Letters from War: 1861 | A Pottsville surgeon walks the ruins of Fort Walker after the Battle of Port Royal Sound

Posted on by Jake Wynn

"My duties compelling me to remain below, I had little opportunity of observing the progress of the fight, and was... in a disagreeable state of suspense." Surgeon Robert Weber of Pottsville, PA experienced the Battle of Port Royal Sound on November 7, 1861 aboard the USS Unadilla. He described the battle and its aftermath in a letter to his parents in Schuylkill County. Read the full letter.

Letters from War: 1861 | Simon Bassler of the USS Susquehanna at the Battle of Port Royal Sound

Posted on by Jake Wynn

“On the 7th of this month we re-planted the glorious stars and stripes upon the soil of rebellious South Carolina, the very hot-bed of Secession..." US Marine Simon Bassler wrote home to the Miners' Journal to describe the Battle of Port Royal Sound on November 7, 1861. The young captain's clerk from Schuylkill Haven participated in the battle aboard the USS Susquehanna. Read the full letter.

Journal captures daily routine of a mining superintendent in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region during the Civil War | 1864

Posted on by Jake Wynn

In November 1864, Schuylkill County mine superintendent Gilliard Dock took up his pen and journaled about his daily routine at the coal mine just north of Pine Grove, PA. Dock was active in his journal that fall, writing about politics, the prospects for his mining operation, and the chaotic state of American politics in the fourth year of the Civil War. Read the full story.

Letters from War: 1861 | Peter Vankirk of the 46th Pennsylvania and the aftermath of the Battle of Ball’s Bluff

Posted on by Jake Wynn

"I feel at home everywhere in this great Republic, with Freedom's soil beneath my feet and Freedom's Banner, the Stars and Stripes, floating over me." In a letter to the Carbondale Advance, Sergeant Peter Vankirk described the aftermath of the Battle of Ball’s Bluff in October 1861 and explained why he had joined the Union army to put down the rebellion. Read the full letter.

Letters from War: 1861 | Colonel Benjamin Christ and the 50th Pennsylvania ride out a hurricane off Hatteras

Posted on by Jake Wynn

“A fearful ride we had of it. God preserve me from ever having another like it.” In November 1861, Colonel Benjamin C. Christ and the 50th Pennsylvania sailed with a vast Union fleet into a hurricane off North Carolina’s Outer Banks. In a letter to his wife, Christ described how he and his soldiers fought to keep their ship afloat in the raging seas. Read his letter.

Voting in a different America | Election Day, 1857

Posted on by Jake Wynn

An 1857 illustration shows how violent, corrupt, and exclusionary American elections once were. Voting was limited, could be dangerous, and was often corrupt - until generations pushed to expand and protect the franchise. Today’s system exists because of that long fight and the quiet work of those who safeguard it. Read the full reflection.

A Civil War veteran killed on Halloween Night | 1865

Posted on by Jake Wynn

John Gillespie came home from the 8th Pennsylvania Cavalry in June 1865, months after the Civil War ended. On Halloween night, he was shot on the streets of Tamaqua. He died twelve days later. Read the full story.

Letters from War: 1861 | A Schuylkill County soldier watches the largest US fleet ever assembled

Posted on by Jake Wynn

"It was a fine spectacle, especially at night, when all the vessels were lighted up, giving the Roads the appearance of an American Venice." In October 1861, the Schuylkill Regiment - the 48th Pennsylvania - watched a vast US fleet leave Hampton Roads in Virginia, bound for Port Royal Sound in South Carolina. A letter writer described the largest fleet yet assembled in American history. Read the full letter.

Reports from Election Day in Wilkes-Barre, PA | Presidential Election of 1876

Posted on by Jake Wynn

Election Day 1876 in Wilkes-Barre was strangely calm—quiet polls, policemen on watch, and “brilliant” saloons where neighbors waited out the night. The city edged for Samuel Tilden, but the nation’s disputed count delivered Rutherford B. Hayes as President and the end of Reconstruction. A Coal Region snapshot of a forgotten turning point in American politics. Read the full story.

Letters from War: 1861 | William Werner of Pottsville, PA joins the 2nd California Cavalry in San Francisco

Posted on by Jake Wynn

"I am going to fight not for money, but for my country..." Pottsville, PA native William H. Werner traveled to California as a teenager in the 1850s in search of riches. He was there when the Civil War broke out. In a letter to his father in Schuylkill County, he detailed why he left a good job to fight for the Union. Read the full letter.