60th Wedding Anniversary

August 17, 2017

60 years ago Gerry and were married and we celebrated the anniversary with dinner at the Dobbin House Inn in Gettysburg, PA.  It is one of our special places for celebrating anniversaries and birthdays.  

60th Wedding Anniversary dinner

We had an early reservation and got to chatting with our server since she wasn't too busy.  We had a great meal and she brought out two desserts for us to help celebrate the anniversary.  The meals were so large we had a difficult time eating the desserts and wound up taking them home with us.  She also told the other diners that it was our 60th and they all congratulated us.  We did hear one of the patrons ask what it takes to last so long, as he was wondering about reaching his 20th anniversary.

Rather than describe the place I copied this from their advertisement for the Inn.

Reverend Alexander Dobbin, who built the Dobbin House, was an early frontier pioneer who helped settle and civilize the area. Born in Ireland in 1742, he grew to be a man of keen foresight, a person highly respected by his peers, an educator of men of stature, a Minister and a rugged individual who played a major role in the founding of Gettysburg. After studying the classics in Ireland, Dobbin and his bride, Isabella Gamble, set sail for a new life in the New World. Shortly after his arrival in America, he became pastor of the Rock Creek Presbyterian Church, located one mile north of what is now Gettysburg.

In 1774, the Dobbin purchased 300 acres of land in and around what is now the town of Gettysburg and commenced construction of a farm and the Dobbin House, for use as their dwelling and as a Classical School, today's equivalent of a combined theological seminary and liberal arts college. Dobbin's school was the first of its kind in America west of the Susquehanna River, an academy which enjoyed an excellent reputation for educating many professional men of renown.

Rev. Dobbin needed a large house for his school and family, for his Irish wife had borne him ten children before her early death. He remarried to the widow, Mary Agnew, who already had nine children of her own!

Rev. Dobbin, a short, stout, smiling gentleman who wore a white wig, became a highly respected community leader, as well as minister and educator. He worked diligently to establish in 1800 an autonomous Adams County, which originally was a part of neighboring York County. Thereafter, he was one of two appointed commissioners to chose Gettysburg as the new county seat.

In the mid-1800's, a secret crawl space, featured in "National Geographic", served as a "station" for hiding runaway slaves on their perilous journey to freedom on the "Underground Railroad." After the battle of Gettysburg ceased, and the armies had departed, it served as a hospital for wounded soldiers of both the North and the South.

Today the historic house appears virtually the same as it did over 200 years ago. Its native stone walls, seven fireplaces, and hand carved woodwork have been painstakingly restored to their original beauty and character, with interior decor in the traditional eighteenth century manner. Many of the home's antique furnishings are identical to those listed in the inventory of Rev. Dobbin's estate. The china and flatware exactly match fragments which were unearthed during the re-excavation of the cellar. The servant's period-clothing is completely authentic right down to the tie on pockets!

They also have a tavern in the basement that is very neat.  We went there for lunch with a special friend in September during her visit to the US.  More to come late about that visit.

Our children also have a special celebration in the works.  That will be over the Labor Day weekend since they will have the extra day off work and school.  We always look forward to getting them together as we usually see them individually.  It is very interesting observing all their interactions and reminiscing about earlier times.