Three were brothers; one was not — but they each served as privates in the same company of the same Union Army regiment during the same decisive months of one of the darkest periods in American History.

And they were all natives of Perry County, Pennsylvania.

Formative Years

Born in Perry County, Pennsylvania on 21 October 1844, 4 June 1846 and 30 October 1847, respectively, Henry W., George W. and Michael Foltz were sons of Bloomfield, Perry County native Jacob Foltz (1814-1896) and Perry County native Barbara (Comp) Foltz. At the dawn of the American Civil War, Michael and Henry Foltz were, respectively, just average fourteen and seventeen-year-old youths who were still residing in Perry County.

Also born in Perry County during the 1840s — but on 3 November 1845 — was William Foltz, who was a son of John and Sarah Ann Foltz. By 1865, he was employed as a laborer.

American Civil War (1865 — 1866)

William Foltz became the first member of the Foltz quartet to enlist for military service with the Union Army during the American Civil War. Following his enrollment at the age of eighteen on 1 March 1865, he was officially mustered in for duty in Carlisle, Pennsylvania as a private with Company D of the battle-hardened 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Military records described him as being five feet, five and one-half inches tall with dark hair, hazel eyes and a fair complexion.

The next day, on 2 March, a teenaged Michael Foltz falsified his year of birth on his own enlistment form in order to escape detection by the Union Army officer who was processing his paperwork. The youngest brother of  George W. and Henry W. Foltz, Michael claimed to be eighteen when he enrolled and mustered in Carlisle at a private with Company D of the 47th Pennsylvania. Military records described him as being five feet, four and one-half inches tall with dark hair, hazel eyes and a fair complexion.

* Note: Private Michael Foltz had evidently tried to re-enlist previously. Enrolled as a private with Company E of the 194th Pennsylvania Infantry during the summer of 1864, he was mustered in on 10 July 1864, only to be honorably discharged less than four months later — on 6 November 1864.

On 7 March 1865, George W. and Henry W. Foltz then also enrolled and mustered for duty in Carlisle as privates with the same company of the same regiment.

* Note: Entries for William Foltz and the trio of Foltz brothers (George W., Henry W. and Michael Foltz) in the Civil War Veterans’ Card File at the Pennsylvania State Archives indicate that all four men subsequently connected with their regiment from a Union Army recruiting depot on 14 March 1865.

Witnesses to History

Having returned to the Washington, D.C. area during the summer of 1864, after having made history as the only regiment from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to fight in Union Major-General Nathaniel Banks’ Red River Campaign across Louisiana during the spring and summer of that year, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers had genuinely distinguished themselves during the tide-turning 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign that was spearheaded by legendary Union Major-General Philip H. Sheridan that fall (and which helped President Abraham Lincoln win a second term in office).

Assigned to the Provisional Division of the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Army of the Shenandoah in Virginia in February 1865, the four Privates Foltz and their fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were subsequently ordered to march toward Washington, D.C., by way of Winchester and Kernstown.

On 19 April 1865, they became eyewitnesses to history as part of the Union Army force that was assigned to defend the nation’s capital following the assassination of President Lincoln. Their regiment’s camp was located near Fort Stevens.

Letters penned by members of the regiment during this time and post-war interviews conducted with veterans of the 47th Pennsylania Volunteer Infantry by newspaper reporters documented that at least one 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer — C Company Drummer Boy Samuel Hunter Pyers, who was a volunteer of both the Red River and Shenandoah Valley campaigns — was given the high honor of guarding President Lincoln’s funeral train, while others were assigned to guard the key conspirators who were involved in the Lincoln assassination during the early days of their imprisonment and trial, which began on 9 May 1865.

During this phase of duty, the regiment was headquartered at Camp Brightwood.

The brothers Foltz had, in fact, joined up in time to become four of the many soldiers charged with restoring a sense of security to a war-shattered, assassination-shocked citizenry who were individually and collectively grieving the murder of a genuinely beloved president. As members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, they were assigned to Dwight’s Division of the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Department of Washington’s 22nd Corps, which also marched in the Union’s Grand Review of the National Armies on 23 May.

Reconstruction

Afterward, the Foltz brothers and their fellow 47th Pennsylvanians were ordered to America’s Deep South. Stationed in Savannah, Georgia in early June, they were assigned again to Dwight’s Division, but this time, they were attached to the 3rd Brigade, U.S. Department of the South.

Subsequently ordered to relieve the 165th New York Volunteers in Charleston, South Carolina in July 1865, they were quartered in the former mansion of the Confederate Secretary of the Treasury.

Beginning on Christmas day of that same year, the majority of 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantrymen, including the four Privates Foltz, began to honorably muster out in Charleston — a process which continued through early January 1866.

Following a stormy voyage home, the 47th Pennsylvanians disembarked in New York City and were then transported to Philadelphia by train where, at Camp Cadwalader on 9 January 1866, they were officially given their honorable discharge papers.

Return to Civilian Life — William Foltz

Like his Company D comrade William Alfred McKee, William Foltz returned to the great Keystone State following his discharge from the war. In 1871, he married Sarah Ann Campbell.

On 20 November 1872, he and his wife welcomed son Charles Edward, followed by daughter Annie, two years later. Another son, David A. Foltz, arrived at their Saville Township home in Perry County in April 1880.

Packing up his Bloomfield, Pennsylvania-bred sensibilities with his beloved wife and sons, William Foltz subbsequently migrated west with them in search of a better life. Sometime before the turn of the century, he chose to settle in Buda, Bureau County, Illinois — the same community where fellow 47th Pennsylvania veteran William A. McKee was residing.

* Note: Researchers have not yet discovered if William Foltz’s daughter, Annie passed away in Pennsylvania, or made the move with her family. His son Charles evidently did make the move because Charles Foltz lived a long, full life in Illinois, and passed away in the same county (Bureau) where his parents and younger brother had been residing.

By 1900, William Foltz was supporting his family as a day laborer. He, his wife, and son David were residing in Concord, Bureau County. A decade later, in 1910, William and Sarah Foltz were still residing in Concord, but were living there without their children.

Nine years later, Sarah Ann Foltz, widowed her husband. Following her passing in Buda in 1919, she was interred at the Hopeland Cemetery in Buda.

By 1920, William Foltz and his son David were living together in Concord. Sadly, roughly a year later, William Foltz’s son, Charles Edward Foltz, died in Macen, Bureau County on 30 April 1921.

By 1930, William and David Foltz were still residing together, but were now living in Buda; however the aging veteran would not last much longer.

Death and Interment

On 2 December 1931, William Foltz died at the age of eighty-six in Buda, Bureau County, Illinois. Following funeral services, he was interred with his wife at the Hopeland Cemetery in Buda. His headstone still lets passers by know that he had served with the “47th Penn Reg.”

Return to Civilian Life — The Foltz Brothers: George W. Foltz

George W. Foltz returned home to Pennsylvania, where he married Jane A. Hopple. Born in Pennsylvania on 6 December 1850, she was a daughter of Pennsylvania natives, Abram and Mary (Moore Hopple), and was known to family and friends as “Jennie.”

Together, George and Jennie Foltz welcomed to the world sons Robert Charles (1878-1950) and Fillmore Foltz (1886-1931).

Death and Interment

In 1907, George W. Foltz fell ill. As his condition worsened, he developed pneumonia and died in Landisburg, Perry County on 17 March 1907. Following funeral services, which were handled by the Charles Kell Funeral Home of Landisburg, he was interred at the Mount Zion Evangelical Cemetery in Elliottsburg, Perry County on 20 March. His son, Robert Foltz, had served as the informant for his death certificate.

His widow, Jane A. (Hopple) Foltz followed him in death thirty-eight years later, passing away from a cerebral hemorrhage on 7 October 1935 in Tyrone Township, Perry County. Following her funeral services, which were also handled by the Charles Kell Funeral Home of Landisburg, she was interred at the Landisburg Cemetery in Landisburg on 9 October 1935. Their son, R. C. Foltz (Robert Charles Foltz) also served as the informant for her death certificate.

Return to Civilian Life — The Foltz Brothers: Henry W. Foltz

Following his own honorable discharge from Civil War service, Henry W. Foltz also returned home to Pennsylvania, where he wed Pennsylvania native, Hannah Elizabeth Garlin. Born on 20 January 1848, Hannah was a daughter of Michael and Susan (Shuller) Garlin.

Together, Henry and Hannah Foltz welcomed son Edward Chester Foltz (1890-1972) to the world as one century gradually gave way to another.

Death and Interment

Four years later, on 7 September 1894, Henry Foltz widowed Hannah. Following his death in Perry County, he was interred at the Sandy Hollow Church of God Cemetery in that county’s Carroll Township.

His widow, Hannah (Garlin) Foltz, survived him by nearly forty years. Following her passing in Newville, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania on 28 January 1933, she was interred at the Big Spring Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Newville. Their son Edward Foltz was also subsequently laid to rest there in 1972.

Return to Civilian Life — The Foltz Brothers: Michael Foltz

Like his older brothers, Michael Foltz also returned home to Pennsylvania, folloiwing his honorable discharge from the Union Army, and, like his older brothers, Michael Foltz chose to begin life anew in Perry County.

On 16 November 1869, he wed Catharine Kitner, who had been born on 7 August 1850. Together, they subsequently welcomed the following children to the world: Jacob Wesley (1871-1933), James Elmer and John Ambrose (1872-1939 and 1872-1945, respectively), Anna Viola (1875-1937; later married surname: Gilbert), Rebecca (1880-1941; later married surname: Byers), Bessie (1881-1882), Melvin (1883-1961), Alpha (1886-1965), Elsie May (born July 1888; died 18 September 1888), Edward Moore (1891-1962), and Hobart McKinley (1896-1931).

After nearly two decades together, Catharine (Kitner) Foltz widowed Michael Foltz. Following her passing on 8 August 1898, she was interred at the Bloomfield Cemetery in New Bloomfield, Perry County.

Roughly a decade later, Michael Foltz decided to remarry. Fifty-three at the time, he wed twenty-two-year-old Sarah A. DeLancey. Born in Juniata County, Pennsylvania on 5 January 1879, she was a daughter of James Oliver DeLancy and Elizabeth (Yohn Delancy) and was known to family and friends as “Sadie.” Both were residents of Centre Township in Perry County, Pennsylvania at the time. His occupation was listed on their marriage records as “farmer”; she was described as a “house keeper.”

After applying for their marriage license in Perry County on 11 April 1901, they were married exactly one week later in Harrisburg, Dauphin County (on 18 April 1901). Their son, Stanley Moran Foltz (1901-1967) was then born on 23 September 1901, followed by another son, Park Foltz (1903-1958) in 1903, and a daughter, Martha E. (1909-1995), who was born in 1909 and later married Paul LeRoy Horner.

Death and Interment

Roughly four years after the birth of their daughter, Michael Foltz widowed Sadie, passing away in the borough of East Newport, Oliver Township, Perry County, Pennsylvania on 1 December 1913, due to angina pectoris. Following funeral services, which were handled by William H. Hopple of Newport, Perry County, he was interred at the Bloomfield Cemetery, beside his first wife, Catharine, on 4 December.

His second wife, Sadie (DeLancey) Foltz, who died from heart disease in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on the Fourth of July in 1961, was interred at the Letort Cemetery in Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. She shares a headstone with her son, Park.

 

Sources:

1. Applications for Headstones for U.S. Military Veterans, U.S. Office of the Quartermaster General (obtained for the Civil War veteran, William Foltz, by his son, David A. Foltz; Record Group 92, Microfilm M1916). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives, Washington, D.C..
2. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
3. Death Certificates (George W. Foltz, Jennie A. Faltz – note surname spelling error, Michael Foltz, Sarah A. Foltz), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
4. Foltz, George W., Henry W., Michael, and William, in Civil War Muster Rolls (Company D, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
5. Foltz, George W., Henry W., Michael, and William, in Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (Company D, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
6. Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916–1947 (Charles Edward Foltz, William Foltz). Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, retrieved online March 2018.
7. Schmidt, Lewis. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
8. U.S. Census (Pennsylvania and Illinois, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives, Washington, D.C..