In 1996 a home in the historic district of Gettysburg was selected to show mid-19th century home life and to tell the Battle of Gettysburg story from the civilians’ point of view. The house that was chosen sits on Baltimore Street – just a stone’s throw from the base of Cemetery Hill. The house had been abandoned for close to thirty years and not much was known about its history except that it was built at the end of 1860, just months before the Civil War broke out.
To enter the Shriver House Museum on Baltimore Street today is to take a step back in time. Those who walk through the museum view rooms authentically furnished to the mid-1800’s and can visualize what life was like back then in south-central Pennsylvania . But the museum’s story is not solely that of an historic building.
After extensive research, the story of the family who built the house started to come to life. George and Hettie Shriver, both 24, built a beautiful, two-story brick home to accommodate their family of two young girls Sadie (5) and Mollie (3). But it was also to house George’s new business venture – Shriver’s Saloon & Ten-Pin Alley. The saloon took up the north half of the cellar and the two lane ten-pin alley was situated in a separate building behind their home.
The Adams County Historical Society, the National Archives, military records, and civilian accounts of the battle helped to piece together the story of this young family and their experiences during the battle. Unfortunately, though, no furniture, photographs, letters, or personal items belonging to the family were able to be tracked down. That is until after 6 years of telling the Shriver’s story when a great-great granddaughter was located. Anne Nemeth-Barath is a retired school teacher living in Winchester , Virginia . After numerous emails and telephone conversations, Anne and her husband, Dan, came to visit the museum to hear the story of her great-great grandmother. Anne was astonished by the tale and has been sharing family stories with the museum ever since. On her first visit, Anne brought photographs of George, Hettie, Sadie & Mollie. How wonderful it was to put faces to a story that had already been shared with thousands of people.
On a recent visit, Anne donated several more family relics for display in the Shriver House Museum ’s artifact collection. Anne graciously donated an ivory pen that belonged to Hettie Shriver. The pen comes with one of Anne’s delightful anecdotes:
In first grade Anne’s school desk had a glass inkwell filled with a blue-black ink where she was taught to write with a straight pen. On special occasions, however, Anne’s great grandmother, called Mombaugh, would let her practice writing with her mother’s (Hettie Shriver, called “Nannie” by the family) gold, ivory-tipped straight pen. Unlike cheap school pens which always snagged and splattered on an upstroke, Nannie’s pen, with its smooth gold point rode smoothly on the upstroke. Anne loved using it. After each practice session her great grandmother would have Anne wash the pen and put it into a little box she kept by her desk.
When asked by Mombaugh what she wanted to remember her great grandmother by, Anne immediately asked for her great great grandmother’s gold straight pen and her two “opera fans”.
Hettie Shriver’s gold straight pen, the two fans, and two handkerchiefs will be put on display in the Shriver House Museum alongside the civil war bullets and medical supplies discovered in the house during the restoration.
www.shriverhouse.org
