When retired Army Lt. Col. Bill Hewitt looks over the cache of timber in his Franklin Township basement, he feels a connection to the soldiers who once walked on the Gettysburg battlefield.

"I read a story of a soldier one time," Hewitt said. "He was talking about being near this tree, and he was resting by it, and I always wondered if that was the tree I had."

It's possible, after all.

The wood that Hewitt transforms into pens and walking sticks and furniture comes from the witness trees that have grown on the battlefield. He sells the items through his business, Gettysburg Sentinels.

Hewitt, whose father was in the Air Force, was born in California.

Hewitt spent 31 years in the Army, and retired to Gettysburg in 2001. He wanted to make some improvements in the home he and his wife, Kathy, retired. He was looking for wood to build some wainscoting for their dining room, and went to a local mill.

The man there showed Hewitt a pile of "massive trees" that had come from the battlefield. They were witness trees -- alive at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg.

"I didn't want them to just rot," Hewitt said. "At that time, it was just rotting. That seemed to me to be a waste."

Most townspeople who grew up with the witness trees don't seem interested in them, Hewitt said. So he bought the wood from the mill.

He's acquired other witness tree wood over the years, purchasing it from third parties, or getting fragments of trees from nonprofits, like churches, he said.

Hewitt is a part-time park ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park in the summertime, but said his employment with the park doesn't figure into his ability to procure the wood.

For the 150 anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, the Gettysburg Foundation asked Hewitt to make some items for speakers.

Often, people purchase items from him for special occasion gifts, like for someone's retirement or graduation.

But he would love for everyone with an appreciation for Gettysburg's history to have a piece of it.

"This is a way to link to the battlefield," he said. "It's a way to link to the soldiers."

Contact Brandie Kessler at 771-2035.

Selling his wares

Bill Hewitt makes a variety of items out of witness tree wood.

He will build specialty items upon request, and he regularly makes items like pens and walking sticks that are available for purchase.

A pen takes between 75 and 90 minutes for Hewitt to create. Pens range in price from $40 to $150.

Learn more at his website,

Presidential typo

A friend of Bill Hewitt's suggested he send one of the handcrafted pens he made from witness tree wood to President Barack Obama.

Hewitt initially discounted the suggestion.

"He gets so many gifts," Hewitt explained.

Then Hewitt reconsidered.

The pens are pretty special, and the president would probably appreciate it.

He sent one the president's way.

"About 30 days later, I got the thank you-note," Hewitt said.

Gettysburg was misspelled.

Hewitt framed the letter.

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