Tag: John Edward Plank
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The Cane of John Yarbrough
The following is a piece of fiction inspired by the previous post on the cane of John Yarbrough and the farm of Abraham Plank. (Recall, too, that Abraham Plank is the uncle of John Edward Plank whose farm saw a large number of Confederate burials.) Yarbrough genealogy is very well researched, but details around Private…
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Abraham Plank and the Cane Left Behind
Abraham Plank was a Pennsylvania farmer whose property lay on the southern end of Herr’s Ridge, near the Black Horse Tavern in Cumberland Township (Gettysburg area). He married Sarah Mickley (born 1802) and raised a family there. Census and genealogical records indicate their children included Josiah (b. 1827), Abraham (b.1832), John W. Plank (b.1840), and daughter Henrietta…
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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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Jacob Whitler Herndon: Disappeared on the John Edward Plank Farm
Jacob W. Herndon has a small historical distinction—in every source you read about him, he was a courier for General John Bell Hood. General Hood, of course, is famous for his exploits as the leader of the famed Texas Brigade. After his wounding, he was brought back to the John Edward Plank farm where he…
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James Samuel Noble: 15-year-old Sergeant Buried on the John Edward Plank Farm
When the war broke out, James Samuel Noble somehow convinced his family he was old enough—at age 13, he joined his older brother, Dallas, in enlisting in May 1861. Of course, no one could see that he would end up on the John Edward Plank farm just two years later. The Nobles were farmers who…
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John Edward Plank: His Farm and Family
In and around Gettysburg, John Edward Plank was in the news nearly his entire life, and his farm became a critical junction before, during, and after the battle. Because of that, John and his farm remain in the news today. Descended from German immigrants, John Plank married Sarah Ann Rhinehart in Gettysburg’s Saint James Lutheran…