I'm seeking descendents of the family of Phillip Gebhart Shadrach...
Phillip Gebhart Shadrach was born in Somerset County, PA to Robert & Elizabeth Shadrach on Sept. 15, 1840. He never married. What is known is that he enlisted with Company "K" of the 2nd Ohio Infantry Regiment for 3 years on Sept.20, 1861 at a place called the 'Mitchell Salt Works' (in Ohio)as a Private. He enlisted under a false name for some reason, as 'Charles P. (Perry) Shadrach.' He volunteered for
'hazardous duty' in March of 1862 ( when the 2nd Ohio was
stationed near Nashville, Tenn.--- under the command of General Ormsby M.Mitchell ) & then took part in the infamous "Andrews Raid", better known to the general public as "The Great Locomotive Chase" on April 12, 1862. After
the raid he was captured by the Confederates, jailed, court-marshalled and hanged in Atlanta, Georgia on June 18, 1862 at the corner of Fair Street (now Memorial Drive) and South Park Avenue. His body was temporially buried near the gallows but on April 25, 1866 was removed to the Federal National Cemetery in Chattanooga, Tenn., Near the Ohio Memorial, Section 'H', Grave 11,178. He was buried along with 7 other raider compatriots that were hanged at the same time. The graves are arranged in a semi-circle around a large
stone tribute to the members of the raiders party. There were 24 raiders in all. Some 18 of them were awarded the Congressional "Medal of Honor", the first time it was ever awarded. Some of those medals were awarded posthumously. Phillip Gebhart Shadrach was never awarded the Medal of Honor because his immediate relations had to apply for it and none came forward to claim it or apply for a pension. A Senator for the State of Ohio is presently behind a move to have Phillip Gebhart Shadrach's Medal of Honor
awarded and kept by the State of Ohio until a claimant comes forth. The medal may have already been issued. These medals are generally (by law)only allowed to be in a museum (given by the person who received the medal or one
of his descendents) or in the possession of a relative of the person who was awarded the medal. You may be able to resolve the riddle of the false name or, indeed, even claim the Medal of Honor.

I am the Curator at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Georgia. The locomotive known as "The General" is located in our museum's collection & was the engine taken by the raiders, at
a point just a few feet from the present front of the museum. We recently underwent a $10 million dollar renovation/
rebuilding and as part of the opening (March 30, 2003) held a "Descendents Party" that was open to all descendents of the raiders or chasers of "The Great Locomotive Chase. It was
an 'invitation-only' Southern Barbecue with a preview of the museum prior to the public opening and festivities covering the entire weekend. I managed to locate over 800 descendents of the raiders and close to 400 people showed
up. We intend to hold this "Descendents Party" every 3 years, but I wish the next one to be bigger and contain more members of raiders families. As part of mission of the museum we intend to complete any genealogies of any of the raiders or their southern chasers for inclusion into the museum library & archives. That is why I'm trying to locate descendents. Finding descendents of your own family can be tough but locating descendents from 24 or more families is practically a full time job. Please pass the word around to family members about what I'm trying to do if you think that there is a connection to your family line. We'll be hosting the next "Descendents Party" on the weekend closest to the anniversary of the raid (April 12) in 2006. The City of Kennesaw celebrates over the entire weekend with parades, music, pageantry, flea markets, city-wide promotions &
open house.

All descendents of Phillip Gebhard Shadrach or Charles P. (Perry) Shadrach are invited. Please contact me to get on the invitation list. We are accepting copies of all genealogies associated with the raiders for inclusion into our library & archives. Sincerely George Deeming, Curator -
The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, 2829 Cherokee Street,
Kennesaw, Georgia 30144
Phone (770) 427-2117 - email (gdeeming@kennesaw.ga.us) website (southernmuseum.com)