Pittston responds to the astonishing news that Southern militia forces fired upon a Federal garrison in April 1861. The Civil War had begun.
The Gazette: Episode 1 – The War Begins
The Gazette: Prologue – The Looming Crisis
The first full episode of "The Gazette" examines the coming of the Civil War and the founding of Pittston's newspaper in the 1850s.
When Schuylkill County soldiers raced to defend the Capitol in April 1861… and unfortunate modern parallels
In April 1861, soldiers from Pennsylvania's Coal Region raced to defend the US Capitol. 160 years later, some of those scenes repeated themselves.
A Pottsville minister’s letter to President-elect Abraham Lincoln – January 1861
Samuel F. Colt served as the minister at Pottsville's Second Presbyterian Church when he wrote his letter on behalf of Senator Simon Cameron.
Thanksgiving Day in Schuylkill County – 1864
A detailed description of how Schuylkill County celebrated Thanksgiving as the Civil War reached its climax.
Stone-throwing and gunfire: A riot at a political meeting in Northeastern Pennsylvania in 1860
In the late summer and autumn of 1860, the looming election sparked heated political rhetoric, marches in support of political causes, and whispered talk of a coming civil war. These feelings manifest themselves in a violent skirmish between Republicans and Democrats on the streets of a Wayne County community on September 28, 1860. The fight in Hawley, which started … Continue reading Stone-throwing and gunfire: A riot at a political meeting in Northeastern Pennsylvania in 1860
A racist conspiracy theory found root in Schuylkill County in 1862
Some white residents of Schuylkill County believed former slaves were going replace them in the coal mines during the Civil War.
A remembrance of a boyhood in Schuylkill County during the Civil War
A memoir from the 1930s describes the hard life of a breaker boy in Civil War-era Schuylkill County.
A Pottsville editor’s letter to Abraham Lincoln in support of the Emancipation Proclamation
Editor Benjamin Bannan vehemently supported the end of slavery in the summer of 1862.
Violent assault on miners in Schuylkill County in 1865 linked to Lincoln assassination
Three miners in Lorberry were assaulted in a bar after expressing sorrow at Lincoln's assassination.
