The son of John & Mary (McCrery/McCreery) Drennen and stepson of Elizabeth (Hartline) Drennen, in 1860 he was a saddler living with the Hiram Wilson family in Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He stood 6' 1" tall and had brown hair and gray eyes.
A Civil War veteran, he first enlisted at the stated age of twenty-one in Lancaster July 30, 1862, mustered into federal service there August 11 as a private with Co. B, 122nd Pennsylvania Infantry, and honorably discharged with his company May 15, 1863. (His brother Jesse Milton Drennen served in the same company and regiment.) He next enlisted at the stated age of twenty-two in Lititz, Lancaster County, on June 28, 1863, and mustered into federal service at Harrisburg June 30 as a private with the six-month organization of Independent Battery I, Pennsylvania Light Artillery. He re-enlisted, still claiming to be twenty-two years of age, in Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, on December 28, 1863, re-mustered into federal service at Harrisburg December 31 as a private with the three-year organization of Independent Battery I, and honorably discharged with the battery June 23, 1865, in Philadelphia.
After the war, he married Rachel Jane lnu. and fathered Addison Wilson (b. 10/14/66 - death certificate claims '69 but the 1870 census and biology say otherwise) and Cecelia (b. 03/28/69 - married William E. Green). In 1870, he was living with his family in Colerain Township, Lancaster County, but later - possibly after Jane's death - he moved to Avondale, Chester County, his residence on March 19, 1902, when he entered the soldiers' home at Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio. On October 1, 1907, the facility dropped him from the rolls as "AWOL." Actually, there was a very good reason for his absence but one clearly the home was not yet aware.
On the last day of his life, Wesley H. Drennen was in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Why he was there is a mystery because there is no apparent record of residence, and his stated his next-of-kin, daughter Cecelia, lived in Delaware County. He donned a G.A.R. uniform and went "walking on "P[ennsylvania] R[ail].R[oad]" "three miles west of" Lewistown. He was on the tracks when mail train No. 33 roared down the line and slammed into him, literally splattering his remains all over the engine. Identification of the mangled corpse was possible thanks only to documentation found in his pocket describing his residence in the Dayton soldiers home. Drennen's demise has all the earmarks of a suicide by a method then not uncommonly chosen by those seeking a sudden and painless end to life.
Several online family trees report his birth date as June 23, 1837. This researcher cannot comment on the month and day, but that year is almost certainly wrong. If correct, he would have been twenty-five at his 1862 enlistment, but he claimed twenty-one on that occasion and twenty-two at both 1863 enlistments. Censuses agree with those three age claims. Moreover, Civil War recruits in that age category were not prone to understate their ages.
His first name was frequently spelled "Westley," perhaps mirroring the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect that routinely adds a "t" sound to words ending in an "s" sound.
Above with credit to Dennis Brandt, Findagrave Contributor 47232334.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maintainer 48280046 is a maternal second great-grandnephew.
A Civil War veteran, he first enlisted at the stated age of twenty-one in Lancaster July 30, 1862, mustered into federal service there August 11 as a private with Co. B, 122nd Pennsylvania Infantry, and honorably discharged with his company May 15, 1863. (His brother Jesse Milton Drennen served in the same company and regiment.) He next enlisted at the stated age of twenty-two in Lititz, Lancaster County, on June 28, 1863, and mustered into federal service at Harrisburg June 30 as a private with the six-month organization of Independent Battery I, Pennsylvania Light Artillery. He re-enlisted, still claiming to be twenty-two years of age, in Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, on December 28, 1863, re-mustered into federal service at Harrisburg December 31 as a private with the three-year organization of Independent Battery I, and honorably discharged with the battery June 23, 1865, in Philadelphia.
After the war, he married Rachel Jane lnu. and fathered Addison Wilson (b. 10/14/66 - death certificate claims '69 but the 1870 census and biology say otherwise) and Cecelia (b. 03/28/69 - married William E. Green). In 1870, he was living with his family in Colerain Township, Lancaster County, but later - possibly after Jane's death - he moved to Avondale, Chester County, his residence on March 19, 1902, when he entered the soldiers' home at Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio. On October 1, 1907, the facility dropped him from the rolls as "AWOL." Actually, there was a very good reason for his absence but one clearly the home was not yet aware.
On the last day of his life, Wesley H. Drennen was in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Why he was there is a mystery because there is no apparent record of residence, and his stated his next-of-kin, daughter Cecelia, lived in Delaware County. He donned a G.A.R. uniform and went "walking on "P[ennsylvania] R[ail].R[oad]" "three miles west of" Lewistown. He was on the tracks when mail train No. 33 roared down the line and slammed into him, literally splattering his remains all over the engine. Identification of the mangled corpse was possible thanks only to documentation found in his pocket describing his residence in the Dayton soldiers home. Drennen's demise has all the earmarks of a suicide by a method then not uncommonly chosen by those seeking a sudden and painless end to life.
Several online family trees report his birth date as June 23, 1837. This researcher cannot comment on the month and day, but that year is almost certainly wrong. If correct, he would have been twenty-five at his 1862 enlistment, but he claimed twenty-one on that occasion and twenty-two at both 1863 enlistments. Censuses agree with those three age claims. Moreover, Civil War recruits in that age category were not prone to understate their ages.
His first name was frequently spelled "Westley," perhaps mirroring the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect that routinely adds a "t" sound to words ending in an "s" sound.
Above with credit to Dennis Brandt, Findagrave Contributor 47232334.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maintainer 48280046 is a maternal second great-grandnephew.
The son of John & Mary (McCrery/McCreery) Drennen and stepson of Elizabeth (Hartline) Drennen, in 1860 he was a saddler living with the Hiram Wilson family in Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He stood 6' 1" tall and had brown hair and gray eyes.
A Civil War veteran, he first enlisted at the stated age of twenty-one in Lancaster July 30, 1862, mustered into federal service there August 11 as a private with Co. B, 122nd Pennsylvania Infantry, and honorably discharged with his company May 15, 1863. (His brother Jesse Milton Drennen served in the same company and regiment.) He next enlisted at the stated age of twenty-two in Lititz, Lancaster County, on June 28, 1863, and mustered into federal service at Harrisburg June 30 as a private with the six-month organization of Independent Battery I, Pennsylvania Light Artillery. He re-enlisted, still claiming to be twenty-two years of age, in Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, on December 28, 1863, re-mustered into federal service at Harrisburg December 31 as a private with the three-year organization of Independent Battery I, and honorably discharged with the battery June 23, 1865, in Philadelphia.
After the war, he married Rachel Jane lnu. and fathered Addison Wilson (b. 10/14/66 - death certificate claims '69 but the 1870 census and biology say otherwise) and Cecelia (b. 03/28/69 - married William E. Green). In 1870, he was living with his family in Colerain Township, Lancaster County, but later - possibly after Jane's death - he moved to Avondale, Chester County, his residence on March 19, 1902, when he entered the soldiers' home at Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio. On October 1, 1907, the facility dropped him from the rolls as "AWOL." Actually, there was a very good reason for his absence but one clearly the home was not yet aware.
On the last day of his life, Wesley H. Drennen was in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Why he was there is a mystery because there is no apparent record of residence, and his stated his next-of-kin, daughter Cecelia, lived in Delaware County. He donned a G.A.R. uniform and went "walking on "P[ennsylvania] R[ail].R[oad]" "three miles west of" Lewistown. He was on the tracks when mail train No. 33 roared down the line and slammed into him, literally splattering his remains all over the engine. Identification of the mangled corpse was possible thanks only to documentation found in his pocket describing his residence in the Dayton soldiers home. Drennen's demise has all the earmarks of a suicide by a method then not uncommonly chosen by those seeking a sudden and painless end to life.
Several online family trees report his birth date as June 23, 1837. This researcher cannot comment on the month and day, but that year is almost certainly wrong. If correct, he would have been twenty-five at his 1862 enlistment, but he claimed twenty-one on that occasion and twenty-two at both 1863 enlistments. Censuses agree with those three age claims. Moreover, Civil War recruits in that age category were not prone to understate their ages.
His first name was frequently spelled "Westley," perhaps mirroring the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect that routinely adds a "t" sound to words ending in an "s" sound.
Above with credit to Dennis Brandt, Findagrave Contributor 47232334.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maintainer 48280046 is a maternal second great-grandnephew.
A Civil War veteran, he first enlisted at the stated age of twenty-one in Lancaster July 30, 1862, mustered into federal service there August 11 as a private with Co. B, 122nd Pennsylvania Infantry, and honorably discharged with his company May 15, 1863. (His brother Jesse Milton Drennen served in the same company and regiment.) He next enlisted at the stated age of twenty-two in Lititz, Lancaster County, on June 28, 1863, and mustered into federal service at Harrisburg June 30 as a private with the six-month organization of Independent Battery I, Pennsylvania Light Artillery. He re-enlisted, still claiming to be twenty-two years of age, in Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, on December 28, 1863, re-mustered into federal service at Harrisburg December 31 as a private with the three-year organization of Independent Battery I, and honorably discharged with the battery June 23, 1865, in Philadelphia.
After the war, he married Rachel Jane lnu. and fathered Addison Wilson (b. 10/14/66 - death certificate claims '69 but the 1870 census and biology say otherwise) and Cecelia (b. 03/28/69 - married William E. Green). In 1870, he was living with his family in Colerain Township, Lancaster County, but later - possibly after Jane's death - he moved to Avondale, Chester County, his residence on March 19, 1902, when he entered the soldiers' home at Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio. On October 1, 1907, the facility dropped him from the rolls as "AWOL." Actually, there was a very good reason for his absence but one clearly the home was not yet aware.
On the last day of his life, Wesley H. Drennen was in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Why he was there is a mystery because there is no apparent record of residence, and his stated his next-of-kin, daughter Cecelia, lived in Delaware County. He donned a G.A.R. uniform and went "walking on "P[ennsylvania] R[ail].R[oad]" "three miles west of" Lewistown. He was on the tracks when mail train No. 33 roared down the line and slammed into him, literally splattering his remains all over the engine. Identification of the mangled corpse was possible thanks only to documentation found in his pocket describing his residence in the Dayton soldiers home. Drennen's demise has all the earmarks of a suicide by a method then not uncommonly chosen by those seeking a sudden and painless end to life.
Several online family trees report his birth date as June 23, 1837. This researcher cannot comment on the month and day, but that year is almost certainly wrong. If correct, he would have been twenty-five at his 1862 enlistment, but he claimed twenty-one on that occasion and twenty-two at both 1863 enlistments. Censuses agree with those three age claims. Moreover, Civil War recruits in that age category were not prone to understate their ages.
His first name was frequently spelled "Westley," perhaps mirroring the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect that routinely adds a "t" sound to words ending in an "s" sound.
Above with credit to Dennis Brandt, Findagrave Contributor 47232334.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maintainer 48280046 is a maternal second great-grandnephew.
Gravesite Details
Co B 122 Reg PV
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
