We were in Gettysburg a few years ago but there were a few things we missed on that trip - you can read about that HERE. So we went back for July 4th - a great time to visit since July 1-3 is the anniversary of the battle. Since the Eisenhower house wasn't open the day we were previously there, we planned it this time so we could tour the inside of the home.
With its putting green, skeet range, and view of South Mountain and the Gettysburg Battlefield, it gave the President a respite from the pressures of Washington. It was also a successful cattle operation, with a show herd of black Angus cattle. Some of the more notable guests were Premier Nikita Khruschev of the Soviet Union, President Charles de Gaulle of France, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain, and Governor Ronald Reagan of California.
Throughout his army career, the Eisenhowers never had a house to call their own since they moved from army post to army post. In 1950, at the suggestion of some friends, they found a "run-down farm" on the outskirts of Gettysburg and purchased the farm and its 189 acres for $40,000 (about $525,000 today). Eisenhower stated that he could feel the "forgotten heroisms" that occurred on the grounds of Gettysburg.
At the time of the purchase, the farm included 600 chickens, 25 cows, and many dilapidated buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Renovation was delayed when Eisenhower became the supreme commander of NATO in 1951. After he became president in 1953, Mamie had him rebuild the old house. Much of the original building had to be torn down due to its deterioration. On their 1955 wedding anniversary, they held a party to celebrate completion of the work. The entire staff of the White House were invited, attending in two shifts, so that the White House would not be unstaffed.
While we waited for our tour time, the park rangers gave us a putter so that we could putt on the green behind the house. I was just waiting for Ike to come and join us.
Thus, the house has been virtually untouched since then and is just like the Eisenhowers left it. Being that this was the same time frame of my childhood, it brought back a lot of memories of the house I grew up in.
Living Room
Vases the Eisenhowers collected over the years.
Notice the piano in the corner.
The Eisenhowers (especially Dwight in the beginning) spent most of their time in the glass-covered porch overlooking Seminary Ridge. Reading and playing cards with friends were popular pastimes on the porch. It is said that the president would sit for hours reflecting on his life and legacy.
I swear this could have been at my house growing up.
My mother stuffed as many items as possible into her curio cabinet. And just to reminisce, here's a photo of my mother's curio cabinet below compared to Mamie Eisenhower's above.
And a typical 1950s kitchen.
We went upstairs and saw the bedrooms.
Guest room
Master Bedroom
Oh boy, if this doesn't bring back memories for my siblings - a PINK BATHROOM! (My mother loved her pink bathroom).
And a linen cabinet filled with pink towels.
And the laundry room. Notice his golf clubs stored there.
We went outside and spent some time in the barn. It was a nice cool (all things considered) place to sit.
President Eisenhower was the first president to use a helicopter during his time in office. His inaugural presidential helicopter ride occurred in 1957, ushering in a new era of transportation for the nation's chief executive. The president preferred using a helicopter as it saved him time in his trips from Washington, D.C. to his Gettysburg farm. A two-hour car ride to Gettysburg could be accomplished via helicopter in about 30 minutes.
The helipad consisted of a mowed section of grass. During Eisenhower's time it was wide enough to accommodate two helicopters. In addition to mowing a landing area, two paths were mowed from the helipad - one leading to the home, and one leading towards the barn and Secret Service office. The Secret Service used portable lights to highlight the landing area, which was also illuminated by nearby lighting among the trees and a spotlight from the top window in the exterior wall in the barn.
President Eisenhower used his landing pad for both formal and informal visits. In May 1959, Eisenhower greeted Great Britain's former Prime Minister Winston Churchill during a visit to Gettysburg at the helipad. Churchill and Eisenhower were old friends and allies from World War II, and though the former Prime Minister's visit to the Eisenhower farm was brief, it was a warm reminder of the friendship between the two leaders - and between their two countries.
Photo courtesy of National Park Service
We also wanted to visit the Jennie Wade House in downtown Gettysburg and learn more about what happened there.
Mary Virginia Wade (May 21, 1843 - July 3, 1863), also known as Jennie Wade, was a resident of Gettysburg during the battle. At the age of 20, she was the only direct civilian casualty of the battle when she was killed by a stray bullet.
Jennie was working as a seamstress with her mother in their house on Breckenridge Street. On July 1, 1863 (the first day of fighting), Jennie, her mother, and two younger brothers left their home in central Gettysburg and traveled to the house on Baltimore Street of her sister, Georgia Wade McClellan, to assist her and her newborn child. More than 150 bullets hit the McLellan house during the fighting.
We met our guide on the porch of the house.
Bullet holes can be seen in the bricks above the window.
About 8:00 on the morning of July 3, Wade was kneading bread dough when a Minie ball (a type of hollow-based bullet) traveled through the kitchen and parlor door of her sister's house and hit her. It pierced her left shoulder blade, went through her heart, and ended up in her corset. She was killed instantly. While it is uncertain which side fired the fatal shot, some authors have attributed it to an unknown Confederate sharpshooter.
You can see the bullet hole in the open door - the bullet went through the porch door and then through this door which, under normal circumstances, would have been closed.
Jennie's mother heard her fall to the floor and went to tell her sister, Georgia, in the other room that her sister had been killed; two Union soldiers came from upstairs when they heard the screams of the women. They temporarily buried Jennie's body in the back yard of the McClellan house in a coffin originally intended for the Confederate General William Barksdale.
While not the original furnishings, the house is decorated with period pieces.
The McClellan house was actually a duplex with another family living in the adjoining unit. During the battle as the Confederates were over-running the town, a shell was fired into the house, broke through a brick wall that separated the two homes, and lodged into the wall. Fortunately for the residents, it did not explode. The residents on the McClellan side realized it was improbable to escape from their portion of the house and determined that it would be safer to knock down the remaining brick wall that the shell broke through and make a pathway to the other side and try to make their escape from there.
On July 4, Jennie's mother baked 15 loaves of bread with the dough Wade had kneaded. In 1882, the United States Senate voted to grant Wade's mother a pension, citing that her daughter had been killed serving the union cause - baking bread for the soldiers.
Jennie's final resting place is located in the Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg. You know we made the short trip to pay our respects.
The monument, designed by Gettysburg resident Anna M. Miller, was erected in 1900 that includes an American flag that flies around the clock. The Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia is the only other site devoted to a woman to share this distinction of the perpetual flag.
It was nice to see some new sites in Gettysburg.
When we went to Gettysburg, all we saw a big, wet battlefield (there was torrential rain and flooding when we were there). I had no idea Ike's home was there also.
ReplyDeleteIt's always hot when we're there.
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