Civil War

Colonel Smith And the 71st PA At Gettysburg, Part 2

The story continues. For Part 1, click here. Colonel Richard Penn Smith, Jr. was standing with General Alexander Webb near the Copse of...

Colonel Smith And the 71st PA At Gettysburg, Part 1

A family history story in honor of the 160th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg Richard Penn Smith, Jr. (R. Penn Smith) was born on...

"Whose Father Was He?"

Welcome to my 200th post! Here is a story for Father's Day. Since it began by a woman honoring her father who fought during the Civil...

The Pattons, Part 2: Brothers George & Tazewell

The story of the Patton family continues. Click here for Part 1. George Smith Patton was born 26 June 1833, in Fredericksburg, Virginia,...

Gettysburg: The Semicentennial

This year marks the 159th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought the from the 1st to the 3rd of July 1863. It was considered...

Hannah and William, Part 5

(Click here for Part 4) The new court convened on 15 February 1864. Before his arraignment, William again asked for the court's...

Hannah and William, Part 4

(Click Here for Part 3) William ran away but not for long. After Abraham Bertolet's body had been carted off, he returned home. That...

Hannah and William, Part 3

(Click here for Part 2) William left Washington, D.C. during the last days of December in the company of about twenty men. They...

Hannah and William, Part 2

(Click Here for Part 1) After boarding the train, William Howe and the 116th Pennsylvania Regiment stopped in Washington, D.C. where it...

Hannah and William, Part 1

Hannah Krebs Shaner was born 14 July 1833, the second child of Charles and Elizabeth Krebs Shaner. Her mother died on 6 March 1837. ...