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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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Owen Robinson: From Enslaved to Entrepreneur
The roots of Owen Robinson may well be found in the pages of this will from the late 1700s. Wealthy plantation owner Thomas Barton Gorsuch carefully laid out the details of his plantation and those of his enslaved people, stipulating what his wife should get, his children, and even his grandson, Robert. To his wife…
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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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Harriet Ciata Stanton: A Legacy in Gettysburg
Harriet Ciata Stanton’s ties go back to the founding of Gettysburg, and her descendants were still in Gettysburg at least through the early 2000s (and may still be there!). Even a hundred years ago, the newspapers referred to the family as the oldest in Gettysburg and Harriet as one of its most notable citizens. Harriet…
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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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Julia Eyster Jacobs: A Legacy of Faith and Family
These days, no ink is spilled on Julia Eyster Jacobs, wife of Dr. Michael Jacobs. Likewise, little has been said or written in decades about their daughter, Mary Julia. But these were powerful women, steeped in deep faith who made tremendous sacrifices for their beliefs. The first time we find mention of Julia Eyster is…
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The Life of Private Samuel N. Cox: A Confederate Story
Private Samuel N. Cox was no ordinary Confederate private. Nearly everyone around him was single, but Private Cox was well into his second marriage. The few married men usually had young families—no kids or one kid, maybe two or three at most. Samuel Cox had three boys and two girls by his first wife and…
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Memories of Gettysburg: Reverend Henry Eyster Jacobs and the Changing Landscape
Reverend Henry Eyster Jacobs took after his father, Dr. Michael Jacobs. He followed him into the Lutheran clergy; he was a teacher, a writer, and a keen observer of the era he lived in. The oldest of four, he was born in 1844 when his parents had been married for 11 years; his father was…
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Dr. Michael Jacobs: Far More than Gettysburg’s Unsung Weatherman
At the conclusion of July 3, 1863, Dr. Michael Jacobs noted dryly in his weather record, “The thunder seemed tame, after the artillery firing of the afternoon.” Of course, the artillery barrage of that afternoon was likely the largest that had occurred in history to that point. Similarly, the thunderstorm was a prelude to a…