History & local legend
The Dobbin House in Gettysburg was built in 1776 by the Reverend Alexander Dobbin as a home and school. It predates the Civil War by decades, and its ghost stories are not confined to soldiers or the 1863 battle.
One story, preserved by the paranormal-history site PANICd from a ghost-tour guide’s account, concerns a family dining in the tavern. Their child kept watching a boy nearby who appeared to be removing a splinter from his bare foot. The boy wore a dark blue shirt, black trousers, and suspenders. When the child pointed him out, the other family members could not see him.
Other stories at the house describe children’s voices and candles going out unexpectedly.
