The son of Adam G. & Elizabeth (Herr) Warfel, in 1850 he was living with his family in Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania, but by 1860 was a laborer residing with his grandfather in Conestoga Township, Lancaster County. His family also had moved to Lancaster County by then.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the overstated age of twenty and mustered into federal service at Lancaster March 27, 1865, as a private with Co. B, 214th Pennsylvania Infantry, and honorably discharged with his company March 21, 1866. His father served with him and could have granted permission for him to enlist legally.
He married Catharine Zimmers/Simmers/Simmons (all reported) July 27, 1867, and fathered Emma Frances (b. 03/23/68), Abraham Samuel (b. 12/05/68 or 69), Mary E. (b. 08/21/70 - married Harry Beinhauer), Adam G. (b. 07/25/72), Anna Martha (b. 08/08/74 or 75 - married James H. Keller), George (b. 04/15/75), and Samuel Herr (b. 11/13/86). Several of the children's ages exhibit disagreement on age between the 1880 census and their respective death certificates, commonplace for the era.
Sometime after 1880, he took work with the railroad, a career change that proved to be a huge mistake. In less than a decade, he survived several serious on-the-job accidents, including striking his head on an overhead bridge, being nearly crushed to death between two cars in Littlestown, Adams County, being "thrown over a thirty-foot bank on the Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad," as well as a variety of less serious but still painful accidents. It is hardly surprising then that his death likewise came by railroad although he apparently was not working at the time. An eyewitness riding on a moving train passing through Columbia, Lancaster County, saw Warfel standing beside a line of rail cars parked on an adjacent track. Suddenly, he "pitch[ed] forward" under the moving train. His body was almost instantly mutilated and death certainly came just as quickly. A coroner's inquest concluded his death was an accident without elaborating on what had caused him to fall. There were no reports of anyone else being present who might have caused it. Ironically, he died literally within sight of his home.
His age is subject to question. His death certificate and tombstone claim he was born in 1849, but the ages listed in the 1850 and 1880 censuses coincide with an 1848 birth year. although 1860 claims a ca. 1849 birth. All censuses were taken subsequent to his birthday. Supporting the 1848 birth year is the fact that he had a brother reportedly born in December 1849, which, if true, makes a March 1849 birth rather unlikely. Last, his obituary claims he died at the age of forty-two. While his death occurred prior to his birthday, had he been born in 1849 he would only have been forty with his forty-first only two weeks away.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the overstated age of twenty and mustered into federal service at Lancaster March 27, 1865, as a private with Co. B, 214th Pennsylvania Infantry, and honorably discharged with his company March 21, 1866. His father served with him and could have granted permission for him to enlist legally.
He married Catharine Zimmers/Simmers/Simmons (all reported) July 27, 1867, and fathered Emma Frances (b. 03/23/68), Abraham Samuel (b. 12/05/68 or 69), Mary E. (b. 08/21/70 - married Harry Beinhauer), Adam G. (b. 07/25/72), Anna Martha (b. 08/08/74 or 75 - married James H. Keller), George (b. 04/15/75), and Samuel Herr (b. 11/13/86). Several of the children's ages exhibit disagreement on age between the 1880 census and their respective death certificates, commonplace for the era.
Sometime after 1880, he took work with the railroad, a career change that proved to be a huge mistake. In less than a decade, he survived several serious on-the-job accidents, including striking his head on an overhead bridge, being nearly crushed to death between two cars in Littlestown, Adams County, being "thrown over a thirty-foot bank on the Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad," as well as a variety of less serious but still painful accidents. It is hardly surprising then that his death likewise came by railroad although he apparently was not working at the time. An eyewitness riding on a moving train passing through Columbia, Lancaster County, saw Warfel standing beside a line of rail cars parked on an adjacent track. Suddenly, he "pitch[ed] forward" under the moving train. His body was almost instantly mutilated and death certainly came just as quickly. A coroner's inquest concluded his death was an accident without elaborating on what had caused him to fall. There were no reports of anyone else being present who might have caused it. Ironically, he died literally within sight of his home.
His age is subject to question. His death certificate and tombstone claim he was born in 1849, but the ages listed in the 1850 and 1880 censuses coincide with an 1848 birth year. although 1860 claims a ca. 1849 birth. All censuses were taken subsequent to his birthday. Supporting the 1848 birth year is the fact that he had a brother reportedly born in December 1849, which, if true, makes a March 1849 birth rather unlikely. Last, his obituary claims he died at the age of forty-two. While his death occurred prior to his birthday, had he been born in 1849 he would only have been forty with his forty-first only two weeks away.
The son of Adam G. & Elizabeth (Herr) Warfel, in 1850 he was living with his family in Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania, but by 1860 was a laborer residing with his grandfather in Conestoga Township, Lancaster County. His family also had moved to Lancaster County by then.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the overstated age of twenty and mustered into federal service at Lancaster March 27, 1865, as a private with Co. B, 214th Pennsylvania Infantry, and honorably discharged with his company March 21, 1866. His father served with him and could have granted permission for him to enlist legally.
He married Catharine Zimmers/Simmers/Simmons (all reported) July 27, 1867, and fathered Emma Frances (b. 03/23/68), Abraham Samuel (b. 12/05/68 or 69), Mary E. (b. 08/21/70 - married Harry Beinhauer), Adam G. (b. 07/25/72), Anna Martha (b. 08/08/74 or 75 - married James H. Keller), George (b. 04/15/75), and Samuel Herr (b. 11/13/86). Several of the children's ages exhibit disagreement on age between the 1880 census and their respective death certificates, commonplace for the era.
Sometime after 1880, he took work with the railroad, a career change that proved to be a huge mistake. In less than a decade, he survived several serious on-the-job accidents, including striking his head on an overhead bridge, being nearly crushed to death between two cars in Littlestown, Adams County, being "thrown over a thirty-foot bank on the Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad," as well as a variety of less serious but still painful accidents. It is hardly surprising then that his death likewise came by railroad although he apparently was not working at the time. An eyewitness riding on a moving train passing through Columbia, Lancaster County, saw Warfel standing beside a line of rail cars parked on an adjacent track. Suddenly, he "pitch[ed] forward" under the moving train. His body was almost instantly mutilated and death certainly came just as quickly. A coroner's inquest concluded his death was an accident without elaborating on what had caused him to fall. There were no reports of anyone else being present who might have caused it. Ironically, he died literally within sight of his home.
His age is subject to question. His death certificate and tombstone claim he was born in 1849, but the ages listed in the 1850 and 1880 censuses coincide with an 1848 birth year. although 1860 claims a ca. 1849 birth. All censuses were taken subsequent to his birthday. Supporting the 1848 birth year is the fact that he had a brother reportedly born in December 1849, which, if true, makes a March 1849 birth rather unlikely. Last, his obituary claims he died at the age of forty-two. While his death occurred prior to his birthday, had he been born in 1849 he would only have been forty with his forty-first only two weeks away.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the overstated age of twenty and mustered into federal service at Lancaster March 27, 1865, as a private with Co. B, 214th Pennsylvania Infantry, and honorably discharged with his company March 21, 1866. His father served with him and could have granted permission for him to enlist legally.
He married Catharine Zimmers/Simmers/Simmons (all reported) July 27, 1867, and fathered Emma Frances (b. 03/23/68), Abraham Samuel (b. 12/05/68 or 69), Mary E. (b. 08/21/70 - married Harry Beinhauer), Adam G. (b. 07/25/72), Anna Martha (b. 08/08/74 or 75 - married James H. Keller), George (b. 04/15/75), and Samuel Herr (b. 11/13/86). Several of the children's ages exhibit disagreement on age between the 1880 census and their respective death certificates, commonplace for the era.
Sometime after 1880, he took work with the railroad, a career change that proved to be a huge mistake. In less than a decade, he survived several serious on-the-job accidents, including striking his head on an overhead bridge, being nearly crushed to death between two cars in Littlestown, Adams County, being "thrown over a thirty-foot bank on the Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad," as well as a variety of less serious but still painful accidents. It is hardly surprising then that his death likewise came by railroad although he apparently was not working at the time. An eyewitness riding on a moving train passing through Columbia, Lancaster County, saw Warfel standing beside a line of rail cars parked on an adjacent track. Suddenly, he "pitch[ed] forward" under the moving train. His body was almost instantly mutilated and death certainly came just as quickly. A coroner's inquest concluded his death was an accident without elaborating on what had caused him to fall. There were no reports of anyone else being present who might have caused it. Ironically, he died literally within sight of his home.
His age is subject to question. His death certificate and tombstone claim he was born in 1849, but the ages listed in the 1850 and 1880 censuses coincide with an 1848 birth year. although 1860 claims a ca. 1849 birth. All censuses were taken subsequent to his birthday. Supporting the 1848 birth year is the fact that he had a brother reportedly born in December 1849, which, if true, makes a March 1849 birth rather unlikely. Last, his obituary claims he died at the age of forty-two. While his death occurred prior to his birthday, had he been born in 1849 he would only have been forty with his forty-first only two weeks away.
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