A Hall-of-famer, car pioneer, civilian killed while baking
John Studebaker
John Studebaker (1833-1917) was born in Gettysburg and his best remembered as the co-founder and later president of the Studebaker car making company. He was the third son of the founding Studebaker family and played an important role in making the company bigger. He worked there from 1868 until he died in 1917.
Even though he ran a successful car-making company he said the following:
“The automobile has come to stay. But when a man has no business, it is a rather expensive luxury, and I would advise no man, be he farmer or merchant, to buy one until he has sufficient income to keep it up. A horse and buggy will afford a great deal of enjoyment ….”
Thomas Edison on his Studebaker
Thomas Edison on his 1903 Electric Studebaker, the first of the electric automobiles
Ginnie Wade -- the only civilian killed at Gettysburg
Ginnie Wade was the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg. Born May 21, 1843, in Gettysburg, she worked as a seamstress. A seamstress sews and makes and fixes clothes. The Battle of Gettysburg took place from July 1 to July 3, 1863. July 1, 1863: On the morning of July 1, when fighting began, Ginnie left her family’s house and fled to her sister’s home. Ginnie spent the day bringing bread to Union soldiers and filling their canteens with water. It was hard and dangerous – she could be captured or shot at any time.
July 2, 1863: By the afternoon of July 2, Ginnie’s started running out of bread. She knew the soldiers would need more the next day. She and her mother made more that night and they left the yeast to rise for the next morning.
July 3, 1863: At about 7 a.m. on the morning of the July 3, southern sharpshooters began firing through the windows of their house. At 8 a.m., while she was being shot at, she still started to bake biscuits. At about 8:30 a.m., while Jennie stood in the kitchen kneading dough, she was hit by a Minie ball which went through her kitchen door and hit her in her left shoulder blade, then went through her heart, and ended up in her corset. She died right away. She was temporarily buried in the back yard of her sister’s house. Her body was relocated to the to the Evergreen cemetery in Gettysburg.
House in which Ginne Wade was killed
A monument to her, designed by Gettysburg resident Anna M. Miller, was erected in 1900.
Sources: http://www.army.mil/gettysburg/profiles/wade.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginnie_Wade Tanaka, Shelley. Gettysburg: A Day that Changed America. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2003
Gettysburg Eddie
Edward Plank, nicknamed “Gettysburg Eddie,” was born on August 31, 1875 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Plank was a baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 to 1914. Plank joined the Athletics in 1901, skipping the minor leagues and coming directly from Gettysburg College. He was immediately successful. He won 17 games his rookie year. His best year was in 1904 when he went 26 wins and17 losses. He allowed the opponents to only get about 2 runs a game. He also had seven shutouts. He helped the A’s to their first World Series appearance in 1905, though they lost to the New York Giants. Plank won two World Series with the Athletics. In total, he had 2 wins and 5 losses in the World Series even though he barely allowed the opponents one run per game. When he retired, Plank had won 326 games, then the record for most wins by a lefty, and had a 2.35 career ERA. He still holds the records for most complete games and shutouts by a left-hander. After retiring from baseball, he ran a car fixing garage in Gettysburg. Plank died of a stroke in 1926. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. A famous poet named Ogden Nash wrote the following poem about Plank.
Line-Up for Yesterday P is for Plank, The arm of the A's; When he tangled with Matty Games lasted for days. -- Ogden Nash, Sport Magazine, January 1949