Private Elias Britton
[Hoptak Collection]
Elias Britton survived two battle wounds as well as a wartime illness, only to die in a work-related accident in 1892.
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Britton served throughout all four years of the Civil War. Mustered into service as a Private in Company A, 48th Pennsylvania Infantry, on September 17, 1861, Britton served with the regiment in all its many campaigns and battles, seeing action in North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. His age was listed as 25 years old at the time of his enlistment, however, his grave marker states that he was born in October 1832, which would have made him 29 in 1861. He stood 5'6" in height and was described as having dark eyes, dark hair, and a dark complexion. He provided his occupation as miller, and his residence as Auburn, in Schuylkill County, PA. The regimental records list Britton among the wounded at both the Battle of 2nd Bull Run (8/29/1862), and at the Battle of Petersburg (6/17/1864). Surviving these injuries, Britton was sick in the hospital when the regiment was discharged in July 1865.
Struck presumably by lead or fragments of iron on the field of battle, it was wood that ultimately killed Britton in a freak work-related accident in May 1892. Working as an engineer at the Hope Brush Factory in Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania, Britton was struck in an abdomen by a wooden plank that was launched through the air from a circular saw. Sadly, the injury was fatal. Elias Britton was not yet sixty years old. His remains were laid to rest in the Odd Fellows' Cemetery, in Tamaqua, PA.
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| [From the Harrisburg Independent Daily, 5/21/1892] |
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| The Grave of Elias Britton Odd Fellows' Cemetery, Tamaqua, PA [findagrave.com] |
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