Evergreen Cemetery (Adams County, Pennsylvania)

Evergreen Cemetery (Adams County, Pennsylvania)
Citizen's Cemetery [1][2]
Cemetery
Six Parrott rifled cannons of the Fifth New York Light Artillery were positioned inside Evergreen Cemetery during the Battle of Gettysburg.[3] The Soldiers' National Monument, inside the adjacent National Cemetery, appears at the top center.
Country United States
State Pennsylvania
County Adams
Township Cumberland
Part of Gettysburg Battlefield
Borders on
4
Historic District
Nearest town 		Gettysburg (75000155)
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Location 799 Baltimore Pike [4]

 - coordinates 39°49′15″N 77°13′45″W / 39.820764°N 77.22928°W / 39.820764; -77.22928Coordinates: 39°49′15″N 77°13′45″W / 39.820764°N 77.22928°W / 39.820764; -77.22928 [4]
Original area
Current area 		17.65 acres (7.1 ha) [5]
0 acres (0 ha)
Incorporated 1854 March 3 [6]
 - Gatehouse 1855 [7]
 - Lodge 1885 [8]
 - Expansion
 - ACW memorials 1901: Jennie Wade[9]
1904: John L. Burns[10]
2002: Women's Memorial [11]
Presidents 1854: David McConaughy
1869: J. L. Schick [12]
1880: Robt. G. McCreary [13]
1885: Dr. J. A. Swope[8]
…
Keepers,
Caretakers, &
Superintendents 		1862: Peter Thorn [14]
1863: Elizabeth Thorn
1973: Howard Kitzmiller
1980: Arthur L. Kennell [15]
1991: Brian Kennell
Find A Grave CRid 44774 (19 famous interments)[16]

Evergreen Cemetery is a 29.12 acre, private, historic, rural cemetery on a ridge in Gettysburg Borough and Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania.[17] Founded nine years before the Battle of Gettysburg and the adjacent Soldiers' National Cemetery, Evergreen became the eponym for Cemetery Hill,[18] a landform most noted as the keystone of the Union position during the epic battle.[19] While giving the dedication address in 1854, Reverend John H.C. Dosh asked about the Cemetery, then known as Ever Green, "Could a more lovely spot have been chosen?"[20]

Contributing ground to an "inevitable artillery platform"[21] and receiving Confederate artillery fire in return, Evergreen experienced three days as battlefield, and its temporary condition inspired a Union officer to lament: "A beautiful cemetery it was, but now is trodden down, laid a waste, desecrated. The fences are all down, the many graves have been run over, beautiful lots with iron fences and splendid monuments have been destroyed or soiled, and our infantry and artillery occupy those sacred grounds where the dead are sleeping. It is enough to make one mourn."[22] Four and a half months later, the Gettysburg Address was delivered from a platform in Evergreen Cemetery.[23][24]

History

Immediately after a counter-attack at 'double-quick' by Carroll's "Gibraltar Brigade", Early's assault on East Cemetery Hill ended.[22]
  Evergreen Cemetery
  Union artillery
  Union infantry

Following a November 29, 1853, meeting to establish the Evergreen Cemetery Association of Gettysburg,[6] the members' 1st payments were due April 3, 1854.[25] Opening ceremonies on November 7, 1854, included the "Sale of Lots" (118) after the 1st interment on October 29.[5] The association managed the property and oversaw selection of its caretakers (the gatehouse was the caretaker residence.)

During the Battle of Gettysburg, "Federal soldiers in the Cemetery laid many of the tombstones on the ground" to limit damage,[26] and some of the XI Corps batteries and infantry used the grave monuments "for shelter from the enemy's fire".[27] Two Confederates mortally wounded during the battle were buried in Evergreen cemetery,[28] and the speaker's platform that was used by President Abraham Lincoln to deliver his Gettysburg Address at the Consecration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg was located on the grounds of the Evergreen Cemetery.[29] From 1893 to 1916, the Gettysburg Electric Railway operated along the east and south of the cemetery. After the trolley railway was razed in 1917, Evergreen Cemetery expanded southward.

In 1972, the "Evergreen Cemetery archway house" was designated an historic district contributing structure by the Gettysburg council[30] (1 of 38 outside of the borough).[31] Civilian remains in 1992 at the site of the 1804[32] Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church cemetery were reinterred at Evergreen Cemetery.[33]

References

  1. ↑ "General Gettys' Grandson Here" (Google News Archive). The Gettysburg Times. September 5, 1923. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  2. ↑ Skelly, Daniel Alexander (1999 John Heiser transcription @NPS.gov) [1932 booklet]. A Boy's Experiences During the Battle of Gettysburg. Archived from the original on c. 2010. Retrieved 2012-03-06. Reaching the Citizens Cemetery we found a battery of artillery posted there… The soldiers stopped us and would not let us pass. Check date values in: |date=, |archive-date= (help)
  3. ↑ Historical Marker Database. "Army of the Potomac Artillery Reserve Second Volunteer Brigade Fifth New York Light Artillery". Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  4. 1 2 799 Evergreen Cemetery Est. 1854. Retrieved 2011-07-16 (image of sign). Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  5. 1 2 "Public Cemetery" (Google News Archive). The Star and Sentinel. April 22, 1880. Retrieved 2012-01-18.
  6. 1 2 Beitel, Calvin Gustavus (1874). A Digest of Titles of Corporations Chartered by the Legislature… (Google books). J. Campbell & son. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
    For the Senate bill committed earlier, see "Ever Green Cemetery" (Google News Archive). The Adams Sentinel. February 6, 1854. Retrieved 2011-07-16. On Tuesday last, in the Senate of Pa., Mr. McClintock, from the Committee on Corporations, reported, as committed, the bill to incorporate the Ever Green Cemetery Association of Gettysburg
  7. ↑ Kennell, Brian A. "Gatehouse Miniatures". EvergreenCemetery.org. Retrieved 2011-10-12.
  8. 1 2 "Cemetery" (Google News Archive). Gettysburg Compiler. June 30, 1885. Retrieved 2011-07-16. Dr. J. A. Swope, in his report as President of Evergreen Cemetery Association… The gateway is to be thoroughly repaired and a brick lodge built for the keeper and family.
  9. ↑ "Jennie Wade Memorial". The Star and Sentinel. Sep 11, 1901.
  10. ↑ "Round About Town". Gettysburg Compiler. June 1, 1904.
  11. ↑ Jorgensen, Kathryn (November 2002). "Gettysburg Civil War Women's Memorial Dedication Nov. 16" (transcription). The Civil War News. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
  12. ↑ "National Monument". Gettysburg Compiler. June 18, 1869.
  13. ↑ History and Directory of the Boroughs of Gettysburg, Oxford, Littlestown, York Springs, Berwick, and East Berlin, Adams County, Pa: With Historical Collections. J.E. Wible, printer. 1880.
  14. ↑ "Gettysburg residents face hunger death in battle". Gettysburg Times. June 30, 1993.
  15. ↑ Jay Zech (Dec 16, 1987). "A flock of 'birders' plan Adams County bird count next Monday". Gettysburg Times.
  16. ↑ "All famous names: Evergreen Cemetery". FindAGrave.com. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
  17. ↑ Adams County. "Public Interactive GIS Mapping". Parcel ID: 09F13-0150---000. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  18. ↑ "East Cemetery Hill – Gettysburg, PA". American Guide Series on Waymarking.com. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  19. ↑ Pfanz, Harry (1993). Gettysburg-Culp's Hill & Cemetery Hill. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press. p. 263. ISBN 978-0-8078-2118-3.
  20. ↑ Alfred L. Brophy, "The Road to the Gettysburg Address," Florida State University Law Review 43 (2016):831.
  21. ↑ Barnett, Bert H. ""Our Position Was Finely Adapted To Its Use"-The Guns of Cemetery Hill" (PDF). Gettysburg Seminars. National Park Service. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  22. 1 2 Pfanz, Harry (1993). Gettysburg-Culp's Hill & Cemetery Hill. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press. pp. 263–283. ISBN 978-0-8078-2118-3.
  23. ↑ Historical Marker Database. "The Gettysburg Address". Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  24. ↑ National Park Service. "National Cemetery Walking Tour" (PDF). Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  25. ↑ "Article". The Adams Sentinel. Apr 3, 1854.
  26. ↑ "Battle of Gettysburg" (Google News Archive). The Compiler. July 20, 1863. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  27. ↑ Haskell, Frank A. (2006) [1910]. The Battle of Gettysburg (Google books) (reprint ed.). Kessinger Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-4286-6012-0. Retrieved 2012-03-08. The Eleventh Corps…was posted at the Cemetery, some of its batteries and troops, actually among the graves and monuments, which they used for shelter from the enemy's fire … rifled guns in the Cemetery, at the left of the Eleventh Corps, opened fire—almost the first shots of any kind this morning…at a Rebel line of skirmishers
  28. ↑ Bill Neil (Jul 11, 1990). "Confederate soldiers get headstones 127 yrs later". Gettysburg Times.
  29. ↑ National Park Service. "National Cemetery Walking Tour" (PDF). Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  30. ↑ "Borough of Gettysburg …historic crossroads". Borough Office. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
  31. ↑ "List 38 More Properties In Historic Area". The Gettysburg Times. April 15, 1972. Retrieved 2012-03-18 – via Google News Archive.
  32. ↑ "Chapter XXX: Cumberland Township". History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania: Part III, History of Adams County. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co. 1886. pp. 236–247. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  33. ↑ Bartlett, Joanne (June 10, 1995). "Remains from 16 old graves on Ice House Property reburied". Gettysburg Times. Retrieved 2012-02-25. The remains included six adults, nine children [only a finger bone of one] and one adult. …discovered in the spring of 1992 when at the former church site.
  34. ↑ Frassanito, William A. (1995). Early Photography at Gettysburg. Gettysburg, PA: Thomas Publications. pp. 160–167. ISBN 0939631865.

Further reading

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