Dillsburg: October 2009 Archives

Franklin Repository, Mar 9, 1864.

Isaac Fishel was born in Dillsburg in northwestern York County, Pennsylvania. A Lutheran in his religious convictions, he married Leah "Muzzie" Wolf and they eventually raised a family of nine children on his prosperous farm in Carroll Township.

At the age of 28, the general laborer was drafted into Company H of the 166th Pennsylvania Infantry on October 25, 1862, and was formally mustered into service on November 16. Family lore says he deserted from the army and "hid in the mountains" to avoid military service.

He was in the Dillsburg area when J.E.B. Stuart's column came through the region on July 1, 1863, during the Gettysburg Campaign. Unlike many other York Countians who were forced at gunpoint to serve as guides for Stuart's movments, Fishel volunteered his services to Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's column and helped pilot it to its destination.

Fishel was arrested, tried, and convicted. He was sentenced to be executed, but President Lincoln intervened and pardoned him. He was formally discharged in March 1864 on a surgeon's certificate of disability.

York County, Pennsylvania, was a valuable source of war materiel, woolen blankets, supplies, and perhaps most of all, fresh troops. As the war progressed, the need for additional manpower caused the Lincoln Administration to institute the first mass conscription in U.S. history, a controversial move that led to riots in several places, including a large scale civil disturbance in New York City in the summer of 1863. By the following year, the draft resistance had somewhat calmed down, but the Overland Campaign and the subsequent Siege of Petersburg, created the need for manpower in the Eastern Theater, while William T. Sherman's activities in Tennessee and Georgia also demanded soldiers by the tens of thousands.

"Hundred days regiments" helped fill the void, providing temporary manpower to guard bridges, railroads, and supply lines, thereby freeing veteran troops for combat duty. Additional front line troops were also being raised, including the 209th Pennsylvania.

In northwestern York County's Franklin Township, a prominent carpenter and builder stepped up to do his civic duty...

Heritage Day will be celebrated October 18th at St. John's Franklin Lutheran Church for the community and the three churches comprising Faith United Lutheran Parish near Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. The public is welcome to this celebration.

Among those groups participating in the historic traditional worship service at 10:30 AM will be members of the 11th Pa. Volunteer Fife and Drum Corps from Gettysburg, members of the 42nd Pa. "Bucktails," and others visiting in the Dillsburg area this weekend. In tribute to early members who continued their native language service into the latter 19th century, a portion of the readings will be in German. About 11:30 attendees will gather at the gravesite of some Civil War soldiers for a short memorial service.