In the lehman Cemetary sits a marker over the Rebel Boy, a forgotten child of the Civil War. Behind his stone to the right is the stone marked with a G. A. R star which sits over the grave of Ira Ransom, a Union soldier who adopted the Rebel Boy. Memorial Day is a time when most Americians who have given all they could in the cause of peace are remembered. One of these millions of men is the late Ira Ransom, a man born of one of the first American families. He fought for what he believed in during the war between the states. When the Civil War ended, Ira Ransom came back to his home in Chase in the Back Mountain. He came home to a farm which three generations of Ransoms had fought for, his father. Col. George Palmer Ransom who fought in the Rev. War and his grandfather, Capt. Samuel Ransom who gave his life in the Wyoming Massacre. Ira Ransom had not had an easy Civil War. He had enlisted in Co. D of the 143rd PA Vol. and fought at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and in the Wilderness.With a rifle given to him by his wife, Mary, Ira had become an expert and was detailed as a sharpshooter.
ADOPTED BOY HE MET
When hostilities ceased, Ira Ransom was released from a confererate prison in Appomatax, VA. He was free.He had the long walk back to his PA farm to rejoin his wife and two children. On his way back, Ira came upon a young boy, a Southern lad , who had lost his home and family and most of his mental facilities through shock.He attached himself to Ira and walked back to PA with him. When the two appeared back at the farm. the Rebel Boy, as he became known, was carrying Ira's rifle, as he had done since they first met in VA. The Rebel Boy stayed with the Ransoms for over eight years, until he died of Scarlet Fever. He had regained his powers and became a legally adopted son. named Robert Ransom, as Robert was the only name of his own he could remember. The Ransoms had five children, four of their own and the Rebel Boy. Today the seven will be thought of on Memorial Day as they are all together at the Ransom plot at Lehman Cem., six Ransoms and the Rebel boy, whose real name will never be known but who found his permanent home witha Northern soldier who had found the Rebel Boy a good way to make his own peace. Article found in my sister in law's scrap book- no date on this one. Thought you folks might enjoy- especially Ransom descendants. To come- A Letter from Tommy Wilkinson- former Luzern Co. boy who gave his life in WW2-
This article was donated by Rose Vosler
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