Into the Heart of History
By Jane Malone
Every traveler knows how satisfying trips “off the beaten path” can be. They take you where the stories or scenes are special. In Gettysburg, East High Street has an “off the beaten path” spot. It has history I can’t forget.
Today, the corner of Baltimore and East High Street is anchored by Gettysburg Presbyterian Church and the Adams County Library. At the other end is the Gettysburg Borough office building and Trinity United Church of Christ (the old German Reformed Church). In between, midway on the north side of the street, is the Adams County Housing Authority. The housing authority occupies the building known locally as the High Street School. Constructed in 1857, it was the first unified school building in Gettysburg. Prior to that, children had been educated in rooms scattered throughout the town. The High Street School was for white children. Gettysburg’s Black children continued to be educated in rooms until 1884, when the Franklin Street “Colored” School was built. In July 1863, the High Street School became a hospital, designated in Union Army records as the “Public School Hospital.”
The current waymarker at the building doesn’t tell us about the people who worked to save lives in it in 1863 or about the men they treated. Only recently, through the research of Tom Elmore, reported in the online discussion group Civil War Talk, have we learned the names of some of the people who worked there. Those names opened the doors to many stories.
We now know the hospital was opened in the building in the early afternoon of July 1, 1863 by Dr. George Suckley, medical director of the Eleventh Corps. When it was captured by Confederate forces later that day, Dr. C.L. Wilson of the 75th Ohio Regiment and 10 male assistants chose to stay and treat the wounded men who were pouring in. The staff stayed with their patients throughout the night. Dr. Wilson was assisted by Abraham Stout of the 153rd PA Regiment and Dr. Theodore Tate of the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry. Dr. Stout was also in charge of the hospital at the neighboring German Reformed Church. The doctors at the school treated the wounded of both armies.
We now also know of Chaplain William Way of the 24th Michigan Regiment. After the Union retreat on July 1, Way chose to remain behind the lines to look for wounded men who had been left on the field. He noticed the body of a 24th Michigan soldier named John Ryder. Way took Ryder’s identifying papers and an unfinished letter and buried Ryder’s body. On July 9, Way was at the Public School Hospital looking for more Michigan boys and met Alfred Ryder of the 24th Michigan Cavalry. Alfred told Way of his brother John, also at Gettysburg. Alfred unfortunately believed John was wounded but doing well. Way wrote to the Ryder family with the sad news of John’s death and Alfred’s serious wounds, encouraging someone to come to Gettysburg to help Alfred. Their father arrived on July 18, but Alfred was doing poorly and died on July 24. John’s body was exhumed from the battlefield and the brothers were buried, side by side, in the German Reformed Cemetery. In November 1863, their bodies were exhumed and reburied near the family home near Westland, Michigan.
Gettysburg is full of big stories of maneuvers and military decisions. We need to hear the small, human stories of people going the extra mile for the wounded, doing the dogged, melancholy work that brought closure to grieving families. Chaplain William Way reunited a family. Drs. Stout and Tate saved lives. We can imagine the work of the hospitals as more humane, more caring. In Gettysburg, this picture is truly “off the beaten path.”
Jane Malone is a retired teacher, retired Licensed Town Guide, and an active student of Adams County history.
