Civil War and the Grand Army of the Republic

[Merc]

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Here’s one for you Civil War buffs.

This is one of the few remaining and best preserved GAR posts in the country. It’s located in a public library known as “The Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall” in Carnegie, PA which is a suburb of Pittsburgh. The building was built in 1901. The post is officially known as the Captain Thomas Espy Post Number 153 of the Grand Army of the Republic.

See www.carnegiecarnegie.org

The GAR was a veterans organization of Civil War veterans that began in 1866. It was similar to today’s VFW except the GAR didn’t accept veterans of other wars into the organization. Because of this rule, the organization ceased to exist in 1949 when too few member were still alive to keep the organization active. The last man standing was Albert Woolson, a drummer boy with the 1st Minn. Heavy Artillary. He died in 1956 and lived to the astonishing age of 109 years.

This Espy Post was chartered in 1879 and moved into the library in 1906.

The last veteran member of the Espy Post died in 1937 and the post and its contents became the property of the library to be maintained and preserved as a memorial to the veterans. Most of the artifacts in the room were collected and donated by the members of the post.

The post was closed and the door was lock in 1937 and remained that way for nearly 50 years until the mid 1980s. It was renovated through a private donation in 2010 and is open every Saturday for a guided tour.

Because of its Civil War connection, and the librariy’s volumes of books and records of the Civil War, and volunteer genealogists, this particular library has become known locally as the place to go to research their ancestors who were Civil War veterans. It’s quite a place.

The photos contain views of the post that have many muskets, swords and other artifacts on display. Included in the display are 3 exploding Civil War era cannon balls (minus the black powder) that were recently unearthed by a construction crew while excavating the grounds of the former Allegheny Arsenal in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh. The arsenal made munitions for the Union during the Civil War.

[Roadkingtrax]

Thank you for sharing the pictures.

Interesting how it had survived for so long.

[JB White]

Nice that someone knew to truly preserve all that history. The GAR post in Chicago was turned into a public library then into a Chicago cultural center. Some of the remaining bits and pieces are displayed over at the Harold Washington* Library now.

*Harold Washington was Chicago's first black mayor.

[Sunray]

"...Civil War buffs..." Sorry, you'll have to be more specific. The Brits have had more civil wars than you can shake a stick at.

[Roadkingtrax]

"...Civil War buffs..." Sorry, you'll have to be more specific. The Brits have had more civil wars than you can shake a stick at.

Grand Army of the Republic? Reading counts too!

[Merc]

"...Civil War buffs..." Sorry, you'll have to be more specific. The Brits have had more civil wars than you can shake a stick at.

US Civil War. That was the war between the states. It was fairly easy to tell who your enemy was back then. Today, a new uncivil war is developing between political parties.

[Merc]

Nice that someone knew to truly preserve all that history. The GAR post in Chicago was turned into a public library then into a Chicago cultural center. Some of the remaining bits and pieces are displayed over at the Harold Washington* Library now.

*Harold Washington was Chicago's first black mayor.

We believe the Espy Post survived and remained intact into modern times was because it was tucked away in an old library instead of a commercial building like almost all other posts in the country and it was intentionally locked up and forgotten for 50 years.

[Vern Humphrey]

Two of my great-grandfathers (the only two that were in this country at the time) served in the Union Army. Great-grandfather Clooney has his GAR grave marker at his grave in Lake Charles, LA.

[Tom in N.J.]

It was the "War of the Rebellion", how can a war be 'civil'?

[JB White]

It was the "War of the Rebellion", how can a war be 'civil'?

You're from New Jersey. Those looking north call it "The War of Northern Aggression". After all they didn't rebel. They tried to simply walk away and start over. All they asked was for our Army to get out of their yard.

[Merc]

It was the "War of the Rebellion", how can a war be 'civil'?

By definition, the term “Civil War” is a war between citizens of the same country and doesn’t refer to the civility of war. But, sometimes war is necessary.

WW2 is considered to be the single greatest event in world history and cost the US over 400,000 lives. By contrast, the Civil War only involved the US but the cost was over 625,000 American lives. Some studies have suggested that the US would look quite different today if the Union had lost the war. The western states and territories might have seceded and we could have been split up into three or more smaller countries and resembled Europe. Now, you can consider what might have happened to us if we were too weak as a country to fight Germany and Japan simultaneously in WW2. One last thing to worry about. Would the millennials of today fight for our country the way The Greatest Generation did in WW2?

[Merc]

Two of my great-grandfathers (the only two that were in this country at the time) served in the Union Army. Great-grandfather Clooney has his GAR grave marker at his grave in Lake Charles, LA.

Did any Civil War uniforms, artifacts, diaries, etc. from your grandfathers Civil War service survive? For my early relatives, the timing for any service with the Union wasn’t right. They were either too young or too old when the war began.

[IditarodJoe]

Two of my great-grandfathers (the only two that were in this country at the time) served in the Union Army. Great-grandfather Clooney has his GAR grave marker at his grave in Lake Charles, LA.

Vern, are you familiar with a group called the "Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War"? It's a fraternal organization that was organized in 1881, chartered by Congress in 1954, and is the legal successor to the GAR. (This means, among other things, that they are the legal owners of most of those CW cannons that you see in public parks all over the country.) To become a member you have to be a male, direct descendant of a CW Union veteran. Sounds like you would qualify.

http://www.suvcw.org/

[Roadkingtrax]

I'll have to look into the S.U.V.C.W. as well.

Great link.

[Vern Humphrey]

Vern, are you familiar with a group called the "Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War"? It's a fraternal organization that was organized in 1881, chartered by Congress in 1954, and is the legal successor to the GAR. (This means, among other things, that they are the legal owners of most of those CW cannons that you see in public parks all over the country.) To become a member you have to be a male, direct descendant of a CW Union veteran. Sounds like you would qualify.

http://www.suvcw.org/

Thanks! I'll look into it.

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Did any Civil War uniforms, artifacts, diaries, etc. from your grandfathers Civil War service survive? For my early relatives, the timing for any service with the Union wasn’t right. They were either too young or too old when the war began.

I don't believe so -- but he did have his foot-long section of the Transatlantic Cable. After the war, he went to Ireland, and worked his passage. Coming back, he signed on to the Great Eastern, the converted passenger liner that laid the first successful cable. The cable kept failing, and each time they'd fish it up and find a piece of wire driven through the gutta percha insulation. It turned out that it was a flaw in the machinery that made the cable, but initially they suspected an "Irish Nationalist" of sabotage.


Guess who?