The Stories of Gettysburg’s Black Citizens

Sydney O’Brien was reportedly the first African American resident in the town of Gettysburg, having been owned by the town’s founders Samuel and James Gettys. Despite belonging to some of the last slave owners in Gettysburg, Sydney obtained her own residence after their deaths where she raised her daughter Getty Ann, next to the A. M. E. Zion Church on South Washington Street for 41 years until her death in 1873.

Basil Biggs, a prominent Black citizen of Adams County, lived on a tenant farm along Marsh Creek during the Battle of Gettysburg. Fearing captivity and enslavement, Biggs and his family left the area before the Confederate army arrived. When they returned, their home had been used as a massive field hospital. Over 50 Confederates had been buried in the surrounding fields and orchard. Soon after, Biggs was contracted to help disinter and reinter all the Union dead that had been so hastily buried across the battlefield. He later purchased a home along the Taneytown Road and served his community as a veterinarian.

*Photo from the Adams County Historical Society

Margaret Palm, a local washerwoman, was targeted by slave catchers in 1858. She fought them off and went on to live a long life in Gettysburg. Here, she is demonstrating how her hands were bound during the attack.

*Photo from the Adams County Historical Society

Abraham Brian (also spelled Brien and Bryan) was an African American widower with five children that lived on a farm he purchased in1857. Unfortunately, on July 3, 1863, he found his home situated in the center of the Union defensive position atop Cemetery Ridge during the Pickett’s Charge attack. Despite the exterior of the home being nearly destroyed during the battle, Brian rebuilt and continued to farm his land until 1869.

Lloyd F. A. Watts moved to Gettysburg when he was a small child and lived the rest of his life here. In February of 1865, Watts enlisted in the United States Colored Troops (USCT), was promoted to Sergeant of Co. B of the 24th Regiment within only five days of enlisting and served faithfully until he was honorably discharged that October. Watts became a leader within the Black community of Gettysburg, serving as a Deacon at the A. M. E. Zion Church, President of its Board of Trustees, and a teacher.

*Photo from the Adams County Historical Society

Owen Robinson was born in Maryland, into slavery in the early part of the 19th century and was freed early enough in his life to travel to Gettysburg, north of the Mason Dixon line, and create a new life for himself. He built a confectionary business in the town that was popular with all of Gettysburg’s citizens selling ice cream in the summer and oysters in the winter. Robinson was also one of the founding members of the Sons of Good Will, a society of Adams County’s African American male residents who came together to ensure their community members had a proper place for burial.

*Photo from the Adams County Historical Society

Walking through the streets of downtown Gettysburg can often give you an up close and personal encounter with historic structures and their stories. Many of those stories are related to the battle, but history continued to be made after those fateful days.

The first official Black church in Gettysburg was the Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Church on the corner of Long Lane Franklin Street per a deed of 1843. The St. Paul AME Zion Church that stands today was building in 1917. The church, founded in 1873, previously occupied another building in what would be the middle of Breckenridge Street before moving into a more sound structure, the building we see today.

The Lincoln Cemetery was established on Long Lane by the Sons of Goodwill, a society of Adams County’s African American residents who came together to ensure their community members had a proper place for burial. The cemetery contains over 30 members of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) who were denied entry into Soldiers’ National Cemetery as well as many of Gettysburg’s Black community.

On the corner of Franklin and High Streets you will see a small plaque on the southeast corner that mentions Frederick Douglass speaking at Agricultural Hall. Douglass could not freely roam the streets of Gettysburg due to death threats, yet he delivered a speech to a packed house in 1869. Here, he stated that if President Lincoln could speak about his assassins, he would say, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

These are just a few of the stories of the Black community of Gettysburg. If you’re interested in learning more about Black History in Gettysburg, consider taking the 8 miles from Slavery tour offered by the Gettysburg Licensed Town Guides.

*Photo from the Adams County Historical Society