Capt. Joshua M. Dushane, Co. H

Joshua M. Dushane was born on Christmas Day 1827 to Joshua and Mary (McCormick) Dushane in Westmoreland County, PA. He was one of ten children born to this couple. In 1850, Joshua moved to Connellsville, Fayette County, PA and opened a hardware store and tinning business. This same year he married Jane Collins and they would go on to have five children.

In 1858, business took him to Somerset County, PA where he would stay until 1862, when he returned to Connellsville to help recruit Co. H of the 142nd PVI. A call for volunteers was made at a war meeting in a Presbyterian church and 2/3 of the company was filled that night. The remainder was raised the next, and Dushane was elected Captain when the company was mustered in at Camp Curtin.

After leading his company through the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancelorsville, Captain Dushane was wounded twice at Gettysburg and taken prisoner. He was sent to Libby Prison in Richmond and then to a variety of prisons in South Carolina.

After the war, Joshua returned to Connellsville where he held several government positions, including a gauger in the Revenue Service, town Burgess, and school director. He also helped start the Youghiogheny Bank before settling into farming.

Above is Capt. Dushane's pension record

Capt. Joshua M. Dushane passed away on Mar 23, 1909 and was laid to rest beside his wife Jane in Hill Grove Cemetery in Connellsville, PA.

Capt. Albert Heffley, Co. F

Albert Heffley of Berlin, Somerset County, PA was born on July 23, 1839 to John and Elizabeth (Keffer) Heffley. He was one of eleven children produced by that marriage and had three half-siblings from his father's first marriage.

Albert helped to raise Co. F of the 142nd PVI in the Berlin, PA area, and was their 1st Lieutenant until the discharge of Capt. F.A. Edmunds. Capt. Heffley led Co. F through their first three battles, until on July 1, 1863, after Confederate forces pushed the 142nd off of McPherson's Ridge and through town, Albert was captured in the home of Martin Luther Stoever, on the square in Gettysburg. He would spend the remainder of the war as a POW.

Both before and after the war, Albert was a tanner by trade. According to his obituary, "Captain Heffley was one of Berlin's most prominent citizens, serving the borough in several official capacities and was a Notary Public at the time of his death. He also served as Postmaster at Berlin and made a most capable official."

On Apr 28, 1867, Albert was married to Minerva Stoner. The couple had five children, but only two lived to adulthood.

On Oct 31, 1911, Albert Heffley passed away in his home in Berlin, PA. He and his wife Minerva are buried together in the IOOF Cemetery in Berlin.

To purchase the wartime diaries of Capt. Albert Heffley and Lt. Cyrus P. Heffley, please contact the good people at the Berlin Area Historical Society.

Corp. Jacob Nicholson, Co. C

Jacob Nicholson was born Feb 3, 1835, the oldest son of John and Phoebe (Snyder) Nicholson, in Milford Twp, Somerset County, PA. John spent his entire civilian life working as a farmer in Somerset County.

On Aug 25, 1862, Jacob was mustered into Co. C 142nd PA Volunteer Infantry and was discharged on Jan 27, 1863. His brother Adam was also a member of Co. C.

Jacob never married, but according to his obituary, "by strict honesty and persevering industry accumulated a competence far beyond providing for his declining years."

He was a member of the Mt. Zion United Brethern Church in Markleton, PA and according to Church Records from the Somerset County Library, donated the land on which that church and cemetery were built in 1888.

Jacob Nicholson passed away on Oct 24, 1913 at the age of 78 and was buried at Mt. Zion cemetery, the same land he donated 20 years earlier. His parents and numerous other family members are also buried around him.

Pvt. Martin Miner, Co. C

Martin Miner was born in Hexebarger, Upper Turkeyfoot Twp, Somerset County, PA on Sept 28, 1840, one of seven children born to John and Sarah (Ansell) Minerd.

Martin enlisted in Co. C, 142nd PA Volunteer Infantry on Aug 12, 1862 and was mustered into service on Aug 25, 1862. After the Battle of Gettysburg, Martin contracted typhoid fever, and was in the hospital for two months. At one point in 1864, Martin was able to visit his cousin Ephraim Miner at Camp Convalescent in Washington, DC. Martin was mustered out with his unit on May 29, 1865 and came back home to Pennsylvania.

In 1867, Martin was married to Amanda Williams, and within a year of being married moved from Somerset County, PA to Normalville, Fayette County, PA, one county to the west. It is here that Martin and Amanda will live out their days with their ten children, eight of whom lived to adulthood.

In the fall of 1915, Martin attended a Civil War veterans reunion in Washington, DC, where he marched in the Grand Review in front of President Woodrow Wilson. Upon returning home on Oct. 1, 1915, Martin Miner collapsed at home and passed away shortly after. Martin and Amanda Miner are buried together in Normalville Cemetery, Fayette County, PA.

A very big thank you to Mark Miner. Information and pictures of Martin Miner, used by permission of Mark Miner. For a very impressive and extensive look at the life of Martin Miner and the entire Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor family, please see minerd.com.

Pvt. Adam Nickelson, Co. C

Adam Nickelson was born Nov. 2, 1840 in Milford Twp, Somerset County, PA, in what is currently part of Black Twp, the son of John and Phoebe (Snyder) Nicholson. It is said that Adam changed the spelling of his name during the war.

According the 1860 Federal Census, the Nicholsons had moved to Paddytown in Upper Turkeyfoot Twp, where the family was farming. Adam was listed as a farmer, living in his parents house with 10 other children. One of these children was Adam's older brother Jacob, also a member of Co. C 142nd PVI.

On Aug 26, 1862, Adam Nickelson was mustered into Co. C, 142nd PA Volunteer infantry and was able to muster out with his company on May 29, 1865.

Above is a picture of Adam Nickelson as an older man.

According to Nickelson's obituary, he was married twice. His first wife, Rosetta Eicher, passed away in 1868, while giving birth to their son, William. Adam married his second wife, Maria Snyder, in 1871, and this couple had eight children.

Adam Nickelson lived as an adult on a farm near Draketown in Lower Turkeyfoot Twp and in his obituary, "was a noted hunter, tree grafter and bee man."

Adam Nickelson passed away on Christmas Day, 1934.

His obituary also states that "He had a leading part in cleaning up and beautifying the old portion of the Jersey cemetery." This is the cemetery in which Adam Nickelson now rests, together with Maria.

Pvt. Ephraim Miner, Co. D

Update: Pvt. Miner's wartime diary has recently been published.  To read the first chapter and to order a copy for yourself, please visit Well At This Time.


Ephraim Miner was born in Hexebarger, Upper Turkeyfoot Twp, Somerset County, PA on July 1, 1838. He was one of eleven children born to Henry and Polly (Younkin) Minerd. When Ephraim was a young man, his family moved westward to Marshall County, WV, but Ephraim stayed in Upper Turkeyfoot Twp, boarding with a farming family near Kingwood.

Above is a picture of Ephraim as an older man.

On Aug 27, 1862 Ephraim Miner was mustered into the service of Co. D 142nd PA Volunteer Infantry. This was the same regiment that two of his cousins had joined, Martin Miner and Andrew Jackson Rose, both of Co. C.

By early 1863, Ephraim had been hospitalized, and had suffered frostbitten feet and had been deafened by cannon fire. Pvt. Miner spent a year and a half going from hospital to hospital before he was transferred to the Veterans Reserve Corps.

Upon his return, Ephraim was married to Joanna Younkin, and this marriage produced two children, William "Lincoln" Miner and Freeman "Grant" Miner.

A few years later, Joanna passed away and Ephraim was married to Rosetta Harbaugh. This marriage produced three children, seen in the picture below.

In 1896, the family built a new home in Hexebarger, a few miles away from the Old Bethel Church of God, where Ephraim was an active member.

This house still stands in Hexebarger and is still owned by Ephraim's descendents.

On March 11, 1921, Ephraim Miner passed away at home at the age of 83. He was buried in his Civil War uniform, with his buttons polished brightly, and now rests with his 2nd wife Rosetta in the Kingwood IOOF Cemetery in Upper Turkeyfoot Twp, PA.

A very big thank you to Mark Miner. Information and pictures of Ephraim Miner, used by permission of Mark Miner. For a very impressive and extensive look at the life of Ephraim Miner and the entire Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor family, please see minerd.com.

Pvt. Irvin W. Sullivan, Co. C

Pvt. Irvin W. Sullivan was born on Sept 20, 1838 in Upper Turkeyfoot Township, Somerset County, PA to Philip and Rebecca (King) Sullivan. Irvin was the oldest of thirteen children.

Working on the family farm and in the family's tannery, Irvin married Joanna Weimer in 1858. The couple had seven children.

Pvt. Sullivan was mustered into service with his company on Aug 25, 1862 and was able to muster out with them as well on May 29, 1865. During his time in the service, Pvt. Sullivan was a teamster, pulling supply and ammo wagons. According to his military service records, in 1864, Irvin was "On detached service at Corps Hd. Qtrs."

Above are two pictures of Irvin Sullivan from after the war.

Pvt. Irvin W. Sullivan passed away on Apr 18, 1920, less than a year after his wife Joanna passed away. They lay together in the Kingwood IOOF Cemetery in Upper Turkeyfoot Twp, PA.

Joanna Sullivan's obituary

A special thanks to the late Donald Pease for his work and research into the life and military service of his great-grandfather Irvin Sullivan. A fictionalized account of this service, mixed with documentation from the National Archives, was published in 2000 and can be viewed here.