William Charlton
The Charltons, Francis and Mary, arrived in Philadelphia from Ireland in 1838 with an infant daughter, welcoming their first son a year later. That was William, who would later have…
Read MoreJacob Conrad
This naturalized citizen was a wounded soldier in his new country’s army, then started his own business and made a successful career. It’s a fairly common story in the last…
Read MorePeter Turner
Not many men have dedicated 48 of their 68 years to active service in the United States Navy, and even fewer have had the naval pedigree that belonged to Peter…
Read MoreNunzio Finelli
Nunzio was born to the owner of a large hotel in Naples, Italy and grew up learning the art of cooking for his father’s guests from the French chef who…
Read MoreJohn Quincy Adams Ziegler
There’s no doubt that the Zieglers wanted to name their baby boy in honor of the sixth U.S. President who was in office at the time. John was born in…
Read MoreWilliam “Buck” McCandless
William came to America in 1840 from County Donegal, Ireland but his parents died when he was young so he grew up in his uncle’s family in Philadelphia. He studied…
Read MoreWilliam “Willie” Sergent
Military documents say Willie’s last name was Sergent, civilian records say Sargent, and there are two other variations. His birth was most likely in 1843, given the fact that his…
Read MoreWilliam H. Ward
An often-overlooked fact of the Civil War is the great number of amputations performed on wounded soldiers. Estimates range from 25-30,000 men on each side dealt with the loss of…
Read MoreJohn Ambrose Driscoll
There are only a few documents on which to build the story of John’s life other than his own statements, but the story is nonetheless intriguing. The only verifiable census…
Read MoreJohn Alexander Hebrew
The Hebrew family was Presbyterian, arriving from Northern Ireland in 1848. Their children included one girl with two older and two younger brothers. Their father, James, was a sexton, one…
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