Tag: Civil War
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Francis Jackson: Enslaved to Soldier in Pennsylvania
When Francis Jackson went to war, he was 50 years old with whip scars on his back and gnarled, arthritic hands from his long days as a laborer and, likely, a slave. He joined earlier than almost every other black man in Gettysburg—he enlisted on July 18, 1863, in the 3rd USCT, just two weeks…
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Exploring the Unique Family History of Isaac Buckmaster
Spend a bit of time looking at the 1850 Census record that captured Private Isaac Buckmaster, 8th USCT, and his parents and siblings. What do you see? Anything unusual or curious? What do you not see? Like most, you probably saw names and ages. You may have noted who was in school and who wasn’t.…
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The Life of Private Samuel N. Cox: A Confederate Story
Private Samuel N. Cox was no ordinary Confederate private. Nearly everyone around him was single, but Private Cox was well into his second marriage. The few married men usually had young families—no kids or one kid, maybe two or three at most. Samuel Cox had three boys and two girls by his first wife and…
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Dr. Michael Jacobs: Far More than Gettysburg’s Unsung Weatherman
At the conclusion of July 3, 1863, Dr. Michael Jacobs noted dryly in his weather record, “The thunder seemed tame, after the artillery firing of the afternoon.” Of course, the artillery barrage of that afternoon was likely the largest that had occurred in history to that point. Similarly, the thunderstorm was a prelude to a…
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Who Was Reverend David Jacobs?
Casual students of Gettysburg frequently know the name Dr. Michael Jacobs. Lesser known by far is his brother Reverend David Jacobs, but it is the latter’s influence that put Michael where he was in 1863 to record the weather of the battle and publish the first history of the battle. So who is Reverend David…
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The Price Twins: Brothers in the Civil War
The Price twins, James and John, were just nine years old in January 1852 when their father, a modestly well-off plantation owner named William C. Price, attended the Alabama Democratic Convention. He came from deeply patriotic stock. His grandfather Anjer Price was a sergeant in the 8th Virginia in the Revolution. His father, William Vines…
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The Life and Legacy of Dr. J. Lawrence Hill
Dr. J. Lawrence Hill was a nineteenth-century man. Almost every man of the era had to diversify economically—farmers kept woodlots to sell wood, pigs to sell meat, cows to sell milk, and crops of all sorts to sell. Professionals had to diversify similarly. Dr. Hill spent most of his life in Adams County, where he…
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The Life and Legend of Keziah Elizabeth Thomas Kuff
On July 1, 1926, sixty-three years to the day of the start of the Battle of Gettysburg, Keziah Elizabeth Thomas Kuff passed away. She was hailed as the oldest resident of Gettysburg, possibly the oldest in the United States, maybe one of the oldest people ever to live. The headline of the day suggested she…
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The Tragic Legacy of Augustus L. Short’s Family
Corporal Augustus L. Short came from a house divided—his father, Augustus D. Short, was from Bristol County, Massachusetts, while his mother, Jane G. Smith, was from Clarke County, Georgia. The older Augustus and Jane married in 1842 in Clarke County. The oldest boy in their family, James, may have come from a previous marriage: he…
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The Mathews-Biggs Family Legacy in Gettysburg
The Mathews family of Biglerville and the Biggs family of Gettysburg had a strong pre-war bond. At least one source suggested that Edward Mathews and Basil Biggs might have family connections in Maryland. Biggs was known to bring travelers on the Underground Railroad to Edward Mathews who hid them among Quaker friends in Biglerville before…