Sculpted by Gary Casteel
 
300 Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Monument Replicas
 
The purchase of this replica will help raise funds to erect the life size monument to be placed in Gettysburg on a future date.
 
The model for this replica was John Lower (Lauer), a Civil War veteran who survived imprisonment at Andersonville, Georgia.  Originally from Bayern, Germany, five (5) year old John immigrated to the United States with his family on July 16, 1846, settling in Knox township, Clarion County, PA.  During the Civil War, he served in Company H of the 103rd PA regiment, participating in multiple engagements.  During the Battle of Plymouth in North Carolina (April 17-20, 1864), the regiment was part of the Union forces who were overwhelmed by superior numbers, forced to surrender, and taken to Andersonville, the Confederate Prison Camp in Georgia.  
 
Of the approximately 400 members of the 103rd PA who were captured at Plymouth, 132 died in prison.  John survived the deprivations of Andersonville -- the scarce and rancid food, the unsanitary conditions, and the lack of shelter.  John later credited his faith in God for his survival, as embodied in the mercy of a prison guard who took pity on him and was able to sneak him a dill pickle on a night when a starving John didn’t think he would make it through; later telling his granddaughter that the guard was an angel of God and the pickle was a gift of God.  Although his period of imprisonment left John in poor health for the remainder of his life, he helped build St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Fryburg, Pennsylvania, as a thank you for God’s saving grace.  He passed away on April 28, 1911, and was buried in the St. Michael’s Catholic Cemetery in Fryburg, Pennsylvania.