(January 2006) GETTYSBURG, Pa. - A long-running effort to pay off the mortgage on the Daniel Lady Farm at Gettysburg came to a sudden and happy conclusion Nov. 14, thanks to a federal grant plus support from a local conservancy, the state of Pennsylvania and the Civil War Preservation Trust.

On that day the nonprofit Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association (GBPA) employed a $180,000 grant obtained by the Land Conservancy of Adams County from the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program to retire the mortgage on the historic 145-acre farm.

"If I could have done a Confederate yell, it would have gone from the bottom of my toes to the top of my head," said GBPA President Kathi Schue. "That night was my best night's sleep in six months."

The Lady Farm, on Hanover Road, was the center of considerable Confederate attention during the 1863 battle. Robert E. Lee reportedly stopped there July 1 and Confederate generals Ewell, Early and Johnson planned from there a bombardment of Union lines at nearby Culp's and East Cemetery hills. The Lady Farm was also a Confederate field hospital.

GBPA purchased the long-neglected property in April 1999 for $400,000. For the first two years, Schue said, the GBPA board "did nothing but pay the interest at $2,400 a month." Discouraged, some board members advocated selling the farm.

"They didn't realize the farm's historic significance," Schue said. "We've unearthed a lot of information in the last four years."

A number of board members quit. But Schue and former GBPA president Craig Caba embarked on a tireless campaign of active fund-raising for the farm, successfully seeking grants and donations for an array of projects to restore the historic farmhouse and barn.

The actual Farm and Ranchland grant total was $295,845. All but a sliver of it was used to pay off the $293,000 remaining on the mortgage. Everything over the $180,000 federal grant served to meet the required match.

The Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development put in $75,000 thanks to Rep. Harry Readshaw, founder of the Pennsylvania Gettysburg Monuments Project. The Civil War Preservation Trust gave $32,000, and the Land Conservancy of Adams County chipped in $8,600.

As a stipulation of the Farm and Ranchland grant, a permanent conservation easement has been placed on the farm to prevent its being developed. Adjacent properties to the north and east have fallen into developers' hands.

Schue credited the federal grant to the leadership of the Land Conservancy of Adams County, whose co-founder, Dean Shultz, first broached the idea. Conservancy staffer Sidney Kuhn and Schue worked together to put the deal together.

"I have never worked with anyone who worked so hard," Schue said of Kuhn and the conservancy. "We owe a great debt of gratitude to Dean Shultz. They are a great bunch of people."

Kuhn noted that the terms of the easement require that no further construction take place on the property other than agricultural buildings. The land "has to be farmed or available for agriculture." The facades of the house and barn are protected.

"It was an uphill battle," Kuhn said. "People would say, 'If GBPA owns it, why are you concerned?' But if something happened and the bank had to foreclose, it would have been sold in a minute for development."

The decade-old Land Conservancy of Adams County has worked to protect a little more than 3,000 acres in the county, including about 1,000 acres of land associated with the battlefield.

A spokesman for the Civil War Preservation Trust noted that this was the third property at Gettysburg preserved through use of the Farm and Ranchland easements; the other two are at East Cavalry Field. The Trust has pioneered use of the grants for battlefield preservation.

Along with paying down the mortgage, for the last three years GBPA has won grants and raised funds for restoration of the historic farmhouse, which dates from the 1820s, and the 1842 barn. Four of the home's rooms are restored and "five to go," said Schue, while the barn is largely restored but still needs repointing and removal of a concrete floor. Among major expenses along the way was a $30,000 septic system.

Schue said much of the work getting the long-neglected farm in shape is carried out by volunteers, including the 88th Pennsylvania Volunteers and the Wyoming Valley Civil War Round Table. "It took a lot of people with a lot of determination," she said.

The Lady Farm is open for tours by appointment and on special weekends. Those seeking a free tour may call Schue at (717) 329-8512. Historical information, a calendar of events and a photo gallery are available on the Web site at www.gbpa.org.

Our email address is: mail@civilwarnews.com