Is He Buried?

Was George Tippers a Civil War Soldier?

Category: Overviews | Comments Off on November 2017 Posts
Tags: Table of Contents