To Confederate Gen. Albert Jenkins, the greystone building was a suitable headquarters from which to command the vanguard of forces closing in on Harrisburg.

It was late June 1863, Jenkins was in charge of the brigade probing Union defenses on the West Shore during the Rebel invasion of Pennsylvania. Seeing the home abandoned, he occupied it until called away to fight at Gettysburg, the epic, three-day battle many believe turned the tide of War Between the States.

Stately and sturdy, the Rupp House still stands at 5115 E. Trindle Road in Hampden Township, now under the ownership of lawyer and Civil War buff John Fenstermacher.

A Silver Spring Township resident, Fenstermacher has been successful in his campaign to salute Jenkins who, 117 years ago, was an unwelcome house guest.

In mid-November, Fenstermacher received word from the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission that a roadside marker would be put up this spring in front of the Rupp House. The marker will call attention to the role the building played in the Gettysburg Campaign and mention how, at the time, it was owned by John Rupp and built in 1787 by his grandfather, Jonas Rupp.

Fenstermacher bough the building in 1997 when it was known as the Greystone Tavern. He has since renovated the structure to house his law practice and a side business called Blue and Grey Acquisitions Inc. of which he is president.

He submitted the application to PHMC about a year ago after conducting research to prove Jenkins occupied the structure during the invasion.

For Fenstermacher, it is important local residents realize the Rebel advance into the Mechanicsburg area was a key part of the overall Gettysburg campaign. He noted how, during the Civil War, Harrisburg was a strategic railroad hub and host to Camp Curtin where many Union soldiers were trained.

The sign will state that Jenkins and staff occupied the Rupp House from June 28 to 30, 1863.

Fenstermacher detailed how, as the Rebels advanced, John Rupp and family fled to safety in Lancaster county only to return sometime after the Confederate withdrawal to Gettysburg. As for Jenkins, he survived a shot in the head at Gettysburg only to be killed a year later in Ohio, Fenstermacher said.

Fenstermacher sits on the board of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association and the National Trust for Historic Gettysburg. In recent years, he represented the Rosensteel family who sued the federal government for failing to properly care for Civil War artifacts the family gave as a gift to the American people in 1971.

Aside from an historic marker, Fenstermacher is backing an effort by the Camp Curtin Historical Society to build a monument to Jenkins to commemorate the northernmost advance of the Confederate Army.

Gettysburg sculptor Gary Casteel has been commissioned to create the nine-foot granite obelisk outside the Rupp House. The sculpture will feature a circular bronze portrait of Jenkins and bronze tablets explaining the advance.

The society launched its fundraising campaign last September and has so far raised $8,000 to $9,000 in pledges, said Lawrence Keener-Farley, president of Camp Curtin. The goal is to raise $26,000 to build the monument and $4,000 to put into an endowment fund for maintenance.

The portrait has been cast and the society has acquired the obelisk which is in storage until it is paid off, Keener-Farley said.

The purpose of the monument is to raise public awareness that Civil War history is not just about generals and big battles, but everyday people who fought in our own backyard, Keener-Farley said.

Eventually, the society hopes to erect monuments to commemorate Union Gen. Darius Couch, commander of the forces defending Harrisburg, and a skirmish that occurred on Sporting Hill during the invasion.