"Oakridge Select Academy" in 1858, which was "Miss Carrie Sheads' School during the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The differing "Sheads House" at 331 Buford Av was claimed in 1988 to have been the 19th-century school building.[1]
The Oak Ridge Seminary[2] (Oak Ridge Female Seminary,[3] Oak-Ridge Academy[4]) was an antebellum school for "young ladies" west of the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. One of 2 girls schools used as an American Civil War hospital[5] for Battle of Gettysburg casualties, the female seminary had also been used as a prison,[6] and General Lee's "Headquarters and tents [were] pitched in the space adjoining Oak Ridge Seminary"[2] (a field was "on the east side of Miss Carrie Sheads' School".)[7]
Background
The first school in the area that would become Gettysburg was at the Mummasburg Road and Carlisle Street intersection[8] on the south side of Stevens Run[9] and by 1835, Gettysburg had five common schools.[10] Earlier girls' schools in the Gettysburg borough included one for which Deacon James H. Marsden "took charge"[11] after teacher applications were requested on June 23, 1829.[12] Marsden held classes "from Sept. 25th, 1829, to April 1st, 1830, in the room, later occupied by the late Judge Wills' law office" (the school was moved to a 1-story frame building on the Eagle Hotel lot.)[11]
"Building for a Female School"
[13] Miss Mary McClellan's "private school" in the borough[11] was located in a "small brick building on East High street" land[14] donated by Mary and Catherine Leckey[11] adjoining* the jail near Stratton Street[15] (the street had been "Jail street" in 1823.)[16] An 1830 meeting was held for the bidding contractors[11] and to elect trustees,[13] and incorporation[17] was on April 10, 1838, [sic] under the name Gettysburg Female Academy.[11] The Principal in 1840 was Henry W. Thorp; prices per session ranged from $5 (Junior Department, summer) to $11 (Senior Department, winter); and classes included "Latin; French; History, Ancient, Ecclesiastical, American, and English; Botany, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Geology, &c. &c."[18] The Gettysburg Female Seminary was incorporated on April 14, 1835;[11] in 1842 the "Winter Session" commenced on October 17,[19] and the 1852 teacher was Miss Darling (Samuel Simon Schmucker was president).[20] After the battle, "Miss Mary D. McClellan" resumed "the exercises of her School on the 10th of August",[21] and in 1883, the brick school on High Street was sold.[22]
By the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, Rebecca Eyster's Young Ladies Seminary was on the "corner of Washington and High streets" at the "Old Academy Building"[23] built 1813-5 for boys.
*A reunion was photographed in 1915[26] for Miss Mary McClellan's "private school",[11] which had been near the site of the 1857 high school[27] building on 40 East High Street[28] which became the elementary school[26] when high school classes moved[29] to the borough's east side (1896[30] "Meade High School Building").[31]
†The jail built for $3813.12 by 1804[32] burned in 1850[33] and the new 1850 1-story jail on East High Street had 13 cells in 1901[34] (the 1850 jail built for $10,000 became the library.)[32]
**The 1831[35]Shultz House at "4 West Confederate Avenue" was a differing "OAKRIDGE" property built as Herman Haupt's residence,[4] and sold by Haupt in 1852.[36] The Shultz family occupied the residence at the time of the battle (cf. Sheads and pupils at the Oakridge school), and the Shultz House was for sale in 1869[37]-70 by Cornelia A. Shultz (Executrix) "within the borough limits".[38] Marked with an 1896 Cast Iron Site ID Tablet by the War Department,[39][full citation needed] the Seminary Ridge home is on private property near the Gettysburg National Military Park and outside of the 1999 boundaries of the Gettysburg Battlefield District.[40] (a borough ordinance designated the Shultz House owned by Edwards in 1972 when "owned by the Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary" as 1 of 38 protected historic structures.[35] The "Shultz Farm" owned by the Maclays was part of a 1976 tour of homes,[41] was denied permission for use as one of the American Youth Hostels in 1984[42] and is zoned for bed and breakfast operations.[43]
^ abcWeireck, Vina C. (August 3, 1910). "Gen. Lee's Headquarters: More Yet as to the Location of the Same"(Google news archive). Gettysburg Compiler. Retrieved August 28, 2013. "Oakridge Seminary," of which Miss Carrie Sheads was Principal … General Lee, and his Headquarters and tents pitched in the space adjoining Oak Ridge Seminary (bold font added to the two differing names in the 1910 news article)
quotes a letter by Miss Carrie Sheads: "When our forces retreated from Seminary Ridge, many of the prisoners were taken here. … A [Union] colonel rushed into the breakfast room and a rebel after him, demanding of him to surrender. [The colonel] told them to "shoot him" that "he would not surrender…" I begged the colonel to go with him and I would save his sword. He consented and I concealed the sword in the folds of my dress… [He returned] to reclaim his sword, having gone with them as far as Monterey Springs and escaped… You should have seen the pleasure which it gave those wounded patriots (for the room was filled with them) to see their colonel's sword safe."
paraphrases pupil Miss Amelia E. Harmon: "During the charge of Buford's cavalry, which commenced the battle, [the Harmon] house was forcibly occupied by the Federal sharpshooters…abandoning her burning home with her aunt". The Adams Sentinel article also claims the Harmon "buildings were erected by a brother-in-law of Stonewall Jackson, the Rev. Charles G. McClean" and that the Harmon House was one of "the best dwelling houses in the country, the ruins of which are visible…from the Seminary Ridge, about a mile west of Gettysburg".
^ abcSkelly, Daniel Alexander (January 1, 1932). A Boy's Experiences During The Battle of Gettysburg. Paperback reprint. Old Tape Worm Railroad, but crossed from it over a field to the Chambersburg Pike on the east side of Miss Carrie Sheads' School … the Confederate line of battle had been formed on East and West Middle (partial transcript available at ThomasLegion.net, 1999 NPS.gov partial transcription by John Heiser was available 2010-06-01.) Archived December 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
^"Chapter XXX: Cumberland Township". History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania: Part III, History of Adams County. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co. 1886. pp. 236–247. Retrieved March 25, 2012. Thaddeus Stevens represented Gettysburg and Cumberland Township in the convention of November 4, 1834, and voted for adopting the common school system according to the act of April 1, 1834. On November 28, 1834, the school board of Gettysburg divided the borough into four school districts and established one school for colored children. S. S. King was president, and Robert G. Harper was board secretary. Common schools were opened on January 5, 1835, in Thomas Menargh's house, Mr. Schriener's, Mr. McMillar's, and Mr. McClean's; the colored school in Mrs. Keech's house.
^"Female School"(Google news archive). The Adams Sentinel. June 24, 1829. Retrieved October 28, 2013. Gentleman, well qualified to instruct FEMALES… Applications made to J. B. McPherson, Cashier of the Bank of Gettysburg
^ ab"Notice"(Google news archive). The Adams Sentinel. November 16, 1830. Retrieved October 28, 2013. Those persons who have subscribed towards the erection of a Building for a Female School, &c. in Gettysburg, are requested to meet at the Court house this evening, at 6 o'clock, for the purpose of electing Trustees, and adopting regulations for the government of the Institution. (cited by Scott, 1915)
^"Did Gettysburg Have A War Camp in 1812?"(Google news archive). Gettysburg Times. April 9, 1940. Retrieved August 30, 2013. In 1830, adjoining the lot of ground occupied by the county jail on East High street, a female academy was established.
^"SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO: Gettysburg Female Seminary"(Google news archive). The Star and Sentinel. July 2, 1927. Retrieved October 27, 2013. The trustees have succeeded in securing the services of a very competent teacher, Miss Darling…S. S. Schmucker, president. R. G. Harper, secretary. … ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO Carriage without Horse--A very handsome and ingeniously constructed carriage with three wheels, was yesterday evening seen running along the Quays…(Dublin paper.)
^ ab""Run home as quickly as you can," 66-68 West High St"(Google news archive). The Gettysburg Times. June 20, 2005. Retrieved August 30, 2013. The students of Rebecca Eyster's Young Ladies Seminary were studying in this "Old Academy Building" on June 26, 1863. [On] the arrival of the Confederate troops from Seminary Ridge… Mrs. Eyster immediately called her students to the front porch to see . . . and told them, "Children, run home as quickly as you can." . . . During the battle, the building was used as a hospital.NOTE: The source for this quotation is Singmaster's book: "Young Ladies' Seminary on the corner of High and Washington Streets. . . . We were having our regular literary exercises on Friday afternoon, at our Seminary . . . standing on the front portico we beheld in the direction of the Theological Seminary, a dark, dense mass, moving toward town. Our teacher, Mrs. Eyster, at once said: "Children, run home as quickly as you can."
^"Oakridge Select Academy"(Google news archive). The Adams Sentinel. March 6, 1843. Retrieved October 27, 2013. The course of instruction includes English Grammar, Reading, Writing, Bookkeeping Composition Drawing Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Geology, Botany Menial and Moral Philosophy, Debates, Declamation, Church History, Ancient and Modern History and Geography. Lectures on Natural Science and Mechanic Arts, Surveying, Engineering, French, Latin, Greek, and German Languages. About 16 pupils are received as boarders. … H. HAUPT, Principal
^Jensson, Jens Christian (1890). American Lutheran Biographies(Google Books). Retrieved August 28, 2013. …he taught several hours every week in the Oakridge Academy, a private school…under the control of Prof. Hermann Haupt. He completed his studies in the fall of 1845, and at once received from the Synod of Maryland, licensure to preach the gospel.
^ abTrostle, Kevin. "Evolving Tourist Town: 1880 to 1918". A Brief History of Gettysburg. Retrieved November 1, 2011. Trostle Shirt Factory ...the white "Union School" building on E. High Street. ... Mrs. Salome Myers Stewart, former assistant principal at the "Union School" during 1863. ... Meade would serve as the high school until 1909.
^40 East High Street (Map). Google.maps (maps. Google.com). Retrieved October 29, 2013.
^"Round About Town"(Google news archive). Gettysburg Compiler. June 1, 1904. Retrieved August 28, 2013. It was first known as the Gettysburg Female Academy. For years Miss Mary McClellan taught a private school there. . . . A Handsome Granite Monument Now Marks the grave of old John Burns in the Evergreen Cemetery. … [For a Decoration Day speech]The President's train arrived at half past eight in the morning and was stopped west of town near Reynold's avenue…
^"Gettysburg, Her Past and Future"(Google News Archive). Gettysburg Compiler. March 26, 1901. Retrieved November 1, 2013. The jail, which is on East High street, is a handsome and substantial structure of stone and brick. It was erected in 1859 at an original cost of $10,000... It is a one-story building [with cells] 12 feet long by 6 feet wide
^Cope, Emmor (1896), "Shultz House – Cast Iron Site ID Tablet", (structure ID 43, LCS ID 081203) List of Classified Structures, National Park Service, retrieved October 28, 2013, Cast Iron Site ID Tablet is a contributing feature to the Gettysburg . . . Historic District which is nationally significant under NR Criteria A, B, C & D. … 1 of 35 Site ID Tablets by US War Dept. Post-Civil War devel. of battlefield contributing to the commemorative landscape. House was part of CS battle lines July 1–4, 1863, sacked & used for hospital purposes. The house is not owned by NPS. . . . 2, Painted raised letter and border inscription tablet, 2'9"x1'8". Mounted on fluted post, 3'3" high.
