On June 26, 1863, Confederates under Major-General Jubal Early occupied the town of Gettysburg. They began rounding up Gettysburg’s African Americans in order to take them to the South and into slavery. Those who were caught were lined up on Chambersburg Street “crying and moaning.” This view was taken facing north at approximately 4:00 PM on Friday, April 10, 2009.
Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church is the oldest structure in Gettysburg continuously used as a Church. It was founded in 1835 to be the English speaking Lutheran Church in Gettysburg (St. James Lutheran Church, in existence since 1789, conducted its services in German), and to be the primary assembly hall for the Lutheran Theological Seminary and for Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) College. In our first post, Pastor Stephen R. Herr and Dr. Conrad B. Richter showed us some exterior parts of the structure and the narthex. In our second post, we saw some of the nave, or central part of the church, and we discussed the church’s roll during the battle. In our third post we looked at a picture of West Point’s Class of 1915 sitting on the steps of Christ Lutheran, observed some stained glass windows, and stood in the church area used as an operating room during and immediately following the Battle of Gettysburg. In our fourth post we learned about the church bell. In today’s post we show some panoramas from the Christ Lutheran Cupola.
As the column passed Christ Lutheran Church, Elizabeth Butler, a domestic servant for the David McCreary family managed to slip away into the church. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 5:00 PM on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
Supposedly she climbed up into the cupola and hid for two days (June 26th and 27th) until the Confederates had left and moved west towards York. This view was taken facing south at approximately 5:00 PM on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
If she did climb up into the cupola, we now know from personal experience that she didn’t have a lot of room up there. If she tried to hide under the bell, there wouldn’t have been a lot of room. It’s inches above the floor of the cupola. She climbed down after the Confederates left on June 27, 1863. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 4:00 PM on Friday, April 10, 2009.
“Aunt Liz” as David McCreary’s son, Albertus, called Elizabeth Butler, certainly didn’t climb up here for the view, but we want to show you what can be seen from here. We have four panoramas for viewing pleasure. For the larger JPEG version click here, or you can download the uncompressed TIFF file (23.7 MB) here. This view was taken facing north at approximately 4:00 PM on Friday, April 10, 2009.
For the larger JPEG version click here, or you can download the uncompressed TIFF file (36.1 MB) here. This view was taken facing east at approximately 4:00 PM on Friday, April 10, 2009.
For the larger JPEG version click here, or you can download the uncompressed TIFF file (26.4 MB) here. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:00 PM on Friday, April 10, 2009.
For the larger JPEG version click here, or you can download the uncompressed TIFF file (19.2 MB) here. This view was taken facing west at approximately 4:00 PM on Friday, April 10, 2009.
In video, Pastor Stephen Herr welcomes you to visit Christ Lutheran and informs you of some of the programs offered at the church. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 5:45 PM on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
