Mahanoy Area Historical Society

Time 2020-12-08 10:04:23

Web Name: Mahanoy Area Historical Society

WebSite: http://www.mahanoyhistory.org

ID:127448

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In honor of Veterans Day below you will find links to articles and information about Mahanoy area veterans from the Civil War to Viet NamMahanoy City in the Civil WarMahanoy City was in its infancy while the Civil War was in progress. Although the town had a few settlers prior to 1863, it did not become incorporated until December of that year. However, since it was the gathering point for the region, quarters for "enlistment, recruiting and drafting" were opened on West Centre street, toward the west end of the first block below Main street. A tent was placed at the northeast corner of Centre and Locust streets, which was used as an office, while a larger tent occupied the lots at the northwest corner of main and Centre streets to provide living quarters for the officers in charge of the recruiting. During the time of the draft, the government sent a large body of soldiers to assist those who were already here. They tied their horses to a fence which enclosed a corral of deer, owned by Edward Boyer, who had a store in the center of the block. The horses of the soldiers nibbled at the fence until the timber was weakened and the posts collapsed. The deer sped away but were caught some time later in the vicinity of the Hills. Fred Moyer, one of the community's pioneer residents, recalled having seen the first volunteers leaving Mahanoy City for service in the Union Army. The veterans of the Civil War organized Severn Post, Grand Army of the Republic in May, 1868, naming their post for Captain Isaac Severn, a townsman. They began the custom of decorating the graves of departed veterans when but a half-dozen were buried in the three cemeteries then existent -- German Protestant, St. Canicus and St. Fidelis. From Rrminisences of Mahanoy City by Augusta Dillman Thomas and Joseph DaviesMahanoy City in the Spanish American War "Remember the Maine!" and "Cuba must be free!" were the clarion calls that summoned the youth of the nation to arms in 1898. The sinking of the battleship, "Maine" off the coast of Cuba was regarded by the citizenry as a flagrant insult to the United States which they could not and would not tolerate. To quote from the 1907 history: "Strained relations had existed between the United States and Spain for some time previous to the destruction of our battleship, this feeling being engendered on the part of Spain by the attitude of the United States in espousing the cause of Cuba, a dependency of Spain, in her struggle for independence. The presence of the Maine in Havana harbor was regarded as a menace to Spanish dignity, and the vessel was blown up by the explosion of a hidden mine, and that explosion was the death-knell to Spanish power on the American continent. "A wise conservatism was inaugurated by the government at Washington, and a thorough investigation was commenced to fix the responsibility for the terrible disaster; but the spirit of patriotic resentment could scarcely be controlled. People of all political parties censured the administration for tardiness and inactivity. The cry went abroad that the opportunity was given to Spain to prepare for the war which was recognized as inevitable, and that she would bring her 'powerful navy' to our shores and crush us at a single blow! But two naval battles settled the Spanish navy question, and put it out of the consideration during the war. "The sons of the North and of the South, with wonderful unanimity, offered their services to the government, and when a call for troops was made, the quotas for the different states were filled within a few hours, and thousands of disappointed applicants were turned away. Schuylkill County responded with her usual promptness, and sent seven companies to the front, while hundreds were in readiness for a second call." Fully half of the Eighth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, were Schuylkill County men, who comprised Companies, E, Mahanoy City; B, Tamaqua; F, Girardville; H, Pottsville, and K, St. Clair. There were also two companies from the county in the Fourth Regiment: Co. F, Pottsville, and Co. G, Pine Grove. The Eighth Regiment was mustered into service, May 12, 1898, with forty-three officers and 596 enlisted men. It was subsequently recruited to a maximum of eighty men to each company. This was the limit allowed under the state's quota. This regiment established Camp Alger, near Falls Church, Virginia, one of the old camping grounds of the Civil War. Company E, which was recruited in town, numbering 105 men, left Mahanoy City, April 28, 1898, for Mount Gretna, Lebanon County, where it was mustered in. From Mount Gretna it moved to Dunloring, Virginia, where it aided in establishing Camp Alger. After a while it returned to Camp Meade, near Harrisburg. The regiment was ordered south and went into camp near Augusta, Georgia, at Camp McKenzie, in November 1898. During the preceding month, October, Company E was dispatched to Philadelphia where it participated in the Peace Jubilee parade. While at Camp Meade, the local soldiers cast their ballots during the gubernatorial election, the popular candidate being William A. Stone, who was elected. Co. E. men remained at Camp McKenzie, Augusta, Georgia, until the latter part of January, 1899. They were mustered out of service on May 7, 1899, after a continuous service of about ten months. "Assuredly," the writer of the 1907 history concludes his chapter, "it is no reproach upon the soldiers of the Spanish-American War that they did not all see active service, for a better-drilled, better organized or better equipped army never enlisted in any cause.....That they performed their whole duty, and were prepared for, and constantly expecting greater achievements, is a characteristic of the American volunteer soldiery. One of the grandest achievements in modern ages was accomplished through the medium of this war, yet without great loss of human life. A weak and struggling little republic was established on American soil, and became the ward of a nation devoted to the principles of freedom and equality among men." From Rrminisences of Mahanoy City by Augusta Dillman Thomas and Joseph Davies The Mahanoy Area Historical Society covers the regions which comprise the Mahanoy Area School District: Mahanoy City, Mahanoy Township, Delano, Gilberton and Ryan Township. Below you will find the results of the last twenty-five presidential elections that were held in the Mahanoy area. In looking over the following charts you will find the answers to the following questions: Of the five voting areas listed, which one picked the winner the most times in the last 100 years? Which voting area has always voted Republican? Which presidential election year saw the greatest local turnout ? Which two regions have voted Democrat in twenty-one of the twenty -five elections? Which area has increased the number of voters consistantly over the last one hundred years? Which third party candidate received the greatest number of votes ? What election year had the closest race in Mahanoy City? Which three Republican candidates swept all five voting regions? Which candidate won the greatest percentage of the local vote in the last 100 years? Who will win in 2020? The Last 25 Presidential Elections in the Mahanoy area The Mahanoy Area Historical Society will be closed for the remainder of April. Please check back here in early May for our re-opening date. We are unable to fill PayPal book and DVD orders until we re-open in May. Sorry for the inconvenience. To view all the pictures from the 1955 Disneyland Program click on the link below. 1955- Mahanoy City Public Schools - Grades 1-6 Present DisneylandThe influenza epidemic of 1918 reached its peak in Mahanoy City just one month before World War I, the Great War, ended with the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918. During the 1918 flu epidemic the young were most at risk. Persons born in the late 1800s may have acquired immunity from epidemics which occurred then. Young soldiers were especially vulnerable because of the close quarters they lived in whether it be in barracks, on ships or in the trenches. One of the saddest stories to come from Mahanoy City that October in 1918 was the circumstances of the death of young soldier, Joseph Casper, who enlisted at age fifteen and died at Camp Logan, Texas from complications of the flu.You can access the Mahanoy City Record files for October of 1918 by clicking on the links below. They are large PDF files and may take some time to load on your browser.Mahanoy City Record October 1 -7 1918Mahanoy City Record October 9-15 1918Mahanoy City Record October 16-22 1918Mahanoy City Record October 23-31 1918Two New Page Added to the Website Our Beloved Little City is a mini-book by C. David Engle on the history of Mahanoy City's historical pageants of 1938 and 1963. Click below to open OBLC.Our Beloved Little City by C. David EngleMahanoy City April, 1973 is a collection of photos taken by Ed Curvey. Click below to see Ed's pictures and some additional info.Mahanoy City - 1973 Published in Mahanoy City for Over Seventy Years Click the link below to read the entire article by Carol Luschas Draugas News - The Saule Newspaper- Giant of the Lithuanian Press 100 Years Ago on February 13, 1917 Many of us can recall some large Mahanoy City fires of the past sixty years: the Herman Coffee fire, the Toy Shop block fire, the Morton's Furniture block fire and more recently, the fire in the two hundred block of East Centre. These are just a few of the large fires in my memory - there are others. Of course the largest fire in Mahanoy City history was the Memorial day fire of 1945. Other fires covered on this web site are the Kaier Opera House fire of 1913 and the Mahanoy Township High School fire of 1938. February 13, 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of two fires that have been practically forgotten. These fires occurred on the north side of the 100 block of West Centre Street and on the south side of the 1000 block of East Centre Street five hours apart on February 13, 1917. The property loss from these two fires amounted to $88,000. Adjusting for inflation over the past one hundred years that property loss would be valued at almost two million dollars today. To read more about these two fire and a $80,000 fire which occurred in Girardville the next day click on the link below.Mahanoy City's $2,000,000 Fire - February 13, 1917New Items For Sale Mahanoy City Business Directories 1869-1929 Beneath this mound my body lies defiled by cruel scars.... When I was old enough to hike on the mountains around Mahanoy City - about age 8 in 1957- I would sometimes tramp up the Pottsy with my dad to pick huckleberries along the Pennsy tracks on the way to the Bore Hole. Near the left turn at the first cemetery, the Slovak Lutheran, we took a short path that my dad called "the Indian Path". After leaving the Indian Path we entered St. Fidelis Cemetery and climbed the hill to the Kaier family grave site. From this vantage point we could look down at the town. In the distance, less than a mile to the northwest, we could see the Kaier Brewery where my dad worked. I now wonder what went through my dad's mind as we sat in the grass near Kaier's grave and gazed at the brewery that C.D. Kaier had built . After a short break in St. Fidelis, we continued our hike toward the Pennsy tracks. On the way we often stopped in St. Canicus Cemetery. It was there sometime around early July of 1957 or 1958 that my dad first pointed out to me John Brennan's grave and the poem that was etched on the stone sixty-seven years earlier. In 1957 the words of the poem were still fairly legible. My day could recite the poem from memory and I would look at the words as he stood back from the grave and began," Beneath this mound my body lies..." Down through the years I visited John Brennan's grave occasionally when I was in the vicinity of the cemetery. I noticed as the years passed that the poem was becoming less and less readable. By the time the poem was very hard to make out I could recite it from memory. I had often wondered who John Brennan was, where he lived and how he came to be " crushed at the end of day by Reading Railroad cars"?Those questions were finally answered this week with the help of the historical society's digitized files of Mahanoy City's Tri-Weekly Record, and my accounts with Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com.Using the information on the stone, I searched the Tri-Weekly Record and newspapers.com and came up with the clippings below. They answer the questions I had wondered about for so many years. From ancestry.com I found out that in 1870 the Brennan family lived in Mahanoy Township ( Jackson's patch) and consisted of Lawrence Brennan, his wife Catharine and six children: Catharine, William, John, Thomas, Mary and Sarah.I often thoought how hard it must have been for Lawrence and Catharine Brennan to lose two sons, two years apart, both at the age of twenty-six. If you go by St. Canicus Cemetery perhaps you can stop and take time to visit John Brennan's grave and pray for him who loved us all when you are kneeling on his grave. Click here to hear the poem recited at the gravesite in 2011 If You GoThe date of the Reading Railroad collision pictured below has been a mystery. It was known to have occurred around the turn of the century from the elements of the pictures. I recently uncovered the newspaper article below at www.newspapers.com. The mystery is now solved. The accident occurred just east of the freight station on August 3, 1900. You can see the northeast corner of the freight station on the bottom right part of the second picture. A Walk in the Woods - 1928 Click the link below to access an editorial which appeared in The Record American on August 4, 1928 in the midst of a mid summer heat wave. The author sought relief from the the hot pavements of Mahanoy City by taking a walk on the mountanside just south of the borough. We would certainly like to determine the identity of the author as this lyrical piece of writing gives one a true sense of what the author experienced in his jaunt along the lokey tracks almost ninety years ago. A Walk in the Woods -1928 Mahanoy City's Little Known Artistic Heritage The four internationally known artists pictured below all visited Mahanoy City during the 1920s and 1930s to draw, sculpt and photograph scenes related to the anthracite coal industry and the miners who risked their lives to bring the black diamonds from deep within the earth to the surface. To Learn More About These Artists and Their Connection to Mahanoy City Click Here

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