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J.S. Staples
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During the Civil War, men who
had the resources were permitted to hire substitutes for themselves to
serve in the army if they received a draft notice. Aside from being
President and Commander-in-Chief, Abraham Lincoln was too old for
the draft, but he hired a substitute for himself anyhow, probably to set
a good example. John Summerfield Staples, an otherwise unremarkable
young man from Stroudsburg, PA, became the President's "representative
recruit". He was enlisted in the 176th Pennsylvania Volunteers, survived
the war, and is buried in Stroudsburg Cemetery, under a regulation GI headstone.
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