The 30th Annual Reunion of Descendants of the 154th New York will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 1, 2015, at the Rigas Theater of the Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, New York. The reunion will also mark the formal inauguration of the Mark H. Dunkelman and Michael J. Winey Collection of the 154th New York at the university.

The reunion program will focus on the events of 1865, with readings by descendants of letters describing the Grand Review in Washington, D.C. and reflecting on the end of the war, and Col. Lewis D. Warner’s farewell address to the regiment. The evolution of the Dunkelman and Winey Collection will also be summarized. Special exhibits of regimental artifacts will be displayed in the Quick Center galleries and the Friedsam Memorial Library.

Following the reunion, a panel of Civil War historians will discuss “Looking Back at the War” in the Rigas Theater. All of those events are free and open to the public. A dinner and concert by Rush the Growler (performing songs relating to the 154th Regiment) will be held in the evening. Tickets for the dinner and concert are $30, and registration and prepayment are necessary. For information: http://www.sbu.edu/154threunion

Cattaraugus County Civil War Minorities

07-01-2015, Exclusively for cattcomemorial.com by CAMP Historian, Mark Dunkelman.

Almost 3,500 men served in the Civil War from Cattaraugus County. The majority of them were native-born Americans of British ancestry, but there were substantial numbers of immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and other European countries. Racial minorities, however, were far fewer. These lists are drawn from the rosters published in Franklin Ellis, editor, History of Cattaraugus County, New York (Philadelphia: L. H. Everts, 1879), and William Adams, editor, The Historical Gazetteer and Biographical Memorial of Cattaraugus County, New York. Syracuse: Lyman, Horton and Co., 1893). They most likely are incomplete. For example, three privates of Company B of the 154th New York—Ransom Russell, Abraham Wright, and Ora Wright—were of mixed race and could be added to the list of African Americans. The larger number of Native Americans reflects the presence in Cattaraugus County of the Seneca Indian Allegany Reservation, which accounts for the enlistment of Native Americans in Salamanca and South Valley.

Cattaraugus County African American Civil War Soldiers

Allen, Elias. Salamanca. 2nd U.S. Colored Regiment.
Norris, Joseph. Hinsdale. 22nd Cavalry. Credited to Livonia, New York.
Maybee, Abram “Abe.” Ellicottville. 20th U.S. Colored Troops.
Sheffield, Henry [or Wesley]. Ellicottville.
Sheffield, James M. “Marsh.” Ellicottville. 43rd U.S. Colored Troops.
Sheffield, William H. Ellicottville. 26th U.S. Colored Troops. (Marsh’s father.)

Cattaraugus County Native American Civil War Soldiers and Sailors

Armstrong, Nathaniel. South Valley. 13th New York Heavy Artillery.
Bigkettle, James. Salamanca. 13th New York Heavy Artillery.
Blackchief, Simon. Salamanca. 188th New York Infantry.
Bucktooth, Ira. South Valley. 51st Pennsylvania. Killed in service.
Fattey, Cornelius. Salamanca. 13th New York Heavy Artillery. Bugler. Also claimed by South Valley.
Gordon, Bennett. Salamanca. 104th New York Infantry.
Jimeson, Cyrus. Salamanca. Navy.
Jimeson, Moses. Salamanca. 157th New York.
Jimeson, Robert. Salamanca. Killed at Petersburg.
Jimeson, Thompson. Salamanca.
Jimmeson, Jacob T. Salamanca. 13th New York Heavy Artillery. Died in hospital.
King, Wooster. Salamanca. 57th Pennsylvania and 13th New York Heavy Artillery.
Martin, R. E. Salamanca. 13th New York Heavy Artillery.
Patterson, Samuel. Salamanca. Navy. Died at Belle Isle.
Pierce, Lewis. Salamanca. 104th New York Infantry.
Pierce, Willet. South Valley. 57th Pennsylvania.
Pierce, Wilson. Salamanca.
Plummer, Cornelius. Salamanca. 104th New York Infantry.
Redeye, Martin. Salamanca. 13th New York Heavy Artillery.
Scroggs, Thomas. Salamanca. 13th New York Heavy Artillery.
Shongo, Thomas. Salamanca.
Spencer, B. South Valley. 104th New York Infantry.
Thompson, Ebenezer. South Valley. 88th Pennsylvania Infantry.
Titus, Dennis C. Salamanca. 13th New York Heavy Artillery.
Uncles, Frederick. Salamanca. 13th New York Heavy Artillery.
Williams, Levi T. Salamanca. Killed in battle.