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

Pittston responds to the astonishing news that Southern militia forces fired upon a Federal garrison in April 1861. The Civil War had begun.
The first full episode of "The Gazette" examines the coming of the Civil War and the founding of Pittston's newspaper in the 1850s.
In April 1861, soldiers from Pennsylvania's Coal Region raced to defend the US Capitol. 160 years later, some of those scenes repeated themselves.
Samuel F. Colt served as the minister at Pottsville's Second Presbyterian Church when he wrote his letter on behalf of Senator Simon Cameron.
A detailed description of how Schuylkill County celebrated Thanksgiving as the Civil War reached its climax.
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
Some white residents of Schuylkill County believed former slaves were going replace them in the coal mines during the Civil War.
A memoir from the 1930s describes the hard life of a breaker boy in Civil War-era Schuylkill County.
Editor Benjamin Bannan vehemently supported the end of slavery in the summer of 1862.
Three miners in Lorberry were assaulted in a bar after expressing sorrow at Lincoln's assassination.