My children are grown. But I remember in 1999 travelling to and from a soccer tournament at Miami University of Ohio with my middle son, Stephen. On Sunday afternoon we stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Zanesville for a late lunch. Where we parked I…
We are now almost three weeks into 2021. I, for one, am glad to put 2020 behind me. Personally, the year just passed, like all years, had some high points. But looking back, based on the events which happened both regionally and nationally it is…
Last week was pretty exciting. I don’t know that the counting of electoral votes has been so contentious since Bush-Gore in 2000, and before that Hayes-Tilden in 1876. In the 1876 election President Ulysses S. Grant was expected to seek a third term. He defied…
So who was Patrick Gass anyhow?Mr. Gass was born in 1771 in Falling Spring, Pennsylvania. That town is now part of Chambersburg. That much is clear, however, much of the rest of his life, other than his military service and the Voyage of Discovery period,…
About twenty-five years ago a friend gave me a book as a gift. It was a history book. Not unusual, while I do read works of fiction, I read more historical materials than any other kind. Frequently, I may be reading as many as four…
I have previously mentioned my youthful fascination with the original portion of the Hancock County Courthouse. I will be the first to admit that I have no architectural training. In fact, I went to school in Pennsylvania where the academic year in grades 7-9 required…
The records of the First Company I, formed in the Spring of 1861 as ninety-day volunteers, list Richard Hooker Brown as a First Lieutenant. When the unit was reformed as a longer term service unit, records list him as a Private. Most sources list his…
As I wrote last week, the Twelfth West Virginia Infantry Regiment was a Civil War Unit largely composed of troops enlisted from the Northern Panhandle. A Civil War Infantry Regiment typically had approximately 1,000 officers and men across ten Companies, when at full strength. However,…
Bill Keifer The Twelfth West Virginia Infantry Regiment was organized at Wheeling on August 30, 1862. Company I was comprised chiefly of soldiers from Hancock County.This Company consisted of approximately 100 soldiers and officers. As part of the Twelfth, it spent the Fall of 1862…