NEWS: The Alleghanian; 12 Nov 1863; Ebensburg, Cambria Cnty., PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Patty Millich Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cambria/ _________________________________________ The Alleghanian Ebensburg, Pa. Thursday, 12 Nov 1863 Volume 5, Number 7 Taken Prisoner Corporal Frank Leavy of Capt. Gregg's company, 13th Penna. Cavalry was taken prisoner by the Rebels at Jefferson, Va., on the 12th ult. Thirty-seven of his comrades were captured at the same time and place. Corp. L. resides in Loretto, this county. Local Correspondence Johnstown, Nov. 8, 1863 The snow flakes are falling rapidly as I write, covering the earth with a mantle of white and giving unmistakable evidence that the Ice King has assumed the sceptre and commenced his bleak reign. In view of the fact that cold weather is now upon us, there is a subject which every editor should enlarge upon, which is, that associations should be formed for the relief of the destitute families of our volunteers. It is praiseworthy to assist in relieving the privations and sufferings of our brave volunteers, but many a heart in the tented field will ache tonight by thinking of destitute wives and families left to the cold mercies of an uncharitable world. There is no use in trying to disguise the fact that there are many of this class in our midst and whilst we honor the sacrifices of husband or son should we not in some measure alleviate the hardship and suffering of wife or parent whose sacrifices are still greater? There is a subject which commends itself to the serious attention of the community at large and although the county provides a pittance for these destitutes, yet the sum is not sufficient to meet their wants. Whilst our volunteers in the field are braving the dangers and enduring the privations of war something must be done to alleviate the lot of those dependent upon them; more real service will thus be done our soldiers than all the luxuries which kind hands are monthly forwarding for their benefit can possibly confer. This is rather out of the line of local correspondence but the sight of thinly-clad women traversing our streets, with marks of suffering in their faces, has led me to write the above. In the local line nothing unusual has transpired during the past week and I am at a loss to make my letter interesting. The young ladies of the Catholic congregation are making arrangements to hold grand fair in their new church for the purpose, I understand, of contributing their mite towards it completion. From a knowledge of the fair ones who have the matter in hand, I have no doubt their fair will be a success. The Blaisdell Brothers, more familiarly known as the "Swiss Bell Ringers," are advertised to appear at Union Hall on Tuesday evening. Their performances are said to be quite interesting. [Signed] May Leon Jottings from the Capital [Extracts] Washington City, Nov. 6, 1863 In compliance with a promise long since made to you, I sit down to write a gossiping letter to old friends in Cambria who read THE ALLEGHANIAN – only a gossiping one. The interest which has recently centered in the disaster at Chickamauga and in the State elections is being transferred to the Congress which will assemble in about four weeks. Notwithstanding the assumed defections of such men as Blair and Rollins of Missouri – elected as the friends of the Administration, but now classed among its enemies – a clear Administration majority in the next House is an assured fact. The election of the Speaker and other officers, the organization of the committees and all the legislation up the 4th day of March, 1865, will consequently be controlled by the President's friends. This favorable result of the Congressional elections was hardly hoped for one year ago, when the War and the Administration were so much under a cloud of dissent and distrust. Schulyer Colfax of Indiana, a veteran member and a true man, it is supposed will be the Administration caucus nominee for Speaker. The Democrats will attempt to affiliate with some Border State Unionists and thus carry the day against the out- and-out supporters of the Administration but they will take nothing by their writ. [Snip] The first or long session of the next Congress will be the most stormy in the history of the country. The opposing parties will be so nearly balanced in numbers in the House and their policies will so widely differ that important measures of one party will be fought with desperation by the other. The impending Presidential contest will not be likely to lessen the acerbity of the strife. In the Senate, the Administration men are largely in a majority, but it must not be forgotten that the Democrats have received some valuable accessions to their strength, and will give trouble. Per contra, the Administration party gains in ability in the House over its opponents. Boatwell of Mass.; Generals Schenck and Garfield of Ohio; Williams and O'Neil of Penn.; Winter Davis of Maryland; Clay and Smith of Ky.; Blaine of Maine and others – all men of tried loyalty and superior attainments will take the place of Peace Democrats or third-rate Republicans. Thaddeus Stevens, the ablest Administration member of the last House, is a member of the next. [Snip] Great dissatisfaction is expressed here by the true friends of the Administration at the unconcealed Pro-Slaveryism of the Postmaster General, Montgomery Blair. He recently delivered a speech at Rockville, Md., not far from this city in which he uttered the usual Pro-Slavery denunciation of "Abolitionism." He was most vile in his abuse and commended himself greatly to the favor of Slavery worshipers and the enemies of the Union. [Snip] We are in the midst of Indian summer and although our sunsets are glorious, the season here as a whole will not compare with that of more northern latitudes. The Indian summer of Minnesota and Wisconsin is the finest I have ever witnessed while that of Pennsylvania is far in advance of the Washington exhibition. It is customary here to have this popular season remain with us until about the first of December. Your readers, therefore, who are under the impression that Meade will do no more fighting before winter, can dismiss their fears. There will be a big fight or a first-class Rebel skedaddle before this month goes out. There are rumors in the air, too, that Grant and Thomas will move upon the enemy's works within the same period. This city has made wonderful strides in improvements since I came here two years ago. A net work of horse railroads covering the whole city is one of the fruits of Northern enterprise and the war. The enlargement and beautifying of the War and Navy Departments; the rapid progress that has been made toward the completion of the Treasury Building and the Capitol; the erection of two large and costly theatres and hundreds of stores and dwellings; the inauguration of a systematic street paving reform; the abolishment of Slavery; and the revision of the Courts of Justice, are other gratifying fruits. But much yet remains to be done to make this city what it ought to be. Gambling houses, drinking saloons and yet more disreputable places abound in every direction. Life is not as secure here as it is in more populous cities. The streets are full of all sorts of filth. The city is over crowded and rents and board bills are enormously high. But notwithstanding all these unfavorable features, the health of the city is good and we have not yet been visited by any form of epidemic disease; which is a wonder. Dr. Wm. A. Smith, of your town, is Assistant Surgeon in Columbia College Hospital, located about one mile from the city. The Dr. is in good health and has the air of a veteran of the Regular Army. George N. Smith, a Paymaster in the Army of the Potomac, has his office here. Jack Rhey and Wm. H. Gardner are still "nothing but clerks," like your correspondent. Clerks it the departments here, by the way, occupy a sort of mongrel social position. They are sometimes classed with teamsters and sometimes with Members of Congress. I met John S. Rhey, Esq., of your town, on the Avenue today. Very Truly Yours &c. [Signed] James M. Swank Rebel Brutalities We have to add one other credible account to the horrible catalogue of Rebel cruelties to Union prisoners. The recent reports of starvation and other sufferings which our men are compelled to endure in Richmond receive the most palpable and appalling confirmation in the arrival at Annapolis on Thursday of 181 paroled prisoners, dying of hunger and exposure. Eight died on the boat coming up. More than a third of the rest, say the surgeons, are beyond help from nourishment or medicine – must helplessly die because they were denied food and shelter while prisoners of war in Rebel hands. And the whole number of these men were in such a condition of weakness and disease that they had to be sent to the hospitals – every man of them. We are past wondering at these atrocities. We only wonder when they are not committed. The record of this war is so hideously full of them, that they are no longer to be accounted for as exceptional barbarities. From Bull Run down to Chickamauga we believe there is no battlefield which has not been crimsoned by Rebel massacres. What are called the rules of civilized warfare are far more often savagely violated than decently observed by the Rebels. Grant if you please that something is to be pardoned in the heat of battle – though the men to whom it is to be pardoned are the men who call themselves the "chivalry" of America. But though you grant that a thousand times over it does not touch the case of the slow tortures persistently, systematically inflicted on many, many thousands of Union prisoners, some of whom have died under the torture and some of whom yet live to tell the tale. The "Libby Prison" in Richmond has long been a name of horror at the North, but we believe the hundredth part of the truth about it and about other rebel dungeons is not yet publicly known. Much of it will always remain so or will be the obscure tradition of separate villages and homesteads all over the country to which sufferers have returned; but enough will pass into history to cover its perpetrators with infamy forever, and to remind posterity that a people once brutalized by Slavery have forfeited their civilization and humanity as well as their regard for justice and honor. Exemptions from the Draft The following is an abstract of exemptions granted to Drafted Men by the Board of Enrollment of the 17th district, Penna., during the week ending Oct. 24, 1863, with the cause of exemption stated in each case: Emanuel Webb, Richland, disability Henry Morse, Conemaugh, disability Jefferson Horner, Taylor, disability David Custer, Taylor, disability William Shearer, Conemaugh, disability Daniel Noon, Conemaugh, disability William Varner, Taylor, disability Edmund Bishop, Yoder, disability James M'Guire, Taylor, alienage James Gallagher, Taylor, alienage Levi Reichard, Conemaugh, substitute in service 3d March Philip E. Constable, Conemaugh, disability Benjamin Benshoff, Conemaugh, paid commutation B. L. Agnew, Johnstown, disability Charles Vickroy, Taylor, paid commutation John T. Cooney, Taylor, paid commutation Robert T. Anderson, Conemaugh, paid commutation Charles E. Wilson, Conemaugh, alienage Paul Simmons, Conemaugh, only son, widow John Finigan, Conemaugh, disability Archibald Wissinger, Conemaugh, paid commutation Emanuel Plough, Conemaugh, paid commutation Samuel Fyock, Conemaugh, paid commutation George When, Johnstown, disability Adolphus Frank, Taylor, paid commutation Isaac J. Plough, Taylor, paid commutation Isaac J. Plough, Taylor, paid commutation John Baker, Taylor, paid commutation Silas Gochnour, Taylor, paid commutation Levi Marsh, Taylor, paid commutation Christian Strayer, Taylor, two brothers in service Benj. F. Williams, Cambria, paid commutation Jacob J. Strayer, Yoder, disability Jonathan Eckels, Yoder, disability Thomas Herrons, Taylor, paid commutation William F. Goshorn, Conemaugh, disability Levi Edwards, Yoder, paid commutation Ephraim Goughnour, Taylor, furnished substitute John Nestor, Taylor, paid commutation Abram B. Angus, Taylor, unsuitable age Thomas Kinney, Taylor, alienage John Keating, Taylor, unsuitable age Samuel Horner, Richland, paid commutation Tobias Stutzman, Taylor, paid commutation Noah Myers, Taylor, paid commutation Brackett J. Ayres, Conemaugh, paid commutation John Carroll, Johnstown, paid commutation Charles Frank Jr., Johnstown, paid commutation David Hildebrand, Taylor, substitute in service 3d March Benjamin Marsh, Taylor, paid commutation Richard Charlton, Taylor, paid commutation John A. Noon, Conemaugh, disability George Ford, Conemaugh, paid commutation William M'Eloy, Taylor, disability John A. Cough, Conemaugh, one son, aged parents Silvester Hildebrand, Conemaugh, paid commutation John H. MacCartney, Taylor, paid commutation Benjamin Keat, Conemaugh, alienage David Barrer, Taylor, disability George Hidenfelter, Yoder, disability Samuel H. Harshaberger, Yoder, disability John Smith, Conemaugh, only son, aged father Lewis M. Wolf, Johnstown, unsuitableness age Abraham Byers, Jackson, disability Timothy Tansey, Millville, unsuitable age Peter Mullin, Johnstown, alienage William Gearhart, Johnstown, alienage David, Creed, Johnstown, paid commutation William Dill, Johnstown, paid commutation George Fritz, Johnstown, paid commutation Rev. P. M. M'Garvey, Johnstown, paid commutation Henry S. Smith, Johnstown, paid commutation Henry Schnable, Johnstown, disability Charles Cartwright, Johnstown, disability John D. Jones, Johnstown, only son, widow Adam Glass, Johnstown, 3 brothers in service Maximillan Werder, Johnstown, alienage Augustus Dangess, Johnstown, only son, widow Gotleib Bantley, Johnstown, 2 brothers in service Henry Whannell, Johnston, only son, widow John W. Morgan, Johnstown, disability Charles Fridsche, Johnstown, only son, aged parents John James, Johnstown, alienage Richard Jones, Johnstown, alienage Patrick Moore, Johnstown, alienage Terrence Hughes, Cambria City, alienage William J. Davis, Johnstown, paid commutation John Burket, Johnstown, disability Charles Zipp, Johnstown alienage Franklin Rose, Richland, paid commutation John M. Brady, Johnstown, furnished substitute Henry Fritz, Johnstown, furnished substitute Michael Gallagher, Johnstown, alienage Cornelious M'Anamy, Johnstown, alienage Hiram Hawk, Cambria City, only son, widow John J. Fisher, Johnstown, disability Owen M'Cafey, Johnstown, disability John Carney, Johnstown, unsuitable age George Heech, Johnstown, father, motherless child Jonathan Walford, Johnstown, father, motherless child Gale Geslop, Johnstown, paid commutation Wesley Wilson, Johnstown, paid commutation Robert W. Hunt, Johnstown, only son, widow John Rhinehart, Cambria City, unsuitable age Josiah Folsom, Johnstown, paid commutation Jacob A. Hoffman, Johnstown, paid commutation Josiah Hudson, Johnstown, in service 3d March George M. Wilson, Johnstown, in service 3d March Davis, Hudson, Johnstown, in service 3d March Leander Vaughn, Johnstown, in service 3d March Hugh M'Gory, Johnstown, paid commutation John W. Owens, Johnstown, alienage Bernard M'Donald, Cambria City, alienage Henry Davis, Johnstown, alienage Charles Studt, Johnstown, paid commutation Valentine Lobemyer, Johnstown, disability Thomas Scott, Johnstown, father, motherless child James Ford, Johnstown, alienage Cyrus P. Tittle, Johnstown, disability Gustavas Bostert, Johnstown, only son, widow James Rose, Richland, paid commutation Henry Miller, Johnstown, only son, aged parents Richard Randolph, Johnstown, disability Patrick Culley, Johnstown, paid commutation George Kane, Cambria City, unsuitable age William Cadergan, Johnstown, alienage Richard Hitchins, Johnstown, alienage Lewis Litenberger, Johnston, disability David Sinzheimer, Johnstown, alienage David Jones, Johnstown, alienage Henry Smith, Johnstown, paid commutation Henry Shearer, Johnstown, disability Jacob C. Horner, Johnstown, disability R. M. M'Cabe, Johnstown, only son, widow Jenkins Thomas, Johnstown, disability Harris Gathigan, Johnstown, paid commutation William H. Slater, Johnston, disability Michael Havern, Johnstown, two brothers in service Thomas Sweeny, Johnstown, alienage Adam Miller, Johnstown, disability John M. Davis, Johnstown, unsuitable age Charles Clayton, Johnstown, alienage Geo. Leightenberger, Johnstown, disability George R. Slick, Johnstown, unsuitable age John Frank, Johnstown, paid commutation Isaac Ause, Johnstown, unsuitable age Charles Warner, Johnstown, disability Jacob Wendell, Johnstown, two brothers in service Philip Wendell, Johnstown, paid commutation Edward Carroll, Somerset, non-residence Evan W. Jones, Johnstown, disability George H. Mendall, Johnstown, paid commutation Robert Barclay, Johnstown, disability John Darby, Johnstown, alienage Frederick Proctor, Johnstown, alienage Hamilton M'Dowell, Johnstown, disability Edward Conroy, Johnstown, only son, widow John Sullivan, Johnstown, alienage Patrick Flinn, Johnstown, alienage Stephen Mackiel, Millville, alienage Patrick M'Cabe, Millville, alienage Sebastian Boxler, Johnstown, alienage Reese Edwards, Johnstown, alienage George Holfelter, Johnstown, alienage William J. Nolen, Millville, unsuitable age Benjamin Reese, Johnstown, only son, widow Richard Lewis, Johnstown, alienage John Galbraith, Ebensburg, disability Adam Kennedy, Johnstown, non-residence William O'Brien, Millville, alienage Charles Mahoney, Millville, alienage Michael Ryan, Millville, alienage Frederick W. Kress, Johnstown, alienage Lewis Baumer, Conemaugh, paid commutation Robert Bone, Johnstown, alienage John Williams, Millville, unsuitableness age Andrew Zipp, Johnstown, alienage David R. Stutzman, Millville, paid commutation John Karns, Johnstown, disability Victor Voeghtley, Johnstown, disability Levi B. Hornberger, Johnstown, paid commutation David Livingston, Johnstown, disability Thomas John Horan, Johnstown, paid commutation John Croft, Millville, paid commutation Joseph Clark Beam, Johnstown, paid commutation Samuel Small, Johnstown, paid commutation Frank R. Gilbert, Johnstown, paid commutation John E. Fry, Johnstown, paid commutation John Kyber, Johnstown, paid commutation Henry B. Barns, Johnstown, paid commutation John W. Haines, Johnstown, paid commutation James Crosby, Johnstown, paid commutation Lewis Williams, Johnstown, paid commutation Richard Ellis, Johnstown, disability John Egan, Johnstown, only son, widow Henry M. Lewis, Johnstown, paid commutation Nicholas Holfelter, Johnstown, disability Thomas German, Johnstown, disability George W. Stotler, Johnstown, disability William Miller, Millville, unsuitableness age Vincent G. Plott, Susquehanna, paid commutation George Brown, Johnstown, disability August Zipp, Johnstown, alienage Dennis Hartigan, Millville, alienage Daniel Thomas, Conemaugh, alienage John Sloan, Conemaugh, alienage Michael Barry, Johnstown, disability John O. Bryan, Johnstown, alienage John Ties, Johnstown, unsuitable age Daniel M'Ginly, Johnstown, unsuitable age David Davis, Jackson, elected by mother Casper Harshberger, Johnstown, disability David Kimmell, Johnstown, in service 3d March Samuel W. Davis, Ebensburg, in service 3d March Lewis J. Jones, Ebensburg, in service 3d March Hiram Swank, Johnstown, paid commutation Bernard M'Kiernan, Johnstown, disability Joseph Berkeybile, Johnstown, paid commutation Bernard C. Riley, Johnstown, only son, aged parents Alfred Constable, Johnstown, furnished substitute Anthony Prestine, Johnstown, paid commutation George Lego, Washington, paid commutation William D. M'Clellan, Johnstown, paid commutation Daniel J. Evans, Cambria, paid commutation Thomas J. Lloyd, Ebensburg, paid commutation David Bee, Conemaugh, paid commutation William Kaylor, Cambria, paid commutation Oliver Reed, Blacklick, father, motherless children Owen Rollin, Cambria, alienage Richard Gittens, Cambria, disability John F. Tibbott, Cambria, disability Christian Shinefeldt, Cambria, disability Newton I. Roberts, Ebensburg, paid commutation William R. Jones, Cambria, unsuitable age Abner Lloyd, Cambria, paid commutation John A. Jones, Cambria, disability Luther Styles, Blacklick, disability Evan Bennett, Cambria, disability John O'Harra, Cambria, paid commutation Peter Long, Cambria, paid commutation Elias D. Powell, Cambria, paid commutation Charles Horman, Blacklick, paid commutation Roland R. Davis, Cambria, paid commutation John Murray, Cambria, only son, aged parents Morris J. Evans, Cambria, paid commutation Richard W. Pryce, Cambria, disability Jeremiah A. Fagan, Ebensburg, furnished substitute Robert Litzinger, Blacklick, furnished substitute Amos Rowland, Blacklick, furnished substitute William Martz, Cambria, disability John Blickenderfer, Blacklick, disability Richard Griffith, Ebensburg, father, motherless child J. Todd Hutchinson, Ebensburg, only son, widow William H. Davis, Cambria, disability Samuel Thomas, Blacklick, paid commutation James Hunt, Jackson, disability Daniel C. Zahm, Ebensburg, disability Thomas G. Davis, Cambria, furnished substitute Henry Anstadt, Jackson, paid commutation James P. Perkins, Jackson, disability Jeremiah Brown, Jackson, disability Jacob Shoemaker, Jackson, disability Evan D. Evans, Ebensburg, disability George Varner, Jackson, disability Jacob Stutzman, Jackson, non-residence Douglass Weight, Jackson, disability Edward Thomas, Conemaugh, disability William H. Paul, Jackson, paid commutation Samuel Reese, Cambria, unsuitable age William Strayer, Jackson, paid commutation Philip S. Noon, Ebensburg, paid commutation James C. Easley, Ebensburg, paid commutation George S. Brubaker, ----, furnished substitute [Signed] J. D. Campbell, Capt. & Pro. Mar. The above list concludes the exemptions of this county.