Discovery ~ Preservation ~ Education

Daniel Payne, a black seminarian, enrolled in the Lutheran Theological Seminary with the help of Samuel Schmucker, Founder of the Seminary and board member of Pennsylvania College.  Payne used an old building belonging to the College for bible school instruction in 1837 and eventually helped to formalize instruction for colored school children in Gettysburg.

In 1863 there were 185 persons of color in Gettysburg and a total population of 2,400.  Many of these 185 people left Gettysburg as the Civil War drew closer. Several families returned and have stories yet untold...

John "Jack" Hopkins, janitor at Gettysburg College, worked closely with Thaddeus Stevens and a secret fraternity known as the "Black Ducks", or BD's to help runaway slaves passing through Gettysburg. 

Basil Biggs, a farmer and active Underground Railroad agent, was hired to bury the bodies of Union soldiers.  Numerous black men from Gettysburg fought in the Civil War as members of the United States Colored Troops. 

Family histories in Gettysburg date back to the early 1800s.  Lloyd F.A. Watts, the 1st Black teacher in Gettysburg Public Schools, was also the Thomas family patriarch.  Pictured  below is the Thomas family home place past and present on Washington Street in Gettysburg. 

St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion church was formed by several African Americans who separated from the local Methodist Church where thye were forced to sit in the balcony during services. 

Pictured with students is teacher Sally Salome Myers Stewart at the Franklin Street "Colored" School, 1883-1932. 

Williams Family history in Gettysburg begins in 1840.  Howard family moved to Gettysburg in 1880.  Fred Howard and Helen Williams married in Gettysburg.  They had 6 children and thus began just one of the many stories of the community in the Southwest section of Gettysburg.

In 1863 the population  was 2,400; 185 being persons of color.  Many of the 185 people left Gettysburg as the Civil War grew closer.  Several families returned and have stories yet untold.

Family history in Gettysburg begins in 1835; Lloyd F. A. Watts was one of the first black teachers in the Gettysburg Public schools.