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Evergreen Cemetery (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)

Evergreen Cemetery (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)

Evergreen Cemetery is a privately owned community cemetery in historic Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address from a platform constructed in the cemetery, located immediately adjacent to the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

Land on Raffensperger's Hill south of Gettysburg along the Baltimore Pike was procured in 1854 by a group of local residents headed by attorney David McConaughy. The Evergreen Cemetery Association managed the property and oversaw selection of its caretakers. A large brick gatehouse was constructed in the late 1850s, and the caretakers took up residence there. By the time that the Civil War came to Gettysburg in the summer of 1863, the cemetery had become well established, and the height on which it was located had become known as Cemetery Hill.

During the Battle of Gettysburg, the hill served as a major position of the Union Army of the Potomac, an anchor of the famed "fish hook" defensive line. The cemetery and its gatehouse suffered damage from incoming artillery shells, as well as from the thousands of men and horses who tramped through it during and after the fighting. Following the battle, McConaughy procured adjacent land for the Federal government to establish a formal military cemetery. However, he insisted that Elizabeth Thorn, wife of the caretaker who was off in the army, bury nearly 100 dead soldiers, despite the fact that she was pregnant.

The cemetery continued to grow in size throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries, and still today has available plots for sale.

Notable interments

* George Jacob Benner, U.S. Congressman
* John Burns, War of 1812 veteran who at age 70 fought as a civilian at Gettysburg
* Steve Courson, professional football player in the NFL
* William Crawford, U.S. Congressman
* Joel Buchanan Danner, U.S. Congressman
* David McConaughy, attorney and advocate for battlefield preservation and the National Cemetery
* Edward McPherson, U.S. Congressman and newspaper editor
* Franklin Menges, U.S. Congressman
* Marianne Moore, famed 20th Century poet
* Eddie Plank, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
* Oscar Shaw, actor and singer
* Samuel Simon Schmucker, Lutheran seminary president
* John Augustus Swope, U.S. Congressman
* William H. Tipton, early battlefield photographer
* Virginia "Ginnie" Wade, the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg

References

* [http://www.evergreencemetery.org/welcome.htm Official Webpage]


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