Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Background History
The Jennie Wade House located in Gettysburg, Pa. is where the only civilian casualty occurred during the 1863 Battle of
Gettysburg. In July of 1863, Jennie was 20 years old. She actually did not live in the house that now bears her name; at the
time of the battle, the house was a duplex and Jennie’s sister, Georgia, lived in half of the duplex with her family. Georgia
gave birth right before the troops began coming into town, so Jennie and her mother went to Georgia’s house to help her
sister; Georgia’s husband Louis was off fighting the war. The house was between the Union and Confederate lines and did
take some fire during the three day battle; in fact, a shell hit the top of the house on July 2, opening a passageway between
the duplexes that would unfortunately be put to macabre use very soon. On the morning of July 3, 1863, Jennie was in the
kitchen preparing to make bread when a bullet pierced the door of the house, went through a second door, and hit Jennie
in the back. She groaned and fell down dead. In her pockets were a purse and a photo of a young solder, Jack Skelly,
rumored to be her fiance.
Union soldiers helped the family carry Jennie’s body upstairs, through the hole created by the shell the day before, and into
the other side of the duplex, where they placed her body in the cellar. She was later buried temporarily in the backyard,
then moved in January 1864 to the German Reformed Church, before being moved to her final resting place in the
Evergreen Cemetery in November 1865.
There are several oddities about Jennie’s story. First, her sweetheart, Jack Skelly, had been mortally wounded in the Battle
of Winchester; he would die on July 12, 1863. However, a Confederate troop named Wesley Culp, a childhood friend of Jennie
and Jack’s, passed through Winchester on his way to Gettysburg and saw Jack long enough for Jack to give him a message to
take back to Jennie in Gettysburg. That message was never delivered. Wesley Culp went on to Gettysburg and died in the
battle of Culp’s Hill (on land that belonged to his family) on the same day Jennie died, July 3, 1863. Jennie never knew
that Jack had been killed. Fate seemed determined to wipe the whole circle of friends out.
Jennie is now buried in Evergreen Cemetery near Jack Skelly, but she does not appear to be at rest. A female apparition
believed to be Jennie has been seen at the home where she died, now called the Jennie Wade House. The smells of baking
bread and Jennie’s rose-scented perfume have been reported. In addition, the basement of the house is supposedly
haunted by a male apparition, possibly Jennie’s father, who was a thief and in a mental asylum at the time of her
death. It is speculated that he continues to haunt the area where her body lay in the cellar, perhaps out
of grief or regret.
There is another male spirit who haunts the upstairs area, wafting his cigar smoke toward unsuspecting visitors.
And the spirits of children are reported throughout the house, possibly linked to the nearby orphanage.
Investigation 01/21/2012 (11pm - 3am Investigators -- #4) -- Evidence --(3) Class B evps
Personal Experiences -- Cold Spots felt, footsteps heard in the snow
Data recorded on investigation -- Audio, Video, Photographs, EMF, Temperature, Personal Experiences
Jennie Wade House Photo Album
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