PENN TWP — What started as a way to bond with his son led one man to find out more about his own past.

James H. Pastorius and his son, David, started participating in Civil War re-enactments in the early 1970s, after seeing one at the Old Stone House in Brady Township.

Pastorius, 80, grew up knowing his great-grandfather, James William Pastorius, had fought in the Civil War. Although the family talked about the man’s military service, the elder Pastorius told only one story about his time in the war and left behind no letters or correspondence.

That, combined with Pastorius’ years as a Civil War re-enactor, piqued his interest enough to start a detailed research.

Pastorious said it is common among re-enactors to research their roots.

“It was sort of a natural curiosity, I think,” he said recently from his Penn Township home where a collection of Civil War memorabilia lay on a chair beside him, speaking of his years as a collector.

Using pension records and other research including several books about the burning of Chambersburg and one about the regimental history of the 14th Pennsylvania, of which his great-grandfather was a part, Pastoruis pieced together a portrait of James William Pastorius.

“He had quite a record,” he said.

His ancestor was born in Fairchance, Fayette County. Enlisting in 1861, he joined the First Virginia Mounted Volunteers who fought for the North and was later attached to the Second West Virginia Calvary.

Pastorius said he found his great-grandfather’s name in a book called Confederate Retaliation by Fritz Haselberger.

The book describes the summer 1864 raid on the town of Chambersburg in which Confederate soldiers burned hundreds of homes and businesses.

The book lists James W. Pastorius as wounded and shot through the bowels and captured but Pastorius said he believes the Confederates were too engaged in the battle to take his great-grandfather as a prisoner.

“I think it’s a neat story, especially since my great-grandfather was there,” Pastorius said of the Chambersburg conflict.

He was discharged in 1864 but later re-enlisted in the 14th Pennsylvania Calvary, according to Pastorius. He said re-enlistment was commonplace because men usually got a bonus for re-enlisting and, depending on their profession, could make more money while in the military.

The historical journey began, Pastorius said, when he took his family to the small re-enactment, called a muster, in 1974. When his then-13-year-old son David saw the tents and men dressed in period clothing doing drills and marches, he was “thrilled.”

“Life has never been the same since,” Pastorius said.

Pastorius amassed a collection of Civil War artifacts including muskets, bayonets, uniforms and other day-to-day items used during the war.

Because his great-grandfather had been a calvary man, Pastoruis decided to follow suit in his re-enactments, under one condition.

“I wanted to do calvary, but I didn’t want to ride a horse,” he said.

He portrayed one of the “dismounted calvary,” men who had lost their horses.

Although the two men no longer do re-enactments, Pastorius said he “got a kick out of it.”

“It was cool, it was fun. We had a lot of fun,” he recalled.

After the war, James William Pastorius went on to raise eight children in the South Side of Pittsburgh and, according to pension records, worked many jobs including as a nail cutter, labor gang boss and millworker, said Pastorius. James W. Pastorius died in 1937 at the Canton home of one of his sons.

While James H. Pastorius used books and pension records to find out about his great-grandfather, there are many other resources for people who want to find out more about their family tree.

Margaret Hewitt, special collections librarian at the Butler Public Library, said the facility has an extensive collection of records and books to help aspiring genealogists “kick start” their search.

Their collection numbers nearly 370,000 documents and includes obituaries, birth and marriage records.

Hewitt also said the library has access to census records which she said are “an invaluable tool when looking to find people.”