This book was written with the purpose of raising funds to support the National Orphan Homestead at Gettysburg. Book is covered in dark green cloth, with the title stamped in gold gilt on the front cover and spine. Edges of pages are gold gilt, which has retained its brightness. Book was published in 1872. Book measures 6”x 8 ¾”. Text contains 126 pages. Cover has light scuffs all over, with more wear on the spine. Corners are slightly bent. Binding is tight. Pages have lightly yellowed with age but none are loose or missing. First page is signed in period ink, ”H.H. Brownmiller, Sept 1874, Bernville, Bucks Co. Pa”.

Opening page reads, “In the interest of a beautiful charity, with devout prayer for our nation’s peace, and in grateful memory of our patriotic dead, these idyls are sacredly dedicated by the author.” This volume features a brief history of the three days’ battle of Gettysburg, then is followed with various poems, all related to the battle and the aftermath.

The idea of establishing an orphanage for children whose fathers were killed in the war started after the death of Amos Humiston of the 154^th New York Regiment, who was found after the Battle of Gettysburg clutching a photo of his three children. The photo was circulated in northern newspapers in hopes of identifying him, and soon after his wife was found. Copies of the photo of the children were sold as a way of raising money for the family. Their story raised awareness of the need to help the plight of the families of the soldiers who lost their lives. It wasn’t until after the war that plans for an orphanage could be seriously considered. In 1866, a property on Baltimore Street in Gettysburg was bought with the intention of founding an orphanage.  The brick building had been used during the battle by Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, the commanding general of the XI Corps.  This building still stands beside Civil War Tails. So it was that Philinda and her three children, Frank, Alice, and Fred, came to live in the building that had housed Amos’s commanding general, and that stood only a short walk from the sergeant’s grave in the National Cemetery. Philinda became the first matron of the orphanage.

The formal opening of the National Soldiers’ Orphans’ Homestead was on November 20, 1866.  Primarily supported by Sabbath Schools and individuals, the Homestead provided a good home and a fine education for approximately 200 children over the next decade.  The orphans were included in many community events, especially in the Memorial Day procession to the National Cemetery.  Every year, they would carry bouquets in the procession, and lay them on the graves of the soldiers, some of whom were their own fathers, as in the case of the Humiston children.    [sm]

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