Joseph A. Stair
Joseph A. Stair was born on July 19, 1833, in present-day Germany to Anthony Stair. He immigrated to the United States in 1851 and settled in Middlesex, Pennsylvania. He married Catherine Betzel around 1856, and they had at least five children: Mary, born around 1856; Samuel, born around 1858; Emeline, born around 1862; Clare, born around 1866; and Anna, born around 1868. Stair worked as a mason in Middlesex.
He enlisted in the Union army and mustered in as a private in Company G of the 84th Pennsylvania Infantry on September 8, 1862. The regiment took part in the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Overland Campaign, and the siege of Petersburg. It was consolidated with the 57th Pennsylvania Infantry in January 1865, and he mustered out on June 29, 1865.
Stair settled in Carroll, Pennsylvania, after the war and resumed his work as a stone mason. By 1870, he owned $600 of real estate and $100 of personal property. He supported the Democratic Party and played an active role in local Democratic politics. He became a prominent member of the community. In 1878, a local writer observed that he “has been growing very popular as a mason…and his job certainly stamps him as a master workman in his art.”
In 1878, a “gang of outlaws” broke into his house and “stole nearly all his meat, poisoning what they left, with the intention, no doubt, of killing Mr. Stair and family.” His wife ate some of the poisoned meat and “was taken very ill shortly after,” but she ultimately recovered. By 1890, Stair was suffering from rheumatism. He applied for a federal pension in August 1890 and eventually secured one. He died of “organic heart disease” in Carroll on January 18, 1908.
DATABASE CONTENT
| (1642) | Stair, Joseph A. | 1833-07-19 | 1908-01-18 |
- Conflict Side: Union
- Role: Soldier
- Rank in: Private
- Rank out: Private
- Rank highest: Private
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
Documents - Records: 7
- (5630) [writer] ~ Joseph A. Stair to George W. Jacobs, 6 January 1863
- (5632) [writer] ~ Joseph A. Stair to George W. Jacobs, 16 March 1863
- (5633) [associated with] ~ John P. Brindle to George W. Jacobs, 28 March 1863
- (5636) [associated with] ~ William C. Wolf to George W. Jacobs, 16 February 1864
- (5640) [associated with] ~ William C. Wolf to George W. Jacobs, 16 November 1864
- (5642) [writer] ~ Joseph A. Stair to George W. Jacobs, 27 January 1863
- (6616) [writer] ~ Joseph A. Stair to George W. Jacobs, 24 February 1865
People - Records: 1
- (1643) Jacobs, George W. is the [friend of] (1642) Stair, Joseph A.
Places - Records: 2
Regiments - Records: 2
SOURCES
1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1900 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; 1890 Veterans Census, available from Ancestry.com; Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, available from Ancestry.com; General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1968, available from Ancestry.com; The Perry County Democrat, 13 August 1873, 19 August 1874, 30 January 1878; The Valley Sentinel, 20 September 1878
