Chester County PA Archives Military.....Union Soldiers Seized Bentley Wert

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Diana Quinones [audianaq@msn.com] 

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Article from 'Stories of the Civil War 1861-1865' published by NCCH 4/19/1962

Union Soldiers Seized Bentley Wert; His Employer Secures his Release

Who remembers Bently Wert?
He lived in Honey Brook after the Civil War until his death shortly after the 
turn of the century.  His grandson, great-grandsons, and great-great-grandchildren 
are still living here.
  C. Z. Mast, well-known Conestoga Valley historican, sends us the following account 
of Mr. Wert's Civil War experiences.
  "Bent Wertz (the name is often misspelled), whom you recollect as one of the 
elderly citizens of Honey Brook, was hired with my grandfather, John M Mast, during 
the Civil War.  He was seized by two Union soldeirs when my grandfather was absent 
from home.  Wertz had paid the three hundred dollars for a substitute (a common 
practice) but the soldiers did not believe him and hauled him off to Reading.  Upon 
my grandfather's return, learning what had happened, he immediately and rapidly drove 
to Reading where he located Mr. Wertz.
   Grandfather testified in his behalf, apparently having papers with him to prove 
his statements, and Werts was immediately released and returned to the Mast farm in 
the Conestoga valley where he was the only laborer to harvest grandfather's corn 
crop." - C Z Mast.
  Mentioning Bently Wert recalls to mind his son, John Wert, who drove two, sometimes 
four, horses hitched by a tank wagon, to deliver kerosene from storage tanks located 
along the railroad tracks in Honey Brook, to most of the country stores in this 
community.  He often said  that John D Rockefeller was his boss and his friends all 
called Mr. Wert, 'Coal Oil Johnnie'.
  'Coal Oil Johnnie' was succeeded by his son, Horace Wert.  The horses were turned 
in for a trailer tank truck, and the cargo changed from kerosene to gasoline.  Horace, 
Veteran of World War 1, now retired, lives in Honey Brook.
   The coal oil tanks, raised on brick tressels, have long since disappeared and Fred 
Hackett's home now stands on the site on South Walnut street.

NOTE:  Grandson Horace Bentley WERT married Helen DAMPMAN in Honey Brook on 10/29/1921 
per Chester Co Archives online marriages.