Butler County Historical Society

Here are some farms that we will be briefly passing by and only able to be seen from the window of the bus:

1. Otto Farm –

This farm will be on the right side of the bus as we pass by it, and we will not be able to stop and see it. It rests on a steep hill, and has the most numerous significant architectural features on the battlefield. The Otto family ran a tailor business in Sharpsburg and bought the 90 acre property. The Otto family began ownership around the later 1820s, where the family had 6 children and 2 slaves at the time. One of the slaves, Hillary, survived and was able to give accounts of US troops walking through the farm as they pushed confederates back during the battle, then watched as a counterattack drove the US troops back down to the creek. Like the Sherrick farm it became a field hospital after the battle. The slaves were freed after the battle, but agreed to stay on and work for a wage.

2. Sherrick Farm-

This is a farm we will briefly pass by and only be able to see from the window of the bus. It is between Bloody Lane and Burnsides Bridge in the middle of the battlefield and rest on a slope. The land was purchased by the Sherrick family in 1796 when they moved from Lancaster, PA to settle here on an almost 200 acre plot of ground that abuts the Antietam Creek. The house and surrounding outbuildings were occupied by Confederate forces during the battle but did noy suffer significant damage. After the battle, the buildings and grounds became a Union field hospital.

3. Roulette Farm-

This farmhouse and its building are only visible if taking a long walking tour. A such, we only see the roofs of some of the buildings, yet its story and impact on the battle and aftermath are amazing. Hopefully this short blurb helps grasp what we will be right next to but not able to fully see. A family before the Roulette’s bagna farming here as early as 1739. Earliest parts of the house date back to circa 1760 and past through several different purchases until the Roulette family bought the property before the Civil War. By the time of the battle the Roulette family included husband and wife along with six children, and two free African-Americans working as hired labor, one of which was a former slave. Most of the family retreated to a church 6 miles north of Sharpsburg, but Mr. Roulette stayed with the farm and hid in the cellar. I tis said he remained quiet when the Confederate troops were nearby, but when the US troops appeared to attack Bloody Lane he came out and cheered them on. The Roulette farm saw a great deal of action during the battle as thousands of troops passed by and assaulted the Bloody Lane. Mr. Roulette claimed over 600 soldiers were buried on his property which also became a huge field hospital after the battle. Unsanitary conditions after the battle plagued the whole town and surrounding community from the amount of dead, wounded and the thousands of troops compacted in the area. A typhoid Fever outbreak, attributed this killed many in the region, including one of the Roulette children.

For more information about the Roulette Farm, click the link! ⬇️

https://www.nps.gov/anti/learn/historyculture/the-roulette-farm.htm

William McKinley Monument –

This is located on the southernmost point of the battlefield near the rifle pits at Burnsides Bridge during the last part of the battle. Those on the tour will be able to get right next to the monument. McKinley, served in the Civil war before becoming President of the US. He served in the 23rd Ohio Infantry and drove a supply wagon through a hail of bullets to get food and supplies to his fellow soldiers. President Rutherford B. Hayes was wounded just a few miles away a few days before and President Lincoln visited the battlefield a few weeks after the battle. (bridge next to this-last things you see on Saturday)

Here is some information on our first stop on the Antietam Bus Tour this coming weekend!

We will be kicking off our tour with Dunker Church!

Those on the tour will be able to get up close and possibly inside this famous landmark. It is one of the two most noted features on the battlefield. Earliest use dates to 1852, when the Mumma Family, whose farm is nearby and we will visit, donated the ground for the church. It was a focal point of the battle with Confederate soldiers all around it during the engagement. The church was badly damaged during the battle and was repaired in 1864, and was again reconstructed many years slater using many of the original materials. The Dunkers are an Anabaptist religious sect that came from Germany. They were pacifist and believed men and women sat separate in church and entered through separate doors and believed in submerging in water three times for baptism.

Be on the lookout this week for posts giving information about all the sites that our bus tour will be seeing on our trip to Antietam this upcoming weekend!

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*Attention Members of BCHS!

The Members Meeting is on June 18 at 6:30 PM at Cubs Hall.

*Please note that this location is not wheelchair accessible!

See you there!

Join us on June 18th at 7 PM! Bantam and Beyond takes us behind the scenes of Alex Tremulis, a man whose work in Hollywood was handpicked to design for Bantam!

Tickets available here!!
https://www.butlerhistory.com/bantamandbeyond