Book Description

Located on the extreme southwest corner of Pennsylvania, bordered on the south and the west by Virginia, Greene County, during the Civil War era, presented "a house divided." In 1860, a majority of county residents voted for Southern Democrat, John C. Breckinridge, for President; and, in 1864, "Little Greene" was one of twelve Pennsylvania counties that voted against Abraham Lincoln's reelection. Dominated by Peace Democrats during the war, the population displayed apathy over the slavery issue and political divisiveness common to border regions during the conflict. The Republican Party never represented more than a third of the voters, and after the war, many myths arose about Greene County's loyalty to the Union and the region's Southern sympathies. This work dissipates these myths and provides a more complete picture of the county's history in this turbulent era. Despite the region's rural nature, however, that picture is far from idyllic. Differences over the definition of "loyalty" to the Union erupted at times into scathing personal attacks in the local newspapers, physical assaults, homicide, and intervention by Federal troops. One township, experiencing an early oil boom, was referred to by authorities as a "hotbed of copperheadism." Throughout it all, nevertheless, Greene County provided over 1800 men for Mr. Lincoln's army, and at least six of these men were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.