85th PA Virtual Cemetery

Fayette County Soldiers Memorial Oak Grove Cemetery Uniontown, PA Dedicated 1867. 
(Photo from The American Legion)

Using information from findagrave.com, I have created a virtual cemetery for the men who served in the 85th Pennsylvania. It presently includes 768 of the approximate 1100 men who served from 1861 to 1865. They are listed in alphabetical order regardless of their company or their rank.

Thanks to all the findagrave contributors from all over the country whose hard work cataloging cemeteries and burial records have made this virtual cemetery possible. For some regimental members, I have taken my own headstone photos in southwestern Pennsylvania which I have not yet uploaded to findagrave.

I only signed up a few weeks ago and will add this information in the near future. Some of the virtual cemetery entries include burial information but no headstone photos. Also, some headstones have become illegible and were not included at all in the cemetery compilations.

If the headstone clearly includes "85th PA," it was easy to find and include. For some of the men, ensuring they were members of the 85th PA was more challenging. Some headstones include a different regiment.

Keep in mind some soldiers went home on medical leave, recovered, and then rejoined into a different regiment. Some of the men have "188th PA" on their headstone. This is the regiment that the men who were still in the 85th PA in 1865 were rolled over into for their last few months of service.

I used various research tools to verify that the person was actually in the 85th PA.
These included:

1. military pension records

2. Pennsylvania veteran burial cards

3. the name of the wife or other family members

4. biographical information provided online by descendants

5. biographical information provided in 18th century books

6. obituaries

7. census records

8. period newspaper articles

9. the place of burial Volume 3 of my work will include two lists.

One is a chronological list of all 250 or so men who died during the war, including the date of death and whether or not the death was due to a battle wound or a disease. A second chronological list will be for nearly all of the rest of the men who died after the war, from 1865 to 1944, including the date of death and the county or state.

I hope you enjoy the virtual cemetery and provide feedback.