Author: Gordon Laws
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The Big History of Big Round Top and Little Round Top
Prior to the Civil War, the twin hills south of Gettysburg were not known by the familiar names “Big Round Top” and “Little Round Top.” The taller, southern hill (today “Big Round Top”) was generally called “Round Top” or “Round Top Mountain” by locals, and sometimes simply “Round Hill,” reflecting its prominent rounded shape. The…
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Till Mellinger: The Missing Woman in the Chambersburg Brothel Shooting
The story of Frank McLaughlin and Till Mellinger echoes other sexually charged crimes of the era, and like those crimes, it has a huge hole in the plot—who was the woman? And like Captain Wade’s former victim, we know almost nothing about the woman in the Kobler house case. In June 1859, Matilda “Till” Mellinger…
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Frank McLaughlin: From Youthful Indiscretion to Battlefield Sacrifice
The first shooting of Frank McLaughlin could not have been more pointless. In 1859, various local newspapers in Chambersburg and Gettysburg broke a salacious story: a plasterer from Gettysburg had been shot in the neck near a house of “bad repute” in Chambersburg. The wound was grave, and writers believed the man would die, though…
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The Legacy of Dr. John O’Neal in Gettysburg’s History
Dr. John O’Neal had many occasions to visit the John Rose family shortly after the battle—he treated their daughter for a nervous condition and he became one of the best sources about Confederate burials in the town and surrounding farms. History mostly remembers him for his work reuniting Southern families with the remains of their…
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The Story of the George Rose Farm and Its Legacy
Scores of accounts about the Rose farm lead off with something like “at the farm of George Rose . . .” What most don’t realize is that George Rose was not only not living at the farm, he wouldn’t do so until at least 1868. So who was actually there, and how were they affected?…
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The Cane of John Yarbrough
The following is a piece of fiction inspired by the previous post on the cane of John Yarbrough and the farm of Abraham Plank. (Recall, too, that Abraham Plank is the uncle of John Edward Plank whose farm saw a large number of Confederate burials.) Yarbrough genealogy is very well researched, but details around Private…
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Abraham Plank and the Cane Left Behind
Abraham Plank was a Pennsylvania farmer whose property lay on the southern end of Herr’s Ridge, near the Black Horse Tavern in Cumberland Township (Gettysburg area). He married Sarah Mickley (born 1802) and raised a family there. Census and genealogical records indicate their children included Josiah (b. 1827), Abraham (b.1832), John W. Plank (b.1840), and daughter Henrietta…
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Francis Bream’s Legacy and the Black Horse Tavern
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…
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Catherine Wills: Gettysburg’s Unsung Heroine
Catherine Jane Smyser, known affectionately as “Jennie” and in history as Catherine Wills, was born on August 12, 1834, in Pennsylvania. She was the eldest child of Daniel Martin Smyser and Catherine Barbara (Miller) Smyser. Catherine’s father was a prominent lawyer-turned-judge who had practiced in Gettysburg and later served on the Pennsylvania judiciary in Norristown.…
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David McConaughy, David Wills, and the Feud that Gave Us the Gettysburg National Cemetery
In September 1863, David Wills and David McConaughy were featured side-by-side on the front page of the Adams County Sentinel. In the left column was David Wills magnanimously creating the National Cemetery, and in the right column was David McConaughy generously buying up battlefield land in order to create the Gettysburg National Battlefield Park. Unseen…