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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Fire Destroys the Lykens Register, 1900

| January 7, 2014

A cool breeze nipped at Isaac Deitrich as he tramped home in the darkness. It was a little before midnight on the evening of December 5, 1900 when his late shift in the mines let out. Wiconisco and Lykens lay below him in the twilight, only dim shadows marking where each town began. He left […]

Death of Major H. J. Sheafer, Ex-Sheriff of Dauphin County

| January 4, 2014

The death of Major Henry Jackson Sheafer (also known as Sheaffer) was reported in the 30 March 1900 edition of the Harrisburg Patriot: MAJOR SHEAFFER DEAD Ex-Sheriff and Prominent Insurance Man Expires from Stroke Received Seven Months Ago EXCELLENT WAR RECORD A 7 o’clock last evening occurred the death of Major Henry J. Sheaffer, one […]

Lykens G.A.R. Post Originally Named for Martyred President Garfield

| January 3, 2014

A short news item located while researching Major Henry Jackson Sheafer revealed that the Lykens-Wiconisco G.A.R. Post, called Heilner Post No. 232, originally applied for a different name. New Grand Army Post Wilson C. Fox, assisted by Major H. J. Sheafer, both of this city, on Thursday evening last instituted Post 232 of the Grand […]

Obituary of William W. Wallace of Lykens and Wiconisco

| December 14, 2013

The obituary of William W. Wallace appeared in the Lykens Standard on 23 October 1914: William Wallace, a Civil War veteran, died at the home of his son William Wallace in Wiconisco on Tuesday, of a general breaking up of the system due to old age.  He is survived by nine children, viz: Clara Wallace […]

Civil War Officer Commission – Daniel Chester – Discovery and Restoration of a Document

| December 3, 2013

In a shoebox filled with old receipts, letters and other ephemera a rather beat-up Civil War commission for the rank of First Lieutenant was found – for none other than Daniel Chester, believed to be the namesake of the G.A.R. Post at Williamstown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  The document was discovered in  four large pieces and […]