Touring the farmhouse where leaders surrendered York to Confederates

Jim McClure
| York Daily Record

Ray Langeheine had lowered the staff bearing the American flag in front of his home earlier this month as a guard against the wind and rain.

When the staff is fully extended, a POW-MIA flag joins the red, white and blue banner, as does the US Coast Guard flag, the branch of the military service that Ray had served as a young man.

That American flag unfurled on the lawn off Locust Lane near Farmers in western York County held particular significance. Langeheine’s newly acquired farmhouse and land had served as the Civil War headquarters of an army of battle-hardened Confederate invaders 161 years ago.

Shortly after leaving that farm, then owned by Jacob S. and Lucy Altland and their family, those 1,800 raiders in butternut and gray marched 10 miles to York where they took down the large American flag atop a tall pole in York’s square.

That march on the turnpike to York, today’s Route 30 but then a dusty lane of crushed stone, went unimpeded. The evening before, York’s leaders had ridden in a carriage to Altland’s house and surrendered their town, an act controversial then and now. Many towns surrendered to the Confederates in those days before the Battle of Gettysburg. But York’s leaders were the only group to ride through enemy lines to search out the surrender. And they did it twice.

I have written that such an eager commitment at a pivotal moment in York’s history showed a community tendency down the road to act against principle in the face of other challenges. Indeed, most local Civil War historians today agree that the manner of surrender — seeking out the enemy in a theater of war — was ill advised and cost York its honor.

John B. Gordon was the Confederate general receiving the keys to York on this crucial moment in the borough’s history at Altland’s farmhouse — Ray Langeheine’s place today.

Some call the farmhouse “Surrender House,” and it’s further known to history for a feature with a cool story – a clear, bubbling spring.

House serves as headquarters

The Surrender House’s Civil War story begins early in the day of June 27, 1863, when young and impetuous York businessman AB Farquhar rode past the house on his way to Abbottstown, 5 miles to the west. There he met with Gordon and cut an unauthorized deal: York would not resist, and the Confederates would do no damage to the town.

Farquhar’s carriage again passed the Altland home on its way back to York, where Farquhar informed the town’s fathers about the deal. With that news, York’s Committee of Safety decided it best to ratify what it considered a surrender. That was the meeting that involved Farquhar, Chief Burgess David Small and three other delegates with Gordon at the Altland house.

Some time that day, division commander Jubal Early had ridden from his camp in Big Mount about 5 miles away to confer with Gordon.

According to a letter from Early to historian George Prowell years after the war, Early found Gordon sleeping in a feather bed in the Altland House. They discussed the promised unimpeded march into York, and Early ordered Gordon to march to Wrightsville and secure the milelong covered bridge crossing the Susquehanna. At the Altland farmhouse, he reversed his plans to burn the bridge. He now wanted to cross the bridge and capture Harrisburg or Philadelphia.

Gordon likely spent the night in his camp in the fields surrounding the farmhouse — a camp that stretched as far as today’s Jackson Square. I have accepted an invitation for breakfast.

Actually, the general never identified the Altland farm by name in his memoirs but told of a “staid and industrious farmer of German descent” who had built his dining room immediately over a spring gushing from a cleft in a rock.

“As I entered the fourth room, one half floored with smooth limestone, and the other half covered with limpid water bubbling clear and pure from the bosom of Mother Earth, my amazement at the singular design was perhaps less pronounced than the sensation of rest which “it produced.”

The march from Virginia had been long, hot and dusty and a sense of “relief and repose” came over him as they sat in that cool room “with a hot breakfast served from one side, while from the other the frugal housewife dipped cold milk and cream from immense jars standing neck-deep in water.”

Today, is there anything about Ray Langeheine’s place that resembles that description?

The short answer is yes.

Touring the Altland house

Earlier this month, Langeheine hosted Civil War historian Scott Mingus and me at the house he had just recently acquired. He learned about the place’s Civil War history from the family of the former resident.

And he had read about his property’s place in history in pieces I had written. He wanted to know more.

He guided us past a Coast Guard plaque mounted on a wall on the main floor to a flight of stairs with a low ceiling leading to the basement. We observed a spring in its east end flowing from somewhere under the foundation of the house. Although the basement and the spring no doubt changed in the past 161 years, that spring even today was deep enough to cool bottles of milk.

He showed us another room in the basement’s west end in which water — whether from a spring or recent rain — drained across smooth stone surface. The room was cool on a humid day.

This basement — likely one large open space at the time of Gordon’s visit — no doubt was the cool room that Gordon enjoyed before resuming his march into York.

He would indeed pass through York to Wrightsville with the Altland meal in his belly. There, Union forces directed the burning of the bridge to stop Gordon’s advance and foil dreams of capturing Harrisburg or Philadelphia.

As we stood in the basement, Mingus read parts of Gordon’s memoir detailing the general’s breakfast that Sunday morning before his 10-mile march into York. Mingus later said he was convinced this was the place described in the memoir.

Sharing his historic place

Langeheine is a retired sergeant with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, and he bought the home with the idea that he could retire in peace with his dog, a husky-Labrador mix named Chloe. He has plans to restore the farmhouse, which he believes dates to 1822.

He achieved the goal of gaining a quiet retirement place — the only sound from surrounding land was the bleating of goats from a neighbor’s farm across a small stream from his back porch. That run carries away the water from the spring draining from his basement.

Despite his quest for a peaceful retirement, Langeheine appreciates history and is willing to make his 21 Locust Lane home available to those who want to take it in and photograph it from a distance. He welcomes motorists to get off Locust Lane and come back his driveway a bit to take pictures.

And as it turns out, he has already hosted visitors of a type. His security system has captured bright bursts of light — he calls them orbs — and an obscured human face. And he’s heard footsteps in the upstairs hallway between bedrooms. In both cases, he’s checked and no one was there.

When he first learned about the history of his place, he said he felt a bit overwhelmed at the role he played in history.

“I think it’s a piece of history that should have been shared more,” he said.

And he plans to do just that.

Sources: Scott Mingus’ Cannonball blog and “Flames Beyond Gettysburg.” James McClure’s “East of Gettysburg.” George Prowell’s “History of York County, Pennsylvania.”

Upcoming events

York County 275th anniversary

Aug. 17 at WellSpan Park in York: A block party is set for 2 to 6 pm, and a pregame parade will be held. The York Revolution will play against the Hagerstown Boxcars that evening, which will end with a fireworks display sponsored by America250PA. James McClure will sign copies of his new book, “Never to be Forgotten,” published in conjunction with the anniversary.

Aug. 18 at the Appell Center for the Performing Arts: At 4 pm, McClure, interviewed by radio host Gary Sutton, will discuss York County’s 275 years of history, including “exploring fascinating stories, little-known facts and pivotal moments” that have shaped the county’s identity. McClure will sign copies of his book.

Aug. 19 at the York County Administrative Center: At 10 am, a ceremony at 28 E. Market St. will include a reading of the county charter and unveiling the design of a 275th commemorative plaque. It will kick off a series of upcoming anniversaries over the next few years. To see the events, visit www.york365.com and click on “History & Heritage” and then “History Made Here.”

Jim McClure is a retired editor of the York Daily Record and has authored or co-authored nine books on York County history. Reach him at [email protected].

House serves as headquarters

Touring the Altland house

Sharing his historic place

Upcoming events

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