Landmark Tour: Harrisburg Cemetery

Join the Camp Curtin Historical Society and Historic Harrisburg Association for

An afternoon of local historians conducting guided tours – nine in all! – of different themed aspects of the historic Harrisburg Cemetery, Sunday, October 6, starting at 1:00 PM.

Three leading experts will conduct separate tracks of three tours each with themes ranging from Famous Harrisburg Citizens to Civil War Heroes to Prominent Alumni of Harrisburg Academy to Interpretations of Cemetery Art and Iconography.

The afternoon will also feature historical displays in the Victorian Gothic Caretaker’s House and a special 2:15 PM ceremony recognizing two local Civil War heroes whose headstones are slated for restoration. The grounds will remain open until 5:00 PM.

Tourgoers will be able to pick and choose any tours and activities offered during the event.

The Tour guides and their respective tour schedules are as follows:

A. Camp Curtin Historical Society Member Bruce Horner:

1:00 PM: Graves will include Governor George Wolf who started free education in Pennsylvania; Dr. Agnes Kemp who was Harrisburg’s first licensed female physician; E. Z. Wallower who built the Penn Harris Hotel and Walnut Street Bridge; his mausoleum will be open featuring Tiffany- stained glass.

2:15-2:45 PM: Special Ceremony: Recognizing two local Civil War heroes of the Pennsylvania Campaign that caused Gettysburg and future placement of their headstones: Wesley Miller who was killed at the Wheat Field on July 2nd, 1863, and whose father was the governor of Minnesota; And Captain Frank A. Murray who had a horse stable at 4th Steet and Market and sparred with various Confederate troops throughout Cumberland County. His unit was known as Curtin’s Guards.

3:00 PM: The very impressive John Boyd Family Plot; Charles Rawn who was with Lincoln on Washington’s birthday in 1860; Lincoln’s Funeral Train stop on April 21st, 1865, will be discussed. The Forster Family gothic cathedral style marker.

4:00 PM: Highlights of the 1PM and 3PM tours.

B. George Nagle, retired Harrisburg Academy faculty member:

1:00 PM: Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Progressives of Harrisburg (Visit the final resting places of a handful of fascinating people who made significant impacts on Harrisburg and beyond.)

2:15-2:45 PM: Special Ceremony (meet at Caretaker’s House)

3:00 PM: Art and Iconography in Stone: Cemetery Style (Obelisks, draped urns, winged orbs, broken trees carved into tombstones…learn the meanings behind many common funerary motifs).

4:00 PM: A Few of Harrisburg Academy’s distinguished alumni (Jacob F. Seiler, Vance McCormick, EZ Wallower, Lyman Gilbert and others who studied at Harrisburg’s 240-year-old Academy)

C. Jim Schmick Camp Curtin Historical Society founding President, who has been conducting Harrisburg Cemetery tours for over 25 years.

1:00 PM: Among famous personalities, Jim’s tour this year will focus on physicians in Harrisburg during the Civil War who tended to Confederate POWs after Gettysburg as well as soldiers of the 127th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company A, involved in the extraction of the Confederate spy from the Susquehanna River on the morning of July 2nd, 1863.

2:15 – 2:45 PM: Special Ceremony (meet at Caretaker’s House)

3:00 PM: Part 1 with notable movers and shakers of south-central PA. Jim will cover the following personalities: Sarah Haldeman Haley, E. Z. Wallower, General and later Pennsylvania Governor John White Geary, George Gray Barnard, sculptor of the nude statues at the front of our Capitol building.

4:00 PM: Part 2 with notable movers and shakers of south-central PA. Jim will cover Charles C. Davis Civil War Medal of Honor recipient, Simon Cameron, Colonel George McFarland, his son J. Horace McFarland, and some of the 155 Civil War soldiers north and south in the Harrisburg Cemetery.

****Tickets:

- $20 - General Admission (General public tickets)

- $15 - Members (Individuals or Businesses that are current and up-to-date dues-paying members of CCHS or HHA. All purchases are verified)

****No Refunds, Resales, or Raffles.

****Rain or Shine

Contact HHA for more information: [email protected] or (717) 233-4646.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Harrisburg Cemetery, 521 N. 13th Street, Harrisburg, United States