The Grand Welcome Home

On the evening of March 5, 1864, any soldiers of the 79th Pennsylvania who reenlisted as veterans were relieved of picket duty near Tyner's Station, about ten miles east of Chattanooga.  Early the next morning, they left camp and marched to Chattanooga, where they waited for a day before boarding a train for Loiusville.  The journey to Louisville took three days, and the 79th Pennsylvania passed many regiments that had just completed their furlough and were heading in the opposite direction.

The regiment arrived in Pittsburgh on the night of March 13, and were treated to splendid supper before boarding another train for an overnight journey east.  March 14 was spent completing to journey to Harrisburg, where the regiment spent a day preparing for their return to Lancaster by tending to some long overdue personal grooming.  Although the food in Harrisburg was worse than what they got on the front lines, the state legislature acknowledged the regiment's presence by unanimously passing resolutions offered by State Senator Benjamin Champneys of Lancaster.

At 7am on Wednesday, March 16, the 200 or so returning veterans of the 79th Pennsylvania boarded a train bound for Lancaster.  They arrived at the Dillerville Yard, where a procession formed led by the 79th Pa's former Lieut. Colonel, John H. Duchman, and marched through town to take part in a grand collation at Fulton Hall.  The citizens of Lancaster were certainly prepared for the 79th Pa's return.  The Daily Evening Express reported:

Upon their arrival [at Dillerville], the veterans were met and welcomed by an immense crowd of their fellow citizens, and the streets through which they passed were thronged with men, women, and children.  The display of bunting was magnificent, and reminded us of the patriotic uprising in 1861, when the demand for flags could not be supplied.  The Reception was altogether a magnificent affair, and the veterans after what they witnessed that day can have no doubt of how deeply the People sympathizes with the gallant defenders of the flag of the free.

The officers and men of the 79th looked like veterans as they are.  Their soldierly deportment in marching was noticed by every spectator.  There was not as much noisy enthusiasm as many expected to witness.  the regiment is under strict military discipline, and of course the men received all greetings with the dignity of military silence.  The general joy at welcoming home the gallant survivors was mingled with sadness at the memory of the lamented dead.  Many once familiar faces were missed from the veteran ranks; and as the torn colors of the regiment passed along, riddled by the deadly missiles of many a battle, we saw the tear start to eyes unused to weep.

At Fulton Hall, five long tables that stretched the hall greeted the veterans.  Dr. Henry Carpenter gave a greeting and Rev. F. W. Conrad of Trinity Lutheran Church gave a prayer before Mayor George Sanderson gave a lengthy welcome speech.  Private Edwin K. Martin of Company E, 79th Pennsylvania gave a response on behalf of the regiment, and collation concluded with music by the Fencibles Band and the Glee Club.

The joyous occasion was not without controversy, as could be expected given the deep divisions that existed between Lancaster's borderline peace Democrats and its pro-Lincoln Republicans.  Rather than describe it in detail, I'll defer to William T. Clark's diary entry for the day:

Took train at apptd. time, met committee on reception at Dillersville (one mile north of Lancaster). We disembarked, marched, halted, Artillery firing as salute to us. Procession formed at 10½ A.M. lead by (our former Lieut. Col.) John H. Duchman. Copperheads following their Copperhead leader. Marched through the different streets of town. Saw many friends. Stacked arms in front of Fulton Hall. Were marched in where a fine collation was spread. This has been done by deception on the part of Copperheads, only a few Patriot Daughters being among them. The Hon. Copperhead Mayor of Lancaster made a speech of welcome which greatly belies his former actions toward all soldiers. Col. H. A. Hambright made a few remarks excusing himself by saying he never made a speech. Ed Martin responded in behalf of the 79th P.V.V. in a splendid speech cutting Copperheads & all others leagued with Treason right & left. It gave many of them the short coughs & made them generally uneasy. We then ate heartily of the dinner prepared. An hour afterwards we fell in & drilled in Centre Square more than an hour, when we returned to the Hall, marched to the upper story, stacked arms & are given leaves of absence untill the 20th when we must answer to our names & receive our furloughs. 

For further information, see:

• Account in March 17, 1864, Daily Evening Express
• Account in March 22, 1864, Intelligencer
• Account in March 29, 1864, Intelligencer

Donations Collected from Drumore for the Patriot Daughters: Photos and Biographical Notes

Donation list appearing in July 14, 1863, Daily Evening Express

In the weeks after the Battle of Gettysburg, Lancaster's citizens responded liberally to the need for hospital goods in Gettysburg.  The Patriot Daughters of Lancaster sprang to action, collecting goods from Lancaster and surrounding towns (and then taking them to Gettysburg and serving as nurses, but that's another story).  The Daily Evening Express supported their work by printing daily lists of donors and their gifts that filled column after column in July 1863.  I noticed one in particular from Drumore Township in southern Lancaster County, and recognized a few of the names from a photo album that is one of my favorite items in my wife's and my collection.  Since going through that list took my on a few research tangents, including one related to the underground railroad, here's a post matching that list with a few photos and biographical notes.

Detail of Bridgens 1864 Atlas map of Drumore Township showing area around Liberty Square

Rachel S. Smith
Photo by T&W Cummings, Lancaster

This particular donation list appeared in the July 14, 1863, Daily Evening Express, and contains the names of many residents from near Liberty Square in Drumore Township (not far from the Susquehanna River) populated by Quaker, Scots-Irish, and African-American families.  Acting on the Patriot Daughters' behalf, Rachel S. Smith collected dried fruit, preserves, and hospital supplies from about forty of her neighbors.  Rachel lived with her father, Joseph Smith, a wealthy Quaker farmer, on their farm near where Susquehannock State Park is today. 

Little else is known about these donations, but I was excited to find Rachel's photograph in a CDV album I purchased on Ebay a couple years ago.  That album mostly depicts the extended family of her cousins, Annie and Edwin Shoemaker, and their spouses, John B. and Margaret F. Kensel, who were also siblings.  Most individuals in the album belonged to the Drumore Friends Meeting at Liberty Square.  The women's well-fitted bodices, full and pleasingly-shaped skirts, and elegant trim--as well as the Philadelphia backmarks of almost all images--testify to a level of prosperity enjoyed by this neighborhood of southern Lancaster County farmers.

It turns out that Rachel (1825-1904) also had interesting stories to tell, as her father's farm was one of the most important Underground Railroad stops in Lancaster County.  African-American drivers working for her father would take produce to Baltimore and have the chance to interact with slaves and spread knowledge of a network to escape.  Rachel even became involved, and is mentioned in Robert Smedley's History of the Underground Railroad for once accompanying slavecatchers executing a search warrant to search her father's house.  We also have this very interesting account (p. 231) attesting to the importance of her family's role:

In October, 1859, Joseph's daughter Rachel visited Niagara Falls, and registered at the Cataract house.  The head waiter, John Morrison, seeing her name and residence upon the book, approached her one day and politely made apology for intruding himself; but said he would like to ask if she knew a man named Joseph Smith in Pennsylvania.  She replied that he was her father.  He continued, "I would like to tell you about the poor fugitives I ferry across the river.  Many of them tell me that the first place they came to in Pennsylvania was Joseph Smith's.  I frequently see them when I visit my parents at Lundy's Lane.  Many of them have nice little homes and are doing well."  He ferried some across the river during two of the nights she was there. 

Emmeline Smith
Photo from Larkin Gallery, Philadelphia

Rachel Smith's sister-in-law, Emmeline Smith (nee Tennis) also appears on the list, having donated "1 shirt, 2 bags peaches, 1 pot sauce, rusk."  Emmeline's husband, George Smith, is listed in Pennsylvania records as one of six conscientious objectors from Drumore Township.  See this link for a biographical portrait of their son, Gerritt Smith. 

The third woman on the list who also appears in our photo album is Emeline Shoemaker (nee Lamborn), daughter of Smedley Lamborn, who had a farm near Joseph Smith and is linked to the Underground Railroad (see biography of his son, George).  Emeline donated two cans of fruit, two shirts, and a roll of muslin.  Three of her siblings are included in the album, including William Lewis Lamborn, who fought with Company E, 79th Pennsylvania, and Mary Elizabeth Lamborn, who married Thomas B. Hambleton of the same unit.  Interestingly, their older brother, Aquilla Lamborn, is another one of the six conscientious objectors from Drumore Township.  

Emeline Shoemaker
Photo by I. R. Bishop, Philadelphia

The goods collected by Rachel Smith were likely forwarded to the Patriot Daughters' outpost of mercy, Christ Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, to be distributed to the wounded soldiers of the Second Division, First Corps, of the Union Army (although the could have very easily been donated to another location in need, as well).  I don't know of any of the women mentioned going to Gettysburg as nurses, but the donations show how a Quaker community in one corner of Lancaster County responded to the battle and provide an opportunity to learn about a family network with deep connections to abolitionism and the Underground Railroad.

After Antietam

Confederate Dead near the Dunker Church on the Antietam Battlefield.  Multiple civilians from Lancaster visited this site in the days after the battle.  (Library of Congress)

The Battle of Antietam had hardly ended before the first team of civilians from Lancaster came to help care for the wounded.  Five of Lancaster's prominent physicians and three assistants left Lancaster on September 18, 1862, a day after the battle in response to a call put out by Pennsylvania Surgeon General Henry H. Smith.  They arrived in Hagerstown and proceeded to the battlefield where they spent three days amputating limbs and dressing wounds.

Accompanying the physicians were staff members of the Lancaster Inquirer newspaper, possibly including editor Stuart A. Wylie, who toured the Antietam battlefield while still covered by the dead.  The entourage passed through the North Woods and the Cornfield and eventually reached the Dunker Church:

Afar off on a declivity of a small hill, just in the edge of a large woods, and by the woodside, we observed the white corner of a building peep up, and on making inquiry, were informed that it was the Dunkard Church, where the rebel sharp-shooters suffered so severely.  Making our way carefully on, over the heaps of dead rebels, we at last arrived there.  The building was a small brick one story, perfectly riddled with balls.  The rebels secreted themselves here for the purpose of picking off our artillery men, whom they annoyed for some time very much.  At last the guns were turned on them, and in a few minutes the building was rendered untenable by the bursting shells.  Inside we found a wounded Confederate soldier lying with a ball right through his forehead, and the brain oozing slowly out.  He was still alive and sensible.

The letter continued to describe the military state of affairs in the days after the battle, which they labeled "decisive, but very incomplete."  It concluded with a visit to the Pennsylvania Reserves and the comment, "We returned home on Sunday, well satisfied with our view of the battle scenes, and convinced that the rebels will never more attempt to invade Pennsylvania."  Read the entire letter, which appeared in the September 22, 1862, Lancaster Daily Inquirer at this link. 

Pastor F. W. Conrad
(Trinity Lutheran Church)

After the immediate response by the team of physicians, the Lancaster community responded more broadly by donating hospital stores to the Patriot Daughters of Lancaster.  A team of four Lancasterians, including a pastor (pictured on left), a pharmacist, a farmer, and the city's music genius superintended the distribution of six wagon loads of goods to the Pennsylvania Reserves and hospitals, leaving Lancaster on September 30.  I've already featured this trip in a previous post, as there were two very interesting letters by the Patriot Daughters' agents about their trip.  Those letters are available here.

On a more personal level, other citizens of Lancaster tended to the effort of retrieving bodies of soldiers killed at South Mountain and Antietam for reburial in Lancaster, hoping that a final resting place in a family cemetery would be meaningful to families who sacrificed sons to the effort to preserve the Union.

In particular, we have accounts related to soldiers from some of the Columbia companies.  Thomas Bennett, of Company K, 5th Pennsylvania Reserves, died from wounds received at South Mountain in a hospital in Frederick, but the attempt to retrieve the body was unsuccessful due to confusion in the hospital's burial records (or lack thereof).  Another officer, Capt. George A. Brooks of the 46th Pennsylvania and formerly of Columbia, was learned to have been killed in action when Columbians in the Pennsylvania militia were transferring coffins at a railroad depot. [Columbia Spy 10/4/1862]

Amos Hougendobler
Co. K, 5th Penna. Reserves
Brother of John, KIA South Mountain
(USAMHI)
Thanks to PRVC Hist. Soc.

In another case, a week after the battle three men left Columbia to retrieve the remains of John A. Hougendobler (Hogentogler), whose death at South Mountain with Co. K, 5th Pennsylvania Reserves, was reported in a letter I cited last week.  The party first went to the Antietam battlefield and found the Pennsylvania Reserves.  In a letter by "P. F." published in the October 4, 1862, Columbia Spy, he recounted:

Leaving [the Dunker Church], we soon found the immortal Penna. Reserves...Our gallant townsman, Col. Fisher of the 5th, welcomed us in his genial and gentlemanly way.  Dinner being ready we partook of his hospitality and did full justice to the meal.  All the Columbians seemed to be glad to see us as we were to see them.  We mingled freely with them and heard many tales of hair-breadth escapes and mighty deeds.

The next day, they set out east towards Boonesboro to complete their mission.  The letter continued:

Passing on three miles further [past Boonesboro], by way of the Hagerstown and Frederick turnpike, we turned into a road to the left, running northward, and skirting the base of the celebrated South Mountain.  After advancing a mile we again struck a road to the left, running to the westward up a hollow in the mountain side.  We advanced up this road to where it terminates in a ravine in which there is a small log house occupied by an old man and his family.  A young man belonging to the 5th of the name of Rees, detailed by Col. Fisher to act as guide, here pointed out the track of the 5th regiment as they charged up the side of the mountain, driving the rebels before them...Our guide took us to the grave, which we found in an enclosure near the little log house in the ravine.  He had been buried as carefully as the circumstances would permit; the only implements used were bayonets.  We uncovered a part of the body and found the corpse carefully wrapped in a gum blanket, and his cap placed over his face.  Lifting the cap we found the body too much decomposed to remove.  Gathering a few locks of hair we again replaced his cap, and after building a a little wall of stones about his body, covered it with heavy slabs, on one of which we inscribed his name.  Covering the whole with earth we left him to rest till winter, when he will be brought home to his mourning friends.

The party started home later that night.  Although I still have to confirm it, Hougendobler's remains were supposedly removed eventually to what is now the cemetery of the Ironville United Methodist Church, which stands on the Hougendoubler family farm in West Hempfield Township (according to Bridgens' 1864 atlas).
 
Whether to mourn, aid, or simply tour, these anecdotes point to a very strong connection between the battlefield and the home front in the days after the Battle of Antietam.  Through these stories, we can see how civilians tried to cope with mass death and injury and the challenges that they faced in doing so.  We can also start to see hints about how the war's proponents positioned the deaths as a call to loyalty to the nation and a heightened commitment to the war.

Capt. Emanuel D. Roath's Civil War

Last week, I posted about a couple lots and items sold at auction which I was sad to have missed.  Much to my surprise and pleasure, I was contacted by the new owner, John Mulcahy, of the photograph and diary of Capt. Emanuel D. Roath, Company E, 107th Pennsylvania.  John is a direct descendant of Roath, and purchased the items to preserve family history.  This post is based on some of the information he graciously shared with me, as well as other resources on Roath.   

CDV of Capt E. D. Roath
(Courtesy of John Mulcahy)

Few men in the annals of Lancaster's Civil War history better represent what it meant to lead a Civil War company than Emanuel Dyer Roath.  Holding the rank of captain did not just mean leading a group of men in battle, but it also meant having sufficient standing in the community to recruit, sending letters (and relics) to the hometown newspaper, urging soldiers and civilians to support the war politically, and even experiencing a little bit of officer politics.  

Born in Lancaster in 1820, Roath graduated from the Shippensburg Academy and began work as a teacher.  He came to Marietta in 1852 and worked in a lumber yard before being elected justice of the peace in 1854.  Following in his father's footsteps as a militia leader, Roath had led the "Maytown Infantry" militia before the war, and began drilling a partially full militia company shortly after the war's outbreak.  By November, recruits in the "'Squire's" company began trickling in to Camp Curtin with the plan of joining the 61st Pennsylvania.  After some shuffling and reorganization, Roath's command eventually ended up as Company E, 107th Pennsylvania, a regiment organized in March 1862, and gave themselves the nickname of the "Union Fencibles."  [WM 5/18, 11/16/1861]       

His first letter appearing in the Weekly Mariettian was to thank the ladies of Marietta for their Valentine's Day contribution of fifty-one pairs of mittens and other useful items.  The company's resolution made sure to state, "That if the young men (those able to leave their business,) were inspired with half the patriotism of woman, they would cheerfully join the army of the Union, so they would never be placed under the painful blush of cowardice, when in the presence of a patriotic lady."  

Roath's letters to the Weekly Mariettian continued through 1862, although as one of the regiment's senior captains he understandably did not find as much time to write as the regiment fought in more and more battles in fall 1862.  Although the regiment fought in just about all the battles of the Army of the Potomac, a quick glance at the roster reveals the toughest fights to have been the Battles of Second Bull Run and Gettysburg and the Siege of Petersburg.  Controversies occasionally arose, with the regiment's adjutant apparently having run-ins with Roath and other unnamed sources trying (unsuccessfully) to impugn Roath's bravery under fire around the time of the Battles of 2nd Bull Run and Antietam. [WM 10/11/1862] 

At Gettysburg, Roath's regiment stood along Oak Ridge with the First Corps as it tried to buy time on the battle's first day.  After the regiment's commanding officer was wounded, Roath took command of the regiment's few remaining men for the rest of the battle, most notably  leading them while on Cemetery Hill during Pickett's Charge.  Roath wrote a long and interesting letter two months after the battle for publication in the Mariettian [10/10/1863].  Its contents include the regiment's actions during and after Gettysburg, the Union party ticket for the 1863 elections, and the joy which the wounded men of the Second Division, First Corps, felt when they learned that the Patriot Daughters of Lancaster would be tending to their hospital at Gettysburg. 

Roath continued with the regiment through the Overland Campaign of 1864, but was captured at the Battle of Weldon Railroad (part of the Siege of Petersburg) on August 19, 1864.  Roath was confined for nine months in various prisons and was exchanged in February 1865 and mustered out shortly thereafter.  His diary entry for the day of his capture as well as a copy of a letter that Roath wrote from a prison in Danville, Virginia, appealing for better food, are presented below: (alternate link)


After the war, Roath continued his life in Marietta, serving as Justice of the Peace and in the State Legislature, leading a militia company, and joining various fraternities.  Roath died on September 12, 1907.  Now, just over a hundred years later, we are very fortunate to still gain many insights into his life and Civil War experiences through generous descendants and digitized newspapers.  To understand how the typical experienced the Civil War, it is necessary to understand how a Civil War company formed and fought, and this information pulled together about Capt. Roath from various sources help us to do just that.

If anyone else is interested in or research Capt. Roath, please feel free to post in the comments here, or send me an email, and I'll happily pass anything on to John Mulcahy.  There are many fascinating avenues of investigation about Capt. Roath and his life before, during, and after the Civil War, so any additional information would be eagerly received.      
      
References:

• Roath bio in 1903 Biographical Annals of Lancaster County
• Regimental History from Bates
• Weekly Mariettian in the PA Civil War Newspapers Project
• Roath report from Gettysburg in Official Records (p. 304)
• Company E, 107th Pennsylvania Roster
• Civil War Letters of James B. Thomas, Adjutant of the 107th Pennsylvania
• Hospital Scenes after the Battle of Gettysburg by the Patriot Daughters of Lancaster

Rev. F. W. Conrad's Civil War

Rev. F. W. Conrad
(Trinity Archives)

Considering the short list of distinguished pastors until 1861 whose time in the pulpit of Trinity Lutheran Church could be counted in decades, Pastor F. W. Conrad's mere two years as Gottlob Krotel's successor seem like a hiccup in the church's chronology.  Through his actions, preaching, and lectures, Conrad would, however, play an important role connecting the congregation to the war, most uniquely through an October 1862 aid mission to the Antietam battlefield on behalf of the Patriot Daughters of Lancaster. 

Born in 1816 in Pine Grove, Schuylkill County, Conrad represented a very different type of Lutheran than what Trinity Lutheran Church was used to.  Specifically, as a student of Samuel Simon Schmucker at Gettysburg Seminary, Conrad fit into the tradition of "American Lutheranism" that emphasized personal piety, union with other Christian denominations, revivals, and abolitionism more than the "Old Lutherans," who advocated a stricter and more explicit adherence to the Lutheran Confessions. 

Patriotism and abolitionism heavily flavored Conrad's wartime sermons, and he tended to make conservative Democrats wherever he preached very unhappy.  In an 1870 historical sketch of Trinity, the Intelligencer recounted Conrad's pastorate,

Rev. Frederick W. Conrad, a political stump orator from Dayton, Ohio, followed Dr. Krotel, preaching his first sermon in March 1862.  His penchant for preaching political sermons, a la Beecher, and driving fast horses, a la Bonner, soon disgusted the greater portion of his congregation, and would have disgusted all of them, had it not been for the angry passions stirred up by the great rebellion.  At the end of he war, finding that his vocation was gone, he resigned and left town, greatly to the relief of the congregation, and our citizens generally.  [1/12/1870]

Our knowledge of Conrad's attitudes on the war comes from:

• "America's blessings and obligations : a discourse delivered in Trinity Lutheran Church, Lancaster, Pa." (Thanksgiving 1863 sermon)
• A series on the leadership characteristics of George Washington written by F. W. Conrad for publication in the Express in early 1863.  
• "The Hand of God in the War." Sermon delivered in Chambersburg.  (Referenced here.)

His Thanksgiving 1863 sermon presents pretty standard rhetoric espousing America's virtues as "extraordinary blessings":

1. "the Age in which we live" 
2. "the Country which we inhabit" 
3. "the Government under which we dwell"
4. "the Gifts of his Providence"
5. "the religious privileges we enjoy"

The sermon concludes with a pretty high view of the consequences of America's fall:

To what, I ask, shall her fall be likened? but to that of Lucifer, the Son of Morning, from the towering heights of heaven, down to the unfathomable depths of hell; and as he fell not alone, but corrupted and involved in his fall, millions of other angelic beings, so too will America not fall alone, but influence and involve in her ruin the nations of the earth, and the fall of America will be the fall of the World.

Moving from word to deed, Conrad picked up where his predecessor Pastor Krotel left off in his work with the Patriot Daughters.  When the Rebels invaded Maryland--resulting in the bloody Battle of Antietam was fought--Conrad, who had connections having served a parish in the area, was one of four men to escort a large shipment of donations to hospitals and the Lancaster companies in the Pennsylvania Reserves.  I published Conrad's very interesting account in a post last August, and you can read it here.  Here's an excerpt:

We now made a reconnoisance of the battlefield, and then proceeded direct to the camp of the Reserves. We soon overtook our wagon which stalled at a steep hill. We first detailed a squad of soldiers, to make up the deficiency of our animal force, but finding their pushing unavailing, we found our forlorn hope in two little mules. They seemed to realize that much was expected from them, and they carried the load up the hill in gallant style. By this time the Lancaster boys found out who were about, and what was coming. The wagon was at once besieged, the portion allotted to the Reserves unloaded in double quick style, greetings were exchanged, questions asked and answered, messages delivered, loved ones remembered, and general joy prevailed. On being told that what we brought was not half of what was sent, two wagons were dispatched to bring on what had been left at Harrisburg and Hagerstown, and on Thursday morning they returned with all of it.

Tombstone of Pvt. Josiah A. H. Lutz
East Petersburg Mennonite Cemetery

One of those soldiers whom Conrad would have likely met was recent enlistee Josiah A. H. Lutz of Company B, 1st Pennsylvania Reserves.  In one of the sadder stories the war produced, the sixteen year-old Lutz, whose parents were dead and who enlisted to support his younger sister financially, was wounded in the hip in the Pennsylvania Reserves' charge at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862.  He died on December 22 in a Washington hospital, and his cousin retrieved the body for burial.  Pastor Conrad records performing the burial service at the East Petersburg Mennonite Cemetery.  (Credit: Research by Gary Hawbaker.) 

After the Battle of Gettysburg, Conrad naturally led efforts to raise money to support the battle-damaged Gettysburg Seminary and College.  A committee from Trinity Lutheran Church collected $299.75.

In early 1864, possibly with a split among Lutherans on the horizon, "American Lutheran"-leaning Conrad left "Old Lutheran"-leaning Trinity for a congregation in Chambersburg, although Conrad did leave on fairly good terms with certification by Trinity's vestry that he adhered to the Lutheran Confessions in his teaching.  During the Confederate raid on the city, Conrad's house was intentionally targeted and ransacked.  He continued to anger conservative Democrats there, and even earned a lengthy tirade entitled "Desecration of the Pulpit" in the Valley Spirit on November 16, 1864, which can be viewed at the linked page as part of the Valley of the Shadow project.    

References:

• Biography in American Lutheran Biographies (p. 144)
• George Heiges' 1979 LCHS Journal history of Trinity Lutheran Church
• I also have saved images of a letter sold on Ebay a couple years ago written by Conrad to his brother-in-law at the beginning of the war.

Rev. Gottlob F. Krotel's Civil War

Another post in preparation for my upcoming presentation at Trinity Lutheran Church on Sunday, May 13...

Portrait of Rev. G. F. Krotel, c. 1880s?
Trinity Lutheran Church Archives

As one of the oldest and largest congregations in Lancaster, Trinity Lutheran Church has a long and complicated relationship with tradition.  The congregation is uniquely positioned to view the glorious Christian Tradition passed down through the generations, but it is also challenged by the stifling tendency of tradition as "the way things have always been."  Digging deeper, "always" more often than not dates back to the 1850s and in particular the pastorate of Gottlob F. Krotel.

Born in Wuertemberg in 1826, Krotel immigrated to Philadelphia early in life and came to Trinity Lutheran Church from Lebanon in 1853.  Recognized for his excellence in the pulpit, the young Krotel led Trinity through a time of major remodeling and expansion and by all accounts endeared himself to the congregation.  In a post-war sketch of Trinity's history, the Intelligencer fondly remembered Krotel's time in Lancaster: "Dr. Krotel is a learned and eloquent divine, and was universally loved by his church."  [1/12/1870]

Remodeling the almost hundred year-old sanctuary defined Krotel's tenure at Trinity.  More than a little dusting or painting, the remodeling involved a ninety-degree rotation in the sanctuary's orientation, an upgrade to the organ, and a new peal of bells.  As part of the resurgence of conservative Lutheran Confessionalism in the 1850s, Krotel translated a biography of Philip Melancthon, and introduced the congregation to the wearing of the gown and a new liturgy.

Pulpit of Trinity Lutheran Church in 1866, about ten years after it was remodeled.
I believe G. F. Krotel--who was President of this particular meeting in 1866--is in the center behind the chancel rail.  Note his name in the list Trinity's pastors on the right-hand side. (vws)

When the citizens of Lancaster rallied at the courthouse after the firing on Fort Sumter, it was Krotel who opened with "a most thrilling and patriotic prayer," according to the Examiner and Herald [4/24] which continued, "The tremulous but powerful voice of the speaker reached the farthest limit of the audience and produced a profound impression."  A week later, Krotel also addressed the Patriot Daughters of Lancaster at their organizational meeting. [Intell 4/30]

A memorial book published after Krotel's death in 1907 recounts--somewhat questionably--his experience in Lancaster and a prayer that offended President James Buchanan, who happened to be attending that day:

Grave of G. F. Krotel
Woodward Hill Cemetery

Rev. Dr. Krotel's work at Lancaster was done in troublous times.  They were the times immediately preceding the War of Secession, when men were compelled to take sides.  Lancaster, the home of President James Buchanan, was intensely anti-Unionistic, and most of the ministers there were in sympathy with that feeling.  The two Lutheran Pastors, Rev. B. W. Schmauk and Rev. Mr. Krotel, intimate friends, did not sympathize at all with the general feeling, and decided to pursue their course.  As a result the life of the former was threatened, and both had many unpleasant experiences.  Dr. Krotel told the writer that during this time he preached a strong Unionistic sermon when President Buchanan was in the Church and that during the General Prayer, in which he prayed for the abolition of slavery, and Union, the President rose and walked out of the Church.  At Lancaster they both lie now, in the same cemetery, their resting places not a stone's throw apart.  When he left Lancaster in 1861, to succeed Rev. Dr. C. P. Krauth, as Pastor of St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, it was with great regret and with many pleasant thoughts of the kindness which he had received from the people of Lancaster.  To the day of his death he always cherished the warmest feeling for his many friends and for the Church in that city, and wished to be buried within the sound of Trinity's bells.

A month after the war's outbreak, Krotel presided on May 19, 1861, over surely one of the most elaborate celebrations in the church's history, the "Centenary Jubilee."  The occasion was the 100th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone at Trinity Lutheran Church.  A day's worth of services and festivities went off without a hitch, and the commemorative volume for the day's events contains a fantastic 100-page history of Trinity written by Krotel, who claimed such a treatise was necessary to fill out the book because the lithographic frontispiece procured for the occasion was too big.  
 
On July 4, 1861--perhaps one of the most enthusiastic Fourths of July in our nation's history--Krotel then had the honor of giving a historically-oriented "Oration of the Day" at the courthouse.  Krotel main theme was that "When we assemble...to look back to the principles on which the republic was founded...we are struck by the growth and strengthening of the principle of unity of government which has made and kept us a free people."  Other noteworthy elements include an international consciousness that America was the world's testbed for democracy, blame for slavery as the "weapon in the hands of those whose desire has been, is, and will be, to set up for themselves and destroy the best government the world has ever seen," and a belief that secession would lead to nothing short of anarchy.  From the July 5, 1861, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)


In December 1861, Krotel left Trinity for a church in Philadelphia whose pulpit had just been vacated by Charles Porterfield Krauth.  He revisited Lancaster fairly frequently for the rest of his life, even giving a benefit lecture during the war.  In Philadelphia, Krotel became heavily involved with new Lutheran seminary that was established in 1864 as a moderate-conservative voice in the debate over future directions of the Lutheran church in America.  Later, he moved to New York City and served a congregation there. Krotel died on May 17, 1907, and even though he only spent eight of his eighty years in Lancaster, his remains were interred at Woodward Hill Cemetery--within the sound of Trinity's bells, in accordance with his wishes.

For Further Reading:

• Memorial volume of the Evang. Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, Lancaster, Pa. : Discourses delivered on the occasion of the centenary jubilee (1861) Contains 100-page history of Trinity Lutheran Church by Krotel. 
• In Memoriam: Rev. G. F. Krotel, D.D., LL.D. 1907.  (2nd link: not available full text)  Contains pictures of Krotel. 
• Biography in American Lutheran Biographies, 1890. 
• "Rev. G. F. Krotel in Philadelphia." Intelligencer. 2/4/1862.
• Mentions of Krotel in biography of Charles Porterfield Krauth by Adolph Spaeth.
  

Army Surgeon John F. Huber's Civil War

Dr. John F. Huber, U.S. Army Surgeon
CDV taken in Lancaster c. 1863
(Sold by Alex Peck Medical Antiques)

As I gather my notes for a presentation on Sunday, May 13, at Trinity Lutheran Church, I thought I would take a break from the 150th anniversary sequence to post a Civil War letter written by one of Trinity Church's members, Dr. John F. Huber. With responsibilities as assistant surgeon or surgeon of the 49th Pennsylvania, 131st Pennsylvania, 50th Pennsylvania, and the US Military Hospital at Hilton Head, South Carolina, Huber's medical service began in 1861 and lasted a whole year past the war's end.

Various updates throughout the war by or about Huber in the Lancaster newspapers--primarily the Inquirer--reveal that his time as an army surgeon exacted a high physical toll from which he never really recovered.  Less than two years after his discharge, Huber died in Lancaster of "pulmonary disease" on February 15, 1868.  He was buried at Woodward Hill Cemetery, and his tombstone is positioned prominently along the road at the top of the hill near the chapel.

Verso of CDV
"Your affectionate father,
J. F. Huber"

Although Huber was born to an Old Mennonite family, he left the family farm in Willow Street for a more mainstream lifestyle in Lancaster.  After attending Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, he became a physician.  My encounters with Dr. Huber have been through the a couple mentions in official records of Trinity Lutheran Church, where he apparently was a member by 1861.  Specifically, he was on the committee to procure a lithograph of the church for the 1861 "Centenary Jubilee" commemorative book.  I don't know how he ended up at Trinity, but marriage is a good guess--more genealogical research is needed.

John Huber's first letter with the 49th Pennsylvania, transcribed below, appeared in the October 19, 1861, Weekly Inquirer, and describes a train accident near Baltimore and the regiment's stormy first night in Virginia.  Five or six more letters from Huber appeared in the Inquirer between December 1862 and March 1863. 

He also received mention in a January 17, 1863, letter from George McElroy of the Pennsylvania Reserves, who was recuperating at the York Hospital and wrote regularly to the Inquirer as "McE."  McElroy testifies to Huber's esteem in the community, as well as the efforts of Huber's wife, Louise, who I believe also was affiliated with the Patriot Daughters of Lancaster (although it's somewhat unclear as there was another John F. Huber in Lancaster.)  From the January 19, 1862, Inquirer:

We still remember the kind greetings and interesting companionship of Dr. J. F. Huber.  Worn out by his hard services on the Peninsula, and wasted by disease, he returned for a brief period to his family; but has again offered his life and his labors to his suffering country.  Promoted to a high position which he fills with honor to himself and credit to the Government, he still adds his quota to that fund of professional efficiency, which distinguishes the army of the Potomac.  His amiable and accomplished lady was the first to call on us, when smitten with disease and wasted by the disasters of war, we found a shelter and a home in the York Hospital.  One of the few who spoke to us words of encouragement and revived the recollections of sympathy, which time cannot impair and death no more than obliterate.  While those who fawned upon us in our sunny days and were participants in our prodigal liberality, remained far away, she came, uncalled and unsolicited, a ministering angel at our bedside. 

Sources:

• "J. Milton Huber" entry in Biographical Annals of Lancaster County    
• DEE 2/17/1868
• Memorial volume of the Evang. Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, Lancaster, Pa. : Discourses delivered on the occasion of the centenary jubilee (1861)
• Find a Grave entry for Dr. John F. Huber

From the October 19, 1861, Lancaster Weekly Inquirer:

************************************
************************************

Camp Advance,
Near Falls Church, Va.

Mr. Editor: I presume an occasional letter of the wandering, loiterings and adventures of a Lancaster county follower of Esculapius, would be very acceptable.  While at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, my duties were so numerous and onerous, that I could scarcely find sufficient time to write to those whose relations to me demanded my first attention during moments of relaxation.

Jettisoned Posts

(From Hardtack and Coffee)

As the ship of Civil War Sesquicentennial sails on, I need to jettison a couple drafts of posts from my little canoe to try to keep up.  Most of these posts are related to the Lancaster home front, and were conceived under the delusion that I would have a few hours to compile various primary sources to put together a story.  Unfortunately, I haven't had time, especially of late, so I'm just going to note each post and provide references or pseudo-references so anyone trying to tell the story of Lancaster and the Civil War can find them. 

Here are the posts on which I'm giving up, roughly in chronological order:

• Muster Rolls by Company.  I still need to post these as a reference, although they were printed in the September and October 1861 editions of the Intelligencer and LEH, which are available online.
• The War Loan.  [DEE 9/17/1861; LEH 9/11/1861]
• The Election of 1861, voting by soldiers in the 79th Pennsylvania, and the ensuing lawsuits over the validity of their votes.
• County and municipal relief work for soldiers' families, which was perhaps the first large-scale government cash assistance effort. Also interesting [List in 11/06/1861 LEH; Comments in 11/12/1861 Intelligencer; 12/20 & 12/30/1861 DEE; Mariettian: 6/8/1861, 8/24/1861, 9/7-9/21/1861, 10/26/1861; Also see original committee minutes at Lancaster County Historical Society]
• Interactions between Patriot Daughters (and other aid organizations) and the 79th Pennsylvania.  Especially related to socks. [DEE 1861: 11/11 blankets, "Warwick" letter late November 1861, Acknowledgement Letter from Wilberforce Nevin on 11/26/1861; LEH: Poem and note mid-December 1861; HW: 1/11/1862 poem] 
• Deaths in the 79th Pennsylvania, December 1861 - February 1862.  
• A public meeting to form a hospital in Lancaster. [DEE 1/7/1862]
• Curiosities from Kentucky. [DEE 1/10/1862]
• Patriot Daughters of Lancaster report for 1861. [DEE 1/11/1862]
• The Mayoral Election of 1862.  War Democrats and Republicans work very hard in an unsuccessful bid to unseat Mayor George Sanderson.  A couple 79th Pennsylvania connections, including a smear by the Sanderson campaign of their opponent--a doctor who helped poor soldiers' families--that prompted the family of Lewis Jones to write a letter to the Daily Evening Express.  [See newspapers from late January into early February 1862, especially DEE]

Let me know if you have any questions about any of these topics.  I'll be happy to clarify or expand upon anything I've written above for anyone interested.

'The Sauer-kraut of Patriotism'

Through reading the information on this blog and other diaries and letters of 79th Pennsylvania soldiers, it’s clear that significant amounts of information, food, and material goods very frequently went from Lancaster to Kentucky. One of the more interesting of these transmissions was the shipment of a barrel of Lancaster County sauerkraut for Christmas 1861.

From Hardtack and Coffee

The Lancaster Daily Evening Express reported on December 18, 1861, that “a number of volunteers in Col. Hambright’s regiment [have] written to their friends here that nothing would be more acceptable to them for their Christmas dinner, than a good mess of sauer-kraut, to boil and eat with their pork.” The article continued to say that “a number of wives, mothers, and sisters sent in their contributions of cabbage and a barrel of fine krout was prepared, nicely packed, and hooped and headed.”

All that remained was to pay for the freight, which the soldiers themselves had offered to do. However, the Adams Express Company, a major freight transportation company of Civil War era which played a huge (and oft-maligned) role in battlefield / home front connections, refused to ship without prepayment, so the Express appealed for contributions to the Patriot Daughters for the purpose of sending the sauerkraut. The necessary amount, $9.375, was collected within two days and the barrel handed over to Adams Express, although not without further difficulty mentioned in the December 24, 1861, Express:

When the barrel of Sauer-kraut , recently prepared by the ladies of the city, for volunteers in the Lancaster County Regiment,” was first taken to the depot, and its transportation denied until the freight was pre-paid—although the soldiers wrote to have it forwarded at their expense—the charged demanded were $9.37. A statement of the case was made in the Express and the money collected; but when one of the editors, in company with Mr. Haldy, went to pay the money, they were told that the patriotic managers of the Adams Express Company had, in the meantime, advanced the rate of freight on soldiers’ Sauer-kraut, and that $13.50 must now be paid instead of $9.37! The balance was speedily contributed by gentlemen around the depot to whom the facts were made known, and a receipt taken for the transportation, which is now in our possession, and which we have some notion of getting framed and preserving as a memorial of the patriotism and liberality of the Adams Express Company in the War of 1861. In that event, it may be appropriate labelled

“The Sauer-kraut of Patriotism.”

Playing such games with an editor of the Express, presumably J. M. W. Geist, was not a good idea for the Adams Express, and the newspaper returned the favor by publishing a flood of complaints against the company for price gouging and double-charging soldiers. [DEE 12/30 & 12/31/1861, 1/6/1862, 1/8/1862]

The sauerkraut arrived at Camp Wood on December 27, 1861, and, the Express reported (based on a letter it received) that “its arrival caused quite a sensation in camp.” Furthermore, “the letter states that among the many good things sent from home none were more generally welcome among the Lancaster boys than the sauer-kraut.” [DEE 1/6/1862]

'What Women Undertake They Carry Through': Aid Efforts, Part I

Illustration of Ladies' Sewing Circle
From Harper's Weekly, 6/29/1861

As soon as the Lancaster County Regiment settled into its Kentucky campground, a steady stream of boxes began to flow from Lancaster to Camp Nevin to help supply the soldiers of the 79th Pennsylvania with necessary clothing, minor luxuries, and the warm wishes of folks at home.  Shortly after the war began, the women of seemingly every Lancaster County village and town, spearheaded by the city's Patriot Daughters of Lancaster, formed aid circles to collect canned goods, clothing items, and medical supplies to send to Lancaster soldiers in Eastern and Western Theaters and army hospitals in need.  Aid efforts represented a very practical way in which wives and mothers kept in touch with soldiers in Kentucky and expressed their loyalty to the nation and the war effort.

In particular, Col. Hambright worked hard to get hundreds of pairs of stockings from sewing circles across Lancaster County to keep his soldiers' toes warm on cold November nights.  I don't know if the government had sock supply chain issues or they were of inferior quality, but newspapers of late 1861 contain appeal after appeal for stockings. (See the second half of the article in the post for a "A Suggestion to Patriotic Ladies" about knit goods.)  Women across the county responded, determined to produce not just socks but "heavy, well knit half hose that will challenge competition with any other...pair in the country."  (DEE, 11/29/1861)

A week after the regiment left Lancaster in early October 1861, the Patriot Daughters opened a repository in Fulton Row on West King St. (through the liberality of Christopher Hager) to collect "socks, blankets, and nourishing food."  They announced a goal of meeting Col. Hambright's request for 800 pairs of socks, and the editors of the Daily Evening Express added:

We appeal to every loyal, warm hearted woman to aid our Government in this emergency; let us add, by all in our power, to the comfort of our brave fellows, who have forsaken home and all that was dear to them, for a great and noble cause. (DEE 10/15/1861)

 On October 25, an announcement followed that they were still 500 pairs short of their goal, despite contributions of up to twenty-six pairs from some ladies. 

One practice associated with aid efforts, which continued a common practice related to benevolent societies of the 1850s, was to publish the name and amount of all donations in the newspaper (at least the daily newspaper).  The first such list associated with the Lancaster County Regiment appeared in the November 15, 1861, Daily Evening Express: (alternate link)


Other lists appeared in the November 30 and December 4, 1861, Daily Evening Express specifically for socks from East Earl Township, Carnarvon Township, Lancaster City, Enterprise (Bird in Hand?), and Binkley's Bridge (where Rt. 23 crosses the Conestoga).  (alternate link)  Among the names of cash and food donations, we see many prominent citizens--wives of judges, doctors, etc.--but I'd be curious to know if the sock donations came from a broader class of citizens.


Overall, the aid efforts are important for understanding the mobilization process, how women related to the nation and expressed loyalty, class antagonism, and new roles for women who for the first time had to practice production and supply chain management.  Future posts will highlight:

• Responses to aid efforts by soldiers in the 79th Pennsylvania.
• Antagonism between Lancaster City and Lancaster County, primarily in the form of antipathy toward (especially Amish and Mennonite) farmers who many felt were not contributing their fair share to the nation in need.
• Special Christmas-related aid efforts (Hint: it involves lots of sauerkraut for Col. Hambright's regiment).

'Ho! For Old Kentucky!!': Rewind through Recruiting

From What a Boy Saw in the Army

Time constraints limit me from making a post out of every little news item related to the Lancaster County Regiment that I run across, so here's a list of items that I won't have time to discuss in detail.  I also recommend listening to Tim Orr's presentation, "Enlistment in the North and South During the Civil War," for a more general look at how Civil War regiments came into existence.  Compared to what happened elsewhere, the recruiting process was relatively tame in terms of partisan politics, presumably because Col. Hambright's stature as a military hero and proficient leader earned him bipartisan support. 

Here are a variety of references to news items from the Daily Evening Express, with the notations referring to the newspaper edition in which they appeared, ranging from September to November 1861.  

• Capt. Duchman's company, later Company B, is mustered in on September 5. (9/5)  Praise for Capt. Duchman. (9/10)
• Recruiting for Col. Hambright's regiment is "looking up."  (9/10)
• Battalion parade through streets of Lancaster with 400 men and visit by Brig. Gen. James S. Negley. (9/13)
• "Ranks Rapidly Filling Up" for Col. Hambright's Regiment. (9/17)
• Arrival of Capt. McBride's company, later Company D. (9/18)
• Sword presentation to Lieut. David Miles. (9/18)
• Arrival in Lancaster of Capt. McNalley's company, later Company C, 77th Pennsylvania. A scandal over the company's departure from Harrisburg ensued.  (9/20,25)
• Regiment is "nearly full." (9/25)
• Sword presentation to officers of Company F. (9/25)
• Capt. Wickersham's company filling up with many "school teachers and men of education." (9/25)
• Clothing distributed to Col. Hambright's regiment. (9/27)
• Officers of Col. Hambright's regiment entertained at N. Queen St. saloon and serenaded by Fencibles Band. (9/27)
• Report that Gov. Curtin assigned Hambright and his regiments to Negley's Brigade. (9/30)
• Dinner for volunteers in southern Lancaster City held by patriotic citizen Samuel Cormany. (10/1)
• Regimental parade on Center Square. (10/3)
• Controversy resulting from Capt. M. D. Wickersham unsuccessful recruiting visit to town of Christiana during which Wickersham's commitment to war was questioned based on his helping a stranded Southern female student at the Millersville State Normal School. (10/3,7,8)
• Fencibles Band concert to support Patriot Daughters of Lancaster. (10/4)
• Recruiting editorials: "More Union Men Wanted" and "Your Country still Calls," including announcement of company recruited by Frederick Pyfer and Benjamin Ober.  This company was recruited for Col. Hambright's regiment but later became Company K, 77th Pennsylvania. (10/10)
• Recruiting appeal: "Be in time, Young Men!" (10/17)
• Deserters from Col. Hambright's Regiment. (10/18,19)
• Capt. Foreman's grievances from a failed attempt to recruit a company for Col. Hambright's regiment. (10/20,22)
• Update on Pyfer and Ober's company. (10/22)
• Poem: "The Lancaster County Volunteers." (10/22,23,26,29;11/11)
• Presentation of sword to Capt. Wickersham. (10/30)
• Recruiting appeal: "More Men Wanted for Active Service in Kentucky." (11/2)

Advertisement for Capt. Pyfer's company, appearing in November 1861 editions of the Express.

A Glimpse of the Nearly Invisible

1) Emma Smith 2) Maggie J. Wiley 3) Mary Johnson
CDV by B. Frank Saylor, late 1860s
Ebay item #200656604669 ($137.50)

Of the thousands of photographs taken by Lancaster photographers before 1870 that I have viewed prior to this week, I can only recall one that had an African American as its subject.  In terms of primary sources, especially photography, Lancaster's African-American community is largely invisible. 

Lancaster and the Civil War Through the Lens of Trinity Lutheran Church

In my previous post on Trinity Lutheran Church, I mentioned that I wanted to use what I've learned about the church and the Civil War to shine light on four important topics relevant to the Civil War stories of the 79th Pennsylvania and Lancaster County:

• Lancaster's Timeline of Economic and Ethnic Development
• Wrestling with Slavery as a Moral Issue
• The Influence of War Democrats
• Soldiers' Aid Movements in Lancaster

From Gill Stereoview of S. Duke St., c. 1867 (vws)

Lancaster's Timeline of Economic and Ethnic Development

Here's a simple chronology of Trinity's and Lancaster's history to get a sense of how "old" Lancaster is and when the preferred language changed from German to English for the church.

• 1730. First record of basic organized religious activities of what would become Trinity Lutheran Church. Lancaster County formed previous year, and borough of Lancaster formed in 1730.
• 1761-6. Construction of current church building.
• 1762. Hosted session of an Indian treaty.
• 1778. Pennsylvania's governor, Thomas Wharton, dies suddenly while in Lancaster (as Philadelphia was then occupied by the British) and is interred under Trinity's floor. The congregation appears to have strongly and materially supported the rebelling colonists in the Revolutionary War.
• 1794. Steeple completed and stood as tallest building west of Philadelphia.
• 1815. First English preaching, on alternate Sunday evenings.
• 1825. English and German preached on alternating Sundays.
• 1850. Begins cemetery on S. Queen St, which it sold in 1856 to become Woodward Hill Cemetery.
• 1851. German relegated to Sunday afternoon services and discontinued in 1853.
• 1853-4. Renovation of church sanctuary. This corresponds with major building boom in Lancaster that saw the completion of the Lancaster County Courthouse, Lancaster's jail, and Fulton Hall.

So, what does this tell me about the world in which the soldiers of the 79th Pennsylvania grew up?

1. The Civil War generation probably was one of the first generations after the tipping point from German to English in many of Lancaster's social circles of German heritage (except obviously for recent German immigrants). I wonder if this would have affected how many Lancasterians identified (perhaps solidified?) with the new nation, as well.
2. A strong local economy employing many skilled craftsman complemented very successful agricultural production enabled by Lancaster County's fertile soil.

Wrestling with Slavery as a Moral Issue

Even though it's generally hard to find German Lutherans in Pennsylvania taking an interest in slavery, there are a couple of interesting intersections between the history of Trinity and slavery. While I suspect the Pennsylvania Dutch considered the slave system of production was anathema to ideals of industry and labor that immigrated with the people from Germany, I don't know if there was much interest in connecting with Lancaster's African-American community. The real interesting research question would be if Trinity's numerous Sunday School and mission efforts of the 1850s had any connection to the black community a couple blocks away.

I'm going a little off my memory from reading it five years ago, but Mark Ebersole's article "German religious groups and slavery in Lancaster County prior to the Civil War" (JLCHS, v. 107) points out that some of Trinity's prominent members actually owned small numbers of slaves in late 1700s Lancaster. I believe we have very little supporting social or economic context, so I'll have to go back to check it out.

Anyway, on to what we do know at least a little about. To correspond with the 1861 100th anniversary of the laying of the church's cornerstone, Lancaster was to host the national convention of (at least most of) the Lutheran church in America. The war's outbreak caused the Lutherans, who had yet to say anything meaningful about slavery as group, to postpone it a year in hopes the war would be resolved and the church would have avoided a split.

Even though the war had hardly been resolved, the General Synod met in Lancaster in May 1862 with resolutions on the war and slavery given attention. Although some protested that it was inappropriate to make statements in Southerners' absence and some questioned the role of the Church in making such statements, resolutions denouncing the rebellion and slavery passed and were forwarded to President Lincoln. It took a year of war, but the Lutherans meeting at Trinity finally took a position on slavery--a topic which divided just about every other denomination before the war.  An excerpt from the resolution:       

1. Resolved, That it is the deliberate judgment of this Synod that the rebellion against the constitutional Government of this land is most wicked in its inception, unjustifiable in its cause, unnatural in its character, inhuman in its prosecution, oppressive in its sins, and destructive in its results to the highest interests of morality and religion.

2. Resolved, That in the suppression of this rebellion and in the maintenance of the Constitution and the Union by the sword, we recognize an unavoidable necessity and sacred duty which the Government owes to the nation and to the world, and that therefore, we call upon all our people to lift up holy hands in prayer to the God of battles, without personal wrath against the evildoers on the one hand, and without doubting the righteousness of our cause on the other, that He would give wisdom to the President and his counselors, and success to the army and navy, that our beloved land may speedily be delivered from treason and anarchy.

3. Resolved, That while we recognize this unhappy war as a righteous judgment of God, visited upon us because of the individual and national sins of which we have been guilty, we nevertheless regard this rebellion as more immediately the natural result of the continuance and spread of domestic slavery in our land, and, therefore, hail with unmingled joy the proposition of our Chief Magistrate, which has received the sanction of Congress, to extend aid from the General Government to any State in which slavery exists, which shall deem fit to initiate a system of constitutional emancipation.

One of the most notable Lutheran abolitionists was Samuel Simon Schmucker, founder and president of the Lutheran seminary at Gettysburg. Trinity's pastor from 1861 to 1864, F. W. Conrad had studied under Schmucker and seems to have followed in his footsteps, earning the designation of a being a "political preacher" and earning the censure of Democratic newspapers. In a century full of Trinity pastors whose careers were defined by their time at Trinity, who were beloved by the congregation, and whose final resting place was Woodward Hill Cemetery, one wonders if F. W. Conrad's interest in national affairs left him otherwise unable to meet the congregation's high expectations for shepherding the congregation in more local matters.

Some primary sources related to the 1862 General Synod meeting and F.W. Conrad's preaching career are available here. 

Meeting of Pennsylvania Ministerium at Trinity, 1866, in a convention similar to the 1862 General Synod meeting. (vws)

The same image as above, transformed to a red-blue 3D image.  Does it work? (vws)

The Influence of War Democrats

Politically, the most important structural development was the alignment of War Democrats with the Republican Party to create the Union Party. Pivotal elections in 1863 and 1864 saw the Union Party help get Andrew Curtin and Abraham Lincoln reelected, helping to solidify commitment to prosecute the war. One of Trinity's prominent vestrymen, Dr. Frederick Augustus Hall Muhlenberg (1795-1867), serves as the Lancaster's prototypical War Democrat in my mind. 

Muhlenberg studied medicine under Dr. Benjamin Rush and practiced medicine in Lancaster in addition to engaging in various business enterprises. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1850 (and 1852?) as a Democrat, losing to Thaddeus Stevens 5,701 to 4,069 [LI, 11/5/1850], and appears in newspapers and other publications often as a supporter of James Buchanan in the 1850s. During the war, however, Muhlenberg became a leader of the Union Party and his name appeared regularly in the party's proceedings.

Perhaps it helped that he had two sons commanding artillery batteries in the Union army (Edward D. and Charles P. Muhlenberg), but how he "took strong ground for the Union when the war broke out, although always previously a prominent democrat" seemed to define F. A. Muhlenberg in many descriptions of his life. [Mariettian, 7/13/1867]  Or, as the Lancaster Intelligencer put it, "Of late years he has acted with the Republican Party" [LI, 7/10/1867].

A younger Dr. Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg and first wife Elizabeth (1798-1826), painted by Jacob Eichholtz
Sold at auction, 2006 (source)

Soldiers' Aid Movements in Lancaster

Finally, I want to mention Lancaster's extensive soldiers' aid efforts that not only materially helped alleviate suffering of soldiers--Lancasterians and others--but also helped maintain connections between Lancaster and the 79th Pennsylvania while the regiment fought far away from home.

These efforts actually represented a continuation of pre-war aid efforts, such as the "Union Dorcas League," founded in 1850 by the wives of prominent Lancaster citizens, including Mrs. Dr. F. A. Muhlenberg, Mrs. Charles A. Heinitsh, and others connected to Trinity.[source] When the war broke out, the Patriot Daughters of Lancaster formed with many of the same women.

We'll have to see as we follow the 79th Pennsylvania, but their material contribution to the war effort seems to have been nontrivial and the soldiers seemed to greatly appreciate the emotional connection represented by the organization. You can read about the post-Antietam relief trip on behalf of the Patriot Daughters to the Pennsylvania Reserves by Pastor F.W. Conrad and three other men in a previous post.

Any other congregations in Lancaster whose history has Civil War connections are invited to share their stories.  I would be curious to know what if any primary sources exist hidden in church archives that could help better understand an important aspect of Civil War soldiers' lives.  Due to the Church Advocate newspaper, we have actually have a good bit of information about soldiers of the Church of God (Winebrennerian ), and I hope to share about that in the future.