For John Slyder and his family, the years 1862 and 1863 opened with tragedy and ended in disaster. In 1862 alone, John and Catherine Slyder saw two young grandchildren, ages 2 and 4, die. Further, their daughter-in-law (wife of William), Rebecca Shriver, died two weeks after the birth of her last child. This, of course, occurred in the midst of war and upheaval at home and across the country. And then, the war came to Gettysburg in July 1863. With their farm situated at the base of Big Round Top and near those of George Rose, Michael Bushman, and John Edward Plank, the Slyders were in one of the worst positions they could be, and the toll would be so great that they would leave Gettysburg nearly penniless.

Early Life in Maryland and Family Background

John Slyder was born around April 1813 in Maryland, likely in the Taneytown area of what is now Carroll County. He came from a family of farmers and craftsmen. His father was William Slyder (1786–1850), and the Slyders had roots in Maryland dating back at least to John’s grandfather, Peter Slyder. John had several siblings; one sister, Catherine Slyder Negley, later settled in Pennsylvania, and a brother named Levi died in childhood. The family was of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) heritage and Lutheran faith, which would carry into John’s adult life. John’s upbringing likely involved farm work and learning skilled trades – an investment in practical skills that would define his later career. By the late 1830s, John had become a skilled potter, carpenter, and blacksmith, trades that were valuable in the rural communities of Maryland and Pennsylvania.

On September 25, 1838, John Slyder married Catherine Study in Carroll County, Maryland. Catherine came from a notable local family – her father, Dr. John Martin Study, was a respected physician, and her siblings included Lydia Study Leister and Dr. David Study. (Lydia would later become known as the widow whose small Gettysburg farm served as Union General Meade’s headquarters during the Battle of Gettysburg.) The newlyweds John and Catherine likely sought greater opportunity and affordable land. In the late 1830s, they decided to move north across the Mason–Dixon Line into south-central Pennsylvania, joining a small migration of Marylanders into Adams County. By 1840 they were living in the Gettysburg area; their first daughter, Matilda Catharine Slyder, was born in Pennsylvania in February 1840, confirming their relocation. John’s eldest son, William James Slyder, had been born in Maryland in 1836, and now the growing Slyder family would put down roots in a new state.

Building a Life and Farm in Gettysburg

Upon arriving in Gettysburg, John Slyder initially applied his craftsman skills to make a living. He worked as a potter in the late 1830scivilwartalk.com and likely did carpentry and smithing work for locals. In 1849, with a young family to support, John made a pivotal “career change” and purchased a 75-acre farm in Cumberland Township, just south of Gettysburg. The tract lay in the scenic Plum Run valley on the western slope of Big Round Top, not far from the iconic rock formations of Devil’s Den. The Slyder property (sometimes later called “Granite Farm” for its rocky terrain) was a modest farmstead, but John poured his labor into improving it. Over the next few years, he built a comfortable home and productive farm:

• Farmhouse: In 1852, John constructed a sturdy two-story stone house, replacing or enlarging an earlier dwelling. This house – with its thick dark-gray stone walls – still stands today. It provided ample room for his growing family.
• Outbuildings: As the farm expanded, he added a double log barn and several outbuildings. John, being a skilled blacksmith, built a blacksmith shop and also a carpenter workshop near the house. These were not only for the farm’s needs but also served his side businesses. In his smithy, John manufactured iron tools and farm implements for neighboring farmers, supplementing his farming income.
• Agriculture: The Slyder farm kept a typical assortment of livestock – horses for draft power, milk cows and beef cattle, swine, and chickens – and produced common crops. By the 1860s, John had about 18 acres of meadow and substantial cropland under cultivation. He planted a fruit orchard of peach and pear trees, which were noted to produce exceptionally fine fruit. The farm also included a 30-acre timber lot on Big Round Top’s slope, providing wood both for farm use and for sale. John even dug a well on the property to ensure a good water supply.
• Additional Land: In the mid-1850s, John acquired a small additional tract – 13 more acres on the Taneytown Road near Gettysburg. This may have been for pasture or investment, and it brought his total holdings to roughly 88 acres of land.

Life on the Slyder farm was characterized by hard work and self-reliance. John and Catherine had to diversify their efforts to make ends meet, as pure subsistence farming was difficult on a small scale. John’s talents as a blacksmith and carpenter thus became integral to the family’s prosperity. Catherine kept house and helped manage farm tasks, and the older children contributed labor as they grew. The Slyders raised their family in this rural environment: by 1860, six children had been born, five of whom survived into young adulthood. Their household in the late 1850s included: eldest son William (born 1836), daughter Matilda (b. 1840), son John David (b. 1843), daughter Hannah Mary (b. 1846), and the youngest, son Jacob Isaiah (b. 1853). (One additional child had died in infancy, accounting for the six total.) The children attended local schools when possible, but farm life no doubt meant that even the youngsters had chores.

Socially, John Slyder was well-integrated into the Gettysburg community. The Slyder farm was a few miles south of the town itself, but John participated in civic life. Gettysburg newspapers in the 1850s mention him repeatedly, indicating he was an “involved and respected member of the community.” He likely appeared in the papers in contexts such as jury service, local political meetings, or agricultural society events (common activities for reputable farmers). He was known to be reliable and public-spirited. John and Catherine also engaged in the religious life of the area – they were members of St. James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, the same congregation where other Pennsylvania Dutch families (including their Leister relatives) worshipped. This church connection not only provided spiritual support but also broadened their social network.

Family ties further linked John Slyder to the local fabric. His wife Catherine’s sister, Lydia (Study) Leister, lived on a small farm on Cemetery Ridge; John and Catherine would visit Lydia and her children, strengthening kinship bonds. In fact, the Slyders’ lives were entwined with several other Gettysburg families. For example, in October 1863 (shortly after the battle), John’s son William Slyder married Josephine Miller, a granddaughter of Peter and Susan Rogers who owned a nearby farm on the Emmitsburg Road. Thus, the Slyders became connected by marriage to the Rogers and Miller families of Gettysburg. These relationships underscore that John Slyder was not an isolated farmer – he was part of a web of community and kin that spanned the Gettysburg area.

Economically, by 1860 John Slyder had attained a modest prosperity. The 1860 U.S. Census valued his real estate at about $1,600 and his personal property at $800 – not wealthy by any means, but comfortable for a man of “modest means.” This equated to roughly $2,400 total, which in modern terms (2020s) would be on the order of tens of thousands of dollars. It was enough to support his family of seven. The Slyder farm was, on the eve of the Civil War, an example of a humble but hard-earned American homestead. John’s multiple skills and steady effort had turned a tract of land into a home where his family could thrive.

The Battle of Gettysburg – John Slyder’s Ordeal

In the summer of 1863, the Civil War brought devastation to Gettysburg’s doorstep. John Slyder, at 50 years old, could hardly have imagined that his peaceful farm would become a battleground. But on July 2, 1863 – the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg – Confederate General John B. Hood’s division swept across the fields around Big Round Top, straight toward the Slyder farm.

At dawn that day, the Slyder family was still going about their usual farm chores. John, Catherine, and three of their children (20-year-old John Jr., 17-year-old Hannah, and 9-year-old Jacob) were living at home in July 1863. The two eldest – William (26) and Matilda (23) – were grown and living elsewhere by then. As Confederate forces approached through the woods, Union cavalry patrols rode ahead of them. Before noon on July 2, some Union soldiers encountered the Slyders and warned them to leave immediately for their own safety. John heeded this urgent advice. Gathering a few essentials, John and Catherine Slyder hastily evacuated their family from the farm. They likely fled in a wagon or on foot toward the northeast, perhaps aiming to reach the safety of Gettysburg town or to stay with friends. (Lydia Leister, for instance, had also been urged to flee her farm on Cemetery Ridge that same day, and she took her children to stay with her brother Dr. David Study in nearby Taneytown. It’s possible the Slyders headed in a similar direction toward family.)

With the civilians gone, fierce fighting engulfed John Slyder’s property. Confederate Alabama regiments charged over his fields in the late afternoon heat of July 2, while Union sharpshooters from Vermont took up positions behind Slyder’s stone fences and farm lane. The Slyder farm’s fences and buildings suddenly became military assets – fences were torn down or used as barricades, and the barn and house provided cover. The crack of rifle fire and the screams of wounded men echoed across what had been, that morning, a quiet pasture. Eventually the Union skirmishers were flanked and forced to retreat; Hood’s Confederates seized the ground. In their wake, the Slyder farm was left in shambles. Crops and orchards were trampled and destroyed, and John’s buildings were converted into a Confederate field hospital that night. Dozens of wounded soldiers were carried into the Slyder house and barn. The family’s food stores were raided to feed hungry men, their well was drained dry, and their linens were torn up for bandages. Both Union and Confederate troops occupied the farm at different times during the battle’s second and third days.

When the fighting moved on, it left behind a scene of chaos on the Slyder property. On July 5, 1863, John Slyder returned home for the first time since the battle. What he found was heartbreaking. As John later testified in an official claim, “on the fifth day of July after the battle he returned to his house and found it filled with Union soldiers, that his bedding had been taken for wounded men and torn to pieces for bandages, and his premises and utensils had been used by the soldiers and broken and carried away.” Dead and dying men lay around the yard, and carnage literally littered his farmyard. John discovered that all three of his milk cows had been shot – two butchered on the spot for meat, and the third so badly wounded that he had to put her down. The Slyders’ two beehives had been smashed and honey taken. Their entire stock of smoked meats (16 pieces of ham and bacon) had been consumed or spoiled. Seven large earthenware crocks of lard – painstakingly rendered and stored by Catherine – were emptied out. Farming tools like saws, axes, and mattocks were gone or wrecked. John’s buggy was found ruined, its cushions and shafts destroyed. Inside the house, the family’s clothing was stolen or ruined (even two winter overcoats were gone). Flour and salt stores had been taken. A copper kettle, pieces of furniture, and even the looking glass (mirror) were broken or missing. The floors were sticky with blood and mud. The Slyders’ neatly kept home had become a bloody shambles.

John Slyder carefully itemized the losses for a damage claim he would soon file with the government. The claim totaled $240 in lost or destroyed personal property – a significant sum, roughly one-quarter of his net worth (for context, in the 1860 census his personal property had been valued at $800). “The events of the battle left John Slyder on the verge of bankruptcy,” one historian notes. His entire summer’s crops were ruined and could not be salvaged or re-planted in time. Fences were down and fields polluted by decomposing bodies and 17 dead horses left on the property. The Slyders faced a dire reality shared by many Gettysburg civilians: in a matter of days, their years of hard work had been wiped out by war.

John and Catherine had to decide how to move forward. They initially tried to seek compensation. Along with hundreds of others, John submitted a claim to the U.S. government for reimbursement of battle damages. (Gettysburg lay in a Union state, and there was an expectation that loyal citizens might be repaid for military-caused losses.) John’s claim, like most, languished. Ultimately, the Slyders would receive nothing for their losses. The bureaucratic process dragged on for years; in fact, after John’s death, Catherine continued to pursue the claim into the 1870s, but without success. The government never paid a cent for the Slyder farm’s ruin.

Meanwhile, the Slyders had immediate needs – food, shelter, and income. They were now essentially destitute on a destroyed farm. Many of their neighbors were in similar straits, but some could rebuild or had relatives to help. John Slyder, however, appears to have felt that starting over elsewhere was his best option. With winter approaching and no harvest, the family risked literal starvation if they stayed. Thus, barely two months after the battle, John made a momentous decision: to sell the farm and leave Gettysburg.

Departure from Gettysburg: “Going West”

In mid-September 1863, John Slyder put his Gettysburg farm up for sale. A notice in the local Gettysburg Compiler newspaper advertised the property (referred to as “Granite Farm”) and all remaining farm equipment for sale on favorable terms. The ad poignantly concluded, “As I intend going to the West, I will sell on very reasonable terms.” It was clear that John was anxious to sell quickly and uproot his family. On October 22, 1863, the Slyders held a public sale to liquidate their possessions – a sorrowful task, selling household goods, furniture, and tools that had survived the battle (or been repaired) in order to raise cash. Soon after, John and Catherine, with their younger children, departed Gettysburg for Ohio. In leaving Pennsylvania, they joined the great 19th-century westward movement of Americans seeking new opportunities on the frontier. For them, however, this move was less about pioneer optimism and more about wartime displacement and starting life anew from scratch.

Why Ohio? The historical record does not explicitly state John’s personal reasoning, but we can surmise a few factors. First, Ohio had land available for purchase at relatively low prices in the 1860s, especially compared to the crowded East. It was a Union state, spared from the direct destruction of war, offering a refuge for those who had lost everything. It’s also possible the Slyders had extended family or Maryland acquaintances who had moved to southwestern Ohio, providing a destination community. Indeed, some other Adams County families migrated west after the battle’s devastation. Lastly, John was around 50 and may have seen a chance to invest the little money he salvaged into a small business rather than try to farm war-torn land again.

By late 1863, John Slyder resettled his family in Montgomery County, Ohio, near the small crossroads village of Johnsville (in Jackson Township). This area, west of Dayton, had a mix of German-American farming communities not unlike Adams County. John did not immediately return to farming on a large scale; instead, he appears to have attempted a new livelihood. According to the 1870 U.S. Census, John Slyder was listed as a “retired merchant” in Jackson Township. This suggests that sometime in the mid-1860s he tried running a store or trading business. He may have opened a general store or been involved in mercantile trade in Johnsville. The word “retired” by 1870 (when he was only 57) hints that either the venture was not very successful or that his health was beginning to decline, prompting him to step back from work. Nevertheless, John had managed to acquire $1,400 in real estate and $2,730 in personal estate by 1870, rebuilding some measure of financial stability. This total (~$4,130) was roughly equivalent to what he’d had before Gettysburg, indicating that over seven years in Ohio he had recovered enough to live decently.

The Slyder children also made lives in the West. John’s eldest son William initially stayed in Pennsylvania long enough to remarry, this time to Josephine Miller, in late 1863, but soon he too moved west, ultimately settling in Kansas by the 1870s (where he lived until 1911). Matilda Slyder had married a local Gettysburg man, Jacob Weikert (distantly related to John Jacob Weikert), in 1859; they moved to the Midwest as well and eventually resided in Madison, Indiana. John’s son John D. Slyder and youngest son Jacob Slyder remained in Ohio – John D. became a farmer and lived out his days in Eaton, Ohio, and Jacob, who was only 9 at Gettysburg, grew up to be a carpenter and lived to 93 (passing away in 1947). Daughter Hannah Slyder married Samuel Garber and migrated to the Deep South, settling in Louisiana in her later years. In short, the Slyder family dispersed widely after the Civil War, a common occurrence for families uprooted by the conflict.

For John and Catherine themselves, Ohio was their final home. In leaving Gettysburg, John Slyder effectively closed the chapter on his life as a Pennsylvania farmer and became an Ohio shopkeeper and landowner. He remained active in his church and community in Ohio, undoubtedly drawing on the resilience that had seen him through 1863.

Final Years, Death and Legacy

John Slyder lived less than a decade after his move to Ohio. He died on March 8, 1873 at age 59. His death occurred in Johnsville, Montgomery County, Ohio, the community he had adopted. We do not know the precise cause of death – no records indicate an accident, so it may have been illness or simply the cumulative effects of a hard life. John was buried in Ohio (at Sugar Grove Cemetery in nearby Preble County), far from the green fields of Gettysburg that he once tilled. Catherine Study Slyder survived her husband by many years. After John’s passing, she continued to petition authorities for reimbursement of their Gettysburg losses – a testament to how deeply the 1863 devastation had impacted them – but every claim and appeal was denied. Catherine eventually went to live with one of her children (likely John D. Slyder in Ohio), and she died in 1905 at the age of 87, having outlived the war by four decades.

Though John Slyder’s personal story ended in Ohio, his legacy in Gettysburg endures through the land he left behind. After the Slyders sold their farm in 1863, a man named J. Bollinger occupied the property as a tenant farmer by late 1863 or early 1864achs-pa.org. The farm passed through a series of owners in the post-war years. By the turn of the 20th century, it had been acquired by the Snyder family, who owned it for many years. Locals continued to refer to the place as the Slyder farm long after John had gone. In the 1900s, the Slyder farm became part of the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association’s holdings and was eventually incorporated into the Gettysburg National Military Park. Today, the National Park Service maintains John Slyder’s old stone house and farm. In fact, the farmhouse has been restored and can be rented by visitors for overnight stays, allowing people to literally reside in the same rooms where the Slyder family once lived. The farm lane where Vermont sharpshooters fought is now a hiking trail, and a monument to those U.S. Sharpshooters stands beside the driveway in front of the house. Big Round Top looms quietly over the scene, just as it did in John’s day.

John Slyder’s story is a poignant example of how ordinary civilians were swept up in the currents of history. He was not a famous general or politician, but a hardworking man who carved out a life through determination and skill. He experienced the joys of family and farm life, as well as the trauma of war on the home front. His genealogy links him to other known Gettysburg figures (through his wife’s family and his children’s marriages), reminding us that the “civilians of Gettysburg” formed an interconnected community. Surviving account books, census records, and newspaper notices portray John Slyder as a resourceful, community-minded individual – a “real person” behind the battlefield legend of Gettysburg. When war came to his doorstep, he did what any provider would do: protected his family first. In the aftermath, he demonstrated resilience in starting over far from home.

One might say John Slyder and his family “sacrificed their modest farm and home for the Union,” as a Gettysburg College historian wrote. Indeed, the Slyders lost nearly everything as collateral damage in a Union victory. Yet John’s legacy is not merely one of loss. It is also one of perseverance and rebuilding. In Ohio, he managed to re-establish a livelihood and see his children into adulthood. The Slyder descendants carried forward the family name in new communities across America, even as the original farm became hallowed ground.

Today, visitors to Gettysburg can walk the Slyder farm and reflect on John Slyder’s life. The house and fields – once filled with the laughter of his children and later scarred by battle – now lie quiet, preserved in time. They stand as a tribute not only to the soldiers who fought there, but also to civilians like John Slyder, whose ordinary lives were forever changed by extraordinary events. John’s story, reconstructed through primary sources like census data, land deeds, and his war damage claim, as well as through later historical research, gives us a deeply human perspective on the Civil War’s impact. It reminds us that behind every famous battle are countless personal battles, like that of John Slyder: to build a life, to protect one’s family, to endure loss, and to begin again.