Tim Sheads holds the notebook filled with mementos sent to his father of the day he toured JFK at Gettysburg.
The Tennessee Monument on the Gettysburg battlefield.
This painting commissioned by Elvis once hang on the walls of Graceland but has now been removed from view.
Tim Sheads holds the notebook filled with mementos sent to his father of the day he toured JFK at Gettysburg.
The Tennessee Monument on the Gettysburg battlefield.
This painting commissioned by Elvis once hang on the walls of Graceland but has now been removed from view.
Last October Kevin Witherell, Dr. Mona Henson and I went to Gettysburg for the Longstreet Society Seminar. We had left Greeneville in the wee hours of the morning so we would have most of the day that Friday to run around. They had not been there and since I boasted of 36 visits, I was the tour guide.
I drove them through the battlefield and up around the loop on Culps Hill. We then headed back toward town on Baltimore Pike. I noticed to our right that the old “Battlefield Military Museum” was still standing. I had made my small contribution to the American Battlefield Trust to purchase the property and return it to its Civil War era appearance.
The two-story brick museum was built in the 1960s to resemble an armory. It and the grounds were looking a bit rundown, and I expressed my thought that it would have been gone by now. Mona said that there was an “open” sign out front, so we u-turned and dropped in.
The museum was still open, but I have never been in it. The shop was still going and everything was on sale, just make an offer. I found a display box with a GAR hat badge and some buttons. I found a couple used books too. I made an offer on the GAR items which was $30 less than priced and half price on the books.
The guy looked at me a second and said, “Tell you what, where are you from?” I said “Tennessee.” He said, “Ok, I’ll ask you a question about Tennessee at Gettysburg and if you get it, you can have them at your price, if not you pay the full price.” I said, “I’ll do it if you throw in the books if I get it.” He indicated that he could do that. I guessed he had been watching the pickers on the History Channel.
Mona told him that he had picked the wrong person to play that game with, but I wasn’t so sure. Then came the question, “What Tennessee regiment was Elvis Presley’s ancestor in?” No quicker than he had asked than I said, the “7th Tennessee.” He shook his head “yes” and I had my deal, but I added that Elvis’ namesake ancestor Aaron Pressley was in Gettysburg with the 11th Mississippi, and also he descended from Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood in command of Hood’s Texas Cavalry.
Elvis was so proud of his Confederate ancestry that he had a painting of himself in Confederate uniform painted. He was leading a cavalry charge and that painting used to be displayed at Graceland. Elvis was also a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans. Political correctness has taken care of that.
While we were there I asked our gracious host if he knew who was, and what unit John F. Kennedy’s ancestor was in? I said that I knew it was one of the Irish Brigades and that I had inquired at the Kennedy Library and the Kennedy Home, but they could not answer my question.
I told him I had written an article about JFK at Gettysburg and that I knew Col. Jacob Sheads (a longtime Gettysburg High School history teacher and seasonal historian with the National Park Service) had taken him to the area where his ancestor fought.
Our host, sorry but I did not get his name, told us that Tim Sheads, Jacob’s son, has a sutlery shop in Gettysburg. He said, “He might be able to answer your question.” He added, “Tim and his wife Debbie own the Carrie Sheads House on Buford Avenue, their shop is in the back.” All you Gettysburg fans will know that road as the old Chambersburg Pike. I was excited as we left in a hustle to get over to the Sheads house. I was disappointed to find Sheads’ business, S & S Sutler closed. I told Kevin and Mona that I would have to catch him my next visit.
Fast forward to June and the Valley Forge Encampment. As we were leaving Sunday morning I told Caroline, “You know I have to stop in Gettysburg for a couple hours to keep my count going?” George was a captive in the back seat so off we went to Gettysburg. First stop is always the visitors center.
George, who has probably watched the movie “Gettysburg” a few times, asked me where Gen. Buford’s cavalry were when they first encountered the Confederates? I told him I could take him there, but first we drove out Baltimore Pike where General Longstreet’s Corps marched in.
As we drove back and past the seminary building stopping at Chambersburg Pike to turn left, I remembered Tim Sheads’ shop just down the street. I told George that I had an extra errand to run before we went to Buford’s site. We turned right, drove down a few yards and left into Sheads’ driveway, and sure enough the sign said “open” on the S&S Sutler shop.
We went in and I asked the man behind the counter if he was Tim Sheads? He said that he was, so I introduced myself and told him that I had written a couple articles, one in this paper, about his father and JFK. We were the only ones in his shop and I asked if we could talk about JFK’s visit?
He asked me to wait a minute while he pulled out a thick black notebook saying, “You might want to look through this.” What I held in my hands was incredible, the first item in the plastic sleeves was a letter from Kennedy on White House stationary thanking Sheads for the tour and visit. Next was a White House photo of JFK where he had written Sheads a personal note thanking him for the tour.
There was a letter from Paul “Red” Fay, Kennedy’s undersecretary of the Navy, who along with his wife and daughter, had accompanied the Kennedys to Gettysburg. The letter was typed but he had written something about the 4th Virginia which I couldn’t make out, but Sheads and he had obviously discussed it. I am assuming Fay had a Confederate ancestor there as both the 4th Virginia Infantry and 4th Virginia Cavalry were there under Longstreet. Tim Sheads said that he could not help me with that one.
I asked if he knew who JFK’s ancestor was that fought at Gettysburg? He said he was sure it was probably in his fathers’ notes. We do know that he visited the 20th Massachusetts Infantry monument. In his book about Kennedy he wrote about the visit to Gettysburg, Fay recalled, “The knowledge that the President displayed about the Civil War amazed me. When we came to a certain area where a Boston or Massachusetts unit had fought, he [the President] recounted the battle with such detail that I could almost see it taking place.”
I asked Tim about his father not telling his mother and him that he was touring the president. Tim said that was true, the Secret Service had met with his father and in the interest of security he was not to tell anyone. Tim said, “I was not allowed out of the house that day, I couldn’t go play in the yard and I had no idea why.” I think it is funny that Col. Sheads met Kennedy in the parking lot of a bowling alley.
Several of the photos that Tim has in that notebook were taken by the White House photographer and have never been published. I asked if I could take photos of them and he said that I could take a few. Not wanting to invade his privacy any further I just took a couple and asked him to hold the book so I could get pictures of him holding the Kennedy photo and letter.
He pointed at one of the photos and said, “You see who’s driving?” I told him I knew that JFK took over the wheel and left the Secret Service and press following along behind at a red light and then drove backwards, ignoring the “wrong way” signs through the battlefield. Tim said his father could not have driven because he didn’t know how and never even had a driver’s license. Col. Sheads had expected the Secret Service would be driving the car and was shocked to see Kennedy driving.
One article says, “the Secret Service also instructed Sheads that he should not let the President get out of the vehicle. However, President Kennedy drove, and he had his own ideas of where and how he would experience the Gettysburg battlefield.” Sheads told later, “The Secret Service said never let him out of the car. I couldn’t stop the President, could I? He wanted to get out.” Sheads was also instructed that if asked by the press he was to say that “the President was very knowledgeable of the Civil War.”
Col. Sheads didn’t need to make that story up, because Kennedy was a student of the Civil War. He knew his family’s history and that he had ancestors at Gettysburg. Kennedy was one of the reasons the Civil War Centennial was such a big, well celebrated affair.
This visit with Tim Sheads proved to be a great follow-up to the April 13, 2019, Sun article I wrote, “JFK and his visit to Gettysburg.” One of the Gettysburg guides has developed a tour of the route and places Kennedy stopped. He has posted videos and pictures for those that have never been there as well as for those of us that profess to know our way around.
Kennedy’s first stop on the battlefield was at the 20th Massachusetts Infantry monument which is where his ancestor may have been. At any rate, sooner or later I will find JFK’s illusive ancestor.
Following our visit with Tim Sheads we headed out the Baltimore Pike to the area where Buford’s cavalry first encountered the Confederates. There is a statue of Gen. Buford and many regimental markers along the ridge.
Anticipating George’s next question, I turned to the left and followed the trail to the spot where Gen. John Reynolds was killed. Anyone who has watched the movie is aware of the death of General Reynolds. It should have been a setback for the Union army but proved to be a rallying point.
In October I told Kevin and Mona that we would visit the refurbished train station before we left. Somehow, I totally forgot it. This time I told George and Caroline to not let me forget and we would come back into town to visit the train station. Low and behold I forgot it again. Next time in Gettysburg I am going to the train station first. Then I might just follow JFK around, but not the wrong way on “one way” streets.
Like Kennedy, I always visit my home state monument. The Gettysburg website says of the Tennessee monument, “It was dedicated on July 2, 1982, and is the only Confederate monument paid for entirely by private donations. It stands atop a base bearing the outline of the state whose 16-foot length represents Tennessee as the 16th state of the Union. The three soldiers and three stars on the monument represent the three Tennessee regiments who fought at Gettysburg.” In October I bought a replica from sculptor Gary Casteel which proudly adorns my office.
So, I have a lifelong fascination with JFK and also Gettysburg. Like a lot of folks, I remember what I was doing when he was killed. My sisters made me sit and watch his funeral, and the first book given me by my sister was about the life of JFK. That would be the last book I will ever part with. As my Mom told, my first haircut, I told the barber I wanted it cut “like President Kennedy.”
Gettysburg is an interesting place. It has something for everyone, you can do as much, or as little as one wants. It is not a place to be visited for a couple hours. A couple weeks would not be sufficient. However, it has a strange, strong draw on me that I cannot explain. I would jump in the car and head up there today if I could. Maybe Kennedy felt that same pull. Is it our ancestors, the unknown, the tragedy? Is it the loss of 60,000 souls and 10,000 horses and mules? Maybe it’s the battlefield with its 1,328 monuments. I am drawn to the Tennessee and Virginia monuments. I am drawn to the Irish Brigade monument with the Irish Wolfhound at the base of a Celtic Cross. I am drawn to the 20th Maine monument on Little Roundtop which is from watching the movie “Gettysburg.” I am drawn to the Longstreet monument since he was here in Greeneville, and I had ancestors serving under him. Don’t let the politics of the day cloud your vision, these monuments are works of art. Most would be financially impossible to replicate today. Some were sculpted by veterans of the war.
Kennedy was a veteran of war and understood that these were all Americans. Trailing the past takes us to a lot of places and sometimes to the same place over and over. Yet we continue to learn and share. Next time you are on the road take an exit to a battlefield. Enjoy the beauty, peace and calm that we share today because of their sacrifices.
Greene County historian Tim Massey is an award-winning writer for Civil War News with more than 40 photos featured on various magazine covers. He has served on various boards and held positions in several historic organizations. He can be reached at horses319@comcast.net.
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