Alternate Spellings of Surname: Fosselman, Fusselman

 

Born as Daniel Fosselman in Perry County, Pennsylvania on 22 September 1831, Daniel Fusselman was a son of John Fosselman, Sr. (1805-1871) and Susannah (Dumm) Fosselman (1814-1887).

A host of younger siblings soon followed to keep him company, including: Eliza Jane Fosselman (1833-1846), who was born on 18 July 1833; William Fosselman (1835-1911), who was born in Elliotsburg, Perry County on 17 May 1835 and later served as a private with Company G of the 208th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War; David Fosselman (1836-1858), who was born on 8 December 1836; Sarah Katherine Fosselman (1838-1921), who was born on 4 December 1838 and later wed William Arnold (1834-1891); John Fosselman (1840-1918), who was born on 4 December 1840 and later served with his older brother, William, as a private in Company G of the 208th Pennsylvania Volunteers; Mary Ann Fosselman (1843-1909), who was born on 6 June 1843 and later wed Benjamin Fickes Clouser (1836-1915); Susan Fosselman (1844-1915), who was born in Juniata Township, Perry County on 18 November 1844 and subsequently wed Josiah Fickes (1839-1895) in 1862; and Matilda M. Fosselman (1846-1870), who was born circa September 1846.

That same month, Daniel Fosselman’s younger sister, Eliza, died (on 20 September 1846). Thirteen years old at the time of her passing, she was subsequently laid to rest at the Wila Cemetery in Newport, Perry County. Just over three years later, another Fosselman sibling was born at the Fosselman family home in Juniata Township. His name was Frederick Fosselman, and he opened his eyes for the first time on 15 November 1849. Sadly, he subsequently died at the age of eighteen months on 28 May 1851. As with two other siblings before him, he was laid to rest at the Wila Cemetery in Newport.

Less than a year later, Daniel Fosselman establshed a new family line by marrying Catharine Rose Fleck on 22 March 1852. Sometime around this same time, a name change occurred, as evidenced by the use of “Fusselman” as the spelling of their surname on census and other records. A daughter, Salista Ann Fusselman (1853-1923; alternate spelling of given name: Celista), was born in East Waterford, Juniata County, Pennsylvania in 1853, followed by daughter Catharine Alberta Fusselman (1854-1901), who was born on 18 May 1854 and was known to family and friends as “Bertie.”

A son, John W. Fusselman, was then born in Juniata County on 16 September 1855, followed by daughter Jennie Virginia Fusselman (1857-1920), who was born in East Waterford on 16 May 1857 and was listed on various federal census records as “Caroline”; twins Sarah Belle Fusselman (1859-1931) and Mary Emma Fusselman (1859-1932), who were born in East Waterford on 2 January 1859; son Daniel C. Fusselman (1860-1881), who was born on 8 July 1860; and Ella Amanda Fusselman (1862-1924), who was born in East Waterford in December 1862.

During those early years, Daniel Fusselman was supporting his family on the wages of a stone mason.

* Note: While Daniel Fusselman was building his own family, his parents continued to bring more of their own children into the world, including: Martha N. Fosselman (1854-1934), who was born on 30 November 1834 and later wed William N. Wilt (1850-1929); Millard F. Fosselman (1856-1931), who was born in Milford, Perry County on 4 October 1856 and later became a minister in the Evangelical Church; and Joseph Eby Fosselman (1858-1927), who was born in Juniata Township, Perry County on 23 September 1858 — roughly nine months after the death of Daniel Fusselman’s younger brother, David Fosselman (on 10 January 1858). Just twenty-one years old at the time of his passing, David Fosselman was also buried at the Wila Cemetery in Newport.

American Civil War — 171st Pennsylvania Regiment (Drafted Militia)

During the fall of 1862, Daniel Fusselman became one of the many Pennsylvanians who were called into military service by the United States government. Officially drafted on 22 October 1862, he mustered in as a private with Company F of the 171st Pennsylvania Regiment, a drafted militia unit that was organized in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania during October and November of that year.

Following a period of basic training, Private Daniel Fusselman and his fellow draftees were transported by train to Waahington, D.C. on 27 November, and were subsequently marched into Virginia. Initially encamped outside of Suffolk, Virginia, he and his comrades were attached to the brigade commanded by Brigadier-General Francis Barreto Spinola, which was part of the 7th U.S. Army Corps in the Department of Virginia.

According to Fusselman family historian Joanne Fusselman Farrell, Private Daniel Fusselman’s best friend during this time was James Drolsbaugh, who was also serving with the 171st Pennsylvania. Writing a letter to family and friends on 28 October 1862, from the 171st Pennsylvania’s duty station at Camp Simmons (which was located roughly a mile and a half outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), James Drolsbaugh confirmed that Daniel Fusselman was one of the soldiers living in his tent.

We have our tent and new blankets and our cooking utensils. We have plenty of provisions of the best quality….

Tonight I was at Methodist Sermon in Samuel, 22nd Chapter and 2 verse. We can hear the sermon and the fiddle and the bugle and the cursing of the soldiers. As far as we can see, there is nothing but tents and soldiers….

On 18 December 1862, Orderly Sergeant James Drolsbaugh penned a leeter from the 171st Pennsylvania’s camp at Suffolk, Virginia, in which he noted that “Carter, Wise, and Fusselman, Wallace, and all the rest are well.”

They remained on duty at Suffolk until 28 December 1862, when the 171st Pennsylvania was transported south by ship to North Carolina. Following their arrival in New Bern, North Carolina on New Year’s Day in 1863, they were assigned to duties that were typically expected of Pennsylvania infantry regiments stationed in Union Army-occupied territories that were previously held by Confederate States Army troops.

On 4 January 1863, Drolsbaugh sat down at the 171st Pennsylvania’s camp near New Bern to write a letter, in which he indicated that Private Daniel Fusselman and his other friends were all well. He did the same in a follow-up letter ftom New Bern on 25 February.

From 6-10 March, Private Daniel Fusselman and his fellow 171st Pennsylvanians participated in a military expedition from New Berne to Trenton, Pollocksville, Young’s Cross Roads, and Swansborough and then, from 7-10 April, in the relief of Little Washington, during which time their Union brigade engaged in a losing confrontation with Confederates at Blount’s Creek on 9 April.

They then moved on with their brigade, taking part an expedition to Swift Creek Village from 13-21 April, after which they returned to Washington, North Carolina and made camp. During this phase of duty, Private Daniel Fusselman’s friend, James Drolsbaugh, sent additional letters to family and friends on 13 and 27 May, in which he indicated, once again, that Private Daniel Fusselman and their other friends were all still well.

By the time that Orderly Sergeant Drolsbaugh was penning his 22 June 1863 letter from that same encampment, however, Private Daniel Fusselman was sick. Thankfully, Daniel was “getting better,” according to Drolsbaugh, while he (Drolsbaugh) was finally up and around after having battled an illness himself for five weeks — three of which were spent in bed.

By early July 1863, they were packing up their equipment and preparing for yet another move, per orders from senior Union Army officers that they head for Fortress Monroe in Virginia in order to take part in the Peninsula Campaign of Union Major-General John Adams Dix to destroy or disable as much of the enemy’s railroad infrastructure as possible while on the march toward the Confederate States’ capital of Richmond, Virginia.

Transported by ship to Washington, D.C., the 171st Pennsylvania was subsequently  moved to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia and then to Boonesboro, Maryland, where they reported for duty to their new commanding officer — Union Major-General George Gordon Meade on 11 July 1863.

From that day until 24 July, Private Daniel Fusselman and his fellow 171st Pennsylvanians spent their time trying to chase down the troops commanded by Confederate General Robert E. Lee as they fled from the scene of the Confederate’s loss in the epic Battle of Gettysburg. On 3 August 1863, the 171st Pennsylvanians were ordered back to Harrisburg, where they were honorably discharged five days later (on 8 August 1863).

* Note: To read more of James Drolsbaugh’s letters describing the daily lives of the 171st Pennsylvania Volunteers, visit “Spared and Shared.”

A Brief Return to Normal Life

Following his honorable discharge, Private Daniel Fusselmam returned home to his wife and children in East Waterford, Juniata County, Pennsylvania. Picking up his mason’s tools, he continued to practice his chosen trade for roughly six months before deciding that he could no longer sit on the sidelines as his friends and neighbors continued the fight to preserve America’s Union.

Rather than being drafted into military service, this time, he would enter as an enlisted man.

American Civil War — 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers

On 25 February 1864, Daniel Fusselman re-enrolled for military service with the Union Army at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg and mustered in that same day as a private with Company H of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Military records at the time described him as a thirty-two-year-old man who was five feet, nine inches tall with blue eyes, light hair and a dark complexion.

Also enrolling and mustering in that same day was Daniel Fusselman’s friend and former 171st Pennsylvania comrade, James Drolsbaugh, who entered at the rank of sergeant.

They were joining the 47th Pennsylvania just as it was about to make history as the only regiment from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to participate in the Union’s 1864 Red River Campaign across Louisiana. Attached to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division of the U.S. Department of the Gulf’s 19th Army Corps (XIX Corps), they served under Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks.

Red River Campaign

From 14-26 March, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers passed through New Iberia, Vermilionville (now part of Lafayette), Opelousas, and Washington while en route to Alexandria and Natchitoches. Often short on food and water, the regiment encamped briefly at Pleasant Hill the night of 7 April before continuing on the next day, marching until mid-afternoon.

Rushed into battle ahead of other regiments in the 2nd Division, sixty members of the 47th were cut down on 8 April during the volley of fire unleashed during the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads. The fighting waned only when darkness fell. Exhausted, those who were uninjured collapsed between the bodies of the gravely wounded and dead. After midnight, the surviving Union troops withdrew to Pleasant Hill.

The next day, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were ordered into a critically important defensive position at the far right of the Union lines, their right flank spreading up onto a high bluff. By 3 p.m., after enduring a midday charge by the troops of Confederate Major-General Richard Taylor (a plantation owner and son of Zachary Taylor, former president of the United States), the brutal fighting still showed no signs of ending.

Suddenly, just as the 47th was shifting to the left side of the massed Union forces, the men of the 47th Pennsylvania were  forced to bolster the 165th New York’s buckling lines by blocking another Confederate assault during what has since become known as the Battle of Pleasant Hill.

Casualties were severe. Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren Alexander, the regiment’s second-in-command, was nearly killed, and the regiment’s two color bearers, both from Company C, were also wounded while preventing the regimental flag from falling into enemy hands.

Still others from the 47th Pennsylvania were captured and force marched more than one hundred and twenty-five miles to Tyler, Texas, where they held as prisoners of war (POWs) at Camp Ford, the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi River, until they were released during a series of prisoner exchanges, beginning 22 July. At least three 47th Pennsylvanians died while in captivity.

Meanwhile, as the captured 47th Pennsylvanians were being spirited away to Camp Ford, Private Daniel Fusselman and the bulk of his regiment were carrying out orders from senior Union Army leaders to head for Grand Ecore, Louisiana. Encamped there from 11-22 April, they engaged in the hard labor of strengthening regimental and brigade fortifications.

They then moved back to Natchitoches Parish on 22 April. While en route, they were attacked again, this time, at the rear of their retreating brigade, but they were able to end the encounter quickly and move on to reach Cloutierville at 10 p.m. that same night (after a forty-five-mile march).

The next morning (23 April), episodic skirmishing quickly roared into the flames of a robust fight. As part of the advance party led by Union Brigadier-General William Emory, the 47th Pennsylvanians took on the Confederate cavalry of Brigadier-General Hamilton P. Bee in the Battle of Cane River (also known as “the Affair at Monett’s Ferry” or the “Cane River Crossing”).

Responding to a barrage from the Confederate artillery’s twenty-pound Parrott guns and raking fire from enemy troops positioned near a bayou and atop a bluff, Brigadier-General Emory directed one of his brigades to keep Bee’s Confederates busy while sending two other brigades to find a safe spot for the Union force to cross the Cane River. As part of the “beekeepers,” the 47th Pennsylvania supported Emory’s artillery.

Meanwhile, additional troops under Smith’s command, attacked Bee’s flank to force a Rebel retreat, and then erected a series of pontoon bridges that enabled the 47th Pennsylvania and other Union troops to make the Cane River Crossing by the next day. As the Confederates retreated, they torched their own food stores, as well as the cotton supplies of their fellow southerners. In a letter penned from Morganza, C Company’s Henry Wharton described what had happened:

Our sojourn at Grand Ecore was for eleven days, during which time our position was well fortified by entrenchments for a length of five miles, made of heavy logs, five feet high and six feet wide, filled in with dirt. In front of this, trees were felled for a distance of two hundred yards, so that if the enemy attacked we had an open space before us which would enable our forces to repel them and follow if necessary. But our labor seemed to the men as useless, for on the morning of 22d April, the army abandoned these works and started for Alexandria. From our scouts it was ascertained that the enemy had passed some miles to our left with the intention of making a stand against our right at Bayou Cane, where there is a high bluff and dense woods, and at the same attack Smith’s forces who were bringing up the rear. This first day was a hard one on the boys, for at 10 o’clock at night they made Cloutierville, a distance of forty-five miles. On that day the rear was attacked which caused our forces to reverse their front and form in line of battle, expecting too, to go back to the relief of Smith, but he needed no assistance, sending word to the front that he had ‘whipped them, and could do it again.’ It was well that Banks made so long a march on that day, for on the next we found the enemy prepared to carry out their design of attacking us front and rear. Skirmishing commenced early in the morning and as our columns advanced he fell back towards the bayou, when we soon discovered the position of their batteries on the bluff. There was then an artillery duel by the smaller pieces, and some sharp fighting by the cavalry, when the ‘mule battery,’ twenty pound Parrott guns opened a heavy fire, which soon dislodged them, forcing the chivalry to flee in a manner not at all suitable to their boasted courage. Before this one cavalry, the 3d Brigade of the 1st Div., and Birges’ brigade of the second, had crossed the bayou and were doing good service, which, with the other work, made the enemy show their heels. The 3d brigade done some daring deeds in this fight, as also did the cavalry. In one instance the 3d charged up a hill almost perpendicular, driving the enemy back by the bayonet without firing a gun. The woods on this bluff was so thick that the cavalry had to dismount and fight on foot. During the whole of the day, our brigade, the 2d, was supporting artillery, under fire all the time, and could not give Mr. Reb a return shot.

While we were fighting in front, Smith was engaged some miles in the rear, but he done his part well and drove them back. The rebel commanders thought by attacking us in the rear, and having a large face on the bluffs, they would be able to capture our train and take us all prisoners, but in this they were mistaken, for our march was so rapid that we were on them before they had thrown up the necessary earthworks. Besides they underrated the amount of our artillery, calculating from the number engaged at Pleasant Hill. The rebels say ‘it seems as though the Yankees manufacture, on short notice, artillery to order, and the men are furnished with wings when they wish to make a certain point.’

The damage done to the Confederate cause by the burning of cotton was immense. On the night of the 22d our route was lighted up for miles and millions of dollars worth of this production was destroyed. This loss will be felt more by Davis & Co., than several defeats in this region, for the basis of the loan in England was on the cotton in Louisiana.

After the rebels had fled from the bluff the negro troops put down the pontoons, and by ten that night we were six miles beyond the bayou safely encamped. The next morning we moved forward and in two days were in Alexandria. Johnnys followed Smith’s forces, keeping out of range of his guns, except when he had gained the eminence across the bayou, when he punished them (the rebs) severely.

Having finally reached Alexandria on 26 April, they learned they would remain at their latest new camp for at least two weeks. Placed temporarily under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey, they were assigned yet again to the hard labor of construction work, helping to erect “Bailey’s Dam,” a timber structure that was designed to enable Union Navy gunboats to safely navigate the fluctuating waters of the Red River. According to Wharton:

We were at Alexandria seventeen days, during which time the men were kept busy at throwing up earthworks, foraging and three times went out some distance to meet the enemy, but they did not make their appearance in numbers large enough for an engagement. The water in the Red river had fallen so much that it prevented the gun boats from operating with us, and kept our transports from supplying the troops with rations, (and you know soldiers, like other people will eat), so Banks was compelled to relinquish his designs on Shreveport and fall back to the Mississippi. To do this a large dam had to be built on the falls at Alexandria to get the iron clads down the river. After a great deal of labor this was accomplished and by the morning of May 13th the last one was through the shute [sic, chute], when we bade adieu to Alexandria, marching through the town with banners flying and keeping step to the music of ‘Rally around the flag,’ and ‘When this cruel war is over.’ The next morning, at our camping place, the fleet of boats passed us, when we were informed that Alexandria had been destroyed by fire – the act of a dissatisfied citizen and several negroes. Incendiary acts were strictly forbidden in a general order before we left the place, and a cavalry guard was left in the rear to see the order enforced. After marching a few miles skirmishing commenced in front between the cavalry and the enemy in riflepits on the bank of the river, but they were easily driven away. When we came up we discovered their pits and places where there had been batteries planted. At this point the John Warren, an unarmed transport, on which were sick soldiers and women, was fired into and sunk, killing many and those that were not drowned taken prisoners. A tin-clad gun boat was destroyed at the same place, by which we lost a large mail. Many letters and directed envelopes were found on the bank – thrown there after the contents had been read by the unprincipled scoundrels. The inhumanity of Guerrilla bands in this department is beyond belief, and if one did not know the truth of it or saw some of their barbarities, he would write it down as the story of a ‘reliable gentleman’ or as told by an ‘intelligent contraband.’ Not satisfied with his murderous intent on unarmed transports he fires into the Hospital steamer Laurel Hill, with four hundred sick on board. This boat had the usual hospital signal floating fore and aft, yet, notwithstanding all this, and the customs of war, they fired on them, proving by this act that they are more hardened than the Indians on the frontier.

Continuing their march, Private Daniel Fusselman and his fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers headed toward Avoyelles Parish. According to Wharton:

On Sunday, May 15th, we left the river road and took a short route through the woods, saving considerable distance. The windings of the Red river are so numerous that it resembles the tape-worm railroad where with the politicians frightened the dear people during the administration of Ritner and Stevens. – We stopped several hours in the woods to leave cavalry pass, when we moved forward and by four o’clock emerged into a large open plain where we formed in line of battle, expecting a regular engagement. The enemy, however, retired, and we advanced ’till dark, when the forces halted for the night with orders to rest on their arms. – ‘Twas here that Banks rode through our regiment, amidst the cheers of the boys, and gave the pleasant news that Grant had defeated Lee.

“Resting on their arms,” (half-dozing, without pitching their tents, and with their rifles right beside them), they were now positioned just outside of Marksville, on the eve of the 16 May 1864 Battle of Mansura, which unfolded as follows, according to Wharton:

Early next morning we marched through Marksville into a prairie nine miles long and six wide where every preparation was made for a fight. The whole of our force was formed in line, in support of artillery in front, who commenced operations on the enemy driving him gradually from the prairie into the woods. As the enemy retreated before the heavy fire of our artillery, they reached Missoula [sic, Mansura], where they formed in column, taking the whole field in an attempt to flank the enemy, but their running qualities were so good that we were foiled. The maneuvring [sic, maneuvering] of the troops was handsomely done, and the movements was [sic, were] one of the finest things of the war. The fight of artillery was a steady one of five miles. The enemy merely stood that they might cover the retreat of their infantry and train under cover of their artillery. Our loss was slight. Of the rebels we could not ascertain correctly, but learned from citizens who had secreted themselves during the fight, that they had many killed and wounded, who threw them into wagons, promiscuously, and drove them off so that we could not learn their casualties. The next day we moved to Simmsport [sic, Simmesport] on the Achafalaya [sic, Atchafalaya] river, where a bridge was made by putting the transports side by side, which enabled the troops and train to pass safely over. – The day before we crossed the rebels attacked Smith, thinking it was but the rear guard, in which they, the graybacks, were awfully cut up, and four hundred prisoners fell into our hands. Our loss in killed and wounded was ninety. This fight was the last one of the expedition. The whole of the force is safe on the Mississippi, gunboats, transports and trains. The 16th and 17th have gone to their old commands.

It is amusing to read the statements of correspondents to papers North, concerning our movements and the losses of the army. I have it from the best source that the Federal loss from Franklin to Mansfield, and from their [sic, there] to this point does not exceed thirty-five hundred in killed, wounded and missing, while that of the rebels is over eight thousand.

Continuing on, the surviving members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry marched for Simmesport and then Morganza, where they made camp again. While encamped there, the nine formerly enslaved Black men who had enlisted with the regiment in Beaufort, South Carolina (October 1862) and Natchitoches, Louisiana (April 1864) were officially mustered into the regiment between 20-24 June 1864.

The regiment then moved on and arrived in New Orleans in late June. On 4 July, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers received orders to return to the East Coast. Three days later, they began loading their men onto ships, a process that unfolded in two stages. Companies A, C, D, E, F, H, and I boarded the U.S. Steamer McClellan on 7 July and steamed away that day, while the members of Companies B, G and K remained behind, awaiting transport. (The latter group subsequently departed aboard the Blackstone, weighing anchor and sailing forth at the end of that month.)

As a result of this twist of fate, Private Daniel Fusselman and his fellow “early travelers” had the good fortune to have a memorable encounter with President Abraham Lincoln on 12 July 1864. They then took part in the mid-July Battle of Cool Spring near Snicker’s Gap, Virginia.

Sheridan’s 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign

Attached to the Middle Military Division, Army of the Shenandoah beginning in August, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was assigned to defensive duties in and around Halltown, Virginia during the opening days of that month, and then engaged in a series of back-and-forth movements over the next several weeks between Halltown, Berryville and other locations within the vicinity (Middletown, Charlestown and Winchester) as part of a “mimic war” being waged by the Union forces of Major-General Philip H. Sheridan with those commanded by Confederate Lieutenant-General Jubal Early.

From 3-4 September, Private Daniel Fusselman and the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers took on Early’s Confederates again—this time in the Battle of Berryville. Later that month, they also witnessed the departure of multiple 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers who had served honorably, but whose three-year terms of enlistment were expiring on 18 September. Those members of the 47th who remained on duty were about to engage in their regiment’s greatest moments of valor.

Battles of Opequan and Fisher’s Hill, September 1864

Together with other regiments under the command of Union Major-General Philip H. (“Little Phil”) Sheridan and Brigadier-General William H. Emory, commander of the 19th Corps, the members of Company H and their fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers helped to inflict heavy casualties on Lieutenant-General Jubal Early’s Confederate forces at Opequan (also spelled as “Opequon” and referred to as “Third Winchester”). The battle is still considered by many historians to be one of the most important during Sheridan’s 1864 campaign; the Union’s victory here helped to ensure the reelection of President Abraham Lincoln.

The 47th Pennsylvania’s march toward destiny at Opequan began at 2 a.m. on 19 September 1864 as the regiment left camp and joined up with others in the Union’s 19th Corps. After advancing slowly from Berryville toward Winchester, the 19th Corps became bogged down for several hours by the massive movement of Union troops and supply wagons, enabling Early’s men to dig in. After finally reaching the Opequan Creek, Sheridan’s men came face to face with the Confederate Army commanded by Early. The fighting, which began in earnest at noon, was long and brutal. The Union’s left flank (6th Corps) took a beating from Confederate artillery stationed on high ground.

Meanwhile, the 47th Pennsylvania and the 19th Corps were directed by Brigadier-General William Emory to attack and pursue Major-General John B. Gordon’s Confederate forces. Some success was achieved, but casualties mounted as another Confederate artillery group opened fire on Union troops trying to cross a clearing. When a nearly fatal gap began to open between the 6th and 19th Corps, Sheridan sent in units led by Brigadier-Generals Emory Upton and David A. Russell. Russell, hit twice—once in the chest, was mortally wounded. The 47th Pennsylvania opened its lines long enough to enable the Union cavalry under William Woods Averell and the foot soldiers of General George Crook to charge the Confederates’ left flank.

Afterward, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were sent out on skirmishing parties before making camp at Cedar Creek. Moving forward, they would continue to distinguish themselves in battle, but would do so without two more of their respected commanders: Colonel Tilghman Good, founder of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers; and Good’s second-in-command, Lieutenant-Colonel George Alexander, who mustered out from 23-24 September upon the expiration of their respective terms of service.

Fortunately, they were replaced by others equally admired both for their temperament and their front-line experience: John Peter Shindel Gobin, Charles W. Abbott and Levi Stuber, who ultimately became the three most senior leaders of the regiment.

Battle of Cedar Creek, October 1864

It was during the fall of 1864 that Major-General Philip Sheridan began the first of the Union’s true “scorched earth” campaigns, starving the enemy into submission by destroying Virginia’s crops and farming infrastructure. Viewed through today’s lens of history as inhumane, the strategy claimed many innocents —civilians whose lives were cut short by their inability to find food. This same strategy, however, almost certainly contributed to the further turning of the war’s tide in the Union’s favor during the Battle of Cedar Creek on 19 October 1864. Successful throughout most of their engagement with Union forces at Cedar Creek, Early’s Confederate troops began peeling off in ever growing numbers to forage for food, thus enabling the 47th Pennsylvania and others under Sheridan’s command to rally.

From a military standpoint, it was another impressive, but heartrending day. During the morning of 19 October, Early launched a surprise attack directly on Sheridan’s Cedar Creek-encamped forces. Early’s men were able to capture Union weapons while freeing a number of Confederates who had been taken prisoner during previous battles — all while pushing seven Union divisions back. According to Bates:

When the Army of West Virginia, under Crook, was surprised and driven from its works, the Second Brigade, with the Forty-seventh on the right, was thrown into the breach to arrest the retreat…. Scarcely was it in position before the enemy came suddenly upon it, under the cover of fog. The right of the regiment was thrown back until it was almost a semi-circle. The brigade, only fifteen hundred strong, was contending against Gordon’s entire division, and was forced to retire, but, in comparative good order, exposed, as it was, to raking fire. Repeatedly forming, as it was pushed back, and making a stand at every available point, it finally succeeded in checking the enemy’s onset, when General Sheridan suddenly appeared upon the field, who ‘met his crest-fallen, shattered battalions, without a word of reproach, but joyously swinging his cap, shouted to the stragglers, as he road rapidly past them – “Face the other way, boys! We are going back to our camp! We are going to lick them out of their boots!’”

The Union’s counterattack punched Early’s forces into submission, and the men of the 47th were commended for their heroism by General Stephen Thomas who, in 1892, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his own “distinguished conduct in a desperate hand-to-hand encounter, in which the advance of the enemy was checked” that day. Bates described the 47th’s actions:

When the final grand charge was made, the regiment moved at nearly right angles with the rebel front. The brigade charged gallantly, and the entire line, making a left wheel, came down on his flank, while engaging the Sixth Corps, when he went “whirling up the valley” in confusion. In the pursuit to Fisher’s Hill, the regiment led, and upon its arrival was placed on the skirmish line, where it remained until twelve o’clock noon of the following day. The army was attacked at early dawn…no respite was given to take food until the pursuit was ended.

Once again, the casualties for the 47th were high with the regiment losing the equivalent of nearly two full companies of men (in killed, wounded, missing, or captured). Among the dead was Sergeant William Pyers, the C Company man who had so gallantly rescued the flag at Pleasant Hill. Cut down in view of his drummer boy son, Samuel Pyers, Sergeant William Pyers was initially buried on the battlefield, near where he fell, and was later reinterred at the Winchester National Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia.

Even Regimental Chaplain William Rodrock of Perry County suffered a near miss as a bullet pierced his cap, and Private Daniel Fusselman sustained a slight wound to his nose.

Following these major engagements, the 47th was ordered to Camp Russell near Winchester from November through most of December. Rested and somewhat healed, the 47th was then ordered to outpost and railroad guard duties at Camp Fairview in Charlestown, West Virginia five days before Christmas.

1865 — 1866

Still stationed at Camp Fairview in West Virginia as the New Year of 1865 dawned, members of the regiment continued to patrol and guard key Union railroad lines in the vicinity of Charlestown, while other 47th Pennsylvanians chased down Confederate guerrillas who had made repeated attempts to disrupt railroad operations and kill soldiers from other Union regiments.

Assigned in February 1865 to the Provisional Division of the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Army of the Shenandoah, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers continued to perform their guerrilla-fighting duties until late March, when they were ordered to head back to Washington, D.C., by way of Winchester and Kernstown, Virginia.

Joyous News and Then Tragedy

As April 1865 opened, the battles between the Army of the United States and the Confederate States Army intensified, finally reaching the decisive moment when the Confederate troops of General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox on 9 April.

The long war, it seemed, was finally over. Less than a week later, however, the fragile peace was threatened when an assassin’s bullet ended the life of President Abraham Lincoln. Shot while attending an evening performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre on 14 April 1865, he had died from his wound at 7:22 a.m. the next morning.

Shocked, and devastated by the news, which was received at their Fort Stevens encampment, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were given little time to mourn their beloved commander-in-chief before they were ordered to grab their weapons and move into the regiment’s assigned position, from which it helped to protect the nation’s capital and thwart any attempt by Confederate soldiers and their sympathizers to re-ignite the flames of civil war that had finally been stamped out.

So key was their assignment that the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were not even allowed to march in the funeral procession of their slain leader. Instead, they took part in a memorial service with other members of their brigade that was officiated by the 47th Pennsylvania’s regimental chaplain, the Reverend William D. C. Rodrock.

Present-day researchers who read letters sent by 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers to family and friends back home in Pennsylvania during this period, or post-war interviews conducted by newspaper reporters with veterans of the regiment in later years, will learn that the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers were collectively heartbroken by Lincoln’s death and deeply angry at those whose actions had culminated in his murder. Researchers will also learn that at least one member of the regiment, C Company Drummer Samuel Hunter Pyers, was given the high honor of guarding President Lincoln’s funeral train, while other members of the regiment were assigned to guard duty at the prison where the key assassination conspirators were being held 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.

Attached to Dwight’s Division of the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Department of Washington’s 22nd Corps, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers also participated in the Union’s Grand Review of the National Armies, which took place in Washington, D.C. on 23 May.

Shortly thereafter, attrition from the ranks of the 47th Pennsylvania began as men deemed too ill or injured were honorably discharged on surgeons’ certificates of disability and allowed to return home to their loved ones. On 1 June 1865, H Company Corporals George W. Harper and William M. Wallace and Privates Adam and Jacob Hammaker, James Hall, Ananias Horting, William Liddick, James Lowe, H. Stoutsaberger, and George Sweger were all discharged from the regiment’s encampment near Washington, D.C. by General Orders issued by the U.S. Office of the Adjutant General.

Reconstruction Era

Those declared still fit to serve, like Private Daniel Fusselman, were then shipped out on a final tour of duty in America’s Deep South. They and their fellow 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers subsequently served in Savannah, Georgia from 31 May to 4 June, where they were again assigned to Dwight’s Division. This time, however, they were attached to the 3rd Brigade, U.S. Department of the South.

Relieving the 165th New York Volunteers from their post in Charleston, South Carolina in July, they quartered in the former mansion of the Confederate Secretary of the Treasury.

Finally, beginning on Christmas Day in 1865, the majority of men from the 47th Regiment, Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, including Private Daniel Fusselman, were mustered out for the last time at their duty station in Charleston — a process which continued through early January. Following a stormy voyage home, the weary 47th Pennsylvanians disembarked in New York City, and were then transported to Philadelphia by train, where they were given their honorable discharge papers at Camp Cadwalader, beginning on 9 January 1866.

Return to Civilian Life

Following his honorable discharge from the Union Army, Daniel Fusselman returned home to Juniata County.

Sometime later in 1866, he and his wife, Kate, welcomed the birth of another daughter, Rosa Catharine Fusselman (1866-1923), who was born in Tuscarora Township, Juniata County in July 1866; alternate birth year: 1867), followed by another son, Josiah Fickes Fusselman (1869-1945), who was born in East Waterford on 19 September 1869 — the anniversary of the Battle of Opequan.

In 1870, the federal census enumerator confirmed that Daniel Fusselman was still employed as a stone mason and bricklayer who had real estate and personal property that was valued at eight hundred and seventy dollars (roughly two thousand four hundred dollars in 2025 U.S. currency).

Residing with him in McCullochs Mills, Tuscarora Township, Juniata County were his wife, Kate, and their children: John, who was employed as a farmer; “Caroline” (aged thirteen); Emma, Sarah, Daniel, Amanda, Rosa, and Josiah.

Illness, Death and Interment

In poor health for much of his post-war life due to the hemorrhoids he developed after contracting dysentery, while serving with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers in Louisiana during the 1864 Red River Campaign, Daniel Fusselman was compelled by his declining health to apply for a U.S. Civil War Pension on 8 May 1878.

Tragically, like many of his former comrades from the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Daniel Fusselman lived a shorter life than the average American man. Already weakened by the ailments he had developed while helping to save his nation from disunion, he became seriously ill when he was felled by an episode of sunstroke on a hot day in Juniata County sometime during the spring or summer of 1879.

He subsequently died at the age of forty-seven on 9 June 1879. Following funeral services, he was laid to rest at the McCullochs Mills Cemetery in Honey Grove, Juniata County.

What Happened to the Wife and Children of Daniel Fusselman?

Daniel Fusselman’s widow, Catharine (Fleck) Fusselman, survived him by more than three decades. On 22 September 1911, her children and East Waterford neighbors surprised her with a party to celebrate her eighty-third birthday. According to a Harrisburg Telegraph report about the event, “The aged lady was greatly surprised when the guests began to arrive with baskets full of provisions.” Just over four years later, she died at the age of eighty-seven in East Waterford on 23 October 1915. Following funeral services, she was laid to rest beside her husband at the McCullochs Mills Cemetery in Honey Grove, Juniata County.

Daniel Fusselman’s first-born child, Salista, wed George W. Zimmerman (1855-1924) during the early 1870s. Together, she and her husband welcomed the births of eight children of their own: Mary Alice Fusselman (1875-1941), who was born in East Waterford, Juniata County on 18 May 1875 and later wed Samuel Pomery Kennedy (1870-1962) in 1893; Howard Ambrose Zimmerman (1876-1957), who was born in Clearfield County on 14 December 1876 and grew up to become a coal miner; Flora Virginia Zimmerman (1880-1967), who was born on 17 September 1880 and later wed Lawrence McCartney (1881-1967) in 1905; Bertha Blanche Zimmerman (1882-1969), who was born on 2 July 1882 and later wed John M. Miller (1875-1924); Ellen A. Zimmerman (1884-1918), who was born in Cambria County on 10 March 1884 and later wed Cloyd William Irwin (1884-1952); Elizabeth M. Zimmerman (1886-1968), who was born in Juniata County on 16 October 1886 and was known to family and friends as “Lizzie”; Mae Rosa Zimmerman (1889-1921), who was born on 26 March 1889 and later wed John Harvey Mills (1888-1956); and Laura Belle Zimmerman (1893-1964), who was born in East Waterford on 13 May 1893 and later wed Samuel C. Yingling (1898-1937).

Salista (Fusselman) Zimmerman and her family resided in East Waterford, Juniata County until 1899, when they relocated to the community of Mountaindale in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. An active member of the Methodist Church, she became increasingly ill during the final years of her life. Following her death in Mountaindale on 14 March 1923, she was laid to rest at the Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church Cemetery in Glasgow, Cambria County.

Daniel Fusselman’s second-born child, Catharine, who was known to family and friends as ” Bertie,” was raised by her paternal aunt, Susan (Fosselman) Fickes. In 1875, she wed John Calvin Toomey (1851-1917). The ceremony took place at her aunt’s home. Together, Bertie and her husband subequently welcomed the births of: Ellis Orestes Toomey (1874-1876), who was born on 12 December 1874 and died at the age of thirteen months in Oliver Township, Perry County on 18 January 1876; Mabel Toomey (1879-1944), who was born on 2 March 1879, married Philip F. Coyle (1872-1933) in 1899 and relocated with him to Los Angeles County, California, where their daughter, Dorothy, was born in 1907; Orvel Austin Toomey (1881-1891), who was born on 14 July 1881 but succumbed to complications from diphtheria at the age of ten in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois on 8 September 1891; Ralph Emerson Toomey (1885-1949), who was born in Newport, Perry County on 14 November 1885); and Clarence C. Toomey (1888-1948), who was born in Newport on 16 January 1888.

Sometime around 1890, Bertie and her family relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where her husband was employed as a telegrapher. Diagnosed with cancer in the summer of 1900, she became increasingly ill and traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for surgery at the Kensington Hospital for Women in January 1901, “but received no benefit,” according to her obituary, which also noted that her “sufferings were intense.” Although she fought her battle valiantly and “bore her sufferings patiently, finding consolation in studying her Bible, and her … hope [of a life] beyond the grave,” she succumbed to cancer-related complications at the age of forty-seven at her home in Harrisburg on 19 June 1901. Following her funeral, she was laid to rest at the Newport Cemetery in Newport, Perry County.

Daniel Fusslman’s first-born son, John W. Fusselman, was hired by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company circa 1882. Sometime around 1885, he wed Mary Jane Beatty (1860-1940). During their final years, they resided on Walnut Street in Harrisburg. On 14 January 1917, he suffered an episode of apoplexy, which subsequently ended his life the following day. Employed as a lever man for the Pennsylvania Railroad at the time of his passing, he was sixty-one years old. Following funeral services, his remains were returned to Juniata County, where he was then laid to rest at the McCullochs Mills Cemetery in Honey Grove.

Daniel Fusselman’s daughter, Jennie Virginia Fusselman, wed John Anderson Pines (1853-1917) sometime around the early 1880s. Their first-born child, Oscar M. Pines (1882-1901), who was born in 1882, grew up to become a lamplighter. Sadly, Oscar Pines died at the age of nineteen in Marysville, Pennsylvania on 27 July 1901, as a result of the severe burns he had suffered when a gasoline can exploded while he was at work earlier that month on the Marysville Bridge (also known as the Rockville Bridge).

Josephine Catharine Pines (1884-1970), the second oldest child of Jennie (Fusselman) Pines and John Anderson Pines, was born in Perry County, Pennsylvania on 21 October 1884 and later wed Charles Emory Musser (1859-1938). She was followed by: Thomas Roy Pines (1886-1941), a brakeman with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, who was born in Newport, Perry County on 1 October 1886 and later wed Olive Pearl Ricedorf (1897-1927); Nellie Amanda Pines (1888-1927), who was born in Marysville, Perry County on 12 August 1888 and later wed Eustace A. Dissinger (1886-1943); Mary Ida Pines (1890-1910), who was born in Perry County on 5 December 1890 and was an invalid for her entire life, who died in Marysville at the age of twenty on 20 December 1910; and A. Blanche Pines (1898-1975), who was born in 1898 and later wed Amos Lawrence Clendenin (1890-1964).

Ailing for a number of years, Jennie Virginia (Fusselman) Pines succumbed to disease-related complications at her home near Marysville on 17 November 1920, and was subsequently laid to rest at the Chestnut Grove Cemetery in Marysville.

Of potential interest to genealogists, there was a striking difference that occurred with the lives of Daniel Fusselman’s twin daughters, Sarah Belle and Mary Emma Fusselman. Although they began their lives with a shared birthdate and shared experiences during their formative years, and then made similar decisions to marry between the late 1870s and early 1880s, their subsequent journeys through life differed greatly with respect to the size of the new family branches they established.

Mary Emma Fusselman, who was known to family and friends as “Emma,” chose to marry John Dyson Vawn (1851-1927) — the third child born to Private Freddie Vawn, who had served in the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry with Mary Emma’s father, Daniel Fusselman. Together, they then welcomed the births of three children: Franklin Caly Vawn (1879-1906), who was born in Juniata County in July 1879 and later wed Elizabeth S. Kustaborder (1882-1943); Sand Ward Vawn (1881-1913), who was born in Juniata County on 16 July 1881; and John Arthur Vawn (1887-1966), who was born on the Fourth of July in 1887 and later wed Rachel Gloss (1892-1969).

* Note: At some point, several members of the Vawn family changed their surname spelling to “Vaughn.”

Ailing with diabetes, Mary Emma (Fusselman) Vawn/Vaughn developed diabetic gangrene and succumbed to complications from her illness in Spruce Hill Township, Juniata County on 27 October 1932. Following funeral services, she was laid to rest at the same cemetery where her father was buried (McCullochs Mills in Honey Grove).

Mary Emma’s twin sister, Sarah Belle Fusselman, however, ended up having a much larger family branch. Following her marriage to Samuel T. Richardson (1859-1934) on 28 February 1884, they welcomed the births of ten children and fifty-two grandchildren. Their children were: Mae S. Richardson (1881-1935), who was born on 9 November 1881 and later wed William Cameron Stong (1871-1951); Harvey Clinton Richardson (1885-1956), who was born in East Waterford, Juniata County on 8 September 1885 and later wed Verna Lee Moore (1890-1967) in 1907; Ralph Pomroy Richardson (1888-1969), who was born in McCullochs Mills, Juniata County on 19 March 1888 and later wed Margaret Ellen Somers (1891-1935) in 1912; Alice Alberta Richardson (1890-1953), who was born in Juniata County on 25 September 1890 and later wed Robert Leroy Stitt in 1909; Michael Josiah Richardson (1893-1955), who was born in Cambria County on 14 June 1893 and later wed Mabel June Carruthers (1889-1969); Adda Jane Richardson (1896-1969), who was born on 29 January 1896 and later wed David Lewis Bryner (1886-1955); Ethel Richardson (1901-1943), who was born in Juniata County on 28 January 1901 and later wed Wilbert Harrison Ritchey (1888-1977); Edna E. Richardson (1902-1975), who was born in Juniata County on 28 January 1902 and later wed Robert Frank Bair (1898-1973) in 1920; and Catherine M. Richardson (1905-1984), who was born in 1905 and later wed Wesley Todd Jones (1900-1970) in 1933.

In 1921, Sarah Belle (Fusselman) Richardson relocated with her husband to the hamlet of Nook in Juniata County. Ailing with heart disease, she preceded her twin sister, Emma, in death when she passed away in Beale Township, Juniata County on 17 August 1931. Following funeral services, she was also buried at the McCullochs Mills Cemetery in Honey Grove.

Daniel Fusselman’s son, Daniel C. Fusselman, had a far shorter life than the majority of his siblings. Still residing with his widowed mother and siblings Ella, Rosie and Josiah when the 1880 federal census was taken, he helped to support his family with his wages as a farmer — until he died roughly eighteen months later — at the age of twenty-one, on 30 November 1881. He, too, was subsequently buried at the McCullochs Mills Cemetery.

Daniel Fusselman’s daughter, Ella Amanda Fusselman, had more of an adventurous spirit. Sometime around 1890, when she was just twenty-eight years old, she relocated to the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois.

Four years later, she wed Maury Willis Hibbard (1856-1914) in Chicago in June of 1894. They subsequently welcomed the Chicago births of son Bennie F. Hibbard (18 November 1896-1 August 1897) and daughter Mable Gertrude Hibbard (6 April 1899-13 October 1899). Sadly, their children lived just eight and six months, respectively. Following Bennie’s death in Chicago on 1 August 1897, he was laid to rest at that city’s Oak Woods Cemetery. Mable was then laid to rest beside him at Oak Woods in 1899.

Preceded in death by her husband, who passed away in Chicago at the age of fifty-seven on 17 January 1914, Ella (Fusselman) Hibbard subsequently relocated to the city of Los Angeles in Los Angeles County, California in 1921. Ailing with diabetes in her later years, she developed gangrene as a disease-related complication and was admitted to the White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles for treatment, which proved to be unsuccessful. She died there at the age of sixty-one on 7 August 1924. Her funeral services were held at the Washington Undertaking Co. in Los Angeles. She was survived by her step-children, Harold and Olive Lois Hibbard.

Daniel Fusselman’s daughter, Rosa Catharine (Fusselman) Kennedy, wed John Moody Kennedy (1873-1954) during the late 1880s. On 13 July 1890, their first child, Raymond Joseph Fusselman (1890-1975), was born in East Waterford, Juniata County, followed by Stella M. Fusselman Kennedy (1898-1995), who was born on 3 June 1898 and later wed John C. McNelly (1898-1935); Harry Ficks Kennedy (1900-1992), who was born in Mountaindale, Cambria County, Pennsylvania on 12 August 1900 and later wed Cleota V. Smiley (1908-1993); and an unnamed infant who was born and died in 1914.

Ailing with heart disease, Rosa (Fusselman) Kennedy died at the age of fifty-five years and nine months in Broad Top Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania on 29 April 1923. Her remains were subsequently returned to Cambria County, where she was laid to rest at the Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church Cemetery in Glasgow.

Daniel Fusselman’s youngest son, Josiah Fickes Fusselman, wed Minnie Belle Fortney on New Year’s Day in 1890 in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. They subsequently became the parents of eleven children: Anna R. Fusselman (1890-1971), who was born in Blandburg, Cambria County in 1890 and later adopted the married surname of “Nease”; Bertha B. Fusselman (1892-1943), who was born in Blandburg on 25 August 1892 and later wed Chester O. Weaver (1895-1957); Rebecca K. Fusselman (1893-1943), who was born on 15 October 1893) and later wed Jacob C. Ruby (1888-1971); Effie Elizabeth Fusselman (1893-1961), who was born in Blandburg on 9 December in 1894 or 1895 and later wed W. Evans Williams (1890-1958) in 1911; Minerva Mary Fusselman (1897-1936), who was born in 1897 and later wed James K. Brought (1887-1968); Verna M. Fusselman (1898-1956), who was born in Blandburg on 14 May 1898 and later wed Galer Willis Rightnour (1891-1971) in 1919; Jesse Edward Fusselman (1899-1963), who was born in Cambria County on 7 September 1899 and later wed Helen Scott Brown (1902-1987); Milton E. Fusselman (1901-1944), who was born on 7 September 1901; Marie Fusselman (1903-1904), who was eleven months and twelve days old when she died; Monteray F. Fusselman (1904-1967), who was born in Blandburg on 5 September 1904 and later wed Charles E. Bennett (1992-1981) in 1922; and Ellwood Fusselman (1908-1973), who was born in 1908 and later wed Hannah Pillot (1917-2000).

As his family grew and grew, Josiah F. Fusselman supported his wife and children on the wages of a miner. Ailing with myocardial insufficiency in his later years, Josiah Fusselman finally succumbed to disease-related complications in Tyrone, Blair County, Pennsylvania on 15 January 1945, and was laid to rest at the Grandview Cemetery in Tyrone.

 

Sources: 

1. “171st Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry (Drafted Militia),” in “The Civil War: Battle Unit Details.” Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Park Service, retrieved online 1 November 2023.
2. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1: “Forty-Seventh Regiment.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
3. Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 4: “One Hundred and Seventy-First Regiment.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1870.
4. “Clarence C. Toomey, Railroad Veteran, Dies” (obituary of Daniel Fusselman’s grandson, Clarence). Kenosha, Wisconsin: Kenosha News, 29 November 1948.
5. “Emma Vaughn” (Daniel Fusselman’s daughter, Mary Emma (Fusselman) Vawn/Vaughn), in Death Certificates (file no.: 92005, registered no.: 18, date of death: 27 October 1932). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
6. Fossleman, D. [sic, Fusselman], in U.S. Federal Mortality Schedules (Tuscarora Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, for the Year Ending May 31, 1980). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
7. Fusselman, Daniel and Drolsbaugh, James, in Civil War Muster Rolls (Company H, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
8. Fusselman, Daniel, in Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (Company F, 171st Pennsylvania Drafted Militia and Company H, 47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
9. Fusselman, Daniel, in “Registers of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865” (Company H, 47th Regiment), in “Records of the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs” (Record Group 19). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
10. Fusselman, Daniel, Catherine, Celistia [sic, Salista], Catherine, John W. R., Caroline, Mary E., and Sarah, in U.S. Census (East Waterford, Tuscarora Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, 1860). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
11. Fusselman, Daniel (father), Kate, John, Caroline, Emna Sarah, Daniel (son), Amanda, Rosa, and Josiah, in U.S. Census (McCullochs Mills, Tuscarora Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, 1870). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
12. Fusselman, Daniel and Catharine, in U.S. Civil War Pension Files (application no.: 254530, certificate no.: 315939, filed from Pennsylvania by the veteran, 8 May 1878; application no.: 250052, certificate no.: 347812, filed by the veteran’s widow, 20 August 1879). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
13. Fusselman, Jesse E. (obituary of a grandson of Daniel Fusselman and a son of Josiah F. Fusselman). Akron, Ohio: The Akron Beacon Journal, 25 July 1963.
14. Fusselman, John (father), Susanah, Daniel, Wm, David, Sarah, M__, Mary, Susanah, Matilda, Philip, in U.S. Census (Juniata Township, Perry County, Pennsylvania, 1850). Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
15. “Fusselman, Milton” (obituary of a grandson of Daniel Fusselman and a son of Josiah F. Fusselman). Akron, Ohio: The Akron Beacon Journal, 21 September 1944.
16. Hain, H. H. History of Perry County, Pennsylvania. , pp. 562, 575-576 and 809. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Hain-Moore Company, Publishers, 1922.
17. Hibbard, Ella, in “Deaths.” Los Angeles, California: Los Angeles Daily Times, 8 August 1924.
18. John W. Fusselman (Daniel Fusselman’s first-born son), in Death Certificates (file no.: 3344, registered no.: 66, date of death: 15 January 1917). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
19. “John W. Fusselman” (obituary of Daniel Fusselman’s first-born son). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Harrisburg Telegraph, 16 January 1917.
20. Josiah F. Fusselman (the youngest child of Daniel Fusselman), in Death Certificates (file no.: 1260, registered no.: 10, date of death: 15 January 1945). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
21. Howard Ambrose Zimmerman (Daniel Fusselman’s oldest son), in Death Certifcates (file no.: 2689, registered no.: 1, date of death: 6 January 1957). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
22. Maury Hibbard and Ella Fusselman (a daughter of Daniel Fusselman), in “Marriage Licenses.” Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Tribune, 7 June 1894.
23. Miss Matilda Fosselman, in “Fosselman,” in “Deaths” (death notice of Daniel Fusselman’s younger sister, Matilda). New Bloomfield, The Bloomfield Times, 15 March 1870.
24. Mrs. Belle Richardson (one Daniel Fusselman’s twin daughters, Sarah Belle), in Death Certificates (file no.: 78981, registered no.: 17, date of death: 17 August 1931). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
25. “Mrs. Ella Fosselman Hibbard” (obituary of Daniel Fusselman’s daughter, Ella). Newport, Pennsylvania: The News, 15 August 1924.
26. “Mrs. Jennie Pines” (obituary of Daniel Fusselman’s daughter, Jennie Virginia). Newport, Pennsylvania: The Newport News, 23 November 1920.
27. “Mrs. Monteray Bennett” (a granddaughter of Daniel Fusseman and a daughter of Josiah F. Fusselman). Zanesville, Ohio: The Times Recorder, 1 January 1968.
28. “Mrs. Salista Ann Zimmerman” (obituary of Daniel Fusselman’s oldest daughter, Salista). Altoona, Pennsylvania: Altoona Mirror, 21 March 1923.
29. “Mrs. Sarah B. Richardson” (obituary of Daniel Fusselman’s daughter, Sarah Belle (Fusselman) Richardson). Mifflintown, Pennsylvania: Juniata County Sentinel, August 1931.
30. “Oscar Pines” (a grandson of Daniel Fusselman and a son of Jennie Virginia (Fusselman) Pines), in “Local News.” Bloomfield, Pennsylvania: The Perry County Democrat, 31 July 1901.
31. Rosa Kennedy (a daughter of Daniel Fusselman), in Death Certificates (file no.: 47892, registered no.: 1008, date of death: 29 April 1923). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
32. “Roster of the 47th P. V. Inf.” Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, 26 October 1930.
33. “Saluta Zimmerman [sic, Salista]” (Daniel Fusselman’s oldest daughter), in Death Certificates (file no.: 34996, registered no.: 8, date of death: 14 March 1923). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics.
34. Schmidt, Lewis G. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
35. Toomey, Catharine Alberta (obituaries of Daniel Fusselman’s second oldest daughter, “Bertie”). Bloomfield, Pennsylvania: Perry County Democrat, 19 June 1901; and Newport, Pennsylvania: The News, 13 June 1901.
36. Toomey, Orville Austin [sic, Orvel], in “Died.” Duncannon, Pennsylvania: Duncannon Record, 18 September 1891.
37. Toomey, Orville Austin [sic, Orvel], in Funeral Notices. Newport, Pennsylvania: The News, 11 September 1891.