Signed by 2 Gettysburg citizens who were prominent during the battle!

Issued to and signed by a member of the famous Codori family of Gettysburg!

7 1/4 x 3, imprinted check, filled out in ink. Gettysburg, PA., Jany. 16th, 1871. Gettysburg National Bank, Pay to G.A. Codori & Son. Thirty one Dollars. $31.00. Signed at lower right by D. Kendlehart. Endorsed on the reverse by George A. Codori. Light age toning. Typical cut cancellation. Extremely desirable Gettysburg related document signed by two of its prominent war time citizens! Any Gettysburg material still remains in very high demand.


George A. Codori:

The recipient of this check, who endorsed it on the reverse, George A. Codori, was born in Adams County, Pa., on November 30, 1835, and was a butcher in town during the great battle.

He was the son of Nicholas J. Codori, and Elizabeth Martin. His father was born in France and emigrated to the U.S. in 1828, at the age of 19, and settled in Gettysburg where he became known as a first class butcher, and prominent land owner.

In 1843, Nicholas purchased one of the oldest and most historic homes in town, located at 44 York Street. He purchased it from the original owner, James Gettys, the founder and namesake of Gettysburg!

He later bought the dwelling directly next door and turned it into his butcher shop where he and his oldest son, George A. Codori worked, and their shop earned the reputation of being the best shop in the trade by selling only the freshest meat, and slaughtering only the finest prime livestock from the area.

George A. Codori, married Josephine Smith, on October 19, 1857, at the Sacred Heart Chapel, Conewago, Pa., with the ceremony being conducted by the Reverend Andrews.

Recognizing the importance and value of land in America, Nicholas Codori started to invest in the purchase of acreage in Gettysburg, and among his sprawling land holdings was a 273 acre farm that he bought in 1854, which was located just south of town on the Emmitsburg Road. This was the site of some of the heaviest fighting during the battle of Gettysburg, and where more than 500 Confederate dead were buried after the battle, the most dead buried on any of the Gettysburg farms.

The Codori Farm was situated near what became the center of the Confederate lines, and it became a very prominent place on the battlefield during Pickett’s Charge which took place on July 3, 1863. It was from the Cordori farm that General George E. Pickett observed the attack that now bears his name.

Nicholas lived with his family in town at their York Street residence, and he rented the farm to tenants whenever he could. The Codori's hunkered down in the basement of their York Street home when the heavy street fighting of July 1st broke out in earnest with bullets flying everywhere many of them striking and entering the house above George and the Codori family.

It is not absolutely clear who occupied the farm house at the time of the battle. It is thought by some historians that it may have been occupied by the niece of Nicholas Codori, Catharine (Codori) Staub, and her husband John Staub, and it is said that they took refuge in the basement of the farm house during the fighting.

The Codori home at 44 York Street was used as a hospital during and after the battle. The nearby St. Francis Xavier Church, the house of worship of the Codori family, and many other Gettysburg citizens, was also used as a hospital. Many of the wounded that were brought to the church required amputation, and the medical staff determined that these helpless victims were too critically injured to be moved, so church mass was no longer able to be held there.

Nicholas Codori offered his home as a substitute place for mass to be held in the meantime, and it continued there until September 1863. A room in their home was given to a Catholic Chaplain who was on duty with the army during the battle, and the room was used as a chapel. Masses were also celebrated there by Father A.M. McGinness, the parish pastor.

The Codori family continued to live in the York Street house until 1967, a total of 124 years. Today it is home to The Brafferton Inn Bed and Breakfast, and the old butcher shop, still there, is a place of business for a local merchant.

In 1878, Nicholas J. Codori sustained mortal injuries from a mowing accident on his farm. While driving a horse-drawn mower, Nicholas fell into the sharp blades of the mower after his horse became spooked and suddenly jerked its body and threw Nicholas from the mower. Nicholas lay alone amidst the mowing with a partially severed leg for approximately 30 minutes, until help finally arrived. He survived for a few days afterwards before succumbing to his wound on July 11, 1878. In one of the great ironies of his life, the cherished Codori land that had long sustained his family’s fortunes, and had enabled them to endure, and thrive in the wake of the cataclysmic battle of Gettysburg would fatally fail him in the end and cause his death!

George A. Codori died on October 25, 1883, in Gettysburg, and is buried not far from his family's York Street home, at Saint Francis Xavier Cemetery, Gettysburg.


David Kendlehart:

(1813-91) A prosperous businessman in Gettysburg, he was president of the city council on June 26, 1863, when Confederate General Jubal A. Early, entered Gettysburg, and demanded goods and money from the town. Kendlehart refused, but offered for the stores to be opened so the town's civilians could supply what they could of the general's demands. He later slipped out of town and maintained a low profile during the battle until the morning of July 4th, when he entered the Union lines and informed Union Commander, General George G. Meade of the Confederate withdrawal from the streets of Gettysburg.

Kendlehart, also the owner of a shoe business on Baltimore Street, met General Early as he rode into town less than a week before the outbreak of battle, and demanded to speak with the borough’s mayor. The Confederate general’s inquiry proved fruitless however, as Burgess Robert Martin’s wife informed General Early that Martin and most of the councilmen had already left the town in advance of the arrival of the Confederates army. The responsibility of representing the borough in negotiations with Early therefore fell to Mr. Kendlehart. Early demanded that Kendlehart furnish the rebel troops with thousands of pounds of provisions, shoes, hats, and U.S. currency. Kendlehart’s refusal to supply the rebels, citing limited authority of the Borough, and the impossibility of securing so much material in a small municipality such as Gettysburg.

His tactful argument may have saved the town from ruin in retribution for his noncompliance. Although he refused to hand over the supplies, Kendlehart removed responsibility from the borough, and did, however, suggest that the Confederates go from household to household asking the citizens of Gettysburg to furnish whatever they could. Kendlehart would leave Gettysburg proper that evening to remain hidden two miles outside of the borough at McAllister’s Mill until the end of the battle, at which point the leaderless citizens exercised their own political agenda with General Early. The money in the town bank was hidden, families hid their food and possessions, residents protected their free black neighbors from capture, and most of the Gettysburg citizens lied about having anything of value when the Confederate soldiers asked. The Rebels gained very little from the town’s unified defiance, marveling at how such a population could possess so little.

David Kendlehart died on April 30, 1891, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pa., the same cemetery where John Burns, and Jennie Wade were laid to rest.

WBTS Trivia: The town of Gettysburg, Pa. was established by James Gettys in 1786.

Codori land has monuments to the 106th and 26th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiments, as well as monuments marking the death sites of Colonel George Willard, of the 125th New York Infantry, who commanded the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, and Colonel George H. Ward, of the 15th Massachusetts Infantry. The site of General Winfield S. Hancock’s famed wounding during Pickett's Charge, on July 3, 1863, also has a monument dedicated to him on Codori land. General Hancock commanded the 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac, at Gettysburg.

Sources: The Adams County Historical Society. Saved by the Land; The Codori Family War on the Doorstep, Civilians of Gettysburg. Lauren Leitizia.