Philip Henry Michaels was born on February 7, 1837, in Cherry Valley, New York, to Jacob and Mary Michaels. His father was a blacksmith. He was baptized on December 17, 1843, in the Dutch Reformed Church in Churchtown, New York.

 

He grew up and attended school in Cherry Valley, and he married Minerva Eckler around 1858. They had at least six children: Alvin, born around 1859; William, born around 1866; Howard, born around 1869; Angie, born around 1875; Bertha, born around 1878; and Clara, born around 1880. They lived in Cherry Valley, and by the early 1860s, he was working as a farmer.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on January 1, 1862, and he mustered in as a corporal in the 3^rd New York Light Artillery on January 7. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 9½ inches tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. The regiment took part in the Seven Days’ Battles, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Overland Campaign, the siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox campaign. He was eventually reduced to the ranks, and he mustered out on June 26, 1865.

 

Michaels returned to Cherry Valley after the war and resumed his work as a farmer. They moved to Sharon, New York, in the 1870s, and by 1880, he was earning a living as a wagon maker. By 1900, they were living in Maryland, New York. His wife Minerva died in 1918, and by 1920, he was living in his daughter Bertha’s household in Middlefield, New York. He died sometime after 1920.

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