The "If Only Walls Could Talk: Part I" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Standing with my shopping cart in Stauffer's Grocery Store with my wife Carol and a former co-worker at Manheim Township High School, Carolyn.  Talking about old acquaintances when I asked Carolyn if she still volunteers at her church, Lititz Moravian in the small town of Lititz, Pennsylvania.  

The Lititz Moravian Church circle with the Brothers House on the right side of the Church which is the building with the steeple.  The Brothers House was built in 1759 as was the Sisters House on the other side of the Church.

After getting an affirmative answer I asked if she could help me with a visit to the church's Brother's House to see where the Revolutionary War hospital was housed in 1777 to 1778.  Two days later I was following Carolyn's nephew Josh through the door of the Brother's House and back into history.  

The Brothers House is pictured on the right with the main
Church to the left.  The Steeple can be seen above it.

Lititz was founded by members of the Moravian Church in 1756.  For a century only Moravians were permitted to live in Lititz, but in 1855 the practice was abolished and others could move to the small town to the north of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Today, the Lititz Moravian Church is the centerpiece of the town's historic district.  Their beautiful church is flanked by the 1759 Single Sisters House and the 1759 Single Brothers House, now known as the Brethren's House.

The front door of the Brothers House with plaques on both sides.

 It was in this house that General George Washington established a Military Hospital on December 19, 1777 to August 28, 1778.  The Brethren had to vacate the house and find living quarters elsewhere during those eight months that the building housed wounded and dying soldiers.  A total of about five hundred to a thousand sick and wounded soldiers were cared for within the walls of this beautiful building.  

Preparing to head up the stairs to the first floor of what
was the Military Hospital during the Revolutionary War.  

At times the building was so crowded that all the floors of the building, as well as the hallways, were filled with the wounded soldiers who had fought on military battlefields such as Valley Forge and Brandywine as well as Trenton and Princeton.  The house was constantly prone to unsanitary conditions which lead to the death of many of the men who laid on beds or cots in the Brother's House.  

Part of the second floor of the building has
the original foot-wide unfinished planks which
bear the stains of many wounded soldiers.

There were two military doctors in charge of the staff of five, but at times all were ill which required the local Lititz physician, Dr. Adolp Meyer, to lend a hand.  110 of the wounded soldiers died during those 8 months and were allegedly buried in a mass grave in a nearby cemetery a few blocks to the east of the hospital.  Josh told me that a few did make their way through the arched entrance into the Moravian God's Acre Cemetery which can be seen from the windows of the Brothers House.  Many of the deaths were attributed to "camp fever" which, in spite of precautions, spread to the town of Lititz where 6 townspeople died.  This all occurred during both winter and summer months and the house lacked both heat and air-conditioning, which I'm sure made for unbearable conditions for both the wounded and staff.   Lighting was with candles or kerosene lamps.  

Many areas of the walls show the bare wood lath with holes
in the plaster.  You can easily see the composition of the
plaster with lime, sand and animal hair exposed to view.

At one point the amount of wounded was so great that it was said the town may have to be evacuated to make room for all the wounded.  Luckily, that never happened.  As I followed Josh throughout the house I could almost feel the pain and suffering that must have been part of everyday life for eight months.  The walls of the second floor, and to an extent the walls of the third floor, carry the names and initials of many of those who called this place home for a short period of their life.  

The wooden parts of the walls and windows
are covered with initials of past patients
of the hospital.  Just amazing history!

As I followed Josh, we rounded corners in the building and up flights of stairs as light grew eerie and I felt as if someone was following behind.  Their are a lot of tales of hearing stange noises and voices while roaming the house and I, at times, felt the same.  As I stood with my camera taking photos I swore I could hear the screams of those soldiers who were about to die.  And, although my camera was on autofocus, a few of the photos have a blurry look to them, almost as if someone didn't want me to take a photograph of what I was seeing.  I hope my photos can share the horror, as well as healing, that took place during the time in history when we gained our independence.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The third floor has doors that are no more than 6 feet high.

The stairwells are narrow with sharp turns and poorly lit.  I can't imagine having to carry wounded soldiers up and down these stairwells.

Many of the hinges are like this one.  Handmade by skilled craftsmen.

I found this small lantern on a windowsill.  More than likely used for illuminating the hospital at night.

Another lantern that may have been hung on the wall for illumination.

On the second floor I found four very old wheelchairs that were wicker.  The rubber on the wheels is missing on most.

The monument at the nearby cemetery in honor of those soldiers who died while at the hospital.

This historical sign tells of the soldiers at the cemetery.  Click on photo to enlarge.

This plaque, which is next to the front door of the Brothers House, tells that the location was the first pharmacy in the United States.

On the other side of the door is this plaque telling the history of the building.

Another wheelchair sitting in front of a wall with wallpaper that may have been placed there sometime before or after the Revolutionary War.