Once the house was constructed, the first owners of the Dobbin’s House moved in along the dirt travel turnpike. Rev. Alexander Dobbin, his wife Isabella, and their first born son, Matthew (who was born in 1774), moved in and would soon have nine other children running around and growing up. Even though it was a house, it was also a classical school for literal arts and a theological seminary. Sadly though, less than twenty-six years later, Alexander’s wife would pass away in 1800.
Alexander would find love again and re-marry Ms. Agnew. She was a widow that also had a big family of nine children. Her previous husband, David Agnew, fought within the Revolutionary War. Within the Dobbin House, Rev. Alexander Dobbin was a highly respected community leader, a minister at the local church, and an educator within the school. He was also one of the community members that helped with the establishment of Adams County that occurred in 1800, and was one of two appointed commissioners. About ten years later though, Rev. Dobbin passed away in 1809.
The section of the Dobbin House that has the balcony in 2026 was once a one-story with a spring house below in the basement. Sometime prior to Matthew’s obtaining the property from his belated father, the two men would have built a second story onto the house.
The house and the farm remained in the family for another decade and half. At the time of the early 1800s, when the owner of the property passed away, the eldest son obtained the deed. Even if he was married, the eldest son received the property and house with the inheritance law. Here is what was in Alexander’s will:
- Matthew Dobbin became owner of the property and the house
- His second wife, Mary Agnew Dobbin was given two rooms and was granted a share of the kitchen and the springhouse.
- James Dobbin received a silver watch and a house on Chambersburg Street
- Alexander Dobbin, Jr. received seventy-five acres of land
- Daniel Dobbin, Mary Dobbin, and Isabella Dobbin received cash from the sale of five lots
Matthew Dobbin, who was not married, managed the farm and the brickyard. He lived within the Dobbin’s House along with Ms. Agnew Dobbin’s children. He supported his younger brother, Alexander Dobbin, Jr., and cosigned a loan for him. He sadly passed away in 1822, and due to the debt that was on the loan, Matthew had to declare bankruptcy in 1824. Matthew Dobbin and the family lost the Dobbin’s House in 1825 where the Bank of Gettysburg obtained the property and house in 1825. The property sold later in the year for $3200 to the next property owner: General Thomas Craig Miller.