The theme for this week’s 52 Ancestors Challenge is to write about an ancestor who appeared on any of the United States NonPopulation Schedules. I have decided to focus on my 4th great-uncle, Jonathan Gombert, who appeared in the 1890 Veterans Schedule, along with his brother, Aaron Gombert.
Jonathan was born on June 19, 1835 in Mahoning Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. He was the youngest child born to Phillip and Sarah (Hoffman) Gombert.
In the Spring of 1861, the United States found itself within the Civil War. Jonathan heeded the call and on August 22, 1861, he enlisted in the Pennsylvania 81st Infantry Regiment. In September of 1862, Jonathan and his Company were fighting in the Battle of Antietam, Maryland. Jonathan was among the severely wounded at the end of the battle, having his right arm shot off.
Yet, Jonathan lived and returned home to the Mahoning Valley. He married Anna Hontz and had several children. He would serve Carbon as the Sheriff in 1900, a prison warden in addition to owning a large farm in the area of Mahoning Township known as Pleasant Corners.
Jonathan died on January 16, 1911 at his home. He is buried in the St. John’s Church Cemetery in Mahoning Township.
Shaking The Tree 
My grandfather Zacharias Jonas Rabenold was an older sibling of his family of Charles and Susan (Mosser) Rabenold…they were poor rent farmers…so they “farmed” Zach out to Jonathan Gombert by the age of 15 or 16, at about the same time as Gombert became sheriff. He worked as an orderly at the prison, and I in turn grew up with stories of the famous Molly Maguire handprint in cell #17…Gombert lost an arm in service to his country, all the more reason to take in my grandfather…Gombert was a colorful man…