Skip to main content

Military Monday - Benjamin Franklin VanHorn

Benjamin Franklin VanHorn was my great-great-great grandfather's brother (me, Mom, Pops, Pierson George STILL, Jennie S VAN HORN, Chrispin Pierson VAN HORN who was brother to Benjamin).

Chrispin and Benjamin were two children of George and Jane DUDBRIDGE VAN HORN. Benjamin was born in Bucks County on 8 March 1843.

Benjamin joined the army in Chester County in 1863. He served as a Private in Company H of the 90th PA Volunteers. He was captured at Weldon Railroad in Virginia and was a POW from 19 August 1864 to 15 June 1865. He served his time at Liberty Belle Island in Richmond, VA.

After the Civil War, he married Margaret Hensel on 24 April 1867. Their first daughter Virginia was born in 1868 in Virginia. By 1870 the family had moved to California and continued to grow.

Special thanks to fellow family researcher and genealogist Jerrie Finley for copies of the photos here.
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 17, 2015 at 4:04 PM

    Hi Jean. I'm SOOOO GLAD I Googled Benjamin. I was shocked to see his image. He was also my Great Great Grandfather. My Great Grandmother was Theresa Van Horn Longnecker. Please email me. We have no pictures. It would very nice to talk to you. SINCERELY, JEFF RUIZ. jaybrd9311@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coatesville's First Serial Killer

Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal. On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasc
4 comments
Read more

Thaddeus Stevens at the Lancaster Convention Center

Within the Lancaster Convention Center (Lancaster, PA) is a small section dedicated to Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The section is known as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. It is scheduled for development this year. At the moment one can only get a glimpse of it through the Convention Center or by peeking in from the outside. Here at Queen and Vine Streets in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens had his law office. Stevens was an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. Stevens was born 4 April 1792 to Joshua Stevens and Sarah (Sally) Morrill in Danville Vermont. One of four children, he attended Vermont University from 1810 to 1812 when the War prompted its closure. He then went to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. He then studied law and found himself set up in Gettysburg, PA in 1816. He practiced law there until 1828 when he found hi
Post a Comment
Read more

Living History Offers Opportunity to Step Back in Time

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to work the fields on a plantation during the Revolutionary War? Or stroll through an 18th century village? Or fight in battle during the Civil War?  Living history  offers an interactive perspective which incorporates  historical  activities and dress providing a sense of stepping back in time. So, how can YOU step back in time? Rock Ford volunteer Nancy Bradley in the Study of the mansion Rock Ford Plantation, in Lancaster County, PA, will be hosting a Volunteer Tour Guide Recruitment Event on Sunday, 22 March. They need tour guides for its upcoming tour season.  Built circa 1794, Rock Ford was the home of Edward Hand and his family. Hand, an Irish immigrant and physician, served as Adjutant General to George Washington during the Revolutionary War.   Volunteer tour guides at Rock Ford bring the past to life for museum visitors. A tour guide can be any person aged 18 years and up. No experience is necessary, and trainin
Post a Comment
Read more