Tag: Jennie Wade
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The True History and Ghost History of the Jennie Wade House
Jennie and her mother lived on Breckenridge Street, but during the battle they moved to the duplex at 548 Baltimore Street—home of her married sister Georgia Wade McClellan—to help Georgia recover from childbirth and to escape the heavy shelling. Georgia’s husband John Louis McClellan, a wheelwright, was away on service with the Union army. The duplex’s north…
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Samuel K. Foulk: The Carriage Maker who Helped Raise Young James A. Wade
Samuel K. Foulk (born March 22, 1827, in Perry County, Pennsylvania – died April 25, 1910, in Huntington Township, Adams County) was a craftsman-entrepreneur who lived most of his adult life in Gettysburg, Adams County. Best known as a carriage maker and blacksmith, Foulk later in life also farmed the land. He witnessed the upheaval…
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Farmer, Tailor, Soldier, Poet: The Life of James A. Wade, Half-Brother of Jennie Wade
The life of James A. Wade started as a crime. It continued into the worst poverty—time in the Adams County Almshouse and a period of being bonded out. Then it pivoted to the Civil War, which was made worse by the death of his sister, Jennie Wade. And for all that, Jim, as he was…
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Cemetery Hill: The Birthplace of Evergreen Cemetery
Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill are forever joined in history because of the great battle fought on their grounds—but they also share a common family history going back generations. Prior to becoming hallowed ground, Cemetery Hill was known locally as Raffensperger’s Hill, a prominent rise just south of Gettysburg. In the early 19th century it…
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Culp’s Hill: Battle and Family Heritage at Gettysburg
Culp’s Hill and the Culp family remain inextricably intertwined with the story of Gettysburg. The Culp family’s presence in Gettysburg dates to the town’s very founding in the late 18th century. In 1787 – just one year after Gettysburg was laid out – a German immigrant named Christopher “Christophel” Kolb (later Americanized to Culp) purchased a 239-acre farm…
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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…
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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…
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William Culp, Older Brother of Wesley Culp
The second-most recognized Culp in history is Wesley’s brother William Culp. The two cannot be separated because they have come to be emblematic of “brother against brother” Civil War. In fact, unveiled in 2013 is a monument on Steinwehr Avenue with the face of William pointing north and the face of Wesley pointing south. Legends…
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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…
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Samuel Foulk and the Bonding Out of Young James Wade
Whether he was trying to help the Wades or trying to acquire extra labor, Samuel Foulk took in the son of Captain James Wade, also named James, and spared him further stays at the almshouse. The tradition of the almshouse comes from the United Kingdom. You may recall a reference A Christmas Carol when Scrooge…