Tag: Battle of Gettysburg
-
Life of Reverend John Herbst: Faith and Farming in 19th Century Pennsylvania
Reverend John Herbst was born in 1793 in York, Pennsylvania, a son of John Heinrich Herbst (who went by Henry) and his wife Catherine. The Herbsts were part of the early Pennsylvania German community that helped build Adams County. Raised with strong traditions of faith, farming, and hard work, John was one of ten children…
-
Ed McPherson: Gentleman! Orator! Scholar!
Today, most people know the name Ed McPherson from McPherson Ridge, the site of heavy fighting on Day 1 of the Battle of Gettysburg. But Edward McPherson was far more than the name of a farm one of Gettysburg’s most prominent 19th-century figures—a lawyer, journalist, politician, and government reformer whose life intersected with some of…
-
The Life and Legacy of Peter Thorn in Gettysburg
As the legend goes, Peter Thorn was escorting his bride, Elizabeth Catharine Masser, on September 1, 1855, when all the bells in Gettysburg began to ring. Elizabeth asked Peter why all the ringing, and he explained that they were acknowledging the dedication of the Evergreen Cemetery. Of course, a short time later, Peter would be…
-
Elizabeth Thorn: The Pregnant Grave Digger of Gettysburg
In her waning years, Elizabeth Thorn wrote for the Gettysburg Compiler an account of her experiences at the Battle of Gettysburg. Her husband, Peter, had joined the 138th Pennsylvania, leaving her pregnant and with three children at home. Her only male family member was her aged father. The Thorns were the caretakers of the Evergreen…
-
The Legacy of George Bushman: Gettysburg’s Forgotten Farmer
If you search online for George Bushman of Gettysburg, you’d be forgiven for believing that he was, more or less, a farm . . . or better said, a guy who had a farm that became famous. You’ll find next to nothing on who he was and what he was like as a man. Since…
-
Aunt Polly Culp: Gettysburg’s Beloved Figure of the Civil War Era
Elizabeth Culp, known to the locals as Aunt Polly Culp (no, we don’t know why), was intertwined in most of the major families of Gettysburg and familiar to almost everyone. Born to Heinrich Reiff and Barbara Eyster in 1780, she was the oldest of at least eight children. She grew up in Rockland Township, Berks…
-
Jacob Culp: Steward of Adams County Alms House
Jacob Culp was related to the other Culps featured on this site. All of them descended from the German couple Christophel Kolb and Maria Caterina Leise. Their name became Culp within a generation, and one of the children of that couple owned the farm that included the hill now known as Culp’s Hill. Jacob was…
-
Uncovering Julia M. Culp: The Untold Story of a Gettysburg Nurse
Julia M. Culp is forever linked to her brother John Wesley Culp. Wes’s July 1 nighttime visit to his sisters Anna Eliza and Julia is the source of stories and legends handed down through the ages and the place in history where Julia shows up most often. But who was Julia? Julia M. Culp, born…
-
Remembering Keller Culp: A Union Soldier’s Sacrifice at Andersonville
Known to friends and family as Keller, Benjamin Keller Culp was another cousin of John Wesley Culp whose fate added to the Culp family tragedy. Born on May 31, 1844, in Adams County, Pennsylvania, Keller’s life was profoundly shaped by the tumultuous events of the American Civil War. In the summer of 1862, responding to…
-
Tragedy of Young James Culp: A Family’s Loss After Gettysburg
The tragedy of young James Culp only multiplied the sorrows in the Culp family and the inexplicable horrors the town had experienced. Two months after the Battle of Gettysburg, shallow graves still dotted the farms; visitors poured in from around the country, seeking to reclaim their fallen loved ones; scavengers and souvenir collectors of all…