Our First Saturday programs are back, and this year’s theme is “Ancestors at Antietam”. We’ve invited several Institute members who had ancestors who fought at Antietam, or have unique connections with Sharpsburg, to tell us a little about their ancestor and/or their experiences. Join us on April 4, to hear Laurie Buckler Mack share the story of her ancestor called, “Rediscovering William” Lt. William Alden Horton and the 16th Connecticut at Antietam“
Laurie is a native of Maryland and lived in the Boston area before moving back to Maryland and settling in Annapolis. Laurie has a BA in English and AA in Veterinary Technology and has enjoyed a second career as a RVT at a Veterinary Surgical Referral practice for the last 25 years. She grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC surrounded by references to the American Civil War: Attending Walt Whitman High School, learning to drive on the Clara Barton Parkway and taking endless trips across the Potomac River on the Jubal Early at White’s Ferry are just a few. Her father Don was a huge history buff and loved to talk about family history, reminding Laurie that she had an ancestor who was killed at Antietam. Laurie was finally able to visit Antietam during Covid in August of 2020, sparking an interest in the Maryland Campaign, Lt. William Alden Horton, and the 16th Connecticut. Laurie is currently a member of the Jamestowne Society, the Maryland Mayflower Society, Society of New England Women, Daughters of the American Revolution, National Society United States Daughters of 1812, Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Hobbies include fulfilling Find-a-Grave requests, exploring historical sites, and reading.
These monthly talks are free and open to the public – anyone may attend – and you do not need to register. The talks will be held at the Institute’s Education Center at 101W Main Street, Sharpsburg, beginning at 2 pm.
For several years, the Antietam Institute has been committed to supporting the Town of Sharpsburg in its efforts to develop an interpretive plaza in the green space at the corner of Main and Church Streets. Each year, we have made a $2,000 annual contribution for this project.
This year, construction on the park began in earnest, and by Memorial Day, 75% had been completed. The final piece of the park was the installation of interpretive waysides to tell the story of Sharpsburg and the people who have lived there.
Before the installation could begin, the waysides had to be developed. Because of our staunch support of the project since the beginning, the Sharpsburg Mayor and Town Council asked the Institute to help with this undertaking. After an initial concept meeting to develop some themes, we formed a committee of several members to begin formulating these themes and ideas into six distinctive waysides.
The committee included: John Schildt, Steve Cowie, Timothy Snyder, Robert Nill, Jim Buchanan, and Chris Vincent. The committee did an excellent job gathering stories, first-hand accounts, and photos for each panel. By July, the town approved the six draft panels, and they were off to Chris Brown, the Executive Director of Civil War Trails (CWT) for review and development. Civil War Trails, Inc. also collaborates with small parks, museums, and communities to share their history, topics, and sites by providing unique research and development expertise, along with high-quality materials.
To help draw interest to the historical park through the marketing of CWT, one of the six waysides was selected to be a Civil War Trails sign and the Antietam Institute took on the sponsorship and annual membership of that sign. This is the second CWT sign the Institute has sponsored in the Town of Sharpsburg.
Despite the frigid, wet weather, Chris Brown and his CWT crew installed the six waysides at the park the first week of December, just in time for the 35th Memorial Illumination.
The six waysides at the park are:
1- The Piper House: A Historic Connection to the Antietam Battlefield. Refers to the Piper house across the street, the Piper family, and the connection to the battlefield that so many Sharpsburg families had.
2- Canals and Turnpikes Fuel the Economic Growth. Discusses the C&O Canal and the turnpikes that intersect at Sharpsburg, which spurred economic growth of the town.
3- Sharpsburg Architecture and Prominent Citizens. Talks about some of the unique buildings in town and residents like Dr. A. A. Biggs, O.T. Reilly, and Dr. Hal Shealy.
4- Returning Veterans and Remembrance. Shows the connection between veterans returning to Sharpsburg after the war and the tradition of the Sharpsburg Memorial Day parade.
5- Sharpsburg and the Battle. Focuses on the civilians in town, specifically the Adam Michael family, whose house is across the street from the park, and the hardships caused. (Civil War Trails wayside)
6- Sharpsburg and the Civil War. Shares stories of several residents who were caught up in the war, like Barney Houser, Thomas Grove, Judge David Smith, and Jacob Rohrbach.
One final vertical interpretive panel will be added in the spring that will include the founding of the town in 1763 by Joseph Chapline, a timeline of key events, and a map of Sharpsburg. The Sharpsburg Historical Park is a much-needed resource to tell the amazing story of Sharpsburg and its residents and will help interpret this chapter of the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War.
We want to thank the committee members for sharing their time, effort, and knowledge on this project. Thanks to Chris Brown and Civil War Trails for their hard work and commitment in sharing the stories of civilians, soldiers, and communities. More importantly, we would like to thank the Town of Sharpsburg, Mayor Russ Weaver, and Vice Mayor Jacob Martz for the opportunity to support this project and promote the town’s history. We look forward to our continuing partnership with Civil War Trails and the Town of Sharpsburg.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1862 (Crossroads of War)
Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1862 (Crossroads of War)
Join us on August 4 for Tracey McIntire’s presentation – The Fate of Antietam’s Wounded. Hear the little-known stories of some of the almost 8,000 soldiers wounded at Antietam who were sent to Frederick for treatment.
Tracey McIntire
Tracey McIntire earned her BA in English at Rivier College in Nashua, NH. She is Lead Educator at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, site manager of the Pry House Field Hospital Museum, and an interpretive volunteer at Antietam National Battlefield. She is also an active Civil War living historian, where she portrays a woman soldier in various guises.
Come join leading historians and scholars as they discuss intriguing topics about their latest works and research on the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War during our Civil War Summer Lecture Series. See the complete 2025 schedule.
These indoors programs are held in McKinley Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. The church is located at 209W Main Street with a small parking area off the alley. More parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. These lectures free and open to the public. Each week we hold a drawing in which the proceeds support the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Be sure to check our Facebook page for updates and changes to the schedule.
On June 30, author Darin Wipperman will discuss a unique individual he came across during his research in his presentation – “I Am Bullet Proof:” The Last Four Months of a Fifth Corps Soldier.
A tremendous resource for students of the Civil War, the Huntington Library, San Marino, California, houses an array of excellent manuscripts. One of the library’s many highly impressive collections includes more than 200 letters from Captain Joseph Collingwood, who joined the 18th Massachusetts Infantry in August 1861. Collingwood and soldiers in his Company H became original member of the Fifth Corps the following May. This presentation discusses the Bay State warrior in the last four months of his life, from the catastrophe at Second Bull Run to Collingwood’s sad destiny below the stone wall at Fredericksburg. His perspectives from ten September letters – before and after the battle of Antietam – offer especially interesting thoughts from a frazzled yet resolute American warrior.
Darin Wipperman
Darin Wipperman’s first two books on the Civil War discussed the histories of the First and Ninth Corps. His most recent book, Thunderbolt to the Rebels: The United States Sharpshooters in the Civil War, was released in February 2025. Darin completed nearly 17 years of service in the federal government, then moved to northern New Hampshire, where he was a reporter and editor for weekly newspapers. Continuing his lifetime of studying the Civil War, Darin’s fourth book on the conflict is currently entitled, A Dangerous Man: Major General Joseph Hooker and the Civil War. Darin plans to complete his manuscript on “Fighting Joe” by the end of 2025.
Come join leading historians and scholars as they discuss intriguing topics about their latest works and research on the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War during our Civil War Summer Lecture Series. See the complete 2025 schedule.
These indoors programs are held in McKinley Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m. The church is located at 209W Main Street with a small parking area off the alley. More parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. These lectures free and open to the public. Each week we hold a drawing in which the proceeds support the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Be sure to check our Facebook page for updates and changes to the schedule.
