The son of Samuel & Mary (Kramer) Dougherty, in 1860 he was a laborer presumably living in or near Cambria County, Pennsylvania, although he is not found with certainty in that census. He stood 5' 8" tall and had dark hair and gray eyes.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the stated age of nineteen in Cambria County August 28, 1861, and mustered into federal service at Harrisburg August 30 as a private with Co. A, 55th Pennsylvania Infantry. He re-enlisted at the stated age of twenty-two as a Veteran Volunteer November 30, 1863, at Beaufort, South Carolina, promoted to corporal September 1, 1864, but reduced to ranks August 12, 1865. He honorably discharged with his company August 30, 1865.
Two of his daughters' death certificate report conflicting marital information. One says that he married Georgia-born Sarah Ann Rhea and the other claims Virginia-born Sarah Fuhrman. They married apparently ca. 1864 while he was on Veteran furlough. Whether two woman named Sarah or one with a previous married name are involved is as yet unknown. He fathered Mary Catherine "Kate" (b. 03/09/68 but is four in the 1870 census - married E. Brokaw), Alexander H. (b. 12/27/70), Carrie Mae (b. 09/24/84 or 85 - married a Kaiser and Howerd H. Schriver), and Samuel (b. ?). He was a member of Harrisburg's Simmons Post No. 116, G.A.R. Cause of his death is listed as "carcinoma of liver."
Reports of his age vary and are unusual even for a time when inaccurate reporting of ages was virtually the norm. According to his death certificate, he was born August 14, 1837 (used above), but that document's stated age of death of 83-1-5 calculates to a birth date of August 14, 1834. He is in the 1870 census as a twenty-nine-year-old, i.e., born ca. 1841, and does not appear in another Dauphin County census until 1910 when he is listed as seventy-three, i.e., born ca. 1837. His tombstone says he was born 1836, and his obituary in the Harrisburg Evening News claims he died "in his 84th year," i.e., ca. 1833. None of those ages, of course, matches his two stated ages at enlistment. It is significant that the re-enlistment age is consistent with the first age, which reduces the chances of clerical error. Moreover, a recruit of his age, whatever it precisely might have been, had no reason to understate his age by up to six years. And there is no conflation of different men with the same name involved here. There was but one Robert Dougherty in Co. A, 55th Pennsylvania Infantry, variant spellings taken into account. If asked to state plainly how old Robert Dougherty was, I would have to state firmly, "I don't have a clue."
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the stated age of nineteen in Cambria County August 28, 1861, and mustered into federal service at Harrisburg August 30 as a private with Co. A, 55th Pennsylvania Infantry. He re-enlisted at the stated age of twenty-two as a Veteran Volunteer November 30, 1863, at Beaufort, South Carolina, promoted to corporal September 1, 1864, but reduced to ranks August 12, 1865. He honorably discharged with his company August 30, 1865.
Two of his daughters' death certificate report conflicting marital information. One says that he married Georgia-born Sarah Ann Rhea and the other claims Virginia-born Sarah Fuhrman. They married apparently ca. 1864 while he was on Veteran furlough. Whether two woman named Sarah or one with a previous married name are involved is as yet unknown. He fathered Mary Catherine "Kate" (b. 03/09/68 but is four in the 1870 census - married E. Brokaw), Alexander H. (b. 12/27/70), Carrie Mae (b. 09/24/84 or 85 - married a Kaiser and Howerd H. Schriver), and Samuel (b. ?). He was a member of Harrisburg's Simmons Post No. 116, G.A.R. Cause of his death is listed as "carcinoma of liver."
Reports of his age vary and are unusual even for a time when inaccurate reporting of ages was virtually the norm. According to his death certificate, he was born August 14, 1837 (used above), but that document's stated age of death of 83-1-5 calculates to a birth date of August 14, 1834. He is in the 1870 census as a twenty-nine-year-old, i.e., born ca. 1841, and does not appear in another Dauphin County census until 1910 when he is listed as seventy-three, i.e., born ca. 1837. His tombstone says he was born 1836, and his obituary in the Harrisburg Evening News claims he died "in his 84th year," i.e., ca. 1833. None of those ages, of course, matches his two stated ages at enlistment. It is significant that the re-enlistment age is consistent with the first age, which reduces the chances of clerical error. Moreover, a recruit of his age, whatever it precisely might have been, had no reason to understate his age by up to six years. And there is no conflation of different men with the same name involved here. There was but one Robert Dougherty in Co. A, 55th Pennsylvania Infantry, variant spellings taken into account. If asked to state plainly how old Robert Dougherty was, I would have to state firmly, "I don't have a clue."
The son of Samuel & Mary (Kramer) Dougherty, in 1860 he was a laborer presumably living in or near Cambria County, Pennsylvania, although he is not found with certainty in that census. He stood 5' 8" tall and had dark hair and gray eyes.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the stated age of nineteen in Cambria County August 28, 1861, and mustered into federal service at Harrisburg August 30 as a private with Co. A, 55th Pennsylvania Infantry. He re-enlisted at the stated age of twenty-two as a Veteran Volunteer November 30, 1863, at Beaufort, South Carolina, promoted to corporal September 1, 1864, but reduced to ranks August 12, 1865. He honorably discharged with his company August 30, 1865.
Two of his daughters' death certificate report conflicting marital information. One says that he married Georgia-born Sarah Ann Rhea and the other claims Virginia-born Sarah Fuhrman. They married apparently ca. 1864 while he was on Veteran furlough. Whether two woman named Sarah or one with a previous married name are involved is as yet unknown. He fathered Mary Catherine "Kate" (b. 03/09/68 but is four in the 1870 census - married E. Brokaw), Alexander H. (b. 12/27/70), Carrie Mae (b. 09/24/84 or 85 - married a Kaiser and Howerd H. Schriver), and Samuel (b. ?). He was a member of Harrisburg's Simmons Post No. 116, G.A.R. Cause of his death is listed as "carcinoma of liver."
Reports of his age vary and are unusual even for a time when inaccurate reporting of ages was virtually the norm. According to his death certificate, he was born August 14, 1837 (used above), but that document's stated age of death of 83-1-5 calculates to a birth date of August 14, 1834. He is in the 1870 census as a twenty-nine-year-old, i.e., born ca. 1841, and does not appear in another Dauphin County census until 1910 when he is listed as seventy-three, i.e., born ca. 1837. His tombstone says he was born 1836, and his obituary in the Harrisburg Evening News claims he died "in his 84th year," i.e., ca. 1833. None of those ages, of course, matches his two stated ages at enlistment. It is significant that the re-enlistment age is consistent with the first age, which reduces the chances of clerical error. Moreover, a recruit of his age, whatever it precisely might have been, had no reason to understate his age by up to six years. And there is no conflation of different men with the same name involved here. There was but one Robert Dougherty in Co. A, 55th Pennsylvania Infantry, variant spellings taken into account. If asked to state plainly how old Robert Dougherty was, I would have to state firmly, "I don't have a clue."
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the stated age of nineteen in Cambria County August 28, 1861, and mustered into federal service at Harrisburg August 30 as a private with Co. A, 55th Pennsylvania Infantry. He re-enlisted at the stated age of twenty-two as a Veteran Volunteer November 30, 1863, at Beaufort, South Carolina, promoted to corporal September 1, 1864, but reduced to ranks August 12, 1865. He honorably discharged with his company August 30, 1865.
Two of his daughters' death certificate report conflicting marital information. One says that he married Georgia-born Sarah Ann Rhea and the other claims Virginia-born Sarah Fuhrman. They married apparently ca. 1864 while he was on Veteran furlough. Whether two woman named Sarah or one with a previous married name are involved is as yet unknown. He fathered Mary Catherine "Kate" (b. 03/09/68 but is four in the 1870 census - married E. Brokaw), Alexander H. (b. 12/27/70), Carrie Mae (b. 09/24/84 or 85 - married a Kaiser and Howerd H. Schriver), and Samuel (b. ?). He was a member of Harrisburg's Simmons Post No. 116, G.A.R. Cause of his death is listed as "carcinoma of liver."
Reports of his age vary and are unusual even for a time when inaccurate reporting of ages was virtually the norm. According to his death certificate, he was born August 14, 1837 (used above), but that document's stated age of death of 83-1-5 calculates to a birth date of August 14, 1834. He is in the 1870 census as a twenty-nine-year-old, i.e., born ca. 1841, and does not appear in another Dauphin County census until 1910 when he is listed as seventy-three, i.e., born ca. 1837. His tombstone says he was born 1836, and his obituary in the Harrisburg Evening News claims he died "in his 84th year," i.e., ca. 1833. None of those ages, of course, matches his two stated ages at enlistment. It is significant that the re-enlistment age is consistent with the first age, which reduces the chances of clerical error. Moreover, a recruit of his age, whatever it precisely might have been, had no reason to understate his age by up to six years. And there is no conflation of different men with the same name involved here. There was but one Robert Dougherty in Co. A, 55th Pennsylvania Infantry, variant spellings taken into account. If asked to state plainly how old Robert Dougherty was, I would have to state firmly, "I don't have a clue."
Inscription
55 Reg Pa Inf
Gravesite Details
no death date given
Family Members
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