Category: Gettysburg Residents
-
The Mathews-Biggs Family Legacy in Gettysburg
The Mathews family of Biglerville and the Biggs family of Gettysburg had a strong pre-war bond. At least one source suggested that Edward Mathews and Basil Biggs might have family connections in Maryland. Biggs was known to bring travelers on the Underground Railroad to Edward Mathews who hid them among Quaker friends in Biglerville before…
-
The Life of Abraham Brian: A Forgotten Legacy
Today, the name Abraham Brian will be memorialized for as long as the United States exists. Brian’s former house sits near the apex of the Union line that bore the brunt of Pickett’s Charge—explanatory signs from the National Park Service tell you that Brian was a free black man living with his family in this…
-
Captain Mark Kerns and Benjamin Franklin Carter at Second Manassas
You may now be familiar with Lt. Col. Benjamin Franklin Carter and his former body servant Henry Johnson. Of course, Captain Mark Kerns of the US First Artillery figures prominently in the story without having been given the same historical attention. So who was this man that Lt. Col. Carter respected so much as to…
-
How Charles Hoffman and the Fahnestocks Connect to the Jennie Wade/Wesley Culp Tragedies
One of the best-known human interest stories of Gettysburg is the tragic friendship triangle of Jennie Wade, Wesley Culp, and Jack Skelly. In the span of two weeks, the lifelong friends would all die—Jack for the Union while fighting against his friend, Wes as a Confederate fighting in his hometown, and Jennie baking bread between…
-
Remembering Sarah Plank: A Civil War Nurse
When Sarah Plank finally passed away in 1926, she was eighty-five and had outlived her husband, John Edward Plank, and three of her twelve children. With that in mind, take some time to consider her obituary. Consider what takes up the most real estate on the page and what is absent. At the time of…
-
Uncovering the Life of Maggie Palm: A Gettysburg Hero
When you begin to search out the history of black citizens in Gettysburg, you inevitably come to Basil Biggs and then to Maggie Palm. In the pre-war and war years, residents often called her Maggie Blue Coat for the blue military uniform coat she wore while helping runaways on the Underground Railroad. You will certainly…
-
The Legacy of Lincoln Cemetery in Gettysburg
One of the lasting monuments to Basil Biggs and his commitment to equality is the Lincoln Cemetery in Gettysburg. Biggs worked with a local group of black men to form the Sons of Goodwill, which raised funds for the creation of the cemetery. Its original mission was to be a resting place for veterans of…
-
Impact of Civil War on Enslaved Lives: Albert Butts and Richard Jordan
In 1895, Macon, Georgia, announced the passing of one of its most eminent citizens—Captain Albert Butts who had commanded Company B, The Macon Volunteers in the 2nd Georgia Battalion. He appeared at company reunions over the next thirty years. He was lauded for his faithful service in the local Episcopal church, and he was hailed…
-
“Blind Davey” and the Mad Dog—The Story of David Weikert
The youngest child of James and Sarah Weikert, David was fourteen years old at the time of the battle. Like other residents, he watched as the battlefield became a mix of memorial, playground, and marketplace. Within days of the battle, residents and citizens from nearby communities poured into the community, collecting souvenirs, finding wounded and…
-
Jacob Weikert, the Man Behind the Huge Field Hospital
In studies of Gettysburg, Jacob Weikert’s name surfaces almost exclusively in connection to his farm. Situated on the Taneytown Road just east of the Round Tops, the 102-acre farm became the campsite and field hospital of both the Union Thirds Corps and Fifth Corps. Accordingly, the farm saw anywhere between seven hundred and one thousand…