National Homestead at Gettysburg

The National Homestead at Gettysburg (located at 777 Baltimore Street) was an orphanage and widows home opened in October 1866[1]:70 (incorporated March 22, 1867)[2] on the Gettysburg Battlefield along Steinwehr Avenue on the north foot of Cemetery Hill. The facility was created by Dr. John F. Bourns after fundraising resulting from the identification of a Battle of Gettysburg casualty's children as Amos Humiston's.[1] In 1867, Ulysses S. Grant was photographed with orphans at the entrance,[3] and an 1870 Pennsylvania bill was used to fund the facility.[4]

Ulysses S. Grant with the boys and girls at National Homestead orphanage, June 21, 1867
Portrait of Frank, Frederick, and Alice Humiston, children of Sergeant Amos Humiston of Co. C, 154th New York Infantry Regiment, who died at the Battle of Gettysburg with the photograph in his hands.

The beginning history of the homestead was prosperous, but after the initial head mistress was replaced by Rosa J. Carmichael, the history of the orphanage took a turn for the worse. Carmichael was a cruel disciplinarian who created a dungeon for disciplining children. This dungeon, along the stories that accompany it have made the homestead notorious. It's also become a popular spot for ghost hunting.[5] In 2011, the Ghost Adventures gang spent the night in the basement trying to communicate with Carmichael's ghost.

Eventually, the orphanage was turned into a soldier's museum that was once owned by actor Cliff Arquette, who narrated tours of the dungeon. The museum has been closed since November 2014.[6]

References
  1. Reef, Catharine. Alone in the World: Orphans and Orphanages in America. Retrieved 2012-10-19. read the account in November 1863 [and suspected they were] their children, Frank, Alice, and Fred, ages eight, six, and four. p. 70: The Humiston family subsequently resided at the homestead for 3 years until the widow remarried, when they relocated to Massachusetts.
  2. Beitel, Calvin Gustavus (1874). A Digest of Titles of Corporations Chartered by the Legislature... J. Campbell & son. Retrieved 2011-11-22 – via Internet Archive. Gettysburg.
  3. The Star and Sentinel, Jun 26, 1867
  4. Gettysburg Compiler, Jul 1, 1870
  5. Levy, Dustin (28 May 2016). "Gettysburg orphanage honored on 150th anniversary". Evening Sun. Hanover, Pennsylvania. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  6. "Soldier's Orphanage Dungeon Tour". Roadside America. Doug Kirby, Ken Smith, Mike Wilkins. Retrieved 7 February 2019.

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