Author: Gordon Laws
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The Fahnestock Store
If any building were to be called the center of the Battle of Gettysburg, it would be the Fahnestock store. Located at the corner of Baltimore and West Middle Streets next to the rotary or diamond at the center of the business district, the store was the largest of its kind in Gettysburg. Well before…
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The Legal Cases of Catherine Payne
For Catherine Payne and her family, three different legal cases emerged. In Virginia, after being taken to the county prison and with the support of Mary Maddox and local Quakers, Catherine Payne filed a suit for damages against Samuel Maddox for kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment. Likewise, Samuel Maddox sought to have the manumission of the…
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Catherine Payne and Her Family’s Escape from Samuel Maddox
In the predawn hours of July 24, 1845, a group of slave catchers composed of six white men and a black man burst into the room where Catherine “Kitty” Payne and her three children were sleeping. At gunpoint, the men violently loaded Catherine and children into a wagon and made for the Mason-Dixon line about…
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The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and the 1845 Kidnapping of Catherine Payne
In the predawn hours of July 24, 1845, and under the guise of protections guaranteed by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, a group of slave catchers composed of six white men and a black man burst into the room where Catherine Payne and her three children were sleeping. At gunpoint, the men violently loaded…
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The Underground Railroad and William and Phebe Wright
When Catherine “Kitty” Payne first arrived in northern Adams County, she was almost certainly assisted by William and Phebe Wright, prominent members of the Quaker faith and agents on the Underground Railroad. Later, after Catherine’s death, her daughter Mary would live with the Wrights for a decade or more. The Wrights were some of the…
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1840s: Mary Maddox, a Whole Estate, and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
In the 1830s and 1840s, tensions in Gettysburg ran high because of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. In 1837, the death in Virginia of a moderately wealthy planter, Samuel Maddox, would touch off a constitutional crisis that involved kidnapping, imprisonments in both Virginia and Pennsylvania, and three different complex court cases. While simple on…
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1840s Jennie Wade: The Skellys and the Almshouse
The best-remembered of the family, Jennie Wade, was the third child born to Captain James Wade and his wife Mary Ann. The couple’s first child died in infancy; in 1841, Georgeanna was born, followed by Jennie in 1843. Captain Wade was a native Virginian with connections to a prominent family there and ancestry that had…
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1840s: The Crimes of Captain James Wade
One of Gettysburg’s most prominent ghosts, supposedly, is Captain James Wade who, according to legend, is frustrated that he was not on hand when his daughter Jennie was killed during the battle. If you take a ghost tour, you will learn that Captain Wade was in the Adams County Almshouse during the battle. Captain Wade’s…
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New Web Site Focus and Posts
In order to keep the site fresh, I am changing how I manage it. Hereafter, I will post short articles as blog posts that give lesser known history of Gettysburg in the two decades leading up to the battle. These posts will automatically display on the home page. They will be concise enough to read…
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Chapter 9: Sallie Myers and the Beauty of the Earth
Sallie Myers scooped up the grasshopper and held it, one hand cupped over the other. She felt it jump around, smacking against her top palm. When it stopped at last, she carefully moved her top hand and peered down at the grass-green two-inch long insect. Its eyes were large for its body and seemed almost…