History Commons^™

Adams County Grave-Stonecutters, 1770-1918, Nancy Delong

Adams County History

Stonecutting in Adams county followed all the general developmental trends and stages exhibited by the craft in other parts of Pennsylvania. Adams county, nonetheless, evolved its unique approach to gravestone art, for rural early American stonecutters were by and large highly unique artistic individuals.

The earliest prominent stonecutters maintained high artistic standards as well as exhibiting a high degree of creativity. These were craftsmen of the Scots-Irish Bigham family of Marsh Creek and the Pennsylvania-German Meals family, centered at Bender's Cemetery, Butler township. A third outstanding Adams county stonecutter was the predecessor of Barnet Hildebrand of East Berlin. This artist …

Adams County History 2001

Adams County History

No abstract provided.

"Not Only For... Material Progress... But For The General Good And Uplift": A History Of Guernsey And Its Humpback Bridge, Elwood W. Christ

Adams County History

The Guernsey or "Humpback" Bridge (see figure 2) is dying from neglect. Small saplings and briar bushes now cuddle its abutments that Mother Nature has bombarded with many wind and rain showers and baked with her sweltering summer suns. Several timbers are tattooed, seared by countless embers from wood- and coal-fired locomotives that have traveled underneath it along the Gettysburg Railroad line. Sections of several other timbers have rotted. Indeed, this little, single-lane span cannot withstand the weight of motor vehicles much longer. For this reason, in 1999 the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission ruled that the forlorn bridge was a …

Nostalgias Postcoloniales: La Revolución Es Un Sueño Eteimo De Andrés Rivera Y La Campaña De Carlos Fuentes, Alvaro Kaempfer

Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies Faculty Publications

La nación como un deseo dibujado sobre los escombros de su utopía, en el tramo final del ciclo independentista latinoamericano, ordena mi acercamiento a La revolución es un sueño eterno (1987) de Andrés Rivera y La campaña (1990) de Carlos Fuentes. Más aUá de su diversidad y complejidad, ambas novelas abordan el ciclo independentista a partir de una incursión a la escritura de la historia en el contexto de la narrativa del Post-Boom. Mi hipótesis es que ambas novelas redefinen la relación entre narrativa e historia enfatizando la singularidad de la experiencia histórica, y apoyando en esa percepción individual una …

Apple Of Gold In A Picture Of Silver: The Constitution And Liberty, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

In the threatening winter of 1861, as the United States was being ~ inched ever- closer td the outbreak of civil war by the secession of the Southern states over the issue of black slavery, the newly elected president, Abraham Lincoln, opened up a confidential correspondence with a f6rmer Southern political colleague, Alexander Stephens of Georgia. Stephens had made headlines in November 1860, in a speech to the Georgia legislature, urging Georgia not to follow tlie South into secession. Lincoln sent him a friendly note, asking- for a printed copy of the speech-and perhaps warming Stephens to an invitation to …

Reexamining The Racial Record Of Abraham Lincoln, Jonathan Scott Holloway, William E. Gienapp, Gabor Boritt, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

Since his death in 1865 Abraham Lincoln has been universally honored in black America. In many black homes and businesses, his photograph often hangs in honor next to the one of Martin Luther King Jr. But a new book by Ebony editor Lerone Bennett Jr. contends that Lincoln was a crude bigot who told demeaning darky jokes, had an unquenchable thirst for minstrel shows, consistently used the word "nigger," and supported efforts to ship Negroes back to Africa.

As Jack E. White pointed out in a recent Time magazine article, this book largely has been ignored by the mainstream press. …

Lincoln And The Abolitionists, Allen C. Guelzo

History Faculty Publications

It has always been one of the ironies of the era of the Civil War and the end of slavery in the United States that the man who played the role of Great Emancipator of the slaves was so hugely mistrusted and so energetically vilified by the party of abolition. Abraham Lincoln, whatever his larger reputation as the liberator of more than three million black slaves in the Emancipation Proclamation, has never entirely shaken off the reputation of being something of a half-heart about it. [excerpt]

Interview With Robert Reynolds, August 23, 2000, Robert Reynolds, Michael J. Birkner

Oral Histories

In the last part of a series of interviews conducted by Michael J. Birkner, Robert Reynolds discussed on August 23, 2000 his life after World War II. After the war, Reynolds moved to Gettysburg. He discussed his time at a rubber factory and his decision to become a teacher at 50.

Length of Interview: 49 minutes

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing in the Special Collections Reading Room, 4^th floor, Musselman Library. GettDigital contains the complete listing of oral histories done …

Interview With James I. Tarman, May 5, 2000, James I. Tarman, Michael J. Birkner

Oral Histories

James I. Tarman was interviewed on May 5, 2000 by Michael J. Birkner about his years as a student at Gettysburg College, Class of 1952, and becoming the school's first public relations director. He discusses his experience as a history major, his extracurricular activities and his social life on campus, including how he met his wife. Finally, he talks about his dedication to the school as the director of public relations.

Length of Interview: 31 minutes

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing …

Adams County History 2000

Adams County History

No abstract provided.

The Gettysburg Battlefield, One Century Ago, Benjamin Y. Dixon

Adams County History

In the fall of 1899, Colonel John Nicholson reported on the recent changes being made to the Gettysburg National Military park. The park held a dedication ceremony that July for a new equestrian statue to General John Reynolds erected northwest of town. It was a shiny goldenbrown, polished-bronze statue sculpted by Henry Kirke Bush-Brown (his second equestrian statue at Gettysburg in three years). The horse and rider, balancing on two legs stood on a large pedestal near the new avenue in his name. Reynolds Avenue and adjoining Wadsworth, Doubleday, and Robinson Avenues were new to the battlefield as well. These …

Come-Outers And Community Men: Abraham Lincoln And The Idea Of Community In Nineteenth-Century America, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

The most eloquent and moving words Abraham Lincoln ever uttered about any community were those "few and simple words" he spoke on the rear platform of the railroad car that lay waiting on the morning of February 11, 1861, to take him to Washington, to the presidency, and ultimately to his death. As his "own breast heaved with emotion" so that "he could scarcely command his feelings sufficiently to commence" (in the description of James C. Conkling), Lincoln declared that "No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting." To leave Springfield was to …

Interview With Harold A. Dunkelberger, July 29, 1999, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Michael J. Birkner, David Hedrick

Oral Histories

The first of two interviews, Harold A. Dunkelberger, a student and professor at Gettysburg College, was interviewed on July 29, 1999 by Michael J. Birkner & David Hedrick. He graduated with the class of 1936, and discusses his experience as a student of English at Gettysburg and his time at the Gettysburg Seminary.

Length of Interview: 87 minutes

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing in the Special Collections Reading Room, 4^th floor, Musselman Library. GettDigital contains the complete listing of oral …

The Civil War Letters Of Jeremiah Mickly Of Franklin Township, Adams County, Eric Ledell Smith

Adams County History

On December 2, 1862, just eleven days before the Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, Jeremiah Mickly said goodbye to his wife and two children and reported for duty with the 177th Pennsylvania Infantry to become a Civil War chaplain. The only known photograph ofMickly shows him dressed in the standard chaplain's uniform of the day: a plain black frock coat with a standing collar and black buttons with plain black pantaloons. Like many other Civil War soldiers, Mickly re-enlisted for service after his stint with the 177th ended, becoming chaplain of the 43rd Regiment, United States Colored Troops. Impressed with the …

Adams County History 1999

Adams County History

No abstract provided.

On The Trail Of Sidney O'Brien: An Inquiry Into Her Family And Status - Was She A Slave Or Servant Of The Gettys Family In Gettysburg? Was Her Daughter, Getty Ann, A Descendant Of James Gettys?, Elwood W. Christ

Adams County History

Like many Decembers in the greater Adams county area, the beginning of the winter usually is a collage of intermittent warm spells spliced amongst Arctic days with cold Canadian northwest winds. Amid the hoopla, as Gettysburgians prepared for the 1873 Christmas holidays during the week between the 17th and 24th of December, a person had, as Alfred Lord Tennyson so eloquently described, "Crossed the Bar." But in the local newspapers there had been no notice of declining health. No death notice appeared. Possibly the cost of five cents a line "for all over four lines- cash to accompany the notice" …

Some Early Adams County Communities, Their Churches, And Church Lands, Charles H. Glatfelter

Adams County History

The earliest European settlers in today's Adams county were basically a religious people. While probably most of them should not be described as particularly pious, they did have the fear of the Lord in their hearts and wanted to have access to the services of some religious organization, either the one to which they were accustomed in Europe or one with which they had affiliated in America. If they belonged to groups such as the Quakers, Mennonites, or Brethren, it was easy for them to develop internally the leadership necessary to function successfully as a religious community. If they were …

The Return Of The Will: Jonathan Edwards And The Possibilities Of Free Will, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

If certain national cultures seem to own certain great problems of the mind, then freedom of the will seems to be the American problem. This is not just because of the sheet stupifying bulk of what Americans have written on this problem over the past 300 years, from Benjamin Franklin to Daniel Dennett, from Quaker prophetesses in Vermont to prairie lawyers in Illinois. In the most fundamental sense, freedom of the will has been an American possession because it forms a cognate philosophical discourse to that most fundamental of all American ideas, that if political and civil liberty. To speak …

Interview With Robert D. Hanson, October 2, 1998, Robert D. Hanson, Michael J. Birkner, David Hedrick

Oral Histories

Robert D. Hanson, son of Gettysburg College President Henry W.A. Hanson, was interviewed on October 2, 1998 by Michael J. Birkner & David Hedrick. He discusses his father's presidency, and what it was like to grow up in Gettysburg College's White House. He also describes his experience as a student in the class of 1939--what it was like to be the son of the president as a student, fraternity life, academics, and his service in World War II.

Length of Interview: 134 minutes

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & …

Some Culp Family Members In The Civil War, David A. Culp

Adams County History

In the 1860s Gettysburg had a population of around 2,400. The Culps had lived there since 1787, the year Christopher Culp purchased the farm, located on the east end of town, with its western boundry starting at Baltimore St. between Breckenridge and South Streets, going northeast to South Stratton St. and Wall Alley East, then on to East Middle St. between South Stratton and Liberty Streets. The town more or less ended at the farm boundary. Prominent on the farm and southeast of town was Culp's Hill. Five generations of Culps had lived in Gettysburg by the time of the …

Adams County In "The Splendid Little War," April Through August 1898, Timothy H. Smith

Adams County History

The Spanish American War lasted less than four months (April 25 to August 13, 1898). For the entire war, American casualties totaled less than 2,000 men, among them 345 killed or mortally wounded. Many more, however, died of disease (about 2000). Over the years, the war has been remembered as an event in which American interests and yellow journalism led to a conflict where the outcome was never in doubt. The nation of Spain, embroiled in internal dispute and civil unrest, was ripe for the picking and could do little to organize a defense of her colonies against a nation …

Adams County History 1998

Adams County History

No abstract provided.

"Raising Kane Takes Its Toll On The Old Chambersburg Turnpike": A Tale Of Photographic Detection, Elwood W. Christ

Adams County History

Inquires to which the staff of the society responds fall into several categories, but all can be characterized as sensible, ludicrous, or somewhere in between. Most sensible requests focus on genealogy, old businesses, or some other facet of early Adams county history. Many other times, ludicrous requests are received from parties who want to know something about their ancestors from some foreign state who fought in the battle of Gettysburg. The society simply does not have that information.

At face value, however, some requests only border on the ludicrous. Such was one relatively recent inquiry which the author was asked …

Holland's Life Of Abraham Lincoln, Josiah Gilbert Holland, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

"Soon after the assassination of President Lincoln in April 1865, newspaper editor Josiah Gilbert Holland traveled to Illinois to talk with people who had known Abraham Lincoln “back when.” In 1866 Holland published the earliest full-scale life of the fallen leader. A great popular success, Holland’s biography introduced American readers who were hungry for personal information about Lincoln’s early life to some of the most famous and enduring Lincoln stories. From Holland the reader learned about Lincoln making restitution for a ruined book, the railsplitter earning his first silver dollar, the millhorse’s kick to his head, the wrestling match with …

God's Designs: The Literature Of The Colonial Revival Of Religion, 1735-1760, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

In December of 1990, after the completion of a section on Jonathan Edwards at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association in New York City, a dozen or so of mostly younger scholars of Jonathan Edwards swept around the corner from the convention hotel and settled themselves down to a staggering repast at a posh north Italian restaurant. In the midst of some very un-Edwardsean consumption, I offered a question to everyone around the table: What is the most important book which you've ever read on the Great Awakening? With only one exception, the Young Edwardseans gave the palm …

An Heir Or A Rebel? Charles Grandison Finney And The New England Theology, Allen C. Guelzo

History Faculty Publications

Examines the contributions of Charles Grandison Finney to mid-nineteenth century theology. Finney's rejection of Calvinism; Critiques on Finney's theology by interpreters including William McLoughlin; Reference to the book `Memoirs'; Finney's perverse admiration of Jonathan Edwards; Development of the doctrine of perfection.

"This Yankee Is Different!" Dwight D. Eisenhower's Southern Strategy In The 1952 And 1956 Presidential Elections, Michael E. Karpyn

Student Publications

As the Republican presidential candidate in 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower was advised that campaign trips into the solid Democratic South were a waste of time and resources. In his re-election campaign of 1956, however, Eisenhower managed to win a majority of the electoral votes in this region. This success, in part, capitalized on the changing political and social structures within the South. In addition, the fracture of the Democratic party over the issue of civil rights and campaign difficulties of Eisenhower's opponent in both elections, Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, also contributed to the Republican gains in the South, leading to …

Interview With Edward Bulleit, January 7, 1997, Edward Bulleit, Michael J. Birkner, David Hedrick

Oral Histories

Edward "Ted" Bulleit, Class of 1935, was interviewed on January 7, 1997 by Michael J. Birkner & David Hedrick about his time at Gettysburg College. He discusses his experiences of attending college during the Great Depression, the political science department, fraternity life and the administration of Henry W.A. Hanson. He also describes his years as a law student at Duke University, his time in the US Air Force during World War II, and his return to Gettysburg as a lawyer.

Length of Interview: 72 minutes

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special …

Building A Battle Site: Roads To And Through Gettysburg, Elwood W. Christ

Adams County History

On the morning of 1 July 1863, lead elements of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia advanced on the town of Gettysburg situated in the lush farm lands of south-central Pennsylvania just eight miles east of the South Mountain in Adams county. The Southern reconnaissance in force made early that summer morning was destined not only to change the history of the struggling Confederacy, but also to set the infant United States republic, indeed the world, on courses towards more democratic forms of government.

Although many historians have dwelled on those three fateful days in 1863, few …

Adams County History 1997

Adams County History

No abstract provided.