The Rev. William R.H. Deatrich

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A Dynamic Clergyman

By Jane Malone

Stories of encounters with the military in 1863 abound in our area. The stories involve both armies. Most are tragic. Some are funny. All the stories tell us something about the human condition. One little-known story is about the Rev. William R.H. Deatrich, a clergyman who served in a number of churches in south central Pennsylvania during the late 1800s. 

Deatrich was born in 1834 in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. He studied at Franklin and Marshall College, then in Mercersburg, and was ordained into the ministry of the German Reformed Church in 1860. It was during his ministry at Grindstone Hill (near Fayetteville) that he was arrested by Confederate troops on July 1, 1863 with a number of area residents who were under suspicion of robbing Brig. Gen. John Imboden’s mail. Deatrich, with the others, was marched without a break, on foot, from Fayetteville to Gettysburg—a distance of about 24 miles. From his account, we learn that “the day was extremely warm; the thermometer indicated ninety degrees.” Deatrich was a large man. He admits to weighing 225 pounds in one account. By the time they reached Gettysburg, the group felt “cut off from the world and in constant fear of Libby Prison” in Virginia.

Deatrich said the group witnessed Pickett’s Charge from the Confederate lines. He said “all the poetry was knocked clean out of me” by the horror of the event. Because clergy had authority in Civil War America, the group members asked him to speak for all of them to ask for their release. He was brought to Imboden, who was under a chestnut tree on the battlefield, and asked for them to be set free. According to Deatrich, Imboden was “not cordial.” He said, “Hanging was the best thing for them.” Deatrich replied that “he was too heavy to hang.” Apparently, the image of trying to hang such a large man from a tree made Imboden smile, and he offered to release the good reverend. 

Deatrich, however, refused to accept the release unless his neighbors were let go as well. In the end, the pastor and his neighbors walked home to Fayetteville, probably on July 4. He kept the pass issued by Imboden pasted into the front of his Bible. He said, “I prize it as a souvenir of war times.” 

On the journey home, the group became mixed up with Gen. Robert E. Lee’s retreating troops. Again, Deatrich stood out and turned his experience into another entertaining story. During his entire time with the Confederate army in Gettysburg, Deatrich wore a high, black silk hat. “The common soldiers, looking at my alderman proportions and silk hat, regarded me as a high official. They asked me many questions; among these were ‘Where did you get that hat? Come down out of that big hat—needn’t say you aren’t in it—I see your feet hanging out.’” 

Deatrich returned to Gettysburg in spring 1864 when he accepted a call to the German Reformed Church (now Trinity United Church of Christ) in Gettysburg there. The church welcomed him on April 1, 1864, and he served there for nine years. In the church history it is noted that “Rev. Deatrich was very popular. … He had a supply of stories that was inexhaustible.” 

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Jane Malone is a former Frederick County, Md. public school history teacher. In her retirement, she became a Gettysburg Licensed Town Historian and Guide. When she retired from guiding, she joined the Board of Trustees of the Adams County Historical Society. Jane contributes to the historical departments in Celebrate Gettysburg, specifically Civil War Journal.

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