Witness to War: The Taverns of Gettysburg

welcome thank you for joining us for another online program from the adams county historical society my name is antigone lad and i'm delighted to be your host this evening let me ask if you are watching this program on facebook please click on the like button and also share our video if you wouldn't mind if you're watching us on youtube on the other hand please take a few minutes to subscribe to youtube and then also ring the bell these are new elements i've just recently learned about from the social media and they will help us to increase our viewership so thank you very much for doing that if you want to help support the historical society in its programming and in building its new museum and education center there is a donate button at the bottom of your screen so thank you for watching us and thank you for going through all of these logistical issues with the social media now i'd like to introduce our speaker for this evening who is john winkelmann john is a licensed battlefield guide here in gettysburg since 2004. john retired here to gettysburg in 2000 he is a u.s navy veteran having served in vietnam and he's also worked in private industry but his passion now is civil war history john has done an extensive job on researching the taverns of adams county which he talked about in an earlier program several months ago if you would like to review that one it talks about the history of taverns in general why they sprang up and how important they were to the developing economy and the terrible road system that was existing back in the 17 and early 1800s tonight he's going to take a very different view and talk to us about the civil war coming to gettysburg and how the marching armies coming into gettysburg took advantage of those taverns and does he have the stories but i'd like to introduce you to john by asking him a question about how he collected this research the information on taverns is very sparse and clearly not in any one location and once he got started on looking for this how did he decide how many taverns to include in his research so john would you tell us a little bit about how you got into the details of finding old photographs old records and then deciding to keep going and adding more and more and more taverns and ends to your study when you started how did you decide how many taverns to include and where have you gone since well actually we we never had a set number to begin with it was just like a program for the civil war like explained in the first part so i was just going to get a number of taverns see what i could do and that's when i found out there is no big tavern book and dr gladfelter said we could start digging so my view at least initially was maybe do the confederates coming into adams county coming down the chambersburg pike and some of the taverns in gettysburg and uh that took a while because like they said there's a lot of information but it's not all in one spot so you have to kind of go through records of damage claims applications even newspaper clippings advertisements whatever but i got that done and then that gladfelter said well would you like to continue so so we could maybe keep moving farther east so we'll go down to york pike so we went down we did uh do oxford cross keys abbotstown so right now probably i would say today's route 30 corridor we've got pretty much those old taverns pretty much uh we've got them you know logged got some information there's a few that we have missed we know one of the big problems is a lot of times with these applications um if they they put in application but they don't say where it is and of course a lot of these taverns the proprietor the guy's running the tavern has the license but he doesn't own the building and so sometimes it's hard to match up the proprietor with where he's at so there's a few out there we know they had a license they're out on the york pike or the chambersburg we just don't know where they were uh also another thing probably the worst thing when you get into the civil era is that um from 1851 through the civil war years there is no we don't have the original applications those were lost i mean dr gladfelter said he looked for him other people from the historical societies looked for him but the original applications are gone now we know there is a listing i was actually published in the papers of those establishments or those individuals that got approval for a tavern license we even know what township they were in we just don't know where they were so some of them it's easy because it's the same person getting his application renewed but if another guy pops up well where is he at you know and did somebody maybe you know stopped operating it or move on and somebody took over for him or what so it's a lot of detective work trying to find that in some cases there are gaps you don't know who who was there at the time especially during 1863 we know there's some taverns out there that had been taverns but they don't have the owner doesn't have the uh the license so is he leasing it to somebody and if he is who's he leasing it to so you gotta look at this name and try and figure out who's over here over here so it becomes almost like instead of just doing research it's like detective work almost trying to put these over but i would say uh the route 30 corridor is pretty well done now if i want to expand it to go north south let's say littlest town biglerville bendersville whatever mccherry's town uh i don't know we'll see maybe we can expand it in the future thank you very very much you're welcome welcome back uh on our first episode part one of the historic taverns and ends of adams county we explored the early taverns of 18th and 19th century america and here at adams county talked about the importance of taverns how they were essential to a lot of these early communities we talked about the tavern keepers how they needed a license some of the beverages they would serve also how important the road network was in those days and how actually the roads would determine where the early taverns would be established but tonight we're going to put a little bit of a civil war spin on everything uh what we're going to do is actually cover the uh the march of general john gordon's confederate brigade as he comes into adams county on june the 26th 1863 it's actually coming down the old chambersburg pike and talking about the inns and taverns that he's going to pass and some of the incidents that would occur there now the first time we're going to be talking about is the grafenberg inn alexander caldwell will build a log tavern on this site in 1802 this tavern will be built right on the adams county uh franklin county line and i mean right on the line the county line went right through the middle of his tavern uh caldwell and would install two bars one at each end of the tavern so when the tax collector came in from adams county he'd say he sold all his liquor over in franklin county and when the franklin county tax collector arrived he told him he was selling all his liquor in adams county uh the story does not tell how long caldwell got away with this but he had a plan uh he'll sell his tavern in 1818 other proprietors will own and operate the end but in 1843 david goodyear will buy the tavern and he's going to operate this for the next 20 years now the old tavern was made out of logs but unfortunately it would be destroyed by a fire in 1849 but goodyear is going to replace this with a larger two-story uh brick tavern with 19 rooms plus a large dining room because he's actually right on the chambersburg pike and of course that became a very important route across the southern pennsylvania here and there was a lot of stage traffic wagon traffic and so it became a very popular spot the aerial continued to grow out here mainly the caledonia ironworks thaddeus stevens uh enterprise out here so people are moving into the area and uh in 1849 it was uh decided to have a post office here but they had a problem this place had really no name the area had no name and so a gentleman by the name of edward mcpherson a friend of thaddeus stephen suggested name cr gruffenberg for you students of the battle uh this is the same edward macpherson who owned that town just west of gettysburg uh the name was actually taken from a famous spa north of vienna austrian because of the natural springs on goodyear's property that seemed like a fitting name so this becomes the grafenberg inn now although goodyear will own the inn until 1864 he will have various proprietors run it for him and at the time of the civil war benjamin shriver was the proprietor and in 1862 he's going to get a visit by general jeb stewart stewart in 1862 is going to conduct his second raid around the army of the potomac he came up to cumberland valley is going to turn east and swing into adams county and his men will stop at the inn and help themselves mr shriver will later submit damage claims for 40 gallons of whiskey nine gallons of brandy two gallons of gin seems like a lot but in june of 1863 general john gordon part of jubal early's division as well as jubal early and the rest of the division will come into adams county and the first in they will hit is the graufenberg inn now of course we know that jubal early burned down thaddeus stevens ironworks but there was newspaper articles in the gettysburg times done in 1941 and 1980 claiming that early's men burnt down to graffenbergen as well now however there was an ad in the gettysburg compiler from october the 26th 1863 that list the inn for sale and the ad describes the inn in very great detail and mentions nothing about a fire any damage and also the fact that goodyear filed no damage claims for this seems to indicate the the inn suffered little if any damage which would probably be true because if you think about it lee had cautioned his generals not to destroy private property now early got rid of the iron works because it belonged to thaddeus stevens a noted abolitionist as well as maybe you could argue the iron was helping the union war effort but the grothenberg again had nothing to do with the ironworks and it was a private concern so again if the lin ian probably suffered very little if any damage in 1864 lydia hustetter will purchase the inn and after the civil war the spring at grethenberg in will become a very popular health resort uh some of the advertisements in those days pretty much advertise that the water from this spring would cure just about everything except death in 1902 though the state of pennsylvania will acquire the end but by the 1920s its popularity is the claim they declined and its run down but 1922 robert miller released the inn from the state he'll put in a golf course which still exists today out on route 30. he's going to fix up the end and he restores its popularity the inn continues operating off and on through the 20th century but in 1970 the state made demands that whoever leased the end would be responsible for bringing the building up to code after a three-year restoration the inn reopened in 1974 but unfortunately six years later it would be destroyed by arson on march 15 1980 now as uh general gordon is brigade or continuing down the chambersburg pike he's going to come to our next tavern in the program here and this is going to be newman's tavern the picture you see here is actually a photograph taken at the top of the cache town past probably early 20th century uh where the buildings are that was the site of newman's tavern the road coming in from your left is the probably the lincoln turnpike or the old chambersburg pike and the road leading off to the right today that would be buchanan valley road now an alexander thompson operated a log tavern on top of what they called it the time blacks gap it was known as the cashtown pass at the time of the civil war but he will actually open his tavern there in 1786 in 1790 he's caught operating an illegal tavern or a tippling house as we found out in our last episode and he would be fined but the court was very lenient he only had to pay the court fees thompson will sell his tavern to uh john hahn in 18 1802 but in 1884 1804 david newman uh will purchase the tavern and he will own this tavern until his death in 1864. now although newman will own the tavern for 59 years most of the time he's actually leasing it out to other proprietors and the tavern would be in operation during the battle of gettysburg and there were two newspaper accounts uh confirming this it appears that a gentleman by the name of fd smith was the proprietor and after the battle he would actually file a damage claim in 1868 for 30 gallons of whiskey four gallons of brandy two gallons of gin three gallons of wine and numerous other riding items including the bar furniture so apparently somebody took all the bar stools with them too uh one story in the gettysburg compiler states that the wounded confederate soldier who was shot by the bushwacker henry hahn in the famous bushwhacking incident was taken to newman's tavern where he died another account said he was taken to newman's initially but then moved to a tavern in greenwood and died there local historian tim smith has researched this incident and found that the confederate soldier's name was eli emmick of the 14th virginia cavalry and emmick would have the dubious distinction of being the first confederate casualty in adams county during the gettysburg campaign the star and sentinel had an article on july 29 1883 given account of a captain spangler's militia unit uh they had been sent out to the cash town pass uh at the end of june mainly to cut down some trees and maybe block the path uh they avoided being captured by the 14th virginia cavalry and that night they would actually go to newman's and have dinner and it was said that a calvary trooper probably one of captain belle's calvary uh from his captain bill's calvary company came in and put ten dollars on the bar offering to buy drinks for spangler's men he's probably amazed the militiamen were still there after tangling with the 14th virginia but spangler informed the trooper his men did not drink and they would use the money however to pay for their dinner now after david newman's death in 1864 the building was passed on to his son ephraim but is no longer being used as a tavern there was an article in the gettysburg compiler on march the 12 1869 that tells of the demise of the old tavern the old tavern house widely known in staging times as newman's on the chambersburg pike just beyond the summit of south mountain was destroyed by fire during a severe blowing on saturday afternoon fencing around the house was destroyed and even a wood close by caught fire ephraim newman lived in the house it had long ceased being used as a tavern and uh shortly before it had been repaired effort newman will put another building on the site and that is the building that is standing there today which you can see from uh route 30 if you look off to the left hand side now the next building we're going to attack in i should say that we're going to talk about is this one right here this is the willow springs hotel now a peter mertz would receive the tavern license in 1795 and appears that the tavern was initially made of logs so the stone part would be added later uh in the 1804 tax record it said peter owned 200 acres of land out here as well as a tavern and a sawmill so he's been doing pretty good and uh his heirs will actually own this tavern until 1841. they'll go through various owners but in 1855 a man by the name of benjamin dierdoff will purchase the property but again he leases it to others from 1858 to 1864 henry munchauser will be the proprietor and he would call his tavern the willow springs hotel now during the civil war winchester will be visited twice by the confederate army in october of 1862 jeb stewart's men are still heading east through adams county they'll stop at his tavern and take liquor bottles bridles 20 bushels of oats and somebody actually reached into the bar room till draw and took out 35 dollars bad but in 1863 uh during general lee's invasion the whole basically pretty much all of lee's army is going to be coming right past his tavern door and uh he will actually put in a damaged claim for two horses a wagon a carriage 40 bushels of corn 10 bushels of oats a grindstone and 125 gallons of liquor also uh from june 20th to june 26 1863 munchauser also boarded and fed captain bell's adams county cavalry company but at least he was reimbursed for their expenses in 1872 and 1873 fd smith would be the proprietor and at that time it would be known as the willow grove hotel uh after that though by the 1880s uh pretty much it had stopped being used as a tavern but today the building is still standing on the corner of bingham road so that can still be viewed today if you go down the old route 30. now the next tavern on the route we're still proceeding southward now right past the willow springs hotel though the uh there would be a fork in the road if you go straight you would be staying on the old route 30 or the car as we know it today is the chambersburg pike over the cachetown pass but if you go to the left that's hilltown road today but that is actually the road bed of the old 1747 road if you even get on the old route 30 today and you look down into the into the cache town past you will see this building down there and that is the tavern of mary brooke and we got a close up here of it jacob brook actually built this two-story stone house on the york black gap road in 1803. now mary brooke will own this stone building and 300 acres in 1846 and she will receive a tavern license to operate a tavern and she will run one here until 1858. she's actually listed on the tax records as the widow brook and uh apparently though at the time the civil war maybe it was a tavern or maybe not the problem we have with the the tavern licenses and applications uh after 1851 and through the civil war years is the applications have been lost after 1851 we don't have any of the original applications now we do have a list of who was uh granted tavern licenses we even know what you know township they were in but unfortunately it does not give their location so if it was being used as a tavern right now we're not quite sure who was there obviously mary she didn't put in any damage claim for any liquor or alcohol her claim was only for two horses and two thousand fence rails that were taken by the confederates so if it was a tavern i don't know it's there and maybe it wasn't a tavern at all at the time but there is an old story apparently when uh jubal early he's going to actually take most of his division down the uh downhill town road the old road going actually through the the floor of the cashtown pass and he's going to stop at this building on june the 26th 1863 and he's actually cut out the center of a map of adams county that hung behind the bar apparently he needed a road map so he takes out his pocketknife he cuts it out and folds it up leaves gets on his horse and rides away but it said that for many years that old map hung on the wall it was also said that mary brooke took a list of confederate casualties and put him where the center of the map had been the old tavern was being used like i said for tavern though we don't know who the proprietor was the old tavern remained in possession of the brook family well into the 20th century but today is now serving as a private residence now moving on our next tab we're going to talk to of course they would have passed the cash down in but we had talked about that in part one so the next tavern would be this one right right here mcknight's tavern captain thomas mcknight a veteran of the war of 1812 will build a mansion house on the chambersburg pike in 1823 and in 1826 he will apply for a tavern license stating on his application that he was the desirous of conducting a house of public entertainment another word for tavern mcknight will run his tavern for the next 25 years sometimes he runs it himself sometimes he also gets in a proprietor run it for him and after his death in 1851 his wife margaret and his son will run the tavern now in 1860 hezekiah latshaw will buy and repair the tavern and with his associate j hartman they will lay out the town of new salem around the tavern unfortunately there was already a town of new salem in fayette county so when the post office they want to establish a post office in 1863 they were quickly informed that there was already a town named new salem in fayette county so what do we name our town so they finally decided to call it mcknight's town in honor of captain thomas mcknight now during jeb stewart's raid into adams county in october 1862 this is the closest he will come to gettysburg because it was stated that he turned south at la choa's tavern he's on his way to fairfield martin miller who would run the tavern from 1861-1863 would also put in a claim for lost merchandise and liquor during lee's invasion it was reported that from june the 28th to july the 4th the rebels overran and ravaged the entire neighborhood liquor was taken out of the bar of the seller of martin miller's hotel miller will file a damage claim for 20 gallons of whiskey and brandy not a lot if you look at the claims of some of these other people but where he really gets hurt is what happened across the street he had owned a saddler shop and the confederates actually took all his tools and leather so pretty much wipe that out for him in 1866 latchar will sell his tavern to jacob nickley this is the same jacob nickley who was running the nickley hotel or the cash town in as it's known today at the time of the battle as well and then he will in turn send it to sell it to samuel echols in 1867. through the 1870s would be owned and run by george washington herb and it would be known as herbs hotel but today is now a private residence just as a side note captain mcknight's youngest son harvey would serve in the union army during the civil war and he would serve in the 26th pennsylvania emergency infantry as its adjutant and of course the 26 pennsylvania emergency infantry was the unit that showed up in gettysburg and on june the 26th just west of gettysburg they would be facing john gordon's brigade discretion was the better part of valor and of course they uh pretty much uh daddled off the field unfortunately later that day they got overrun by the um virginia cavalry a place called bailey's held north of town but uh young harvey he survives that after the war he'd actually graduate from pennsylvania college and he would become the president of pennsylvania college in 1884 and today of course pennsylvania college is known as gettysburg college uh heading eastward now uh john gordon and his boys are going to come past they're actually going to enter the little hamlet of seven stars and they will see the seven stars tavern now george arnold will build this tavern in 1817 he applied for his license in 1818 and uh on his application he would write the word new and this kind of gives us an indication if you're looking through these applications that this is now a new tavern or new stand after george's death in 1824 though his widow elizabeth would be granted a license in april and she would actually only run it for about six months when she would marry a fellow by the name of andrew heinzelman and heinzelmann's they'll actually own this tavern until 1866 but many at times they were also leasing it out now the tavern had a sign out front with the constellation of the pleiades or as it's known the constellation of the seven sisters painted on it and uh became known as the sign of the seven stars now the hamlet hamlet that grew up around the tavern would become known as seven stars rather curious name and there are three stories on why the tavern received this name or the even the the hamlet uh one was that heinzelman had seven daughters and when people stopped in he would have his daughters sing and then he would remark my seven little stars well there are five towns in the united states named seven stars and uh the seven daughter story and uh that story is used in three of them uh also the fact that heinzelman had no daughters to begin with makes that rather suspect stars have been used for years to donate excellence so seven stars may be meant as superior establishment four stars maybe five stars seven stars and that's a bit much however probably the real reason i found in a manuscript by elle winkler in the adams county historical society that states that the name came from the delaware indians who used the constellation the pleiades and the big dipper in their astronomical references and they had the seven stars in their folklore this was probably picked up by the uh the local settlers and migrated westward with them now um after the battle of gettysburg this tavern would be used as a confederate field hospital the sanitary commission map of 1863 shows the tavern as the hospital for portraits division it probably meant pender's division but on heinzelman's damage claim he will state the house and barn were occupied about 10 days after the battle as a rebel hospital it would also claim the loss of 6 000 shingles 16 cords of wood two wagons of various crops but no mention is made of any liquor so as he did not have a license in 1863 either another proprietor was running it or is not being used as a tavern at the time the battle heinzelman will sell his tavern in 1866 to captain james mikley nickley will also sell the tavern in turn in 1867 to israel little and he will run it until 1876. also the tavern would serve as a post office for seven stars from 1862 to 1843. again as we mentioned in our first program it was very common a lot in those days to locate the post office in a tavern today the building is still standing out on the chambersburg pike but it is a private residence today now heading eastward uh gordon would have passed hers tavern which we did talk about um on our uh you know program on part one but now we're gonna kind of deal with the taverns that uh were existed in uh gettysburg at the time of the civil war and the first one i do want to talk about and we didn't we kind of mentioned his name in part one but let's talk about his tavern here and that is the tavern of samuel gettys samuel gettys will obtain a license to operate a tavern on the nichols gap road in 1762. however he was apparently operating his tavern before that because he was issued a tipling indictment and fine in 1761. basically he was selling his whiskey illegally so it was actually fairly common in that time it seemed the farther one was away from the center authority or the county seat the less inclined the operators were to get a license until they were caught in 1769 the baltimore shippensburg road will cross the nickels gap road near his tavern uh matter of fact this section of that uh they would actually use two taverns gettys tavern and black's tavern as reference points for this new section of this new road samuel gettys is now at the crossroads of two very important roads in western york county and his tavern will become the center of the community at this time uh the revolutionary war breaks out there's been fighting up in new england at lexington and concord and it was decided that a company of rifleman should be raised in western york county and sent to join washington's army in cambridge massachusetts on june the 24th 1775 captain dowdle will recruit his company at getty's tavern however he's got a slight problem more men have shown up than he needs a decision has to be made on who would be accepted and was finally decided they should have a shooting contest since this was going to be a rifle company maybe they should accept only the best shots so captain dowdle drew a profile of general gage the british army commander north america and each man was required to aim at general gage's nose and see if he could hit it he actually drew the profile on the door of the tavern now the story doesn't say what mr gettys thought about having his tavern door peppered with musket balls but maybe it was a good kind of advertisement uh between 1785 and 1786 samuel's uh son james james getty and john forsythe will lay out 210 lots around the crossroads and realign the road so now this old tavern will actually be set back about 100 yards from york street uh james gettys will build a new tavern on york street in 1790 so the old building is no longer being used as a tavern but it will continue to serve the community when adams county was established in 1800 the first county court sessions were actually held in the old tavern until the new courthouse was built uh in the square in 1804 during the battle of gettysburg this old tavern is still standing it was owned by adam dorsum he was a blacksmith so it survived the the battle unfortunately though in 1880 there'll be a fire that will destroy the old tavern today the municipal parking garage is on the site right behind the gettysburg hotel now james getty's samuel's son he's going to build this tavern in 1790. this is the globe in and it was state it was uh might have been the first brick building here in gettysburg and gettysburg will own his tavern until his death in 1815. his wife uh mary todd was actually a distant relative of mary todd lincoln so there is a slight lincoln connection here even before the civil war william gillespie would buy the inn he'd operate in lease until 1851 when he sells it to his son-in-law harvey waddles when the new courthouse was built on baltimore street in 1859 waddles will donate the clock which is still up there running today in 1860 waddles will sell the globe to charles wills for four thousand dollars the globe was actually the headquarters for the democratic party where they would have their meetings and conventions and on election day if it was a democratic victory they would celebrate by a parade through town and usually wind up at the globe afterwards probably celebrating uh during the battle of gettysburg charles will his son john will actually write about his experiences and what happened at the globe during the battle on the night of june the 26th remember jubal early and john gordon are still marching across adams county three louisiana tigers showed up at the end these were part of probably hayes brigade they were just north of town they made their way into the town and they ordered charles to give them three barrels of whiskey oh he refused um probably not a good idea to refuse anything from a louisiana tiger they were fairly notorious outfit so they drew their swords and made him open the cellar they took three bottles but they said they'd be back in the morning to pay for it well in the morning a confederate major shows up and he gives charles a receipt for the whiskey uh probably didn't make charles any happier was something that in lieu of confederate money they'd give you receipt it basically gave you the fair market value of whatever it is they took the deal was after the war you could go to richmond and redeem that receipt for gold of course that only works if the confederacy wins if they don't win well you got some guys autograph on a piece of paper but at least in a way the tigers kept their word after the confederates left mr wills decided he was going to bury some of his whiskey barrels kind of hide him in his garden along with some groceries unfortunately didn't seem to plan well ahead because water seeped through the barrels and ruined the whiskey but on july the first the globe is going to be doing a booming business selling whiskey to union soldiers as they pour through the town so remember the 11th court is coming through the streets of gettysburg heading out to the fields north of town and they're stopping at these taverns and inns looking for whiskey so will's got a booming business he's got two of his friends actually drawing whiskey out of barrels putting him into the soldier's canteen when the fighting starts north of town though union officers rush in and they quickly order the men out and they tell will stop selling liquor to the men well then the officers left and some soldiers came back and they started begging for whiskey again so we'll start serving them until he's ordered again to stop on july 2nd and third i actually confederate officers would dine at the globe for breakfast they'd have lunch and supper there as well probably the reason you know they're doing this is because it was democratic establishment and so they start going there for their meals and they're actually paying will with gold and u.s currency and seeing a good thing will raise the price of a meal from 35 cents to 50 cents and whiskey went from a nickel to a dime because he was serving these confederate officers maybe because with the democratic headquarters some townspeople accused him of harboring rebels he would clear himself that charge with no problem but several days later is brought up in front of the provost marshall again and reprimand it for selling too much whiskey to union soldiers in 1864 samuel wolfe will purchase the inn and he is going to add the third story if you look at what it would have looked like after uh mr wills did his renovations and uh in 1890 changes the name to the globe hotel now there was an article in paper that on may the 30th 1906 the first murder in gettysburg occurred at the globe when william eiler killed howard miller with a pump handle both had been drinking at the globe and apparently there was some dispute over something in 1928 the name is changed to the hoffman hotel and the facade on new york state will be changed again and over the next several decades will be known as the hoffman house saks apartments sherman store but on march 21st 1968 the old inn would be destroyed by fire today there is a a commercial business on the spot i'm moving along in town we're going to move up to the square and we're going to come to the mcclellan house now in 1797 james scott will open a tavern on the northeast side of the diamond and when scott dies in 1809 william mcclellan senior will buy the tavern and he will name it the indian queen the mcclellans were very active in owning and operating taverns here in the area and they had also one time owned ackerman's tavern the sign of the buck also the black horse tavern on the fairfield road but when william dies in 1814 john hirsch will buy the tavern he never operates it himself he's another one who prefers to have other tavern keepers run it for him and he will change the name to the gettysburg hotel in 1816 a young attorney by the name of thaddeus stevens would have his law office in the east end of the hotel in 1826 william mcclellan jr will purchase the hotel from his father and lord john hirsch and he will name it again the franklin house and he will own and operate the hotel until his death in 1845. in 1846 william's brother george will take over and he will name it rename it yet again calling it the mcclellan house that's the name it would be known for at the time of the battle of gettysburg in those days the hotel actually served as a stagecoach stop for the pittsburgh baltimore and philadelphia stages and due to its proximity to the courthouse which stood right in the middle of the diamond in those days many attorneys would have their law offices in the hotel also many doctors and dentists would set up temporary offices here periodically to serve their patients and the hotel was actually the meeting place for the whig and then the republican parties on july the 1st 1863 mcclellan is doing a brisk business selling whiskey to union soldiers again they're hurrying through town probably the 11th corps boys but the house the hotel itself would not be occupied by soldiers during the battle he's not selling very many meals to confederate officers imagine matter of fact they weren't even going to his establishment maybe because they found out it was the republican headquarters after the battle though a small group of sisters of christian charity would arrive in town and to tend the wounded and the parlors of the hotel would be turned over to them for their use on november the 19th 1863 would be george mcclellan who would provide a horse for president lincoln to ride you know up to the national cemetery apparently the uh the horse was rather short and they said lincoln's feet almost touched the ground uh the hotel was so full of people on the night of uh november the 18th that the people are actually sleeping in the lobby and the bar when george mcclellan dies in uh 1873 his uh brother john will take over he's going to add a third story to it here's another picture at the time but he'll add a third story to that and again he prefers to have other managers and tavern keepers run it the most notable of those men was a fellow by name is simon diller now diller weighed over 300 pounds he also had five brothers and each of those boys weighed over 300 pounds so the joke was when the family got together though they called those six boys a ton of dillers diller would buy the hotel after mcclellan's death in 1889 and he would name it the hotel gettysburg and he will also extend it back to racehorse alley so here is actually what it looked like as the hotel gettysburg this was actually the second hotel on the site the first hotel the mcclellan house was demolished in 1895. this is the new hotel that went up in 1895 and actually this building would be destroyed by fire in the 1960s so the current gettysburg hotel on the square is actually the third structure that was standing in that location moving down chambersburg street though we're going to come to the eagle hotel today that's on the corner of washington street and chambersburg street today is a convenience store there but in 1813 william garvin will build a two-story brick building on lot 74 and an earlier ad actually gave the dimensions it said it was 64 feet wide by 70 feet deep and had 22 rooms this would make it ideal for an end philip hagee and jacob sanders were the proprietors from 1825 to 1833 but in 1833 a james thompson will purchase the tavern and it will become the eagle hotel thompson will actually use the eagle as a hub for the stage lines he's running to chambersburg and harrisburg john tate will purchase the eagle in 1850 in 1857 he will add a third story and a veranda much like you see in the picture right here now tate was the proprietor in 1863 when the confederates occupied the town and they will help themselves to mr tate's liquid refreshment he will later submit a damage claim for whiskey 20 gallons of his best brandy 20 gallons of cognac 20 gallons of ginger brandy 60 gallons of gin 60 gallons of cherry wine 100 bushels of corn 200 bushels of oats two horses two tons of hay alfred scott who was his witness on the damage claim and lived across the street would write that on the claim that uh he saw rebels rolling whiskey barrels out of the cellar loading them onto wagons also on the night of june the 30th the eagle was actually the headquarters for john buford before the the battle and on the night of june the 30th a lieutenant colonel joseph dickinson of meade staff would visit beaufort at the eagle and uh they would actually be kind of sharing information and dickinson is getting a first-hand account of what's occurring west of town and what beaufort scouts have been reporting to him he will ride back to 20 town and advise general mead of what's happening up here up ahead george hopps will take over in 1876 and he'll be be actually succeeded by several others but uh finally a fellow named henry yingling will take over unfortunately though on january the 12th 1894 a fire would break out in the hotel's stables on the west side of washington street and due to almost gale force winds the fire will spread to three other stables and finally to the roof of the hotel itself the blaze was so severe these embers are blowing all over town that fire companies from as far as way as hanover waynesboro and hagerstown maryland would come up by train to help fight the blaze the eagle however was badly damaged a roof caught fire so the roof is totally burnt off and the second and third floors are actually sagging due to water damage on the plus side though the bar room and the wine cellar were untouched so i guess if you're in a hotel and there's a fire head for the bar uh the hotel was rebuilt in 1894 and in 1896 george eberhardt will purchase it and he will add a fourth floor and expand the hotel so that by 1907 it'll have 165 rooms and here's a picture of how it would have looked uh after that edition here so you can see it's it goes back quite a ways you've got four stories uh on may 16 1913 on his last visit to gettysburg joshua lawrence chamberlain will stay at the eagle he was actually the main representative of the commission that was planning the 50th anniversary later that year unfortunately due to illness chamberlain would not be able to attend the reunion but he was at the eagle all that may uh the hotel will continue to serve the public into the mid 20th century sometimes it'd be known as the adams house the eberhard hotel and finally was converted into apartments however on june 30th 1960 66 years after the first fire another blaze would destroy the old hotel the remains were torn down in 1961 the gas station was originally on the built on the site but today a convenience store occupies the location the next tavern we're going to be talking about is the washington hotel the picture you see here this is the the only known picture of the washington hotel uh luckily you've enhanced it a bit uh antigone here has enhanced it so we got a better view of it but like i said this is the only one we've got it's kind of a shame really because in august 29th 1857 an ad appeared uh in the gettysburg papers listing it dwelling for sale by the owners david mcconaghy and john horner israel yount will purchase the building in 1857 and he will open it as the washington hotel in 1858 located across the street from the new train station the washington will be very popular with travelers when rail service begins in december 1858 a temporary ticket office will be located in the parlor of the hotel until the new station opens in may 1859 even after the station opened the bar at the washington remain a favorite waiting area for travelers on february 1st 1859 a newspaper ad advertised the pub to the public that israel young was the proprietor of a new house and that was the finest best furnished house in the interior of the state mr young was doing fine until the summer of 1863 when the civil war came to gettysburg on june the 30th 1863 general buford's union cavalry ride into town and that evening the streets were filled with eunuch calvary men israel younes young seven-year-old daughter emma was playing outside with one of the soldiers who was sitting on her doorstep asked her to come and talk with him he told her that he had a little girl at home and that on the coming day a great battle would be fought and he might not see his little girl again he asked her if she would kiss him for his daughter's sake emma asked her mother if she could do this and her mother said that under the circumstances she could and she did the soldier then gave her a beautiful silk handkerchief the border which was striped in red white and blue and the center was a picture of george washington emma kept that treasure the rest of her life and always wondered if the soldier ever got home to his little girl today that handkerchief is in the possession of the adams county historical society on the morning of july the first 1863 a young and his family will leave the hotel it will take be taken over by dr james farley of the 14th brooklyn infantry he would set up a field hospital here and 50 60 men of the 14th brooklyn who had been wounded on the morning fight just west of town would be brought here for medical attention on the afternoon of the first hotel would be in the firing line confederate artillery north of town was firing into the town and that building would be hit hit twice by artillery fire one round actually took off the thigh and thumb of one of the hospital attendants dr farley though will stay and he would treat the wounded throughout the battle an ad ran on november the 2nd 1877 by ib hauser listing the 26 room hotel for sale the hotel continues operation well into the 20th century but it's very run down and finally it would be torn down in 1926 to make way for a new bus terminal an article in the gettysburg times on january the 20th 1926 described the end of the whole old hotel it also said that the old train station across the street should be replaced as well because it had become an eyesore uh basically they're talking about the historic lincoln train station across the street luckily uh that had been has been restored and today you can see it but today the uh washington hotel is now occupied by the lincoln diner that's the silk handkerchief that was given to emmer emma yount uh by that unknown union soldier on the evening before the battle again it's uh in the possession of the adams county historical society now the next uh tab we're going to talk about on our tour is the wagon hotel in 1821 john espy will build a two and a half story brick hotel at the intersection of the baltimore pike and emmitsburg road there'd be a large yard on the baltimore pike side for parking wagons espy's hotel would cater to the wagon train and teamsters remember in part one we had talked about these taverns have certain clientele some cater to the stage trade other to the wagoneers and some to the drovers and herders so this becomes a wagon wagon hotel the advertisement in the gettysburg compiler on may 23 1821 red john espy has opened a public house of entertainment at the south end of the borough of gettysburg and the fork of the baltimore pike and emesberg road where wagoneers and others may be conveniently accommodated in on modern terms other proprietors will operate the hotel continuously until 1837 when conrad schneider will buy it snyder will own the hotel until his death into until 1860 and sometimes he operates it himself but again policing it at other at other times to other proprietors uh after his death the ownership would pass to his widow catherine and his son-in-law david blueball would be the proprietor from 1862 to 1865. now during the battle of gettysburg the size and location of the hotel on the union battle line would make this a primary location for snipers and sharpshooters occupying the windows they would even punch holes in the roof so they could fire at confederates troops uh in the town of gettysburg company b of the 73rd pennsylvania would occupy the hotel on the afternoon july the first until the morning of the second when they would be replaced by men of koster's brigade after the battle david blubaugh would submit a damage claim for 38 gallons of whiskey five gallons of brandy eight gallons of gin four gallons of apple jack 12 gallons of wine 18 gallons of cherry brandy and these were all probably liberated by the union soldiers because they were in the hotel conrad snyder's two sons would also serve in the union army and both would be captured during the war one would be sent to libby prison and the other to andersonville but luckily both would survive and after the civil war the old hotel would be expanded and renamed the battlefield hotel from 1878 until 1883 peter thorne the husband of elizabeth thorne well known for uh the caretaker in the uh evergreen cemetery he would actually run the tavern at the hotel and the old building would be destroyed by fire though in 1894 but the owner elsie brune reuter hopes that pronouncing that right broon reuter will immediately build a new battlefield hotel on the site so there is the new battlefield hotel as it would have looked after uh you know the fire and here's another view of it there all kind of decked out on july the 4th that hotel will operate for many years until it is finally demolished to make way for a garage today there is a sheets convenience store on the site right there the last time we're probably going to be talking about today as was when we get into the town of uh gettysburg is the fun stock it's not pretty much known today as the fond stock store and that's what it was at the time the battle but actually this building starts life as the spread eagle tavern this tavern is located on the northwest corner of baltimore and middle street so the street in the foreground is middle street heading west and the street in front of the uh the tavern there that would be baltimore street today the uh adams county courthouse would be to the left off the picture and it would be operated by bernard uh gilbert in 1814 gilbert was quite prosperous he owned several houses and lots in town as well as 150 acres in cumberland township unfortunately though he would run into financial problems and lose everything in 1827. the new owner was the bank of gettysburg now they will lease the tavern until 1833 to various proprietors but samuel funstock acquires it in 1833 and he will actually place an ad in the sentinel in july the 23rd 1833 notifying the public that he's moving his store to lot 11 in the building lately occupied by major jacob sanders which was the last proprietor of the spread eagle in its day the spread eagle tavern was very popular with the jurors coming into town for court sessions and they would dine and stay in the tavern overnight a fun stock in his heirs will run or lease a store in this location so it's no longer being used as a tavern it's now a basically a mercantile and during the civil war there was an observatory on the roof of the building on july the 1st 1863 daniel skelly whose father was running the store led general oliver otis howard up to the observatory so he could familiarize himself with the terrain and while up there in the observatory howard would learn from an aide that general reynolds had been killed and that he was now in command of union forces on the field after the war the building continued at the store and in 1892 there was a place called the wide awake oyster saloon was in the building then it reverts back to a store and building is still standing today it's been expanded somewhat but it is being used for senior housing one other place i would mention uh i don't have a picture of it here but you're probably familiar with it is the wills house right on the square in gettysburg is actually part of the national park here at gettysburg but actually uh that building was actually put up in uh 1816 captain alexander cobin will build that third story brick building uh that year he actually placed a one-story stone house that stood there when he goes bankrupt in 1823 the bank of gettysburg will own the property they listed out mostly to merchants but in 1839 and a b kurtz would move in and an ad in the sentinel on april 1 1839 ran a.b kurtz removing from his old stand at the globe inn and now taking up the american hotel in a three-story house on the southeast corner of diamond lately occupied as a store so a b kurtz now has the american hotel operating in the square in gettysburg uh on april 1st 1859 david wills will purchase the building and this would be his residence and he would be here at the you know at the time the battle and also this would be the building where abraham lincoln would stay on the night of november the 18th 1863 and wills and his heirs would own that building until 1895 and like i said today the building is owned by the national park service uh they have restored the room where lincoln stayed and they also have a nice little diorama of the town of gettysburg as it looked in 1863 at the time the battle and that concludes part two of our historic inns and taverns of gettysburg thank you john for that interesting new perspective on the battle of gettysburg and our thanks to the dobbin house for supporting our programs good evening

Channel: Adams County Historical Society

Views: 7,170

Rating: 4.9662919 out of 5

Keywords: Gettysburg, Civil War, Battle, Taverns, Adams County, History

Id: 7805Sin-VSM

Length: 56min 4sec (3364 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 10 2021