American Civil War notable. Alice Eliza Humiston was the little girl in the famous ambrotype found in the hands of an unidentified Union soldier who died at Gettysburg. The poignant image of "Alley" and her brothers Frank and Fred, dubbed "Children of the Battlefield", launched a newspaper campaign throughout the North to discover the fallen soldier's identity, in addition to inspiring the establishment of a home in Gettysburg for orphans of the war. In November 1863, Alley's mother, Philinda Ensworth Humiston, confirmed that the soldier was her husband, Sgt. Amos Humiston of the 154th New York Infantry, who'd been missing since the first day of the battle four months earlier. Alice was then six years old, and like her parents and brothers, a native of western New York. The fatherless Humiston family faced an uncertain future there, however, and in 1866 left their home in Portville to take up residence in the new Gettysburg orphanage, where the widowed Mrs. Humiston had accepted a position as housekeeper. Unhappy in the battle-scarred Pennsylvania town, possibly because she'd begun to have doubts about the integrity of her employers, in 1869 she remarried and moved to Massachusetts with her new husband, Asa Barnes, a retired clergyman who was 24 years her senior. She remained devoted to her children, however, each of whom joined her again as soon as their respective schooling was finished. Alice lived with her mother, who died in 1913, for many years. Never married, she worked at various jobs and at one point managed a chicken farm. She eventually settled in Glendale, California, to be with her brother Frank's daughter, who was employed as a cataloguer in the UCLA library. The last of the iconic siblings to die, Alice was fatally burned in a household accident. On December 16, 1933, her skirt caught fire while she was sweeping the floor near an uncovered heater. Rushed to the hospital, she died of her injuries two days later at the age of 76. Her niece and namesake, UCLA Head Librarian Alice M. Humiston, is also buried in this plot.
American Civil War notable. Alice Eliza Humiston was the little girl in the famous ambrotype found in the hands of an unidentified Union soldier who died at Gettysburg. The poignant image of "Alley" and her brothers Frank and Fred, dubbed "Children of the Battlefield", launched a newspaper campaign throughout the North to discover the fallen soldier's identity, in addition to inspiring the establishment of a home in Gettysburg for orphans of the war. In November 1863, Alley's mother, Philinda Ensworth Humiston, confirmed that the soldier was her husband, Sgt. Amos Humiston of the 154th New York Infantry, who'd been missing since the first day of the battle four months earlier. Alice was then six years old, and like her parents and brothers, a native of western New York. The fatherless Humiston family faced an uncertain future there, however, and in 1866 left their home in Portville to take up residence in the new Gettysburg orphanage, where the widowed Mrs. Humiston had accepted a position as housekeeper. Unhappy in the battle-scarred Pennsylvania town, possibly because she'd begun to have doubts about the integrity of her employers, in 1869 she remarried and moved to Massachusetts with her new husband, Asa Barnes, a retired clergyman who was 24 years her senior. She remained devoted to her children, however, each of whom joined her again as soon as their respective schooling was finished. Alice lived with her mother, who died in 1913, for many years. Never married, she worked at various jobs and at one point managed a chicken farm. She eventually settled in Glendale, California, to be with her brother Frank's daughter, who was employed as a cataloguer in the UCLA library. The last of the iconic siblings to die, Alice was fatally burned in a household accident. On December 16, 1933, her skirt caught fire while she was sweeping the floor near an uncovered heater. Rushed to the hospital, she died of her injuries two days later at the age of 76. Her niece and namesake, UCLA Head Librarian Alice M. Humiston, is also buried in this plot.
