John Keller Fernsler

In 1860 he was a prosperous 38 year old clerk at Donaldson in Schuylkill County, PA. He enlisted at Tremont, PA on 14 September 1861 and mustered on 23 September in Pottsville as a Sergeant in Company H, 96th Pennsylvania Infantry. He was appointed 2nd Lieutenant on 5 March 1862 and promoted to First Lieutenant on 1 September.

He was with his Company in action at Crampton's Gap on South Mountain on 14 September and at Antietam on 17 September 1862.

He resigned his commission on 24 February 1863.

By 1870 and to at least 1880 he was a successful cabinet maker in Pottsville, PA.

His service basics from Bates1 and the Card File.2 His activity in Maryland from his diary extract typescript [pdf] in the Harrisburg Civil War Roundtable Collection at the US Army Heritage & Education Center. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860-1880. His gravesite is on Findagrave; there's no record of him being named Johannes - some genealogists have that as his father's name.

He married Sarah Anna Seitzinger (1826-1904) in January 1845 and they had 13 children. His picture is from a photograph in the collection of family in Pottsville, kindly supplied by David A Ward.

06/22/1822 in PA

12/16/1884; Pottsville, PA; burial in Odd Fellows Cemetery, Pottsville, PA