2017 PA Books: A Civil War Captain & His Lady

More than 150 years ago, 27-year-old Irish immigrant Josiah Moore met 19-year-old Jennie Lindsay, a member of one of Peoria, Illinois's most prominent families. The Civil War had just begun, Josiah was the captain of the 17th Illinois Infantry, and his war would be a long and bloody one. Their courtship and romance, which came to light in a rare and unpublished series of letters, forms the basis of Gene Barr's memorable “A Civil War Captain and His Lady: A True Story of Love, Courtship, and Combat.” Gene Barr is the president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the largest broad-based business advocacy group in Pennsylvania. He has spent more than 40 years in the political and government affairs world, including more than twelve years with a Fortune 100 energy company. Barr is a board member and former chair of the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, PA and spent many years engaged in Civil War living history events. He has a bachelor's degree in political science from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia and lives in Mechanicsburg with his wife Mary. Description courtesy of Savas Beatie.