Standing proudly, polished and clean, in West Park of Market Square in Millersburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, is the Civil War Soldier Monument. West Park is dedicated to the veterans from the Millersburg and Upper Paxton Township area, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, but the Civil War monument is the only one that recognizes the veterans of a single war – and honors them by naming them on a bronze plaque.
On a tablet marker which was contributed by Leona [Feidt] Lemmons, there is an explanation of the origin of the monument. It reads as follows:
The G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) Post 212 and the Millersburg Sentinel together have raised the money to have a Civil War monument erected. The soldier and the base were quarried and cut in Italy. The soldier stands 6 feet and weighs 900 pounds. The overall height with base is 14 feet, 6 inches. The bronze plate bears the names of the 126 men who served in the Civil War. The total cost of the monument was $740.00 and the cost to ship it from Italy was $55.00. The soldier arrived in Millersburg in August 1913 and was erected in October 1913 in West park by J. S. Heckert, a local marble dealer. The dedication was to be held on Thanksgiving, but was postponed until May 30, 1914. The unveiling was done by Florence [Cordes] Jusy, daughter of Henry Cordes, veteran and active member of the G.A.R. post. The speaker for the occasion was Pennsylvania Adjutant General Thomas J. Stewart.
The bronze tablet reads:
Erected to the memory of the Millersburg soldiers of 1861 to 1865 under the auspices of the Kilpatrick Post, No. 212, G.A.R.
Joseph Alleman * S. P. Auchmuty * A. M. Bassler * J. F. Bassler * Jacob Beller * W. H. Bender * David Beistle * E. Bettleyon * Henry Billman * Michael Bobb * M. W. Bowers * J. H. Bowers * Charles S. Bowman * S. S. Bowman * J. F. Bowman * Byron Brock * G. W. Brown * P. A. Campbell * Simon Cluck * J. W. Collier * Henry Cordes * W. H. DeHaven * T. E. Detrich * D. D. Ditty * J. B. Ditty * W. H. Enders * A. Etsweiler * George Feidt * D. S. Feidt * B. M. Frank * David Fox * Christian Fox * J. L. Freck * G. W. Freeland * T. S. Freeland * William Furman * George Geesey * Mahlon Giffen * Archibald Griffin * J. S. Hain * H. H. Harman * W. H. Hartman * Michael Haverstick * Jeremiah Hawk * M. P. Hawley * J. H. Heckert * Josiah Henninger * John Hess * William Hetrick * J. T. Hoffman * Benjamin Huff * J. M. Johnson * Theodore Jury * J. H. Jury * Joseph Kawel * Joseph Keen * Jacob Keener * Jacob Kline * Henry Knouff * L. Koppenhaver * J. P. Koppenhaver * I. Koppenhaver * J. E. Lambert * William Lehman * E. H. Leib * D. Y. Lenker * J. Y. Lenker * S. E. Light * Henry Martin * C. C. Martz * W. H. McDonald * N. C. Meck * Morris Meck * W. B. Meetch * Isaac Miller * Joseph Miller * W. C. Mills * D. C. Neagley * Isaac Neagley * Thomas Norton * M. Novinger * Daniel Oberholtzer * Theodore O’Neill * A. J. Pontius * John Rathvon * S. W. Reinhart * Jacob Ritzman * Anthony Rutter * Lewis Rutter * J. H. Rowe * W. P. Seal * J. L. Seebold * Abraham Seiler * W. H. Sites * P. H. Shaffner * John Shaffer * George Sheesley * W. H. Sheesley * S. I. Shortess * B. F. Smith * J. W. Sneeder * C. H. Snively * Aaron Snyder * Joseph Snyder * J. S. Snyder * John Speece * Jeremiah Starr * J. J. Steever * W. L. Steever * Wesley Steever * W. D. Stites * Daniel Toy * Michael Ward * Jacob Weaver * Henry Weaver * A. J. Williams * I. M. Williamson * George Wilver * G. F. Wingard * W. C. Wingard * James Wise * J. M. Witman * J. B. Witman * William Woodside * Benjamin Zeigler * David Zeigler
A big challenge to anyone is to locate information on each of the above-named veterans. About two-thirds are easy, as the names appear in published articles or genealogies, or they are buried in area cemeteries in G.A.R.-marked graves. Others will be quite difficult, especially if they moved out of the area.
Also, through research, it has been discovered that the names on the monument plaque represent only a fraction of the actual number of persons connected to Millersburg and Upper Paxton Township who served honorably in the Civil War.
Readers are invited to supply missing names by adding a comment to this blog post.
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This information previously appeared on 3 December 2010 on the Civil War Blog: