The "Civil War Hero Of Lititz, Pennsylvania" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about a resident of nearby Lititz, Pennsylvania by the name of John G. Carpenter.  In 1863 John enlisted in the Union Army of the Republic, 79th Division of the Pennsylvania Volunteers at the age of 16.  His father also fought during the Civil War.  He was young and ready to defend the North in the Civil War.  After training, he and his fellow soldiers were sent to fill openings in Colonel Hambright's regiment at Chancellorsville, Virginia.  At the time, Congress had created the rank of General of the Army for Ulysses S. Grant, but then Grant became President and Sherman was appointed Commanding General of the U.S. Army and promoted to General.  

John G. Carpenter holding his Bible.

Carpenter then fought along with Shernam's army during the famous march to the sea.  He fought gallantly and escaped injury until the March at the Battle of Bentonville in 1865 when a bullet passed through his shoulder, luckily missing the bone.  Soon afterward one of his fingers was blown off and the loss of blood caused him to be captured by the Southern Army and sent to the Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia.  Two years earlier John was given a Bible that was published by the American Bible Society which he carried into battle during his time as a soldier.  After spending time at Libby Prison and then Andersonville Prison, he lost the Bible.  Eventually, after the war ended, an officer found his Bible and it was reunited with Carpenter.  

Members of the final Memorial Day encampment of the
Grand Army of the Republic in Lititz Springs Park in 1920.
John is sitting, front row, second from left with his leg crossed.

In May of 1918 John erected an American flag on an 18 foot pole over two brass cannons in the square in Lititz.  He has said that the cannons just didn't seem right without a flag flying over them.  So, every year, on the anniversary of the Battle of Bentonville, John would display the flag over the cannons.  During the rest of the year the flag was hung above his bed so he could always sleep under the stars and stripes.  

John standing on the Square in Lititz, PA, with his hand
on the flag pole which holds the U.S. flag.  

John G. Carpenter was a proud member of: The Sons of Veterans of the Civil War, Grand Army of the Republic and the POW Organi- zation.  John was a hero to the citizens of Lititz, PA.  He died at the age of 78 and his obituary was published in the Lititz Record Newspaper on Thursday, May 28, 1925.  It read, in part: 
CIVIL WAR VETERAN DEAD - WAS IN LIBBY PRISON.  John G. Carpenter, of Lititz, died of apoplexy at 9:15 o'clock on Saturday evening at his home on Center Street, aged 78 years.  He had been confined to bed since December 7.  He was born in West Earl Township and spent the greater part of his life in Lititz, being a carpenter by trade.  For 32 years he worked in William Amer's cigar box factory.  Mr. Carpenter was a veteran of the Civil War and was the youngest member of Stevens Post, No. 17, G.A.R., and the last survivor of the regiment residing in Lititz.  During his time in the Army he was shot and captured and taken to Libby Prison.  The food was lacking and the place unsanitary.  

John G. Carpenter's tombstone.

Mr. Carpenter related  that they lined up and each man's portion was poured out on the floor in front of him.  Mr. Carpenter was a mere skeleton when he was released.  He fought 11 battles, but was not wounded until the last one, Bentonville.  Mr. Carpenter had a deep reverence for the flag and it was through his efforts that the emblem was placed at the square.  Weekly he made a trip to the graveyard where members of his family were buried, regardless of weather conditions.  He was eventually buried in the Lutheran Cemetery.  He is survived by his children: Mrs. David Bowman, Ltittz, Sherman of Lancaster and John of Lititz; also 28 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
 John was a loyal soldier, husband and father.  Lititz can be proud of his life and his devotion to the town of Lititz, Pennsylvania.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "One More Look At 'Old Buck'" Story

President James "Old Buck" Buchanan

It was an ordinary day.  Checking out the programs that are scheduled for the next month at Lancasterhistory.org., an historical museum standing next door to United States' President James Buchanan's home known as Wheatland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.   I found a few interesting programs I may want to visit, but also found a link to a small article written by former board member of Lancasterhistory.org.  Michael J. Birkner who is a professor at Gettysburg College (PA) as well as an editor of two books on President Buchanan's presidency.  If you search my blog you will find quite a few stories I have written about "Old Buck", as many have called President Buchanan, but none delve into Buchanan as does Mr. Birkner.  I was fascinated by some of his cameos on "Old Buck" and decided to do a bit more research on some special aspects of his life.  The following brief stories will give you a more in-depth look at Pennsylvania's only President and maybe a reason why he really isn't our country's worst President as proclaimed by many.

• It was widely known that Buchanan disliked politicians who were anti-slavery, which included his successor, Abraham Lincoln.  But, he was a Union man through and through.  Shortly after Lincoln was voted into office, replacing Buchanan, South Carolina passed an ordinance of secession declaring they no longer wanted to be part of the United States.  Buchanan, even though he wasn't a big supporter of Lincoln, still stepped in and said he would have done the same thing.  He consistently supported Lincoln's determination to preserve the Union including waging a hard war against the slavocracy.  Buchanan never  embraced Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation or his commitment to equality for African-Americans, but he never said a harsh word about Abraham Lincoln personally and was extremely distressed when Lincoln was assassinated.  He always wanted the Union to prosper, even if it meant altering his ideas on slavery.  
• Was Buchanan really a homosexual as many said?  His housemate when he was in the Senate, Sen. William R. King of Alabama, was referred to as Buchanan's supposed "Siamese Twin." But, nothing was ever proved about either one of them.  And, does it really matter?  I can add my two cents and say that what I found about James when he was living in Lancaster and dating a very beautiful girl from the church where I am now a member, could prove most wrong about James.  The fact that she perhaps committed suicide after not being able to date him anymore due to her father's wishes was proof enough for me that he enjoy the opposite sex.
• Finally, James Buchanan actually did some good things as President.  Might not be a long list, but at least he did do some good.  He employed the U.S. Military to keep the international slave trade in check.  He put staunch Unionists in his cabinet in early 1861 to show that secession was unacceptable.  He also was careful not to make any rash moves against the newly formed Confederacy that would enable it to claim to be the injured party and give it higher moral ground for resistance to federal authority.  In his final few months as President, he made sure that the North could not be seen as the aggressor.  Lincoln followed with the same response and it was five weeks after Lincoln's inauguration that Fort Sumter was fired upon.  Luckily for Buchanan, it was not his war.  

So, should he be considered the worst president ever?  Nah!  We have had many bad and much worse since.  In Lancaster we love our famous resident who lived in a beautiful house that I visit often.  If you search hard enough I'm sure you can find good and bad about every president we have every had in our history.  Let's stop picking on "Old Buck"!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "...The Most Memorable 272 Words Ever Uttered!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading for the umpteenth time the words to one of the greatest speeches in the history of the United States; The Gettysburg Address.  About 60 miles and an hour or so away from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, via the original Route 30, sits the Soldiers National Cemetery on Cemetery Hill.  

The Soldiers' National Monument.

It was on November 19, 1863, 155 years ago, that Edward Everett delivered his two-hour oration, from memory, on the Battle of Gettysburg and its significance.  That was followed by a hymn composed especially for the ocassion by B.B. French.  After the hymn ended, the tall, slender, stately man in the knee-length jacket, President Abraham Lincoln rose and walked to the dias.  He spoke for less than two minutes; 272 words to be exact.  His "remarks" are recognized as some of the most memorable in the history of our nation.  In his remarks he said that the "world will little note, nor long remember what we say here."  Wow!  Even after a century and a half, his remarks endure.  One historian even said that Lincoln's words stand as "the world's foremost statement of freedom and democracy and the sacrifices required to achieve and defend them."  Over the years many have written countless words about Lincoln's brief speech and many have spread untruths about it.  

President Abraham Lincoln giving his remarks at Gettysburg, PA.

One person wrote that the President jotted his remarks on the back of an envelope while riding the train to Gettysburg, whereas it has been proven that he composed his speech in Washington, D.C.  Another wrote that Mr. Everett's lengthy speech was an imposition where in the mid-19th century this was more normal than not.  (Aren't you glad you don't live in the mid-19th century!)  Another writer said that Everett's voice was sweet and expertly modulated while Lincoln's voice was high pitched to the point of being shrill and his Kentucky accent offended some eastern sensibilities, but he was good at rhythmic delivery with meaningful inflections as well as having an emphatic delivery.  He was actually interrupted by applause five times.  

This monument commemorates Lincoln's Gettysburg Address,
November 19, 1863.  The Address was delivered about 300
yards from this spot along the upper Cemetery drive.  The
site is now marked by the Soldiers' National Monument.

It is worth noting that President Lincoln composed his remarks without the aid of speech- writers or advisers and that Lincoln will be distin- guished from every other president, with the exception of Jefferson, in that we can be certain that he wrote every word to which his name is attached.  Today there are five known copies of his speech in Lincoln's own handwriting, each with a different text, and named for the people who first received them: Nicolay, Hay, Everett, Bancroft and Bliss.  Two copies were written before he delivered his speech with one probably being the copy he read on November 19.  The remaining copies were written months later for benefit events.  It was also said that there was no way possible that he could have handwritten a copy on the train since the rail line was known for its bumpy Civil War-era tracks.  Carol and I travel from Lancaster toward Gettysburg quite often, since our daughter and her family live near Frederick, Maryland.  We pass over the railroad tracks in New Oxford, Pennsylvania every visit and every time I drive over the tracks I think of that day in 1863 that President Lincoln traveled this same route on his way to Gettysburg.  The remarks that Abraham Lincoln gave that day 155 years ago to dedicate the Soldiers National Cemetery will never be forgotten and will live on forever.  Following is the text of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address:

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.  Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.  But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

With the Civil War in its third year, the nation was enduring a staggering cost in human life, and Lincoln felt compelled to offer a moral justification for the war.  The Gettysburg Address you just read was delivered on November 19, 1863.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Sadness And Concern For The People Of SXM: Part I - The Power Of The Spoken Word" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading post after post on Facebook as well as TravelTalkOnline (TTOL) about the near total destruction of the island known as St. Martin/Sint Maarten.  The island is half French and half Dutch and both countries have begun to send troops, security and humanitarian aide to the island to cope with the damage to the island due to the monster known as Irma.  Carol and I are so distraught wondering if our annual visit to the island next spring will ever happen.  The number one industry on the island is tourism and I'm sure the island will do everything they can to return to normal as quickly as possible.  Resorts have already begun to announce closings and cancelations until the end of the year.  I'm sure there isn't enough skilled labor on either side of the island to perform the daunting task they face, but perhaps skilled labor could be imported from nearby islands as well as their native lands.  We have been traveling to the island since the early 2000s and still notice traces of destruction and despair that date to Hurricane Luis which struck the island in 1995.  I can only imagine how long it will take the island to recover from Irma.  But, life must go on and tourists will once again return to the beautiful beaches and friendly atmosphere of the island.  I have added a few comments  from Facebook and TTOL that show exactly what the island has to deal with at the moment.  I'm so glad Carol and I had the chance to visit during the past and hope to be able to return as soon as possible to support their economy and maybe lend a hand in someway to bring then back to normalcy.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Following are a few comments and correspondence that I have cut and pasted; therefore unedited.  Hard to read at times since it shows total destruction, fear and despair.  You may find it hard to read as well as understand how this can happen.  I could have added many, many more, but you'll get the idea after reading what I have posted.   Tomorrow I will follow with photographs and videos:  

Dear World.  St. Maarten/St. Martin looks like a huge bomb exploded. All I can tell you is after I left the bathroom that protected Rajesh and I - I thought this is what it must have felt like after people emerged from their shelters after World War II. We need water, desperately. We need food, desperately. The food that was available was been taken by looters. Our tourism industry, our life blood, is gone. Our airport is severely damaged. One of our cruise piers is broken.

Dear Shareholders,  It's ugly!  Steve and Bert just returned to Grand Case Beach Club from a visit to Club Orient.  Their findings include the following: All wood units are gone. Presumably the slabs are left, but the buildings are gone.  Gatehouse is gone.  Pedro concrete wall … gone.  Concrete buildings survived.  Roofs gone or damaged.  Except for the waterfront chalets 46-52 … They are gone.  No sign of where they went.  Hurricane shutters on units left are gone as well as the contents of all the houses … presumably sucked out by the wind … no sign of where the furniture, cabinets, appliances, etc., went.  The tennis courts are gone.  Steve and Bert drove through Orient Village where most of the buildings are standing but the contents of the first floors that they could see into are gone.  Looters beat Steve and Bert to the resort.  They were clearing out the Boutique. We let them take the contents because presumably they need the stuff worse than we do!  According to Frédéric Lecomte, our Paris attorney, the French media are reporting that 95% of the island is destroyed.  We have a huge job in front of us. We will need a lot of out-of-the-box thinking to reinvent Club Orient … better than ever.

Safe and sound.....  The rest is a disaster......  I urge the rescue and the army to stop looting.....  Big Case is shaved off the map for now.  Need to get news from the team (I didn't get everyone).  Love you Calmos !!!!  See you soon.

Everyone, people are getting out and starting to check on each other & pick up debris as Irma swirls Northwestward. There is much debris as pictures here show. More pictures will be coming. The airport suffered damages to both its arrival and departure areas. Those damages will clearly take weeks to fix, but the airport will reopen much faster than that - as soon as it can do so safely. There are many rumors flying around and power is generally out. Please don't repeat rumors. As soon as we have real verified facts we'll pass them along. Hurricane Jose (to be named a hurricane within the next day at the most) so far is following a similar path. As always we will keep you posted. Much more - whatever we have - will be in the next SXM Weekly News.

On behalf of Sonesta Resorts Sint Maarten, we confirm that all guests who were in-house during the passing of Hurricane Irma have been evacuated. The last group left on a Sunwing aircraft today, 9 September 2017 to Punta Cana. We are overwhelmed with emotion knowing that these heroic individuals will be reunited with their family and friends soon. We respect their confidence in our entire team during this extremely difficult time.  The Dutch Marines will be using Sonesta Maho Resort as its base of operations in Sint Maarten. Princess Juliana International Airport continues to remain under the control of the Dutch military.  It is also confirmed that Samaritan’s Purse will be sending another DC-8 aircraft of supplies along with a 14-person Disaster Assistance Response Team to assist in relief efforts for a total of a 28-person team; the group will also be using Sonesta Maho Resort as its base of operations.  Thank you to everyone who helped evacuation efforts possible. While our beloved island may be destroyed, we are confident in the hearts and compassion of each other.

Please humans have humanity. Spare animals. Stop stealing from the zoo. Help, rather than creating chaos... KARMA IS WATCHING... don't know the intentions of your stealing zoo animals, but if you intend to eat them you are inviting sickness. BEAWARE.

Hi ppl of SXM: if anyone is staying in the Cole Bay Area, Dr. Romney at Animal Hospital next to Subway/Almond Grove is caring for around 30 dogs at his clinic. He is there (in the back) everyday at 4pm. If you can help walk dogs, clean cages, bring water, or maybe even foster or adopt a puppy...please come help. He is also available at that time to provide veterinary services, health certificates, micro chips etc for evacuation of your pet.

The Department of State is working with the Department of Defense to continue evacuation flights on September 11. U.S. citizens desiring to leave should proceed to the airport to arrive by noon on Monday carrying their U.S. passport or other proof of U.S. citizenship and identity. Passengers may be allowed carry on one small bag. Medications and any other essential items should be carried on your person.

AIRPORT  Has suffered major interior damage. Some smaller relief planes have landed on the runway, from pictures seen. No idea if it is safe yet for larger planes. I would assume it will be quite some time before it is available for commercial use.

DIVI LITTLE BAY RESORT  From Elisa Cohen--I was here in SXM for Hurricane Luis and spent it in Orient Bay on the french side. Irma has far surpassed Luis. We were prepared and ready but it didnt really matter. I spent my hurricane at Divi Little Bay Resort as I am the restaurants manager on the property. Luckily no one was injured but it was and is a long arduous experience. We are currently almost 300 people stuck in the resort. The airport is closed and we need to feed these guests and provide shelter and water to them till they can get off the island.

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit the Caribbean on Tuesday in an effort to persuade locals on the Irma-devastated islands of St. Martin and St. Barts that Paris has not abandoned them.

Macron, whose popularity has plummeted at home, is taking flak from political opponents and islanders on the French territories for what they consider to have been inadequate hurricane preparations and a slow response to the mass destruction of homes and infrastructure.  Fourteen people were killed on St. Martin -- 10 on the French side of the island, four on the Dutch side -- after Hurricane Irma struck on Wednesday. Damage to the island is estimated at more than $1.65 billion by the French state-run reinsurance body, the CCR, which specializes in natural disasters.  Homes, shops, boats and cars were destroyed, electricity and water supplies cut, and looters were filmed rampaging through the wreckage. More than 1,500 police, gendarmes, soldiers and emergency workers have been sent to the islands to quash outbreaks of violence and pillaging. An additional 500 are on their way.

(Update: Associated Press tweeted that French President Emmanuel Macron will visit St Martin on Tuesday. Macron tweeted on Saturday that an additional contingent of 240-300 French officers are being sent to restore order to the island.)  Citizens and some news sources are reporting that the island of St Martin/St Maarten is on the verge of a civil war as organized gangs armed with machetes raid stores and homes, leaving some residents in fear for their lives.   The island, which remains isolated after widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Irma, remains cut off after the island’s main airport was significantly damaged.  French news site Depeche  reported that some residents have barred themselves inside their villas, fearing for their lives after gangs broke into a customs building and took weapons that were stored there.   Residents say these gangs are smashing the doors of houses, shouting "outside the whites".  "I’ve lived in St Martin for more than 20 years… No one fully realizes what’s going on right now - it’s the apocalypse here. The French government is doing nothing – they’re just going on TV, saying they are doing this or that but nothing is being done."  "The police are not well trained…they haven’t lifted a finger to help us out of this mess. Stop showing us footage of destruction here – we know that already… come help us! We want to get out of St Martin! We cannot stay here! People are being killed! We pay our taxes and follow all the rules… Come get us! We cannot stay here! You have to evacuate the people that are here. We are part of France so get off your butts, stop talking rubbish on television – there are not 10 deaths, there are thousands of deaths! So get off your butts and come help us!"  “It is now confirmed on the basis of several testimonies, that it is the biggest chaos in St-Martin on the security level. To the plundering are added many other facts much more serious, consequence of taking possession of the street and the districts by organized gangs.”  The news site reported that gangs of people armed with cutlasses and knives are patrolling the streets and women are at high risk of being attacked or raped.  The gangs are also pillaging homes believed to be abandoned.  “The population seems to be left to its own devices, obliged to organize itself as it can to defend itself against thieves.”

“It's a disaster what happens in Saint Martin... There's a civil war... people get kicked out by getting beaten up to get a drop of water.”  “The Army and law enforcement are completely out of date... it shoots everywhere, people fight everywhere to pick up the smallest things: for example, gasoline for groups…everyone is getting looted and no longer have food and drink... all that trying To avoid gunfire from all sides!”  “People walk around wearing hoods in cars and armed!! I beg you... help us... We've never seen this... it's total ko. Families with children get déloger on anse de Sable, low ground, baie bay, big case, marigot.... it's a horror scene.”

The "The Mystery Of The Handkerchief" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Searching the Internet for information on a young woman by the name of Catherine Mary Hewitt, or Kate Hewitt.  And, why am I searching for this young woman you may want to know.  Story starts back in 1958 when I was a 9th grade student at Manheim Township High School.  Was playing quarterback for the freshman football team while my friend Jerry was my center.  Another young man, by the name of Josh Reynolds, was a senior starter for the varsity that year.  I remember Jerry and I getting a chance to suit up for a varsity game close to the end of the year and watching the varsity team members in the locker room gather around the star of the team, Josh Reynolds.  I also remember Josh when we both were members of the high school youth group at St. James Episcopal Church in downtown Lancaster, PA.  We knew of each other, but weren't close friends.  Josh went on to wealth and stardom when he created the Mood Ring in 1975 with his friend Maris Ambats.  As for me, I taught high school and went on to stardom as the writer of this blog you're reading.  

Major General John Reynolds

Well, anyway, what Josh or I did doesn't have anything to do with the rest of my story except for the fact that Josh was a distant relative to Major General John Reynolds and I thought that was pretty neat to be related to someone that famous.  Major General John Reynolds was born in Lancaster County and went to school in nearby Lititz, PA.  He then went to school in Long Green, Maryland and then returned to Lancaster for schooling at the Lancaster County Academy.  At the age of 17 he was nominated by Senator James Buchanan to the United States Military Academy.  Graduated in 1841 and commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Arltillery and was assigned to Fort McHenry.  His service time saw him travel with tours of duty throughout the United States and Mexico.  

Catherine Mary Hewitt

He participated in the Rogue River Wars of 1856 in Oregon and the Utah War with the Mormons in 1857-58.  He returned to the east coast and became Commandant of Cadets at West Point from 1860 to 1861.  Upon his return from the West, he became engaged to Catherine Mary Hewitt.  Since he was Protestant and she was Catholic, the engagement was kept a secret.  Then in 1863, Reynolds was commanding the "left wing" of the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania during the Civil War when he yelled to his men, "Forward men!  For God's sake forward!"  At that instant he fell from his horse with a wound from a sniper in the back of the upper neck, or lower head, and died almost instantly.  

An etching of Reynolds being shot.

Reynold's body was quickly removed by field ambulance and then, along with his personal effects, were sent to the home of his sister Catherine on Spruce Street in Philadelphia.  There he laid in State until his funeral on July 4 in his home town of Lancaster.  Now for the part of my story about Kate Hewitt or John's fiancee.  While going through John's belongings, his family in Philadelphia discovered Kate's Catholic medal and a gold ring in the form of clasped hands which he had around his neck.  Inside the ring was inscribed the words Dear Kate.  On July 3 Kate called at the house on Spruce Street.  

Reynolds monument in
Lancaster's Cemetery.

Catherine, John's sister heard the knock on the door and rushed to the door to meet their beloved brother's fiancee and embrace her warmly.  Kate, after seeing the body, broke down and wept. Kate returned John's ring, but kept her Catholic medal he had worm.  Eight days after Major General John Reynolds was buried in Lancaster Cemetery, Kate Hewitt applied for admission to the Sisters of Charity Convent in Emmitsburg, Maryland. This, it seems, was the vow that Kate and John had made before he was killed in action.  Their plans for the future, if all went well, was to be married after the Civil War, but in the event that John would die, Kate would become a nun.  The establishment of the Sisters of Charity was located only ten miles from the Gettysburg Battlefield where her fiancee had been killed.  Seems that Reynolds and his First Corps had passed the convent only a few hours before he was killed.  Kate, wanting to know every thing about John, asked the other nuns to bring the General's orderly, Sergeant Charles Henry Veil, to visit her at the convent.  Shortly Veil met Kate at the convent to tell her of John's last days.  

Inscription of the grave of Reynolds.  Click to enlarge.

Veil was the one who pulled John's body to safety after he was killed.  When he was ready to leave she said, "Mr. Veil, I have a little token here I had for the General, some of my own work, and I want to give it to you as a token if remembrance of both of us."  She took from the folds of her dress a small package.  After leaving the convent Veil found the package to contain a very beautifully embroidered handkerchief with the Coat-of-Arms of the United States on it.  A few months later one of the nuns wrote to Veil telling him that Kate Hewitt had taken the name of Sister Hildegarde and had gone to New York to teach in a Catholic school.  

Monument at Gettysburg to Reynolds.

Then on September 3, 1968 Kate left the Community of Sisters of Charity.  She was still in mourning for the love of her life and finally gave up on the Catholic faith and returned to her hometown of Stillwater, New York.  She never married and died of pneumonia in 1895 in Stillwater. On her headstone was the word Mizpah which is Hebrew for "May God watch over you until we are together again." She had finally returned to the love of her life.  As for the handkerchief, Veil left the Sisters of Charity and went directly to his home in Johnstown, PA and gave the handkerchief to his mother for safekeeping.  

The cover of Charles Henry Veil's Memoirs.

Veil returned to service and his mother died, but his elder sister took charge of the handkerchief.  She had it in her little "casket" or pocketbook when the Johnstown Flood washed through town, killing thousands of people.  As the wall of water washed down her street she managed to save the precious handkerchief.  The Army dismissed Veil in 1871, but he didn't return to Pennsylvania until 1891 when he retrieved the handkerchief once again and wrote about it in his memoirs.  Charles Henry Veil died in 1910, but his memories weren't published until 1993 as "A Soldier's Recollections of the Civil War and the Arizona Territory: The Memoirs of Charles Henry Veil."  But, what ever happened to the handkerchief meant for Lancastrian John Reynolds is an unsolved mystery.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.    

The "Was This The Breaking Point? Story

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in front of the exhibit which tells the story of the Christiana Riot in 1851.  The display is located in the LancasterHistory.org buiding at 230 West President Ave. in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Making my second visit to the display to make sure I had all the facts about the riot before I tried to understand it as well as write about it.  The more I read about what happened on September 11 of that year the more I wonder how important the event was to the start of the Civil War.  The display is titled "Freedom: To Secure The Blessings of Liberty" and is the second display they have presented to the public in their new building since opening it.  There are a few artifacts that remain from the riot that are on display in the museum.  Posters showing some of the scenes in the riot tell the story of William Parker and Edward Gorsuch, the two principle characters in the riot.  

William Parker's farmhouse in Christiana, Pennsylvania

All started in 1850 when the federal Fugitive Slave Act strength- ened the position of slaveowners seeking to capture runaway slaves.  Mr. Gorsuch, a Maryland farmer, had lost four slaves when they fled over the Mason-Dixon line into Pennsylvania.  They found their way to Parker's farm in Christiana, Pennsylvania.  Parker was a former slave who had himself escaped to Pennsylvania where he became an abolitionist and anti-slavery activist as well as a leader of a black self-defense organization.  By that time in history, some 3,000 free African Americans and fugitive slaves lived in Lancaster County, which was one of the easiest routes north for slaves to escape slavery from the south.  Lancaster had a highly organized Underground Railroad with close to fifty permanent safe haven "stations" scattered across the landscape.  

Abolitionist and Temperance leader William Whipper
was born in Drumore Twp., entered into partnership
with Stephen Smith of Columbia, PA, to create one
of the most successful lumberyards in PA.  He was
an operative on the Underground Railroad leading
many slaves from Virginia and Maryland to freedom. 

Parker was known well in Christiana for his bravery and for providing safe haven for escaped slaves.  His place was one of the stops on the Underground Railroad.  Also, in the area was a fairly large population of Quakers who were also in favor of freedom for the slaves.  At one point, he gave aide to four slaves in his home.  Eventually Gorsuch led a party of slave catchers into Lancaster County.  After hearing they were on the farm of William Parker, he and his son Dickenson, as well as Deputy Marshal Henry Kline and a few other helpers headed to the farm.  Word spread and Parker knew of what was coming.  His wife Eliza blew a horn out the window of their home to notify the neighbors and members of the self-defense group of the emergence of the group that was coming.  Some fifty to one hundred African Americans, as well as Quakers, armed with guns, pitchforks and other weapons ran to the house. Among the first to arrive was Castner Hanway, a white miller and Parker's closest neighbor, who, after the slave catchers arrived, tried to calm the mob and warned Gorsuch and Kline to leave before things became violent.  

Artist rendition of the tragedy at Christiana.

Gorsuch refused to leave without his "property" and the slaves refused to surrender.  So, "all hell broke loose" as they say.  As the gunfire began Gorsuch fell, mortally wounded.  Then, as his son ran to help him, Parker's brother-in-law shot him.  Deputy Kline and the rest fled for their lives with the mob in hot pursuit.  A few days later vigilantes tried to round up Parker and his brother-in-law, but they already, along with the slaves, fled to Canada.  

Peter Woods, left, and Samuel Hopkins pose with the corn
knife used in the Christiana Resistance in front of the ruins
of the home of William Parker.

The law was swift with 38 men indicted on 117 counts of treason inclucing Castner Hanway, whom Deputy Kline accused of leading the mob and refusing to aid, as the federal law required, in the recapture of the escaped slaves.  It was at this point that Thaddeus Stevens, Pennsylvania's Congressman and lawyer, defended Hanway.  The eighteen-day trial, which began on November 24, 1851, found Hanway, and all others, not guilty of treason due to the fact that Deputy Kline, the leading witness, was shown to have been hiding in the cornfields and didn't see a thing.  

This knife was primarily used for harvesting corn
on Pennsylvania farms, but became a weapon
during the battle with Gorsuch and his men on
September 11, 1851.  This knife and the above
photographs are on display at Lancaster's Museum.

In the riot's aftermath tensions and violence escalated along the Pennsylvania and Maryland border.  Castner Hanway became an abolitionist after the trial and inspired others to join.  The Underground  Railroad continued to help fugitive slaves escape to freedom.  Then in 1857 another fugitive slave law trial, the Dred Scott case, once again stirred up public opinion on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line.  The Civil War did not officially begin for another ten years after the Christiana Riot, but I wonder if the Christiana Riot wasn't one of the main reasons the war began.  The display in the museum leads one to think that may have been the case.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.