Fun Facts and Firsts at Gettysburg
Francis Scott Key, the author of the "Star-Spangled Banner," was admitted to practice law in Gettysburg on August 25,
1802. On October 3, 1831, Key came to Gettysburg to free a man of color named Clem Johnson. Appearing before Justice of the Peace
Sampson S. King, Key desired “. . . to emancipate the said Clem Johnson and having agreed with him to leave him in the State of Pennsylvania and free to continue there, or to go wherever he may please, now therefore in consideration of five dollars to me in hand paid and for other good causes and considerations I hereby do manumit and set free the said Clem Johnson aged about forty five years, forthwith and hereby release and discharge the said Clem Johnson from all services to me my heirs exers and admrs.”
Little is known of what became of Mr. Johnson, or why Francis Scott Key chose to free Mr. Johnson.
- Carol Bellamy, a graduate of Gettysburg College, became the FIRST female president of New York's city council.
- Dwight David Eisenhower lived in Gettysburg before and after his presidency.
- The Dobbin House Tavern is the oldest building in Gettysburg. Built in 1776, it sits right in front of where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous speech known as “The Gettysburg Address.”
Battle of Gettysburg Facts
- -The Town of Gettysburg, population 2,000, was a town on the rise. It boasted three newspapers, two institutes of higher learning, several churches and banks.The ten roads that led into town are what brought the armies to Gettysburg.
- - There are more than 1,400 monuments, markers and tablets at Gettysburg.
- - More than 30,000 dead and wounded soldiers were left in the battle's wake.
- - More than one-third of all known photographs of dead soldiers on Civil War battlefields were recorded at Gettysburg.
- - General George Gordon Meade was only in command for three days before the battle.
- - The Battle of Gettysburg started without the knowledge or consent of either army commander -- Lee or Meade.
- - The 200,000,000 year-old Gettysburg Sill created the volcanic boulders on the Union right and left flanks.
- - The Battle of Gettysburg was fought on some of the hottest days of the summer. The hottest time of the month, nearly 90 degrees, was right during Pickett's Charge on July 3rd.
- - It did not rain during the battle, but a heavy downpour soaked the battlefield the day after.
- - Most of the battlefield places were nameless before the battle—there was no reason to name them. But the battle made a wheatfield into The Wheatfield and a peach orchard into The Peach Orchard.
- - General Lee lost 23 battle flags in Pickett's Charge -- more than he had lost in the previous 14 months combined.
Sources:
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg.html
http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-gettysburg
http://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/battle-of-gettysburg-facts/
http://www.gettysburg.com/adams200/tidbits/sept.htm
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg.html
http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-gettysburg
http://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/battle-of-gettysburg-facts/
http://www.gettysburg.com/adams200/tidbits/sept.htm