Chauncey C. Ackley was born on September 6, 1840, in New York to Roswell and Almira Ackley. His father was a farmer who owned $3,500 of real estate and $900 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Clymer, Pennsylvania, and by the early 1860s, he was working as a farmer.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on August 27, 1861, and he mustered in as a commissary sergeant in the 11^th Pennsylvania Infantry. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 11 inches tall, with black hair and grey eyes. The regiment took part in the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, and the Battle of Fredericksburg. He was discharged for disability on December 13, 1862.

 

He returned to the Union army on September 7, 1864, receiving a commission as a 2^nd lieutenant in Company D of the 207^th Pennsylvania Infantry. He was wounded near Petersburg on April 2, 1865, and he mustered out on May 31, 1865.

 

He returned to Clymer after the war and resumed his work as a farmer. He applied for a federal pension in December 1866 and eventually received one. By 1870, he owned $6,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property. He eventually became “one of the largest land owners in the county.” He attended at least one veterans’ reunion, and a local writer declared him an “enthusiastic Grand Army [of the Republic] man.” By 1890, he was suffering from chronic diarrhea, piles, spinal issues, and deafness. He married Mary A. Higgins on January 3, 1895, and their daughter Margaret was born around 1896. He died of pneumonia on February 9, 1898.

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