The Wills House

Following his arrival, the President was whisked away through the crowds and up Carlisle Street to the square of Gettysburg. Lincoln was taken to the home of David Wills on the southeast corner of the square where the President was to lodge with several other dignitaries, including Edward Everett. During his visit to Gettysburg, Lincoln was accompanied by his black servant or valet, William.16 According to one of David Wills’ daughters, “the room President Lincoln occupied [see Pg. 16] was on the second floor facing the square on the southwest corner of the house and directly above my father’s law office. The room at the time President Lincoln slept there, contained a large four poster bed of rosewood. . . . The room also contained a bureau, two rocking chairs, a straight chair, a table, a wardrobe and a washstand. A little coal stove stood in front of the fireplace.”17 Lincoln did not spend much time in his room and “after a short while he came to the parlor, where those invited for the dinner and the evening were assembled.”18

A bountiful dinner was prepared and the guests soon assembled in the Wills’ dining room. An “amusing incident” handed down by the Wills family is that during the meal Catherine Wills “was conscious . . . of the door at her back leading into the kitchen, being constantly ajar. Turning to look she saw the cook with a large mixing spoon in her hand, staring at the assemblage through the opening,” trying to get a glimpse of the President and other dignitaries.19

As word spread through town that the President had arrived, a large crowd began to gather around the house and in the square. During the dinner a band serenaded the President from outside the home. According to Jacob Hoke of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, “shortly after dark the Marine band from Washington proceeded to the front of Mr. Wills’ residence and played several excellent pieces of music.” This attracted a great crowd and many began to call for the President. “A gentleman appeared and announced that Mr. Lincoln was at supper, but would, as soon as he had eaten, respond to the call of the people.”20

After dinner, the guests retired to the parlor where the daughters of the Wills family were brought in to visit with the distinguished guests. Katherine Smyser Wills was six, Mary Eugene was five, and Annie M. was just two years of age. Not generally known is the fact that Catherine Wills was eight months pregnant with the couple’s fourth daughter at the time of Lincoln’s visit.21 According to family lore, the President held two of the girls “on his lap and in the age old custom rode them horse back on his foot.”22

Eventually, Lincoln stepped out of the door on the north, or York Street, side of the Wills house and stood at the top of the steps a few feet above the large crowd assembled there.23 According to Jacob Hoke, “the appearance of the President was the signal for an outburst of enthusiasm that I had never heard equaled. While the people cheered and otherwise expressed their delight, he stood before us bowing his acknowledgments. At length silence was restored, when his face relaxed its appearance of careworn sadness and anxiety, and a kind of genial smile overspread his countenance.”24 At this point Lincoln spoke to the assemblage gathered around the house. Aside from his famous address the next day, this was Lincoln’s only public speech given in the town, so much attention has been given to his words spoken from the York Street steps. The commonly accepted version of the speech was recorded by a correspondent in the crowd and widely reprinted in newspapers across the country:

I appear before you, fellow citizens, merely to thank you for this compliment. The inference is a very fair one that you would hear me for a little while at least were I to commence to make a speech. I do not appear before you for the purpose of doing so, and for several substantial reasons. The most substantial of these is that I have no speech to make. (Laughter.) In my position, it is somewhat important that I should not say any foolish things. Voice in crowd—If you can help it. Mr. Lincoln— It very often happens that the only way to help it is to say nothing at all. (Laughter.) Believing that is my present condition this evening, I must beg you to excuse me from addressing you further.25

Although this account has been generally accepted by historians, it may be a slightly doctored version of actual events. The Gettysburg Star and Banner gave an alternate version of the speech. While very similar in its wording there is a striking difference. There is no voice from the crowd yelling, “If you can help it.” It is Lincoln himself who is quoted as saying: “It is somewhat important in my position that one should not say any foolish things if he can help it, and it very often happens that the only way to help it is to say nothing at all.”26

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