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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Amos Kuntzelman – Sewing Machine Agent

| November 17, 2012

Amos Kuntzelman (1833-1905) was born in Dauphin County and died in Lykens.  He was a Civil War veteran and a founding member of the G.A.R. Heilner Post, No. 232, of Lykens and Wiconisco.  His name appears near the top of the Lykens G.A.R. Monument as a founding member: The following biographical sketch of Amos Kuntzelman […]

John G. Killinger – Agricultural Implement Agent & Justice of the Peace

| November 15, 2012

On 23 February 1904, the Harrisburg Patriot reported the following death: John G. Killinger The death of John G. Killinger who was well known in Northern Dauphin County, occurred Saturday morning at his home in Fisherville.  For twenty years he had been Justice of the Peace in Jackson Township.  Mr. Killinger had also been a […]

Riegel Family Veterans of Pennsylvania Civil War Regiments (Part 1 of 7)

| October 1, 2012

Part 1 of 7.  In a prior post, one branch of the Riegel family’s origins in America was presented – that of Mattheis Riegell (born about 1615) of Bad Muenster, Palatinate, Germany, who married Maria Werner.  They had a son, Jost Riegell (1615-1687) who married Maria Honen (or Hoenen).  Their son, Cornelius Riegel (1674-175) was […]

Capt. John K. McGann

| August 17, 2012

A biography of Capt. John K. McGann appeared in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, published in 1894: Capt. John K. McGann, retired farmer and real estate dealer, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 28 May 1835.  Edward McGann, his grandfather, was born and passed his life in Ireland; he was a wool carder and spinner.  […]

The Murder in Gratz During the Militia Encampment, 1856

| July 20, 2012

The above article describing the “fatal affair at Gratztown” appeared in the Philadelphia Public Ledger, 27 September 1856, described the death of George Hoffman Jr. at the annual military encampment at Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  A more extensive article appeared in a Schuylkill County publication, the Farmers and Miners Journal on the same date.  It […]