Volume ii
Volume ii - (738 pages)
Highlights the stories of 32 families of Brethren, Mennonite and other faiths who lived in the Greenmount, Linville and Edom areas of northwest Rockingham County, Virginia
Now you can explore the personal struggles of families in Rockingham County, Virginia, who held to their convictions regarding slavery and war and maintained their loyalty to the Union during the Civil War. In Volume II of Unionists and the Civil War Experience in the Shenandoah Valley, you will meet 32 such families who lived in the Greenmount, Edom and Linville communities of the county.
Listed below are the names of the 32 claimants in Volume II. In addition to each claim, the testimony of neighbors and family members opens windows of insight and understanding into each claim and the difficulties county residents experienced as the war raged up and down the Valley. John L. Heatwole, Valley historian and author of The Burning, sets the book in context. In the preface he writes, “Without addressing the impact of the war on the civilian population and the drama of dissent, the story of the Civil War is incomplete and one-dimensional.” Here are the areas and names of the families featured in Volume II.
Greenmount
Michael W. Bowman
Samuel Bowman
Mary Brenneman
Martin Cromer
George W.M. Evers
Adam Gowl
Emanuel Grove
John Hildebrand
William Hinkle
Benjamin Miller
Jacob Miller
Michael M. Miller
Christian Myers
Samuel Niswander
Samuel H. Plaugher
James Ritchie
Jackson Showalter
Emanuel Spitzer
Jacob Wenger
Edom
John H. Beery
David C. Breneman
Henry Geil
Jacob Geil
John Geil
Jacob Shank, Jr.
John E. Shaver
George W. Showalter
Isaac Wenger
Jacob W. Zirkle
Linville
John D. Miller
Anthony Rhodes
Henry J. Showalter
Rockingham County businessmen Norman R. Wenger and David S. Rodes have researched the archival records of the Southern Claims Commission and compiled the claims these families submitted to the U.S. Government for compensation after the war. The claimants' stories, written by Emmert F. Bittinger, reveal physical hardship, struggles of conscience and fear of losing one’s life.
Editor Emmert Bittinger, Professor Emeritus of Bridgewater College, has prepared the numerous documents for publication and written an insightful introduction to Volumes I-V. His comments and claim summaries set each in context and help the reader to understand the claim and how the Claims Commission responded to it.
This series is co-published by the Brethren & Mennonite Heritage Center,
(formerly Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center)
P.O. Box 1563, Harrisonburg, VA 22803