Posted in Somewhere other than a cemetery, tagged battle of gettysburg, cenotaphs, civil war, gettysburg, history, pennsylvania on March 2, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
As a follow-up to the previous post, these are photos of the Jennie Wade House, which of course was never known by that name during her life. Jennie was born and lived elsewhere, but she died in this house during the Battle of Gettysburg, and so it is the place most associated with her.
Posted in Somewhere other than a cemetery, tagged battle of gettysburg, cause of death, cenotophs, civil war, gettysburg, pennsylvania on March 1, 2013 | 1 Comment »
In the old section of Gettysburg, a house that doesn’t have a historical plaque or marker on it is in the minority. Any house that stood at the time of the battle bears a plaque stating that fact, like the top plaque on this house.
However, this house is also the birthplace of Mary Virginia Wade, the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg. Twenty-year-old Ginnie Wade was staying with her sister, the Georgia Wade McClellan who unveiled the plaque. McClellan had just given birth when the sleepy little crossroads of Gettysburg was overrun by soldiers, and the family found themselves in the middle of the battle lines as the armies skirmished. Ginnie was kneading bread for baking when a bullet traveled through the door of the house and struck her in the back, killing her. Ginnie Wade’s sudden, tragic death brought her a fame she never could have expected in life, and Gettysburg now plays host to three tourist attractions associated with her: her grave in Evergreen Cemetery, the Jennie Wade House (her sister’s house where she was killed), and the Jennie Wade birthplace (a tasting room for Reid’s Winery).
Posted in Graveless memorials, tagged battle of gettysburg, battlefield, civil war, eternal flame, gettysburg, pennsylvania on February 28, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
The Eternal Peace Light Memorial overlooks the scene of the early fighting of the Battle of Gettysburg, atop Oak Hill. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated the monument in 1938 as part of the final Blue and Gray reunion on the 75th anniversary of the battle. In attendance were approximately 1,800 remaining veterans of the Union and Confederate armies, the youngest of whom was 88 years old. Built on northern and southern donations, the memorial is topped with an eternal flame. You can hear Roosevelt’s remarks and view photos from the event here.
It’s also the subject of one of the earliest photos I ever took with my own camera that was worth keeping.
Posted in Morbid Musings, tagged big spring presbyterian cemetery, names, newville, pennsylvania on January 26, 2013 | 1 Comment »
I found two particularly interesting names when I visited Big Spring Presbyterian Cemetery. The first one, Abbidora, I can’t find anything about online. Now, not everything is on the internet (gasp!) but when I did a Google search for the name, the only Abbidora I found was…this one, on a cemetery transcription project website. I’m guessing that it’s probably a compound name made from two more common names, but that’s just an assumption.
Fleeta is also an unusual name where I live, but not nearly so obscure. All the baby names websites that track name popularity in history showed that “Fleeta” appeared on the top 1000 baby names in the United States in the 1890s. (Not high up in the top 1000, mind you – it was definitely towards the bottom.) With it being less popular, none of them I checked even attempted to provide a meaning.
Posted in Cemetery Sculpture, tagged calvary cemetery, chicago, cincinnati, harrisburg, harrisburg cemetery, illinois, ohio, pennsylvania, sarcophagus, sarcophagus tomb, spring grove cemetery, tomb types on January 17, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
I haven’t posted photos of sarcophagi in a while. Sarcophagus tombs in most modern cemeteries just look like they hold a body. The actual person is usually interred below or next to the monument.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged cenotaph, cenotaphs, civil war, cross, gettysburg, gettysburg national military park, grave art, pennsylvania, sculpture on December 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
There aren’t a lot of crosses in Gettysburg National Military Park. The 142nd Pennsylvania has this rough-hewn, rugged cross.
Posted in Somewhere other than a cemetery, tagged gettysburg, ghost, ghost stories, ghosts, haunted, pennsylvania on October 31, 2012 | 1 Comment »
When we took the Ghosts of Gettysburg tour during our vacation, and this story was the only one that had a tombstone associated with it. The house is rented out to college students every year, and the residents over the years have supposedly reported hearing the sound of a body falling down the stairs and thudding to the floor. When some work was being done on the grounds, workman unearthed a tombstone with the name “Joanna Craig” on it in the yard.
Posted in Dead Men Do Tell Tales, tagged carlisle, civil war, old carlisle cemetery, old carlisle graveyard, pennsylvania, soldier, veteran, wordless wednesday on October 3, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
To the memory of Michael Kneafsey
Born in Galway, Ireland
Died at(?) Carlisle Barracks
Oct. 3 (?), 1862
Aged 26 years
Posted in Dead Men Do Tell Tales, tagged cause of death, civil war, history, occupation, old carlisle cemetery, old carlisle graveyard, pennsylvania, soldier, tombstone tales, veteran on September 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
One hundred and fifty years ago today near Sharpsburg, Maryland, the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac clashed in what would live on to this day as the bloodiest one day battle in United States history.. At the end of the day, the casualties numbered nearly 23,000. Captain James Colwell was among the dead. A Carlisle, Pennsylvania, lawyer, Colwell responded to President Lincoln’s call for volunteers and enlisted at the start of the Civil War. He was named 1st Lieutenant of the 7th Pennsylvania Reserves/36th Pennsylvania Volunteers and promoted to Captain the July before his death. When Colwell fell at the battle of Antietam, he left behind a wife and four children.
Another blog post about Colwell can be found here.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged arch, archway, carlisle, cleveland, erie street cemetery, grave art, ohio, old carlisle cemetery, old carlisle graveyard, pennsylvania, sculpture, strongsville, strongsville cemetery, symbolism on September 8, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
