Tag: Carlisle

When Dickinson College President Jesse Peck arrived in Staunton, Virginia, for a conference in the spring of 1849, local authorities detained him as a result of a prank by Dickinson students. As the Richmond (VA) Examiner reported:

“some reprobate student…wrote a letter to the Physician of the Hospital [in Staunton], giving him a description of some individual who had left Carlisle, the seat of Dickinson College, in a state of mental derangement; and stating, furthermore, that it was more than probable that the said individual had betaken himself to Staunton, inasmuch as it was a sort of monomania with him to regard himself as the President of [Dickinson College],…. It is needles to add, that the description of the insane person coincided precisely with the appearance of the Rev. Doctor himself – and that it required the reiterated identifications of the ministers of the Conference around, to save him from confinement!”

Moncure Conway (Dickinson College Class of 1849), who later became a southern abolitionist, admitted that he was one of the student leaders involved with the prank. You can read the full story here.

Dickinson College Professor and the ‘Know Nothing’ Party in Cumberland County

By rainwatj

On June 24, 2010

In Antebellum (1840-1861)

A new political movement born out of New York and Philadelphia spread across the country, emerging in Cumberland County in 1854, shaping its politics for more than two years. Spurred by anti-Catholic and anti-immigration sentiment, the Know Nothing party grew to significant prominence if only for a short period during the mid 1850s. Reverend Otis H. Tiffany was Dickinson College’s professor of mathematics and president of the Know Nothing State Council. Tiffany, a prominent leader and adamant speaker for the Know Nothing party, gave a public lecture at Carlisle Union Fire Hall on November 16, 1854 on the Protestant origins of American freedoms and on the dangers of the vast immigration and rapid naturalization of foreigners. Tiffany commented, “No foreigner is competent to discharge the duties of an American until he ceases to be identified with the land which gave him birth.”

Much of the sources on the Know Nothings in Cumberland County are derived from local newspapers such as the Carlisle American, Carlisle Herald, Shippensburg News and American Volunteer. During this time, Tiffany and several other professors at Dickinson College had been active in the Know-Nothing movement. While most of the papers were supportive, the American Volunteer was the most negative, commonly criticizing the party and the involvement of Tiffany and others from Dickinson College. On August 23, 1857 with the Know Nothing movement nearly dissolved, the Volunteer cited the negative effects brought on by the faculty “by their constant dabbling in politics…But we gained our point which was to drive them from their Know-Nothing lodges to their duties in the College.”

While unsuccessful in sustaining the Know Nothing movement in Cumberland County, Tiffany was and remained a respected leader throughout the community. In Alexander Kelly McClure‘s Old Time Notes of Pennsylvania, he comments on the merits of Tiffany. McClure, a prominent Pennsylvania politician and journalist, regarded Tiffany as the ablest of all the Know-Nothing leaders.

“The one who stood out most conspicuous as an active politician and consistent Christian gentleman was Dr. Tiffany, who, as I have stated, accomplished the union of the opposition forces at the conference in 1855. He was not only a man of unusual eloquence, but a sagacious leader in Church and State, and always commanded the respect of all who came in contact with him, whether supporting or opposing him.”

The Election of 1860

By oczkowsl

On June 24, 2010

In Antebellum (1840-1861)

During the Election of 1860, the divided feelings did not stop the election of a new president. The election had several candidates, but the contest was actually between Douglas and Lincoln in the North and West and between Breckinridge and Bell in the South. Many thought the race would be very competitive, but Lincoln ended up dominating. In Cumberland County, Lincoln had an overwhelming victory. The more rural areas such as Hopewell and Fairfield that were mainly farmers, Lincoln won in a significant majority. In urban areas such as the Carlisle District and Newville, the race between the Republicans and Democrats was closer. The chart below gives the reported majority from the different districts in the county. The first column gives the total votes for Lincoln in the district. The second column shows the total of votes for Read, who is the elector for the districts. The third column gives the total votes for Bell, only prevalent in the more urban districts. Most of the rural districts only have votes for Lincoln, allowing him to have no competition in rural areas of Pennsylvania.

Districts	Lincoln.	Read’s Ticket	Bell.
Carlisle Distict	886	907	74
Newville	453	570	21
Upper Allen	33
Lower Allen	103
East Pennsboro	96
Plainfield	83		1
Penn Town	14
Hampden	19
Hopewell	20
Mechanisburg	130
North Cumberland	32
Monroe	117
Shippensburg District	70
Leesburg	27
Jacksonville		22
Middlesex		3
Silver Spring		169


TOTAL:	2083	1671	96

(Carlisle American, 7 November 1860.)

In the race for Governor, the majority of people in Pennsylvania voted for Andrew Gregg Curtin, a former Dickinsonian, in the election. This proved that the state had gone Republican by not less than 75, 000 Republicans state wide. Cumberland County followed the Pennsylvania results, as Lincoln/Hamlin received 40 percent of the popular vote.

Nationally, Lincoln received a total of 180 electoral votes, while the other candidates combined won 123. Breckinridge thought that he had some support in Pennsylvania, but Cumberland County did not support this assertion.

The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana from the Library of Congress provides images from the election such as political cartoons, newspaper articles, candidate’s addresses and Republican and Democrat tickets. The Library of Congress has a great teacher resource on the Election of 1860. HarpWeek also provides cartoons from the election from Harper’s Weekly and other weekly journals. The

The Soldiers Monument

By mckelveb

On June 24, 2010

In Reconstruction (1865-1880)

The Soldiers Monument in Carlisle, Pennsylvania was created in a post war effort to honor the Cumberland County soldiers who died as a result of the Civil War. The efforts to build the monument were initiated by the Soldiers Monument Association in early January 1867, which included General Lemuel Todd as Chair, General Robert Miller Henderson as President, and Colonel Erkuries Beatty as Corresponding Secretary. The minutes of the Soldiers Monument Association are available for reference at the Cumberland County Historical Society in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Fundraising continued into early 1871 until the Monument Association obtained the five thousand dollars needed to erect the monument. The extra money financed the dedication ceremonies as well as the fence that enclosed the monument. A Carlisle mechanic, Richard Owens, was responsible for contracting and designing the monument, which contained a “Roll of Honor” that provided the names of the three hundred and forty-four Cumberland County officers and soldiers that died in combat or during their term of service in the army during the Civil War. The official unveiling of the thirty foot tall Soldiers Monument took place on the Public Square near the Carlisle Courthouse on August 19, 1871 with Lemuel Todd as Chief Marshall of the ceremonies and Major General Heintzelman as the presenter of the unveiled monument. Available on Google Books, Carlisle, Old and New gives a brief description of the monument as well as some of the other historical features in Carlisle.

McClintock Riot – June 2, 1847

By sailerd

On June 24, 2010

In Antebellum (1840-1861)

The McClintock Riot took place on June 2, 1847 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania after two slave owners from Maryland arrived with plans to capture three fugitive slaves. After breaking into a house in Carlisle, the two men were arrested. Local authorities also placed the fugitive slaves in custody. The Pennsylvania legislature, however, passed a law in early March 1847 that made it illegal for state officials to help anyone trying to catch fugitive slaves. After Professor John McClintock told Judge Samuel Hepburn about the new law, Hepburn “pronounced them illegally in custody.” A riot occurred as the fugitive slaves left the courthouse. While two fugitive slaves escaped, one was forced to return to Maryland. Professor McClintock denied that he was responsible for what happened:

“All that I did was to try to do my duty to the laws of the land. But the slavecatchers have spread abroad the report that I incited the riot, and have sworn to it, and I am under bail to appear at August court.”

Several other letters and newspaper articles related to this even are also available on House Divided.

The Shelling of Carlisle: July 1, 1863

By oczkowsl

On June 23, 2010

In Civil War (1861-1865)

On June 27, 1863, Confederate General Richard S. Ewell stopped at Carlisle for supplies, forage, and food before moving towards Harrisburg. During the Gettysburg Campaign, Stuart arrived in Carlisle on the evening of July 1, 1863 looking for Ewell’s troops, but instead found General William F. “Baldy” Smith’s 32^nd and 33^rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia and 1st New York Cavalry. After Smith’s refusal to surrender, Stuart allowed Maj. General Fitzhugh Lee to start firing on the town. Lee’s artillery fired about 80 shells into Carlisle, stirring up the militia and townspeople but causing minimal injuries to both civilians and soldiers. Shots landed in many places including one at the Courthouse and two on the street wall of the First Presbyterian Church. Around midnight, Stuart received a message from General Robert E. Lee stating that the army was in battle at Gettysburg and to call off the action in Carlisle. Before leaving, Fitzhugh Lee burned a lumberyard and set fire to the Carlisle Barracks.

Harper’s Weekly Magazine issued on July 25, 1863, provides a clear outline of the happenings by the locals in Carlisle and a sketch of Main Street or present day High Street by Thomas Nast. The sketch shows the Rebels shelling women and children as well as the New York militia, putting the town into immense chaos.

The Soldiers Aid Society of Carlisle Pennsylvania

By oczkowsl

On June 23, 2010

In Civil War (1861-1865)

The Soldiers Aid Society of Carlisle, Pennsylvania formed on August 25, 1863 and disbanded sometime in 1865. The organization provided the thousands of men who enlisted in the Union Army with blankets ,clothing ,as well as local fruits produce. Women were the driving force and chose to spearhead these efforts because they felt they had a better knowledge of what would comfort the soldiers and the domestic skills to enable their work to be successful. In addition, the Soldiers Aid Society assisted with burials and grave decoration for the soldiers that died in battle.

The women and men of the Soldiers Aid Society provided a welcoming place for the soldiers before and after they left for battle by exchanging tokens of affection with the soldiers such as handkerchiefs explained by James W. Sullivan in Boyhood Memories: ” The women of Carlisle had brought out from their scantily stocked larders the essentials of a welcoming reception.” The Carlisle American also describes the women’s actions “by expressing tokens of love but cheerfulness” ( Carlisle American. 25 April 1863. Back at Home section).

The church dynamic was vital to the success of the society because many of the members belonged to the First Presbyterian Church of Carlisle and as a result attracted other religious organizations of the community and surrounding areas. The Soldier Aid Society of Carlisle worked with many Sanitary Commissions and ” resoleved a draft for a systematci plan for securing contrubutions in the town”, according to the American Volunteer (American Volunteer, Central Fair in Aid and the Sanitray Commission. Back at Home section).

The organization also involved many social classes of people. The society allowed the whole community to have a common goal no matter if you were an educated man or a domestic homemaker. Motivations varied from patriotic or Christian duty to personal reasons, but they all brought people together in unity to aid in the war effort and provide solace to each other while loved ones were in harms way.

Many Soldiers Aid Societies existed at the time that were similar to that of the one in Carlisle. The United States Sanitary Commission of the Cleveland Branch provides the first annual report of the Soldiers Aid Society of Cleveland, the area where the first soldiers aid societies began. Google Books provides a preview of Civil War Sisterhood: The U.S. Sanitary Commission and Women’s Politics in Transition which discusses the relationship between Sanitary Commisions and Solders Aid Societies during the Civil War.

Carlisle Fencibles

By mckelveb

On June 23, 2010

In Civil War (1861-1865)

After the outbreak of the Civil War, four volunteer companies originally consisting of fifty to one hundred men were recruited in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on April 19, 1861. On April 21, the officers were chosen with Captain Robert M. Henderson, in charge of Company A of the 36th Regiment, 7th Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. Henderson was assisted in command by First Lieutenant James S. Colwell, Second Lieutenant Erkuries Beatty, and First Sergeant John D. Adair. These men received the nickname “Carlisle Fencibles” in part because most of its members belonged to a gymnastic club and because a “fencible” is a defender of a country. The company spent a two month period of relative inactivity marching and drilling until the soldiers left for Camp Wayne in West Chester, Pennsylvania on June 6. Before the men departed they received a satin flag from Mrs. Samuel Alexander, a granddaughter of Ephraim Blaine, that, according to David G. Colwell, had the inscription “May God defend the right!” The 7th Pennsylvania Reserves went on to fight in the Battles of Gaines’ Mill, Bull Run, and Antietam while suffering great losses. A more thorough description of the experiences of the company is available on Google Books in Samuel B. Bates’ History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-65 . The wartime experience of one member of the Carlisle Fencibles, John Taylor Cuddy, is chronicled through letters he sent home to his family in Carlisle. His correspondence is available as a part of Dickinson College’s “Their Own Words” digital archive which provides a picture of the experience of a young Carlisle Fencible during the Civil War.

The John Taylor Cuddy Correspondence

By solnitr

On June 22, 2010

In Civil War (1861-1865)

Sixteen-year-old John Taylor Cuddy left his home in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to enlist in Company A of the 36th Pennsylvania Infantry on June 5, 1861. Over the next two years, Cuddy wrote 77 letters home to his family describing his experiences as a soldier in the Union army. Cuddy’s correspondence is available online as part of Dickinson College’s “Their Own Words” digital archive. Over the course of his service in the army, Cuddy wrote his parents full of exuberance to go “lick the south” from his training camp at Fort Wayne, with a tempered tone of experience after fighting in the battle of Gaines’ Mill, and with a critical analysis of “old abe[‘s]” Emancipation Proclamation. At the Battle of the Wilderness, which lasted from May 5 to 7, 1864, Cuddy’s regiment was captured and sent to Andersonville, a Confederate prisoner of war camp in Georgia. With his capture, Cuddy’s letters stopped. Although John Taylor Cuddy never made it home to Pennsylvania (he died in a prison in Florence, South Carolina on September 29, 1864), his correspondence creates a living picture of the life of a teenage Pennsylvania soldier during the Civil War.