Herman Ross was drafted on 24 October 1862. He served
as a Pvt of Company H 171st Regiment of Pennsylvania Drafted Militia for
nine months. He was discharged 8 August 1863. On 23 December 1864 Herman
was again drafted for a year. He served in Company E, 29th Regiment of Pennsylvania
Veteran Volunteers. On 17 July 1865, Pvt Herman Ross was discharged.
Larger resolution photo of above
The following pages (7-11) are from the book
THE ANCESTORS AND DESCENDANTS
OF HERMAN AND CATHERINE LOWRY ROSS, published by Closson Press in 1997
written by Mary Pyle Palmer. This is a story of the life of Herman and Catherine
and the problems they endured during and after the Civil War.
Herman, the fourth child of Jacob and Susanna SCHENEFELD ROSS, was born
May 27, 1827 in Stoneycreek Twp Somerset Co PA. His father being a farmer,
we can picture Herman at an early age helping with the various chores on the
farm. He may have attended school during the months that he was not
needed to help on the farm. He was able to read and write as he signed his
Army papers. Herman's family attended the Glades Lutheran Church. At
the age of 21 years, Herman married Catherine LOWRY, on October 22, 1848.
Catherine was the daughter of John and Mary FICHUER LOWRY. The wedding took
place at the home of John and Mary LOWRY in Stoneycreek Township, Somerset
Co. PA. The Rev. Charles Young officiated at the ceremony.. Herman
and Catherine were the parents of eight children‑‑John, Benjamin, (died at
age of 6), Jacob married to Mercy Adeline CLOSE, George Lloyd married to
Sarah Ann FOUST, Ellen (died at age of 3), Oliver, Susan wife of Milton Anderson
PICKWORTH, and Hermon Jerome married to Katherine Mulvehill. I have
the copy of their Bible in my possession. I have taken the birth, marriage
and death dates for them from that Bible record along with the Glade Church
records.
In the 1850 census Herman is listed as a farmer in Stoneycreek Township.
He had purchased about 175 acres in Stoneycreek Township near Downey, adjoining
lands of John FRITZ, David CLARK, Jonah KIMMEL and others."About 125 acres
were cleared‑‑30 acres in meadow with a barn and house thereon erected with
a fruit orchard and sugar orchard on the same, with a limestone convenant,
too." (This information is taken from a petition of the Orphans Court of
Somerest County, Pennsylvania after Herman had died.)
In 1981 Herman and Catherine's granddaughter, Hazel PICKWORTH MATTHEWS
showed me the sight of the ROSS home. All that was left at that time
were some foundation rocks and some very heavy timbers. She said the
house had been made of logs. When you travel the Pennsylvania Turnpike
east from Somerset, the farm was to the north just before you enter the Allegheny
Tunnel. From the hill where the house stood you can look down to the entrance
of the tunnel.
Herman and Catherine had to go in debt to purchase their farm. We
can imagine they were hard workers. The economy of the time and weather
probably played a big part in keeping them in debt. On June 5, 1859, farmers
in Somerset County were shocked to find that a severe frost had settled
on the land during the night. The frost had ruined crops and all vegetation
over a wide area. The only crop that had not yet been sown for the season
was buckwheat. Most farmers quickly prepared the ground and planted
buckwheat‑‑maybe Herman was able to do that also. The fact that
he had a sugar orchard would be another source of income each spring.
Probably Catherine made butter to send to market and may have had a flock
of chickens and sold eggs. I can see her raising most of the family's
vegetables. She would spend many hours drying and preserving vegetables,
berries and fruit for the family to use all winter. The children learned
to "work and tend" the garden. The family would have raised their own
potato crop so small hands were used to weed, hoe, hill the potato stalks,
and pick off the potato bugs. Butchering of pigs and cattle would provide
the family with meat. It would also mean rendering fat into lard, making
sausage and scrapple, smoking side‑meat and hams. (I have a picture of Catherine
stirring lard while helping on butchering day at Milt and Sue PICKWORTH'S
farm about 1900.)
Herman and Catherine probably did the best they could to reduce their debt.
Their lives were greatly affected by the happenings in the country at that
time. In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United
States.
People began to take sides for and against war. In 1861 war began
when the Confederates fired on Ft Sumter. Lincoln called for 75,000
volunteers. On October 24, 1862 Herman was drafted. He served
as a Pvt of Company "H" 171st Regiment Pennsylvania Drafted Militia for nine
months. He was discharged August 8, 1863 at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
by reason of term of service having expired. He would return to Stoneycreek
Township and try to continue to work his farm. He also would hire himself
out to neighbor farmers when they needed extra help.
On December 23, 1864 Herman was again drafted and mustered in at Chambersburg,
PA for a period of one year. He was received at Carlisle Rendezvous January
19, 1865. He was sent to Company "E", 29th Regiment of Pennsylvania
Veteran Volunteers . He served as a Pvt under Captain Sykis Beaumont.
On January 25, 1865 Pvt ROSS was received at Hart Island Rendezvous. He
joined the 29th Regiment at Raleigh, NC. Soon after the unit moved
towards Alexandria, VA. About this time Herman began to complain of
not feeling well. When they arrived at Alexandria, Pvt ROSS was sent
to the Field Hospital along with Edward LAMBERT from Stoyestown. Later
both men were returned to their Regiment. The 29th Regiment was at Blair's
Landing, SC and then on February 15, 1865 they were at Hilton Head SC.
Pvt ROSS was ill from time to time with "ague cake" (a fever usually malarial,
marked by regularly recurring chills). He was sent to Division Hospital
in June, 1865. Several men who had served in the 29th Regiment with Pvt
ROSS gave statements that when he entered the army he was a very well strong
man but during his second service time he became ill and was never in good
health again. He always managed to march with his unit when they were on
the move. Robert E. LEE surrendered to U.S. GRANT at Appomattox Courthouse
on April 9, 1865. The war was over! On July 17, 1865 Pvt Herman ROSS
was discharged near Alexandria, VA. His discharge papers show
that Herman was 37 years old, five feet six inches tall, dark complexion,
blue eyes and dark hair, and by occupation, when enrolled, a farmer.
Herman returned to his home in Stoneycreek Township, Somerset County, PA
and tried to get his life back together. He could work very little.
Catherine repeatedly ask Herman to apply for a pension but she never got
him to do it. She said he was too spunky for that. Dr. Allen
Miller treated Herman for enlargement of the spleen what he termed ague cake
which resulted in his death on April 4, 1870. He was buried at the
Glade Church Cemetery in Stoneycreek Township in Somerset Co PA.
At the time of his death he left the following children: John (20),
Jacob (16), George Lloyd (14), Oliver (7), Susan (5), and Herman Jerome
(9mon). Herman died intestate. The court appointed Josiah Lowry (Catherine's
brother) as guardian for the minor children.
John GLESSNER and William M. SCHROCK were appointed Administrators of Herman
ROSS estate. The personal estate of Herman was insufficient for the
payment of the debts so the Administrators petitioned the court to
grant an order of the sale of the land for the payment of the debts.
Life must have been very difficult for Catherine after Herman's death.
She had six children to care for and very little money. Her farm had
to be sold. She had to move her family as well as find the finances to sustain
them. She probably relied greatly on the help of her family. The LOWRY
and the ROSS families lived in the same area of Stoneycreek Township.
On September 1, 1872 Catherine married John A. FAUST, a widower with 9
children. John was a miller. They were married by J.M. GLESSNER JP in Stoneycreek
Township. It must have been quite an experience for both families.
John had a young family who had lost their mother and the ROSS children
had lost their father. John's children were Emma (married John KAUFMAN),
Elizabeth (married Henry REITZ), John, Levi, Mary Ann (married H.H. REITZ),
Sarah Ann (married George Lloyd ROSS‑‑4th son of Catherine and Herman ROSS),
Tobias, Samuel (married Annie CRIST), and Matilda (married Norman SHAFFER).
Matilda was only 16 months old when her mother Elizabeth EASH FAUST died.
Sue ROSS PICKWORTH, who was seven at the time the two families moved in together,
was so overwhelmed by all the confusion that she hid all day behind a cellar
door and no one missed her!! The 1880 Census shows John and Catherine
FAUST living at Stanton Mills in Jenner Township, Somerset Co PA. Living
in the home were John A. 51 a miller, Catherine 51 keeping house, Tobias
17 a laborer, Matilda 9 daughter, Susan ROSS 14 stepdaughter, and Herman
ROSS 10 stepson.
In the late 1880's Congress passed an act granting Civil War Veterans Widows
a pension. Catherine made application for one. On November 25, 1889
she was issued Pension Certificate # 261917 as the widow of Herman ROSS
Co "E" 29th Regt. PA Vols. The pension only covered the two years she was
a widow, and ended September 1, 1872 when she remarried. She filed
papers again for the three children of said Herman ROSS, who at the time
of his death were under the age of sixteen years‑‑Susan, Oliver and Herman.
As the mother of Oliver, who had been killed in an explosion in 1889,
she requested his share be sent to her. Oliver left no widow or surviving
children.
It took many months and the help of many people before Catherine and the
children were issued a pension certificate and received payments.
Among the people who provided sworn letters and statements for them were:
Edward LAMBERT, John M. GLESSNER, Wm C. WILL, Wm M. SCHROCK, Peter T. MILLER,
Lewis LOWRY, Jacob WOMBAUGH, W. H. GARMAN, Lewis CAPE, Josiah LOWRY and
all of the children, (John, Jacob, George, Susan and Herman).
While at the National Archives I made copies of all the papers in the file
of Herman ROSS and the file concerning the Pension papers for Catherine
ROSS FAUST. The deposition of Jacob WOMBAUGH gives a good picture
of the information furnished for Catherine. I quote the entirety of
it.
DEPOSITION H Case of Catharine FAUST, No 246, 688
On this fifteenth day of June 1888, at near Dividing Ridge, County of Somerset,
State of Pennsylvania, before me, C.B. HITE, a Special Examiner of the Pension
Office, personally appeared Jacob WOMBAUGH, who, being by me first duly
sworn to answer truly all interrogatories propounded during this Special
Examination of aforesaid pension claim, deposes and says: "My age is 62
years, I am a farmer. PO is Dividing Ridge, Somerset Co PA.
I knew very well before the late war, Herman ROSS, the late husband of
claimant, Catharine FAUST. We were then living about 1 and 1/4 miles
apart, and we have worked together many a day. His health was always
good before the war, as far as I knew. I never knew him to be seriously
sick, or hurt in anyway, before the late war. I was a member of Co
H 29 PA Inf and I think said ROSS was in Co E 29 Regt Inf. I was a
member of the 29 Regt when he was drafted. He joined the regiment
at Raleigh, NC. He said he had come from Charlestown, SC to Raleigh,
NC. I remember very distinctly he joined the regt 3 or 4 days only
prior to Joe JOHNSON surrender near Raleigh, NC. When he joined the
regiment, he appeared well; but it was not long after that, he commenced
complaining; but he was able to march with the reg't from Raleigh, NC all
the way via Richmond, VA, to Washington, DC. When the reg't arrived
at the District of Columbia he, said ROSS, appeared to be getting worse.
I could not tell how handily what was the matter with him; but he was failing
very much in flesh and strength, all the time. I remember seeing him
put in an ambulance one morning as I was on duty; and that same evening he
returned and when I met him said to him, "why I thought you had gone to the
hospital", "yes", he replied, "I did go but I am back again, as I don't want
to leave my comrades." He appeared to be quite feeble in his gait.
I never could tell how he was affected at that time, but after he got home,
his skin was pale yellow, and he was a mere skeleton before he died.
He was sickly at the time from his discharge till he died. I saw him
often during this time.
Question‑‑"Do you think he got the disease he had in the army?"
Answer‑‑"Well, if he did not get it in the army, I don't know where he
got it. He was sick when he got home and had appeared well and sound at
enlistment as far as I know. He told me he had the diarrhea badly when he
came home. I never knew of him to have anything else the matter with
him.
He told me that beef seemed to agree with him better than any thing he
could eat; and when he ate it, he wouldn't eat anything else. Claimant
and said ROSS were always recognized as husband and wife by their neighbors."
Signed by Jacob WOMBAUGH
Lewis LOWRY, brother of Catherine gave this description of Herman's problems
in a deposition on June 15, 1888: "...I remember it was in summer
of '65, while cradling oats, he told me he was not feeling well anymore;
and said he was sick in his bowels. His sickness interfered more and more
every year, from his discharge until he died, with him as to manual labor.
He was a pale yellow color when he came home from the army. About
two years before he died he complained a great deal. He had a lump on
his bowels (so he told me) and his bowels would not act, and his food wouldn't
pass through him at times for from 7 to 9 days. I remember the summer
before he died he vomited a good deal; in fact, almost every time he took
food. The last two or three months he lived he was confined to the house."
Catherine gave deposition as follows concerning Herman's illness....
"He said he got chills and diarrhea and cold. The Doctor said the ague
and cold settled in his stomach and made a tumor. One could feel it.
It appeared about the size of a hen egg; and was situated on left side (middle)
of stomach, close to short ribs, as well as I can locate it."
When asked if a post mortem examination was made? Her answer, "No sir;
I did not want to have it. Dr GARMAN wished it; but I opposed it,
it looked like butchery." She was questioned about who was present at the
birth of her children. Catherine responded that she had no proof as her mother
and a Mrs. BOYER had been with her and both were dead. She did have
the family Bible records and that was used to verify the children's birth
dates.
After John FAUST'S death September 12, 1889, Catherine again was faced
with financial problems. She lived in Johnstown for a time near her
son Jacob and several of her step children. Later she moved to Salisbury
in Somerset County where her son George was living. She would move
around and stay with her family. Her last years were spent with her
daughter Sue, and son‑in‑law Milton PICKWORTH at their farm in Jenner Township.
Catherine died September 30, 1906 on her granddaughter Sylvia PICKWORTH'S
seventh birthday. The cause of her death was nephritis with cancer of the
breast the contributory cause. The PICKWORTH grandchildren remembered their
Grandma FAUST as a kind, helpful, and caring person. She was a short,
stocky woman whose hair was a dark brown till the day she died at the age
of 78 years. She was buried at Glade Cemetery beside her first husband Herman
ROSS.
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