Gettysburg’s Wills House: David Wills’ Law Office Part 1
May 15, 2009
David Wills’ Law Office is a space with few displays. The lack of displays doesn’t mean that some of them aren’t interesting. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
We continue our tour of the interior of the Wills House by viewing David Will’s Law Office. The office doesn’t have much in floor displays, but the displays on the east wall are interesting. Today we’ll take an overview of the office. We’ll get to the displays on the east wall in our next post on the Wills House.
Over the next couple of posts we’ll stay on the first floor. Today we’re in Judge David Wills’ Law Office, which is labeled “Gallery Two, David Wills’ Law Office.” This map is from the Wills House brochure which was scanned while we were facing south at approximately 7:00 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
Judge David Wills’ House had two entrances. The main York Street entrance is on the left or north side of the house. The three windows to the right of the York Street door are David Wills’ Parlor, which we previously covered. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 1:30 PM on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
The other entrance to the Wills House opens onto Lincoln Square/Diamond/Circle and is to the law office. This is the west side of the Wills House. The three windows with shutters on the left (north) side of the structure belong to the parlor. The window with shutters to the left of the door is to the office of Judge Wills. Visitors seeing Judge Wills on business would enter or exit the door to the right of that window in front of the statue to Lincoln and “Perry Como.” This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 1:30 PM on Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
Because we aren’t allowed to enter the Wills House from the Diamond, we’ll enter it from the parlor. The office entrance is the door to the right. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
Before we enter the office, there is a display to the left of the door which we covered in our post on the south wall of the parlor. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:15 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
The display gives an overview of the office. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:15 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
The top of the display. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:15 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
The bottom of the display shows the Fahnestock Building at the corner of Baltimore Street and Middle Street, and a photograph of David Wills. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:15 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
A closer view of the Fahnestock Building section of the display. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:15 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
We’re entering the law office from the parlor, through the door on the right. We moved from right to left, or north to south. The door on the left is that which exits onto the Diamond. This view was taken facing west at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
This is our view of the office as we enter from the parlor. The far (east) wall has some interesting items. The desk/table does not. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
When we enter the office from the parlor, ahead of us are two displays. The display on the left doesn’t have anything in it. The display on the right is about the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. The exit door to the Diamond is on the right. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
A closer view of the National Cemetery display. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
The top of the National Cemetery display. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
The bottom of the National Cemetery display. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
Here’s what the rest of the south wall looks like from the parlor entrance. The door on the left leads to the center hallway of the house. There is a display to the right of the door. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
This is another display describing some of the planning for the National Cemetery. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
The top of the display shows the commission given to Wills by Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin to establish the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
The bottom of the display talks about why the dedication date was changed from October 23, 1863 to November 19, 1863. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
We are standing by the display we showed you in the previous three pictures, and we are looking back to the west wall. Let’s go stand by the exit door on the left which leads to the Diamond. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
We are standing by the exit door looking back to the north wall on the left and the east wall on the right. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
The north wall is pretty bare. The parlor door is on the left. This view was taken facing northeast at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
Let’s look at the desk. By the way, in this room are speakers playing the sounds of someone writing and shuffling papers. Personally, we’d like to hear Wills talking with his client in preparation for a case, but that’s probably privileged information. This view was taken facing southeast at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
The desk consists of a lamp… This view was taken facing west at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
… and a display telling the story of Wills asking Lincoln to say “a few appropriate remarks” at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. This view was taken facing south at approximately 4:30 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
See the following related posts:
Gettysburg’s Wills House Parlor: The South Wall on May 2, 2009.
Gettysburg’s Wills House Parlor: The West Wall on April 23, 2009.
Gettysburg’s Wills House: The Other Middle Display on March 19, 2009.
Gettysburg’s Wills House: The Misleading, Mislabeled Diorama on March 10, 2009.
Gettysburg’s Wills House: Wills Parlor North Wall on March 7, 2009.
Gettysburg’s Wills House: Wills Parlor East Wall on March 2, 2009.
Gettysburg’s Wills House: Entrance and Ticketing Information Area on February 20, 2009.
Gettysburg’s Wills House: Another Exterior View on February 18, 2009.
Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, November 18, 1863: 145 Years Ago This Evening on November 18, 2008.
Gettysburg’s Wills House: White Stenciling Completed on West Side on November 5, 2008.
Stenciling, railing, steps, and shutters of the Wills House on October 31, 2008.
Stenciling progressing well on the west side of the Wills House on October 28, 2008.
Completion of the white stenciling on the north side of the Wills House on October 21, 2008.
White stenciling appearing on the north side of the Wills House on October 14, 2008.
Wills House needs a new manager on September 12, 2008.
First coat of red paint completely covering the north side of the Wills House on September 4, 2008.
Red paint beginning to cover the north side of the Wills House on September 3, 2008.
Only the west side of the Wills House still had red paint on August 19, 2008.
West side of the Wills House started to be painted red on August 13, 2008.
Wills House’s sidewalk construction on July 21, 2008.
The Gettysburg Railroad Station on March 6, 2008.
