Interpreting the Civil War

We recently came across a blog posting regarding the Shriver House Museum. I think you will all enjoy reading it as we have all been on many house tours. Just follow the link.

http://www.civilwarconnect.com/2011/08/house-where-people-lived-schriver-house.html

Holiday Tour of the Shriver House

You are cordially invited to take a candlelight tour of the Shriver House Museum decorated for an 1860s Christmas, while hearing the story of the Shriver family and how the Battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War changed their lives forever. Private tours for groups of ten or more are welcome anytime throughout the holiday season; reservations are required.

Take a step back in time to discover how Christmas was celebrated in the mid-1800s. Enter the 19th century home of George, Hettie, Sadie (7), and Mollie (5) Shriver as they prepare for the upcoming Christmas holidays. See the candle-laden Christmas tree in its place of honor on the parlor table as a fire roars in the fireplace of the handsome room decorated with hand-made holiday greenery. After hanging stockings on the mantle, the girls set out milk and cookies in anticipation of a visit from Santa Claus on that magical night. While soldiers faced the perils of the Civil War, Christmas offered a few moments of cheer that would help brighten the lives of those at home. Learn how families celebrated the holidays while fathers, sons, and husbands were separated from loved ones during this tragic time in American history.

Candlelight Christmas tours will begin on Thanksgiving evening, November 24th and continue Saturday evenings through December 17, 2011.

For additional information on the Shriver House Museum or to make reservations for a Christmas tour, please call 717-337-2800 or visit www.shriverhouse.org.

A Headstone for Sadie Shriver

Grave to be marked 137 years after young girl’s death.

Gettysburg, PA –
Sadie Shriver was only seven years old when she witnessed the Battle of Gettysburg from her grandparents farm which sits at the bottom of the hills known as Big and Little Round Top. Eleven years later, two weeks shy of her nineteenth birthday, Sadie died of consumption (today called tuberculosis) and was laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetary. For reasons unknown no marker was ever placed on the grave of the young girl who was an eyewitness to one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.

In 1860 Sadie’s father, George Shriver, sold his farm south of Gettysburg to build a new home on Baltimore Street for his growing family. George and his wife, Hettie (Weikert), had two young daughters; Sadie was five years old at the time, while Mollie was just three. Their home was large enough to accommodate George’s new business: Shriver’s Saloon & Ten-Pin Alley. Just three short years later the town of Gettysburg was invaded by General Lee’s Confederate army. The Shrivers’ home was taken over by Rebel sharpshooters when Hettie took her girls to seek refuge at her family’s farm three miles south of town. Hettie had no idea she was taking her girls from the frying pan into the fire. When the terror of the conflict ended, Hettie and her family helped tend to the wounds of some of the close to 1000 seriously wounded soldiers left at the farm. At one point the pile of amputated arms and legs was higher than the garden fence. Sounds and images that would certainly leave an indelibe impression any adult, let alone a seven year old child.

On Sadie’s birthday, November 20th, at 10:30 am, 137 years after her death, a headstone will be placed on Sadie’s grave to commemorate the life of one young girl who called Gettysburg home in 1863. Meet at the Shriver House Museum at 10 am to follow Hettie and Mollie to Evergreen Cemetery for the dedication. After the ceremony refreshments will be served at the Shriver House Museum.

The Shrivers’ home was painstakingly restored in 1996 and is now open to the public as a heritage museum. Tours offers special insight into the lives of the people of Gettysburg and how the Civil War, and in particular the Battle of Gettysburg, affected them. The story is told through the eyes of Shriver family who built their home just months before the Civil War began. The tour also gives a glimpse into the lifestyles, customs, and furnishings of the 1860s.

For additional information on the Shriver House Museum, please call 717-337-2800 or visit www.shriverhouse.org.

Event: A Headstone For Sadie Shriver Contact: Nancie W. Gudmestad,

Sponsor: Shriver House Museum Director

309 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325 Phone #: 717-337-2800

Date: Sunday, November 20, 2011 Web site: www.shriverhouse.org

Time: 10:30 am Email: mail@shriverhouse.org

Location: Evergreen Cemetary

799 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325

Admission: Free

Book Signing at National Park Bookstore

Gettysburg, PA – Gettysburg author Nancie W. Gudmestad will sign copies of her book, The Shrivers’ Story - Eyewitnesses to the Battle of Gettysburg, on Sunday and Monday, October 9 & 10 at the Gettysburg National Military Park’s Museum Bookstore from 10 to 2 pm.

The Director of the Shriver House Museum, Nancie, along with her husband, Del, restored the Shriver’s home in 1996. Though the battle has been chronicled from almost every point of view, the history of what happened here is more than just the story of large-scale troop movements and military maneuvers. It is the story of individuals who left their families to serve their country, soldiers like George Shriver, and the families they left behind, civilians like Hettie, Sadie and Mollie Shriver. Their lives - soldiers and civilians alike - were forever changed as a result of the events that occurred on the rolling hills of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1863.

The story of the Shriver family was not well-known until the house George Shriver built on Baltimore Street, which sat abandoned for nearly 30 years, was painstakingly restored to its original 1860s appearance. Today, the Shrivers’ story is one of the most intriguing stories told when it comes to the civilian aspect of the Battle of Gettysburg. In the summer of 1860, when George was 24 years old, he sold off his family farm in order to build a new home in town. He had married Hettie, a daughter of Jacob Weikert who had a large farm on Taneytown Road, and they had two young daughters, Sadie (5) and Mollie (3). Their sizable new home was large enough to accommodate George’s business: Shriver’s Saloon and Ten-Pin Alley. The saloon was located in the cellar and a two-lane, ten-pin bowling alley was situated in the backyard. The Battle of Gettysburg encompassed not only the surrounding countryside but the streets of this historic town as well. The Shrivers’ home was taken over by Confederate sharpshooters during the battle; eyewitnesses confirm at least two soldiers were killed inside the house which was also used as a hospital.

The Shrivers’ Story - Eyewitnesses to the Battle of Gettysburg details the lives of the Shriver family. It also describes how the museum came to be as well as how the fascinating, yet largely unknown, story of the Shriver family was pieced together over a several year period.



For additional information on the Shriver House Museum, please call 717-337-2800 or visit www.shriverhouse.org.

Celebrating George Shriver's 175th Birthday

Free tours to those with a Gettysburg Address
 

Gettysburg, PA – The Shriver House Museum invites you to celebrate George Washington Shriver’s 175th birthday at his home on Baltimore Street in Gettysburg on Wednesday, July 27th. The celebration includes a complimentary tour of George Shriver’s home as well as birthday cake and pink lemonade for anyone with a Gettysburg address. For those without a Gettysburg address, look for the secret password available to those who ‘like’ the Shriver House Museum on Facebook. Thirty minute guided tours of the Shriver’s home will begin every half-hour starting at 10 am; the last tour will start at 4:30 pm. Space is limited to twenty visitors per tour.

 George’s grandfather, Lewis P. Shriver, purchased several hundred acres of farmland from the ‘Manor of the Maske’ which was owned by the sons of William Penn. The farm was situated in the area south of Gettysburg known as Greenmount. The beautiful stone farmhouse where George was born on July 27, 1836 still stands today as testimony to one of the original families to settle in Adams County in the 1700s.

 The story of George Shriver was not well known until 1996 when the house he built on Baltimore Street, which sat abandoned for nearly thirty years, was painstakingly restored to its original 1860s appearance. Today the Shrivers’ story is one of the most intriguing stories told when it comes to the civilian aspect of the Battle of Gettysburg. In the summer of 1860, when George was 24 years old, he sold off the family farm in order to build a new home in town. He had married Hettie, a daughter of Jacob Weikert who had a large farm on Taneytown Road, and they had two young daughters, Sadie (5) and Mollie (3). Their sizable new home was large enough to accommodate George’s new business: Shriver’s Saloon and Ten-Pin Alley. The saloon was located in the cellar and a two-lane, ten-pin bowling alley was situated in the back yard. The Battle of Gettysburg encompassed not only the surrounding countryside but the streets of this historic town as well. The Shrivers’ home was taken over by Confederate sharpshooters during the battle; eyewitnesses confirm at least two soldiers were killed inside the house which was used as a hospital as well.

 The Shrivers’ home was painstakingly restored in 1996 and is now open to the public as a heritage museum. Tours offer a special insight into the lives of the people of Gettysburg and how the Civil War, and in particular the Battle of Gettysburg, affected them. The story is told through the eyes of George and Hettie Shriver whose home was just several months old when the war began. The tour gives a glimpse into the lifestyles, customs, and furnishings of the 1860s.
For additional information on the Shriver House Museum, please call 717-337-2800 or visit www.shriverhouse.org.

# # #
Event: George Shriver’s 175th Birthday Celebration Contact: Nancie W. Gudmestad,
Address: Shriver House Museum Director
309 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325 Phone #: 717-337-2800
Date: Wednesday, July 27, 2011 Web site: www.shriverhouse.org
Time: 10 am - 5 pm; Tours begin every 30 minutes; Email: mail@shriverhouse.org
Space is limited. Photo: George W. Shriver (attached) Admission: Free tours to those with a Gettysburg address or the secret word available to those who ‘like’ the Shriver House Museum on Facebook

    A Civil War museum dedicated to the civilian experience at Gettysburg.

Shriver House Reenactment July 2, 2011

CONFEDERATES TAKE THE SHRIVER HOUSE - TWO KILLED!

Witness the only reenactment to take place in the streets of Gettysburg!

Gettysburg, PA – Confederate sharpshooters will fire their rifles from the attic window of George and Hettie Shriver’s Baltimore Street home on Saturday, July 2, 2011, from 5 to 9 pm, just as they did 147 years ago during the Battle of Gettysburg. This time, however, visitors are invited to join the Rebels to learn “first-hand” what occurred during those three days of terror in July, 1863.

This living history reenactment provides visitors an opportunity to understand what the battle was like for one family who called Gettysburg ‘home’ in 1863. When soldiers appeared in the street in front of her home, Hettie Shriver took her two girls, Sadie (7) and Mollie (5), and her young neighbor, Tillie Pierce, to seek safety outside town only to find themselves deep within the battle lines. Her abandoned home was taken over by Confederate sharpshooters who used the attic as a sharpshooters nest. Visitors will get a chance to speak with Confederate soldiers as they prepare for battle, watch sharpshooters fire muskets from the attic at their adversaries on Cemetery Hill and, in some cases, take their last breath before meeting their maker. Doctors will perform surgery on wounded soldiers in a make-shift hospital in the summer kitchen in the cellar.

At the end of the tour cool off with a root beer in Shriver’s Saloon while younger visitors have a nurse bandage their wounds (a small spurt of blood on the bandage helps make the injury look more realistic) or make whirligigs to take along as a memento of your visit.

The Battle of Gettysburg encompassed not only the surrounding countryside but the streets of this historic town as well. This is the only reenactment to take place in the streets of Gettysburg – in the attic where it truly happened in July, 1863!

The Shrivers’ home was painstakingly restored in 1996 and is now open to the public as a heritage museum. Tours offers special insight into the lives of the people of Gettysburg and how the Civil War, and in particular the Battle of Gettysburg, affected them. The story is told through the eyes of George and Hettie Shriver whose home was merely several months old when the war began. The tour gives a glimpse into the lifestyles, customs, and furnishings of the 1860s.

For additional information on the Shriver House Museum, please call 717-337-2800 or visit www.shriverhouse.org.

# # #

Event: Confederates Take the Shriver House! Contact: Nancie W. Gudmestad,

Address: Shriver House Museum Director

309 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325 Phone #: 717-337-2800

Date: Saturday, July 2, 2011 Web site: www.shriverhouse.org

Time: 5 - 9 pm Email: mail@shriverhouse.org

Admission: $10/adult; $7 children 12/under Video:

http://youtu.be/yzabTbM0G0o

A Civil War museum dedicated to the civilian experience at Gettysburg

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Candlelight Holiday Tour of the Shriver House

You are cordially invited to take a candlelight tour of the Historic Shriver House, 309 Baltimore Street in Gettysburg, decorated for an 1860's Christmas while hearing the story of the Shriver family and how the Battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War changed their lives forever. Christmas tours will take place from November 26th through December 18th. Private tours for groups of ten or more are welcome anytime throughout the holiday season; reservations are required.


Take a step back in time to discover how Christmas was celebrated in the mid-1800s. Enter the 19th century home of George, Hettie, Sadie (7), and Molly (5) Shriver as they prepare for the upcoming Christmas holidays. See the candle-laden Chrismas tree in its place of honor on the parlor table as a fire roars in the fireplace of the handsome room decorated with hand-made holiday greenery. After hanging stockings on the mantle, the girls set out milk and cookies in anticipation of a visit from Santa Claus on that magical night. While soldiers faced the perils of the Civil War, Christmas offered a few moments of cheer that would help brighten the lives of those at home. Learn how families celebrated the holidays while fathers, sons, and husbands were separated from loved ones during this tragic time in American history.

The Shriver House Museum has earned numerous awards including the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission's Historic Preservation Award. The Museum has been used as a filming site for PBS, The Discovery Channel,A&E, HGTV, CNN, BBC, The Travel Channel and The History Channel.

Admission: $10/adults; $7/ages 6-12

For additional information on the Shriver House Museum or to make reservations for a Christmas tour, please call 717-337-2800 or visit

www.shriverhouse.org