Glass, Gettysburg, and the GAR!

 My husband and I are in the time of our lives where our parents are downsizing and simplifying their lives, which means we (as natural preservers of family history) are acquiring more memorabilia (I know, right at the time in which I’m trying to sift through our own things!).

Russel Ralph Pealer
GAR Uniform

This week, Jim brought back to PA a curiosity from his father’s collection, something that we are fairly certain came from Jim’s father’s grandfather, Russel Ralph Pealer (Jim’s middle name comes from this amazing man). 

I had never before seen this glass bowl, it wasn’t something prominently displayed in their home, instead it had been relocated to the cluttered basement office Jim’s father kept. It’s a curiosity and like the silver in my last post, this took me down a rabbit hole into the world of Glass, Gettysburg, and the GAR!

Glass

I found this glass piece curious, since it plainly says “Gettysburg, 1863” and “Souvenir of”, it is suggestive of a souvenir that someone would have picked up from Gettysburg commemorating the battle of Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863. It didn’t look old enough to be from 1863 and it was clearly something to commemorate the battle long afterwards. So, how old is it actually and how did it come by being a souvenir in Jim’s father’s family? I am reminded how lucky we are to be living in the age of the internet and at my fingertips I could start to explore.

Did you know that there is an Early American Patterned Glass (EAPG) Society? Nope, neither did I! I guess I should have learned from my investigation into my great-grandmother’s Irises (Flowers are Forever!), that there is a society for nearly everything! 

As I was searching (using Google Lens) for an image or information about this little souvenir, I came across this nearly identical glass piece, the only difference was the location for where the souvenir is acquired.  Clearly, the company that made this mass marketed piece would just gold foil different names onto the pots for sale at various tourist attractions. I started seeing “EAPG” on all sorts of websites describing various glass pieces and learned that EAPG stood for Early American Patterned Glass and they have a society with an absolutely AMAZING website that catalogues all different companies and patterns of glass.

Although I didn’t find the “exact” glass, it is pretty darn close to the United States Glass Company’s match/toothpick holder pressed glass “Colorado” collection. I am fairly certain that this was produced by the US Glass Co around 1913, which would have been the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Gettysburg

Many people know that Gettysburg was an important war during the Civil War. I have mentioned before in an earlier blog last Memorial Day, that both Jim and I had great-great-grandfathers who bravely served in the Civil War and I shared about the records I found in the National Archives. Both ancestors also bravely fought in the Battle at Gettysburg. Jim’s ancestor, Russel Ralph Pealer, was in the 16th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Their regiment joined the 3rd day of the battle on July 3. The monument to the 16th PA Calvary was erected in 1884.

Lynn’s ancestor, Henry Clay Stoddard, was a member of the 24th Michigan which was part of the Iron Brigade and arrived to Gettysburg July 1 and fought for the 3 days. The 24th Michigan lost 397 out of 496 soldiers, an 80% casualty rate in this battle, second only to the 1st Minnesota who suffered a 82% casualty rate. In 1889, the surviving members congregated for the installation of a monument at Gettysburg in 1889. I believe my great-great-grandfather attended this, but I couldn’t pick him out of the photo. He died in 1909, so he would not have attended the 50th Anniversary in 1913.

GAR (Grand Army of the Republic)

Henry Clay Stoddard

Both of our ancestors were proud members of the GAR in Michigan. "The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, and grew to include hundreds of "posts" (local community units) across the North and West. It was dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member, Albert Woolson."(1) Henry Clay Stoddard was a member of the Steedman Post, No. 198 in Reed City, Michigan and served in many leadership positions within the local Post. Russel Ralph Pealer, was a very active member in his local post (Prutzman Post No. 72, Three Rivers, MI) and also state organization and even served as the Statewide “Department Commander”, the highest position in the state in 1899. Here is a photo of his recommendation for election to the position and GAR medals from when he served as a representative to the national reunion encampments.

GAR Medals from 1901-1917
from various encampments.

Although I found no proof that R. R. Pealer went to Gettysburg in 1913 for the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, I think it is a pretty safe bet that he was one of the 43,000 people who traveled to Gettysburg for that commemoration and probably picked up the little glass trinket along the way.