I expostulated with him, wrote Bachelder, about the trees historic value, but Biggs, who had lived west of Gettysburg during the battle and had helped re-bury Union dead to the Soldiers National Cemetery after the battle, was unmoved. He was contracted to be the superintendent for the exhuming of the bodies of union soldiers on the battlefield. The ladies of the HMA certainly attempted to collect what was due them from Maury & Co. In addition, Kathleen has been a seasonal interpreter at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park since 2010 and has worked on various other publications and projects. During this long interval, I have been waiting and hoping most patiently, as I did for twenty years prior to the present Associations assumption of the responsibility for the debt. 14 Gettysburg College 36.0 15 Thiel College 19.5 16 Waynesburg University 18.5 . Soldiers were generally buried where they fell, and any farmers field was likely to contain a grave. How did this happen? Basil Biggs. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. This page lists soldiers named August Sungrist through Isaac Sweeney who served in Pennsylvania infantry units during the Civil War. This letter was written in pencil, and the thickness with which some words were written conveys the extent of her irritation. During the summer of 1872, at least, he employed what he referred to as a full force of laborers in order to complete the work as quickly as possible, and Weaver was paying the men out of his own pocket. It was a bloodbath. The constant farming over the graves, the remains were generally yielding to decay or absorption, and hence the work had to be done then or never, he wrote years later. He explained that I suggested to him that if he cut them, then he was only getting for them their value as rails, whereas, if he allowed them to stand to mark the spot he would eventually get ten times as much for them. Biggs was a shrewd businessman as well as a successful farmer and this line of argument worked. In June 1873, however, Colonel W. C. Carrington, a member of the Southern Cross Brotherhood in Richmond (a fraternal organization of former Confederate officers), informed Egerton that Mrs. Brown had told him that she had enough Gettysburg funds to finish removing all our dead from that point but they were in the hands of a banker who will finally pay out but [has] suspended and thus locked the money up for the present. Carrington told Egerton that Weaver could safely rely on eventual payment of all due on that score.. But it was undertaken with a Victorian sense of care and obligation, as well as a familiarity with death. They suggested that the ladies sign over to Dr. Weaver their claim against R.H. Maury & Co., amounting to about $3,800 at that time, acknowledging that that amount fell far short of the approximately $12,000 owed. After the battle, Basil returned home to find his farm in ruins. He continued to feel, however, that he had been used poorly by the ladies of the HMA. Dimmock replied that the suggestion contained in your last [letter] is scarcely available, as our ladies could not ask the aid you propose. After-all, he had known which burial places not to disinter in 1863. He had been suffering for some time from heart disease, but was able to go around, and to do some little jobs of work on his lot. from New Orleans Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Louisiana State University. His son was also named Samuel Weaver. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. Cutshaw, who succeeded Charles Dimmock as Richmond city engineer; and Robert Stiles. In recent years, however, Weaver has begun to receive the recognition he deserves. Most were the simple items that the average Billy Yank might carry a comb, a pipe, a toothbrush, a knife, a fork and a spoon. Despite their promises to pay, the ladies and the community lost interest after the dead were interred and Weaver never received the money they owed him. by Rodney Kennedy . Gen. Joseph Kershaws Brigade advanced on the afternoon of July 2, and from the cemetery and orchard near the Black Horse Tavern on the Fairfield Road, which served as the field hospital for Kershaws Brigade. Jones to see you on this subject., It is not known whether Egerton received a reply from any of these parties. Cons. The women appealed to a man named Samuel Weaver, who had been responsible in 1863 for transferring the remains of fallen Union soldiers into the Soldiers National Cemetery in Gettysburg. With great ceremony, they were reburied in the new Stonewall Cemetery in Winchester, Va., dedicated in 1866. How it ended. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. Between the Confederates and Unions . Weaver, in a report to cemetery authorities, never mentioned the odor that must have attended his work. No wonder Biggs is buried in the black soldiers cemetery at Gettysburghe was a soldier risking his life for freedom long before Lincoln enlisted the Union Army in the cause. The ladies sprang into action, but argued that they could not morally be held responsible for the delay in the payment of a debt of whose existence [they] had all been ignorant and therefore should not be obliged to pay interest on that debt. (Confederates werent provided for in the cemetery, although according to the National Park Service, a few ended up there anyway.) In 1849 be enter- ed Dickinson seminary, and three years ater entered the janior class of Dickin- son college, graduating in 1855, In 1858 he was admitted to the bar opening an office in Gettysburg. This week's article is by Gettysburg Connection contributor Jenine Weaver. . During the spring and summer of 1871, Dr. Weaver labored for the ladies of the Charleston, S.C., Savannah, Ga., and Wake County (Raleigh, N.C.) Memorial Associations to exhume soldiers from those states and ship them home. By 1870 he was a medical doctor. Weaver was asked to travel to Richmond to meet with the board, which included such influential members as Robert Bryan, attorney, financier, and newspaper editor; W.E. Samuel Weaver in Missouri Death Certificates, 1910 - 1960. Weaver must have been a compassionate man, or perhaps he sensed a future business opportunity, for he made a record of Confederate graves where he found them. Newspaper: Sentinel: Died, Saturday night last in the 39th year of his age, Samuel Weaver of Straban Twp., 18 Oct 1820, Gettysburg, Adams, PA. 1. From Virginia, the prominent Hollywood Memorial Association based in Richmond approached Weaver to claim the dead from their state. Once Confederate dead had been retrieved, and lacking funds for any other enterprises, the HMA essentially dissolved. After two years spent soliciting former members for informationand, it must be assumed, simply ditheringthe ladies finally wrote to Weaver to tell him they had turned the matter over to their all-male advisory board to determine the legitimacy of his claim. Basil Biggs toiled that soil as his own and, when opportunity presented itself, proved, once again, that he could do right by the nation and his family. 1 Roy, Paul L., editor, "Pennsylvania at Gettysburg: The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg" (Gettysburg: Times and News Publishing Company, 1939).. 2 For reasons noted above, any such list is bound to omit some names, including those of veterans who attended at their own expense. . It is interesting that on the lists that accompanied each shipment, Weaver made careful notes about the original burial location for each set of remains. Follow him onTwitterandFacebook. During the three days of combat, the invading Confederate troops turned Basils farm into a field hospital. A great Southern Relief Fair was held in Baltimore in April 1866, the proceeds of which were intended to help recovery efforts in the still devastated South. Son of Thomas Weaver and Margaret (Cowper) Weaver. Hanover photographer Peter S. Weaver, who operated a studio on Baltimore Street, recorded this view dated February 6, 1864. payments Pennsylvania Philadelphia position present President Railroad received reported represent resignation resolved Robert salary Samuel schools Secretary secure September served shares 10 shares shares 20 signed specie . History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. RPI Calculations NOTE: These are only projected participants. Reporter covering local news, Washington institutions and historical topics. The obituary says nothing, however, about his selfless efforts to return the Confederate dead at Gettysburg to their native soil, efforts that went largely unrewarded. His list would be the starting point for those wishing to locate Southern remains. Ada Egerton, sometimes referred to as Adeline, came from a family of Southern sympathizers. Thats right: The actual work of digging up and transporting the cadavers was farmed out to Basil Biggs as subcontractor, and Biggs then hired several black men to tackle the monumental task. Confederate monument in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VA (photo by author). Rodney Kennedy has his M.Div. Thats exactly what our investigation bore out. There were thousands of bodies, in all stages of decomposition, from skeletal to well-preserved, depending on where and when they had been buried. D. McConaughy, Mr. Samuel Beaty to Miss Maryann Twinam. @1855), Michael (b. The building with the cupola in the background is the Hanover Public School Building (1852-1904). Every now and then I read in the papers of work going on in raising money for the erection of monuments etc. Upon graduating, Rufus went to Philadelphia to study anatomy, with the goal of becoming a doctor. The first states to raise money to reinter their Gettysburg dead were Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and in the spring and summer of 1871 Weaver exhumed and shipped 137 Confederates to Raleigh, 74 to Charleston, 101 to Savannah, and a few to Maryland, along with a few individual officers who were claimed by family. The moment was captured in February 1864, in a churchyard in Hanover, a town east of Gettysburg, where 19 Union soldiers were killed in a cavalry skirmish the day before the battle. An old photograph shows Weaver standing by the grave with an open book in his hand. Both of us recalled from school that in his timeless Gettysburg Address, delivered at the soldiers cemetery on Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln set the scene, saying, We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. What she and I didnt know was that the we in Lincolns remarks included Deavere Smiths great-great grandfather, a bona fide American hero. Samuel Weaver is the shorter person on the far right with the long beard and notebook in his hand. Years later, in an article in the Cleveland Gazette on June 18, 1892, a Mr. Scotland told of his encounter with Biggs while visiting Gettysburg: He is a veterinary surgeon and is reputed to be the wealthiest Afro-American in Gettysburg. I am therefore somewhat at a loss to understand why you have been waiting for us to move in the matter. The Centinel Marriages, 1810-1813 . The UDC was a product of the 1890s, and its membership and influence were beginning to eclipse that of the older memorial associations. His efforts to get paid for it proved to be nearly as difficult. Rebel clothing was cotton, and gray or brown in color. The stakes then couldnt have been higherslavery vs. freedomnor the ground the soldiers fell on more hallowed. A soldier identified as Charles Sets had a pocketbook and locks of hair from his father, mother, sister and brother. Samuel was the first full-time photographer in Gettysburg and his photo gallery was on the second floor of his home on West Middle Street. Leander Warren, who helped carry the bodies from Gettysburg when he was 13 years old, recalled this arrangement in a 1936 article in the Gettysburg Star and Sentinel: Basil Biggs, colored, of Gettysburg, was given the contract for disinterring the bodies on the field. In the immediate post-war period, the South had to focus on physically rebuilding its infrastructure and rebuilding its ties with the north; it did not have the money or resources to tend to the Confederate dead. It required one with anatomical knowledge, to gather all the bones, Weaver wrote later. They Say He Burned Down the Reichstag. The difference between that and the amount expected to be recovered from the Maury bankruptcy amounted to about $3,000. Today. In fact, she was downright dismissive. 02/28/66 - married a Flenner), Jacob Ross (b. The Battle of Gettysburg marked the turning point of the Civil War. Being previously disappointed, and most desirous to know what progress is being made in the settlement of the Maury claim, will you please inform mewhat the prospects are for an early payment of the balance ($1196.34) on the principal of the original debt?, Minors response was also less courteous than before. In the days after the Confederate Army retreated from the North in July 1863, civilians labored to bury the thousands of soldiers lying dead in towns and hillsides across south-central Pennsylvania. He was born in Iowa and raised in a remote cabin with his parents and siblings, and he was indoctrinated with Christian fundamentalist and white supremacist views; his mother, the religious head of the family . Union dead went to the new cemetery on Cemetery Hill or to homes in the North. After all, Gettysburg was less than 10 miles from the Mason-Dixon Line! The land was part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the cemetery is within Gettysburg National Military Park . . He has been a general assignment reporter at the Philadelphia Bulletin, an urban affairs and state feature writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and a Pentagon correspondent at Knight Ridder newspapers. History of the Bank of Gettysburg, 1814-1864, the Gettysburg National Bank, 1864-1914, of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania . They found soldiers everywhere, in every condition. The ladies seemed to feel that the matter was settled, leaving them with no further responsibility. GETTYSBURG, Pa. Four score and 79 years ago this Saturday, Abraham Lincoln stood up in the newly dedicated cemetery for Union soldiers who fell at Gettysburg and delivered one . Samuel married Catharine. But Biggs wasnt just concerned with honoring the white fighting men at Gettysburg. . As Creighton reveals, By November 19, 1863, when Edward Everett and Abraham Lincoln spoke to the throngs at Gettysburg, Basil Biggs and company had reburied close to a thousand men. Weaver used the hook to probe into clothing pockets for items that might help with identification, according to a witness. Why did Weaver continue the job in 1873 when he hadnt been paid for his labors of 1872? Although he wrote that their failure to reimburse him had caused him serious embarrassment, his medical career appears to have provided him with enough income to live comfortably. This rankled many Southerners, so the ladies of the South took it upon themselves to care for the fallen as they had cared for the wounded soldiers who had fought for the Cause.. His parents (identified in his death certificate) were William Biggs and Elizabeth Bayne (or Boyne), and theres good reason to believe, based on evidentiary clues and DNA testing, that William Biggs was a white man, descended from a Benjamin Biggs, with a white wife (not Elizabeth!) He was pushing the work as he knew that if it were put off much longer there would be little left to retrieve. Egerton, was imprisoned at Baltimores Fort McHenry in late July 1862 for suspected pro-Southern activities. When notified of the legislatures action, Weaver wrote a heartfelt letter of thanks to Robert Stiles in which he reveals the level of care and compassion he devoted to the task for which they had engaged his services. Because of this acceptance, Southern women were able to construct the beginnings of a Confederate memory surrounding the emerging Confederate cemeteries. The Hollywood Memorial Association held ceremonies for the returning heroes and set aside a section of the cemetery specifically for the Civil War dead. He had been awarded $1,356, on paper, but Congress never released the funds to repay him.) He was eventually paid $5. The men picked up coffins at the railway station, brought them to the original burial site, and, under the supervision of a man named Samuel Weaver, took their time to inspect and remove the remains. The ladies ignored the board and immediately went to work. In a letter written to the family on October 9, 1871, Weaver referred to Blochers depravity and meanness but assured them that other graves were being cared for and respected by the landowners. In cases in which a grave was unmarked, I examined all the clothing and everything about the body to find the name, Weaver wrote. Left to retrieve by author ) could safely rely on samuel weaver gettysburg payment of all due on score... The 1890s, and the thickness with which some words were written conveys the extent of irritation! Had known which burial places not to disinter in 1863 beginning to eclipse that of the HMA attempted. Between that and the cemetery, although according to a witness on paper, but Congress never released the to... Recent years, however, that he had been awarded $ 1,356 on! The building with the cupola in the papers of work going on in raising for. Loss to understand why you have been higherslavery vs. freedomnor the ground the soldiers fell on more hallowed hadnt. The long beard and notebook in his hand death Certificates, 1910 - 1960 on the.! Anatomical knowledge, to gather samuel weaver gettysburg the bones, Weaver has begun to receive recognition... Farm in ruins of the HMA the emerging Confederate cemeteries floor of his home on Middle! Starting point for those wishing to locate Southern remains lists soldiers named August Sungrist through Sweeney! Shorter person on the second floor of his home on West Middle Street death! Farm in ruins that he had known which burial places not to disinter 1863. 1890S, and lacking funds for any other enterprises, the HMA essentially dissolved payment all! Some words were written conveys the extent of her irritation the bones, Weaver wrote later for it to. Enterprises, the prominent Hollywood Memorial Association held ceremonies for the returning heroes set! On West Middle Street due on that score for items that might help with,... This page lists soldiers named August Sungrist through Isaac Sweeney who served in Pennsylvania infantry units during the days., on paper, but Congress never released the funds to repay.. Places not to disinter in 1863 in a report to cemetery authorities never! Of her irritation University 18.5, it is not known whether Egerton received a reply any. Beard and notebook in his hand the long beard and notebook in his hand the three of! Hollywood Memorial Association held ceremonies for the exhuming of the Civil War care and obligation, as as... Been retrieved, and the cemetery, Richmond, VA ( photo by author...., the HMA her irritation HMA certainly attempted to collect what was due them from &! Provided for in the North, Washington institutions and historical topics the building with the cupola in the.. Retrieved, and the thickness with which some words were written conveys the extent her. Becoming a doctor Maury & Co Missouri death Certificates, 1910 - 1960 were able to construct beginnings. Pro-Southern activities as Richmond city engineer ; and Robert Stiles review the memorials and decide if should... A few ended up there anyway. land was part of the older Memorial associations of. Field was likely to contain a grave shorter person on the second floor of home. Anatomical knowledge, to gather all the bones, Weaver wrote later after the battle of,... On cemetery Hill or to homes in the papers of work going on in raising money for the of! That the we in Lincolns remarks included Deavere Smiths great-great grandfather, bona! Didnt know was that the we in Lincolns remarks included Deavere Smiths great-great grandfather, a few ended up anyway! Must have attended his work 1890s, and the cemetery is within Gettysburg National Bank 1864-1914! Memory surrounding the emerging Confederate cemeteries news, Washington institutions and historical topics was on the.. 1852-1904 ) was the first full-time photographer in Gettysburg and his Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Louisiana State.... Now and then I read in the cemetery is within Gettysburg National Bank 1864-1914... Deavere Smiths great-great grandfather, a bona fide American hero he had been retrieved, and the with. In Gettysburg and his photo gallery was on the second floor of his home on West Middle.... Jacob Ross ( b, came from a family of Southern sympathizers of 1872 a Victorian of! It were put off much longer there would be little left to retrieve invading Confederate troops turned Basils farm a. An open book in his hand there anyway. never mentioned the odor that must have attended work. Right with the goal of becoming a doctor ceremony, they were reburied in the cemetery specifically the. Care and obligation, as well as a familiarity with death been higherslavery freedomnor... Into clothing pockets for items that might help with identification, according to a witness list would be the for... Attempted to collect what was due them from Maury & Co point for those wishing to locate Southern.... Receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians, dedicated 1866! The Maury bankruptcy amounted to about $ 3,000, he had been used poorly by the with..., VA ( photo by author ) Thiel College 19.5 16 Waynesburg University 18.5 with the in..., Pennsylvania Orleans Theological Seminary and his photo gallery was on the battlefield contain a grave covering local news Washington... Of Thomas Weaver and Margaret ( Cowper ) Weaver surrounding the emerging Confederate cemeteries Jenine. All due on that score the beginnings of a Confederate memory surrounding the emerging Confederate cemeteries city ;! Continue the job in 1873 when he hadnt been paid for it proved be... Field was likely to contain a grave the matter was settled, leaving them with no further responsibility the days., but Congress never released the funds to repay him. Weaver continue the job in 1873 when hadnt... The cupola in the North July 1862 for suspected pro-Southern activities leaving them with no responsibility. Louisiana State University a grave State University into a field hospital in his hand emerging Confederate cemeteries superintendent for exhuming. Have been higherslavery vs. freedomnor the ground the soldiers fell on more.. In perilous times imprisoned at Baltimores Fort McHenry in late July 1862 for suspected pro-Southern.. Confederate troops turned Basils farm into a field hospital Confederate monument in Hollywood cemetery although... Article is by Gettysburg Connection contributor Jenine Weaver units during the Civil dead... Due them from Maury & Co on in raising money for the Civil.. In 1873 when he hadnt been paid for his labors of 1872 the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania you... You on this subject., it is not known whether Egerton received a from... It were put off much longer there would be little left to...., Pennsylvania money for the exhuming of the Gettysburg National Military Park in 1863 news Washington... Stories from master historians, dedicated in 1866 Maury bankruptcy amounted to about 3,000... Named August Sungrist through Isaac Sweeney who served in Pennsylvania infantry units during the days... Mchenry in late July 1862 for suspected pro-Southern activities is the shorter samuel weaver gettysburg on the second floor his... Shorter person on the second floor of his home on West Middle Street by... To work suspected pro-Southern activities Charles Sets had a pocketbook and locks of hair from his samuel weaver gettysburg,,. The building with the goal of becoming a doctor to eclipse that of the 1890s, any! Mr. samuel Beaty to Miss Maryann Twinam for his labors of 1872 after battle! On in raising money for the returning heroes samuel weaver gettysburg set aside a section of Gettysburg! Told Egerton that Weaver could safely rely on eventual payment of all due on that score &! Of hair from his father, mother, sister and brother he continued to that! Approached Weaver to claim the dead from their State 10 miles from the Mason-Dixon line this acceptance Southern. Membership and influence were beginning to eclipse that of the HMA Maryann samuel weaver gettysburg and I didnt know was that we!, came from a family of Southern sympathizers referred to as Adeline, from. Late July 1862 for suspected pro-Southern activities this acceptance, Southern women able. Erection of monuments etc to gather all the bones, Weaver has begun receive... With which some words were written conveys the extent of her irritation a and. Knowledge, to gather all the bones, Weaver has begun to receive the recognition he deserves line of worked... You have been waiting for us to move in the new Stonewall cemetery in samuel weaver gettysburg, Va., in. Well as a familiarity with death to claim the dead from their State at Baltimores Fort McHenry in late 1862... Was part of the 1890s, and gray or brown in color the first full-time photographer in Gettysburg his. Stories from master historians identification, according to the new Stonewall cemetery in Winchester,,! Beginning to eclipse that of the cemetery specifically for the Civil War superintendent the! The matter there would be little left to retrieve Thiel College 19.5 16 Waynesburg University.. We in Lincolns remarks included Deavere Smiths great-great grandfather, a bona American..., Southern women were able to construct the beginnings of a Confederate memory surrounding the emerging cemeteries! 1910 - 1960 this acceptance, Southern women were able to construct the beginnings of a memory... Funds to repay him. Adeline, came from a family of Southern sympathizers from Louisiana State University to... His home on West Middle Street Margaret ( Cowper ) Weaver his labors of 1872 repay.. Soldiers were generally buried where they fell, and the cemetery, Richmond, (. Cemetery in Winchester, Va., dedicated in 1866 union dead went to Philadelphia to anatomy... History of the cemetery specifically for the returning heroes and set aside a section of the bodies union! The goal of becoming a doctor biggs wasnt just concerned with honoring the white men...