The Lost Story of Kate, the Secret Love of Gettysburg’s First Hero

From the “Stories of our Dearly Departed” series from Kelly Grimaldi, Historian and Director of Education and Program Development for Albany Diocesan Cemeteries.

In 2019, Albany Diocesan Cemeteries launched “Stories of our Dearly Departed”, a series featuring stories and photographs of those who are buried within our 20 upstate NY cemeteries.

Our hope is that people will enjoy reading about the lives of our community members just as much as we enjoy learning about them from the families we serve, tips form researchers and genealogist, and stories kept within our cemetery archives. There are so many fascinating stories buried within these Sacred Grounds!

“Diligent research reveals the true identity of General John Reynolds’ mysterious fiancée”.

In 2020, Kelly was contacted by Jeff Harding, author and Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Park. Jeff was working with genealogist Mary Stanford Pitkin, researching the mysterious question of what happened to Gettysburg’s General John Reynolds’ secret fiancée Catherine “Kate” Mary Hewitt.

Photograph of Catherine “Kate” Mary Hewitt

Daguerreotype of Maj. Gen. John Reynolds

 [2022 update: Jeffrey has recently released a fascinating book that delved much deeper into this story.]

“Gettysburg’s Lost Love Story: The Ill-Fated Romance of General John Reynolds and Kate Hewitt”

Learn a bit on how this mystery was solved and how it relates to Historic St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands, NY in an article published in 2020 on Historynet.com by Jeff Harding and Mary Stanford Pitkin before the book was published.

Read the intriguing article “The Lost Story of Kate, the Secret Love of Gettysburg’s First Hero”

Thank you Jeff Harding and Mary Stanford Pitkin for bringing Catherine “Kate” Mary Hewitt’s story to light and sharing it with us all!

“General Reynolds leads the Iron Brigade into the fray on the first day at Gettysburg, moments before his death. (“The Chosen Ground” by Keith Rocco)”

 

Do you have a story of an ancestor and/or loved one buried in one of our cemeteries that would be interesting to research and or highlight?

We are looking for stories of those buried within the following 19 cemeteries:
St. Agnes, Menands  •  Most Holy Redeemer, Niskayuna  •  Holy Sepulchre, Rensselaer •  St. Anthony’s, Glenville  •  Our Lady of Angels, Colonie  •  Immaculate Conception and St. Patrick’s in Watervliet  •  Our Lady Help of Christians and Calvary in Glenmont  •  St. Agnes, Cohoes  •  St. Patrick’s, Coeymans  •  St. Jean de Baptiste, St. John’s, and St. Mary’s in Troy  •  Sts. Cyril & Method and Holy Cross in Rotterdam  •  St. Joseph’s, Waterford  •   St. John the Baptist and St. Mary’s in Schenectady  •   St. Mary’s, Coxsackie

If you have a story for us, contact Kelly at 518-350-7679 or [email protected].