Tillie Pierce was a young woman that experienced the battle of Gettysburg firsthand. She was one of the few young woman in town that was a loyal girl that was thrown into being a heroine for something that shocked her to the core. After the battle, she remembered all her accounts and wrote a book about it. The book is one of the true, honest accounts of what she saw and heard of the battle. Before we look at her book and her visual accounts, let’s get to the time of the battle in her family.
James McCurdy (1785-1822) was a farmer outside town. He married Martha Moore (1787-1854) in 1809 and would have three sons and three daughters. This family tree above shows their six children. The first child, John M. lived mostly in Kansas and Missouri and some of the information about him is unknown. The second son, James M. may have been unmarried and traveled through the western frontier. Their third son, James F. married Caroline Montcalm, but they had no children. Their third daughter, Nancy Moore McCurdy married John Adam Swope and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery. Mr. Swope is not related to the Swope Manor that is located at the intersection of York and Stratton Street. The second daughter, Ann McCurdy, married Robert Martin and they had no children, and both are buried in Evergreen Cemetery. History remembers their first daughter. Their first daughter is Margaret McCurdy.
James Pierce and Margaret McCurdy married in 1835 or 1836. They lived on Baltimore Street and would have seven children, but only four of them reached adulthood. Looking at the four children, here is the family tree.
All of the children were born prior to the Civil War. The first son, James Shaw Pierce, married Maria Carroll. He was not at the battle of Gettysburg. They would have three children together. James would be a Civil War veteran of the 1st Pennsylvania Reserves, Company K. He also graduated from the Pennsylvania College (known as Gettysburg College) in the 1850s.
Their other son, William Henry Harrison Pierce was also a Civil War veteran. He served multiple times and was a soldier within the 2nd Pennsylvania Infantry in 1861, the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry in 1862 and served in the Western Theater. He would also marry to Helen Grace Ziegler on July 4, 1867, and have one child together, James Edward Pierce.
On a side note to William Henry Harrison Pierce, who was born on March 3, 1841. I wonder what presidential party that James Pierce was dedicated to. Do you know what happened on March 4, 1841?
On March 4, 1841, William Henry Harrison became the 9th president of the United States. He is also the shortest term president of the United States. On the 4th of March, the weather was miserable: cold, wet, and windy. What does President Henry Harrison do? He delivered the longest inaugural address with over 8,400 words and took over two hours with no hat or overcoat on. What happened to him because of the weather and his lack of taking care of himself? He died 31 days later.