Pry Family Upheaval

Pry Family Upheaval. Antietam National Battlefield. , A knock on the door on September 16, 1862 forever changed the lives of Philip and Elizabeth Pry. For almost twenty years the Prys prospered on this 140 acre farm along Antietam Creek while raising their family of six children. With Confederate forces gathering on the other side of the Antietam, Gen. George McClellan gathered the Union Army on this side and selected the Pry home to serve as his headquarters., Thousands of soldiers' and horses descended on this farm. Fences were knocked down, crops were trampled, loads of hay were used, livestock was taken to feed the army, and the house and barn served as field hospitals. The Union Army stayed in the area two months, adding to the hardships experienced by the Prys and other local families., After the battle, Phillip Pry filed numerous claims with the War Department to be paid for damage done to this farm. Portions of the claims were paid, other charges were disputed and there was an investigation of overpayment. The financial burden proved too much and in 1874 the Prys sold their home and moved to Tennessee., [Captions:] , Photographs of Philip and Elizabeth Pry taken in Tennessee years after the battle. At the time of the battle the Prys had six children ranging in age from one to fourteen years old. The 1860 census also showed two free African-American women living in the household, Amanda Samper, age twenty and Georgiana Rollins, age twelve., This list from one of the Philip Pry's claims clearly shows the extensive damage to his family's farm. The claims investigation stated that "the war made him poor and he emigrated to Tennessee to begin life anew."