SERGEANT AMOS HUMISTON WAR MEMORIAL

NEAR THIS SPOT ON JULY 1, 1863 A UNION SOLDIER FELL MORTALLY WOUNDED. WHEN A LOCAL RESIDENT FOUND THE UNIDENTIFIED BODY, HE ALSO DISCOVERED A PHOTOGRAPH OF THREE CHILDREN. NEWS OF THIS POIGNANT FIND WAS SOON WIDELY COVERED BY THE PRESS, AND COPIES OF THE PHOTOGRAPH WERE DISTRIBUTED AND SOLD FOR CHARITY. ONE OF THESE REACHED MRS PHYLINDA HUMISTON OF PORTVILLE, NEW YORK, WHO NOW REALIZED THAT HER HUSBAND, SERGEANT AMOS HUMISTON OF COMPANY C, 154TH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS, HAD BEEN KILLED. THE PLIGHT OF THE HUMISTON CHILDREN-FRANK, FREDERICK AND ALICE-TOUCHED AN OUTPOURING OF SYMPATHY AND DONATIONS FROM THROUGHOUT THE NORTH, LEADING TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SOLDIER’S ORPHAN’S HOME IN GETTYSBURG IN 1866. SERGEANT HUMISTON’S BODY WAS REMOVED FROM HERE TO GETTYSBURG NATIONAL CEMETERY.