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Touring Gettysburg: French woman visits ancestor's home town

Philip Cole and Sandrine Dehlinger have lived thousands of miles apart speaking different languages, but a common ancestor brought them together over the last few days in Gettysburg.

Cole, of Orrtanna, and 27-year-old Dehlinger, of Metz, France, descend from the same Codori family line that saw some of its members immigrate to the United States nearly 200 years ago and live in Gettysburg during the 1863 Civil War battle. Cole's and Dehlinger's mothers were Codoris - just on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Dehlinger and her boyfriend, 28-year-old Greg Buchheit, flew into the United States last week and spent the last few days in the Gettysburg area. A cousin of Cole's, who last visited France a few years before Dehlinger was born, was involved with bringing Dehlinger to America, he said. Dehlinger said her grandfather started receiving letters from American relatives about 30 years ago.

"I grew up with letters coming from the USA," Dehlinger said.

The trip is Dehlinger's and Buchheit's first to the United States.

"We are the first generation speaking English," Dehlinger said. "We decided, 'OK, now we have to do it.'"

Three Codori brothers came to the United States from eastern France in 1828. During the Civil War, Nicholas Codori lived in a home in Gettysburg now known as the Brafferton Inn, Cole said, and other Codori-owned land in the area was rented out.

Dehlinger and Buchheit stayed with the Coles for a couple days during their

trip and also at the Brafferton Inn.

"(That) we have the privilege - the honor - to be in the place is amazing," Dehlinger said of the inn.

Dehlinger said she knew "a little bit" about the Codori family's role in Gettysburg because some letters her family received from American relatives included information about it. She said she and Buchheit were surprised about Gettysburg, such as how fighting took place in and around town buildings.

Cole, a licensed battlefield guide since 1967, took Dehlinger and Buchheit to the Codori farm over the weekend, pointing out where historical figures and ancestors of American presidents fit into the battle. He said he tried to "show the effect on the world" of what happened around the family's property during the battle.

Dehlinger and Buchheit spent part of Monday afternoon touring the new Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center, looking at relics and snapping photographs of exhibits as Cole shared insight into the battle. Occasionally, the Codori name popped up on a video or artifact.

Sometimes the Codori named is spelled differently in France, such as with an "a" on the end, Cole said. While he took Dehlinger and Buchheit around the visitor center, Cole pointed out a similar instance on a Civil War-era map of Adams County, in which the name is spelled "Codorus."

Dehlinger did not just look at her family's history while in the Gettysburg area but met current members of the family as well at a Codori family reunion.

"She got to meet a lot of the local (relatives)," said Diana Cole, Philip Cole's wife.

And Dehlinger and Buchheit are not limiting their North American trip to Adams County either. They plan to travel to Washington, D.C., New York City, Niagara Falls and Montreal over the next two weeks.

Dehlinger did not rule out having more members of her family travel to America to visit their distant relatives. She said she has a sister who would have liked to come on the current trip but recently started a new job. She might visit one day though, according to Dehlinger.

"I am sure she will be very happy to come over," she said.