July 1, 1863, The Beginning Of After For Gettysburg Citizens

conf sept 15 3.jpg


By September, still a good number of wounded in Gettysburg. Neglected this thread, @LoyaltyOfDogs , must glue together accounts of civilians who still had wounded in their homes despite Letterman. Had no idea- thought they had been consolidated but came across a relief worker speaking of some homes where wounded were cared for post-Letterman.

Also, this article was Sept.- last men were not sent out until November. There's a wonderful piece written by Sophronia of feeling on display when people poured into town for the dedication?
 
You can get verbal accounts passed down to local descendants by their family. Interesting stuff.


You mentioned that once years ago ( like we're all ancient )- and was fascinated. Guessing it's tough to maintain privacy, relating family stories if your family was there 150 years ago. It's always seemed to me the town was kinda swiped from under the feet of those living there, not meaning memorials to the fallen, meaning the tourist industry. ( and yes, I know it's been jobs but surely no one save locals get to make the call on whether that was ' good ' or ' bad ' ) Anyway, couldn't blame anyone for not wishing to share this family lore. They have to know we'd love to hear it!
 
As Harriet is trying to make her way home, she is stopped and the man with her arrested, a Mr. S Wonder who Mr. S is, and was he one of the Richmond prisoners who were not allowed to come home until March and April, 1865?

Hi. Sorry I'm late. May I offer some conjecture on the identification of the mysterious "Mr. S-" ?

In April, 1994, Elwood W. Christ (Licensed Battlefield Guide and well-known Gettysburg historian) compiled a paper on Harriet C. Hamilton. Included in that paper is a typewritten article entitled, "Mrs. Bayly's Story of the Battle." The date of the included article is not clear, but at 5-1/2 pages, typewritten, it is much shorter than the 1888 version. Written in the first person, the article at one point discusses Harriet's walk on the morning of July 1. It contains a phrase which may give us a clue:

I was thinking about going back to the house when Uncle Robert S-- said to me "suppose we walk out the road a little ways and see if we can find out what is going on".

One possibility -- based on secondary sources only -- is that "Mr. S-" / "Uncle Robert S-" may be a reference to Robert Sheakley (1795-1868). The path to that conclusion stretches the definition of "uncle" a bit. But as anyone with a large family can attest, many a non-related male has been assigned the unofficial role of "uncle" as a way of acknowledging their importance in the family. The logic goes like this:
  • Harriet C. Hamilton was the daughter of Enoch Hamilton. [Bittinger, Lucy Forney. Bittinger and Bedinger Families. 1904. Page 15.
  • Enoch had a brother, John. [Bittinger, page 17.]
  • John married Margaret Sheakley. [Bittinger, page 17.]
  • Margaret had a brother, Robert. [Mellon, Rachel H. L., The Larimer, McMasters, and Allied Families. J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia. 1903. Page 51.]
Robert Sheakley was the brother of Harriet's Aunt Margaret ... conceivably an unofficial Uncle Robert.

Another clue can be found in the same article. In a statement attributed to Robert, Harriet quotes him as saying, ""I am old and they won't keep me long." Indeed, Robert was 25 years older than Harriet.

I hope that I haven't led anyone astray with my conjecture, but rather, provide some clues for further research.
 
You mentioned that once years ago ( like we're all ancient )- and was fascinated. Guessing it's tough to maintain privacy, relating family stories if your family was there 150 years ago. It's always seemed to me the town was kinda swiped from under the feet of those living there, not meaning memorials to the fallen, meaning the tourist industry. ( and yes, I know it's been jobs but surely no one save locals get to make the call on whether that was ' good ' or ' bad ' ) Anyway, couldn't blame anyone for not wishing to share this family lore. They have to know we'd love to hear it!
It is a pretty cool conversation to have. First thing that surprised me was how leary I was told their descendants were about bringing livestock out of hiding even after the Confederate Army had left.
 
@LoyaltyOfDogs , the thread was your idea and a great one. I've been neglecting it badly! Bumped it for today in case there's more. Well, there's always more.

I keep running into the Callow sisters- finally ( I think ) tracked down who they may be. Carrie's school was only one of two. Oakridge was pretty small ( never knew that, 12 to 14 students/ ), a ' day school ' that also took boarders. Amelia Harmon was a day student, running home in time to try to talk soldiers out of burning the Harmon home. Two boarders get mentioned- ' Misses Callows from Baltimore '. They'd apparently helped nurse wounded carried into Oak Ridge Seminary. From this 1850 census, guessing it was the 2 youngest girls here, Katie ( Catherine ) and Emma.

One of them weirdly married a young man named John. C. Breckinridge.

callow 1850 emma katie.JPG
 
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