Tag: Soldiers from Gettysburg
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The Anonymity of History: Remembering William Burley
You don’t know William Burley. Neither do I. On Presidents’ Day, we have nearly innumerable sources to draw from in contemplating the lives and impacts of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Naturally, both are inextricably linked to the story of freedom for all in the United States. Most of us never generate this sort of…
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Exploring Joseph Craig’s Remarkable Journey
Joseph Craig’s life was short—just 39 years—but included a large family he grew up with, his own marriage and children, and enough hair-raising incidents for a couple of lifetimes. Joseph now rests quietly in the Lincoln Cemetery beneath a headstone provided by the government in 1887. He was born free in Adams County in 1843…
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Francis Jackson: Enslaved to Soldier in Pennsylvania
When Francis Jackson went to war, he was 50 years old with whip scars on his back and gnarled, arthritic hands from his long days as a laborer and, likely, a slave. He joined earlier than almost every other black man in Gettysburg—he enlisted on July 18, 1863, in the 3rd USCT, just two weeks…
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Lloyd Watts: Pioneer of Black Education in Gettysburg
Lloyd Watts was a pioneer that history has mostly forgotten principally because his deeds were in the furtherance of education rather than battlefield glory. In 1834, the commonwealth legislature passed the Pennsylvania Free School Act, which provided free schooling for all children, including black children, ages 6 and above. This groundbreaking legislation marked a pivotal…
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Exploring the Unique Family History of Isaac Buckmaster
Spend a bit of time looking at the 1850 Census record that captured Private Isaac Buckmaster, 8th USCT, and his parents and siblings. What do you see? Anything unusual or curious? What do you not see? Like most, you probably saw names and ages. You may have noted who was in school and who wasn’t.…
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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…
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From Ten Pins to Andersonville: The Story of George Washington Shriver
The Shriver House in Gettysburg is one of the town’s much-visited attractions, known for telling the stories of the Shrivers and their home during the Battle of Gettysburg. The house has been investigated to verify blood stains in its attic, which was a shelter for Confederate sharpshooters during the battle and the site of at…