A Civil War Husband Author Talk

Join us to hear local author Cindy Crytzer tell the story of her great-great-grandfather, Thomas D. Nelson during the American Civil War in her book A Civil War Husband. Books will be available for purchase and signing after the event.

Book Description: The year is 1861. The United States was dividing over state’s rights and slavery. Thomas D. Nelson was working on his small farm in Plain Grove, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. On August 31 his life and the lives of his wife, Lydia Jane, and their four daughters would change forever. Thomas was taken from the only life he knew and thrust into the life of a Union soldier of the American Civil War with the “Roundheads”, 100th Pennsylvania  regiment, Company E. Through Thomas’ letters, experience the places he traveled to, the people he meets along the way, his life as a Civil War soldier, and his concerns for his family he left behind.

Cindy Friend Crytzer is a former educator, event planner, and proud mother and grandmother living in Mercer, Pennsylvania. She volunteers with the Mercer County Library and Historical Society and enjoys transcribing documents for the Library of Congress in her spare time. With this love of transcription and a passion for family history and genealogy, Cindy took special interest in the discovery of letters from her great-great-grandfather Thomas D. Nelson to his wife Lydia Jane during the American Civil War. She decided to transcribe these letters for clarity and to share them with her family and others interested in reading about the life of a Civil War soldier. After an exciting six-year journey, Cindy’s first book, A Civil War Husband, was born.