ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
A History of the Cpounty
A Genealogical and Biographical Record of Represntative Families
Volume II ~ J.H. Beers, & Co., Chicago, 1914

JOSIAH GEORGE, a veteran of the Civil War, residing in South Bend Township, Armstrong, Co., Pa., was born in that township July 3, 1833, son of Jacob and Hannah (Frantz) George.

Jacob George was born in Pennsylvania and was a saddler by trade, aslo owning and cultivating a farm of 123 acres, in South Bend Township which he bought in 1840, and which afterwards was owned by his eldest son, Samuel. Jacob George died in 1851. His wife, Hannah Frantz, also born in Pennsylvania, survived him many years, dying in 1894, when within seven years of the century mark. They were members of the Lutheran Church. Of the family of seven sons and one daughter, Josiah is the sole survivor.

Josiah George was seventeen years of age when his father died and he remained with his mother until twenty years old, when he learned the carpenter’s trade. Three years were given to work in this line and fifteen years to work in the oil fields of Pennsylvania and New York.


Josiah George - Civil War Picture in 1861

In 1861 he enlisted for service in the Civil War, entering Company D, 62nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, as a private, and when discharged was a corporal. During the three long years of army service he saw much hardship and faced many dangers. He was in the seven days of fighting in the Wilderness, was at Malvern Hill, and at Gaines Mill was wounded. After a short period in a hospital he rejoined his regiment, in the Army of the Potomoc, at Cold Harbor, and was with his comrades at Gettysburg when his regiment fell back after an attack, and was taken prisoner by the Confederate forces.

With other prisoners he was sent to Belle Ise, Richmond, Va., where he was kept for ten weeks, his daily rations being eight ounces of bread and one ounce of meat, the latter cooked with salt. Then came an order for the paroling of 550 Union soldiers, and by a fortunate chance his name was the 548th on the list, otherwise he would have been sent to the dreaded prison at Andersonville, Ga., and might never have lived to return at all.

When he reached Union headquarters he was transferred to the 155th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, the former regiment having been mustered out, as it had already served five months when he joined it. In this regiment he also took part in a number of engagements with the enemy and was at Petersburg, Va., at the time of the mine explosion. He served entirely through his period of enlistment and was honorably discharged in 1864.

Returning to Pennsylvania , for thirteen years afterward, Mr. George worked on the farm of J. Wray, in Kiskiminetas Township, Armstrong Co., and is now farming in South Bend Township. Mr. George was married April 23, 1895, at Pittsburgh, Pa., to Miss M. Rupert. They are members of the Lutheran Church. In politics, he is a Democrat, but has never been an active member of the party, although he has always been deeply concerned in all that relates to progress, development and stability of the country he helped save from disunion.