Francis Bream (1805–1882) was a prominent Adams County, Pennsylvania landowner, tavern-keeper, and public official, best known as the proprietor of the historic Black Horse Tavern (also known as Bream’s Tavern, and later occasionally called the “Dark Horse Tavern”). This tavern, a large stone inn west of Gettysburg, played a notable role during the Civil War’s Gettysburg Campaign. The following presents a full biography of Francis Bream – including his birth, family lineage, and public service – and a detailed history of the Black Horse Tavern before, during, and after his ownership. It draws on primary sources such as census records, historical surveys, and contemporary accounts to document Bream’s life, his property transactions, and the tavern’s significance, including wills, petitions, and wartime records.

Early Life and Genealogical Background

Francis Bream was born on July 19, 1805, in Adams County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Henry Bream (often noted as Henry Bream III, 1781–1865) and Catherine (Hartzell) Bream (1775–1848). The Bream family’s roots in Adams County ran deep: Henry Bream’s father (Francis’s grandfather) was an early German immigrant to the region in the 18th century. Henry Bream was born and raised near the Ground Oak (Upper Bermudian) Church in what is now Huntington/Tyrone Township in northeastern Adams County. Thus, Francis Bream was a third-generation Pennsylvanian of German descent, coming from a family long established in the area. He had several siblings; for example, an elder sister Salome “Sarah” Bream (1801–1868) married into the Weaner family. The Breams were part of the fabric of early Adams County, and Francis grew up with this strong local and German-Pennsylvanian heritage.

Little is recorded of Francis’s youth, but by his mid-30s he had begun to assume an active role in the community. On February 4, 1842, Francis Bream was elected Sheriff of Adams County, becoming the first Democratic sheriff under a new system of popular elections. He served a full term from 1842 to 1844. During his tenure as sheriff, Bream resided at the county jail in Gettysburg – in fact, his eldest son, Henry Lawrence Bream, was born at the jail in 1842 while Francis was in office. After serving as Sheriff, Francis transitioned back to private life; one account notes that upon his retirement from the sheriff’s office, he “was granted the farm at Marsh Creek where he operated the Black Horse Tavern.” This phrasing likely means that around 1844–1846, Bream acquired the Marsh Creek farm property that included the old tavern – a pivotal event that would define the next chapter of his life.

Marriage and Family

During this period of the early 1840s, Francis Bream married Mary Elizabeth Slaybaugh (1818–1887). Elizabeth Slaybaugh came from another longstanding Adams County family of German Lutheran background. Together, Francis and Elizabeth Bream would have a large family – by some accounts twelve children in total, though not all survived to adulthood. The children included (among others) Henry L. Bream (b. 1842), Jacob F. Bream (b. 1844), Calvin P. Bream (b. 1846), Harvey D. Bream (b. 1848), Ruben William Bream (b. 1850), a daughter Mary or Elizabeth (b. ~1856), and Robert Bream (b. 1858). The 1860 U.S. Census shows Francis Bream, listed as a farmer, living in Cumberland Township with his wife Elizabeth and seven of their young children at home (ranging from teenager Henry down to little Robert), as well as an older relative or boarder and a domestic servant. This household of ten underscores the size of the Bream family. By the eve of the Civil War, Francis Bream was not only a successful landowner but also a patriarch caring for a large family at the tavern homestead.

It is evident that Francis’s wife and children were intimately involved in running the farm and tavern. Elizabeth Bream, in particular, would have helped manage the inn and household, especially during Francis’s occasional public duties. The family’s prominence is reflected in their wealth: in 1860, Francis Bream’s real estate was valued at $32,000 – the highest in the township – and his personal estate at $4,433. These figures made him the wealthiest landowner in Adams County at the time. The Breams’ prosperity came from extensive landholdings (multiple farms) and the tavern business, and this affluence positioned them as a leading family in the area.

The Black Horse Tavern: Origins and Bream’s Acquisition

The Black Horse Tavern that Francis Bream came to own was already a landmark by the time he purchased it. The tavern’s origins date to the mid-18th century. William McClellan II (1732–1801), an Irish immigrant and Revolutionary War veteran, established a tavern on this site in the colonial era. Records show that by 1762 McClellan held a license for a public inn known as the Black Horse Tavern on his farm west of Gettysburg. In its earliest form, the tavern was likely a simple log or frame structure serving travelers on the old Marsh Creek road. William McClellan’s son, William McClellan III (1763–1831), continued in his father’s footsteps as an innkeeper and expanded the enterprise. According to local history, McClellan had even operated a tavern in Ireland before emigrating, and he applied those skills in Pennsylvania. The tavern’s location was strategic – near the Hagerstown/Fairfield Road (also called the Nichol’s Gap Road), a key route for traffic between Gettysburg and the mountain pass to the west. As travel increased in the early 1800s, the McClellans upgraded the facilities. In 1812, a substantial two-story stone tavern house was constructed on the site, adjacent to or replacing the original log tavern. This fieldstone building, with its thick walls and multiple rooms, became the center of the Black Horse Tavern complex, providing food, drink, and lodging to wayfarers.

Throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Black Horse Tavern was a well-known stop for drovers, stagecoaches, and local gatherings. In fact, it was known as a “drover’s tavern,” catering especially to livestock drovers moving herds along the road; the tavern offered pens and provisions for animals along with lodging for the men. William McClellan III operated the inn until his death in 1831. Around that time, the property left the McClellan family’s hands. It was sold in 1831 and passed through several short-term owners in the 1830s. By the early 1840s, the venerable tavern was likely in need of a steady proprietor to restore its prominence.

Francis Bream’s opportunity came in the mid-1840s. Sources differ slightly on the exact date he acquired the Black Horse Tavern farm: one account reports that “Francis Bream purchased the farm and tavern in 1843”, while another states he “acquired the tavern in 1846” after several interim owners. It is possible Bream arranged the purchase around 1843 (perhaps while still serving as sheriff) but completed the transaction by 1846. In any case, by the late 1840s Francis Bream was the new owner of the Black Horse Tavern property, which comprised the stone tavern house, a barn, outbuildings, and several hundred acres of farmland along Marsh Creek. Upon taking ownership, Bream became the tavern’s innkeeper as well as a farmer. Surviving records from local courts show Francis Bream applying for and renewing tavern licenses. For example, in April 1857 the Star and Sentinel newspaper listed “Francis Bream, Cumberland [Township]” among those petitioning the court to keep a public house (tavern) for the ensuing year. The approval of his tavern licenses indicates that Bream actively operated the establishment throughout the 1850s.

Under Bream’s proprietorship, the Black Horse Tavern flourished again. It remained a social and commercial hub for the area. Local farmers, drovers, and travelers on the Fairfield-Gettysburg Turnpike (chartered in 1868 to improve the old road) all knew of Bream’s Tavern. By the early 1860s, the tavern was such a fixture that it was often referred to eponymously as “Bream’s Tavern.” Francis Bream’s substantial landholdings (valued at $32,000 in 1860) suggest he owned more than just the tavern tract – he likely farmed multiple properties – but the Black Horse Tavern farm was his home base and the jewel of his holdings. Bream balanced his role as an innkeeper with that of an agricultural entrepreneur, employing farmhands and perhaps hosting community events at the tavern. His wife Elizabeth and their growing children helped in both farm work and tavern chores. By 1863, Francis (aged 57) had been tavern-keeper for roughly 17–20 years, and Bream’s Tavern was known to locals as a well-run establishment – one account calls it “a local landmark of its time.” Little could the family imagine that events soon would thrust their quiet tavern into the center of a great battle.

The Black Horse Tavern (Bream’s Tavern) as it appeared in the early 20th century (c.1920). The 1812 stone tavern house is in view, with a porch added in the 19th century. The tavern stood along the Fairfield Road (foreground) just west of Marsh Creek.

The Tavern in the Civil War (1863)

In the summer of 1863, the Civil War brought devastation literally to Francis Bream’s doorstep. The Battle of Gettysburg unfolded on July 1–3, 1863, and although the fiercest fighting took place a few miles east of Bream’s farm, the Black Horse Tavern was swept up in the conflict. Bream’s property lay about 2.5 miles southwest of Gettysburg, near the intersection of Fairfield Road and Black Horse Tavern Road, on the west bank of Marsh Creek. This placed it behind the Confederate lines during much of the battle, as General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia occupied the ridges west and south of town.

On the night of July 1, after the first day’s fighting, Union forces of the III Corps (under General Daniel Sickles) marched west of Gettysburg. They reached the vicinity of Bream’s tavern under a bright full moon. Francis Bream was at home during the battle (he reportedly stayed while sending his wife and daughters to safety elsewhere). As Union officers arrived at the tavern, Bream provided critical information. Around 9:15 p.m., Lt. Col. Julius Hayden (inspector-general of Third Corps) came to the tavern and Bream warned him that Confederate pickets were posted less than 200 yards away on his property. This news alarmed the Union officers. At 9:55 p.m., Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys himself rode up to “interrogate Bream for himself.” Upon confirming from Bream that enemy troops (part of Alabama brigades under Gen. Cadmus Wilcox) were extremely close, Humphreys hastily withdrew his column back across Marsh Creek to avoid a nighttime clash. Thanks to Francis Bream’s local knowledge – or as another account says, thanks to a wounded Union straggler sheltered at the tavern who alerted them – the Union Third Corps narrowly avoided blundering into Confederate lines under cover of darkness. This episode, while brief, illustrates how Bream and his tavern became an impromptu outpost of military intelligence on the battle’s periphery.

On July 2, 1863, the Black Horse Tavern found itself in the midst of massive Confederate troop movements. In late morning and early afternoon, Lt. Col. E. P. Alexander’s Confederate artillery battalion (six batteries with dozens of cannon) passed by the tavern on Fairfield Road, wheeling off into the fields just southwest to avoid Union observation. Shortly after, Major General Lafayette McLaws’s division of Longstreet’s corps – thousands of Confederate infantry – marched past Bream’s property as they maneuvered toward their attack positions. Kershaw’s Brigade (South Carolinians under Gen. Joseph Kershaw), leading McLaws’s column, was halted near the tavern at midday. In fact, due to miscommunications and the fear of being seen by Union signal stations on Little Round Top, the Confederate generals chose to countermarch right at the Black Horse Tavern. Around 1:00 p.m., in the fields by Bream’s buildings, McLaws and other officers conferred and decided to reverse the column’s direction – effectively turning the entire division around and taking back roads to approach Gettysburg from a different route. This famous “Longstreet countermarch” delayed the Confederate attack. For Francis Bream and family, it meant their farm lanes were suddenly choked with regiments, cannon, and caissons all midday on July 2. The tavern and yard would have been full of Confederate soldiers waiting as the march stalled. One can imagine Bream’s well and pump working overtime to water thirsty troops and horses.

Once the Confederate attack on July 2 began (farther east at Devil’s Den and the Wheatfield), the Black Horse Tavern transitioned into a field hospital and logistical hub behind the lines. During and after the fierce fighting that day, wounded Confederate soldiers streamed back to aid stations at or near Bream’s property. In particular, Kershaw’s Brigade, which suffered heavy casualties in the Wheatfield, established its field hospital at Bream’s tavern. Surgeons took over the buildings and barn. The scene was gruesome: one Confederate in Alexander’s artillery reserve described arriving at Bream’s farm to find “the wounded appeared to be everywhere,” with men lying on blankets and bare ground, surgeons operating frantically, “swarms of big green flies” buzzing, and the odor of burning flesh from cauterized wounds hanging in the air. For nearly three weeks after the battle, the Black Horse Tavern site remained an active hospital. Dozens of severely wounded Confederates who could not be evacuated were treated (as prisoners once Union forces took over) on Bream’s land all through July and into August 1863. Sadly, many did not survive. More than 33 Confederate soldiers were buried on the Bream farm in hastily marked graves. It was not until 1871–1872 that these remains were exhumed and reinterred in Southern cemeteries or Gettysburg’s Confederate lot.

The month-long military occupation left the Bream property in shambles. The toll on Francis Bream’s livelihood was immense. His fields of crops were trampled or cut down, fencing was torn out for firewood, buildings were scarred, and supplies were consumed. The house itself, the tavern, and outbuildings were damaged by their use as hospital space – floors blood-stained, furniture broken, yards turned into campsites. After the war, an official tally estimated $7,000 in damages to Bream’s farm as a result of its wartime use. This was a huge loss (equivalent to well over a hundred thousand dollars today). Bream applied to the government for compensation, but as a Confederate-occupied civilian, he fell into a category largely excluded from Federal reimbursement. The Adams County Sheriff’s history notes that Bream was never compensated for the $7,000 loss. The war had quite literally come home to the Black Horse Tavern, leaving Francis to pick up the pieces.

After the Battle: Later Years and Legacy

In the immediate aftermath of Gettysburg, Francis Bream and his family had to rebuild their lives. By late July 1863, once the Confederates had retreated and Union authorities took charge, the remaining wounded were moved into Gettysburg or larger hospitals. The Breams regained possession of their farm, but the landscape was scarred by graves and debris. A Civil War damage claim was filed by Francis Bream with state authorities (as mentioned, it was ultimately unsuccessful). Nevertheless, over the ensuing years, Bream gradually restored his property. The tavern was repaired and re-opened to the extent possible. According to one source, the tavern business “took several years before it was once again profitable” after the battle’s disruption.

Despite these hardships, Francis Bream continued to be a respected figure in the county. In his later years, he focused on farming while the tavern likely operated on a more limited scale. (There are hints that by the 1870s or 1880s, the Black Horse Tavern functioned less as a public inn and more as a private residence or farm – one account suggests it was “used as [a tavern] for approximately 65 years before 1909,” implying the tavern ceased operation by the late 1870s). Francis’s elder sons began to take on more responsibility; for instance, Henry L. Bream served in local government and lived nearby, and other children married into local families. In 1872, a new iron bridge was built over Marsh Creek near Bream’s property, and the old Fairfield Road was slightly rerouted in 1927, but during Francis’s lifetime the main road still ran right past the tavern door. Travelers and veterans would stop to recall the battle, seeing the war department markers eventually placed in the tavern yard. (A War Department tablet was erected years later in front of the tavern, labeling it as “Black Horse Tavern” and noting Confederate use, although interestingly it omits mention of certain units.)

Francis Bream lived to see at least two decades of peace after the Civil War. He died on April 19, 1882, at the age of 76. According to contemporary reports, he died at home on the Marsh Creek farm. He was laid to rest in Gettysburg’s Evergreen Cemetery, the town’s civilian burial ground. His obituary in local papers likely emphasized his status as an “ex-Sheriff” and prominent citizen who endured the battle’s trials. Francis’s will was filed with the Adams County Register of Wills in 1882; although the detailed contents are not given in available sources, it presumably provided for his widow and surviving children. Indeed, Mary Elizabeth Bream (Slaybaugh) outlived Francis by five years – she died in 1887 – and during those final years she would have relied on her grown sons to run the farm. The Black Horse Tavern property stayed in the Bream family for several generations. In fact, “the Bream family continued to live at [the] Black Horse Tavern and farm until 1934.” This suggests that one of Francis’s children (or a couple of them together) inherited the homestead. For example, Francis’s son William Bream (b. 1850) became a farmer in Cumberland Township and may have occupied the tavern house in the late 19th century. The Breams maintained ownership well into the 20th century, preserving the historic buildings.

After leaving the Bream family in 1934, the Black Horse Tavern passed through a series of private owners. The property’s rich history was eventually recognized by preservationists. In 1978, the Black Horse Tavern was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Gettysburg battlefield environs. In the late 20th century it was owned and restored by individuals who respected its past. One longtime owner, Billy Leonard, purchased it in 1971 and lived there until his passing in 2021. Today, the stone tavern still stands at 825 Black Horse Tavern Road as a private residence, remarkably well preserved over 210 years after it was built. Visitors driving by can see the old tavern and two historical markers in the yard: one War Department plaque titled “Black Horse Tavern” and another sign noting it as a Civil War hospital site. The site is a tangible link to Francis Bream’s life and the events of 1863.

In summary, Francis Bream’s biography and legacy are inextricably linked with the Black Horse Tavern. From his birth into an early Adams County family, to his service as sheriff, to his entrepreneurial career as a tavern-keeper and farmer, Bream’s life reflected the opportunities and turmoil of 19th-century America. He turned a historic tavern into a thriving enterprise and became one of the county’s wealthiest men, only to have the Civil War literally invade his property. His actions during the Gettysburg battle – whether warning Union officers or stoically aiding the wounded – show him as an “unwilling witness” to history. After the war, Bream rebuilt and continued on, securing a comfortable life for his family. His will and estate ensured that the Bream’s Tavern farm remained in family hands for over 50 years beyond his death, keeping alive the memory of his tenure. Modern genealogists and local historians, poring over deeds, estate files, and census records, can trace Francis Bream’s footprint in the archives – from tavern license petitions in old newspapers to the probate of his will in 1882. Through these records, Francis Bream emerges as a representative of the Gettysburg community: a family man, a public servant, and a businessman whose fate was forever altered by America’s great conflict. The Black Horse Tavern, now quiet, stands as his most enduring monument – a place that witnessed colonial times, hosted antebellum travelers, became a field hospital in the Civil War, and survives today thanks in part to the legacy of Francis Bream.