Civil War

My great great grandfather George Washington Lowery was drafted July 19, 1864 at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He was assigned to Co. A, 81st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry for three years. Born in Franklin County, PA he was a 37-year-old laborer. At 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a fair complexion, grey eyes, and dark hair, he was an average guy, his description not uncommon for the time. Serving during the latter part of the war I suspect my grandfather left his wife and six children a bit reluctantly to answer the call of his country. (I have found a tidbit of information that suggests he was a substitute. I’m still working on verifying that.) After a brief two-month training stint to make the “every-day man” a soldier, Lowery and the rest of the recently drafted recruits were sent to join their regiment. The 81st Pennsylvania had been mired with the rest of the Second Corps at Petersburg, Virginia, which had been under siege for months. Even though they were in the midst of war, it has been written that many Confederate officers who lived in the area were able to slip away and visit with family and attend Sunday church services. The […]

Recently I had a reader ask about a metal plate that had been passed down through her family. It was approximately 4 inches x 5 inches with her Civil War ancestor’s name, rank, and date of death. She wondered if the US government provided these plaques upon a soldier’s death.  My reader was fortunate enough to have a Coffin Plate. Popular in the US during the 1800s coffin plates were purchased by the deceased’s family. These plates were made by a local blacksmith or silversmith. The type of material used included lead, tin, pewter, silver, brass, or copper. How decorative or intricate the design on the plate depended on what the family could afford. Most metal plates were engraved with the details of the deceased – name, age, and date of death. Originally the plate was nailed to the coffin and lid and remained there on burial but by mid-19th century the plaque was propped up on the lid of the coffin, or families would set the plate on a nearby table with a photo of the deceased. In this way the family could keep the coffin plate as a memento to remember their loved one. By mid-19th century coffin […]