Our first conservation activity for 2020, was held on October 17, 2020 at Nisky Hill Cemetery in Bethlehem. It had been a long time coming due to COVID 19, so the CWRT was ready to go!
We were to paint cannons and cannon balls; as well as clean up..
When the work was done our own Ed Root was to provide us with a talk on some of the Civil War veterans who are buried there.
We had a great day and a great turnout.
Below are some photos from the day.
Our first conservation activity is scheduled for October 17, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. We will clean up and paint cannons and cannon balls..
Please bring gloves and a brush. Naturally, you will need a mask, as well, and be assured that we will maintain a safe distance.
As soon as the clean-up is done our own Ed Root will provide us with a talk on some of the Civil War veterans who are buried here. It promises to be a great morning.
At this time, we do not have a rain date scheduled. However, I am requesting that you RSVP me, so that I can have an idea who is coming. Please note, I will try to contact you if the weather threatens our efforts.
The Cemetery is in Bethlehem near the Public Library.
Follow this link for directions.
From the Brigade Commander
On behalf of the Board of the Civil War Round Table of Eastern Pa., Inc., I’d like to apologize for any disappointment you may be feeling about our need to cancel our September—and now, October—Round Table meetings. Although the Commonwealth has loosened some Covid-19 restrictions, ultimate guidelines regarding conference room occupancy and public meals are set by the hotel’s management. As a short-term solution, we are amid contacting speakers to learn their willingness and ability to present their lecture topics via Zoom, a very easy-to-use internet tool.
We have finalized the selection process for preservation gifts for our 42nd Campaign Year. Last month, I shared news of a $500 gift to the GAR Civil War museum in Philadelphia. Another $1,500 will be sent to the American Battlefield Trust (ABT) to help save a three-acre tract that comprises a portion of West Woods of the Antietam Battlefield—the site of some of the heaviest fighting in the entire Civil War, according to the ABT. Our donation will be matched 1:1, which means we will receive credit for $3,000 of preservation assistance, bringing our total 42nd Campaign Year contribution to $3,500!
While I’m on the subject of Civil War preservation, I’d like to ask that each of you follow in the footsteps of CWRT member, Ed Root. A few months ago, Ed reached out to Representative Susan Wilde to express his concern over proposed legislation regarding the removal of Confederate monuments from our national parks. Our colleague, Wayne Schaeffer, has picked up the baton, as it were, and has shared (see inside) a way for all of us to make a lasting difference. I encourage you all to pitch in and demonstrate to our government leaders that the CWRT of Eastern Pa. is serious about the preservation of Civil War history. Thanks.
Barry
First, welcome back to our 43 campaign season. I had hoped to see you in person on September 01, 2020 and to experience with you the wonderful narrative that Gene Schmiel planned on sharing with us on his book, Lincoln, Antietam and a Northern Last Cause. Unfortunately, we were forced to cancel that meeting.
I would like to take a moment to address a topic that is near and dear to many of our hearts….
Removal of confederate statuary, a thoughtful process that has been underway in many municipalities for some time, has gained far greater attention in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. At this point, cancel culture has stepped in, and dozens of statues have been forcibly removed by self-appointed groups of people as part of a quest to rid the country of all things racist. In the process, statuary in our national parks, including national battlefields, are now also under threat. In fact, a bill, already passed in the U. S. House of Representatives, calls for all statues that honor the country’s discriminatory past to be relocated from prominent locations.
I believe, along with the rest of the Board, that it is the job of the National Parks Service to interpret battlefields, including statuary, and that all monuments on National Parks grounds ought to be left alone and continued to be interpreted for the public by the Parks Service. I encourage those of you who have strong feelings about this impending action to reach out to your federal and state representatives. The system of participatory democracy remains alive and well, but only if we choose to participate.
In other news, the Civil War Round Table continues to face the difficulties that come from having to cancel several lectures early this year. We have likewise chosen to cancel our September, 2020, lecture. The Board is currently exploring alternative ways to deliver quality programming to our members, such as Zoom, a free and easy-to-use internet tool, as we wait out the pandemic and abide by state-imposed mandates. Expect to hear more on this subject in the weeks ahead.
On behalf of the Board, please accept my thanks for your continued commitment to Civil War preservation and education. We hope to be able to see you, in person, sometime soon.
Barry
Like Grandfather, Like Grandson
written by CWRT member Frank Whelan. Aug 8, 2020 Updated Aug 11, 2020
WFMZ
On a recent July morning, with sunshine dappling the fluttering green trees and a summer breeze taking the edge off the already rising humidity, a small group of people walked down Bethlehem’s High Street toward the historic Nisky Hill cemetery. Slipping through the slightly open gate they slowly headed toward a distant space of graves whose distinctly waving small American flags marked it off as special. There, around a 19th century artillery piece are the 60 grave stones of Union Civil War soldiers, members of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Union veterans organization that flourished in the 19th century only to pass out of existence when its final members answered the last bugle call in the 20th.
Although far from the only Civil War veterans resting at Nisky Hill, they are particularly interesting in that they form a composite unit. Four are African Americans, part of the U.S. Colored Troops that served in the segregated units at reduced pay in the Union Army. “Colored” had a rather broad definition in other parts of the country. In California, some sources state it included Asian and Hispanic Americans. In this cemetery these Black men rest beside their white comrades. Others, with names like Stoltzenbach, O’Brian and Weiner, represent the hundreds of thousands who, as was said at another Pennsylvania cemetery, “gave their lives that this nation might live.” And not incidentally they helped sweep the curse of chattel slavery from the land, even if regretfully it did not remove the racism at its root. In the 1970s an elderly Black man who began his life as an enslaved person noted to a popular magazine of the day that “everybody says Lincoln freed the slaves, Lincoln don’t free no slaves, Union Army freed the slaves. I know. I was there.”
The group that gathered that day are several generations of the same family. One was Ed Root. A Philadelphia native who lived in Center Valley before he and wife Nancy “downsized” to a place in Allentown, Root had a career in business that began at Eagle Shirt Makers of Quakertown and ended with retirement from the Phillips Van Heusen shirt company. Even before he retired, Root followed his passion: the history of the Civil War. He has served several terms as president of the local Civil War Roundtable of Eastern Pennsylvania and currently remains on its board. Today it meets at 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month, excluding July and August, for lecture meetings at the Fogelsville Holiday Inn. More information can be found on their website.
The Roundtable movement began in Chicago in 1941 by Lincoln scholar Ralph Newman. There are hundreds of such organizations throughout the United States and some in other countries. Locally the CWRT chapter began during the 1960s among historians at the Lehigh County Historical Society.
With Ed and his wife that morning are Ed’s daughter, Emily Schenkel, recently elected to the Bethlehem School Board, and her children Nicholas and Lorraine. It was a number of years ago when Nicholas, then age 8, expressed an interest to his grandfather in the Civil War research he was doing. He is currently a student at Northwest Middle School and will be attending Liberty High School. They began in 2016 with a simple task, cleaning up the artillery piece in the cemetery. It was something that gave Nicholas a hands-on experience. Root and other CWRT board members have often led school groups do similar projects at Gettysburg.
It was in the process on cleaning the gun that Root and Nicholas became curious about the men buried there. In several cases time and apparently acid rain had wiped the tombstones of whatever information might have been on them. Root, who has done research at the National Archives in Washington and the Pennsylvania State Archives, knows his way around microfilm machines and found a willing recruit in young Nicholas. “He really got involved in it,” says his grandfather. “It’s always good to have another pair of eyes, especially young eyes. He was able to find some of the things I missed.”
The death dates on the tombstones, where they existed, were the start. From there it was on to the newspaper obituaries. Some information was easy to come by, some was not. “They were not always in the same town or even in the same state,” says Ed. “And many towns had more than one newspaper.” As late as 1900 Allentown had 7 newspapers, some in Pennsylvania German and some in recently standard German. The Pennsylvania State Archives turned out to be the most invaluable source. Their Civil War Veterans card file gave detailed information in some cases.
William H. Stotzenbach, who enrolled with the 46th Pennsylvania Regiment, was enrolled in the army on August 8, 1861 as a sergeant and was discharged as a captain on July 20, 1865. He got a leave home for 10 days in 1862. The research gives his previous occupation as a cordwainer, related to shoemaking, and says he had a gunshot wound in the right hand at an action at Peach Tree Creek, Georgia. The hand was later amputated. He had grey eyes and red hair. But Ed and Nicholas found the information provided was not always so detailed. Some cards merely state enlistment and enrollment dates and age. One of the things that seemed interesting to Root was that often men would sign up for one term of enlistment in a Pa regiment only when that term was done to join another in another state. He notes that some signed up for a regiment as far away as Connecticut or Maine.
The records in general show that most of the men were in their early 20s when they signed up. Some served throughout the war, others apparently only as long as their enlistments, which ran for 3 or 6 months. “Many people,” Root notes, “tend to think that after the Civil War ended soldiers marched off in a victory parade and lived happily ever after. This was far from the case.” In many instances the soldiers came home wounded with only a crutch to support them or walked around with shrapnel in their bodies, when they were able to walk at all. This affected not just them but their wives and children.
Root has found that several of the men died after the war in industrial accidents, particularly those who worked on the railroad.
“There was no OSHA or anything like it,” he notes. Some found success in business, one apparently opening a popular restaurant, but another was involved in a murder trial.
But grandfather and grandson are far from at an end in their research. Earlier this year while doing research at the GAR Museum library in Philadelphia, Root discovered eleven boxes of letters these Civil War soldiers wrote, an invaluable resource. But like with many other things, the museum closed its doors due to COVID-19. Both are committed to resuming the search when it becomes possible.
https://www.wfmz.com/features/historys-headlines/historys-headlines-like-grandfather-like-grandson/article_069c50ae-d83f-11ea-af1a-b35e5f3fef50.html
From the Brigade Commander: Barry Arnold
To my friends of the Civil War Round Table: we had a rough time during these past three plus months and into this coming summer. We at the Round Table had to take desperate action to cancel all meetings and activities due to the pandemic events. We will make a come-back this September. The board is lining up greater speakers and field trips. The hotel is accommodating worry-free dining and virus-free areas. Our Round Table members do not have to worry about getting the virus at our meetings. We are taken the safest measure possible to prevent any such happenings. I hope this will reassure you and take the fear out of coming to the Round Table. We want to have you return and enjoy a sociable evening and learn of our Civil War era. So I hope to see you in September, and please bring a friend.
Since the pandemic may have cancelled your summer vacation as it has done for me, I would like to talk about our nearest battlefield and community of Gettysburg. Gettysburg has suffered during the shutdown. Gettysburg is experiencing large unemployment and weak tourism. Their mainstay is the tourist attracted to visiting the battlefield and its monuments. They are predicting by end of June, the shops, museums, and restaurants will be open again for business. Since, this summer is a bust for most of our vacations, let’s take a little trip and visit the Battlefield and Gettysburg community and give them a boost to help them make a comeback. I know I’ll be there a couple of times this summer. I want to thank you for coming to the Round Table in the past, and I am looking forward to seeing you in September.
Dennis at our 2018 tour of Antietam
Join Dennis Frye and host Catherine Mägi for a Facebook livestream of Dennis' book, Antietam Shadows: Mystery, Myth & Machination.
The program will be featured on Thursday, June 11, beginning @ 7:00 p.m.
Use this link… CLICK HERE
Dennis is a long time friend of our Round Table and will be our presenter next June. He is known as an unconventional historian who challenges convention. His works spark provocation, and Dennis relishes controversy in history. Antietam Shadows turns upside down and inside out what you know (or what you think you know) about a transformative 17 days in America's journey. Dennis explores fascinating characters and events often misunderstood, mischaracterized or misrepresented by historians. Dennis establishes his theme with his first sentence: "What is history but a fable agreed upon." (borrowed from Napoleon). Dennis' thought-provoking book is certain to generate lively debate and discussion.
Dennis is a native of the Antietam/Harpers Ferry area. He served as Chief Historian (now retired) for 20 years at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Dennis is a renowned scholar who has authored 11 books and 107 articles and been featured on numerous appearances on national television, including Emmy Award programs on John Brown, Antietam and Maryland in the Civil War. Dennis also is a battlefield guide in demand, leading programs for the Smithsonian, National Geographic and major universities. Dennis also is a national preservationist, serving as co-founder and past president of today's American Battlefield Trust and the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. He is co-founder and current president of Maryland's Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area.
This program is part of a series hosted and produced by Catherine Mägi. It represents an effort to help both authors and independent bookshops continue to connect with readers in a time of mass cancellations and closures. By cohosting, you will help our potential audience reach grow. Teaming up will increase potential exposure for your business and/or organization, as well as independent and nonprofit bookshops. Most importantly, it will help us all stay engaged with our communities.
The Schedule for the 2020-2021 Campaign has been announced and is now published.
Pictured below are the dates, presenters and topics.
See the “Upcoming Events” tab for descriptions of each program.
From the Brigade Commander: Barry Arnold
Friends of the Civil War Round Table, we are all in this pandemic hole with this
Corona Virus. We now are following rules of social separation, washing hands, and staying at home. The Board came to the conclusion that we had to cancel the rest of the Campaign year. I am sorry to report our meetings for April, May, and June had to be cancelled. Our cancellation of the June meeting was the result of Holiday Inn not being ready for gatherings. We do not know when the state is ready to get back to normal.
Now the Governor is saying we must wait until about the 2nd week in May to slowly bring the economy back to normal. Only time will tell… When we are able to regain our normal gathering, I hope to see you all there. While we are experiencing this social separation and when you need exercise, do what I love doing, that is walk among the dead. It is a fantastic journey and you will be amazed that the number of local civil war ancestors that are buried in our local cemeteries. If you find someone that is especially interesting, please let me know.
In my series of notable civil war burials, we come to another local cemetery in Easton. The Easton Heights Cemetery is located on North 10th Street just off Northampton Street. There you will find an old historic cemetery that housed many Civil War soldiers.
Most notable are those of the 153rd Penna volunteers. Many of their officers and enlisted men are entombed there. One of the notables is Brigadier General Charles A. Heckman. Born in Easton, Heckman served in the Mexican war as a sergeant and enlisted in the Union Army as a major at the outbreak of the Civil War. He was commissioned into the 9th New Jersey Infantry. In 1861 he was promoted to Lt. Col. Promoted twice more, he was commissioned Brig. Gen. in 1862. He led the 18th and 25th corps in the Carolinas. He was captured at Drewry’s Bluff and sent to Libby Prison. He was exchanged in 1864 and then commanded the 18 Corps in the Army of the James. During fighting at Fort Harrison led to distinguished leadership. He was replaced and transferred to command the 3rd Division in the newly created 25th Corps. He resigned from the army in 1865 and returned to work for the New Jersey Rail Road as a conductor and dispatcher. Heckman died on January 14,1896 at the age of 73.
Another civil war veteran was Colonel Charles A. Wikoff. He was also born in Easton. At the brink of the Civil War he enlisted as a private in the 1st Penna. Inf. The next month he was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant in the 15th U.S. Infantry. Shot in the eye at the Battle of Shiloh, he wore an eye patch for the rest of his life. He also participated in the Battle of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. He was promoted to Captain. Wikoff transferred to the 24th US. Infantry, and then later to the 11th U.S. infantry serving in Texas. In November 1891, he was promoted to Lt. Col. Of the 19th U.S. Infantry serving at Fort Wayne. Then in January 1897, he was promoted to Colonel of the 22nd U.S. Infantry at Fort Cook, Neb. In 1898 led the 22nd infantry to Cuba. He was shot during a charge across an open field in the battle of San Juan Hill. Within 15 minutes he succumbed to his wounds and died on July 1, 1898 near Santiago Cuba.
Barry
