PENNSYLVANIA CIVIL WAR OFFICERS LOT (4 books)

Captain Gustavus Conyngham Pennsylvania Society Sons of the Revolution, Jeremiah S. Black Proceedings in the Supreme Court, and Ways and Means for the Inhabitants of Delaware to become Rich.- John Jacob Bierer, Union Captain, Company C, 11 th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Pennsylvania State Representative - Annual Report of the Superintendent of Soldiers' Orphans of Pennsylvania for the year 1883 by Greer, John M. ; J.J. Bierer ; et al, Harrisburg: Lane S. Hart, State Printer. Very Good. 1883. First Edition. Hardcover. Autograph; 78 pages; Clean, complete and secure in original brown cloth binding with gilt lettering at spine. Inscribed "Compliments of J. J. Bierer" on ffep; former owner's stamp on title "Bibliotheca Abbatiae O.S.B." 16 full page wood engravings (15 of orphan homes/schools and one of two orphans "Sixteeners"). This annual report provides detailed information about orphan homes and schools in Pennsylvania for children of soldiers who died in the American Civil War. Among the engravings is one of the Bridgewater School which was exclusively for orphans of "colored" soldiers. BRIDGEWATER SCHOOL and its building had an interesting history. Originally built as White Hall of Bristol College in Bucks County, the building was designed by American master architect Alexander Jackson Davis. The Greek Revival building built on the banks of the Delaware River was considered one of Davis' major achievements. Completed in 1835, the building was to be the first of three designed by Davis for the campus. Only a couple years after opening Bristol College closed. From its sale in 1837 until the Civil War, White Hall served various functions, but in 1865 White Hall was converted to a hospital for wounded Union soldiers. The hospital closed on August 1, 1865, and the property became Bridgewater School, a state supported school for orphans of black soldiers. In 1868 the buildings were purchased by the Freedman's Aid Society in response to an act of the Pennsylvania Assembly specifically providing for the care of black soldiers' orphans. Bridgewater was the only publicly funded orphanage in Pennsylvania to accept children of black soldiers. By 1876 there were 236 children enrolled at Bridgewater School. Children attended the school until the age of sixteen when they were discharged. The school operated until the mid-1880s. Eventually, the building was demolished in the 1980s. The Soldier's Orphan Schools of Pennsylvania operated between 1864- 1889 to nurture and educate the children of soldiers killed in the Civil War. During the 25 years of its existence, over ten thousand children passed through the Soldiers' Orphan Schools of Pennsylvania. Established largely through the efforts of Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin, these privately owned boarding schools funded by the state took in soldiers' orphans between the ages of eight and sixteen. In addition to academic training, the supervisors were strongly interested in the moral development of these disadvantaged children. ; Signed by One Author . BIERER, John Jacob, a Representative from Westmoreland County; born, February 16, 1830 in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pa.; captain, Company C, 11th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (1861-1864, Civil War); carpenter; proprietor, paper mills; engaged, real estate business; engaged, insurance business; elected, mayor, Latrobe (1860-1876); elected, school director, Latrobe; elected as a Democrat to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1882 and 1890; not a candidate for reelection to the House (1884, 1892); died, September 2, 1902 in Latrobe, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania; interred, Saint James Cemetery, Youngstown, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. - Alonzo F. Hill, Union Sergeant, 8 th Pennsylvania Reserves - Our Boys: The Personal Experiences of a Soldier in the Army of the Potomac by HILL, A.F, Philadelphia: John E. Potter, 1865. Hardcover. 12mo. Original black blind-embossed cloth with new black calf spine and paper label. xii, 412pp, 4pp ads. Frontispiece, illustrations. Very good. Mild edgewear, with corners rounded, else tight and attractive and internally near fine. Nice, tight second printing of this G.I.'s narrative, which James I. Robertson Jr. describes: "Treats of the Eastern campaigns through Antietam; much conversation and unsupported statements make this work highly suspect as a reliable source." Alonzo F. Hill was mustered into Company D of the Eighth Pennsylvania Reserves on June 21, 1861, was promoted to corporal on July 1, 1861, then to sergeant on May 1, 1862; on September 17, 1862 he was wounded at Antietam and was discharged in December 1862. This copy is most unusual in that Hill has signed the front flyleaf in black ink near the top, adding "Regards" above. NEVINS I, 104.