Photos of 87th PVI veterans wanted!
Two young unidentified privates of the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry
CDV from the collection of Chris Buckingham.
Did any of your ancestors serve in the 87th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry? Do you know anyone whose family members did? This regiment was primarily raised in York and Adams Counties. Author Dennis Brandt recently published a very interesting book chronicling the regiment and its service. Now, another York County author is also planning a new work on this regiment, but from a much different slant.
Chris Buckingham is collaborating with the York County Heritage Trust to locate and identify old photographs of the men of the 87th, from its field officers down to the lowest private. He has already assembled more than 225 photographs so far, but this represents only a fraction of the men who served in the regiment at various times during the war. He's looking for help from you!
Chris has collected photos of more than 150 different identified men, but he's always open to more. Your old photos do not have to show the man in uniform, nor do they need to be a period image of a young man. Pictures of veterans in their old age in civilian clothing are also of strong interest.
Even if you have a photo that you cannot identify the soldier by name, that's OK - let Chris know anyway! Chris has about 30 like that at present. They will be included as "unknown" in the planned book, and possibly one or more will be identified by a reader at some future date.
Anyone interested in having their images scanned for the project may contact Chris at his e-mail address, or you may talk to Lila Fuhrman-Shaull at the Heritage Trust in downtown York. Even if an image is of a local man who was a member of a different regiment, a copy of that image or an opportunity to scan it would still be appreciated for inclusion into the archive at the Trust.
All proceeds from this book project will go directly to the YCHT. So, why is Chris doing this time-consuming project if not for his personal financial gain? He remarks, "I love photography and local history from the 18th & 19th centuries. I'm doing this to remember & honor the guys and for the enjoyment and personal satisfaction."
Dig out those old photo albums and boxes of dusty old pictures, and see if you have any photos or images that might interest Chris in this very worthwhile project to remember the Civil War veterans of York County.
David Dellinger · December 18, 2007 11:17 PM
FHersey is my g-g-grandfather. I have been doing CW reenacting since 1968. Living in Illinois now - Major 1st Brigade Illinois Volunteers. You some pics of GrandPop i hear?