I recently received a very nice email from a descendant of a neighbor and fellow soldier mentioned in John W. Derr's letters. I have discussed the connection and relationship of John to Henry Francis Dengler, or Henry F. Dengler in prior postings, and today I provide an update and correction to errors I made in that posting.
I have since updated the prior blog, which I link here, and provide the changes that I added....
**** UPDATE: October 7, 2012.....
After being contacted by a descendant of the Dengler family, I have found that my assumptions in the paragraph above were incorrect. In the numerous references by John W. Derr to "Dengler", he reference to this person as..."Dengler", "Francis Dengler", "Francis", "Henry F. Dengler", "Henry Francis Dengler", "H. Dengler", or "H.F. Dengler". I always assumed that these were one in the same person. They were not. Francis Dengler was the father of Henry Francis Dengler. Henry F. Dengler always went by the name Henry. References in the letters to Francis, vs. Henry F., were related to the situation at hand. John referred to Henry whenever he was discussing shipping items home or having items carried back from home, since in the role as Quartermaster in 17th Pa. Cavalry, Henry had better access to shipping and transportation and contact with the home front. Francis Dengler, however, was a hotel and tavern owner, and was the postmaster for Barry, Pa, during the Civil War.
The beauty of this blog is that I get as much out of it as I give. People have been gracious enough to provide information, photographs, and corrections as appropriate...and for that I and grateful. Thank you Mary Anne.
What makes all of this important to correct is that blogs such as this will live on in the ether of the internet and erroneous assumptions and/or research can cloud facts and change this little corner of history. That is why I encourage anyone who sees an error in my postings to contact me with updates and information which can "uncloud" the history.
The interaction with the Dengler descendant also provided valuable information and artifacts that allowed me to see something that I had never before seen. This person, sent me a photograph that contained images of Henry F. Dengler as well as William Derr, the younger brother of John W. Derr. I was very excited to see the faces of people I had only read about in the letters. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
Another interesting item....William Derr does not really resemble John W. Derr per the photograph I received. At first I was a little skeptical, but then I realized that William resembled someone that I had seen before. And then it hit me. William looks very much like my Great Grandfather, George Derr...the son of John W. Derr. I'll let you decide if you agree with my assessment.
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| Mary Ellen Wagner Derr (GGrandmother) and George W. Derr (GGranfather)...Son of John W. Derr ca. 1944 |
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| William Derr and Mary Derr (Brother of John W. Derr) ca. 1895 |
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| William Derr (Brother of John W. Derr) ca. 1895 |
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| George W. Derr (Son of John W. Derr) ca. 1944 |
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| William Derr (left) and Henry F. Dengler (Center holding child's hand) ca. 1895 |
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| Henry F. Dengler (17th Pa. Cavalry) ca. 1895 |
Jim D.
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