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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Election of 1866 – The Defeat of a White Supremacist

| September 16, 2016

The Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Election of 1866 pitted a Union General and war hero, John W. Geary, against a avowed racist and white supremacist, Heister Clymer.  Geary headed the Republican or Union ticket and Clymer headed the Democratic or Copperhead ticket. Unlike the Presidential Election of 1860, official vote totals by townships and boroughs were available […]

Samuel Keiter – 172nd Pennsylvania Infantry

| August 3, 2016

Samuel Keiter was born 8 November 1819, and married Susannah Shutt, who was born 4 October 1922. His Civil War service was chronicled in Captain Enders Legion, pages 109-110: Samuel enlisted 2 November 1862 at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the 172nd Pennsylvania Regiment [172nd Pennsylvania Infantry], Company A for nine months. On 2 December […]

Isaac Kemble – “The devil can’t chase these little gnats….”

| June 24, 2016

During the Civil War, Isaac Kemble served with the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company C, as a Corporal, enrolling at Sunbury, Northumberland County on 19 August 1861, and mustered into service in Harrisburg, 2 September 1861.  At the time he was 22 years old (born 1839), was employed as a surveyor, and resided at Sunbury.  He […]

Daniel W. Tobias – Incident at Miners’ Bank, 1875

| March 21, 2016

A brief story appeared in the Harrisburg Telegraph, 27 December 1875, describing an incident involving Civil War veteran Daniel W. Tobias of Jackson Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, which occurred at the Miners’ Deposit Bank: Forgery — On Monday last, Mr. Daniel W. Tobias of Jackson Township stepped into the Miners’ Deposit Bank, of this place, […]

A Brief History of the B. F. Miller G.A.R. Post #393 at Fisherville

| November 30, 2015

Fisherville is a small community in Upper Dauphin County, near Halifax Borough, that in 1883 formed a local G.A.R. post.  Much of the history of that post has been lost over time and now needs to be re-created through available resources, among those resources, the Harrisburg and other archived newspapers and the national Grand Army […]